At Tianxing Taoist Temple on Wangjiang Mountain in the southern part of the city, the master, Zhang Daoyuan, was practicing his breathing exercises in the courtyard. Suddenly, a young Taoist acolyte ran over in a hurry.
"Master, Master..."
Zhang Daoyuan finished his practice and asked sternly, "What is it? Why are you so flustered?"
"Master, word has spread everywhere that the Lin Family is searching the entire city for a Taoist priest with the surname Li."
"Does that have anything to do with us?"
"Logically, any Taoist arriving in Hecheng would come to our Tianxing Taoist Temple to register their stay, and if there were any business, they would have greeted you, Master, first. How could a Taoist named Li suddenly appear in Hecheng? Just now, people from the Feng, Cha, and Zhao families all called, asking if you, Master, know the origins of this Daoist Li."
"The person hasn't even appeared yet, just a name, and it has already stirred up the three great families of Hecheng." Zhang Daoyuan shook his head.
The acolyte asked, "Does that mean this Daoist Li is very formidable?"
Zhang Daoyuan laughed heartily. "It is not that this Daoist Li is formidable; it is clearly the Lin Family that is formidable."
"Then should I provide a reply to those families?" the acolyte asked again.
Zhang Daoyuan thought for a moment and said, "Let me calculate." He pinched his fingers to make a divination, then suddenly furrowed his brows, muttering repeatedly, "Strange, strange."
"Master, what's wrong?" the acolyte asked curiously.
Zhang Daoyuan shook his head. "I cannot calculate this Daoist Li's background. That is not strange, as he is likely a fictitious person, but this Lin Family..." He gazed toward the northwest, a look of confusion in his eyes. "Dark clouds cover the summit; it looks like there are signs of decline, yet there is a glimmer of hope. Sigh, I cannot see through it, I cannot see through it..."
***
**Chapter 23: The Cha Family of Haicheng**
"A Taoist with the surname Li?"
In the Zhao Family of Hecheng, the family head, Zhao Sihai, listened to his butler's report and frowned slightly.
"Do you know the background of this Daoist Li?"
"No," the reporting butler said. "However, the Lin Family looks very anxious; they have mobilized almost all their resources to find this person."
"Dad, could the Lin Family have discovered something? Why would they suddenly be looking for a Taoist?" said Zhao Sihai's son, Zhao Chenyang.
Zhao Sihai told the butler, "Go and invite Mr. Wu over. Also, ask Daoist Zhang at Tianxing Taoist Temple if he knows the background of this Daoist Li."
"Yes," the butler replied and left.
Before long, an elderly man with white hair and a youthful complexion walked in. Zhao Sihai stood up to welcome him. "Mr. Wu, please sit."
This old man was named Wu Xian, the feng shui practitioner Zhao Sihai had hired. Wu Xian cupped his hands in a salute and, without standing on ceremony, took a seat nearby.
"Master Zhao, what is the reason for inviting me here?"
"I heard that the Lin Family is searching for a Taoist with the surname Li," Zhao Sihai said. "Could they have sensed our actions and are looking for a Taoist to break the layout you set up, Mr. Wu?"
Wu Xian stroked his white beard and laughed. "Master Zhao, rest assured. The methods I use are secret transmissions from my sect. In Hecheng, let alone no one being able to decipher them, even if they were to see through them, they would have no way of breaking the layout."
Zhao Sihai was still uneasy. "Mr. Wu, if we just wait like this, doing nothing, will the Lin Family truly decline on its own?"
Wu Xian said, "Rest easy, Master Zhao. The Lin Family is covered by dark clouds; everything they do goes wrong. It would be difficult for them not to decline."
Zhao Chenyang added, "Dad, from the information I have gathered, the Lin Family has recently run into problems with several projects, and Lin Qiusheng is stressed to the point of exhaustion. Furthermore, according to reliable sources, the health of the old man of the Lin Family is getting worse by the day."
"Oh?" Zhao Sihai was overjoyed. "As soon as that old fossil Lin Shangyi dies, the Lin Family's assets will change to the surname Zhao within six months. When that time comes, our Zhao Family will be the number one in Hecheng!"
Wu Xian smiled slightly and said, "How hard could that be? Bring me Lin Shangyi's birth date, and with my Nail-Head Seven-Arrow Book, I guarantee that within seven days, his life will return to the Yellow Springs."
***
In the afternoon, there was nothing to do at the restaurant, so Li Muchen idly fiddled with his new phone.
Ding Xiang saw his phone and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Muchen, you bought a phone?"
Li Muchen said, "Miss Lin gave it to me."
"Wow, Miss Lin is so generous. This is the best kind of phone," Ding Xiang said with envy.
"If you like it, I'll give it to you," Li Muchen said, handing it over.
Ding Xiang shook her head. "I don't want it. Miss Lin gave it to you."
