Five Defects and Three Shortcomings

“Twenty years ago, something happened in Yangcheng.”

He did not make it sound too mysterious. He simply explained what had happened beneath Litchi Grove Plaza.

“I wasn’t the first person they sent in. They had their own feng shui master.”

Wang Xincheng said, “Three groups went in before me. Two came back. One was unconscious and never woke up; the other went mad. The crazy one kept shouting at everyone he saw, ‘There’s something underground.’”

The hair on Wang Keting’s arms stood on end, though he still tried to sound tough.

“What kind of something? A tomb? I hear there are plenty of tombs on the mainland. If that’s the case, we must have struck it rich.”

Wang Leyao raised her hand again.

Wang Keting hurriedly shifted to the side. “Sis, be reasonable. Even a tense atmosphere needs someone to lighten it.”

Wang Xincheng ignored his younger son’s interruption.

“That place is called Dragon Fang Ground.”

The moment those three words left his mouth, the expression on Wang Leyao’s face turned serious.

She did not study feng shui, but she had grown up in the Wang family and absorbed enough of its lore to understand some of the terminology. Dragon veins rose and fell; some formed auspicious sites, while others formed deadly mouths.

Dragon Fang was not an auspicious name. It referred to a dragon’s momentum entering a lethal formation, causing the earth’s qi to turn back and consume the fortune and vitality of the living.

“Dragon Fang Ground isn’t merely a place of evil energy.”

Wang Xincheng picked up his compass and ran a finger along its edge. “Something is also buried beneath it. Twenty years ago, I took over halfway through the operation. The moment I arrived and saw the place, I ordered everyone to withdraw and all metal equipment to be removed at least a hundred meters away.”

“Why?” Wang Keting asked.

“Metal governs killing and destruction. In a place like that, bringing metal in is like giving it a mouth.”

Wang Keting swallowed.

He normally knew nothing about such matters, but his father had relied on this craft to establish the Wang family in Hong Kong. Even if he understood little, he could still hear the gravity in his father’s voice.

“What happened afterward?”

“Afterward, I went down with people from the Flame-Yellow Awakening and reinforced a seal.”

Wang Xincheng said it very briefly.

But some things were more frightening when said briefly.

Wang Leyao opened her tablet and pulled up the itinerary. “So the call today was because there’s a problem with the seal? I noticed it. Your hands were trembling when you answered.”

“Probably. They want me to go up there. The worst-case scenario is that the seal has broken. The best case is that only people have died.”

No one spoke in the study.

Outside, the sea breeze stirred the curtains twice.

Wang Keting sat up straighter. “If it’s cracked, just find someone to repair it. Old man, you’re over seventy. Stop handling everything yourself. Aren’t there plenty of experts on the mainland? The Flame-Yellow Awakening sounds pretty impressive. They can’t deal with it themselves?”

Wang Xincheng gave him a look.

“That seal contains my techniques. If someone else repairs it, I’m afraid they won’t be able to reconnect it properly.”

Wang Leyao frowned. “How dangerous is it?”

“If it’s only a leak of baleful energy, the people living nearby will suffer illness, financial loss, and unrest in their homes.

“If the seal breaks completely, that entire district won’t know peace for more than a decade. There may even be a constant stream of bloodshed.”

Wang Keting could not help interrupting. “Then can’t we just not go?”

The moment he finished speaking, Wang Leyao slapped him.

This time, the sound was even louder.

“Sis!”

“Do you think this is a children’s game? You can just choose not to go?” Wang Leyao said coldly. “That’s the Flame-Yellow Awakening, not some ordinary client. Since Dad participated in sealing the place back then, his name is definitely in their records. They came looking for him today because they need him to go.”

Wang Keting covered his head, looking aggrieved.

“I’m not saying we should ignore other people’s lives. I’m saying Dad is old. What if something happens to him? You know better than anyone how many of the Wang family’s businesses are being held up by his reputation.”

That was not an entirely foolish thing to say.

Wang Leyao did not hit him again.

