Chapter 93 Past Life Misfortune According to the trajectory of your previous life, you only have seven...

Shen Qinghuai is somewhat superstitious.

In his company office, there is a rockery landscape with a golden toad sitting in a pond, spouting water, and next to it is a pure bronze lucky cat.

The raised paw maintained a steady rhythm, accompanied by a pair of smiling eyes, as if greeting everyone who saw it.

Therefore, when he grasped the doorknob of Xuanji Pavilion, he hesitated for a moment.

He worried that he wouldn't be able to resist going in, and the price he would pay would be countless amounts of money being poured in in exchange for a feng shui formation that would bring him wealth and prosperity.

This is indeed a trap he would fall for, and a scheme he would inevitably enter.

Strangely, after Shen Qinghuai pushed open the door, the man named Feng Zhaoming never turned around or looked at him.

The man stood with his back to the door, seemingly engrossed in fiddling with something.

The room was dark, with two rows of candles lit instead. The dim light created a somber atmosphere. The moment the door closed, the airflow disturbed the candlelight, causing Shen Qinghuai's heart to tighten inexplicably. For a moment, he had the illusion of stepping into the underworld.

Looking behind the candlesticks on both sides, there are sculptures of Taoist masters.

The left column is all male, starting with Zhang Daoling, the Celestial Master, and continuing to some folk legend figures, such as Ji Gong and Tieguai Li.

The right column is entirely composed of women, starting with Zixu Yuanjun Wei Huacun, and continuing to figures from folk legends, such as He Xiangu and Magu.

In the very center of the room floor, there is a Tai Chi Yin-Yang symbol, and the ceiling light above is shaped like the Bagua (Eight Trigrams).

Shen Qinghuai approached suspiciously, intending to bypass the yin-yang symbol and walk to the side to get closer to the man with his back to him. However, for some reason, when he got close to the yin-yang symbol, it seemed as if a force was attracting him, causing him to step on it without realizing it.

In an instant, I felt dizzy and my mind went completely blank, leaving only a silent void.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself standing on the roof of the tallest skyscraper in Beidu, with his eyes closed, preparing to jump.

A fierce wind howls, and towering buildings stand tall. If the center of gravity of a person contemplating suicide deviates by even a centimeter, they can transform into an ugly, human-shaped falling object, crashing down on innocent passersby.

Startled, Shen Qinghuai immediately opened his eyes and took several steps back before he could barely regain his balance.

Almost instinctively, he asked, "What happened? How did I get here?"

A cold voice came from the sky above his head: "The building beneath your feet is the Jingguang Building. You were tricked by Liang Yuting, and you bet all your money on the stock market. You lost everything, your company went bankrupt, creditors are pressing you at the door, and the media is following you, leaving you nowhere to hide. You have nowhere to turn, so you have no choice but to go to the rooftop to commit suicide."

Shen Qinghuai's face turned ashen with fright: "This is impossible, impossible! Liang Yuting is in a mental hospital, she couldn't possibly be out here messing with me!"

The cold, emotionless voice calmly stated, "In this life, she did go to a mental hospital, but what you are seeing now is your original fate, which means it is the scene before you died in your previous life."

"My past life?" Shen Qinghuai's mind worked quickly, and he immediately grasped the key point, asking, "You mean, I was Shen Qinghuai in both of my lives, and I was married to Liang Yuting in both of them? My two lives weren't two reincarnations, but two highly overlapping lives?"

The voice from the sky replied, "Yes, these are not two lifetimes of reincarnation, but two lifetimes of a tragedy restarted. The events before the restart were completely consistent, but the life trajectories after the restart underwent changes of varying degrees, leading to different endings."

Shen Qinghuai remained silent for a long time before calming himself down and asking, "Are you Feng Zhaoming?"

“It’s me.” Feng Zhaoming’s voice remained completely calm. He waved his hand, and the scene before Shen Qinghuai’s eyes changed.

