Tales of Folk Feng Shui Mysteries

The national highway was built through desolate, sparsely populated areas, and the stretch we had driven was no exception—there wasn't a soul in sight. The place Big Tooth pointed out was next to a grove, where a small, yellow clay restaurant stood. The headlights illuminated the roof, which was covered in weeds. I noticed that across from the restaurant was a broken bridge.

Big Tooth slowed the vehicle down, and when we were about ten meters away, the dim light from the restaurant could be seen glowing. I shook Zhao Dadan awake: "Wake up, we're here."

"What the hell? I just want a few more hours of sleep. Do you think we're in a rocket?" Zhao muttered, barely opening his eyes and trying to turn over to sleep again.

But just then, the truck screeched to a halt. The sudden jolt threw Zhao into the windshield with a loud "bang," causing him to snap, "Are you blind? Damn it, you almost killed me!"

He rubbed his head, cursing, and if I hadn't been sitting between them, he might have tried to punch Big Tooth. Under the dim lights, Big Tooth's face turned pale, and he nervously stammered, "I didn't press the brakes. The truck stopped by itself. It did this last time too! What... what should we do, Master?"

Zhao Dadan quieted down and, like me, turned his attention to the restaurant. It was a strange sight—no smoke rising from the chimney, and the yellow, clay building gave off a mysterious vibe. Just then, a crow cawed loudly from the treetops, adding an eerie touch to the already suspicious atmosphere.

"What do you make of it?" I asked Zhao Dadan.

He shrugged indifferently. "I don't know, I'm just a man of action. But this place gives me a bad feeling. Let's go somewhere else."

I understood he was referring to the body he carried with him, which, after their treatment, was in a semi-dormant state—souls trapped inside with one last breath held in. These "false corpses" could be influenced by evil spirits, which was why Zhao suggested staying in the truck: "Better off inside. Stay away from this strange place."

"Just take a better look, someone's coming out," I added.

As I spoke, two young women, about twenty, came out of the yellow house. They were dressed provocatively, and flirted as they waved at us.

"Is this the same as last time?" I asked.

Big Tooth shook his head. "No, last time we were just eating. These women weren't here."

In many rural villages in China, there are cases of women being kidnapped or abandoned, forced into prostitution in remote houses, and when they fall ill, they are often sold to local farmers. Back in the '80s, there were many women standing on the roadsides of national highways, but they've become rarer in recent years.

Something still felt off, but using my special sight, I saw only a misty haze—nothing seemed overtly supernatural, and the two women didn't seem to be spirits or ghosts.

I decided to get out and take a closer look. Zhao Dadan yawned and stretched, clearly annoyed at the interruption to his sleep.

Big Tooth reluctantly followed us as the two young women approached us.

"Big Brother, why don't you come inside and rest for a bit?" one of the women said, her voice sweet.

"Rest? What for?" Zhao Dadan replied, wrapping his arm around one of the girls' waist, even giving her a playful pinch.

"Come on, we've already come this far. Let's go in and have a look," he added, trying to lead the way.

I sighed. "Just now you said you weren't getting off."

"Well, that was before, now we have some women with us. Can't just leave them hanging, right?" Zhao Dadan said casually.

With him taking the lead, we approached the restaurant. I glanced back and saw the crow still cawing, watching us intently. A crow cawing like this definitely signals something ominous. But those two women didn't appear to be spirits, so where was the evil coming from?

With a creak, the wooden door of the restaurant opened.

I placed my hand to my forehead and silently recited a calming mantra to enhance my clarity. When I peered inside with my special sight, one of the women was smiling at me, though it didn't look quite right.

Her long hair framed her face, her lips painted with pink lipstick. She wore a revealing outfit, and the V-neck of her tight top exposed part of her white skin. Her gaze was unsettling.

As we locked eyes, she looked startled and hurriedly said, "Big Brother, are you okay? You've been rubbing your head like it hurts. Want me to help with that?"

"No, no, it's fine. Do you have any food? Bring me some," I replied.

