translator: honeydew
editor: Milkbiscuit
Zhou Jiayu initially thought his accommodations would be similar to those in the knockout round, but he didn’t expect that for the semifinals, all the contestants would stay in the same hotel. The night he arrived, he saw several familiar faces.
Among them was Xu Jian’s disciple, Xu Ruwang.
There were already many people sitting in the dining room when Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong walked in, and everyone cast their eyes at them. Their gazes held envy, admiration, jealousy, and hostility. Zhou Jiayu’s attention was drawn to Xu Ruwang, because he was shamelessly staring at his butt again.
“Good evening, when did you arrive?” Xu Ruwang approached and greeted.
Zhou Jiayu spoke: “Not interested.”
Xu Ruwang was easily seen through, and was slightly embarrassed: “Don’t be so heartless. We’ve even shared hardships together.”
Zhou Jiayu glanced at him, didn’t speak, and went to fetch food with Shen Yiqiong.
The dining room was all self-service, with a variety of tasty dishes. However, Lin Zhushui never liked outside food, and it seemed he wouldn’t come down tonight.
While Zhou Jiayu was thinking about this, he saw Xu Ruwang audaciously sitting down at their table.
Shen Yiqiong wasn’t polite, and said, “What are you doing? My family’s fish already has someone he’s given his heart to, so don’t try to join in the drama.”
Xu Ruwang said, “Someone he’s given his heart to? Who?”
Shen Yiqiong said in an extremely sticky voice, “Our hearts all belong to Sir.”
Xu Ruwang: “…”
Zhou Jiayu continued to quietly eat his noodles beside them.
Shen Yiqiong said, “If you’re not convinced, go find Sir and ask him yourself.”
Xu Ruwang really wanted to say he was convinced. What could he be other than convinced? Not to mention him, even his master had been fighting with Lin Zhushui for so many years, yet had never won once. And the most tragic thing was that as his disciple, Xu Ruwang never had much chance to make his master proud. Although Zhou Jiayu looked confused throughout the entire competition, his talent was undeniably evident. Without any other methods, he could directly use empathy. So, if Xu Ruwang really took this matter to heart, he would only anger himself to death.
Xu Ruwang said helplessly: “I only came because I wanted to exchange information with you. Why are you like this?”
At this moment, Zhou Jiayu finally swallowed the noodles in his mouth and joined the conversation. However, his first sentence made Xu Ruwang’s expression turn ugly. He said: “Wow, you’re cheating again?”
Xu Ruwang gritted his teeth: “Cheating? Can feng shui be counted as cheating? I calculated everything myself—”
Zhou Jiayu said, “That actually works?”
Xu Ruwang said, “Why not? I’m telling you, I’ve already calculated the venue for the semifinals and investigated it.”
He deliberately lowered his voice as he spoke, obviously not wanting to be overheard by others.
Shen Yiqiong’s eyes instantly lit up, and he said, “Already calculated? Where is it?”
Now it was Xu Ruwang’s turn to put on airs. He glanced at Zhou Jiayu and raised his chin at Shen Yiqiong, eyes full of arrogance: “I’m here to talk with Jiayu, why would I tell you?”
Shen Yiqiong: “…”
Zhou Jiayu forked up another bite of noodles and was about to continue eating when he heard this line, and laughed.
But before he could react, Shen Yiqiong reached out and threw his arms around his neck, his greasy mouth that had just gnawed a chicken leg slowly looming closer. He planted a heavy kiss on his cheek: “Why don’t you base it off my close relationship with Jiayu then!”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” He put down his noodles and silently pulled out a napkin to wipe his face.
Xu Ruwang was frightened: “What kind of relationship do you two have?”
Shen Yiqiong said: “A pure father-son relationship.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
Xu Ruwang: “…”
The two of them looked at each other, decided to ignore Shen Yiqiong, and continued discussing the competition.
According to Xu Ruwang, he was able to calculate the venue of the semifinals, but the content he had yet to determine. This kind of behavior wasn’t against the competition rules, because calculating something related to yourself was in fact not an easy task. As a contestant, Xu Ruwang calculated the competition venue, which was a manifestation of his own strength.
