Chapter 9: Five Masters

Our family doesn’t have any genealogical records. The origins of my grandfather’s craft have only been passed down orally through generations. According to my grandfather, our ancestors were once part of an immense family, as prosperous as the Ningguo Mansion in “Dream of the Red Chamber” at its peak.

The exact years of these past events are now impossible to verify. Moreover, it seems their work was somewhat related to imperial tombs. They needed not only to master the I Ching but also to possess the ability to advise emperors, so much of it was forbidden from being recorded by historians.

My grandfather spoke of the founder of the Gan Family as a renowned Geomancer in Capital City. Alongside him were four other Geomancers, each with their own specialties. They knew and respected each other.

However, something unknown happened later—perhaps a change of dynasty or different aspirations—and these legendary five went their separate ways. Over the long years, they established the Five Regional Territories in the southeast, northwest, and central regions, collectively known in the trade as the “Five Masters.”

Granny Yin’s family ended up in the eastern region. But in my memory, my grandfather spoke little of them. All I remember is that he often used their ghost stories to scare me into sleeping, making me think Granny Yin was just a figment of his imagination to frighten me.

I’m most interested in these old tales, so I quickly stepped forward to ask, “So, is it difficult to invite someone from Granny Yin’s family?”

Tian Yuqing smiled, “The Granny Yin family bears the surname Lu. They don’t have a fixed shop or business. It’s said that during the hardest years, they couldn’t even afford a bag of rice. They remain detached from worldly desires and have little to do with the other four families. Such people, without desires or weaknesses, are the hardest to persuade.”

As he spoke, we arrived at an old building with a faint light. I examined it; it stood alone, resembling an abandoned building left unfinished for years. Only the first floor had any light, which was quite odd.

The thought of it conjured up several classic horror movie scenes in my mind.

Tian Yuqing was the first to step onto the stone steps in front of the door, pushing open the creaky old wooden door. My gaze passed through him, fixing on the items inside. A chilling wind blew, and I shivered, taking a step back.

If I had come alone, I would have been scared out of my mind.

Inside, on the first floor, directly facing the door, was a red square table. Behind it sat a woman with her hair down, slowly tapping the table with her slender fingers.

Tian Yuqing remained standing at the door. I dared not move either. Even standing in the wind, cold sweat trickled down my back. I had no idea how long we stood like that until Tian Yuqing finally gestured to me from behind.

His gesture was simple, and I understood immediately: he wanted me to leave first. Such a good opportunity, I didn’t hesitate to turn and retrace my steps, quickening my pace as I went. There was only one path back, and I should soon reunite with Old Master Tian Xiao.

After walking for nearly fifteen minutes, exhausted, I stopped to rest. When I looked up, I found a fork in the road. My mind buzzed, and all my fatigue vanished.

As mentioned earlier, due to my grandfather’s rigorous training, paying attention to details had become a habit. So even though I was chatting casually with Tian Yuqing on the way here, my childhood habit compelled me to memorize the route.

I was sure that when Tian Yuqing led me here, there was only one alley, with no forks. Yet now, another path had appeared out of nowhere in this dark, desolate place, surrounded by abandoned buildings without a single light.

I wanted to curse. My grandfather had encountered many strange events in his time, but for someone like me, who knew nothing about divination, this was a nightmare.

I could wander here forever and never find my way out.

“Dear ancestors, I didn’t disturb your rest, so why change the road on me?” I chuckled bitterly.

I didn’t dare take either path, so I sat cross-legged in the middle of the road with the wooden box, deciding that if I couldn’t move, neither could anyone else. I’d wait for dawn here. The Tian Family would surely notice someone missing and send someone to find me.

Being alone in this eerie place was a unique torment. The darkness was suffocating, and the wooden box in my arms grew cold. After sitting for a while, I began to hallucinate, imagining a shadowy figure on the road ahead.

Wait! I rubbed my eyes vigorously and squinted. At the end of the road, a shadowy figure indeed appeared, holding a flip-top lighter.

Ghosts shouldn’t use lighters.

I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the dirt on me, and shouted at the person with the lighter, “Hey! Can you see me?”

The person saw me and slowly approached, holding the lighter in his right hand. His left hand seemed to be carrying something.

As he came into view, I saw he was carrying a plastic bag of steamed buns, eating them as he walked.

Eating steamed buns at this hour—well, that’s a good eating habit.

He looked about my age, wearing a set of little brown bear pajamas. The Jiangsu climate must be kind to him; his skin was well-maintained, much better than mine. His small face was covered with something as thin as paper, but the lighter’s weak flame made it hard to see clearly.

He smiled at me naturally, without any surprise, and then tossed a bun from the bag to me, “Here, have a hot one.”

I barely caught the hot bun he threw, and watched as he passed me, humming a tune and continuing down the road. I quickly followed, asking, “Excuse me, do you live here?”

With a bun in his mouth, he mumbled, “Don’t ask so much. You came too early, and brought so many people blocking the way, chattering all night without letting anyone have peace.”

His words were disjointed, but I could tell he was complaining about the Tian Family’s convoy arriving too early. At least, he seemed to know we were coming here.

They say Granny Yin’s descendants are few. Could it be that, besides the woman earlier, this person is also one of their descendants?

Following the pajama-clad man, it took less than ten minutes to return to that eerie building. The door of the abandoned building was open. Tian Xiao was sitting in his wheelchair with his eyes closed, and Tian Yuqing was anxiously preparing to make a call. Seeing me, he paused.

His gaze shifted to the pajama-clad man, slowly lowering the phone he was in the middle of dialing.

Tian Yuqing approached me, “There was only one path back through the alley. Where did you go?”

The pajama-clad man interjected, “Sorry, I went out to buy buns in a hurry and forgot to put things away.”

Before I could explain, the pajama-clad man casually stepped over the threshold of the abandoned building, circled behind the redwood table, and used two fingers to firmly grip the “woman’s” chin. With a flick of his wrist, the woman’s tapping stopped, and her body slumped lifelessly to the side.

The pajama-clad man set down his bun, picked up the “woman” from the seat, carried her to a cabinet in the building, lifted the curtain, and placed her inside, then let the curtain fall completely.

As he tidied up the coins and divination diagrams on the table, he said, “Normally, there’s only one path in this alley, but in certain special circumstances, two or three can appear.”

“Young Master Gan, you must be cautious in the future. If you accidentally enter the Death Gate, even I won’t have a way to save you.”
——

—Ningguo Mansion (寧國府, Níngguó Fǔ) is one of the two great aristocratic households described in Cao Xueqin’s classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢). The other is the Rongguo Mansion (榮國府, Róngguó Fǔ). Together, these two households are called the “Ning-Rong Mansions” (寧榮二府), representing two branches of the same noble family

—The I Ching (Book of Changes) is an ancient Chinese classic used for divination and philosophy, teaching that life is in constant change and wisdom comes from adapting in harmony with it.