I consulted a feng shui master in Hong Kong.

After a couple of breaths, Chen Qinghe asked, "Where is your master?"

"Wait inside."

"Which room did the old man collapse in?"

"The main room in the east wing".

"Don't see the people first, look at the house first."

Manager Zhao immediately led the way.

He Wenchang, the patriarch of the He family, was a middle-aged man around fifty years old. He wore a dark long gown and had shrewd eyes, but at this moment his expression was tinged with fatigue.

He was still somewhat skeptical last night, but after Steward Zhao told him that Chen Qinghe had instructed him not to open the back gate or light three lamps overnight, the servants in the house indeed heard the sound of water again at night, but no one dared to follow the sound. The old master also did not wake up suddenly again, so he really became worried.

But before he could speak, Chen Qinghe spoke first.

"Take me to the main room in the east wing first, then to the backyard and the kitchen. Don't let too many people crowd around."

He Wenchang had prepared a whole speech, but this sentence shut him up. He didn't dare to delay any longer and immediately waved away the servants, leading the way himself.

The main room in the east wing was quite large, complete with bed curtains, cabinets, and tables, and the furnishings were also quite elegant. However, as soon as Chen Qinghe entered, he looked at the head of the bed.

The head of the bed is against the east wall.

The newly added water pipe is located just outside the east wall.

He didn't speak, walked to the bedside, gently pressed his hand on the wall, and then leaned down to listen for a moment.

Sure enough, there was a very faint "plop" "plop" sound of water coming from inside the wall.

If it's like this during the day, then at midnight, when it's quiet outside, the sound travels along the wall to the bedside and is naturally even more noticeable.

He Wenchang's expression changed: "There really is the sound of water?"

"Yes." Chen Qinghe straightened up. "Has the old man been saying lately that someone splashes water by his bedside at night, or that he feels a chill on his pillow?"

He Wenchang was taken aback, then quickly nodded: "Yes, exactly right. These past few days he's been saying he hears water running in the middle of the night, and that it sounds like someone is scooping water outside. I just thought it was because the old man is getting on in years and isn't sleeping soundly."

Chen Qinghe didn't answer, but turned and walked towards the backyard.

The backyard was shadier than the front, and the floor tiles were a darker color. The kitchen was on the right. As soon as you got close, the yellow mud and dampness were noticeably stronger than elsewhere.

Chen Qinghe glanced at the ground, then at the stove, and finally walked to the corner of the wall and gently tapped it with his toe.

There used to be a well here.

Manager Zhao was startled.

"Yes, it was sealed off two months ago."

He Wenchang hurriedly said, "That well hadn't been used for many years. The manager said it was taking up space and that we were afraid a child would fall in, so he had it filled in. Later, the kitchen was also modified, saying that it would make the fire more powerful."

Chen Qinghe turned to look at him.

"Who says it makes you more irritable?"

He Wenchang's expression froze: "The manager who introduced the foreman also hired a fortune teller. That man said the stove should be moved half a step south, the well should be filled in, and the water pipe should be connected to the east wall, so that wealth can be accumulated."

Chen Qinghe said calmly, "He only mentioned accumulating wealth, not the consequences?"

He Wenchang's lips twitched, a sense of foreboding creeping in: "What consequences?"

Chen Qinghe raised his hand and pointed to three places.

"First, you can't just fill in the well. Your well was originally in the backyard, on the side of the slope. It's old, but it was there to drain moisture. If you fill it in, the moisture in the backyard won't be able to escape and will all get stuck in the kitchen and the east wing."

"Secondly, moving the stove to the south, while seemingly closer to the door, actually puts it right in the path of the water pipes. Water and fire are inherently incompatible, and now you're running running water from the east wall to behind the old man's bed. It's damp during the day and noisy at night; how can anyone sleep like that?"

"Third, the back door and the kitchen door were originally offset by half a foot, but now that you've changed it, the two doors are directly opposite each other. During the day, people don't notice it when they walk by, but at night, the wind blows in through the back door, hits the heat from the kitchen, and then travels along the water pipes towards the east wing, creating a backflow that hits the heart."