Shen Yiqiong said sourly, “Then why couldn’t you calculate that you wouldn’t get first place?”
Xu Ruwang smiled icily: “If you continue talking nonsense, I calculate you’ll definitely be beaten by me.”
Although Shen Yiqiong was not afraid of fighting with Xu Ruwang, obtaining some information about the competition could be helpful for Zhou Jiayu. Therefore, he did not continue provoking him and started slurping his noodles.
Xu Ruwang said, “If my calculations are correct, then the competition will be held on the street across from us.”
Zhou Jiayu looked out through the glass wall of the hotel dining hall and saw only the bustling street and skyscrapers that extended as far as the eye could see.
There were so many people, and he really couldn’t imagine what the competition would be about.
Xu Ruwang said, “The venue for the competition is very large, and very tall. I estimate it should be a building.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Then what would we compete in? Finding people?”
Xu Ruwang said, “I don’t know, but the competition venue has heavy yin energy. You should bring something to protect you.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Thank you.”
Xu Ruwang smiled and said, “Your physique isn’t normal, is it?”
Zhou Jiayu didn’t expect to be discovered so quickly. “How did you know?”
Xu Ruwang didn’t say anything, but took out the hexagram compass he often used from his bag. “Look.”
The compass needle was spinning wildly, as if disturbed by a magnetic field. Zhou Jiayu had already been taught about such occurrences by Lin Zhushui before, so he wasn’t very surprised: “Oh, so it’s like this…”
Xu Ruwang said, “I’ve only heard of it before, and didn’t expect Mr. Lin could really find the legendary extreme yin physique.”
Zhou Jiayu didn’t know much about this topic, and didn’t say anything.
“Rest early, see you tomorrow.” Xu Ruwang chatted with Zhou Jiayu for a while before getting up to leave.
Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong also prepared to return to their respective rooms.
Shen Yiqiong had never held a good impression of Xu Ruwang, but his act of deliberately informing Zhou Jiayu about the competition venue today had managed to slightly elevate his standing in Shen Yiqiong’s heart by a notch or two.
Shen Yiqiong said, “Little urn…”
Zhou Jiayu didn’t realize Shen Yiqiong was calling out to someone, until he said again, “Little urn…”
Zhou Jiayu was startled: “Who are you calling an urn?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “Calling you.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…Why?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “Didn’t you keep on talking about losing the competition and making me turn you into an urn to bring back?”
Zhou Jiayu: “………………” He really had no way to refute Shen Yiqiong’s words.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Shen Yiqiong said, “Little urn, why don’t you ask Sir about this matter? What if your physique messes you up as soon as you go in?”
Itbe Aljse rjlv, “P mjc jrx, yea tbk vb P fzqijlc ab Vlg atja P xcbk atf mbwqfalalbc nfcef?”
Vtfc Tldlbcu rjlv, “Aera rjs We Eekjcu abiv er.”
Itbe Aljse rjlv, “Gbfrc’a atja mbeca jr mtfjalcu?”
Vtfc Tldlbcu rjlv, “Vffwr ilxf la.”
Ktf akb ofii lcab rlifcmf.
Itbe Aljse mbeiv bcis rjs, “Mbgufa la. Cr j pevuf, Vlg rtbeiv xcbk atf mbwqfalalbc nfcef. Po atfgf jgf jcs qgbyifwr, tf’ii qgbyjyis afii wf lc jvnjcmf.”
Shen Yiqiong said, “That’s true. Then you go to bed early, little urn. Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
Zhou Jiayu thought to himself, you’re here, as long as you’re here, I’ll never be afraid, because you’ll make me into an urn, and ship me back.
The two of them returned to the room, and once Zhou Jiayu laid down on the bed he immediately fell asleep. In less than ten minutes, he had already fallen into a deep slumber.
The second day was still painfully hot.
Zhou Jiayu got up at exactly 8 o’clock and called Shen Yiqiong to go to the dining room for breakfast. Unexpectedly, upon their arrival, they found Lin Zhushui already sitting there with a few judges, surrounded by many fans. Of course, due to his aura, those fans didn’t dare disturb him, and could only look at him secretly from nearby. So when Zhou Jiayu went to greet Lin Zhushui, he received even fiercer gazes than yesterday.
