Chapter Twelve: The Pixiu Releases Wealth (Part Two)

Xiao Lianshan hurried forward with Yue Leiting on his back, striding quickly. Hearing my explanation, he was bewildered, saying he remembered nothing in the room had been moved—so how had Brother Ting’s feng shui array been triggered?

“We have you to thank for that. Without your help, Brother Ting might not have fallen for the trap,” I replied with a wry smile.

“Me?” Xiao Lianshan abruptly stopped, staring at me in astonishment. “How did this end up being my fault?”

I took a broken piece of porcelain from my bag and held it before Yue Leiting. He examined it for a long moment before his eyes brightened in recognition. He said he knew it—it was the tree-burl teapot he’d broken. He asked what secret lay behind this shattered trinket.

The shard I held was indeed from the tree-burl teapot Yue Leiting had smashed, a fragment from the teapot lid. Though the vessel was ruined, the craftsmanship was still exquisite. Atop the lid crouched a brown beast-shaped handle, its posture proud and upright—heavy brows over round eyes, a wide mouth with exposed fangs, a single horn atop its head, ears pressed back, arched spine, tail curling over its back, each of its four feet boasting four sharp claws. The carving was vivid and lifelike.

Pointing at the beast motif, I explained that it represented a young Pi Xiu—the brown color for youth, green for maturity. Pi Xiu, it is said, come in sizes; the brown is the juvenile, the translucent green the adult. The Pi Xiu carved from withered bamboo by Zhong Weiguo was a shadowy yellow, because a Pi Xiu with a yellow belly is about to give birth—hence its violent temperament.

“I see it now! I see it!” Yue Leiting slapped his forehead, suddenly enlightened. “In my anger, I smashed the teapot and broke the young Pi Xiu, which triggered Zhong Weiguo’s Pi Xiu Wealth-Spitting Feng Shui array.”

I nodded anxiously. “That’s the deviousness of Zhong Weiguo. He deliberately chose a tree-burl teapot with a Pi Xiu cub on the lid. The pot contained water—water gathers wealth, wealth nurtures Pi Xiu. But he blocked the Pi Xiu’s mouth with a green stone—so it could not ingest, only expel. It was a perilous arrangement. Yet the Pi Xiu would guard its young; as long as the cub was unharmed, the array was a deadlock. But once the cub was broken…”

Xiao Lianshan realized it too. Gritting his teeth, he muttered, “That bastard Zhong is truly vicious. If I hadn’t lost my temper and broken something in his room, Brother Ting wouldn’t have smashed the teapot. It’s all my fault—I dragged Brother Ting into this.”

“Nonsense about dragging anyone down,” Yue Leiting said, clapping him on the shoulder from his perch. “Lianshan, you’re honest and straightforward—how could you see through Zhong Weiguo’s scheming? Honestly, I like your temperament.”

I joined in comforting him. “Zhong Weiguo set out to entrap us. You’re not one for intrigue—no one could have guarded against it. It’s not your fault.”

“So…” Yue Leiting pondered for a moment. “So, Zhong Weiguo was acting from the very beginning?”

That was the truth. As we walked, I reflected that the true blame lay with me for being careless. Zhong Weiguo, knowing full well Brother Ting was not to be trifled with, nonetheless presented us with counterfeit after counterfeit. I’d always thought he was simply a small-time conman, but it was all calculated. He first lowered my guard, then enraged Lianshan, and finally let me spot the genuine tree-burl teapot, knowing I’d hand it to Brother Ting, counting on his temper to destroy it. Sigh…

Hearing my regretful sigh, Yue Leiting laughed heartily.

“No more talk of fault. Men of honor walk upright and have nothing to hide. Zhong Weiguo plotted with malice, but you two are loyal, honest men—who could foresee such schemes? If I, Yue Leiting, make it home safe today, it’s thanks to my two good brothers, misfortune turned to fortune. If I don’t, then it’s simply my fate, not yours.”

Though Zhong Weiguo was ruthless and cunning, clearly a master of the occult, his arrangement, though intricate, still had flaws. He might have skill, but in the art of fate and feng shui, he’s far from my equal. If it came to a true contest, I might not lose. So I reassured them.

“Brother Ting, rest easy. Since I’ve stayed to help, no matter what happens, Lianshan and I will keep you safe these three years.”

“Brother Ting, if my brother says you’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.”

“It doesn’t matter what happens. With you two by my side, even if I, Yue Leiting, fall dead in the wilds today, I’ll have no regrets.”

Xiao Lianshan asked if I had already broken Zhong Weiguo’s feng shui formation. I nodded. He insisted I explain, saying he’d seen me jumping about but had no idea what I was doing. Even Yue Leiting was curious.

I told them I’d used Brother Ting’s fingertip blood to draw a talisman—the Emperor of Three Purities’ Disaster-Averting Seal—on his chest. With it, evil and misfortune could not draw near. The Pi Xiu, though a fierce beast, fears blood, so it was powerless against Brother Ting. Then, when Brother Ting scattered his blood on the withered bamboo, the Pi Xiu, meeting blood, would shy away—hence our safe passage thus far.

