Chapter 4: The Lone Yin Energy
Jiang Si waited patiently for a while. Seeing that Hai Di hadn’t finished writing yet, he went to the counter and started drawing with a charcoal pencil on his sketchbook.
The pencil made a soft scratching sound on the paper. He used the pen with ease, his wrist making a subtle movement that created a smooth line. With just a few strokes and his pinky finger resting casually on the paper, a character with flowing sleeves and a graceful posture took shape.
Jiang Si stared at the image, his blinks becoming slower and slower until his phone suddenly rang, breaking the silence. He picked it up, still sketching with his other hand. “Hello?”
The person on the other end sounded panicked. “It’s me. Boss, are you free right now? I need you urgently.”
The pencil tip paused. Jiang Si put the sketchbook and pencil on the counter, focusing on the call. “You’re the person who wanted to move a grave yesterday? I remember you. Your name is Zhao Lei, right?”
“Ah, yes, yes, that’s me. Boss Jiang, I was going to move the grave like you said, but… I ran into a bit of an accident…”
Zhao Lei was standing by the grave, watching as a hole was being dug. Moist soil was piled on the side, and a deep brown coffin, already unearthed, was visible in the middle. The gnarled, knotted roots of a large locust tree had reached into the coffin like thick tentacles, drawing nutrients from within.
Zhao Lei had originally thought that the presence of a tree so large it took two people to wrap their arms around it was a sign of good feng shui. But now, looking at the thriving, leafy tree, he broke out in a cold sweat despite the sweltering heat.
Jiang Si listened to his stuttering for a while and felt a sense of fatigue. “So, you’re saying that the coffin of your mother, who was just buried a week ago, has been punctured by a locust tree root? And that the root bled when you tried to cut it?”
“Yes, yes, that’s it.”
An awkward silence hung on the other end of the line. Zhao Lei then realized that what he was saying sounded completely made up. He quickly pleaded, “…Boss Jiang, I’ll pay for your services. You have to come. I really don’t know what to do.”
Today’s Jiang Si was no longer the same Jiang Si who was so excited about money yesterday. He wasn’t doing it for the money. He was simply curious about a tree that could bleed.
“Alright, send me your location. I’ll come take a look.”
After hanging up, Jiang Si looked at the brown teddy bear that was still struggling to write with the brush. He leaned closer and saw that it had managed to write five characters.
The wobbly handwriting was just barely legible: I cannot leave you.
Jiang Si’s shadow completely covered the bear. Hai Di seemed to sense this and turned to look at him.
After a moment of silent eye contact, Jiang Si picked it up.
“Since you can’t leave me, you’ll have to come with me. Don’t run off. Got it?”
After a while, the teddy bear nodded, indicating that it understood.
Jiang Si took a moment to pat its head. He then moved the funeral goods Zhao Lei had ordered into his car and drove off.
Zhao Lei watched as the ax-cut tree root continuously dripped scarlet blood. His family members stood not far away, whispering among themselves.
In a daze, Zhao Lei heard his wife’s high-pitched voice constantly shouting, but he couldn’t make out the words.
What is this?
Zhao Lei moved his stiff neck, clearly hearing a “creak, creak” sound from his joints, like a rusty machine.
What was happening?
Before he could figure it out, he saw the coffin lid in the pit being slowly pushed open. His mother, who had already passed away, sat up from inside the coffin. Patches of her rotting flesh hung on her yellowed skull, swaying loosely. Insects crawled and wriggled through the deep red and pale decaying flesh.
“Son,” his mother called out in a hoarse voice. Dozens of maggots, covered in bits of flesh, wiggled in her empty eye sockets.
Zhao Lei’s legs were stuck to the ground. He couldn’t move. He watched his mother crawl out of the coffin, wearing the burial shroud he had put on her himself, and slowly approach him.
“Son—”
“Leave me alone! Leave me alone! I’m your son!” Zhao Lei couldn’t speak. He could only scream in his mind.
“Leave me alone!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Son, come keep me company.” Just as that skeletal hand was about to touch his face, Zhao Lei’s shoulder suddenly felt heavy, and all the horrifying images in front of him vanished. In their place was a clean, handsome face.
“Are you okay?”
Jiang Si was baffled, watching Zhao Lei suddenly collapse to the ground. Like a dying fish returning to water, he gasped for air, clutching his chest.
The burly man was drenched in sweat and his face was ashen.
“Hey? Zhao Lei? Can you hear me?”
