Upon hearing this, everyone was suddenly stunned and looked at me. Then Old Wu smiled bitterly and said, "Oh, young man, don't tease an old man like me. In this run-down house of mine, I don't even have any electrical appliances, let alone treasures."
"I say there are! It's just a matter of finding them!"
Despite the skepticism, I was full of confidence and urged Old Wu, "Let's go, let's go inside and look, you won't lose anything anyway!"
"Alas, all right..."
Seeing my persistence, Old Wu reluctantly nodded in resignation, leading us into the courtyard. While leading us into the house to look for treasures, he turned back and instructed his wife, "Prepare some food, we'll have a meal here tonight."
"Ok!"
The wife replied, and went to the kitchen to get busy. Old Wu led us directly into the main hall of the house. As soon as we entered, Sha Biao, who was behind me, eagerly asked, "Have you also learned to find hidden treasures?"
The so-called hidden treasures, also known as "spiritual resonance", belonged to a special profession in the old society, belonging to the "external ba gang" thief's profession, and some people also called them "sheep handlers" in the folk.
People said that in beautiful mountains and rivers with excellent Feng Shui, there were many "divinely bestowed treasures of heaven and earth". It was said that these treasures were secretly protected by spirits. If they were ever taken rashly, disaster would befall the taker. So a special method was needed to retrieve them, which gave birth to the profession of hidden treasure seekers. These people often traveled in the mountains and rivers throughout the year, or roamed the wilderness. Their whereabouts were elusive and their actions mysterious, all for the sake of these so-called "divinely bestowed treasures of heaven and earth"!
But don't underestimate these hidden treasure seekers. Their abilities were extraordinary. They were proficient in reading the skies, observing the earth, interpreting aura, and face reading, and even masters in these areas would only be considered entry-level skills.
Some true hidden treasure masters could even rival the top experts in the practicing world. What practitioners knew, they almost all knew, whether it was mountain-reading, medicine, divination, fortune-telling, or casting hexagrams. It seemed that they knew everything, and besides being knowledgeable, they were also proficient in all these areas.
So, there has always been the saying in the practice world, "better provoke Yama, not deceive the shepherd lad." From this, we can see just how powerful this treasure-keeping art is.
Moreover, it is said that this "treasure-keeping" technique originated in Jiangxi. After a baby is born, it is immediately locked in a dark room without daylight and can only be taken out after a hundred days. From then on, the child's eyesight will be different from ordinary people, being able to recognize any treasure. This is the legendary "opening earth eyes."
However, I, Wang Lin, have never learned "treasure-keeping," I just happened to sense the red light coming out of Lao Wu's house. So I smiled bitterly and said, "Where did I learn treasure-keeping? I just happened to come across it in a book. It's not something an ordinary person can learn."
"Exactly!"
Sha Biao nodded deeply in agreement and said, "I heard that to do this, you have to cultivate your eyesight from a young age. Unless it's the child from the neighboring Wang family, who else would be so ruthless as to let their own child suffer like that?"
Uh...
Why do I feel something strange in this statement? What does it mean "unless it's the child from the neighboring Wang family"? What's wrong with the child from the neighboring Wang family? Did they offend you...
As we spoke, our group finally entered the house. It was indeed as Lao Wu had said, his family was extremely poor, with almost bare walls. Including the kitchen that was like a stable, there were only four earthen houses in total, and the furnishings inside were quite simple, nothing more than a few broken tables and chairs, and then two dilapidated beds and bedding. There were also some farm tools, hoes, shovels and the like. Looking at it from any angle, the house didn't seem to have any treasures.
This house was built by Lao Wu himself more than ten years ago, it was not a ancestral house that had been passed down through generations, and the possibility of hiding treasures underground was very slim.
Could it be that I saw it wrong?
Could it be that the red light was not a "auspicious omen" of a treasure about to emerge, but rather a blood light emanating from Lao Wu's house?
Well, it's quite possible! After all, I have never learned treasure-keeping, let alone understand what it means to read aura. The possibility of making a mistake is actually quite high.
"So, have you figured something out?"
Having found no treasure, everyone, including Lao Wu, turned their eyes to me, making me blush and awkwardly say, "No, maybe I just saw it wrong..."
"See, I told you!"
