Yan Shouyi's question actually brought up some clues.
Liu Mingzhi let out a long sigh and said:
"The day you left, a man with burn scars on his face came to our door. My son, Liu Zong, saw him. We thought he was just an ordinary wanderer looking for food. We gave him food and drink, but after he finished, he declared that he and Yiyi had privately pledged their lives to each other and demanded that we marry Yiyi to him!"
"How could my son possibly agree? He thought the man was mentally unstable and had our servants chase him away. Later, the matter reached my ears, so I went to ask Yiyi specifically. Yiyi also said she didn't know the man and had never pledged her life to him, which made me even more certain that the man had a problem with his mind. However, that evening, something happened at our home."
"Initially, the two cherry trees planted in the front yard for over thirty years suddenly fell. Countless wasps swarmed out of the beehive on the trees, stinging many people. By dinnertime, the kitchen fire couldn't be lit, the rice couldn't be cooked, and the rice bin, when opened, was full of snakes, insects, rats, and ants. After dark, many strange figures were seen lurking around our house walls. The steward took men out, but they couldn't find anyone!"
"In the dead of night, that man knocked on our door again, asking if we agreed to their engagement. My son, in a fit of anger, not only refused but also beat him. As soon as he returned, everyone named Liu felt weak all over. They went back to their beds, and strange black spots appeared on their hands. Then they fell gravely ill..."
As Liu Mingzhi spoke, he took his hand out from under the covers and rolled up his sleeve. Indeed, it was covered in black spots.
The shape of these black spots resembled southern cockroaches, about half the size of a thumb, covering Liu Mingzhi's body except for his face. They were everywhere else, and pressing them caused a stinging sensation.
Hearing this, Yan Shouyi understood. The origin of everything was likely that man with burn scars on his face.
Yan Shouyi could not yet confirm whether Liu Yiren had any relationship with that man, but it was clear that the man was no ordinary person.
Uncle Zhong asked from the side:
"Mr. Yan, given the situation, do you have any solutions?"
If the Liu family continued to fall ill like this, a person with Liu Mingzhi's physique would likely die within days, so Uncle Zhong was extremely anxious.
Yan Shouyi stood up and said, "The Liu family is not sick; their feng shui has been tampered with. To resolve this, we must start with feng shui. Wait for me here; I will go out and investigate!"
The reason Yan Shouyi was so sure that the Liu family's illness was caused by feng shui was that many of the strange occurrences Liu Mingzhi described were folk curses.
For example, the tree falling in front of the door, the rice not being cooked, and the unrest at night were all folk curses, even recorded in the upper volume of the Lu Ban Scroll.
This was not too difficult or profound; many folk charlatans could do it. They were merely minor tricks to deceive people.
Liu Mingzhi said, "Shouyi, on behalf of the Liu family, I thank you again."
Yan Shouyi waved his hand, "It's not too late to thank me after the matter is resolved."
Leaving Liu Mingzhi's room, Yan Shouyi decided to first deal with those minor tricks that were meant to scare people.
He first went to the front yard and saw two deep pits there. Two cherry trees had been planted there before. The fallen cherry trees had already been cleared, leaving only two deep pits.
Yan Shouyi took out his compass and calculated for a moment. He then pointed towards the southeast, threw Zhu Shanzao over, and said, "Dig a hole, quickly."
Zhu Shanzao cried, "I'm a pig, not a dog! How can I dig holes?"
"When necessary, you can act like a dog, unless you want to get hit with a hammer," Yan Shouyi threatened.
Zhu Shanzao immediately became obedient and began digging with his pink, tender pig hooves.
Zhu Shanzao had done so many harmful things to the Liu family before, so it was only right for him to do some hard, tiring work to repay his debt. Yan Shouyi felt no guilt whatsoever.
After digging for a while, Zhu Shanzao suddenly discovered something underground. When he dug it out, he saw two dead crow carcasses.
Burying crow carcasses in someone's yard would disrupt their feng shui, which was why the two trees had collapsed.
