Startled by Mr. Hu, Ma Liuhe instantly knew they had likely found the source of the misfortune plaguing his household, and eagerly asked, "Sir, what do you mean? Where lies the danger?"

Mr. Hu dabbed the cold sweat from his brow and said, "Had I not seen through it, every man, woman, and child in the Ma family would already be destined for the underworld."

Ma Liuhe’s belief in Feng Shui was ingrained to the bone. Hearing this, his heart filled with even greater alarm: "How could the feng shui of our family’s prized location harbor such perilous fortune?"

Mr. Hu pointed towards the valley below and told Ma Liuhe to look closely, asking what the high mountain to the west of the Ma residence resembled. Ma Liuhe followed his gaze and saw the lush, verdant peak behind his narrow home, something he was accustomed to and took for granted. But now, scrutinizing it, he couldn't help but exclaim, "It distinctly resembles a hat—it is the hat of a Judge of the Ten Courts of Hell!"

Mr. Hu continued, "That peak tapers at the top and is broad below, rising like a cone with two relative peaks standing tall. The mountain shape avoids the sun and embraces the shade, perfectly overshadowing the Ma residence. In Feng Shui, this formation has a common name: the 'Ghost Hat.' No wonder your family's business prospers and wealth flows in like a torrent, for this is precisely the path of wealth by which the Judge of the Senluo Hall collects netherworld silver. Your residence is perfect in every respect, built without a single flaw, but nestled beneath a 'Ghost Hat'—is this not treating your home as an abode of the deceased? Forgive my bluntness, but within three years, Master Ma, not a single living soul in your house will remain."

Ma Liuhe was utterly terrified, his soul almost fled his body. He immediately seized Mr. Hu, pleading, "Sir, you must save my entire family, no matter the cost; name any price."

Ma Liuhe could not bear to part with this treasure trove of wealth. His eyes darted back and forth as he implored Mr. Hu, "Building this grand estate was certainly expensive, but I don't regret it. However, the 'Ghost Hat' is clearly a conduit for accumulating fortune; how can we let it lie dormant and useless? I beg you, Sir, devise a miraculous method for us to secure this vein of wealth for the Ma family."

Subsequently, Ma Liuhe produced several gold bars, coaxing and persuading Mr. Hu to offer an even better strategy. When Mr. Hu studied under his master, he had long known the old adage: "If mountains and rivers could speak, geomancers would starve; if herbs could speak, physicians would starve." While Feng Shui shouldn't be overly superstitious, the ancient sages often discussed the principle of correspondence between Heaven and Man; sometimes, geography truly seemed to dictate fortune and disaster. Thus, Mr. Hu always believed the art of Feng Shui was not entirely baseless, and he often considered securing a propitious plot for himself, hoping to bring fortune to his descendants after his century was done.

Unable to resist Ma Liuhe's earnest pleas, Mr. Hu finally agreed. Actually, retaining the "Ghost Hat" wealth vein was not difficult; it simply required an inversion of Yin and Yang. First, they had to abandon the Yang residence, and then relocate the ancestral graves to be buried there. The Ma family's business would surely continue to thrive.

Ma Liuhe dared not slight matters concerning the rise and fall of his household. He immediately arranged for Mr. Hu to stay at the best location in town, assigning servants to cater to his every need with fine food and drink. While Mr. Hu helped draw the meridians and acupoints of the land, the entire family moved out of the new residence.

It happened to be the first anniversary of Old Master Ma's passing. Selecting an auspicious day, they gathered men to exhume the tomb. Under the cover of night, they followed ritual, inviting a Daoist priest to chant incantations to soothe the soul. The male and female descendants burned incense. Only then did they carefully move the coffin, using spirit banners and bright lanterns as guides, with yellow and white oxen pulling the carriage that transported the coffin containing Old Master Ma's remains to the auspicious "Ghost Hat" location for reburial.