Li Muchen said, "Then I'll earn money and buy you one."
Ding Xiang laughed happily. "Okay!"
At this moment, the shop door was pushed open heavily, and two young men with yellow and green dyed hair and a hooligan-like appearance entered. They marched straight to the counter and knocked on the surface.
Boss Wang, who had been dozing inside, lifted his head with sleepy eyes. Seeing the two, he immediately put on a smiling face. "You two, you're here so early. Would you like me to stir-fry a couple of dishes for you?"
"Cut the crap," one of the youths cursed and held out his hand.
Boss Wang laughed it off, took a stack of hundred-yuan bills from the drawer, counted them, and handed them over. The youth took the money, said nothing, and turned to leave. As he passed by Li Muchen and Ding Xiang, he suddenly stopped and glanced at Ding Xiang, a sinister smile appearing on his face.
"Yo, where did this beauty come from?"
Ding Xiang felt a bit scared and hid behind Li Muchen.
The youth looked at Li Muchen with dissatisfaction. "Are you blind? Get out of the way, fast."
Li Muchen didn't move, only saying one word: "Scram!"
"Are you looking to die, you prick?" A ferocious look appeared on the youth's face.
Boss Wang hurriedly rushed out from behind the counter, blocking the path between the youth and Li Muchen, smiling apologetically. "Oh, oh, it's nothing, it's nothing. They just arrived and don't know the rules. Don't take offense, brother." He stuffed two hundred yuan into the youth's hand. "Take this to buy a pack of cigarettes."
"You're a sensible one." The youth took the money, then pointed at Li Muchen. "Watch yourself! Keep talking like that and I'll kill you!" He left, cursing and swearing.
Li Muchen asked, "Boss, who are they? Why did you give them money?"
A look of disgust appeared on Boss Wang's face. "Local thugs. They come every month to collect protection money."
"Doesn't the police do anything?"
"They do. But if you call the police and they get arrested, so what? They get released after a few days. Then they'll stare you down and mess with you every day, taking revenge. If it were just the two of them, I wouldn't be afraid, but they have 'Scarface Six' behind them. We run a business; who can afford to drag this out? It's better to keep the peace and make money." Boss Wang yawned as he said this and walked back behind the counter, swaying.
"Who is Scarface Six?"
Boss Wang glanced at the door and lowered his voice. "Scarface Six is a complete bastard who does every evil thing imaginable. He's done so much wrong, Heaven will claim him sooner or later!"
It was the first time Li Muchen had seen Boss Wang look so angry, showing just how much he hated this Scarface Six.
"Where can one find this Scarface Six?"
"At the end of the street. He runs the 'A-Liu Mahjong Hall' and keeps a bunch of idlers there." Boss Wang suddenly stared at Li Muchen. "What are you trying to do? Don't you go acting foolish, kid. Scarface Six is not someone to mess with; he really would kill or set fire to places."
"Just asking, that's all."
"That's good. You're young; don't ever go to places like a mahjong hall. Nine out of ten bets are losses, and the last one gets your hand chopped off." Boss Wang advised him earnestly, then suddenly changed the subject. "However, there is a bathhouse next to that mahjong hall. The technicians inside are quite good. If you're interested, you can go and try it out."
Li Muchen didn't understand how they went from talking about Scarface Six to a bathhouse. But seeing the wicked smile on Boss Wang's face, he didn't know how to respond.
At that moment, the door suddenly swung open with a bang, and the proprietress, Sister Mei, bustled in, pointing at Boss Wang and asking, "What are you talking about? What's 'quite good'? What do you want to try?"
Boss Wang's face turned pale instantly, and he shook his head repeatedly. "Nothing, nothing! I was just joking with young Li!" He kept winking at Li Muchen.
Li Muchen understood and explained, "Yes, Sister Mei, the Boss was just telling us a joke."
"A joke? Him? He knows how to tell jokes? That would be the sun rising in the west. We've been married for so many years; why haven't you ever told me a joke? Come on, tell me one now."
Boss Wang chuckled sheepishly and pointed at Sister Mei's hair. "Wife, you got your hair done? It looks quite pretty."
"None of your business!" The proprietress snorted, ignored Boss Wang, and turned to Li Muchen, her face suddenly blooming with a smile. "Young Li, it's so hot. Let me go get you some plum juice to drink."
She went to the back kitchen to get iced plum juice and poured a bowl each for Li Muchen and Ding Xiang.
Boss Wang said, "Wife, get me a bowl too."
The proprietress shot him a glare. "Can't you get it yourself?"
Boss Wang let out a few embarrassed laughs and went back to dozing off. Li Muchen couldn't help but wonder if they were truly husband and wife.
