One divination a day, a trainee celestial master

Wang Daqiang's home in Lingxia Town is not far from the building materials supermarket.

He drove his Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and it took him less than ten minutes to get there with his mother and Jiang Shou.

This is a typical self-built villa in the style of a nouveau riche in a small county town. The exterior walls are covered with European Roman column tiles that combine local and foreign elements, the gate to the yard is an extremely heavy, gold-plated, carved iron gate, and there is even a small white marble fountain in the yard that doesn't really spray water, all to emphasize "nobility".

"Master Jiang, please come in." Wang Daqiang parked the car and led Jiang Shou and his elderly mother into the house.

As soon as I pushed open the heavy solid wood door in the entryway...

"Qiangzi, didn't you go to the store? Why are you back again?" At the top of the stairs, Wang Xiaoyan, dressed in home clothes, was carrying her one-year-old son.

As soon as she finished speaking, she spotted Jiang Shou following behind Wang Daqiang.

Upon seeing Jiang Shou's striking blue Tai Chi robe and the worn-out compass in his hand, Wang Xiaoyan paused noticeably as she descended the stairs, a flicker of wariness and repulsion flashing in her eyes.

"Mom, why did you actually bring these superstitious people home?" Wang Xiaoyan's face immediately turned cold, her tone unfriendly. "Qiangzi hasn't been sleeping well lately because of the stress at the building materials store, not because he's being haunted by a ghost. There are children at home; can't you just stop spouting these feudal superstitions here?"

The old woman, already doting on her son, immediately darkened her expression upon hearing her daughter-in-law's words. She slammed her cane heavily on the polished marble floor: "What do you know?! Qiangzi has been driven almost mad for the past two weeks. If the medicine were effective, would he be screaming in agony every night? This young Taoist master is a distinguished guest I painstakingly invited from Cuiwei Mountain. If you don't understand the rules, don't speak recklessly!"

After being scolded by her mother-in-law in front of outsiders, Wang Xiaoyan felt embarrassed. She turned to her husband, her tone tinged with resentment and sarcasm: "Qiangzi, you're a boss, managing dozens of people. Do you believe in this stuff like Mom does?"

Caught between his mother and wife, Wang Daqiang's face turned pale and then red, so embarrassed he almost dug a hole in the tile with his toes.

Although he's a decisive building materials boss and contractor outside the home, he's quite indulgent towards his wife at home. However, he doesn't dare disobey his mother, especially after experiencing that near-death feeling last night.

"Alright, Xiaoyan, shut up." Wang Daqiang waved his hand impatiently. "Since Mom insists on seeing it, let this Mr. Jiang... Mr. Jiang take a look around the house. It won't cost him anything."

Wang Xiaoyan snorted coldly, turned her head away while holding the child, her face clearly showing "unwelcome".

Faced with this tense mother-in-law/daughter-in-law battle and Wang Xiaoyan's hostility, Jiang Shou remained calm and unperturbed.

He came here with the "standard answer" and wasn't flustered at all.

Jiang Shou didn't even get angry. He merely raised his eyelids slightly and glanced at Wang Xiaoyan indifferently. That glance was extremely calm and devoid of any emotion, yet it made Wang Xiaoyan's heart skip a beat, as if this Taoist priest had seen through some of her deepest secrets.

Jiang Shou gently held the compass in his left hand, his right hand behind his back, and said calmly, "If the evil spirit doesn't dissipate, people will be uneasy; if the position isn't correct, dreams will be restless. Mrs. Wang, if the evil spirit on your husband isn't broken, it will continue to weigh him down tonight until it breaks him. You probably don't want that... right? Whether you believe it or not, what harm is there in letting me go up and take a look? Or perhaps..."

Jiang Shouwei drew out his words, looking at her with a half-smile: "Do you have any other way to completely free your husband?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaoyan's eyes flickered. She gritted her teeth, instinctively hugged the child in her arms tighter, stepped aside to clear the stairwell, and coldly tossed out, "Do whatever you want. But let me make this clear first, you can come up and take a look, but don't touch anything in my room."

"Don't worry, I only look at the feng shui, I won't make any changes."

Jiang Shou completely ignored her warning, shook the wide sleeves of his blue robe, and stepped directly up the solid wood stairs.

Wang Daqiang quickly followed. The old woman brought up the rear, leaning on her cane as she climbed the stairs, constantly muttering, "May the ancestors protect us, may the ancestors protect us..."

……

They arrived at the master bedroom on the second floor. Wang Daqiang pushed open the door and said somewhat awkwardly, "Master Jiang, this is my bedroom. Please take a good look at it."

Jiang Shou stood at the doorway, his gaze sweeping across the room.

Jiang Shou's pupils contracted sharply after just one glance. He screamed inwardly, "Holy crap... the old man's notes were right! This is way too damn accurate?!"

Based on the feng shui knowledge he had memorized by staying up all night, Jiang Shou instantly identified the problems in the room.

First, the large double bed's headboard is positioned directly in the northwest (Qian) position. Worst of all, directly above the headboard is a thick, heavy-duty beam, designed for aesthetic purposes, running across the room. The shadow cast by this beam presses down on the headboard, making the sleeping area feel dark and oppressive. This is called "a beam pressing down from above, bringing misfortune!"

Secondly, right beneath the shadow of that beam, right next to Wang Daqiang's head, stood a huge, thorny cactus! Under the light, the dense, sharp shadows were stretched long and thin, pointing straight at Wang Daqiang's pillow. This is called a "thorny evil spirit"!

