Han Ying glanced at Lao Gong in the rearview mirror, and her eyes slightly changed.
I furrowed my brow and continued to stare at Lao Gong.
Lao Gong explained, "When we left, the kid's emotions were suppressed, but his heart was as dark as can be. The heart, my lord, as they say, shapes one's appearance."
At this point, Lao Gong's demeanor and expressions became extremely vivid, as if it were something serious.
"A face like soot, eyes like tears, the tear trough has abandoned lines, corner of the mouth and eye tail slant, as if a clay ghost in the temple. This person is too harsh and cruel."
"Considering the Zhou family's situation, with brothers dead and grandfather gone, Fan Jie was his lifeline. Destroying the Han family and killing me was his hope."
"The straw is gone, and then a new one must be fetched, fetch another..."
Lao Gong clicked his tongue and said, "Straw can kill a camel, and it's not worth the risk to put it on my body. If something happens to the Han family, my daughter will be sad, and even if the older lady isn't at home, she will also feel uncomfortable."
A speech from Lao Gong was delivered with a rise and fall, vividly illustrated, even his eyes were wide open like bronze bells.
Silence for two seconds, I closed my eyes.
The first half of what Lao Gong said was about face-reading, which is a form of divination. Literally, I understood it to mean the appearance and features of a person.
Indeed, that day Zhou Yan's demeanor changed quite a bit, and he had a face of sorrow.
Lao Gong's prediction was indeed correct. Each word he spoke was right on the mark, on the crucial juncture.
So, I blamed Lao Gong for my lack of foresight.
However, that's only a small part of it; it's not that I'm making excuses, but because face reading and people's hearts, I can't see them.
Looking at Lao Gong again, I said, "You won't be rewarded for anything, there are female corpses in Fan Jie's place. You can take whatever you want, but you mustn't say anything you shouldn't."
Lao Gong's eyes sparkled immediately!
"Ah! I spoke carelessly, I spoke carelessly!" Lao Gong's voice trembled slightly, and his excitement was even more evident.
"It's useful! That geomancer is still useful!"
Lao Gong's head snapped up and actually went through the roof of the car, disappearing.
A moment of silence fell inside the car for a minute or two before Han Ying whispered, "How can you reward Lao Gong this way? Even Shen God has become corrupt."
"I explained to Han Ying, "If rewards and punishments are not clear, the ghost heart will eventually scatter." Moreover, Fan Jie is still in the car at the back. We need to have someone watching him. We can't relax our guard just because he seems afraid of us. Lao Gong has sharp eyes and decisive actions, so I trust him."
Han Ying finally realized it all at once.
I did not speak any more, took out the four rules of true law that I carried with me, and while studying the symbols, drew virtual paintings.
As I drew the symbols, I would sometimes mutter some words under my breath, which were the contents of the talisman spells.
It was late at night, and the highway seemed even quieter, as we had not seen another car in parallel for a long time.
All night, Han Ying rested twice in the service area, and just as near the early morning when the sky was about to light up, Lao Gong returned.
He wore a satisfied expression, his face radiant with energy, and then he disappeared into the night.
Around seven or eight o'clock, Han Ying entered a service area again. She slightly pained and called out to me, saying not to look anymore; I had been looking all night, my eyes must be sore. We need to rest and regain our energy.
I smiled and said I wasn't tired.
Han Ying snorted and looked at me intently.
I only then put away the book. Just in time, I glanced out the window and saw someone approaching. It was precisely Fan Jie.
He stood by the car door, nodding and bowing, his earlier fear slightly diminishing, replaced by a strong sense of excitement.
Stepping out of the car, Fan Jie moved forward a few steps, his gaze at me even more bright.
Raising my eyebrows slightly, I felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Please accept my respects, Lord."
Fan Jie dusted his clothes and bowed deeply to me.
Not just me, but Han Ying's expression was also blank.
Fan Jie's attitude and address had changed. Clearly, something must have been said or done by Lao Gong.
"Zhou Yan died well. Almost, I was fooled by this kid. Lao Gong told me that the kid was planning to give me to a Daoist temple in Dongxiang, and then sell you to them. At that time, it would be those self-proclaimed righteous monks who would come and settle us."
"I was angry with that kid's death earlier, which was completely unfounded! Unfounded!"
"Thank goodness for Lao Gong, or I would have been used too. Even if you hadn't come, that kid would have betrayed me after using me to achieve his goals. Besides, everything was done under my threat..."
I only then suddenly realized, Lao Gong was adding fuel to the fire and framed Zhou Yan with his story. However, people who are dead cannot be brought back to life, Zhou Yan also cannot come to defend himself now.
"Lord, you can rest assured, I am very useful. For the mere Cihui Village, I wouldn't mind going there before. I will clear all obstacles on your path to ensure you don't have to dirty your clothes." Fan Jie stood up and forcefully patted his chest.
"Um, do your best. Go rest for a while, we'll set out shortly." I nodded.
Fan Jie only sighed and turned to go back to his golden cup car.
Han Ying glanced at me and pursed her lips.
I helplessly smiled.
