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Chapter Thirteen Ghostly Affairs (1)
After graduating from university in 2011, I took a job at a foreign trade company in Singapore. Due to time constraints, I couldn't return home to visit. I ended up staying in this foreign land for three years, and by mid-July of this year, I was feeling homesick, so I decided to go back home for a visit.
Once home, I chatted with my brother, who suggested that I take some time to visit an elderly man named Gao Xuanhu with him. "Xuanhu" is a term from the Shaanxi dialect meaning something mysterious or uncanny. I had some recollection of this elderly man; he was thin, always smiling, with a goatee, and he wore a long coat that had faded from washing throughout the year. The older villagers said he had fled here during the Cultural Revolution and had some knowledge of feng shui. I asked my brother why we needed to see him, and he explained that many things had happened in our family during the first two years after my graduation, and it was Gao Xuanhu who helped resolve those issues.
Every year during the Qingming Festival in July, our home would be filled with low, eerie sighs and sounds reminiscent of ghosts wailing like in movies. In our small dark room, there were often rustling noises. Our family dog would frequently bark at empty spaces in the yard at night. During the day, the sky above our house was always dark and oppressive; even when the sun was out, the sunlight felt cold.
On July 7, 2012, my second sister's husband drove under the influence and accidentally killed an old man, resulting in compensation of several hundred thousand yuan. My eldest sister was knocked down by a tricycle right outside our home and ended up trapped under the handlebars. After being rescued, she was mostly fine except for her face scraping against the ground, which left a large scar. Meanwhile, my brother was still working in the building materials industry with EPS exterior wall insulation boards. Last year, due to a downturn in the real estate market, his client absconded with funds, causing him to lose over a hundred thousand yuan.
Later on, my father grew puzzled as one misfortune followed another; it seemed like our luck was too poor—could it be a feng shui issue? He suddenly remembered there was a Taoist priest back home who had gained some local fame among our generation. Since he had nothing better to do anyway, he thought it might be worth asking him.
My father returned to our hometown and found Gao Xuanhu. After explaining the situation, Gao Xuanhu readily agreed to help. He quickly packed his things into a cosmic bag and went with my father to our house.
Upon arriving at our doorstep, Gao Xuanhu suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. "Why does it smell so bad?" he asked.
My father pointed to the front of the house and replied, "We built a toilet here." Gao Xuanhu looked at the toilet room and frowned. "Why did you build the toilet here?"
My father explained that two years ago there were too many construction materials at home; they converted the original toilet into a storage room and moved the toilet outside.
Old Gao remained silent as he walked around the toilet once before frowning again. "Why is there a stinky canal in the middle of the toilet?"
My Father said: Fifty meters up from our house is a Women's Lingerie Processing Factory. Two years ago, the factory's wastewater emissions exceeded standards, and the factory manager came up with a makeshift solution by digging a Canal from the factory's discharge outlet, which bypassed our front door and led directly to a nearby garbage station. This not only saved on wastewater disposal costs but also prevented pollution of the Five Dragon River (the Dayan River in Huayin).
Old Gao sighed and said: Nowadays, people only know how to make money, running around aimlessly all day!
Upon entering, Father invited Gao Xuanhu into the house, where a meal had already been prepared on the table. However, he waved his hand and said: No reward without merit; let's take a look at your situation first.
Gao Xuanhu walked around our entire house, then went to the wall on the far west side and looked up to inspect it. After that, he went up to the second floor to check the entire eaves and said: This is it.
He then took out a piece of yellow paper and drew an incomprehensible pattern on it with a Cinnabar pen. Then, as if performing a magic trick, he folded it into a paper crane.
Next, he laid the paper crane flat and took out three Copper Coins from his coat, placing them on top of the paper crane while chanting: Boundaries to the west, do not invite people; I come from the east, let the haze disperse!
After saying this, he pinched the tail of the crane with his right hand, raised it high, blew on it, and released his hand. The paper crane shot off to the west but only flew a few meters before suddenly diving down like a stone and plummeting to the ground.
Old Gao asked my Father for a ladder, climbed onto the roof, looked west for a while, then came down and asked my Father what was in that direction. My Father replied that it was a grove of Willows. Gao nodded and returned to the house.