As we conversed, I scanned the room again with my special sight. The house was filled with strange mist, which could easily be mistaken for a tomb. But it wasn't—it felt more like an illusion. In the old legends, people who wander into tombs sometimes find themselves trapped in an illusion, where the house disappears after they wake up. But this wasn't an illusion. We had definitely entered a real building, and that made me realize: Big Tooth had lied to us.

"Big Brother, don't rush to eat. We have more than just food here," the other girl said with a smile.

"Really? What else do you have?" Zhao Dadan asked, groping her.

She shot him a playful glare but smiled seductively. "Well, you know, we have milk…" She wiggled as she spoke.

At that moment, Zhao Dadan's lust flared up, but there was nowhere private in the restaurant. The dining area opened directly into the kitchen. He was feeling up the girl without realizing the oddness of the situation. Didn't he know this place wasn't right? As a corpse handler, he was usually cautious, especially around the dead, but now it seemed like he had lost all his wariness.

Big Tooth remained quiet, staring at the table. Zhao Dadan continued joking with the girl, and I stayed silent, feeling the tension in the air. Suddenly, the curtain separating the kitchen from the dining area was pulled back, and a man around fifty stepped out. He smiled and said, "We only have a bit of cake, pig's head meat, half a roast chicken, and some wine left. If you want to play around, it'll cost you 100 yuan. Pay up, and you can head to the back."

As I looked at the three burning "life lamps" on the table, I realized the owner was still alive. But the more I looked at them, the more I felt something was off. Big Tooth was still keeping his head down, and I felt a sense of unease.

I asked for some food, and the owner went to the kitchen. Less than ten minutes later, he returned with four plates of food—roast chicken, pig's head meat, cake, and fruit.

If you were served this kind of food, what would you think? If you didn't already suspect it, the offerings were clearly intended for spirits.

I picked up a roast chicken leg and sniffed it—it smelled faintly of smoke. Just then, Zhao Dadan suddenly stood up, grabbed the girl, and said, "I'm not hungry now. Let's go have some fun and eat later." He rubbed his rough face against hers.

Seeing Zhao Dadan hurriedly leave, I wanted to stop him but realized that he had seen much worse in his line of work. It probably wasn't as dangerous as it seemed.

Big Tooth, the girl, and the middle-aged owner were all staring at me. But what really struck me was the odd Buddhist altar in the corner of the room.

The west wall of the house had a hole carved into it, with a statue of Guanyin placed inside, but strangely, the statue faced the wall, not outward.

It's well-known that statues should never be placed facing a wall. This felt off, and I vaguely remembered hearing something about this before. I decided to half-jokingly ask, "Hey, boss, your statue is interesting. Why is Guanyin facing the wall? Don't you worry that she'll get upset?"

The owner laughed and shrugged, "It's fine, she likes it this way. Now, hurry up and eat before it gets cold."

Something wasn't right. I quietly pulled out some talismans, but Big Tooth, for some reason, began eating the cakes eagerly. His eyes gleamed with excitement. "Delicious! You've got to try this! I'm starving."

Watching him eat, I suddenly realized what was going on with this yellow clay house!

Big Tooth had lied to me, but I couldn't let him die here. I stood up and slapped him hard on the back of the head. His face hit the table with a loud "bang," and he collapsed, unconscious.

The owner and the girl both stood up, glaring at me. "What are you doing?" they demanded.

I pointed to the statue and said, "This wall is built with coffin dirt, and the statue faces the wall because it's meant to trap souls. The offerings you serve here are for the dead. You're trying to lure the living in and feed them to the statue in exchange for protection from evil spirits. You're the guardians of a shadow temple, aren't you?"

"What if we are?" the owner sneered. "That idiot got what he wanted, but now he has to pay the price. You really think you can escape us? How laughable."

"You think you can get away with this?" I shouted, slamming the table over. I drew my Seven-Star Sword and said, "Building a shadow temple, serving ghosts—today, I'll end it all." I then cast a lightning talisman, and the room was filled with a flash of light.

The middle-aged man and the girl lunged at me, and then I realized the truth: they weren't alive—they were living corpses.

I knew what had to be done.