After resting for about half an hour in the service area, I originally wanted to eat some hot noodles, but the taste was quite unpleasant. Even though I don't have high demands for food, it still made me a bit stomachache. In the end, we settled for some cookies and mineral water, and we set off from the service area.
Over two days, it was a bit dull for Han Ying, but for me, looking at symbols tired me out, so I adjusted my breath to rest. Once my mind was well-rested, I could stay up a bit less at night and recover well.
On the second day, as evening approached, the navigation showed that we were nearing Cihui Village.
However, when we should have reached the position of Cihui Village, the interface on the navigation changed, and we had to detour through several roads before we could reach Cihui Village.
"Han Ying mumbled in confusion, "Something's wrong, did we turn the wrong way?" Asking about it, she continued driving forward according to the instructions.
As a result, we drove in circles, and every time we were within a hundred meters of Cihui Village, the navigation suddenly changed.
The car alarm started to beep, and Han Ying stopped the car.
We had just gotten out of the car when Fan Jie rushed over. He was holding a round compass in his hands and took a breath to say, "Lord, no need to continue driving. We can't get there. It's really unusual. The entire area we are in should have been affected by feng shui, and everything here, except for the compass and people, is not working."
Raising my eyebrows slightly, I scanned the surroundings.
The location we are currently in is on a country road, with some small two-story houses of villagers scattered on both sides. Mostly there were standard square fields, about 180 meters on each side, and there were crossroads on both sides that led into the village.
A miss is as good as a mile. Since the navigation couldn't lead us to Cihui Village, we would have to ask for directions from someone.
"Just ask someone, and we'll know." I said to Fan Jie.
"I'll go, I'll go. This is just a small thing." Fan Jie immediately hurried towards a small two-story house.
Soon, Fan Jie came out of the small two-story house and went to another building.
A little while later, Fan Jie returned to my side. His brow was furrowed tightly, and his face was filled with an odd expression.
"What's wrong?" I asked Fan Jie.
"I just encountered a living ghost. I asked about Cihui Village, and no one knew..." Fan Jie answered unnaturally.
"How is this possible?" Han Ying exclaimed.
I nodded and said, "Perhaps there were many unusual and fierce events in that village in the past, things that people don't want to mention. There's no fault in others."
"I'll go." Han Ying said, then walked in the direction that Fan Jie just went.
Fan Jie looked down and didn't say anything, but only stared at the compass in his hand, looking at the direction around him, his eyes filled with thought.
Not long after, Han Ying returned. She looked somewhat discouraged and shook her head, saying, "No one really knew. I even took money, but theoretically, money can make ghosts do anything. A village address is just that... still didn't work. They don't seem to be lying."
"But it's really strange. Cihui Village can't just not exist. The landmarks on the navigation must be marked by someone, and our information gathering was also very clear."
"Could it be the ghosts in the village who made these changes?"
"No, it's not." Fan Jie shook his head and said, "How can ghosts change the feng shui?"
"This area is a feng shui issue... it's designed to confuse the path. Someone might not want us to enter, and the person marking the map might not be able to find the location of Cihui Village, so they marked it randomly here, making the feng shui chaotic."
I thought for a moment and asked Fan Jie if he could understand it.
Fan Jie unnaturally shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Lord, it's not that I'm not good at learning. It's just that the scope of this feng shui is too large. It's like an array. We don't know where to enter from, and everything we see might be true or false. People are definitely living beings, but can you see that road?"
Fan Jie pointed to a side road with his hand.
"The road might be fake. You see it there, and when you walk to it, you will end up somewhere else."
"Yes, it's possible that it leads back to our main road from the other side."
Turned around, Fan Jie pointed to a fork road in the opposite direction.
I spat out a foul breath, and Han Ying was equally confused.
"I'll wait for Lao Gong. It's almost dark." I spat out a foul breath and said.
"Lao Gong isn't able to do anything either, Master Yang, he is a fortune teller, while a feng shui master is the one who observes the feng shui situation and analyzes the geography. Lord, I suggest we find a nearby town. No matter how powerful the person trying to hide the location of Cihui Village is, Lord, you can't change the feng shui of such a large area. At most, within this village range, there must be someone in the town who knows about Cihui Village!" Fan Jie said with certainty.
I looked at Fan Jie for a moment, but without saying anything, I looked at him for a few seconds in a neutral way.
Fan Jie had a slight suspicion, but soon, his pupils constricted, and he stared blankly at the night urinal on my waist.
His Adam's apple rolled, and he swallowed hard, muttering, "That's impossible... a ghost of the level of Apparition? Lord... no... not possible..."
Sweat beads the size of beans popped up on Fan Jie's forehead, not out of fear, but because he truly found it hard to believe.
"Shh." Han Ying raised her fingers, indicating to be quiet.
Fan Jie: "..."
Soon, it was night.
There were no streetlights on the country road. The nearest house was twenty to thirty meters away, and the windows there were lit up, but no one came to look at us.
Fan Jie's car was a hearse, and anyone who was normal would find it unauspicious.
Lao Gong's head popped out of the red and white night urinal. In the first moment, he made a slight "hm" sound.
His head leaped slightly and landed on Fan Jie's shoulder, his ghostly eyes wide open.
