In the ruins of the Coral Spiral in the South China Sea, Captain Ruan Hei met his unfortunate end. Before he passed, I had personally promised to look after Doling and Gu Cai. Who would have thought that, by some strange twist of fate, Doling would pick up the gold watch from Captain Malino’s severed arm, fall victim to the black magic downloaded into the timepiece? Furthermore, after much confirmation, it turned out that the French captain smuggling antiquities in Nanyang was none other than Doling's biological father, lost to her during the Vietnam War. This, one must say, was the cruelest stroke of Heaven’s timing.

We exhausted every means to save her life, but the drifting at sea had lasted too long. By the time we returned to Coral Temple Island, the poison of the corpse jiang had already seeped into her marrow. If not for the Jade Celestial Robe she wore, Doling’s corpse would have long since decayed. But ultimately, we could not find the crucial Ancient Corpse Inner Elixir needed for salvation, and we could not keep her with us.

The telegram from Big Gold Tooth confirming the news felt like a stone lodging itself in my heart. I was weighed down by self-reproach and shame toward the spirit of Captain Ruan Hei. Though I knew human limitations—some things could be done, others absolutely could not—the hope of bringing her back to life had become a mere fantasy. The coldness of the world was simply too harsh to accept.

The group sighed together, agreeing that life and death were in Heaven’s hands, beyond human striving. Even the Dao of the Underworld had no recourse. We had no choice but to change our itinerary and return to America for Doling’s funeral. The fishermen of the South Sea generally adhere to tradition; according to their customs, when someone dies, a boat must be sent to see the Five Saints off to sea, while the bones of the egg-people are laid to rest in the earth. They also conduct a three-day Water and Land Grand Ceremony (shuǐ lù dào chǎng) to perform funerary rites and aid her soul in escaping the cycle of rebirth swiftly.

We first arrived at the general store in that nameless small town to bid farewell to Old Shopkeeper Li of Honeycomb Mountain. The old man quickly shuttered his shop and ushered us inside, pressing us with questions. "Seeing your long faces, I gather the business you went into the mountains for didn't go smoothly. But there’s always tomorrow; no matter the difficulty, there’s no need to fret too much." As he spoke, he pulled out two bottles of wine from behind the counter, insisting we share a few cups with him and Fatty.

We couldn’t refuse and duly complied. To our surprise, though the Old Shopkeeper was advanced in years, his capacity for drink hadn't diminished. After half a bottle of Lao Jiao between the three of us, the floodgates of conversation opened. I recounted our fruitless search for the inner core in Coffin Gorge, and then I presented the Wuhou Military Strategy Compendium (Wuhou Zang Bing Tu) we had obtained from the ancient tomb in Immortal Village.

I said to the Old Shopkeeper, "As the saying goes, property should return to its owner. This set of the Wuhou Military Strategy Compendium consists of eight volumes, utterly useless in modern construction. Unless one is a master locksmith skilled in mechanisms and locks, perhaps no one else can decipher it. Having it fall into your hands might serve some purpose."

The Old Shopkeeper was genuinely astonished upon hearing this. He quickly put on his reading glasses, flipping through the pages as if handling a priceless treasure, muttering repeatedly as he looked, "The Ancestral Master has manifested! Truly, the Ancestral Master has manifested!" This compendium was the sacred text of ancient locksmiths. The clockwork and the eight-treasure screws that appeared later pale in comparison to the ingenuity of the mechanisms within. Most of its contents had been lost for years. Seeing the craft of Honeycomb Mountain nearing extinction, he, this old 'honeycomb-dweller,' never dreamed he would unexpectedly find the complete set of the Wuhou Military Strategy Compendium in an ancient tomb. He offered endless thanks and carefully stored the diagrams away.

I asked the Old Shopkeeper why the Wuhou Military Strategy Compendium was in the ancient tomb of Immortal Village. Could the tomb’s occupant, that woman carrying a golden ox corpse, also have been someone from Honeycomb Mountain in the Ming Dynasty?