The coffin was the centerpiece of the burial ritual. Because of the deep superstition surrounding Feng Shui in those old days—the belief that the earth held blessed and cursed spots, and stars held benevolent and malevolent influences—finding auspicious soil for the ancestor’s grave meant that future descendants could draw upon the dragon energy of the Feng Shui to rise in status. Family prosperity typically meant official rank or great wealth, and the coffin, being phonetically similar to 'official' (guan), implied this very aspiration. Moving an ancestral Yin grave was therefore no small undertaking. Moreover, the Ma family was quite affluent, attracting crowds of curious commoners who came to watch the spectacle, forming a human wall of onlookers.

The original mansion had essentially been demolished, and the burial site was selected, but to prevent losing the dragon energy of the Yin residence, they had not broken ground before the coffin arrived. Once Old Master Ma's coffin reached the site, Ma Liuhe immediately ordered men to break the topsoil. Since antiquity, deep burial was favored; the deeper the coffin was placed, the better, as only the poor were buried shallowly, leaving them exposed to scavenging wild dogs within half a month.

Though the Ma family had means, they were not nobility. During the Republic era, no one constructed subterranean chambers anymore; they simply dug deep pits for burial. A dozen strong young men took turns digging; the pit they excavated was deeper than a house foundation. Just as the depth seemed appropriate, they suddenly struck stone.

Everyone was astonished. This very spot had been designated by Mr. Hu, the 'Gold Finger'; how could the subsoil be rock instead of auspicious earth? Mr. Hu watched with cold eyes, also finding it strange and inexplicable. He thought he had miscalculated this time; why point exactly to a rocky locus? He feared he would be humiliated on the spot. Just as he was contemplating an opportune moment to slip away, he saw Ma Liuhe, his face grim as water, walk over to him, demanding he come forward to see why rock was encountered beneath the eye of the pit.

Ma Liuhe’s implication was quite clear: he had torn down his house and dug up his ancestor's grave, only to find rock in the burial pit. Naturally, he suspected Mr. Hu was a charlatan. Accustomed to relying on his connections in official circles and his overbearing nature—disposing of a commoner was no matter to him—he instantly considered burying Mr. Hu alive in the pit.

Mr. Hu was filled with regret. If he had known, he would never have opened a fortune-telling stall or styled himself the 'Gold Finger'; staying honestly to herd sheep for a landlord would have been better than facing being buried alive. It was his own doing, and he had to accept it. Pressed by the crowd, he trudged miserably toward the grave pit, his mind frantically racing for a grand lie that might save his life.

But how could he conjure a solution on the spot? Just as he was at a loss, he heard the laborers digging shout in alarm, claiming the stone they struck bore inscriptions—it seemed to be a section of a stele. Ma Liuhe quickly ordered men to unearth it.

Many hands make light work. In moments, the stele was brought outside the pit. Wiping off the dirt, the onlookers saw six large characters carved deeply into the stone. Many literate people gathered around and recognized the script, murmuring the inscription aloud: "To dwell here is final, to be buried here is auspicious."

Ma Liuhe pushed through the crowd and read it several times, so stunned his mouth remained agape. With a thud, he knelt before Mr. Hu, bowing repeatedly in thanks: "Sir, your technique is truly divine! I, Ma Liuhe, am utterly convinced today!"

Mr. Hu had expected to be buried alive to fill the pit, never anticipating such a miraculous turn of events. No one here had ever managed the transfer between Yin and Yang residences before. What was buried in the path must have been an ancient relic. He never imagined such a perfect confirmation would appear. He was stunned for a moment before regaining his composure, further convincing him that the Sixteen-Character Secret Arts of Yin-Yang Feng Shui held genuine substance, far beyond ordinary quackery.

Indeed, a massive crowd had gathered, and everyone regarded Mr. Hu as a living immortal, treating him like the center of a celestial gathering. Mr. Hu felt immensely elated and secretly pleased, though he dared not show it too readily. He offered only superficial pleasantries, presided over the final lowering of Old Master Ma into the coffin, and received generous monetary gifts upon his return.

