Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 31: Mountain Spirit (Part 4)

Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 31: Mountain Spirit (Part 4)

They made it through to the official opening without incident. Half a month later, a piece of terrible news quietly spread. It was said that among the workers from the construction team during the pile driving period, some died and some were injured. The families compared notes and all believed it was caused by the strange thing encountered on the opening day. They wanted to seek compensation from the developer. When Boss Qian heard this, he laughed and directly turned the tables on them, accusing them of promoting feudal superstition. The people didn’t die at the construction site or during the construction period. Why should he pay compensation? In the end, he refused to pay a single cent and directly had all the troublemakers thrown out. The bereaved relatives could only swallow their broken teeth. Yes, they had no evidence. Who dared to swear that the death or injury of their men was definitely related to that strange thing? The gun shoots the bird that sticks out its head. A group of security guards surrounded them at the entrance. For a moment, no one dared to be the first to speak. In the end, they could only accept their bad luck and scattered like birds and beasts. Financial loss was avoided, but this matter was indeed strange. Boss Qian had a bone stuck in his throat and still called Old Zhao in for questioning. “Are you sure you suppressed that strange thing?” Boss Qian narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Old Zhao, always feeling uneasy. Old Zhao pretended to be calm and composed, twirling his eight character mustache. “What does their death have to do with this? It is their fate. Boss Qian, no need to worry.” Boss Qian hmmed. He didn’t want to get involved in any human life lawsuits either. They were too troublesome to handle. Since Old Zhao said so, he might as well just accept it. However, the situation didn’t allow Old Zhao to continue pretending to be calm. In the second month after Qinghua Scenic Area opened, a hiker somehow climbed over the high fence and fell straight into the valley. It was said that when found, he had become several pieces, his death appearance exceptionally tragic. One accident, explained as an accident, was reasonable enough. It’s just that a newly opened scenic area having this kind of incident was quite unlucky. The police reviewed the surveillance and determined that multiple parties were responsible. In the end, it was also settled with money. Old Zhao came and performed a ritual. Boss Qian’s expression was already not very good. “Old Zhao, you didn’t trick me, did you? You said back then that the feng shui had been corrected and the fortune was on an upward trend. How come someone died again in just the second month?” “Boss Qian, the police said it was an accident. How can this be pushed onto my head again?” Old Zhao spread his hands, his expression very troubled. These two people each harbored their own schemes. One didn’t want to continue losing money. The other thought to earn one more day was one more day. The so called being a monk for a day means ringing the bell for a day. In their deliberations, the two sides actually reached a strange balance. Boss Qian pointed at Old Zhao and delivered a harsh remark. “Master Zhao, if this area keeps having deaths this year, we don’t need to cooperate anymore. All the extra money you took must be vomited back out to me.” “Boss Qian, rest assured.” Old Zhao shook his hand and patted the back of his hand. Once the person left, his face instantly darkened. He secretly greeted all eighteen generations of Boss Qian’s ancestors. Old Zhao was also a shrewd person. What Boss Qian just said was “this year.” Didn’t that mean moving the death quota to next year? As long as he could survive another four months, subsequent deaths would have nothing to do with him. If by then the boss still wanted to throw a fit, he would just continue making things up. Deceive for as long as he could. That is to say, within these four months, either hide deaths from Boss Qian after they happened, or suppress that dense yin malice and prevent it from harming human lives again. After much deliberation, Old Zhao had no choice but to actively draw closer to Liu Zhiyuan. “From that time on, I became quite close to Old Zhao.” When Liu Zhiyuan said this here, he sighed. “Over these years, I handled quite a few accidents. Strangely, some equipment had just been inspected and repaired, yet accidents still occurred frequently. When accidents first happened, I even held the manufacturers accountable. But it turned out their equipment worked fine at other scenic areas and amusement parks. It just wore out especially fast here.” Chen Jiu frowned as she listened. “And you never thought of replacing him even like this?” “Uh…” Liu Zhiyuan secretly broke into a cold sweat. Old Zhao was too good at handling things. He shared thirty percent of his earnings with him. But he definitely couldn’t say this out loud. Besides, he knew nothing about feng shui matters. Basically, whatever Old Zhao said, he believed. Anyway, it wasn’t harmful to him. He thought that Boss Qian might not be unaware of all the twists and turns. It’s just that Old Zhao did have some effect. Although it only treated the symptoms and not the root cause, it was cost effective. So Boss Qian was willing to turn a blind eye. Compared to the money Boss Qian embezzled throughout the entire Qinghua Scenic Area development project, these compensation payments were a drop in the bucket, not worth mentioning. “Before being deceived, everyone thinks they won’t be fooled. That’s only because they haven’t encountered the scam that belongs to them yet.” Liu Zhiyuan chuckled and said. “The spectators see the chess game more clearly than the players. Fortunately, I met you esteemed guests today. I have been enlightened.” “Alright, we won’t waste more words with you.” Chen Jiu straightened her clothes and said. “What Old Zhao can’t solve, my master