Yin Yang Diviner

The night was like spilled thick ink, completely obscuring the sky.

Mr. Li's black Mercedes sped along the highway, its headlights cleaving through the darkness ahead, but the scenery outside the window grew increasingly oppressive. The once clear night sky was now filled with dark clouds, obscuring even a single star. The wind lashed against the car window, making a muffled whistling sound, much like the low weeping of a wandering soul in the night.

I sat in the passenger seat, my hand gripping the beginner's compass tightly, my knuckles turning white. The pointer on the compass had started to tremble slightly at some point, not wildly jumping around, but with a dull, sluggish quality, slowly veering to the left—a sign of gathering yin energy.

My second grandfather leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, resting. His gray cloth jacket accentuated his calm expression, as if he were about to face not some white-haired zombie or a haunted place for raising corpses, but simply a routine visit to relatives and friends. But I noticed that his fingers rested on the peach wood sword on his knee, his knuckles tapping lightly, each tap landing on a precise rhythm, as if he were secretly channeling yang energy to suppress the yin energy dissipating along the way.

Mr. Li's hands trembled as he gripped the steering wheel, cold sweat beading on his forehead. Even though the car's air conditioning was set to a comfortable level, he felt tense all over, as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar. The air inside the car was stuffy and cold, mixed with the heavy smell of smoke and his panic, making it hard to breathe.

"Mr. Qin," Boss Li's voice trembled uncontrollably as he glanced at his second grandfather in the rearview mirror every now and then, "Was the old man in that coffin really a zombie? The fortune tellers I hired, upon seeing the state of the coffin, didn't even dare to take their money; they climbed into their cars and drove off..."

Second Grandfather slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the rapidly receding shadows of the trees outside the window. His voice was calm and even: "It's not a corpse transformation, it's a zombie transformation. The burial place is a corpse-nurturing ground, where yin energy envelops the body, preventing it from decaying for a hundred years. It grows hair and nails. A few days later, it wouldn't be a white-haired rice dumpling, but a white zombie that could break out of the coffin."

"White...white zombie?" Boss Li was so startled that he slammed on the brakes, causing the car to lurch forward. "W-won't that hurt people? Will it...bite anyone it sees, like in the movies?"

"It's more vicious than biting people." The second grandfather's tone was flat, but every word was piercing. "The corpse-raising ground gathers the utmost yin energy. Once the white zombies have absorbed enough yin energy, they will first harm their blood relatives, and then wreak havoc on the surrounding area. Although your Li family's business has been prosperous for the past few decades, your family members have been plagued by illness and disasters year after year. The root cause is all in that grave."

My heart skipped a beat.

No wonder Mr. Li was so anxious. It turned out that this was not a simple matter of relocating graves to change one's fate, but rather that the ancestral graves were buried in the wrong place, dragging the whole family into a karmic entanglement.

I secretly touched the peach wood safety buckle on my chest, and then looked down at the compass—the needle was trembling even more violently. The surrounding yin energy was seeping into the car through the gaps in the window, and felt cool against my skin, raising a layer of goosebumps.

My pure Yin destiny is acting up again, making me ten times more sensitive to Yin energy than the average person. While others only feel cold, I can clearly "smell" that Yin energy: like rotten soil mixed with the smell of an old coffin, both fishy and cold, seeping into my nose and into the cracks of my bones.

"Second Grandfather," I whispered, careful not to disturb the terrified Boss Li, "the yin energy around here is so heavy. Is it... that we're getting closer and closer to that corpse-raising ground?"

Second Grandfather grunted and pointed ahead: "We're about to enter the territory of the neighboring city. That cemetery is in a mountain valley west of the city. The yin energy is locked in the valley and can't dissipate. The whole road is soaked in yin energy."

No sooner had he finished speaking than traffic suddenly became congested on the highway ahead.

The endless line of cars, their taillights blending into a dark red blur in the thick fog, resembled the lanterns fluttering on a grave mound. Sometime earlier, an impenetrable fog had descended on the highway, reducing visibility to less than three meters. Headlights shone through, revealing only billowing wisps of white vapor—an eerie sight that sent chills down one's spine.

"Why is the traffic so bad..." Mr. Li said with a bitter face, slapping the steering wheel. "I deliberately set off at dusk, hoping to get to the hotel near the cemetery before dark. Now look what's happened, it's been an hour or two since we can move at all."

The car came to a complete stop, with horns blaring from both the front and back. But in the thick fog and eerie atmosphere, even the horns sounded muffled, as if something had covered them.

I tightened my grip on the compass, and the pointer on the dial suddenly started jumping wildly, swaying left and right, and couldn't stay still at all.

This is a sign of an overwhelming surge of Yin energy!

I suddenly looked out the window, and in the thick fog, there seemed to be blurry shadows floating between the cars. They had no feet, slid along the ground, and moved slowly, but they kept looking in the direction of our car.

They were the wandering souls along the way, attracted by the yang energy in the car and intimidated by the righteous energy emanating from the second grandfather, so they dared not approach and only lingered and peered in the mist.

Ordinary people can't see it, but my eyes, nurtured by a pure Yin destiny, can see it clearly.

My back was instantly soaked with cold sweat, and I instinctively moved closer to my second grandfather.

"Don't be afraid," Grandpa's voice rang out at the right moment. "They're just passing spirits; they can't harm you. Your fate attracts yin energy, making you easily able to see them. Close your eyes, concentrate, don't look, don't think, and they won't be able to bother you."

I immediately closed my eyes, took a deep breath as my second grandfather had taught me, and focused my mind on my dantian. A warm sensation came from the safety amulet on my chest, flowing through my body along my blood vessels, and the chilling feeling of being watched faded considerably.