The more He Wenchang listened, the paler his face became.

He may not have understood all the words, but he understood the meaning.

Not a ghost.

They ruined the house themselves.

Manager Zhao couldn't help but whisper, "But... but just changing a few things, can it really cause someone to be like this?"

"Did the old man already have problems with heart palpitations and chest tightness?"

"Yes," He Wenchang replied immediately, "It happened once last winter."

Chen Qinghe nodded.

"That's right. Young people living in this kind of house might at most have trouble sleeping, become irritable, and argue. But the elderly have weak blood and energy. If they have the sound of water against their bed for several nights in a row, and the dampness presses on their heart, and then they are hit by a draft, it's not surprising that they faint."

He Wenchang's forehead was already damp with sweat.

Having run a business for so many years, he considered himself shrewd, but standing in his own backyard, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

It's not because of evil.

It's because someone clearly understands this, yet still deliberately targeted the most dangerous areas.

He stared at the new water pipe, his voice lowered: "Master Chen, are you mistaken, or...?"

"Making a mistake once is called a slip-up," Chen Qinghe said calmly. "The well was filled in, the stove was moved, the pipes were connected, and the door was even crossed out. If so many things are wrong at once, it's not a slip-up."

With just one sentence, the courtyard fell silent.

Manager Zhao felt his throat was a little dry, and He Wenchang remained silent for a long time.

After a moment, he asked in a low voice, "So what do we do now?"

Chen Qinghe had already walked to the well site. He bent down and used his finger to scratch away a small patch of mortar on the ground, revealing the old bricks that were pressed firmly underneath.

"First, reopen half of the well opening. It doesn't have to be completely exposed to the sky, but the moisture needs a way to escape."

"Remove the stove back to its original position."

"We'll change that water pipe on the east wall today, so it's no longer right next to the old man's bed."

"Seal one side of the back door at night, leaving only a crack on the side to prevent the wind from blowing in directly."

He Wenchang nodded repeatedly, as if grasping at a lifeline: "Okay, I'll get people to move right away."

Chen Qinghe raised his hand to stop him.

"Don't rush into anything. Since you've already hired Yongchang's people for this courtyard, I need to look at other places."

He Wenchang's heart sank: "Any other problems?"

Chen Qinghe slowly shifted his gaze from the backyard to the storeroom in the side courtyard, his tone still indifferent.

"Since your family runs a cloth shop and sells southern goods, waterways and ventilation are both important. Since someone has disturbed the backyard, the storeroom may not be clean."

After saying this, he turned and walked towards the left-hand side courtyard.

He Wenchang and Manager Zhao exchanged a glance, their expressions changing simultaneously.

After Chen Qinghe finished speaking, he stepped into the left-hand side courtyard.

As soon as the door to the side courtyard storeroom was pushed open, a damp and musty smell immediately wafted out.

Inside were piles of southern goods, cloth, cardboard boxes, burlap sacks, and several wooden crates covered with tarpaulins.

Logically speaking, for families who run cloth shops and sell southern goods, the storeroom should be kept dry, stuffy, and cluttered. But the He family's storeroom had all three of these problems.

The twilight light slanted in through the high window, making the hair inside look gray.

Chen Qinghe stood at the door without rushing in. He first looked at the threshold, then looked up at the beams and the window.

The warehouse door faces east, but the windows are only two narrow, tall windows in the northwest corner, originally intended to keep out thieves. However, these two windows have now been half-blocked with wooden boards, and a layer of tarpaulin is hung outside, preventing any wind from getting in.

More importantly, there was an extremely narrow gray-white strip pressed against the inside of the threshold, as if someone had mixed lime and salt and carefully applied it.

He Wenchang was originally following behind, but when he saw Chen Qinghe stop at the door, his heart jumped again.

"Master Chen, is there a problem here too?"

Chen Qinghe didn't answer immediately. He squatted down, gently wiped the grayish-white strip with his fingertip, and then smelled it.