Next, Yan Shouyi took Zhu Shanzao to the Liu family's kitchen. He first smashed the rice bin. Indeed, a Taoist talisman was stuck to the bottom of the rice bin. The inscription on the talisman was not red but dark brown.
The talisman was not drawn with cinnabar but with a mixture of rat lungs and earthworms ground into "Chen Sha Ju." Once stuck to the bottom of someone's rice bin, it would prevent their rice from being cooked and also attract a large number of snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
Finally, he went to the outer walls of the Liu family's compound. Seeing many strange sticky substances sprayed on the walls, he asked Uncle Zhong to have them cleaned.
When Uncle Zhong inquired, Yan Shouyi explained:
"This is all eel blood, which bats love. That fellow sprayed eel blood on your walls. At night, bats were attracted, flying in swarms. It looked like people were wandering outside your house. When you opened the door, the bats, hearing the movement, were frightened and scattered. Naturally, you couldn't find anything, thinking it was a haunting."
After hearing Yan Shouyi's explanation, Uncle Zhong was filled with admiration. He realized that sometimes, things that sounded extremely mysterious were quite ordinary once the truth was known.
However, the most difficult thing was to uncover the truth. The knowledge of these minor folk tricks was scarce nowadays.
After dealing with these minor matters, Yan Shouyi began to ponder the most important issue.
The Liu family's illness.
He could ascertain that the strange illness afflicting the Liu family was caused by feng shui, but to understand what had gone wrong with the Liu family's feng shui, he first needed to study and understand it thoroughly.
Thus, Yan Shouyi released San Yuan and let San Yuan fly into the sky to give him an aerial view of the Liu family's layout.
The feng shui layout of the Liu family combined the elements of metal, wood, and water, also known as the Si You Chou Metal Consolidation, which was a moderately standard feng shui arrangement. However, such a feng shui arrangement obviously did not catch Yan Shouyi's eye.
This type of feng shui utilized the existing feng shui around the buildings, connected them into one flow, gathered wealth, and had a relatively simple layout, being less affected by external factors, making it a very stable feng shui arrangement.
However, its drawback was that if any of the three elements, metal, wood, or water, were tampered with, the entire feng shui arrangement could be destroyed.
The Liu family was located in Guling. The wood element would naturally not be an issue. There was a mountain spring and a small stream in front of Zuihuali, and it had not dried up. The only issue was the metal element!
At the main entrance of Zuihuali, there was a colossal golden bull statue, which was cast by a feng shui master years ago and was the key to forming the feng shui arrangement.
Therefore, Yan Shouyi's first thought was of the golden bull statue.
If the person who harmed the Liu family wanted to tamper with the Liu family's feng shui, then the golden bull statue would undoubtedly be their primary target.
So, Yan Shouyi recalled San Yuan, brought Zhu Shanzao, and headed directly for the golden bull statue!
The golden bull statue at the main entrance of Zuihuali was about twenty meters long and worth over thirty million. Years ago, to transport it up the mountain, the Liu family had directly rebuilt the road leading to Guling, widening it by six meters.
Now, this golden bull statue sat at the entrance of Zuihuali like a guardian. Everyone who came to visit Zuihuali couldn't help but admire this giant bronze beast.
Zhu Shanzao looked at the golden bull statue and wondered, "This thing doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it. Such a large statue, it's not something that can be moved just like that!"
Zhu Shanzao was actually correct. Even if a leg of this golden bull statue were removed, it would not significantly affect the feng shui arrangement.
The person who tampered with the feng shui could not possibly have moved the golden bull statue directly.
However, Yan Shouyi, with his sharp eyes, immediately spotted the problem with the golden bull statue.
He pointed between the bull's hind legs and said speechlessly, "That fellow is truly shameless! He actually turned a bull into a cow! This caused the Liu family's feng shui arrangement to change from a yang to a yin state, from gathering Qi to dispersing Qi – it's completely inverted!!"