Finally, Jiang Shou walked to the window. The windowsill, which should have been used for ventilation, was completely blocked by rows of lush, rainforest-like green vines, preventing even a wisp of air from getting in. The air in the entire room was extremely stuffy, even carrying a faint, acidic smell of decaying plants. This was called "stagnant air, rising turbidity!"

"Forceful Fiend + Spiked Fiend + Turbid Fiend..." Jiang Shou clicked his tongue inwardly, "These three fiends stacked up, the buffs are all maxed out, no wonder you were fighting to the death, you're lucky you weren't sent away immediately!"

Wang Daqiang looked at Jiang Shou standing silently in the center of the room, simply looking around with his compass, and felt a little uneasy: "Little...Little Master Jiang, have you figured something out?"

Jiang Shou turned around. He took a deep breath and, with a cold, stern expression, slowly exhaled the difficult classical Chinese texts that had been forcibly crammed into his mind the night before:

"When a house is afflicted by evil influences, it often originates from its shape and manifests in its location." Jiang Shou pointed to the beam above his head: "A beam pressing down on the head is called 'forced evil,' and when 'forced evil' is upon you, your spirit is obstructed. The reason you feel chest tightness and shortness of breath every night, as if a heavy object is pressing down on you, is because this beam is pressing down on your spirit."

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he pointed to the enormous cactus by the bedside: "Moreover, having thorns by the bedside is a major taboo. It's called 'thorn affliction.' How can you have peace of mind sleeping under needles every night?"

Wang Daqiang was stunned. Although he didn't quite understand what the Divine Court was, the two places Jiang Shou pointed out were indeed the source of his most oppressive nightmares every night!

Finally, Jiang Shou waved his sleeve and pointed to the window blocked by vines: "What's even more deadly is that this window is entangled and blocked by vines, preventing external energy from entering and internal energy from leaving, causing turbid evil to rise and gather without dissipating! Forced evil, piercing evil, and turbid evil—three evils combined—you've only managed to hold on until now thanks to the protection of your ancestors!"

After this series of attacks, not to mention the old woman, Wang Daqiang broke out in a cold sweat in an instant.

"Nonsense!" Wang Xiaoyan, who had somehow followed them, stood at the door, her face pale, but she still stubbornly retorted, "What do you mean by 'polluted'? I bought these green plants on the windowsill to purify the air! The pollution outside is so bad right now; I'm doing this for Qiangzi and the child's health!"

Jiang Shou turned his head, a faint, mocking smile on his lips, and looked at Wang Xiaoyan.

Just as the woman felt guilty under Jiang Shou's watchful gaze and was about to lash out...

Jiang Shou said, "Mrs. Wang, even if you don't believe in the feng shui of our ancestors, shouldn't you at least believe in science?"

Jiang Shou pointed at the green plants: "Did you learn about biology in junior high school? Plants only release oxygen through photosynthesis during the day when there is sunlight. At night, they not only stop releasing oxygen, but they also compete with your husband for the already limited oxygen in the room, while releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide!"

Jiang Shou turned to Wang Daqiang: "Boss Wang, by sealing the windows with this bunch of plants, you've turned the room into a completely enclosed space. Sleeping with the door closed every night is like competing with this whole rainforest for oxygen!"

"Add to that the psychological pressure from the overhead beam, and the subconscious sense of crisis created by the thorny cactus by the bedside..." Jiang Shou summarized, word by word, "Scientifically, this is called sleep apnea caused by severe oxygen deprivation and psychological suggestion. In Feng Shui, this is called 'inauspicious location facing upwards'!"

The entire bedroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Wang Daqiang was completely stunned by this "science + metaphysics" approach. He stared at the beam overhead, then at the cactus facing his pillow, and finally at the tightly packed greenery, feeling a chill run down his spine.

The old woman listened intently, nodding repeatedly, and excitedly clasped her hands together, exclaiming, "Did you hear that? Did you hear that? Little Jiang the Immortal even understands science! That's real skill!"

At that moment, a very subtle memory suddenly flashed through Wang Daqiang's mind.

He remembered... about a month ago, he wasn't sleeping in this spot. His wife, Wang Xiaoyan, complained that his snoring was too loud and disturbing their one-year-old son next door, a very light sleeper. She suggested rearranging the room, moving the head of the bed to the corner of this wall, directly under this beam.

That cactus was also bought by her later, claiming it could "protect against radiation," and she insisted on placing it by his bedside. As for the green plants that he wasn't allowed to open the windows, she took care of that as well.

Wang Daqiang slowly turned his head and looked at his wife standing at the door.

When Wang Xiaoyan met her husband's gaze, her face instantly turned pale, and her eyes darted away unnaturally: "Why...why are you looking at me like that? How would I know plants would steal oxygen at night? I'm only doing this for our son's sake..."

Wang Daqiang didn't speak, but his eyes held a complex and inexplicable look.

He took a deep breath, turned to look at Jiang Shou, and his tone became extremely respectful and convinced: "Master Jiang, you are absolutely right! I am convinced! Then... how should we break this evil spirit?"

"Form-based evil can be broken, position-based evil can be moved. For oppressive evil, move the bed; for turbid evil, ventilate." Jiang Shou recited the last two lines of the mantra and casually instructed, "First, move the bed out of this beam. Then, move all the plants from the windowsill and open the window for ventilation."

Without a word, Wang Daqiang immediately pulled out his phone and dialed the building materials supermarket: "Hey? Dalong, bring a strong guy to my house right now! Yes, now! Immediately!"