Mr. 01

Qingxi Town was home to several hundred households. It had begun as a mere village before gradually evolving into a small town. Its buildings, constructed of grey brick and white tile, exuded a cold, desolate atmosphere.

Fang Zhiyi was the town's resident Feng Shui master. He was well-versed in the arts of exorcising evil spirits, drawing talismans, and geomancy—seeking dragon veins and locating acupoints. Most of the townspeople held him in high esteem, though that was before he took on apprentices.

Reaching middle age, Fang Zhiyi accepted two disciples. Since the study of these mystical arts was said to bring about the curse of "Five Disadvantages and Three Deficiencies"—inescapable misfortunes—most families refused to let their sons learn the trade. However, these two were exceptions. The elder disciple, Li Huaian, was an orphan with boundless energy and a head full of mischievous schemes. The younger disciple was somewhat dull-witted; his parents, despising his stupidity, had sent him over the moment they heard Master Fang was accepting students. Once they handed him to Fang Zhiyi, they left without a backward glance, terrified he might follow them home.

Fang Zhiyi was a man of mild temperament and did not mind the boys' shortcomings. On the contrary, he patiently taught them how to read the Luopan compass, draw talismans, and arrange tactical formations.

Li Huaian was the first to court disaster. It was the Seventh Month—the Ghost Month—and in accordance with custom, Fang Zhiyi sent him to the mass graves to offer incense to the wandering spirits. Knowing the boy's loose tongue, he gave a specific warning: "Speak little, act with caution, and do not disturb the dead." But Li Huaian turned a deaf ear, believing his master was making a fuss over nothing. A cold, incessant drizzle fell from the sky, and having to work in the rain made Li Huaian feel sullen and aggrieved. In a fit of pique, he relieved himself on a burial mound, cursing under his breath as he did so.

That single act of disrespect earned him the hatred of the mound's occupant—a peddler who had died a violent death. Already filled with resentment, the spirit was enraged by this indignity and latched onto the boy immediately. Upon returning to town, Li Huaian didn't go straight to his master's house. Instead, he loitered about, flirting with the tavern keeper's daughter and teasing A-Cui, who was embroidering at the town entrance. As the sky darkened, the peddler's ghost began to wreak havoc.

Li Huaian made a spectacle of himself. First, he performed a striptease in front of a crowd, mortifying the local women. Then, acting as if possessed by a monkey, he darted frantically about, scratching two passersby. Finally, his face turning an ashen grey, he collapsed to the ground foaming at the mouth, looking for all the world as if he were at death's door.

Upon hearing the news, Fang Zhiyi hurried to the scene. He glanced at his apprentice and, wiping a hand over his own eyes to activate his spiritual sight, saw the ghost of the peddler clinging tightly to the boy's back. Naturally, Fang Zhiyi could not stand idly by. He forcibly tore the spirit from his apprentice and sealed it inside his gourd. When Li Huaian regained his senses and saw the mocking faces of the townspeople, he was overcome with shame.

Fang Zhiyi soon learned that his apprentice had relieved himself on the ghost's grave. Since the peddler had only sought to vent his anger rather than take the boy's life, Fang Zhiyi appeased the spirit, promising to perform a ritual to help it pass on. He then turned and severely reprimanded Li Huaian.

However, Li Huaian harbored a grudge over the humiliation. Taking advantage of Fang Zhiyi's absence, he threw the gourd containing the peddler's soul into the furnace his master used for brewing medicine. The furnace, inherited from Fang Zhiyi's own master, was engraved with the symbols of the Celestial Master. The peddler's soul was roasted in the flames, suffering immense agony before finally dissipating completely. With that, Li Huaian felt he had settled the score.

Afterward, he told his master that the malicious ghost had escaped. Fang Zhiyi did not suspect him; he merely sighed.

"Humans follow the way of humans, and ghosts follow the way of ghosts. Yet, Heaven will not tolerate those who commit great evil."

No sooner had this storm passed than the younger apprentice, Lin Adai, caused an even greater calamity. His selfish parents, having lost money gambling, suddenly turned their sights on him. Deceived by their smooth talk, Lin Adai rummaged through his master's belongings, found the deed to the house, and handed it over to them. He naively believed their promise that they only wanted to look at it and would return it by dawn, so he waited faithfully.

It was not until he heard that his master had been evicted by Master Huang, a wealthy tycoon in town, that he seemed to realize he had been duped. His parents had sold the deed to Master Huang.

Seeing Lin Adai doing nothing but hanging his head and weeping, Fang Zhiyi sighed again. In the end, he did not scold the boy. Instead, he chose to build a makeshift lean-to next to a Taoist temple outside of town for temporary shelter.

One would think that after such events, the two apprentices would settle down, but they did not. It seemed they were sent specifically to test Fang Zhiyi's patience. Because of the previous scandal, Li Huaian's reputation in town was in tatters, preventing him from pursuing his favorite pastime: flirting with young girls. Consequently, he spent his days wandering the mountain forests, occasionally helping his master gather herbs or catch snakes.

On one such day, he encountered a beautiful young woman he had never seen before in the woods. He approached to strike up a conversation, and she covered her mouth and giggled softly. One thing led to another, and he became utterly captivated by her, failing completely to notice that there was something unnatural about her.

Fang Zhiyi had troubles of his own. The town's new police chief, educated in Western schools, did not believe in the supernatural and made a point of harassing him daily. Furthermore, his younger apprentice was dim-witted and constantly bungled his chores. Distracted by these issues, Fang Zhiyi failed to notice the change in his eldest disciple.

Lin Adai also began his own misadventure. He met a beautiful woman from out of town and enthusiastically gave her a tour, pointing out the tavern, the police station, where his master lived, and where Master Huang's estate was located.

This beautiful woman went by the name Nightingale. Her real name was Huang Wenwen, though she preferred the title the common folk had given her: "Thousand-Hand Guanyin."

To put it plainly, she was a cat burglar. She styled herself as a Robin Hood figure, robbing the rich to aid the poor. After a heist, her first act would be to "bless" the local populace with her loot. Hearing their effusive gratitude made Nightingale beam with joy. In modern terms, her behavior would likely be classified as a psychological disorder.

At the time, she never considered the consequences. She enjoyed the momentary thrill, but after she departed, the villagers found in possession of the stolen goods were rounded up by the authorities and local gentry, then beaten to a bloody pulp. As her wanted posters spread across the country, she felt immensely pleased with herself, oblivious to the fact that in the places she had "visited," the common people hated her to the bone.

It was precisely because her wanted posters were everywhere that she had chosen to hide in this small town. Encountering a simpleton upon her arrival amused her, and she immediately decided she would lend this fool a hand.

Originally, she planned to rob Master Huang, distribute the loot, and leave. However, a single remark from Lin Adai stopped her in her tracks.

"You mustn't go to the West Mountain. Master says there is an ancient tomb there, and inside is something very fierce..."

Nightingale ignored the warning at the end of his sentence; her mind was consumed by the words "ancient tomb." She had previously stolen from defeated warlords who funded their weaponry through tomb raiding. Could such a stroke of immense luck finally have fallen to her?

While Nightingale began pumping Lin Adai for information regarding the ancient tomb, Fang Zhiyi finally discovered Li Huaian's illicit affair with the snake demon. Li Huaian had been shrouded in demonic energy lately, listless and hollow-eyed. Fang Zhiyi followed him in secret and eventually caught him rendezvousing with the creature.