Chapter 4: Chen Tinghai’s Line Ends Forever

Chen Tinghai had no inkling that the breaking of the Lotus Seed Embrace would bring calamity upon the Chen family. He was holding his newborn grandson, smiling broadly as he played with the child, when suddenly the infant, without warning, closed his eyes and ceased to breathe.

At that very moment, one dreadful news after another arrived. All seven of Chen Tinghai’s sons died unexpectedly within less than a month, and more than a dozen grandchildren also perished in bizarre circumstances. Only then did Chen Tinghai realize something was terribly wrong. He went to the stables to look for Li Jinshan, but the man was nowhere to be found. Instead, he saw a message scrawled on the wall in large characters: “He who does evil shall be cut off from posterity!”

Chen Tinghai could only watch helplessly as his descendants departed one by one. Unable to bear the blow, he lost his mind and became a lunatic. It was later said that he died lying atop his parents’ grave, frozen to death.

The pitiable often have their own faults. Everything Chen Tinghai gained by defying fate through feng shui was lost the moment the Lotus Seed Embrace was broken; whatever he had received, he lost in equal measure. Had he done more good deeds and accumulated virtue, his end might not have been so tragic.

Grandfather finished the tale, drained his cup of wine, and remained lost in his memories. As a successor of the feng shui tradition, Li Chengfeng believed every word his grandfather said, though he feigned skepticism. “Grandpa, your story is quite something. Can you make up another one?”

Grandfather chuckled. “This is no mere story. Go under my bed and pull out the chest beneath it. Inside, there’s a small box. Open it, and you’ll see whether I speak the truth.”

Li Chengfeng pulled out the chest from beneath the bed and found a finely crafted small box. When he opened it, he was stunned. Inside lay a golden lotus pod, with seven tiny holes where the lotus seeds had vanished, and attached below was a lotus root.

Staring at the lotus pod, Li Chengfeng exclaimed in astonishment, “Grandpa, is this the lotus pod you took from the Lotus Seed Embrace?”

“Yes,” his grandfather replied. “This lotus is called the Seven Sons Lotus, formed from earth’s spiritual energy and the essence of the moon. It is a rare treasure that appears perhaps once in a thousand years. I doubt there is another like it in the world.”

Grandfather spoke with a hint of pride, having preserved the lotus pod for so long—a testament to its preciousness.

Li Chengfeng, gazing at the lotus in his hands, was overwhelmed with emotion. Nature has left us many mysterious relics; there are far too many unknowns in this world, unsolvable by humankind. In truth, humans are insignificant, yet having mastered a bit of modern science, they dismiss ancient traditions—a tragic loss for our species.

Moved by his grandfather’s words, and witnessing his grandfather’s crippled body after learning of the fate of their revered ancestor, Li Chengfeng, who had once wanted to abandon the reopening of Suiyuan Hall, now made a decision. Even if it meant ending up like his grandfather, he would reopen Suiyuan Hall.

Seeing the thirst for knowledge in his grandson’s eyes, grandfather shook his head in resignation. It was over; the boy was obsessed. Regret gnawed at him for sharing such tales, for now, persuading him to give up on Suiyuan Hall was impossible.

He himself had chosen this path, driven by the desire to explore the world’s mysteries and unknown wonders.

Li Chengfeng looked at his grandfather with unwavering resolve. “Grandpa, I want to reopen Suiyuan Hall.”

Grandfather said nothing, simply drained his cup and placed a piece of pork head in his mouth, chewing slowly. After a long silence, he finally spoke. “Once you step onto this path, you are destined for loneliness, widowhood, isolation, disability, and to be estranged from wealth, life, and power. Are you not afraid?”

“I’m not afraid,” Li Chengfeng replied instantly. What his grandfather described—loneliness, widowhood, isolation, disability, and poverty, estrangement from wealth, life, and power—was the punishment heaven metes out to those who pry into its secrets, commonly known as the Five Maladies and Three Lacks: the former are the five maladies, the latter the three lacks.

Grandfather sighed. Picking him up by a dumpster years ago must have been fate, destined for him to walk this path. He had hoped the boy would find a job, marry, have children, and lead an ordinary life, but it was clear that would never happen.

“All right. If you wish to walk this road, I won’t stop you. Just hope you never regret it.”

“I will never regret it.”

“Good. In that case, I shall have you pay homage to our ancestor, open your spiritual eyes, and pass on the Imperial Mandate, formally accepting you as my disciple.”

Grandfather took out a jade tablet, handing it to Li Chengfeng. The tablet was no larger than a matchbox, engraved with three characters: ‘Imperial Mandate,’ and on the back, a lifelike dragon.

In ancient times, the Imperial Mandate was the symbol of a feng shui master in the Bureau of Astronomy, representing ability and status.

Under his grandfather’s guidance, Li Chengfeng knelt three times and kowtowed nine times, paid homage to the founder Guo Pu, washed his eyes with celestial water, cleansed his body with earth, then received the Three Harmonies Compass.

With all the initiation rites complete, grandfather sighed and said solemnly, “Xiaofeng, from today you are the 108th successor of the Qimen school. Celestial water opens the eyes to observe sun, moon, and stars; earth cleanses the body to seek the dragon veins of the land. Remember: do good deeds, accumulate virtue to avoid heaven’s wrath, never use the arts to harm others.”

“Yes, Grandpa, I will always remember your teachings.”

Li Chengfeng’s heart surged with excitement. From today, he was a true Qimen feng shui master.

Grandfather searched the room for a long time, finally finding a pouch beneath his pillow. He emptied its contents onto the table: several sets of keys, nine turtle shells, and a string of bone tablets.

He handed a set of keys to Li Chengfeng. “These are the keys to Suiyuan Hall. Now, they’re yours.”

Li Chengfeng took the keys, but his gaze lingered on the turtle shells and bone tablets, asking in confusion, “Grandpa, what are those?”

“I don’t know, either. These turtle shells and bones were passed down from your great-grandmaster. Before he passed, he told me to try to decipher the writing on them. But it’s extremely difficult—perhaps even ghosts wouldn’t recognize them,” grandfather said helplessly.

Li Chengfeng picked up a turtle shell, covered with dense ancient characters—likely oracle bone script, though he didn’t recognize them.

These turtle shells and bones had been handed down for countless years; both his grandfather and great-grandmaster had tried to decode the inscriptions. When his grandfather was younger, he consulted many leading figures in archaeology, experts specializing in oracle bone script, but none could decipher the writing.

The script was even older than oracle bone script. One elderly professor speculated it might be a more ancient Heavenly Book script.

Li Chengfeng carefully packed the turtle shells and bone tablets away, curiosity filling his heart. What secrets did these inscriptions hold? The earliest known script discovered by humanity is oracle bone script—could Heavenly Book script predate even that?

He wondered if, within his lifetime, he would ever unlock their secrets.