Jiang Si squatted down, thinking he was having some kind of medical episode.
Zhao Lei took a few breaths and pointed at the coffin in front of him. His voice trembled with fear. “My mom… my mom crawled out—”
“Your mom crawled out?”
Jiang Si followed his finger. The coffin was quietly buried in the ground, sealed with four nails.
“It’s okay. Your mom is still inside. If you don’t believe me, go take a look.”
After hearing Jiang Si say “your mom” a few times, Zhao Lei’s terrified brain finally started to work again.
“What happened to you?” Jiang Si watched as Zhao Lei got up from the ground. The people who were helping him move the grave came forward, asking in a flurry of questions what had happened.
Patting his chest, which was still pounding, Zhao Lei grabbed Jiang Si’s arm. His dark, sun-tanned skin was now pale. His lips trembled, and his pupils were dilated from fear.
“Boss Jiang, there’s definitely something wrong with this grave. I clearly saw my mom crawl out of the coffin. She wanted me to go with her—”
“What?!”
“Old Zhao, did you see things? It’s broad daylight. How could your mom be here? The coffin isn’t even out of the ground yet!”
Before Jiang Si could speak, an older man threw down the wooden stick he was holding and looked at him with disdain. “I told him this was a bad idea. He just had to bury his mom here. And now, only a week later, he’s making a fuss to move her again. Are you playing a game here?”
“Uncle Wu, I’m not lying.” Zhao Lei swallowed hard. He grabbed Jiang Si’s hand as if it were a lifeline. “This is Boss Jiang. He can prove it! Everything I said is true!”
“Him?” Uncle Wu glanced at Jiang Si dismissively, clearly not taking him seriously. He didn’t say anything, but his thoughts were written all over his face.
Jiang Si had seen plenty of people who judged others’ abilities based on their age. The traditional funeral business was even more hierarchical than others. Jiang Si knew his face wasn’t trustworthy, so he didn’t mind the man’s attitude.
Standing there, he looked at the sky and then at the coffin for a moment. He asked, “Did you pick a new spot for the grave?”
“We’re moving it to our family’s ancestral grave,” Zhao Lei replied.
“Okay. What stage are you at now?”
“We were just about to dig it up at noon when this happened,” Zhao Lei said, following Jiang Si. When Jiang Si got closer, he saw that not all of Zhao Lei’s words were lies. The deep brown coffin had indeed been pierced by the roots of the locust tree.
This was completely absurd. A coffin that had been buried for only a week, no matter how thin its walls, couldn’t be penetrated by roots in such a short amount of time.
“Didn’t you burn any paper money?” Jiang Si’s relaxed expression grew more serious. He looked around and didn’t see any ashes from burning offerings.
“Not yet. I thought since we were just moving the grave, we could burn it at the new spot,” Zhao Lei said, scratching his head.
“Most people can get away with that, but you’re different,” Jiang Si said, pointing at the coffin. “I told you yesterday that you went against your mother’s wishes and buried her here. This spot’s feng shui is in conflict with your family’s. Your mother has not been at peace. Now, this isn’t just a simple move. You have to treat it like a new burial.”
“Huh? Then what do I do?” Zhao Lei’s heart skipped a beat. His phone rang at that very moment, as if sensing his thoughts. The urgent, high-pitched ring suggested something was wrong.
“Answer the phone first,” Jiang Si said, motioning for him to handle the call. Jiang Si then walked to the side to survey the land.
When he was a child, he would often watch his grandpa handle funerals for the neighbors. His parents had passed away early, and his grandpa would take him everywhere. Over the years, he had been immersed in the trade. Later, when he was working on a project about traditional culture, he read many books on feng shui and learned a great deal.
As he looked at the area now, Jiang Si suddenly realized that he had overlooked something in his quick glance yesterday. This area was surrounded by fields, but this one spot in the middle of the rice paddies was empty, with a single, lush locust tree.
Zhao Lei’s sudden gasp brought him back to reality. “Boss Jiang!”
Jiang Si waited patiently for him to finish. Zhao Lei’s face was ashen. “My son has had a high fever for a week straight. Every time it goes down, it comes right back up. It’s happening again right now. My wife said the doctors have done everything they can and we just have to wait for it to go down on its own.”
“My son is only three years old. He’s so young. A fever can fry his brain. Boss Jiang, is there any way you can save him?”
