"Ouch, I can't do it anymore! I can't! Come help me!"
Qiu Jian, refusing to believe it, swung his hammer several times. Each strike on the wooden stake felt like hitting granite. The stake remained unmoved, and Qiu Jian's tiger's mouth was left numb from the impact.
Finally, he twisted his back, unable to straighten up. He had to have his junior students help him to a seat before he felt slightly better.
"This is absurd!" Qiu Jian exclaimed angrily. "What exactly is going wrong?"
The instruments were fine, their professional knowledge was sound, and everyone had plenty of strength. The wooden stake was even thinner than a normal one.
Logically, driving a wooden stake should not be this difficult!
Long Feicheng said mockingly, "How is it? Are you admitting defeat?"
Qiu Jian felt embarrassed but still refused to yield. He said, "That didn't count. We'll pick another spot, and we'll definitely be able to drive it in!"
This was a problem that didn't even require Yan Shouyi to step in; Long Feicheng immediately agreed.
Qiu Jian seemed determined to see it through, even at the cost of his pride, and personally went to find a spot for driving the stake.
This time, they were much more careful than before. Qiu Jian even had a junior student jump into the water to feel the lakebed.
While they were busy, Yan Shouyi completely ignored them and examined the surrounding situation on his own.
The location and basic design of the new house were decided by Yan Chou, so it was bound to be the best spot in the entire Rong City.
Therefore, Yan Shouyi didn't need to doubt the feng shui of the location chosen by Yan Chou.
However, the study of feng shui is such that a minor change in one aspect can affect the whole, potentially turning a fortunate situation into a disastrous one.
What Yan Shouyi needed to do now was to find where the赊刀人 (she dao ren -赊刀人 refers to a specific type of fortune teller or diviner, often associated with prophecies or predictions tied to selling knives) had tampered with things.
"Little Long, let me borrow a strand of your hair."
After speaking, Yan Shouyi plucked a strand of hair from Long Feicheng's head.
Long Feicheng cried out in pain, clutching his head. "Brother Yan, I don't have much hair to begin with. Why didn't you pull your own?"
"Does pulling my own hair hurt?"
"You make such perfect sense, I'm speechless…"
Yan Shouyi held Long Feicheng's hair up to his eyebrows and let go. He saw the strand of hair drift towards the southwest.
"Did you figure anything out?" Lin Zhitong asked curiously.
The Lu Shan Sect was least adept at feng shui and formations, so Lin Zhitong couldn't help much with this matter.
Yan Shouyi frowned and said, "At this time of year, West Lake should have a southeast wind. My father designed the house to turn this wind into a cross-breeze, which helps to clear the minds of those living inside. But now, it's blowing from the southwest."
"How much does the wind direction affect things?" Lin Zhitong asked.
"The impact itself isn't huge, but the chain reaction it causes is significant. Look, the workers on the construction site are all listless and weak, a direct result of the feng shui influence. If this continues, the workers will inevitably make mistakes and cause accidents."
Yan Shouyi paused and added, "This赊刀人 who made the move has considerable skill in feng shui."
After summarizing the issue with the wind direction, Yan Shouyi circled the area a few more times and discovered over a dozen feng shui problems.
However, most of these were minor issues, which Yan Shouyi quickly resolved.
It had to be said that West Lake's feng shui was exceptionally good. Even with the赊刀人's numerous manipulations, it couldn't alter West Lake's favorable wind flow. At most, it caused some minor inconveniences, but it wouldn't affect the overall situation.
After resolving the problems, the feng shui indeed improved considerably. The workers' spirits were much better, and even in the dead of winter, they felt a warm spring breeze.
"How many problems are left to solve?" Lin Zhitong asked.
Yan Shouyi held up one finger and then used that finger to point to a spot underwater:
"Only the last one remains, which is this issue with driving the stake. I suspect that the赊刀人 tampered with something at the bottom of the water. We might have to go underwater to take a look."