Afterward, Mr. Hu’s reputation spread far and wide. Anyone speaking of 'Gold Finger' Mr. Hu would invariably give a thumbs-up, praising him as 'Divine-Skilled Gold Finger.' But fame attracts envy, and soon many rogues set their sights on the Hu family, hoping to kidnap him to find dragon veins for grave robbing.

Mr. Hu indulged his swelled ego for a period, but seeing gangs of bandits and major thieves constantly appearing at his door, he had to curb his arrogance. He offered perfunctory services where he could and avoided danger when possible, but he knew he couldn't evade fate forever. Continuing to practice divination and geomancy in the city would inevitably bring disaster. Losing his own head was secondary; who would care for his wife and children?

So, Mr. Hu donated his gold, silver, and valuables and moved his entire family away. Since he was not originally from Hunan, leaving was easy, with no attachments. Two years later, facing a difficult time and short on funds, he recalled a cache of Yuan silver dollars buried in a secret location near Dongting Lake—a reserve he had hidden when his family was still wealthy, meant for emergencies, which he hadn't taken during the hurried departure. Now, he urgently needed it. He disguised himself, altered his appearance, and posed as a traveling merchant to retrieve the money.

Mr. Hu was meticulous, wary of spies everywhere, and intimately familiar with the route. Effortlessly, he retrieved the money box and was preparing to return home when he suddenly remembered Ma Liuhe. He mused that since he had located the "Ghost Hat" Yin wealth vein for him that year, the Ma family must be immensely prosperous now. Why not visit and converse, perhaps gaining further benefits?

Having made up his mind, he made a detour to find Ma Liuhe, only to be stunned upon arrival: the entire Ma clan was dead, and even Old Master Ma’s grave had been plundered by tomb robbers. Mr. Hu felt this was unexpected and couldn't help but wonder, "Could my earth meridian reading have been wrong, actually leading to the demise of the Ma family?" But then he reconsidered, "That’s impossible. They dug up an ancient stele in the grave site, clearly inscribed with 'To dwell here is final, to be buried here is auspicious.' This proves the ancients recognized this Feng Shui treasure spot long ago. Unless someone tampered with it, how could it be wrong?"

Full of doubt, yet with the lives of several dozen people from a major household at stake, Mr. Hu knew he couldn't rest until he understood the truth. He discreetly gathered gossip nearby and finally learned the sequence of events, a result that further surpassed his expectations.

Mr. Hu had expected to be buried alive to fill the pit, never anticipating such a miraculous turn of events. No one here had ever managed the transfer between Yin and Yang residences before. What was buried in the path must have been an ancient relic. He never imagined such a perfect confirmation would appear. He was stunned for a moment before regaining his composure, further convincing him that the Sixteen-Character Secret Arts of Yin-Yang Feng Shui held genuine substance, far beyond ordinary quackery.

Indeed, a massive crowd had gathered, and everyone regarded Mr. Hu as a living immortal, treating him like the center of a celestial gathering. Mr. Hu felt immensely elated and secretly pleased, though he dared not show it too readily. He offered only superficial pleasantries, presided over the final lowering of Old Master Ma into the coffin, and received generous monetary gifts upon his return.

Afterward, Mr. Hu’s reputation spread far and wide. Anyone speaking of 'Gold Finger' Mr. Hu would invariably give a thumbs-up, praising him as 'Divine-Skilled Gold Finger.' But fame attracts envy, and soon many rogues set their sights on the Hu family, hoping to kidnap him to find dragon veins for grave robbing.

Mr. Hu indulged his swelled ego for a period, but seeing gangs of bandits and major thieves constantly appearing at his door, he had to curb his arrogance. He offered perfunctory services where he could and avoided danger when possible, but he knew he couldn't evade fate forever. Continuing to practice divination and geomancy in the city would inevitably bring disaster. Losing his own head was secondary; who would care for his wife and children?