The traffic jam lasted for a full hour and a half before it finally started to move slowly.

By the time we arrived at the hotel that Mr. Li had booked in advance, it was already past 10 p.m.

The hotel is located at the foot of the cemetery. It's a small business hotel that looks newly renovated, but as soon as you step into the lobby, a bone-chilling cold hits you. The air conditioning wasn't on, and the windows were tightly closed, yet it was several degrees colder than outside. The marble floor gleamed coldly, making your face look bluish.

The receptionist was pale, spoke weakly, and even her smile seemed stiff. She looked like she had been staying in a place of yin energy for a long time and had lost her yang energy.

Mr. Li booked two rooms, one for my second grandfather and one for me, on the same floor, right next to each other.

The moment I swiped my room card to enter the room, I felt a chill.

The room was even colder than the lobby, like stepping into a perpetually dark cellar. The windows were tightly shut, and the curtains were drawn tight, yet wisps of gloom still seeped in through the cracks in the windows and doors, swirling around my ankles.

The bedding on the bed was cold, feeling as if it had been soaked in water. The carpet in the corner was covered in mold. In addition to the chill, there was a faint, almost imperceptible smell of coffin in the air.

"This hotel...is it built on an old cemetery?" I couldn't help but ask.

The second grandfather looked around the room and nodded: "The land at the foot of the mountain used to be a mass burial ground. The developers built a hotel to save money. The yang energy can't suppress the yin energy. People who live here suffer from insomnia and nightmares at best, and serious illness at worst."

Mr. Li, the hotel owner, turned pale with fright: "I...I booked this at the last minute. I didn't know this hotel was so weird! Should we go to another one?"

"It's too late." Second Grandfather waved his hand. "The yin energy of the cemetery has been disturbed by the movement of the graves. Tonight is the critical period. We must stay nearby to prevent the white zombies from rising prematurely."

After saying that, my second grandfather took out a small red cloth pouch from his cloth bag and handed it to me.

The sachet contained dried mugwort, cinnabar, and a small handful of grains, embroidered with a simple Bagua pattern. It was warm to the touch and emitted a rich fragrance that could ward off evil spirits.

"Put this in your pocket and keep it close to your body," the second grandfather instructed. "Tonight, no matter what noise you hear or what shadow you see, you are not allowed to go out, open the window, or draw the curtains. I have used a talisman to suppress the yin energy in the room. With this purse protecting you, you can sleep peacefully. Tomorrow morning, we will go to the cemetery to open the coffin and examine the body."

I took the purse and held it tightly in my hand; the warm touch reassured me a lot.

"Second Grandpa, what about you?" I looked up and asked. "Aren't you going to stay and keep watch too? Won't it be dangerous?"

Second Grandfather smiled, his smile carrying the certainty and pride of an elder: "I, Qin Tianyang, have been wandering the world for decades. This little bit of evil spirit can't harm me. Just mind your own business and don't run around. That's the biggest favor you can do for me."

Old Master Li was terrified and dared not return to his own room. He shamelessly tried to stay in his second grandfather's room, but his second grandfather shut him down with one sentence: "You are a descendant of the Li family, and you have the blood of the ancestral graves on your body. Yin energy is most likely to entangle you. Staying here will only attract the corpse energy of the cemetery. Go back to your own room, stick the talisman I gave you on the headboard of your bed, and don't get out of bed even if you die."

Only then did Boss Li shakily take the talisman and return to his room.

Only my second grandfather and I remained in the room.

He took out yellow paper and a cinnabar pen from his cloth bag, stood in front of the desk, and began to draw a talisman to ward off evil spirits.

The cinnabar fell onto the yellow paper, turning a vivid red like blood. The runes were sharp and powerful, each stroke carrying the energy of righteous yang. He pasted the completed runes on the four corners of the room's four doors. As soon as the runes were pasted, the chill in the room instantly dissipated, and the air warmed up.

"Alright." Second Grandfather put down his pen. "You can rest easy. I'm right next door. If you need anything, just knock on the wall. I can hear you."

I nodded, watching my second grandfather turn and leave, closing the door behind him. I felt both nervous and expectant.

This is the first time I've truly followed my second grandfather to handle a paranormal case. It wasn't a passive rescue during my childhood, nor was it learning theoretical knowledge in the courtyard. It was a real confrontation with a corpse-raising site, white-haired zombies, and malevolent corpse energy.

Am I scared?

afraid.

My heart was pounding with fear, my limbs went weak with fear, and every time I closed my eyes, I would think of my grandfather, whose body was incorruptible and covered in white hair, in the coffin.

But I want to prove myself even more.

This will prove that I am not a coward who only hides behind my master, that my learning over the past two weeks has not been in vain, and that I, Qin Yiheng, can become a qualified Yin-Yang Master.

I carefully placed the purse close to my body, lay on the bed, and dared not turn off the light.

The room was dimly lit, illuminating the talisman affixed to the wall. The runes glowed with a faint golden light, bringing peace of mind.

But the night outside the window remained pitch black.

From the direction of the cemetery, a faint sound of wind whistling through the trees could be heard, like countless people weeping softly.

I know that wasn't the wind.

It is the accumulated yin energy of the cemetery over the past hundred years, the old man in the coffin about to turn to a corpse, and the death-calling whispers emanating from this place that nurtures corpses.

Tomorrow morning, a true test of life and death awaits us.

I gripped the purse in my pocket, touched the compass beside my pillow, and closed my eyes.

Tonight, I am destined to be sleepless.