noveltune Chapter 51: The Counter of Water
Chapter 51: The Counter of Water
Cheng Xiaojin stared at the bottom of the sink for three seconds, then reached out and turned on the tap to rinse it.
The gray water stains were washed away, and the reflection disappeared.
He turned off the tap completely.
What were you looking at just now?
Tieguai Li asked from behind.
"It's nothing, the water stains just weren't completely rinsed off."
Cheng Xiaojin turned around and swallowed what had just happened.
He wasn't sure if it was real or if he was seeing things. He was already in a bad state after exhausting his energy last night; his eyes had been dry all day, and he occasionally saw double.
The phone rang; it was Zhou Banxian.
"Uncle Zhou."
"Come to Master Ma right away, something's happened."
"What is it?"
"We'll talk when you get here; it's hard to explain over the phone."
When Cheng Xiaojin arrived at Master Ma's courtyard with Tieguai Li on his bicycle, there were already three people sitting in the main room.
Master Ma, Master Zhou, and Tang Wanqing.
Tang Wanqing was wearing a gray-blue long gown today, not a cheongsam. Her compass was placed at her feet. She looked unwell but stood ramrod straight.
"Speak."
Cheng Xiaojin found a spot on the threshold and sat down.
"You know about Zhao Defa's wife's affair?"
"Not just Zhao Defa's wife."
Zhou Banxian placed his enamel mug on the table, his right hand pressing against the mug, his fingers trembling.
"From this morning until now, seven incidents have been reported within a three-kilometer radius of Panjiayuan."
"Seven up what?"
"Seven people, all between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., walked to a place with water in their homes, stood still, and counted."
A chill ran down Cheng Xiaojin's spine.
"Have you counted to one hundred and thirty-five?"
Not entirely.
Zhou Banxian picked up the enamel cup and put it down again.
"There are two counts that end at seventy or eighty, and three counts that end at the whole number and then start over."
He paused for a moment.
"There was another one where nobody even noticed he was counting. He finished counting and went back to sleep, and when he woke up in the morning, he didn't remember anything."
"Also, in Yong'anli residential area, an elderly woman in her sixties came down from the sixth floor at two o'clock in the morning, walked barefoot to the artificial lake in the middle of the residential area, and walked directly into the water."
Cheng Xiaojin stood up.
"Is he alright?"
"She was fine. The water was only waist-deep. She stood still in the water and counted from one to one hundred and thirty-five. After she finished counting, she walked out on her own. Her feet were covered in mud. She went back to sleep and didn't remember anything when she woke up in the morning."
"One hundred and thirty-five, not a single number off?"
"Her family members stated it very clearly: from one to one hundred and thirty-five, without missing or repeating any numbers, they stopped after they finished counting."
Tieguai Li squatted in the corner, tapping his hexagonal wrench against his knees twice.
"One hundred and thirty-five pieces of Zhenhai Iron, one hundred and thirty-five numbers, is there yin energy in the number of piles?"
"I'm not counting."
Zhou Banxian's voice became hoarse.
"We are looking for it."
He walked to the octagonal table, spread out Cheng Shouyi's nine-post diagram, and placed his right index finger on the position of the third post.
"After the third pile was pulled out, the water outlet leaked, and the yin water evil surged upward. Last night, Cheng Xiaojin channeled the evil, and the surface pressure was released, but the wound on the earth vein is still open."
He drew a circle with his finger at the location of the third stake on the map.
"The yin energy in the water flows out through the tap water pipes. Anyone who comes into contact with this water, especially those with weak yang energy or light sleep, will be led astray."
"Where to take it?"
"Take it to the water's edge."
Zhou Banxian loosened his fingers.
"The yin energy is looking for a new stake. If it can't find an iron stake, it will look for a living person. The living person stands still by the water and counts from one to one hundred and thirty-five. The yin energy is using the living person to test the stake location. If it doesn't work the first time, it will try again until it works."
Cheng Xiaojin's voice turned cold.
What does "it worked after trying it" mean?
Zhou Banxian didn't answer.
But Master Ma spoke up.
"Once it works, the person might never come back..."
No one spoke in the main room.
The thrush huddled in a corner of the cage, too afraid to even chirp.
