After the couple left, both Zhang Shiyu and I weren't idle. We spent over an hour studying the situation, turning the place upside down, and the more we studied, the more serious the issue seemed. It was incredibly difficult to comprehend how this house could be constructed as a yang house while following the principles of a yin burial site.
"Da Bao, what do you think? Do you think this place is really haunted? I feel uncomfortable just being here," Zhang Shiyu said.
I took a deep breath. "This place is tricky. It's built like a yang house, but it's acting like a yin burial site, which is really messed up."
After that, we left the cave. Fortunately, Zhang Shiyu had decent stamina, so we made our way back to the car. We drove for over two hours to the county town, where we bought two large goldfish and a big fish tank.
By the time we returned to Tiger Hill, it was already afternoon. With the help of the tough shepherd, we drove the car down to the foot of the hill and started unloading the fish tank. That's when the old man with the firewood showed up. At first, I didn't suspect him, but when he saw the fish tank in my hands and the goldfish in Zhang Shiyu's, his eyes clearly sharpened.
It dawned on me then. This old man was likely one of those "worldly experts" in the village. Whether it was the couple or the deceased mountain climbing group, they all met their fates because they didn't heed his warnings. I couldn't stand him—if he's really in the know, why didn't he intervene earlier, or at least try harder to stop them? He just dropped a few words and left. What kind of person was he?
Sure enough, after giving us a glance, the old man's gaze was calm, nothing like the blank stare of a rural man. He snorted and turned away, carrying his firewood while muttering, "Don't think just because you've learned a little Taoist magic, you're something special. Block the evil? Let's see how long you last."
I couldn't help myself. I shouted after him, "When was this house built?"
He didn't look back, but simply replied, "In the Yi-Si year."
And with that, he walked off without a second glance. I muttered to myself, "This guy—how can he just stand by and watch people suffer?"
Zhang Shiyu patted me on the shoulder. "Don't think that way. He might've wanted to help but just doesn't have the power. What do you think?"
Her words seemed to imply she fully believed in my ability to fix the situation. I gave a wry smile. "Let's hope so, because feng shui is far from simple."
Looking at the house, there were indeed a lot of things that didn't add up. From a feng shui perspective, it sat right in the White Tiger position. According to feng shui lore, the White Tiger guarding the grave represents disaster, with its position almost always bringing death to the family. Yet, this place was built as a yang house using the principles of a yin burial site, which was a huge problem.
Everyone knows that in the "Taoist Book of Burial," it's said, "Qi rides the wind and disperses; it is blocked by water." Every blessed land relies on water. Since White Tiger represents metal, which nurtures water, there should be water here, but this place is bone dry. The cave was built with drainage channels, and since it's on a slope, when it rains, the water naturally flows down and away from the cave.
Additionally, the large pit dug into the slope caused one side to tilt forward. According to feng shui, wind is a harbinger of misfortune, and this wind couldn't be blocked. It just passed through the cave, circulating in and out, creating a harmful energy. But what made it worse was that since there was no water, any water that entered the cave would cause it to collapse. To deal with this, the cave had been reinforced to prevent flooding during the rainy season. This created a "wind" and "no water" situation, which made this place a classic disaster zone in feng shui.
On top of that, the timing of the cave's construction was problematic. There are three types of evil in feng shui: the "Robbery Evil," "Disaster Evil," and "Year Evil." The "Robbery Evil" occurs when one element is absent in the five elements; the "Disaster Evil" occurs when an element is in its "embryo" position; and the "Year Evil" occurs when an element is in its "nourishing" position. For instance, the year of the Monkey, Rat, or Dragon should not have houses built in the south because they fall under the "Robbery Evil," while the year of the Horse, Snake, or Rooster should avoid building houses in the east due to the "Disaster Evil" or "Year Evil."
This cave had been dug in the Yi-Si year, a Fire Snake year, which is an especially bad omen. Fire burns metal, and with the house built in the East (a position ruled by Metal), it was a perfect storm of bad feng shui.
Looking out from the high vantage point, I saw a dirt road leading directly to the cave, and it made me chuckle bitterly. The road curved downward to the south and then spiraled toward the base of the hill. This curved road was directly aligned with the cave's entrance—this was the dreaded "Sickle Sha," a disaster that could bring bloodshed.
Given all these factors, this was undoubtedly a rare and extremely inauspicious home... a "Hundred Woe Trapped House."
The name "Hundred Woe Trapped House" didn't refer to the house being haunted by hundreds of vengeful spirits. Instead, it described a place where the souls of the dead could never rest, trapped within the location. The only way for these trapped souls to escape was for a sufficient amount of vengeful energy to gather, awakening the "heavenly eye" to break the curse. This created a situation where the trapped souls were bound to take lives to gather the necessary energy to break free.
For me, solving this problem wasn't just about righting the wrongs and ending the cycle of misfortune—it was about eliminating this great evil once and for all. The key was to fill the cave and close the tiger's mouth. Once the cave was sealed, the tiger, whose fangs were symbolized by the trees in the pit, would no longer be able to stir up trouble.
The answer to solving this dilemma? Water. The souls that resided here were sensitive to water, and their presence disrupted the flow of energy. The simple act of filling the cave with water, bringing life into the area, would calm the evil energy. The placement of goldfish in the tank would serve as "living water," since water that moves is alive and will keep the trapped spirits from moving or causing harm.
The Sickle Sha could also be eliminated with the use of five Emperor coins—coins from the reigns of the five greatest Qing emperors: Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing. These coins carried the energy of Heaven, Earth, and Man, and had the power to dispel evil and improve fortune.