He sat drinking the plum juice while Sister Mei sat across from him, staring at him intently, her eyes almost brimming with affection. "Young Li, do you think my hair looks good today?" Sister Mei leaned forward, cupping her hair with one hand. Her chest pressed against the edge of the table, two full mounds resting on the surface. Li Muchen couldn't help but worry that she might crush the table.
He glanced at her hairstyle; he honestly couldn't tell the difference from before she left. But he nodded anyway and said, "It looks good."
To be fair, Sister Mei was quite good-looking. If she applied better makeup and wore higher-end clothes, she might be on par with Zhou Na from the Blue Bridge Bar. Of course, in Li Muchen's eyes, neither of them compared to Ding Xiang. Only Ding Xiang had a pure beauty, untainted by the slightest bit of cosmetic vulgarity, just like her name. The ancients said the lilac flower was "like a heap of fragrant snow"—perhaps that was the beauty she possessed.
***
**Chapter 24: Ashes to Ashes**
In the evening, Ma Shan called to say that he had found a place for stone gambling and had also received news about the dog-fighting ring in the southern part of the city, asking Li Muchen to meet him at the Blue Bridge Bar.
Dinner hours were over, and the restaurant wasn't busy, so Li Muchen asked Sister Mei for time off, instructed Ding Xiang to be careful on her way home, and hurried to the Blue Bridge Bar.
The bar was still lively, as if nothing had happened the previous night. Ma Shan led Li Muchen directly to a private room on the second floor.
"Mr. Li, welcome, welcome." Zhou Na greeted them in the room with an air of charm and seduction, her tone filled with respect.
Li Muchen was a disciple of Tiandu and a student of the Immortal Venerable; naturally, he was worthy of being called "sir," so he replied naturally, "You're too kind, Manager Zhou."
Zhou Na said, "I'm just someone who runs a bar, not a 'manager.' My friends give me face by calling me 'Sister Na.' If you don't mind, you can call me that, or just use my name."
Li Muchen said, "Fine. I'll call you whatever Brother Ma Shan calls you."
Zhou Na smiled slightly and got straight to the point. "I heard you want to try stone gambling?"
Li Muchen nodded.
Zhou Na reminded him, "The waters in this trade run deep. Like any form of gambling, nine out of ten bets are losses. Most stones, as long as they are covered by a rind, no matter how much you pay for them, when you cut them open, they're still just stones." She glanced at Li Muchen. "However, it's not like there are no fortunes to be made. I heard that someone in Diannan opened his 'Heavenly Eye' and could see through the rind into the stone—accurate every time. A few years ago, along the border of Burma and Vietnam, he unearthed high-quality materials worth billions."
"Sister Na, isn't that too mysterious? Can someone really have x-ray vision?" Ma Shan found it hard to believe.
Li Muchen, however, believed it was true. For someone who had opened their Heavenly Eye, seeing through a stone was child's play. The reason he dared to gamble on stones was precisely because he could open his own Heavenly Eye. Of course, opening the Heavenly Eye wasn't just about having x-ray vision as Ma Shan imagined. The Heavenly Eye didn't use the eyes, but rather the divine sense—a form of perception unique to practitioners, which could be called a "seventh sense."
"Don't be so quick to dismiss it," Zhou Na said. "This story is widely spread in the circles, so it's unlikely to be false. I have a few friends who say they saw that man back in the day. But guess what happened to him later?"
"He got rich, of course," Ma Shan said.
Zhou Na shook her head. "You're wrong. That man ended up dead. He was hacked to death; his hands and feet were severed, and his eyeballs were dug out. His body was dumped in a mountain ravine on the border."
Ma Shan gasped. "That's brutal!"
Li Muchen couldn't help but frown. How could someone who had opened their Heavenly Eye be easily hacked to death? There were only two possibilities: either his Heavenly Eye was fake, and at most he had opened his Yin-Yang eyes; or, the people who killed him were masters among masters.
"So, ten bets: nine lose, and one dies. If you want to participate in stone gambling, you had better think it over," Zhou Na said.
Li Muchen said, "Thanks for the reminder, Sister Na. We're just looking for some casual fun."
Zhou Na nodded. "Alright. Wait here for a moment; I have some business to attend to. I'll take you to a place shortly." She left.
Li Muchen frowned slightly, wondering why a stone gambling venue would be open at night.
Ma Shan began to talk to him about the dog-fighting ring in the southern part of the city. "I've scouted it out. The place you mentioned really does run a dog-fighting ring. The boss is named Cai Weimin, nickname 'Big Head Vegetable' (Caitou), and everyone below calls him Caitou. I heard this guy has a strong background. His ring has brutal fights and high stakes. Everyone who goes there is a regular; strangers need someone to bring them, and you must have 200,000 in cash to get in."
Ma Shan asked, "Muchen, how did you know about that place?"
Li Muchen didn't hide it and told him about the time he ran into the thugs while taking Lin Manqing home.