Gao Xuanhu loved alcohol, so my Father had already prepared Shaanxi's Western Phoenix Youyuan Wine. He did not refuse and drank heartily while eating meat. After consuming a pound of wine, he clapped his hands. Seeing this, my Father hurriedly handed him a red envelope containing one thousand yuan. However, Gao Xuanhu returned the envelope and said: That’s not what I meant. Let me explain a few things: you must tear down the toilet in front of your door and move it away from the northwest corner against the wall. The Canal that passes by the toilet is very unlucky. But if you fill it in, people from the factory might come looking for trouble. Here’s what you should do: after you tear down the toilet, replace the dirty soil with some soil from School or Urban Area to refill it tightly. Water it lightly every day for half a month; then dig it open again to create a small pond and draw water from your home to it. Make an opening for the pond and dig a small path connecting to the vegetable garden in the backyard. As for the west side of your house, that Feng Shui is quite bad.
Gao Xuanhu paused for a moment before continuing: Plant green bamboo in your backyard; plant more of it. After you do as I say, wait three months before coming back to find me.
So my Father followed his instructions. Strangely enough, whether due to luck or real Feng Shui effects, in the third month, that boss who had absconded with funds somehow managed to revive his finances and returned to Huayin to settle my brother's project payment. My brother-in-law was also promoted to logistics supervisor at his unit and earned quite a bit of extra money. Usually, there were no mistakes in any major or minor matters.
At this point, my Father and brother were deeply impressed and brought generous gifts to visit Gao Xuanhu. They also asked him why they needed to follow his advice.
Gao Xuanhu smiled and said, "Having flowing water in front of the door is a good thing, but unfortunately, the water in that Canal is dirty, foul water. People usually feel uncomfortable just smelling it, let alone that the toilet is directly facing the house's Main Entrance. It's no surprise if something goes wrong. The dirty water flowing from the women's underwear factory is a result of lingerie production; women's underwear is inherently very yin, and when mixed with toilet sewage, it flows past the front door day and night, directly weakening a person's Yang Fire. This is referred to as 'water clashing' in Feng Shui.
I asked you to find soil from either a School or an Urban Area because those places have more vitality, and the soil contains yang energy, which can suppress Yin Qi. Then we can fill the pit and create a pond, activating the small water dragon, which will thoroughly eliminate bad luck and bring good fortune to the family. Additionally, your house has two stories on the east side and one on the west, forming a unified structure. As the saying goes, Purple Qi Comes from the East, bringing great fortune. The east side is higher, blocking good luck from entering the house. The west side represents danger; your house's west door is wide open and has one less story than the east side, which is already inauspicious. I also noticed that not far from your home to the west is a row of newly planted Willow trees. Willow trees attract ghosts and invite misfortune, and they are directly facing your west door; the consequences are predictable.
To block evil spirits with trees, bamboo is the first choice. Other trees vary in shape and arrangement, making them difficult to organize effectively. Only bamboo stands tall and elegant, exuding a pleasant fragrance while being uniformly arranged to block while allowing passage. This characteristic of both blocking and allowing lets evil spirits halt while good energy enters. As for that Crane Calls Two Realms Crane, it flies towards yang and falls towards yin. When I saw that crane falling towards the west, I confirmed that there was an issue with that Willow grove. Bamboo can transform misfortune into good luck, thus breaking this curse.
From then on, my father firmly believed in Feng Shui and requested Gao Xuanhu to take him as a disciple; surprisingly, Gao Xuanhu did not refuse. Later on, my Father occasionally helped others with Feng Shui, gaining some fame in our small village.
After hearing my brother's account of all this about ghosts and strange occurrences, I felt an urgent desire to meet Gao Xuanhu.
The next day, my brother and I got up early, took several modes of transportation, and arrived at our hometown around nine in the morning. Gao Laoren's home was just as I remembered from my childhood—unchanged in any way. The front door was made of two wooden panels surrounded by a fence; upon entering was a vegetable garden, and it took us more than ten steps to reach the main entrance. After entering, three middle-aged men welcomed us; one of them named Uncle Niu informed us that Gao Laoren was currently meditating in seclusion for two days and asked us to come back later. I noticed several cars parked at the entrance and a few well-dressed men looking anxious; it seemed he was indeed telling the truth.
I checked the time; it was still early. I told Uncle Niu about how Gao Laoren had helped my Father with his Feng Shui. Upon hearing this, my uncle said that we were old acquaintances and invited us into the house. During our casual conversation, I learned that Gao Laoren was unmarried and had no children; these three men were essentially his adopted sons. So I asked why they wanted to become Gao Laoren's adopted sons. At first, they were reluctant to share but eventually, after much pleading from me, Uncle Niu recounted a thrilling personal experience... (to be continued in the next chapter)!
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