Long Feicheng was the first to shake his head. "I'm not going! It's so cold, and I've been sickly since childhood. If I go into the water, I'll definitely get sick!"
Yan Shouyi gave him a look. "Zhitong is a girl, and she can't go into the water either. So, ultimately, it's up to me."
Lin Zhitong pursed her lips and said, "I can go down too. Don't underestimate me."
"I'm not underestimating you!" Yan Shouyi chuckled. "Last Tuesday, a bull in the village went mad and rampaged through the village. Everyone was afraid to go near it. I wasn't home, and only you stepped up. You broke the mad bull's skull with a single punch."
Long Feicheng nodded vigorously. "Thanks to Sister-in-law, we ate five pounds of beef that night and were so full we couldn't sleep!"
Lin Zhitong said irritably, "Didn't we agree not to bring that up again!"
Her image was that of a goddess, a strong woman, an elegant beauty.
Not a tomboy who could punch a bull to death!
Jokes aside, Yan Shouyi finally said gently, "The water is cold, and it's not good for your health if you get wet. I'm a celestial corpse puppet, I can withstand it."
Hearing this, Lin Zhitong finally relented and did not insist on going into the water.
At this moment, Qiu Jian and the others finally found a new spot for driving the stake and called for Yan Shouyi and his companions to come and see.
The new spot was closer to the shore. In fact, Qiu Jian had some intention of cheating. Based on his observation, the ground for three meters down was all mud, making it incredibly easy to drive a one-meter-deep wooden stake.
But he didn't reveal this secret. Now, in order to save face, he was willing to do anything.
When Yan Shouyi and the other two arrived, Qiu Jian and his team immediately began their work.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The hammer repeatedly struck the wooden stake, and it sank quickly, just as Qiu Jian had imagined.
However, just when he thought he had this in the bag, the wooden stake stopped again!
It was only a few centimeters short of the one-meter red line. But those few centimeters felt like the difference between heaven and earth. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't push it in any further!
At this point, Qiu Jian fell silent. His highly educated junior students exchanged glances, speechless for a long time.
"What's the situation now?" Long Feicheng asked loudly. "Are you still going to drive it?"
Qiu Jian's face felt hot, and he didn't know what to say.
After a long pause, he managed to blurt out, "I can't drive it in. Do you think you can?"
This statement seemed to provide them with an excuse, and the others immediately started to defend themselves:
"Yes, we can't drive it in now, but that doesn't mean we truly can't!"
"Give us a few days, and we'll definitely find the reason!"
"To put it bluntly, if we can't do it, then no one in the world can!"
Yan Shouyi waved his hand, signaling for everyone to quiet down.
He said calmly, "Humanity has only entered the true technological era for a hundred years. Our ancestors studied housing construction and feng shui for thousands of years. Much of the wisdom accumulated over these millennia cannot be explained today due to issues with inheritance, but that doesn't mean those traditional methods lack scientific basis. Science and metaphysics are not opposing forces. When we can explain metaphysics one day, metaphysics will become science."
His words left everyone stunned. They understood vaguely, feeling that what Yan Shouyi said was too profound.
At this moment, Yan Shouyi took off his jacket and climbed over the railing.
Qiu Jian came back to his senses and, enduring his back pain, stepped forward to stop Yan Shouyi. "Mr. Yan, what are you doing?"
"Solving the problem."
With that, Yan Shouyi shook off Qiu Jian and leaped into West Lake.
Qiu Jian was dumbfounded. He looked back, and Lin Zhitong and Long Feicheng showed no intention of stopping him.
Yan Shouyi tumbled in the lake water, then surfaced to take a deep breath.
"This lake water is indeed bone-chillingly cold!"
"Be careful," Lin Zhitong reminded him.
"Don't worry."
After speaking, Yan Shouyi submerged himself and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The surface of the lake shimmered, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.
Qiu Jian was confused. "Where did Mr. Yan go?"