Ma Shan was furious. "Damn it, if those two punks fall into my hands, I'll definitely destroy them." He added, "Yesterday, Miss Lin pleaded for us in front of Uncle Ming—I heard it. Based on that alone, we can't ignore her affairs. Brother, you tell me: what should we do? Should I call some men and smash his dog kennel?"
Li Muchen said, "Don't be impulsive. Whoever dared to attack Miss Lin is definitely not an ordinary person. Let's go to his dog ring first, test the waters, and make some money in the process."
Ma Shan nodded. "Fine, I'll listen to you."
"Do you know anyone who can bring us in?" Li Muchen asked.
"Yes. Do you remember Huang San?"
"Huang San?"
"The one who used to fight with us all the time when we were kids."
Li Muchen remembered him. There was indeed such a person, also living by scavenging for trash, who had often fought Ma Shan over territory. What left a deep impression on him was that when Huang San couldn't beat Ma Shan, he would wait until Ma Shan was gone and bully Ding Xiang. That time, to protect Ding Xiang, he had risked his life to fight Huang San, and in the end, he had only managed to get away by using a handful of quicklime to blind Huang San, allowing him to pull Ding Xiang to safety.
"What's that guy doing now?"
"He runs a scrap recycling station, but the business isn't clean. He knows Caitou from the dog-fighting ring, goes there to play often, and brings guests as well."
"You beat him up quite a bit as a kid. Will he trust you?"
Ma Shan grinned. "He doesn't trust me, but he trusts even less that I'm a cop."
Li Muchen also smiled. "Fine, then he's the one. Next, we need to find a way to get the 200,000 entry fee."
***
Around nine o'clock, Zhou Na called and told them to go straight to the parking lot. In the lot, Zhou Na beckoned them into a red Porsche. Ma Shan and Li Muchen got in.
"Aren't you going to ask where we're going?" Zhou Na asked while driving.
Ma Shan said, "Aren't we going to the stone gambling venue?"
Li Muchen said nothing.
Zhou Na glanced at Li Muchen through the rearview mirror, seeing him leaning back with his eyes closed to rest. "Mr. Li, don't you want to know?"
Li Muchen said, "What you should say, you will naturally say. If there's something you don't want us to know, asking would be useless."
Zhou Na smiled, stopping the mystery. "You must be curious why the stone gambling venue opens at night. Actually, it's not a pure stone gambling venue. If you really want to gamble on stones, you have to go to Diannan or even across the border. Here, it's just minor stuff; you couldn't find a high-quality piece in years. But the place I'm taking you today is different. Because there are many 'ghost fires' that shouldn't see the light of day, it can only operate at night."
"It's not all high-society stuff, is it? We can't afford that," Ma Shan said, thinking of the 10,000 in cash in his pocket, his entire fortune.
"Not at all. The crowd is mixed—people from all walks of life, even tomb robbers. But don't worry, these people are all regulars; new customers need to be introduced by a regular, and if something goes wrong, the introducer bears the responsibility. As for money, don't worry; there are cheaper options inside. After all, stone gambling is inherently about the 'gamble.' If you really see something good and don't have enough money, you can find me."
Zhou Na introduced it very enthusiastically.
Li Muchen suddenly asked, "This is Uncle Ming's place, isn't it?"
***
**Chapter 25: Nanyang Sorcerer**
Zhou Na looked at Li Muchen through the rearview mirror with some surprise. "Mr. Li, you are truly a smart man."
Zhou Na admitted it readily. Li Muchen didn't say anything more and continued to close his eyes to rest.
The car drove into the underground parking garage of a somewhat dilapidated six-story building in the western part of the city. After parking, Zhou Na led them to the elevator, swiped a card, and pressed the button for the 6th floor.
"This used to be the largest secondhand market in Hecheng. The first three floors were vendor stalls, the fourth was for furniture, and the fifth was the office area. The sixth floor was vacant until Uncle Ming bought it and converted it into the current exchange," Zhou Na introduced. "You can go to any other floor, but the sixth floor is a private club that requires a card."
As they were talking, the elevator arrived at the sixth floor. When the door opened, they were greeted by an image wall about two meters high. On the wall was a relief carving of a green dragon rising from the water, and directly beneath the dragon's head was a large blue-and-white ceramic vat. Water flowed from the dragon's mouth into the vat, like a waterfall.
The primary function of an image wall is to block malevolent forces (sha) in feng shui; they are usually placed in the center of an entrance in traditional courtyards. It is very rare to bring an image wall indoors. The owner of this place chose not to use a folding screen, but an image wall instead, likely because they feared a folding screen would be unable to block the malevolent energy.
Li Muchen deduced that the goods coming in and out of this place often included things that were not entirely clean. It seemed this Uncle Ming was also a man who deeply believed in feng shui.