Perhaps knowing that this place was not simple, these feng shui masters all carried copper coins or talismans.
The moment Xi entered, everyone knew he was Qin Budu's newly accepted disciple, and they looked at the group with a mixture of knowing and gossip.
It's normal that Qin Budu is here, but why is Qi Tingsong here too? It seems that Qi Tingsong and Shi Xi have a pretty good relationship.
"It truly lives up to its reputation," someone whispered.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Qin Budu's gaze followed him over.
Qin Budu's face was expressionless, and he didn't say anything. His actions were less like looking at the person and more like he was observing the house and glancing at him unintentionally.
Yet a silent sense of oppression washed over him, making his scalp tingle and rendering him speechless.
Shi Xi followed behind Qin Budu, looking at the Cui family.
The Cui family lived in a large, single-level apartment in an upscale residential area. It faced south and had a wide view... but the interior was covered with yellow talismans.
The area was covered with talismans, densely packed together.
Looking at the patterns on the skin is believed to bring peace and safety.
Countless talismans were piled up on the desk, and the handwriting did not seem to belong to the same person. It seemed that they were in a hurry. There were also seven or eight crumpled pieces of discarded talisman paper on the floor.
There were four or five brushes dipped in cinnabar scattered haphazardly on the table, and on top of them was a half-written talisman with very messy handwriting.
It's as if I was forced to stop writing before I could finish...
"When they were found, they were all lying in bed," said the staff member who met them.
Shi Xi was somewhat surprised to hear this. With the desk so messy, it was impossible for her to concentrate on sleeping.
There is a huge beam running through the entire house from the ceiling, with talismans and bells hanging from it.
Whenever the wind blows, it produces a series of crisp, clattering sounds.
Talismans and bells: Talismans are used to ward off evil spirits and calm the mind, while bells are used to summon deities.
Shi Xi looked up, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"The neighbors said they heard knocking on the door all night long," the staff member continued.
"All night?"
"Yes." The staff member nodded. "It's intermittent, it rings every now and then, there's no pattern to it."
...It couldn't possibly be a ghost or monster committing a crime, just scaring people for fun, could it?
"What was that sound?" Shi Xi suddenly asked.
"A thumping sound." The staff member paused for a moment, recalled what the neighbor had said, and then said.
Under everyone's gaze, Shi Xi took off her shoes, ran a few steps on the floor, looked at the staff, and asked, "Like this?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Tingsong looked at Shi Xi, because the floor was made of wood—
So the sound of running and the sound of knocking on a door sound almost the same.
If you listen from outside the gate, you won't be able to tell the difference at all.
"Are they in their own room?" Shi Xi continued to ask.
The staff member hesitated for two seconds, then said, "No."
The Cui family's child sleeps in the master bedroom, but the adults are in the children's room.
"The ground is dirty, don't step on it." Qi Tingsong placed the shoes next to Shi Xi's feet, then stretched out his arm and gestured to the other person with his eyes to help him put on his shoes.
"...She does have a bit of cleverness," someone couldn't help but mutter in admiration.
She couldn't help but glance at Shi Xi again.
They saw the other person put on their shoes with Qi Tingsong's help, and judging from their expression, they didn't seem surprised by what the staff member said.
This insightful statement and keen observation are completely unlike someone from the mountains with no background.
Qin Budu listened quietly from the side, and only spoke up when Shi Xi stopped talking, "Let's remove the crossbeam first."
It was only then that everyone noticed the beams overhead that blended perfectly with the house.
They had initially thought the paper talismans and bells were hung up by hooks or nails, but now they discovered that the beams of the Cui family's house were not completely connected to the ceiling.
Instead, a gap of a few millimeters was left, through which the transparent string at the top of the talisman bell passed.
Everyone's expression immediately froze.
...
The construction team arrived quickly and worked for half a day.
Suddenly someone shouted, "There's something here!"
Upon hearing the sound, the people waiting outside went forward and saw a red cloth wrapped around something in the middle of the beam.
And then the red cloth was lifted.
Inside was a piece of ancient jade covered in scarlet red, with clearly defined veins of blood converging at the heart of the jade. There was a window, revealing that it was originally a white ring-shaped jade stone, which shone with an extremely eerie yet gorgeous and alluring luster under the sunlight.
Blood-stained ancient jade.
The reason why the burial objects of the dead are blood-colored is because the ancient jade was placed in the mouth of the dead.
It's all about timing; it has to be done when the dying person has only their last breath.
Gradually, blood and corpse oil will seep into this ancient jade.
Even tomb raiders wouldn't dare touch this thing, let alone take it home.
Realizing what it was, everyone took a half step back.
And beneath this blood-stained ancient jade was an old talisman.
“It’s the handwriting of the Cui family…” someone recognized it and said with an incredulous expression.
Have the Cui family gone mad?! Why would they put this blood-stained ancient jade on the beam?!
The talisman and bell, the blood-stained ancient jade—it seems the Cui family definitely knew there was something wrong with the beam.
Everyone looked puzzled, and a question simultaneously popped into their minds—
Why did the Cui family do this?
Unfortunately, no one can answer their questions now.
A cold snort rang in Shi Xi's ears; it came from Ruan Jingshan.
Because this item is considered an antique, the staff simply called in the national cultural relics appraisal agency.
"It's genuine, a burial item from about a thousand years ago," the appraiser said, then carefully took the blood-stained jade away.
Seeing that Qin Budu and his group were about to leave, an impatient young feng shui master asked:
"Fellow Daoist Xu is leaving already? What about those feng shui masters who have fallen into a deep sleep?"
"Fellow Daoist Xu, are you just going to abandon this idea like this!"
He seemed somewhat anxious, so his tone carried a hint of accusation.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com