The moment I spoke, everyone was stunned into silence.
Uncle Huzi's face darkened as he said coldly, "Our young master is helping your Zhang family out of kindness, and you treat him like this? Forget this job. Young master, let's go."
My expression turned cold too, and I prepared to follow Uncle Huzi and leave.
Just then, Zhang Yunyao suddenly blocked our way, her voice trembling with fear. "Young Master Wu, please don't be angry. My brother has always been like this—bad temper since he was a kid. Please don't take it personally."
Zhang Yucheng was furious. He stormed over and slapped Zhang Yunliang hard across the face. Yunliang staggered, nearly falling to the ground. "You bastard! Do you know how hard it was to invite Young Master Wu here? Not only do you refuse to help, you cause trouble. Watch out or I'll beat you to death…"
Zhang Yucheng moved to strike again but was stopped by a few workers nearby.
Still defiant, Zhang Yunliang sneered, "Dad, that guy is definitely here to scam us, just like the others before. Those previous 'masters' at least looked older, so it felt somewhat legit. But this one looks like a kid, obviously a fraud."
"That's it! I'm going to kill you today!" Zhang Yucheng roared, grabbing a shovel from the ground and chasing after Yunliang.
Seeing the danger, Yunliang immediately turned and ran.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yucheng suddenly swayed and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, as if about to faint.
Zhang Yunyao hurried over and gave him some medicine. After a while, he improved significantly.
Uncle Huzi and I stood there awkwardly, surprised that as soon as we arrived, before doing anything, we ran into such a troublesome scene—and had to deal with a troublesome Zhang Yunliang.
We had come in their car, and even if we wanted to leave now, we couldn't. This place was a remote wilderness—no passing cars.
After taking the medicine, Zhang Yucheng took a deep breath and was helped over to us by Zhang Yunyao. He repeatedly apologized, "I'm sorry, Young Master Wu. That ungrateful kid made me so angry I had a hypertension attack. He's always been unruly and extreme in personality. He doesn't know who you really are, and there have indeed been some sham Feng Shui masters fooling us before. Please forgive his rude words and don't take them to heart."
"Yes, Young Master Wu, please don't be mad. My brother has been having terrible nightmares recently and is emotionally fragile," Zhang Yunyao stammered.
"Enough. Let's go see the ancestral tomb first," I said sternly.
The only reason I decided to stay was because of the money—we had already accepted the deposit, and I did need it.
If it were my usual temper, I would have turned and left immediately.
Naturally, the father and daughter were extremely grateful and led me into the Zhang family ancestral tomb.
As soon as I entered, my brows furrowed. The tomb was surrounded by many pine trees, obviously recently planted.
But all these pines were completely withered—dry and yellowed.
Zhang Yucheng explained, "Young Master Wu, these pines were planted just yesterday. When we arrived, they were fine, but after planting them here, they withered by the next day. Even if the trees were dying, there should be a process. For them to wither within a day means the tomb definitely has a problem."
I nodded silently and asked Uncle Huzi to follow me to a nearby small hill.
This was the highest point around, offering a clear view of the tomb's Feng Shui layout.
In the distance, blue mountains overlapped like waves, the classic dragon coiling and tiger crouching formation.
To the southwest of the tomb, a river slowly meandered by. The overall Feng Shui seemed fine—wind was trapped and energy gathered, the tomb nestled by mountains and water.
On closer inspection, I noticed something else.
Not far from the tomb was a hill shaped like a sleeping dragon, moving sinuously with its head raised high.
To the southeast of the tomb was another hill, shaped like a charging tiger, its mouth wide open.
Together, these formed a rare Feng Shui formation called the Dragon and Tiger Outflow Sha point.
The Zhang family tomb was on this dragon-tiger battleground, as if the two beasts were fighting for the land.
Though the site wasn't exceptionally remarkable, it was already very good by ordinary Feng Shui standards.
The old Taoist who chose this tomb for the Zhang family back then truly had some skills.
If the Feng Shui was sound, the recent problems must have other causes.
Soon, I returned to the tomb and started inspecting the graves.
Seeing me back, Zhang Yucheng cautiously approached and asked, "Young Master Wu, have you found anything wrong?"
"Not yet," I replied.
Zhang Yucheng fell silent and followed me as I walked among the graves.
The Zhang family was indeed wealthy; the tombstones were made of high-quality stone and inscribed with the names of ancestors.
The entire cemetery had over a dozen tombstones, including some joint burials.
Zhang Yunyao's grandfather was buried here as well.
After inspecting the area, I walked to the northwest corner of the tomb, near a mound, and stomped three times with my foot. Then I told Zhang Yucheng, "Have someone dig one meter deep here."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yucheng quickly called two workers over, and they started digging.
At one meter deep, something strange happened—the earth started oozing blood-like water. Soon, a large area of soil turned red.
The workers turned pale in shock.
Seeing this, I started to have some clues.
I then moved to another grave nearby, measured a spot with my foot, and told Zhang Yucheng, "Dig one and a half meters here."
The workers hesitated, afraid to dig further. Who would want to disturb a tomb that was bleeding? They feared they had provoked something unclean.
"More money!" Zhang Yucheng said firmly.
Hearing this, the workers perked up and resumed digging.
After some time, when they reached one and a half meters deep, not only did blood-like water seep out, but they also unearthed an object.
It was a wooden box, square and finely crafted, covered with a black cloth that the workers pulled off.
The box was carved with strange, dense mystical symbols.
I glanced at the box and said, "Take it out."
"More money—take it out," Zhang Yucheng repeated, using his usual tactic of throwing money around. Though reluctant, the workers obeyed.