So, Mr. Hu donated his gold, silver, and valuables and moved his entire family away. Since he was not originally from Hunan, leaving was easy, with no attachments. Two years later, facing a difficult time and short on funds, he recalled a cache of Yuan silver dollars buried in a secret location near Dongting Lake—a reserve he had hidden when his family was still wealthy, meant for emergencies, which he hadn't taken during the hurried departure. Now, he urgently needed it. He disguised himself, altered his appearance, and posed as a traveling merchant to retrieve the money.

Mr. Hu was meticulous, wary of spies everywhere, and intimately familiar with the route. Effortlessly, he retrieved the money box and was preparing to return home when he suddenly remembered Ma Liuhe. He mused that since he had located the "Ghost Hat" Yin wealth vein for him that year, the Ma family must be immensely prosperous now. Why not visit and converse, perhaps gaining further benefits?

Having made up his mind, he made a detour to find Ma Liuhe, only to be stunned upon arrival: the entire Ma clan was dead, and even Old Master Ma’s grave had been plundered by tomb robbers. Mr. Hu felt this was unexpected and couldn't help but wonder, "Could my earth meridian reading have been wrong, actually leading to the demise of the Ma family?" But then he reconsidered, "That’s impossible. They dug up an ancient stele in the grave site, clearly inscribed with 'To dwell here is final, to be buried here is auspicious.' This proves the ancients recognized this Feng Shui treasure spot long ago. Unless someone tampered with it, how could it be wrong?"

Full of doubt, yet with the lives of several dozen people from a major household at stake, Mr. Hu knew he couldn't rest until he understood the truth. He discreetly gathered gossip nearby and finally learned the sequence of events, a result that further surpassed his expectations.

It turned out that after connecting the Yin and Yang residences, Ma Liuhe's business indeed flourished exceptionally, his trade booming as if the sun were at its zenith, wealth pouring into his coffers like running water. However, fate is unpredictable. One day, the family well was poisoned, killing dozens of people in one go. Although there were survivors in the household, so many died that they couldn't even arrange for enough coffins in the haste.

Ma Liuhe cursed Mr. Hu as a quack, claiming the 'Ghost Hat' remained perched upon the heads of his living family members, unable to be removed. Enraged, he took men to the city to smash Mr. Hu's establishment, but by then, 'Gold Finger' Mr. Hu, the diviner, had already vanished.

Ma Liuhe searched everywhere in vain and had to return home by boat along the waterway. Unexpectedly, a sudden squall whipped up the lake, capsizing the vessel. The entire party perished, becoming food for the dragon fish and aquatic life; not a single soul survived. Ma Liuhe’s vast family was wiped out completely.

This occurred during a time of frequent warfare. Old Master Ma's grave was a recent one, making it equivalent to a visible display of gold and silver. After a large bandit gang in Xiangyin dispersed, many members turned into petty robbers, flowing in with weapons and brazenly digging up the grave, plundering all the burial goods of Old Master Ma.

By that time, the custom of lavish burial had waned, but the practice of placing "mouth money" for the deceased—silver dollars and copper coins held in the mouth—was still common. Since the Ma family was wealthy, the coffin contained a considerable amount of rich and valuable items. Aside from the corpse’s clothing, the jade mouthpiece of the opium pipe alone was worth hundreds of silver dollars. In the end, even the few gold teeth inlaid in Old Master Ma's mouth were pulled out before the robbers smashed the coffin, mutilated the corpse, and fled, leaving behind a gruesome scene.

Later, several smaller groups of civilian robbers, along with locals from nearby areas, came to scratch at the pit. The grave pit grew wider and deeper. Where the ground underneath had remained untouched, another stone stele was revealed. Many curious people came to see it. When they cleared the dirt from the newly exposed stele, they saw six large characters as well—"The Righteous prosper, the Unjust perish."