He said, getting ready to kneel on the ground, his head bowed deeply, his voice choked with sobs. “I’m begging you to save my son. He’s still so young. This is all my fault as his father—”
“Get up first.” Jiang Si stepped aside, holding his arm to help him up. “I’m not a doctor. Begging me won’t help.”
Zhao Lei’s fingers trembled, and he looked hopeless. “Is there really no way? My son is so young!”
“Why are you so scared? Your son is in the hospital. Trust the doctors and modern science. It’s not as mysterious as you think.” Jiang Si sighed helplessly, pointing at the locust tree in front of him.
“Your family is suffering from the ‘Lone Yin Energy.’ This area is all fields, and this spot stands out. It was a good feng shui location, with plenty of sunlight and air circulation. But you and Miss Luo’s families chose to bury graves here, completely reversing the good energy. This is a locust tree, which attracts and nurtures yin energy. Now, it’s backfiring on your family.”
Zhao Lei looked terrified. He didn’t understand the words, but it sounded scary. “Then what should we do?”
“Just move it,” Jiang Si said. He couldn’t stand seeing this 1.8-meter man acting so cowardly. He placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s just a feng shui issue. Your family just happened to have bad luck, and the consequences were obvious. Otherwise, it’s nothing major.”
“Okay, I’ll do whatever you say,” Zhao Lei nodded, placing all his hope in Jiang Si.
Jiang Si asked him again, “Is your family’s ancestral grave far from here?”
“No, about half an hour away.”
“That’s good.” Jiang Si went back to his car, took out the paper and pen he had brought, and wrote two lines of text with flowing strokes. He handed it to Zhao Lei.
“The great road to the southwest is ahead, and three great roads lie in the middle. Go now and leave the human world, walk on a cloud of peace and return to the west.”
Zhao Lei couldn’t help but read it out loud, confused. “What is this?”
“This is a road-guiding chant. You have to memorize it. On the way to the new grave, you have to chant it continuously to guide your mother and get her to leave this place.”
Jiang Si felt he had made himself clear. He took the paper effigies he had prepared out of the trunk. “I’ll go burn the things first. You must memorize it well, or it’s all over.”
Zhao Lei’s face was pale. He looked at the paper with worry. He had only finished middle school, and the last time he studied was twenty years ago.
Jiang Si didn’t mind. He went to the grave and started burning one set of the items he had prepared. When they were almost done, he called Zhao Lei over.
Zhao Lei walked over, muttering, “Southwest—the great southwest road—”
“The great road to the southwest,” Jiang Si corrected him with a sigh. “Now, kneel down. Do you know how to wail at a grave? Remember to be sincere. If you need to cry, don’t hold it back. Use your filial piety to touch your mom’s heart.”
As long as he didn’t have to study, Zhao Lei was fine. Since he was kneeling to his own mother, he had no qualms. He knelt down easily and began to wail loudly.
His loud cries startled his relatives who were watching from a distance. Uncle Wu looked over in surprise, muttering, “I wonder what kind of trick he’s up to. Now he’s even crying.”
“Uncle Wu, do you think this will work?”
“What are you talking about? That man is a con artist. He’s talking about feng shui. He’s just trying to fool Lei Zi because he didn’t get a good education. We’re in a new era now. We believe in science, not superstition.”
Uncle Wu was full of disdain. The others were swayed by his words and hesitantly asked, “Should we tell Old Zhao?”
“No,” Uncle Wu waved his hand. Listening to Zhao Lei’s sad cries, he felt a little pity. “Just let him have his peace of mind. As long as we’re here to watch over him, he won’t get conned out of his money.”
“Aren’t you guys going to help?” Jiang Si walked over. “They’re waiting for you to carry the coffin.”
“Aren’t you the one Old Zhao hired to do the job?” Uncle Wu had no patience for con artists. He might not tell Zhao Lei the truth, but he wasn’t going to let Jiang Si boss everyone around.
“If you’re so good, why do you need us?”
“Who said I’m here to handle the funeral?” Jiang Si asked, baffled. He held up the paper mourning staff he had prepared for Zhao Lei. “I just sell funeral goods.”
“I make them all by hand. They’re guaranteed to be high-quality and durable. If you’re interested, leave me your contact information. You get a discount if you buy in bulk.”
“…”
The dozen or so people from the Zhao family stared in silence at the young man with the honest smile.
Is there something wrong with this guy?
Who tries to sell funeral goods to guests at a funeral?
Recommended Reads
