Chapter 30: Folk Forbidden Arts - The Three Corpses Blocking Wealth (Part I)

Li Chengfeng, clutching a plastic bag, marched into the Shenghai Gold Shop with an aggressive demeanor. He sought out the clerk who had originally sold him the gold and slammed the bag directly onto the counter.

"You unscrupulous merchants!" he shouted. "I spent over 800,000 on incense burners, candle holders, and fruit plates at your store, and they are all complete fakes! Refund my money immediately."

The clerk, an attractive woman in her twenties wearing a red professional uniform with a matching miniskirt, did not show a hint of panic. Instead, she spoke with a stern expression, "Sir, every product sold in our store is genuine gold and silver. There is absolutely no chance of them being counterfeit. Please refrain from slandering us and disrupting our business."

"Have you no shame? These items were purchased right here in your store, and you have the nerve to deny it!" Li Chengfeng slapped the receipt onto the counter and demanded a return, but the woman refused.

Their argument drew the attention of nearby customers and the store manager, Han Lili, who walked over. The customers watched with cautious eyes; buying gold was no trivial matter, and the loss would be catastrophic if they truly were selling fakes.

Sensing the crowd gathering, Li Chengfeng picked up an incense burner and addressed the customers sternly. "Everyone, this is a gold incense burner I bought here two days ago. It has only a thin layer of gold plating on the surface, while the inside is nothing but brass. This is a crooked shop—you must not buy anything from them."

Several customers picked up the incense burners and candle holders to inspect them. Upon confirming they were indeed fakes, they became indignant, denouncing the Shenghai Gold Shop for its fraudulent practices. A few customers even turned to leave.

Manager Han Lili stared at Li Chengfeng with a faint, confident smile, looking as though she were well-practiced in handling such situations. "Sir, please do not defame our reputation. Shenghai Gold Shop is a subsidiary of the Shenghai Group; we have always operated with integrity and would never sell counterfeit goods."

Li Chengfeng was furious at their shamelessness. He pointed at the items on the counter and roared, "You have the audacity to claim you don't sell fakes? If you don't sell fakes, then how do you explain this?"

The onlookers joined in, demanding that Han Lili provide an explanation. Seeing the customers siding with him, Li Chengfeng felt a sense of triumph.

Han Lili smiled slightly and said with an air of haughty superiority, "Customers, it is true that this gentleman purchased these items from our store two days ago. When we handed them over, he inspected them himself, and they were all 999 pure gold. Now, after two days, he brings them back claiming they are fake and demanding a refund. This is completely unreasonable."

"I ask all of you present: if you were in our shoes, would you refund his money?"

The onlookers fell silent. Bringing back gold products two days later for a refund did indeed look like a blatant scam. Li Chengfeng suddenly realized that even if he were in the right, it was impossible to prove. Once gold leaves the shop, getting a refund is nearly impossible. He scrambled to explain, "Everyone, I only discovered today that the gold was fake; I had no idea two days ago."

Han Lili said with a triumphant sneer, "Sir, there is no need to continue these explanations. We are all sensible people here. You bought a set of genuine goods from us, and now you have brought back a set of fakes to extort us. This is an age-old trick that wouldn't even fool a child."

Under Han Lili’s calculated guidance, the crowd began to view Li Chengfeng as the con artist. They glared at him, pointing fingers and whispering. "These scammers are so shameless; they hide the real goods and bring back fakes for a refund."

"Call the police! Get him arrested, don't let him get away!"

"Yes, call the police!"

The customers’ attitudes shifted rapidly. Initially, they identified with Li Chengfeng as fellow consumers, but now that they perceived him as a fraudster, they immediately turned to defend the shop. Han Lili offered a smug smile; she had handled this many times before. She knew that once a customer walked out the door with their gold, they were never getting a refund.

Li Chengfeng was speechless. He realized he had walked straight into a trap, and it was too late to argue. The tactic was ruthless: he had bought a pile of fake gold, and when he tried to seek justice, he was labeled the criminal. He felt like a man who had eaten bitter herbs—he had a grievance but could not voice it.

Han Lili seized the moment to act righteous. "Customers, the gold sold at Shenghai Gold Shop is authentic. There are absolutely no fakes, so please buy with confidence. If anyone ever finds a fake in our store, I guarantee a tenfold refund."

The customers applauded, and many continued to urge Han Lili to call the police and have Li Chengfeng arrested. Han Lili played the part of the magnanimous manager. "Forget it. He failed in his attempt to defraud us, and we haven't suffered any losses, so we will let it go. Consider this our way of giving him one last chance."

She turned to him. "Sir, I hope you learn to be an honest person and stop this extortion. Otherwise, you will eventually face the full force of the law. Today, for the sake of our customers, I will let you go. Leave now, and never return to our shop."

The customers praised Han Lili for her generosity. Li Chengfeng was boiling with rage but was utterly helpless. He knew that if he stayed, he would either be beaten by the security guards or dragged away by the police.

As the saying goes, a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him. Having failed to get his money back, he realized that getting beaten or arrested would only make matters worse. With no other choice, Li Chengfeng trudged out of the shop, unable to swallow his pride. He had been swindled out of 800,000 and branded a criminal to boot.

He had to admit that the Shenghai Gold Shop’s methods were clever. They played the part of the upright merchant while being nothing but crooks, successfully deceiving everyone. Even if he called the police, he had no evidence that the fakes came from their shop—two days had already passed.

If he went to the police, he would only end up worse off. Anyone else might have just swallowed the loss, especially since the Shenghai Gold Shop was backed by the Shenghai Group, one of the top ten enterprises in Qingzhou City.

But as a Feng Shui master, Li Chengfeng thought differently. He was determined to make the Shenghai Gold Shop pay the price. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

As he walked down the street, still clutching the plastic bag, he passed a trash can and noticed a dead cat lying beside it. The cat was emaciated, nothing but skin and bones—clearly a stray that had died of illness. Looking at the carcass, Li Chengfeng sighed with pity, "Poor little thing."

He continued walking, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back to look at the dead cat. A forbidden folk Feng Shui technique flashed into his mind: "The Three Corpses Blocking Wealth."

This was an ancient, long-lost technique used to obstruct someone's financial fortune. It was notoriously difficult to execute because it required three specific "corpses": the first was a cat that died of illness, the second a hairless dead crow, and the third a starved bat. These creatures were not inherently evil, but they carried an immense, rare, and heavy aura of misfortune.

Li Chengfeng walked back to the trash can and picked up the dead cat. "Hmph, if you act without benevolence, don't blame me for being heartless. I will make sure you learn exactly how miserable it is to cheat me."

As a Feng Shui master, he never wanted to use his skills to harm others, but they had pushed him too far. One must never be soft-hearted toward such unscrupulous merchants. Even if it meant facing divine retribution, he would not let them go.

Li Chengfeng made his decision: he would use the forbidden technique of the Three Corpses to make the Shenghai Gold Shop pay the price it deserved.