Lin Fang stood on the balcony on the second floor, the night breeze blowing on his face, blowing away the fatigue after the ritual. He looked at the fountain in the garden below, the water reflecting the moonlight, like a hazy eye. The couple invited him into the guest room, brought hot tea and snacks, everything seemed polite and thoughtful, even a little... cautious.
This was not the first time that Lin Fang had fortune-telling and feng shui, but it was the first time that he used oriental Taoism to pry open the cold face of Western capitalists in a foreign country.
From the moment the girl opened her eyes, he knew that he had won this round. But it was just an opening.
"America is not like China. There is no room for human relations here, only results." Lin Fang said to himself secretly.
He took a sip of black tea, and the tip of his tongue was a faint jasmine fragrance, mixed with a little unfamiliar caramel. His thoughts were still in the hall downstairs-the scene where the blonde hostess suddenly knelt down, and he instinctively wanted to help her, but was firmly rejected by the other party.
"You are the benefactor of our whole family."
At that moment, Lin Fang suddenly realized that the joke that fate played on him might not really be a joke.
He did not leave immediately, but stayed. The other party asked him to stay for one night, saying "Master Lin has to get up early tomorrow, why not rest here with us."
Lin Fang did not refuse. He knew that this night was not only a rest, but also the starting point for the next layout.
At three o'clock in the morning, the night sky of Los Angeles was still faintly bright. The city seemed to never sleep, and countless lights were like stars, flickering and floating between high-rise buildings. Occasionally, the low sirens of police cars came from afar, interweaving with the rustling of leaves in the breeze, forming a whisper belonging to the city late at night.
Lin Fang sat in a spacious but quaint guest room on the second floor of the "Silver Pine Garden" villa. The walls were covered with light beige wallpaper, and a beige gauze curtain hung by the window, gently fluttering in the cold air of the air conditioner. In his hand was a cup of freshly brewed black tea, the fragrance of the tea mixed with sandalwood and a hint of aromatherapy, with a faint sweetness. The tea was warm, with a slight astringency, but it made people feel peaceful.
Sitting opposite was the owner of the mansion - a blond, blue-eyed, burly middle-aged white man. He was wearing a gray-blue home robe, with old scars faintly visible on his bare chest, and the muscle lines were vaguely visible, but not ostentatious. His eyes were sharp, full of complex exploration of Lin Fang and a hint of instinctive distrust.
"Mr. Lin, you really have something." The man's tone was a little hesitant, but he couldn't help being curious. He pointed to the copper coins and yellow paper ashes on the coffee table, and his tone was mixed with a hint of sarcasm, "What you do here is considered - Eastern witchcraft?"
Lin Fang held the teacup with a calm expression. He was dressed very ordinary, wearing a dark gray T-shirt with a pair of faded jeans and a pair of old canvas shoes. He looked like a young migrant worker who had just come from a small city in East Asia. However, his eyes were clear and sharp, as if they could see through people's minds.
"My grandfather said that this is called 'Heaven and Man's Induction'. It is not witchcraft, but Taoism." Lin Fang said softly, his tone was calm, but with a certain calmness that could not be ignored.
"Taoism?" The man raised his eyebrows.
Lin Fang put down the teacup and his eyes fell on the night far away outside the window. He seemed to be thinking, and seemed to be sensing the flow of heaven and earth. He slowly said: "Heaven has Tao, earth has reason, and people have fate."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of yellow paper from the small leather bag on his waist, and his nails quickly scratched on the paper. In an instant, he wrote a whole string of complicated Bagua symbols. The speed of his hands was so fast that it was dazzling. After writing, he folded it casually and lit it lightly with a lighter.
The flames rose and swayed in the air. Strangely, the yellow paper did not make any burning sound, but burned quietly, and finally turned into a wisp of light blue smoke, which immediately swirled up and slowly rose like a snake, condensing without dispersing, and rushed straight to the ceiling - as if it was not smoke, but some kind of conscious existence.
The man's pupils shrank, and he stepped back repeatedly, almost knocking over the coffee table with his elbow.
"How did you do this?" He whispered in a low voice, with involuntary fear in his voice.
Lin Fang did not answer, but just quietly watched the wisp of blue smoke slowly dissipate, and whispered: "The problem of this house has been dealt with. But your family fortune has not recovered yet."
The hostess sat aside, with blonde hair draped over her shoulders and a slightly tired face. Her name is Catherine, a typical upper-class woman in Los Angeles, with an elegant demeanor, but her eyes reveal anxiety from time to time. Hearing Lin Fang's words, she frowned: "You mean, there are other troubles?"
Lin Fang stood up and paced around the living room. His steps were slow, but every step was between the corners of the furniture, as if measuring some invisible direction. He suddenly stopped at the corner of the stairs, his eyes solemn: "You bought this house and renovated it, right?"