Old Shopkeeper Li, being an old hand in the world, recounted some past incidents based on this, which gave me some clues. I inferred that the Ming Dynasty female corpse might be a descendant of the numerology master Liu Bingzhong. The Liu family excelled in the esoteric arts of Qimen Dunjia and were masters of setting up various locking mechanisms. Although they weren't artisans of Wengwo Mountain, the Liu family had deep, long-standing ties with the successive leaders of the 'Honeycomb Head' lineage, so it wasn't strange at all for them to possess this set of mechanism diagrams.

The numerology Liu family and the Mountain-Gazing Feng family served in court during the same era and were already at odds. Feng Shigu of Immortal Village set his sights on the Liu family's lock mechanism diagrams and secretly plundered the tomb of the Golden Ox Carrying Corpse. However, though Feng Shigu possessed vast powers, he specialized in unorthodox, sinister arts. Even if he acquired the Wuhou Military Strategy Compendium, he would struggle to grasp its full profundity. Thus, the Wu Hou mechanisms in the ancient tomb of the Black Sheep King were merely superficial designs, never fully realized. In the end, this compendium, along with various funerary artifacts pertaining to the Mountain-Gazing Protector’s blade techniques, was placed in the Yin dwelling of Immortal Village by the Mandarin Ducks.

Of course, this was just my conjecture. With the collapse of Coffin Mountain, the true situation can no longer be verified. As we poured and drank, our minds swam, and our ears grew dull, we spoke frankly, sharing many heartfelt words. I brought up the matter of Little Sister to the Old Shopkeeper. The grave-robbing skill she learned from me wasn't much, and honestly, it wasn't particularly useful. Moreover, once you step onto the path of a Tomb Raider (mo jin), escaping becomes infinitely harder.

I am an example myself. Fatty and I went to the wilderness ravine in the Northeast simply hoping to make a fortune to help our poor friends; we had no grand ambitions. But ever since we obtained a pair of Tong Bi from the Jin Dynasty General's Tomb, the endless troubles started tracking us down. We suffered greatly, endured much hardship, and it’s a miracle we survived to this day without losing limbs. Which of us hasn't accumulated scars? Fatty’s nose had a chunk sliced off in the Kunlun Mountains, permanently disfiguring him. It’s only thanks to our nimble feet and the protection of the Ancestral Master that we managed to claw our way back from the gates of hell time and again. For Little Sister, a girl from the mountains, learning the trade of tomb raiding (dao dou mo jin) is certainly not the right path for her.

Speaking of this, I glanced towards the outside. Shirley Yang and Little Sister were talking in the outer room, unable to hear our conversation. I lowered my voice to the Old Shopkeeper and said, "For a woman, the key is marrying into a good family. I had many comrades in the army; most of them are settled now. So, you don't need to worry about this; I'll take full responsibility. A few days ago, I asked Little Sister; she doesn't want to go abroad, but she really wants to see Beijing. Fatty and I still have some standing in Panjiayuan and Liulichang in Beijing. We can arrange for her to work in Old Second Master Qiao's antique shop, learn some skills in appraising cultural relics, then marry a reliable man, and live out her years in joy and peace. You can enjoy your old age in comfort too."

The Old Shopkeeper nodded and said, "I rarely misjudge people; your plan cannot be wrong. I suffer from an old illness, and my health declines daily. I might pass away any day now. If this child, Little Sister, can find a good home, I can die in peace."

Afterward, Old Shopkeeper Li mentioned that when he first met us and saw the Vajra Umbrella, he guessed we were all Tomb Raiders (mo jin xiaowei) carrying protective talismans. Being a man from the old society, he naturally knew the secrets of the mo jin profession and was deeply convinced by geomancy and Yin-Yang matters. He asked if I could help him select a suitable plot of land for his Yin residence after he died.

I advised him that I wasn't a master of the Way of Feng Shui; I only knew a little. I merely made a living relying on the ancestral Dragon Seeking Formula (xun long jue) and the technique of dividing gold and setting position (fen jin ding xue). In my life, I had seen much related to Feng Shui, but I also realized that Feng Shui couldn't dictate fortune or disaster; it was essentially a form of ecological geography.

