Chapter 18
Shang Tingzhi brought back an ancient book from home, which discussed burial customs during the Tang Dynasty. However, just reading the book wasn’t enough. The next morning, Shang Tingzhi took Xia Leyang to visit an elderly senior.
The senior, surnamed Xu, was a retired history professor from the history department, and acquaintances called him Professor Xu.
Xia Leyang, rarely waking up this early, yawned throughout the journey. Despite arriving at Professor Xu’s quaint house, he couldn’t resist sneaking a few more yawns.
Shang Tingzhi consulted Professor Xu about historical matters related to Rui City. Initially, Xia Leyang wasn’t very interested, but as he listened, his curiosity gradually grew.
It turned out that during the Tang Dynasty, Rui City was an important trading city. The envoys from neighboring countries, arriving in Tang territory by water, would pass through Rui City on their way to the capital.
At that time, there was a general named Li stationed in Rui City. Many historical records indicated that after the general’s death, he was buried in Rui City, and his tomb was extremely luxurious, containing many rare treasures.
In later years, people attempted to find General Li’s tomb, but over the centuries, Rui City had experienced two significant earthquakes, altering its landscape. Searching became challenging.
“The dragon swallowing water you saw might have formed later,” Professor Xu pushed his old reading glasses and looked at the topographic map drawn by Shang Tingzhi. “Around the 70s, the local cultural relics bureau organized searches for General Li’s tomb, but it was never found.”
“I also checked the two earthquakes that occurred before. Before those earthquakes, Mount Luoyi might have been connected to Lake Yunsui.” Shang Tingzhi took out another simple hand-drawn topographic map. “If I guess correctly, this place was not the dragon swallowing water back then; it was a more auspicious dragon playing with water, even luckier than the dragon swallowing water.”
Professor Xu nodded. “From the perspective of Rui City’s history, if there’s a large tomb underneath, it’s very likely General Li’s tomb.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Leyang finally understood what Shang Tingzhi had been busy with these past few days. It turned out he suspected a large tomb beneath Zhou Runhua’s cemetery.
After leaving Professor Xu’s house, Shang Tingzhi took Xia Leyang to the construction site of the cemetery and coincidentally ran into Zhou Runhua, who was supervising the work.
Zhou Runhua, tall despite being over fifty, had not gained much weight. His sharp eyes gave him the image of a shrewd businessman.
Seeing Shang Tingzhi, he proactively came forward to greet, “Mr. Shang, why are you here?”
After glancing around, Shang Tingzhi saw that construction was already underway, so he didn’t waste time on small talk and said to Zhou Runhua, “Mr. Zhou, you’ve chosen this piece of land quite well.”
Zhou Runhua smiled, and it was evident that Shang Tingzhi’s words pleased him, “Rather than saying the land is chosen well, it’s more accurate to say the person is chosen well. All thanks to Little Zhao.”
Little Zhao referred to the beautiful feng shui master, Zhao Ying. Shang Tingzhi praised her for a few moments, then turned to Zhou Runhua, saying, “But before starting construction, I think Mr. Zhou should make some additional preparations.”
Zhou Runhua’s expression changed as he asked, puzzled, “What do you mean, Mr. Shang?”
Shang Tingzhi said, “I’ve checked some information, and it’s highly likely that there’s General Li’s tomb beneath this construction site.”
Zhou Runhua was momentarily stunned but quickly returned to normal. “Mr. Shang, are you joking? Those experts have been searching for so many years and haven’t found it. How could I stumble upon it so easily?”
“Mount Luoyi is larger than the entire Rui City, and there are other mountains in neighboring cities. Searching for tombs isn’t an easy task.” Shang Tingzhi continued, “I happened to discover that the feng shui here is excellent, indicating a possible tomb. But whether it’s true or not, Mr. Zhou needs to check for yourself.”
Shang Tingzhi’s meaning was clear—he was just offering a reminder. If there really was a large tomb here, it would certainly attract the attention of the city’s cultural relics bureau. At that time, the cemetery business would be impossible to continue, causing a loss for Zhou Runhua.
“Okay, I’ll immediately bring in experts to take a look.” Zhou Runhua clasped his hands, “If it’s indeed General Li’s tomb, I’ll stop the construction immediately.”
Shang Tingzhi and Zhou Runhua were not very familiar, so the reminder could only go so far.
After coming down from Mount Luoyi, the sun had reached its zenith and began to descend in the west. The sunlight that was directly shining on the ground before had now moved into the window, casting its warmth onto Xia Leyang.
Similar to sleeping under the scorching sun, Xia Leyang didn’t feel comfortable. He propped up his upper body, and with a huff, he pulled open the window and curtains, then turned on the air conditioner in the room.
The air conditioner was a silent wall-mounted unit, conveniently installed near the window.
Xia Leyang hadn’t paid attention when he moved the bed, but in fact, the air conditioner should not face the bed. According to feng shui, it would blow away good luck, and in practical terms, it could make the person sleeping on the bed catch a cold.
After moving the bed, Xia Leyang happened to be sleeping right under the air conditioner.
The cool breeze blew on him, and at first, Xia Leyang found it comfortable. However, after a short while, he felt the breeze was somewhat eerie. Thinking of turning off the air conditioner, he reached for the remote control beside him but couldn’t find it.
At this moment, the air conditioner suddenly stopped without any warning. Xia Leyang inexplicably got goosebumps, and a sporadic voice came from behind his ear, “Hello… we meet again…”
