Time flew by, and soon it was the middle of the seventh lunar month. This was the Hungry Ghost Festival. On this day, the door of the Underworld would open wide, and thousands of ghosts could pass through it. These ghosts from the Underworld come to the human world and accept people’s sacrifices.

On this day, An Rugu carried some items to the small river near Cloud Rise Temple.

Many people burn paper during the Hungry Ghost Festival for their relatives and friends as well as for ghosts on the road. Burning paper in the mountains and forests could easily cause fires, but burning paper by the river would not have this trouble.

She took out the stack of yellow paper from the bag, bent down, took out a red 100 yuan bill from her pocket, pressed the banknote on the yellow paper, picked it up, and pressed it on another yellow paper, picked it up…

She repeated this process many times, pressing the banknote on the entire surface of all the yellow paper she brought today. She was printing ghost money: the printed paper became money which could then be offered to the deceased.

One stack after another, she printed them one by one, her movements careful and elegant.

Immediately afterwards, she placed the pile of yellow paper on the ground, stretched out her right hand and drew circles on it. While drawing circles, she recited her master’s name in her mind.

If she didn’t draw a circle, the money would be taken away by other ghosts and her master would not be able to collect it.

Then, using a lighter, she ignited the yellow paper, and yellow-tinted flame rose from the edges, licking the yellow paper all over until the entire area turned black.

Stacks of yellow paper were burned by the bright yellow flames and scattered on the ground, turning into ashes.

After she had disposed of the ashes, An Rugu looked towards where the river flowed on, a trace of melancholy in her eyes.

Things remained the same but the people were already different; it was just the way things were.

She hoped that her master could collect the money she offered, and he could find a good family when he reincarnated.

Ah, no, An Rugu heard that it took hundreds of years waiting in the Underworld before one could be reincarnated. Then, she hoped her master could reincarnate as soon as possible.

At this time, An Rugu’s cellphone rang suddenly. She opened it and saw that it was Lin Weiyu calling.

One doesn’t visit a temple without a cause¹—why was she suddenly looking for her? 

An Rugu answered the phone curiously, and a somewhat anxious voice came from the phone: “Ms. An, something big has happened!”

An Rugu’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”

“The guardian artifact of the Black Tortoise² Pagoda in Nancheng has been stolen!”

The theory of yin and yang and that of the Five Elements³ was the crystallization of ancient philosophical thought. This was what gave rise to the theory of feng shui. From the royal family to the common people, everyone believed in feng shui. To put it bluntly, a guardian artifact was something that guarded a household.

In people’s houses or buildings, items such as Qilin⁴, Bagua mirrors⁵, and Pixiu⁶ were used as ‘guardian artifacts’ to protect their houses.

Of course, a city also has such artifacts. The larger the city, the more advanced the guardian artifacts were. These determine the feng shui and luck of the city.

It was said that Emperor Zhu Di took great care in the construction of the Forbidden City and summoned many famous feng shui masters to design it.

Everyone who practiced Daoism knew that Nancheng’s guardian artifact was enshrined in the Black Tortoise Pagoda, but in order to protect the cache, no one knew the specific location.

An Rugu’s tone was not good, “Who stole it?”

“It was Fang Ruoshui who stole it!” Lin Weiyu sighed and then gritted her teeth. “No wonder she has been active in Nancheng. It turned out that her goal was the guardian artifact of Black Tortoise Pagoda all along!”

An Rugu lowered her eyes. No wonder she had always felt that Fang Ruoshui was acting a bit strange. She was obviously a high-level cultivator, and her personality was said to be very evil, but she only made the people in Changjiu Building fall into nightmares. It didn’t seem like her style at all, and it felt like there was something else hidden behind her actions.

So this was what she intended… 

An Rugu thought for a while and said, “The Luban Technique is all about using the guardian artifacts as tools or even weapons. It’s not surprising that she could find the guardian artifacts in the Black Tortoise Pagoda. I suddenly thought of something.”

“What is it?”

An Rugu raised her head to look at the clear sky, and what she said shocked Lin Weiyu to the core. “When there is a problem with the feng shui in Nancheng, the guardian artifacts would be the first to respond. 

“Last time she buried a weaponized guardian artifact—a coffin—under the Changjiu Building. I’m afraid that she intended to use the sinister energy it generated to hold you back from sensing the location of the guardian artifact. 

“Are you at all able to sense the location of the guardian artifact now?”

Lin Weiyu glanced at the superior standing next to her and shook her head. “You’re correct, the aura of the guardian artifact is completely blocked off. We can detect none of its aura at all.”

An Rugu’s faint sigh came from the speaker phone, “Today is the Hungry Ghost Festival, the gates are wide open, and ghosts are overflowing the city. This makes Nancheng a natural—albeit temporary—ghost town. The aura of the guardian artifact is being blanketed by the extreme aura of the ghost town.”