To convince Old Shopkeeper Li, I recounted an event my grandfather personally experienced. Before the Liberation, my grandfather, Hu Guohua, supported himself by interpreting characters, practicing Feng Shui, and divining land for people—methods that relied on esoteric arts to predict fortune and misfortune. Because this knowledge was considered quite profound, he was often revered as a "Golden Diviner" (Jindian). Mr. Hu acquired his skills from half a copy of the Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Manual, relying on genuine scholarship. Combined with his meticulous and astute nature, he earned the title "Mr. Jindian," and the property he accumulated was considered quite wealthy locally.

Mr. Jindian Hu sat daily in his main hall, discussing fate and geography with all sorts of people arriving from near and far. One day, a drizzling rain hung heavy, the streets were sparse, and business was slow, with shops closing early. Mr. Hu was sipping tea in the inner room when he suddenly heard the sound of hooves on the street. The rider halted abruptly before the Jindian fortune-telling shop, dismounted, and hurried inside.

Mr. Hu quickly rose to greet him, assessing the newcomer as he did so. The man was in his forties or fifties, robust and well-built, clearly bearing the air of a wealthy and powerful local tyrant. His behavior was so ostentatious that he likely wasn't a bandit, yet his expression was grim, his face showing the gloom of a man facing a death in the family. Mr. Hu couldn't help but wonder if some relative had just died.

Mr. Hu dared not be slow, inviting the guest to sit, serving tea, and performing the necessary courtesies, essentially asking, "Esteemed guest has arrived; what instruction do you bring?"

The tyrant clasped his hands and said, "Mr. Jindian’s reputation is widely known. I rushed here through the rain today because I have a serious matter. I wish to ask if Mr. Hu understands the art of land assessment?"

Mr. Hu made his living from this trade; how could he claim ignorance before a layman? He instantly puffed up his reputation: "I dare not boast, but I had a strange encounter in Yan Dang Mountain in my youth, where I studied under the Heavenly Eye True Master (Tianmu Zhenren) and received many teachings. The classics on housing, burial, the Azure Satchel's Secret Words, the Essence of the Spirit City, and the Treatise on Promoting Officialdom—there isn't one I don't understand, one I haven't mastered. Assessing and selecting residences is our family's foremost business; that goes without saying."

The tyrant was overjoyed upon hearing this and then revealed his purpose. His surname was Ma, named Liuhe. His ancestral home was in Tongling, but he later moved near Dongting Lake for business. In recent years, the Ma family, using their formidable means to maintain connections both with officials above and bandits below, monopolized many local businesses. With vast wealth accumulated, they decided to build a magnificent mansion and estate. They hired a Feng Shui master to survey the terrain, selected an auspicious location, and seized the land by force, commencing lavish construction—high gates, deep courtyards, utterly extravagant.

Ma Liuhe was extremely devoted to Feng Shui. He chose this land primarily because its layout seemed conducive to accumulating wealth. All the courtyard arrangements, down to the smallest detail, were guided by a master geomancer. Once the new residence was complete, the entire family moved in happily. However, barely half a day later, Old Master Ma slipped in the garden. His old bones couldn't withstand the fall, and before long, he kicked the bucket.

A joyous occasion turned into a funeral. Before Old Master Ma was even interred, Ma Liuhe's eldest son was murdered by an enemy in another region. In short, since moving into the new Ma residence, the family had experienced successive deaths. Counting servants and laborers, the household, once a prominent large family of over sixty people, saw thirteen people die prematurely within a year.

What was strange was that the more people died, the more prosperous the Ma family's business became, earning money at a dizzying pace. Ma Liuhe clung to his wealth and status, stubbornly refusing to move. But although his fortune flourished, disaster plagued his household. Seeing that people continued to die suddenly, he could bear it no longer and sought help to alter the Feng Shui. He consulted every local geomancer, but nothing worked.