"Yes." Catherine nodded, "It was originally Italian style, and we added a lot of custom structures. The entire lighting, ventilation, and staircase direction have been changed, what's wrong?"
Lin Fang half-squinted his eyes, his eyes were sharp: "You changed the wrong direction."
He pointed to the entrance facing due north at the end of the stairs, and his tone was cold: "North is Kan, which is responsible for water and disasters. In Feng Shui, if the door faces north at home, it is the opening of the 'Death Gate'. '. You added a lot of black metal decorations. This material belongs to water, and the water energy is more prosperous, and the evil spirits are easy to gather, which leads to unstable house energy. "
He paused and glanced at Catherine: "Has your daughter been waking up at night recently, saying that there is someone outside the window?"
Catherine's face suddenly changed drastically, and she sat up straight: "How do you know? She screamed every night in the past two weeks, saying that there was a woman in a red skirt standing under the tree outside the window looking at her..."
"But our surveillance video didn't capture anything at all." Ivan added, and a trace of uneasiness flashed across his face.
Lin Fang shook his head slightly, took out a small cloth bag from his bag, poured out a little gray-white powder, dipped it with two fingers, walked to the entrance, and flicked it at the black carved door.
With a light "pop", the black lion head iron ring on the door suddenly trembled slightly, making a low "buzzing" sound, like a beast roaring in the night.
Catherine screamed, while Ivan frowned and looked more serious.
Lin Fang looked at the door knocker: "Is this iron ring preserved from the original house?"
"Yes, we think it is quite unique." Catherine nodded, "You mean... this thing is not clean?"
"Did you ask someone to open it and purify the house?"
The two looked at each other and finally shook their heads.
Lin Fang sighed and said calmly: "This is not just evil spirit, but the remnant spirit of dead things. This house looks like gold and jade on the surface, but it has become an 'empty shell', and the evil spirit is still there. Have you often felt inexplicably tired in the past few months? You are irritable during the day, but you can't sleep at night?"
The two nodded at the same time.
Lin Fang has already concluded that this family did not do it maliciously, but they did violate the Feng Shui taboos in the decoration, leaving an extremely tricky "yin situation". If left unchecked, the consequences will be disastrous.
However, he will not break the situation all at once.
He just landed in Los Angeles, and he couldn't get everything done in one go.
"I can adjust the house bureau, but I have to do it step by step." Lin Fang put away the compass and his eyes fell on a photo on the wall.
It was a seemingly ordinary photo. In the photo, Ivan was wearing a formal suit and standing in front of a modern office building, with the famous commercial buildings on Wilshire Avenue behind him. The signature clearly read: "Brightlight Capital Holding Group".
"Are you the boss of Brightlight?" Lin Fang asked casually.
"I guess so." Ivan nodded, with a hint of pride in his eyes, "I founded this group, starting from real estate, and now involved in medical care, education, finance... What? You want to invest?"
Lin Fang smiled slightly and shook his head: "No. I just want to say... Is there any financial problem with your company recently?"
Ivan's expression froze and he sat up straight.
Lin Fang continued slowly: "Your forehead is dark, your breath is unstable, and there is a faint blue air at your temples - this is a sign of 'disasters from the business door, loss of wealth and injury to people'. Coupled with the dead end in this house, I dare to conclude that you have lost at least two projects in the past two weeks, and a partner has bitten you back."
The room was suddenly silent.
Catherine opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but she didn't say anything. Ivan's eyes changed and his face gradually darkened.
He knew that everything Lin Fang said was true.
Lin Fang gently stroked the copper coin in his hand, his tone was calm but with unquestionable confidence: "I can help you change your luck, but I never read Feng Shui for free for the second time. If you want me to continue, you have to pay the corresponding price."
"How much?" Ivan asked in a deep voice.
Lin Fang did not answer directly. He placed the copper coin flat on his palm and blew it gently.
The copper coin leaped into the air, flashing a cold light under the light, and then slowly fell down. It was not the front side, nor the back side, but - miraculously standing on the table!
The copper coin stood steadily on the corner of the table, as if it was assisted by God.
Catherine exclaimed: "How is this possible?"
Lin Fang said lightly: "This is called 'standing hexagram without falling'. You are now in a dangerous situation. I can break it, but there is a condition."
He paused and stretched out his right hand: "Give me a trial identity and enter your company. Look at the feng shui once, draw a hexagram once, and change the situation once - if you don't believe it, I will turn around and leave."
Ivan stared at him for a few seconds, suddenly stretched out his hand, and shook hands with Lin Fang tightly: "Deal."
Lin Fang smiled.
He knew that the situation in Los Angeles had already begun.