Xiao Lianshan nodded, half-understanding, and asked about the well—why did the leaves I placed in it sink?

I wiped the rain from my face and continued, “That’s called Dead Rot Water. In feng shui, mountains rule people, water rules wealth. Water gathers fortune. To set up a Pi Xiu wealth-attracting formation, you must have water—preferably flowing, so wealth is unending. Dead Rot Water is yin water of the dead. It requires a pregnant cat—specifically all-black, not a single stray hair—bound with red thread soaked in longevity lamp oil, then tied around its neck, but not killed outright…”

Xiao Lianshan interrupted, asking why a cat, and why it must be black.

“Cats are considered ominous, and black cats most of all—pure yin and evil. Folklore says cats have nine lives, not because they don’t die, but because after death they can revive. There’s a saying: ‘If a cat dies and sees light, its master will suffer disaster.’”

Nodding, Xiao Lianshan fell silent. Yue Leiting, ever more intrigued, urged him not to interrupt and let me finish.

“So the black cat is drowned alive in the water. The resentment of a drowned cat is extreme, and the red cord binds its soul, so it cannot depart. The water in the well, unable to flow, is thus saturated with malice.”

At this, Yue Leiting shuddered involuntarily, a man who’d seen his share of blood—yet even he found such cruelty chilling. It spoke volumes of Zhong Weiguo’s heartlessness.

I continued, “Though water gathers fortune, Zhong Weiguo turned the well into Dead Rot Water. The malice is so intense that anything living dissolves—hence the leaves turning yellow and sinking. The Pi Xiu seeks to absorb fortune, but what it draws in is all resentment. However much it takes in, it must expel.”

“And in the end?” Xiao Lianshan asked.

“The Pi Xiu Spitting Wealth formation has another name: Pi Xiu Weeping Blood!”

“…You mean, in the end, the Pi Xiu spits blood?”

I nodded. “Bamboo is hollow, the Pi Xiu’s belly is hollow—there’s nothing to expel. Zhong Weiguo blocked the Pi Xiu’s mouth with a great green stone—normally it would only take in, but now it can only expel. In the end, the Pi Xiu spits out its own blood.”

“Then… how would this take Brother Ting’s life?”

“I said before that the Pi Xiu can turn fate and avert misfortune. The wealth-spitting array was activated by Brother Ting—he is the master. Whatever fate befalls the Pi Xiu, the same fate awaits him.”

“That bastard Zhong wants me to spit blood?” Yue Leiting growled with hatred.

“It’s a metaphorical transmission. Zhong Weiguo wants you, Brother Ting, to bleed dry—only then to die.”

After this, Xiao Lianshan hastily asked how I made eight leaves strung on a twig float in the well.

I told him, “That’s the Eight Treasures Lotus Lantern. The lotus is pure, able to dissolve all evil. With Brother Ting’s blood smeared on the twig, the blood draws all the malice in the water into the lotus, where it is neutralized. Thus, the Dead Rot Water is cleansed, and the Pi Xiu can safely take in fortune without only expelling.”

Yue Leiting sighed in relief, perhaps never expecting that an inconspicuous house, once arrayed by Zhong Weiguo, could become so deadly. He asked me,

“When you stuffed broken coins into the mouth of the stone tiger on the right at the main hall entrance, what did that mean?”

I explained that when two tigers fight, one must be wounded. The two stone tigers had different postures—the left lay injured, the right crouched, poised to strike. The left represented Brother Ting (the host), the right was Zhong Weiguo (the guest). Even if you escaped, Zhong Weiguo would relentlessly hunt you down.

“I get it—my brother stuffed coins with Brother Ting’s blood into the right tiger’s mouth. It’s a ruse, making Zhong Weiguo think Brother Ting is the prey.”

I almost laughed—who would have thought Xiao Lianshan would be so sharp today. He was right, but it was only a temporary measure to buy Brother Ting time. I told them the most crucial step was the last one.

“Yan Hui, I saw you skewer the two red lanterns at the door with branches—is that your final move?”

I nodded. “Those two red lanterns are the Pi Xiu’s eyes—its only weakness. I blinded the Pi Xiu, so it can no longer distinguish black from white, up from down. The danger of the formation was that, Brother Ting, as the master, you would be led wherever the array dictated—Zhong Weiguo could decide your fate. But with the Pi Xiu blinded, the host and guest are reversed—the array returns to its original state, making Zhong Weiguo the master and you the guest.”

“Oh, I see—so now the person caught in the formation is Zhong Weiguo?”

I nodded. “Those who harm others end up harming themselves. The Pi Xiu Spitting Wealth is a deadly array. Zhong Weiguo thought he could control everything, that no one could break his arrangement. He calculated everything but failed to account for me. Men as vicious as him deserve to be ground to dust.”

“Then… what fate awaits that bastard Zhong?” Lianshan asked, barely containing his excitement.

“His fate is in his own hands,” I replied with a sigh. “Feng shui and fate are meant to benefit people, avert disaster. I would not use them to harm. Even if Zhong Weiguo is beyond redemption, I have left him a way out. Whether he lives or dies is up to his own choice.”