Salty, astringent, with a slightly musty or fishy smell.

It's not ordinary whitewash.

It is ash that has been pressed with damp salt.

He stood up before entering the room.

In the warehouse, the cloth was piled up on the east side, and the southern goods were piled up on the west side. They looked neatly arranged, but in reality, they blocked the passageway in the middle.

At the very back, a row of wooden shelves stood against the wall, with several old tent trunks on them. The trunks were not large, but their positions were odd, right in the spot in the storeroom where it should have been empty.

Chen Qinghe slowly walked to the wooden frame and tapped the corner of the frame.

"Thump."

The voice sounded muffled.

He then tapped the bottom of the box next to him.

Still feeling down.

It's not as simple as the wood getting damp; there's something underneath it.

"Move these boxes away," Chen Qinghe said.

He Wenchang immediately waved his hand, signaling two of his men to come forward.

As soon as the box was moved, a newly installed wooden plank was revealed underneath. The plank was lighter in color than the surrounding area, and four new nails were driven into the corners, indicating that it was not the original floorboard.

Manager Zhao's face changed upon seeing this.

"This...this place was also recently altered?"

He Wenchang frowned as he recalled, "I didn't ask anyone to tamper with the warehouse on my own. It was just that when we were renovating the backyard that time, the manager said he would have someone replace a few rotten boards in the warehouse."

Chen Qinghe looked down at the wooden board, his eyes darkening slightly.

"Pry it open."

He Wenchang dared not hesitate any longer and immediately ordered his men to fetch a crowbar.

As soon as the wooden plank was pried up, an even heavier wave of dampness rose up from underneath, followed by the appearance of a small, palm-sized pit.

The pit wasn't deep. It was lined with a layer of blackened old cloth, on which were three coins that had turned verdigris. Next to it were a small piece of broken wood and two broken red ropes.

The courtyard fell silent.

Manager Zhao's face turned pale.

"What...what is this?"

Chen Qinghe glanced at it, his tone remaining flat.

"Unorthodox methods of stockpiling inventory."

He Wenchang's throat tightened: "Pressure storage?"

"The biggest fear in the cloth and southern goods business is that the goods won't move and the money won't turn around. A normal person would try to speed up the flow of money, but their approach isn't about speeding it up; it's about using your warehouse to support someone else's business." Chen Qinghe pointed to several items in the pit, "Old cloth, copper coins, wooden plaques, and that damp-proofing ash on the threshold, plus half of the outer window is sealed off. The dampness in the warehouse can't escape, the goods are stuck, the accounts are stuck, and from the outside it looks like business is still going on, but the money inside is turning around slower and slower."

He Wenchang felt a chill run down his spine.

These few sentences hit the nail on the head almost every time.

For the past two months, the He family's shops have remained open and goods have continued to arrive, but they've always felt that the money is coming in slowly. They have unsold cloth, damp goods from the south, and even two shipping orders have been inexplicably delayed. The accountant had previously only said it was bad luck, but it turns out the problem lies in their own warehouse.

Manager Zhao couldn't help but ask, "But... but why are you pressing down on our family's treasury? Our He family hasn't offended anyone..."

Chen Qinghe stood up and dusted off his hands.

"It may not be to offend you; it's possible that you just happen to be a good fit."

"What do you mean?"

"Your family makes cloth, sells southern goods, and deals in shipping. Your goods travel by water, and your warehouse is never empty. This kind of place is perfect for a 'borrowing fortune' scheme. Others use your warehouse to support their own wealth, and your family won't collapse immediately. At most, you'll experience difficulties with your goods, slow returns on your money, and your family members will be restless and sleepless. But once they start interfering with the backyard, the kitchen, and the old man's bedside in the east wing, it's not just about borrowing fortune; it's about casually pressing down on your fate."

At this point, He Wenchang was already sweating profusely.

He originally thought he had hired the wrong person or looked at the wrong place, but he finally understood at this point.

Someone used the pretext of renovating the house to lay several traps into the He family's residence.