He saw the scene of Liang Yuting arguing with him. Liang Yuting was holding a TV remote control and pointing at the stock market footage on the news while arguing with him.

Just before the Asian financial crisis, he sensed something was wrong and prepared to delist to protect his capital. However, Liang Yuting listened to the encouragement of her relatives in Hong Kong and prepared to blindly follow the stock market of several international currencies, even wanting to bet all her savings.

Once it's successful, Liang Yuting won't have to be at Shen Qinghuai's beck and call anymore—see, she can make decisions and make money too.

However, Shen Qinghuai, seeking stability and unwilling to gamble with his family's future, refused Liang Yuting's offer, turned around, picked up his mobile phone, and prepared to convene an emergency meeting with Manager Zhao and the company's key personnel.

But the moment he opened the door, he was knocked unconscious with a blunt object and immediately tied up.

When he woke up, he discovered that Liang Yuting had taken advantage of his unconsciousness to impersonate him and sign one contract after another, and the handwriting on each one was exactly the same as his own.

As for where fingerprints were needed, that was simple. Since he was unconscious, just grab his hand and press it on. And somehow, Liang Yuting figured out the bank card PIN. Just like that, this fool Liang Yuting gambled away Shen Qinghuai's entire fortune in the stock market.

The result was predictable: the phrase "bankruptcy" best describes the situation.

The sight of shareholders smashing tables and taking away computers at the company left him speechless with shock.

The owner of that voice waved his hand again, and what Shen Qinghuai saw was the scene from seven years ago.

In 1990, just after the New Year, a group of young men and women walked out of the train station exit together.

His eldest daughter, Qiu Xiaoman, with a bandage on her forehead and a flushed face, walked out unsteadily, supported by someone.

Soon, her companions split into several groups; some took her to the hospital, while others formed their own teams and left together.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Xiaoman's companion had to give up on hospitalizing her due to the high medical expenses. She was only given some medication and allowed to stay until the next day. Her companion then helped her find a cheap hotel nearby to stay in.

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy stayed by Qiu Xiaoman's bedside, taking care of her persistent high fever. When Qiu Xiaoman woke up in a daze, he quickly asked for an address, braved the wind and snow, and inquired along the way until he found Lido Garden and finally arrived at the door of 1801.

What followed was an endless argument.

He wanted to go to the hotel to see what was going on, but Liang Yuting suspected that the wild child had deliberately set a trap to lure Shen Qinghuai out, get close to him, and fight for the family property.

The argument lasted for two days and three nights. Every time he was about to leave, Liang Yuting would grab a fruit knife and threaten to commit suicide.

She wouldn't even close her eyes, afraid that Shen Qinghuai would run away if she fell asleep.

The two remained deadlocked until the police arrived and informed Shen Qinghuai that his eldest daughter had died.

He had a persistent high fever, no money for treatment, and eventually died.

A young life was cut short in that cheap little hotel.

Shen Qinghuai wanted to collect the body, but Liang Yuting still refused. She took a fruit knife and shouted that she would cut her wrists and die in front of Shen Qinghuai.

Shen Qinghuai gritted his teeth, still wanting to leave, so Liang Yuting grabbed her youngest son, opened the window, and threatened to jump.

Left with no other choice, Shen Qinghuai had to call his sister-in-law and ask her to collect Qiu Xiaoman's body.

Liang Yuting only stopped arguing after Qiu Xiaoman was buried in a suburban cemetery, and fell asleep holding her youngest son.

Shen Qinghuai had stayed up for several nights in a row, his eyes were dull and his steps were unsteady. When he arrived at the cemetery, he felt dizzy and fell hard, fracturing his tibia and being unable to walk for three months.