Upon hearing my words, Sha Biao immediately lost interest and sat down on a chair, jokingly saying, "In this poverty-ridden place, where would there be any natural treasures!"
"That's right..."
Lao Wu himself nodded in agreement. Although he said that, I could clearly see a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
Ah, it's my fault for being too impetuous. I brought Lao Wu to lead us into the house to search for treasures in a situation that was not clear. I gave him hope that he shouldn't have had, and then splashed him with cold water. If it were me, I would probably have wanted to curse.
"So what do you think, what could have killed those sheep?"
Since no treasure was found, the topic of discussion quickly returned to the dead sheep. Of course, everyone's eyes, except for Lao Wu's, were still on me.
It seemed that everyone, including Sha Biao, had probably already known about my identity as a practitioner.
"Well... I can't be entirely sure..."
Shaking my head, I said uncertainly, "When I first came here, I surveyed the terrain of the area. The mountains are high and dense, and everywhere is filled with miasma and poisonous fog, this place is simply a paradise for venomous creatures! Moreover, considering Director Han's recent discovery, I think it's very likely that it was the work of some kind of venomous creature that had cultivated into a monster!"
"Ah? A monster!"
Before I could finish, Lao Wu, like a startled cat, bristled up all of a sudden. He quickly interrupted me, with a frightened look on his face, "That... that would be a demon, wouldn't it?
Swallowing hard, Lao Wu looked quite fearful, "Please don't scare me... my whole family has to stay here!"
"Don't worry, this is just my guess, it might just be an ordinary venomous creature!"
Shaking my head, I smiled reassuringly at Lao Wu, "And even if it's really a monster, it's not a problem. In your house, there are dragons and tigers hidden! With these two powerful guardians, as long as you don't go wandering around at night, it won't be able to harm you!"
"Quit pretending!"
Lao Wu's expression was speechless as he glared at me, "What dragons and tigers, with my four-room tumbledown house, where's the room for these two gods!"
"That's right! You're just talking trash..."
Not only him, but even Zhang Ge couldn't help but mockingly laugh.
"Hey! You don't believe me, do you? Today, I will explain it to you carefully.
Seeing that no one believed, I couldn't help but be a little anxious, planning to explain to them in detail, what the "dragons and tigers" were all about.
However, as soon as I opened my mouth, Mrs. Wu's voice suddenly came from outside the door, "Lunch is ready!"
"Alright! Let's eat first, we can continue talking while we eat..."
We had been busy drinking until lunchtime, and Sha Biao was probably starving. At the sound of Mrs. Wu calling for lunch, he got up and walked straight to the table in the courtyard.
As for me, I sat down and explained to everyone, "The so-called 'hidden dragons and crouching tigers' actually refers to a kind of geomancy. The dragon is actually you..."
I hadn't finished my words when the chopsticks in my hand accidentally fell to the ground with a clatter. I looked dumbfounded at a pot of thick soup on the table and muttered unconsciously, "What soup is this?"
"Fish soup? Haven't you seen it before?"
Zhang Ge couldn't help but give me a speechless look and then picked up my soup bowl, filled it to the brim with fish soup, and said with a smile, "With your recent recovery from injury, it's good to have a hearty fish soup!"
"Oh no!"
I slapped my thigh suddenly and looked directly at Mrs. Wu, "Did you... stew the carp from the basin?"
"Yes!"
Mrs. Wu subconsciously nodded and then used her apron to wipe her hands, feeling a little embarrassed, "I didn't know you were coming, and there wasn't much food at home. Please bear with us and have some..."
"It's over!"
Staring at the fragrant carp soup, I almost collapsed on the stool, holding my head in my hands, looking bewildered.
Damn it!
I was about to say it, damn, it got stewed? My god, your home really is hospitable, you can use feng shui fish to entertain guests! What a great geomancy setup, and it was ruined by this pot of fish soup!
"What's wrong with you? Why do you look so listless?"
Seeing me like this, everyone couldn't help but put down their chopsticks, their faces full of suspicion as they looked at me.
"Sigh... just eat, finish eating, and I'll tell you afterwards!"
In order to not affect everyone's appetite, I did not tell them about the matter for the time being. I picked up the fish soup and drank it in gulps, while reminding them, "Hurry up and eat, we must finish before it gets dark, there's something to do later!"