First, press down the reservoir, then block the well, then move the stove, and then draw water to the bed.

It would be strange if something serious didn't happen.

He Wenchang's face turned pale as he stared at the thing in the small pit, his voice becoming low and somber.

"Master Chen, this set of equipment... was it also made by people from Yongchang?"

"Most likely," Chen Qinghe said, "the manager of the shop who introduced you to the business is also involved."

He Wenchang suddenly looked up.

"Old Zhao, go and call Manager Zhou over."

Manager Zhao responded and turned to leave.

Chen Qinghe raised his hand to stop him.

"Don't be alarmed now."

He Wenchang was taken aback.

"Since someone can reach into your backyard and storeroom, it's not something a manager can do alone. If you subdue them now, you'll at most catch one of their errand runners. The one who actually takes action will immediately back down."

Having been in business for many years, He Wenchang gradually calmed down after hearing this.

"So, what does Master Chen mean?"

"Change the situation first, save people first, let them think you haven't figured it out yet." Chen Qinghe glanced at the small pit. "I'll remove this thing for you, but don't make a fuss. Before tonight, raise the well in the backyard by half a foot, move the stove back to its original position, and reroute the water pipe on the east wall to the outside, and don't put it next to the bed anymore. Open both of the high windows in the warehouse, remove the tarpaulin and the sealing boards, and clean the dust off the threshold. Move the row of boxes at the very back, leaving a passage in the middle, and don't pile the cloth and southern goods on the east and west sides anymore, change them to mixed and evenly distributed."

He Wenchang nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, I've written it all down."

Chen Qinghe continued, "Also, don't go back to the east wing tonight, old master. Move to the west room in the front yard. It's drier there, and the wind is more stable. Let me go over it again after this is finished."

This time, He Wenchang didn't hesitate for a second and immediately agreed.

He no longer sees Chen Qinghe as a young Taoist priest, but as someone who can truly command respect.

At this moment, the two men carefully scooped the items out of the pit.

Chen Qinghe glanced at it, then suddenly reached out and flipped the broken piece of wood over.

On the back of the wooden sign, there was a faintly engraved pattern that was almost worn away.

Half a scale pattern.

It looks about 70-80% like the "mysterious scale pattern" on the old chart.

Chen Qinghe's eyes finally turned a little cold.

Sure enough, it connected again.

Yongchang Construction, Yaku Bureau, Scale Pattern.

The trail that Uncle Li Zhengfeng was following back then hasn't been broken; it's just changed location and method, and he's still doing the same thing in various places in the city.

Seeing the strange look on his face, He Wenchang's heart skipped a beat: "Master Chen, is there something wrong with this wooden sign?"

Chen Qinghe tucked the wooden plaque into his sleeve, but his tone remained calm.

"It's not good stuff. I'll take it away for you."

He Wenchang quickly nodded: "I should take it, I should take it. As long as this situation at home can be resolved, I'll accept whatever Master Chen decides to do with it."

Chen Qinghe didn't explain further, and simply turned and walked out.

As he reached the door of the warehouse, he suddenly stopped and asked without turning his head, "Does your manager, Zhou, usually keep close ties with the brokers, foremen, and restaurants?"

He Wenchang was taken aback, then nodded.

"Yes. He's very eloquent and has many connections. He usually handles most of the purchasing, finding vehicles, and finding people."

Chen Qinghe hummed in agreement.

"That's right."

These words were spoken casually, but He Wenchang's heart sank completely upon hearing them.

He knew that the He family wasn't simply looking at the house this time.

Someone tampered with the house from the inside out.

This Mr. Chen was clearly not just helping him out of an emergency, but also looking ahead along this line of thought.

The wind blowing in from outside finally eased the oppressive atmosphere at the entrance of the warehouse a little.

Chen Qinghe walked to the backyard, looked up at the sky, and calmly finished speaking:

"Let's change the schedule today, I'll come back tonight."

"If by then the old man has calmed down and the water in the house has stopped, then this deal will be half done."

"As for the remaining half, we'll see if Manager Zhou is willing to show himself."