Wang Xincheng leaned back in his chair, his tone softening. “Leyao, don’t put it so crudely. The Flame-Yellow Awakening represents the government. Maintaining a good relationship with them will benefit the Wang family’s future business on the mainland. But business isn’t the only reason I’m going.”

He paused, then tapped a finger beside the compass needle.

“A feng shui master can’t take money and nothing else in return. If you profit from Heaven’s secrets, you have to repay what you owe. Since I took responsibility for that place back then, I can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.”

Wang Keting was unconvinced. “Hong Kong is a special administrative region. No one can force us to do anything if we pretend not to see it, can they? At worst, we can immigrate. Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore—there are plenty of places to go.”

Wang Leyao held back for two seconds, then gave him another smack.

“Wang Keting, is your head full of sweet-potato soup?”

“Sis, that’s three hits today. You’ve exceeded the limits of the family-affection service.”

“What do you think the Flame-Yellow Awakening is, a security company?” Wang Leyao shut her tablet. “They’re a special organization of the Chinese government. You can run wherever you want, but if they really want to find you, they can bring you back from anywhere. And when that happens, the question won’t be whether you’re flying business class. It’ll be whether you’re wearing handcuffs.”

Wang Keting opened his mouth, then swallowed the rest of what he was about to say.

“So Dad has no choice but to go?”

“I’m going.”

Wang Xincheng corrected him. “It’s not that they’re forcing me.”

He looked at his two children and suddenly asked, “Have you never wondered why I never taught either of you feng shui?”

Wang Leyao said nothing.

Wang Keting was more straightforward. “Not really. Especially after I learned that carrying a compass also meant memorizing so many formulas. That stuff is even more sleep-inducing than my schoolbooks.”

Wang Xincheng was briefly amused by his son, but his smile quickly faded.

“I didn’t teach you because I didn’t want you involved.”

He dipped a finger into his tea and wrote five characters on the tabletop.

Widowhood, childlessness, solitude, isolation, and disability.

Then he wrote three more.

Wealth, longevity, and authority.

“Feng shui and divination study the terrain and calculate the secrets of Heaven. There’s an old saying in our profession: five afflictions and three deprivations. The five afflictions are widowhood, childlessness, solitude, isolation, and disability. The three deprivations are wealth, longevity, and authority. No one necessarily suffers all of them, but those of us in this line of work often encounter several.”

Wang Keting frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. You’re healthy, Dad. Mom is still downstairs eating sweet soup. My sister and I are both fine. We’re not short of money, and you’ve lived past seventy. As for authority, we don’t have any, but who cares? Our family isn’t running for district council.”

Wang Xincheng shook his head.

“It isn’t a ledger of punishment, with each item deducted one by one. Heaven follows cause and effect, but it also allows for atonement. Good deeds, accumulated hidden virtue, and taking on disasters for others can offset some of it. The seal we reinforced twenty years ago counts as merit as well.”

As he spoke, he looked out at the sea.

“But the ledger doesn’t close so quickly. What should be counted against me will still be counted. It may even continue down to the next generation.”

At those words, Wang Leyao’s fingers stopped moving.

Wang Keting stopped joking too.

Wang Xincheng did not elaborate.

But the siblings understood.

Some afflictions did not fall on the person who incurred them. Instead, they wound their way into the paths of his children.

Wang Leyao’s lack of success in marriage over the years and Wang Keting’s carefree, good-for-nothing attitude might both have something to do with it.

He had never mentioned it before because he was afraid that speaking of it would only make things worse.

Tonight, he brought it up because he did not want to keep them in the dark.

After a long silence, Wang Leyao said, “I was already planning to go to the mainland to discuss a project. I’ll go with you.”

Wang Xincheng nodded, then turned to Wang Keting.

A chill ran down Wang Keting’s back.

“You’re going too.”

“What?”

Wang Keting nearly sprang off the sofa. “Why do I have to go? I don’t know how to draw talismans or read a compass. I won’t be any help at all!”

“You’re useful.”

“Useful? You’ve already canceled my credit card three times. What use could I possibly be?”