The Heavenly Way’s Secret Feng Shui Manual

The north wind carried thick, feathery snow, wrapping Qingshi Town deep in the Taihang Mountains in a blanket of white. Icicles a foot long hung from the eaves of the Li Family Ancestral Hall at the eastern end of town, but they could not dispel the deathly silence inside. Li Yanqiu, the only son of the Li family’s third generation, had been unconscious for three days and was barely breathing.

On the main hall’s altar table lay offerings of meat, fish, and poultry. The three incense sticks in the burner flickered erratically, their trails of smoke twisting instead of rising. They clung to the altar table and curled around it, as if something were blocking their way. Several feng shui masters in long gowns surrounded the young man behind the altar table, their faces as grim as iron. The oldest among them, Wang the Half-Immortal, held a compass whose needle spun wildly, striking the copper casing with a series of sharp clicks without ever settling on a direction.

“This is bad. Very bad,” Wang the Half-Immortal said, wiping cold sweat from his brow, his voice trembling. “I personally surveyed the Li family’s ancestral tomb. It sits by mountains and water, sheltered from the wind and gathering auspicious energy. It should have brought three generations of prosperity. How could such a tragedy befall the family?”

The young master beside him chimed in. “Exactly. Young Master Yanqiu was clever from childhood, and his birth chart is strong. By all rights, he shouldn’t have suffered such a disaster. Could he have... offended something unclean?”

Old Master Li gripped his dragon-headed cane, his withered fingers turning white and his knuckles blue. “Gentlemen, if you can save my grandson, the Li family will give up everything we own!”

Just then, the doors of the ancestral hall creaked open. A gust of cold wind swept in with the snow, making the candle flames sway violently. An old man stood in the doorway, wearing a faded blue Daoist robe. His beard and hair were completely white