Lin Weiyu gritted her teeth when she heard this: this was simply too cunning!

After chatting with the other party for a few more words, An Rugu ended the call.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

She wasn’t the only one who was informed of this development; there were others as well. After all, the stolen guardian artifacts were related to the feng shui of the entire city, and all the practitioners in Nancheng needed to take action.

There was even a reward offered now: one million yuan to anyone who could find the stolen guardian artifact.

An Rugu was determined to find the guardian artifact—but she was not omniscient. Last time, she was able to track down that evil cultivator because he left behind a contract that she could use to find him.

But Fang Ruoshui had run away so fast and there was no trace left of her, leaving no clue whatsoever.

… …

While she was thinking about how to solve this problem, she went back to Cloud Rise Temple.

As soon as she walked through the gates of Cloud Rise Temple, Shang Yue led someone before her.

This man was potbellied, probably in his fifties, and looked strong. However, he had a gloomy face, and he looked behind himself from time to time, as if he was afraid of something.

After seeing An Rugu, he quickly asked for her assistance, “You are the master, right? Something strange happened to me, can you help me?”

“What’s wrong?”

An Rugu’s eyes fell on him, and she actually saw a hint of ghostliness around him, which made her frown slightly.

When the man thought about what he had experienced before, he trembled with fear, “I encountered a ghost… fetching his bride!”

I Livestream Divination to the World translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: This chapter was so frickin hard to translate I want to cry 😭

In feng shui, zhenwu are items that ward off evil and/or provide protection for a place and those who are in it—houses, buildings, tombs, cities. The base word is ‘to restrain’ or ‘to suppress’ so the idea is not so much a warrior standing guard but a powerhouse that is strong enough to deflect/ward off/suppress unwanted and inauspicious energies/elements—thereby allowing the positive/auspicious energies to gather.

I’m translating it here as ‘guardian artifact’ because the literal translation—’town object’— is unacceptable hahaha. I’ve combed through so many feng shui articles in English but they don’t seem to use a collective word for these ‘objects’.

We first encountered the word in Chapter 21—the Special Cases Management Bureau were looking for it at the Changjiu Building. At the time, I translated it as ‘cache’—somewhat literally it’s ‘something important that was hidden’ (the etymology footnote is in Chapter 21.3). After they found it, it turned out to be a coffin. So that coffin is the ‘guardian artifact’. Obviously it wasn’t doing any guarding then but was actually generating bad energies. We learn from this chapter that the Luban technique can weaponize guardian artifacts—so the coffin was suppressing the good energies and attracting bad ones.

Hungry Ghost Festival. Hungry ghosts are said to be those who have no descendants or have unfilial ones so no one gives them offerings and are, thus, desperately hungry, thirsty, and restless. To appease them, food and incense are placed outside the house—you don’t want hungry ghosts inside your house. Live shows are also held outside with the front row seats left empty so the ghosts can sit and enjoy.

Black Tortoise also known as the Black Warrior. The word used is ‘xuan‘ which is ‘black’, yes—but more importantly, it means mystical. It’s the same way the black cat that Shang Yue likes to torment is called xuan cat. It’s one of the Four Guardians of the Constellation along with Azure Dragon of the East, Vermillion Bird of the South, White Tiger of the West. It represents the North and Winter.

Qilin. Very auspicious beast. They are said to be so benevolent that they refuse to walk on the ground lest they harm a single blade of grass. Instead they call up puffs of clouds to walk on.

Bagua Mirror

Pixiu. They are said to have no anus and only eat gold and jewels, making them full of wealth and fortune.

ADD-ON T/N: Thanks to reader tenshineko for pointing out that the photo I previously uploaded was not a pixiu—my bad, I relied on google 🙈

Incidentally, the author of this novel also wrote a funny series featuring a pixui who runs a canteen in a university. She woke up after a long, long sleep to find all her mythical beast friends are gone and the world has now evolved around her. What is an auspicious, but very stingy pixui to do? Grab a few manta rays, bluebirds, and foxes as cheap labor for the kitchen, of course!

It was written earlier than this one, and the story-telling isn’t quite as tight but it’s still very fun. Lots of deities and heavenly beasts instead of ghosts and yaoguai.

FOOTNOTES:

1. One doesn’t visit a temple without a cause. It’s an idiom meaning someone is doing something with ulterior motives ↩︎
2. Black Tortoise of the North, one of the Four Guardian Beasts of the Constellation ↩︎
3. Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water ↩︎
4. Qilin is a sacred hooved creature that is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. It has dragon-like features, antlers, scales, and the body of a deer or an ox. ↩︎
5. Bagua is a mirror with a hexagonal frame used to deflect bad energies. ↩︎
6. Pixiu are mythical powerful winged creatures that resemble lions with antlers; they symbolize wealth and fortune. ↩︎