"What should we do then?"
Cheng Xiaojin's voice rose.
"I almost died trying to ward off evil spirits, and now you're telling me it's all useless? The drain is still leaking, and the evil spirits are still searching for the living?"
"It's not useless."
Tang Wanqing spoke first. She had been standing silently behind Master Ma, and this was the first thing she said after entering the room.
"You've cleared the surface of the evil spirits, and the water in those three wells in the eastern part of Panjiayuan has receded by more than half. The compass needle's rotation speed has dropped by 40%. What you've done wasn't in vain."
"Then why are accidents still happening?"
"Because you only cleared the surface layer, the bottom layer is still rising, and the speed at which you clear it can't keep up with the speed at which it surges up."
Tang Wanqing walked to the table, took out a compass from the compass box, and placed it next to the Nine Pile Diagram.
The pointer on the bronze surface was turning slowly, much slower than before the Three Talents Formation last night, but it was still turning.
"After the pile is pulled out, it must be put back in before the night of a full moon."
"What is meant by 'returning to the starting position'?"
"Place the Zhenhai Iron back in its original location at the water outlet to re-suppress the earth's veins."
"Put it back? Put it back into that pit in Mancheng?"
"Simply putting it back isn't enough."
Tang Wanqing pressed her fingers on the bronze surface of the compass.
"The old records of the Zhenlong lineage state that once the pile is pulled out, the energy field at the pit entrance dissipates. Simply stuffing it back in won't suppress it; a formation diagram must be used to guide and relocate the burial site."
Cheng Xiaojin frowned.
"A battle formation to pinpoint the acupoint?"
"The copper sheet is aligned with the precise position of the water inlet, and then the Zhenhai Iron is put back in. The whole process needs to be completed between midnight and 1-3 am on the night of the full moon."
Why does it have to be a full moon?
"On the night of the full moon, the tides are at their highest, and the pressure of the underground water veins reaches its peak. At that moment, the water outlet will briefly open on its own, which is the only window through which the pile can be inserted back in."
Tang Wanqing tapped her fingernail lightly on the bronze surface of the compass.
"Once you pass that window, the water outlet closes, and if you want to insert it back in, you'll have to chisel it out by force, and the noise from that chisel would be enough to shake the entire branch apart."
Tieguai Li muttered a reply from the corner.
In other words, you only get one chance.
Tang Wanqing glanced at him but did not deny it.
Cheng Xiaojin calculated the days.
"How much time has passed since the old farmer in the city dug up the lump of iron?"
Nineteen days.
Master Ma added a comment.
Tang Wanqing tapped the bronze surface of the compass again with her fingernail.
"The next full moon is on the 15th of the lunar calendar, which is eleven days from today."
"Eleven days."
Cheng Xiaojin's face fell.
"I have to send the Zhenhai Iron back to Mancheng within eleven days, use the array diagram to locate the burial site, and press it back into the water outlet on the night of the full moon. Otherwise, the people in this area will be getting up one after another in the middle of the night looking for water."
"It could...it could even lead to someone dying..."
Cheng Xiaojin bit her cheek and continued speaking.
"Returning to the stake requires a diagram to guide it; nine copper plates correspond to nine stake positions. Where is the plate for the third stake?"
Tang Wanqing glanced at Master Ma.
Master Ma glanced at Cheng Xiaojin.
"The diagram of the third stake."
Master Ma's voice was slow.
"It's in Boss Lin's hands."
Cheng Xiaojin's head hit the door frame.
He went through the scene of that meeting at Houhai in his mind.
Boss Lin took out the copper piece he was testing. It was about the size of a palm and had patterns engraved on it that matched those on page 87 of the tattered scroll. Boss Lin had said that it was the trigger for the Eight-Armed Nezha City formation.
The starting point for the formation.
The diagram is shown.
The diagram for the third stake.
That item was in the hands of Mr. Lin, a Malaysian Chinese smuggler, and was placed together with the fake Zhenhai Iron worth 800,000 yuan, and worn on the same person's hand as the silver ouroboros ring.
"Master Ma."
Cheng Xiaojin said, "You mean I should go to Boss Lin and get that piece of copper back?"