The scene finally froze on Qiu Xiaoman's grave, and Feng Zhaoming's cold voice rang in his ears: "Shen Qinghuai, do you understand now? If it weren't for your eldest daughter coming back to settle scores with you, according to the trajectory of your previous life, you would only have seven years left to live. Now that your eldest daughter has come back to settle scores with you, your lifespan has become an unknown. Perhaps you will die shorter than in your previous life, or perhaps you will live longer. It's all uncertain, and it all depends on yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Qinghuai arrived at the rooftop of the Jingguang Building again. Below him, the pedestrians and traffic were completely invisible, forming two thick, moving lines. All around him was a howling, cold, strong convection current, which made him sway and his vision blur.

In the darkest of times, at the lowest point in his life with no way out, the once-glorious Mr. Shen ultimately jumped to his death.

Shen Qinghuai was so frightened that his heart pounded like a drum. He had no choice but to close his eyes and tense his body, like a broken stone crashing to the ground.

The moment he kissed the earth, excruciating pain coursed through his entire body. He seemed to hear the sounds of bones dislocating, twisting, and cracking; the sounds of internal organs being squeezed, broken, and leaking air; the sounds of passersby's surprised, frightened, and gossipy voices; and the sounds of his underage children crying and wailing.

But, just the only one missing was the eldest daughter's voice.

Yes, his eldest daughter passed away before him, wasted away by his indifference and ruthlessness in that deserted little hotel, forgotten by his selfishness and stupidity on the Lantern Festival when she was eighteen and needed her father the most.

He's not human, he's a beast. He deserves to die, even if he died ten more times, it wouldn't be enough to atone for his sins. He's a complete and utter scoundrel.

He closed his eyes, two streams of tears sliding down his cheeks. At the end of his life, he had only one thought: if there were an afterlife, he would definitely…

"What will happen?" A cold voice entered Shen Qinghuai's ears, waking him from his blank mind.

He looked around in surprise; the room was still the same room, and the candlelight was still the same candlelight.

The cold statue, however, seemed to harbor compassion, silently gazing at him.

The yin-yang symbol beneath his feet seemed alive, silently warming him.

He suddenly looked at the man with his back to him and asked, "I'm not dead? Who are you?"

"You seem disappointed that I'm not some quack feng shui master who murders for money." Feng Zhaoming turned around calmly.

The moment their eyes met, Shen Qinghuai realized that this man looked exactly like a living sculpture.

Yet it doesn't resemble any sculpture.

His face showed compassion, yet he possessed the most ordinary features of any ordinary person; if thrown into a crowd, he would certainly be indistinguishable.

A very ordinary square face, very ordinary big eyes, a very common nose, and very common lips.

But for some reason, Shen Qinghuai felt that this person had a divine quality about him.

He struggled to his feet, the pain from his dislocated limbs still lingering, each breath tingled with pain. He staggered to Feng Zhaoming and asked, "Who are you? Are you here to avenge my eldest daughter? What is your relationship to her?"

Feng Zhaoming smiled, glanced at his watch, and said, "When your nephew asks you later, just say I've closed down. Alright, you should go now."

Shen Qinghuai didn't understand why this person didn't want to continue, but he knew that this person truly possessed supernatural abilities that were beyond his comprehension and imagination.

He could only obediently turn around, and as he gripped the doorknob, he still asked, "If Xiaoman asks me about what happened just now, can I tell her?"

"No." Feng Zhaoming stood up and extinguished the candles one by one in order.

As the light and shadows dimmed, his features became hidden in the shadows, making him appear unfathomable.

He sighed and said, "Don't mention a word about me. Just say you didn't see me."

Shen Qinghuai didn't ask any more questions. After opening the door and going out, he heard the sound of the door lock closing behind him.

Looking back, I noticed a notice had appeared on the door: Prime location for rent.

Shen Qinghuai clenched his fists, silently calming his emotions.

Two minutes later, Shen Tenglong's voice came from across the road: "Uncle, have you seen my classmate? He didn't trick you into setting up any feng shui formation, did he?"

Shen Qinghuai didn't say anything; he saw his eldest daughter sitting in the back row.

The moment their eyes met, it felt as if his heart had been squeezed and crushed, and an unbearable pain spread through him.