can solve. We want double his compensation. Not too much, right?” Liu Zhiyuan’s expression was stunned. He didn’t expect this little girl to not be easy to deal with either. After thinking, he said. “I need to ask the leadership for instructions.” Saying this, he took out his phone and went to the inner room to confer with Boss Qian. When it came to matters of losing money, Boss Qian was still quite concerned. When Liu Zhiyuan came out, his face showed difficulty. “I’m sorry, you two. Boss Qian said he will come over shortly and decide after seeing you.” Yunshan laughed neither salty nor bland. Seeing that Chen Jiu also didn’t speak, Su Xiaoyu said again. “Sorry, our time is very precious.” Liu Zhiyuan had a daughter about her age, so naturally he had no temper. He couldn’t help smiling. “Little Taoist, calm your anger. Boss Qian will be here soon.” He called the front desk internal line and had them bring in a pile of snacks. Su Xiaoyu had never seen this pile of snacks before and was immediately bought over. Chen Jiu couldn’t help but support her forehead. This girl was too lacking in ambition. Liu Zhiyuan didn’t fool them either. After about ten minutes, there was news. He took them directly out to meet Boss Qian. Chen Jiu asked the front desk to help arrange things for Su Xiaoyu. After all, the child was still young. She was afraid that too heavy yin malice would harm her foundation. “You stay here and read your books properly. Don’t run around. If anything happens, talk to this sister.” Chen Jiu instructed. Su Xiaoyu was still chewing something in her mouth. She saluted her seriously and said vaguely. “Goodbye Master, goodbye senior sister.” At first sight, Chen Jiu felt that Boss Qian’s image matched what she had imagined almost perfectly. Even the detail of gold inlaid teeth was not off at all. “So you’re Taoist Yunshan?” Boss Qian took off his sunglasses and sized up Yunshan. “When I first started my business, I seemed to have heard something about you. But a few years ago when I was looking for a feng shui master, word was that you had already ascended.” Yunshan: “…” Chen Jiu suppressed the urge to beat him up and forced a smile. “Boss Qian, let’s get straight to business.” Only then did Boss Qian look at Chen Jiu, his brows furrowing. “What’s with bringing a little girl?” The atmosphere instantly froze for a moment. This Qian obviously hadn’t reached modern society yet. The braid on the back of his head flickered. Chen Jiu withdrew her smile. With a slight lift of her hand, the wooden sword from the canvas bag on her back flew out with a swoosh. It spun rapidly past the tip of Boss Qian’s nose and then landed in its owner’s hand. A gust of strong wind followed. Everyone’s hair slowly floated up and then fell. Chen Jiu gripped the sword, turned her wrist, and looked at Boss Qian with sharp eyes. This single move was more effective than Old Zhao’s years of mystical muttering. Boss Qian’s lips quivered twice. His body involuntarily straightened. He coughed and said. “Well, you have some skills. You do have some skills.” The assistant and several bodyguards were very perceptive, all echoing in agreement, resolutely not letting the boss’s words fall to the ground. “This disciple of mine has a bit of arrogance. Boss Qian, please don’t take offense.” Yunshan smiled and twirled his beard, coming out to play mediator. “Normal, young people are all like this.” Boss Qian also laughed, then touched his nose and pointed to the side. “Then let’s talk business. Right in this area, quite a few strange things were dug up back then. Old Zhao said sealing them would be fine. But quite a few people have died these past two years. If you say this has nothing to do with feng shui, who would believe it?” Chen Jiu ducked under the cordon tape. The compass in her hand spun rapidly and quickly locked onto the direction. The closer she got, the more violently the magnetic needle trembled. The energy field in this area was far too abnormal. Chen Jiu had to put away the compass. The things buried underground here probably already exceeded her imagination. The consequences of digging them up were something she couldn’t estimate for the moment. Yunshan saw that she was concentrating and using spiritual vision to probe, not making a sound for a long while. So he raised his hand to stop the others who wanted to follow and walked over himself. “Master, the things inside here probably haven’t been here for just these few years.” Chen Jiu opened her eyes and said in a low voice. “That Old Zhao surnamed Taoist doesn’t have the ability to suppress it. He can only use talismans to conceal the yin malice. No wonder I didn’t immediately sense it when I came.” That deep black mist causing the mountain spirits to be on the verge of death, the source was right here. It was still continuously absorbing soul power from all directions, like a sphere that could never be fed enough. Just waiting until it reached its limit, then it would erupt with energy that could destroy heaven and earth. “I can’t even estimate the age of this thing…” Yunshan twirled his beard and frowned. “But if it wasn’t from these recent years, how come I didn’t sense it before Old Zhao concealed it?” Chen Jiu pondered for a moment and said. “We need to dig it open again. Only when we can see clearly can we think clearly.” Yunshan nodded. The master and disciple walked back outside the cordon tape and made this request to Boss Qian. When Boss Qian heard this, he frowned unhappily. He lit a cigarette and said in a suppressed voice. “Two masters, I’m not asking for a complete solution. You just need to temporarily suppress it for me. If we dig this up, the scenic area won’t be closed for just a day or two. Do you know how much money will be lost in this? Your abilities are stronger than Old Zhao’s. You must have a way to have the best of both worlds, right?” Hearing this, Chen Jiu’s hand quickly made a subtle arc. Yunshan thought something was wrong and immediately stopped her. He said to Boss Qian. “In that case, we’ll go back and discuss it. We’ll give you a definite answer tomorrow.”