Introduced by someone, Ma Liuhe learned that Mr. Hu, the Jindian Diviner, was skilled in land assessment. He immediately rode hard to invite Mr. Hu to inspect the Feng Shui of the Ma residence, to find what error in the auspicious location was causing such loss of life. He promised a generous reward if Mr. Hu could find the cause.

Mr. Hu was astonished to hear this. To think so many people had died! What kind of malevolent geography could be so potent? Being naturally cautious, he worried about failing to solve the mystery and being unable to satisfy the Ma family. He was just about to find an excuse to decline when he saw Ma Liuhe pull four gold bars from his chest and place them before him. These four large 'yellow fish' were the retainer fee; upon success, a far more generous sum would surely follow.

Mr. Hu's vision blurred slightly from the sight of the gold. He thought, "I have to see the layout of the Ma residence before I can judge. This is income I earned based on my craft; what harm is there? Should I turn away business delivered to my door? Moreover, Ma Liuhe braved the rain to come here; I cannot disappoint his earnest intentions." He immediately accepted the deposit, packed his necessary tools, hired a donkey cart, and followed Ma Liuhe back to survey the residence.

They arrived at the Ma residence late at night. After dining and drinking outside, they lodged at an inn, planning to survey the terrain from inside out the next day with Ma Liuhe accompanying Mr. Hu. Mr. Hu’s inherited text, the Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Manual, contained the method of the Eight Dwellings Mirror (Bazi Mingjing), which could discern the prosperity or decline implied by the layout of a residence. This method had never failed him over the years.

Upon entering the residence, Mr. Hu took out a small bronze mirror to gauge direction and angle using the sun’s shadow. The art of tomb raiding originated in the Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, but its roots actually lie in the ancient Talisman Arts (shenfu gu shu) of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Whether seeking dragon veins or observing formations, the ancient way never used a compass; those who use a compass are not following the ancient method.

Mr. Hu, accompanied by Ma Liuhe, inspected the rooms and furnishings. He found the arrangement orderly and the tea adequate. While not exceptionally brilliant, it was respectable. However, orderly arrangement was only one factor; the Eight Dwellings Mirror method needed to be applied for further calculation, as the ancient text stated: "The residence is the foundation of one's position; its size varies, its Yin and Yang differ. If not sought exhaustively, its application will be insufficient."

Since the Song Dynasty, both Yin and Yang residences have often been determined by the five surnames, dividing gold, wood, water, fire, and earth based on the pronunciation of the names, aligning them with the directions of the Five Elements and Eight Gates to arrange the house. The Ma family's surname did not clash with the residence, and the layout favored wealth and prosperity. Mr. Hu quickly dismissed this as the cause.

Next, he considered the Yellow and White Way (huang bai zhi dao), deducing details concerning the sun and moon, heaven and earth, cold and heat, male and female, day and night, Yin and Yang, and so on. He observed that the Ma residence used the surname as the body, the well as the blood vessels, and the gates as the crown and sash; all structural arrangements seemed flawless.

He then examined everyone in the residence face-to-face and found no one harboring evil spirits or malevolent intentions. Mr. Hu couldn't help but break out in a sweat. The Ma residence was apparently a prosperous location, boasting the signs of a wealthy household—so why were people repeatedly dying suddenly and prematurely?

Having found nothing inside the residence, he had to examine the exterior. Behind the Ma residence was a hillside. Mr. Hu led the people up the hill and looked down from a height, beholding a magnificent Feng Shui treasure land, shimmering with beauty, like a dragon flying and a phoenix dancing.

Ma Liuhe, seeing that Mr. Jindian Hu couldn't pinpoint anything, became increasingly uneasy. He asked Mr. Hu about the land—whether it was auspicious or inauspicious. Mr. Hu answered helplessly, "It is truly an incomparably noble Feng Shui treasure land, but why..." As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, drew a sharp breath, his face draining of color, and he exclaimed, "Indeed, it is dangerous!"