“Good morning, Sir,” Zhou Jiayu said.
Lin Zhushui spoke: “Good morning, how was your sleep last night?”
Zhou Jiayu, who fell asleep immediately yesterday, could only force himself to say, “I’m a little nervous, and didn’t sleep well.”
Lin Zhushui was noncommittal and tapped his fingers on the table, blandly saying, “Let’s eat.”
Zhou Jiayu quickly slipped away.
Shen Yiqiong followed behind him and scolded in a low voice: “You fucking lied to Sir again, and got found out.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “How can you tell that Sir found out?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “As long as Sir taps the table with his fingers, that means he’s in a bad mood.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” But he felt that if he said he had slept well, then Lin Zhushui would’ve tapped his fingers even more.
The dining hall was booked by the organizing committee of the competition, and all those eating were contestants. Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu observed their opponents while eating. In the previous competition, there were twenty people, but Zhou Jiayu couldn’t remember all of them, and his impression of the contestants’ faces was also quite vague. But now there were only ten left, and were much easier to identify. Among these ten contestants, there were actually some foreign faces, including one European and three contestants from Southern Asia. The remaining six were all Chinese, because, after all, Chinese contestants had a home-court advantage.
“I seem to have met some of them,” Shen Yiqiong said. “They’ve probably participated in the competition before.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Oh…”
Shen Yiqiong said, “Ah, that young lady seems to be Chen Xiaoru’s disciple.”
Zhou Jiayu asked, “Who’s Chen Xiaoru?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “The one sitting next to Sir. I’ve heard she specializes in Gu.”
Zhou Jiayu carefully memorized the young woman’s appearance and nodded.
Shen Yiqiong seemed to be very eager for the competition. He actually recognized seven out of the ten semi-final contestants, and the remaining three were all foreign faces. As he helped Zhou Jiayu identify them, he also analyzed their weaknesses. Hearing him speak, Zhou Jiayu didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh: “What kind of weakness is not being able to handle spicy food?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “Sigh, knowing is better than not knowing. If we treated him to a barbecue before the competition and added more chili peppers, he would probably get diarrhea.”
Zhou Jiayu could only admire Shen Yiqiong and his lack of fear of being beaten up by Sir.
As they chatted jokingly, they assumed the competition would start in the morning. But who knew that by lunchtime, the competition’s organizing committee showed no sign of taking them to the competition venue?
Some contestants couldn’t help but inquire with the staff and found out that the competition was actually scheduled for the evening.
The contestants who had been sitting in the dining hall immediately dispersed. Some said they were going back to their room for a nap, while others said they would go out for a stroll.
The weather outside was too hot. Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong were both salted fish and had no intention of going outside at all, and were prepared to return to their rooms and enjoy the air conditioning. But before Zhou Jiayu could leave, he was stopped by Lin Zhushui.
Lin Zhushui handed something over, and Zhou Jiayu took it with both hands. He found it was a yellow paper talisman, painted with complex cinnabar patterns. As soon as Zhou Jiayu held it, he felt a wave of steaming heat.
Lin Zhushui spoke: “When you head to the competition venue tonight, put this in the pocket of your shirt and don’t take it out.”
Zhou Jiayu obediently agreed.
Lin Zhushui raised his eyebrows slightly: “Why aren’t you curious about what this is? Or…” He lowered his voice, “You already know the competition venue?”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” Boss, you don’t have to guess so accurately.
In front of Lin Zhushui, all lies would be exposed, so Zhou Jiayu honestly sold Xu Ruwang out.
After listening, Lin Zhushui waved his hand at him. Zhou Jiayu was a bit embarrassed and said, “Sir, Xu Ruwang won’t be punished, will he?”
Lin Zhushui’s tone was cold: “Instead of worrying about him, why don’t you worry about yourself?”
Zhou Jiayu inexplicably felt that Lin Zhushui was angry. He wanted to say something, but the words escaped him. He could only watch Lin Zhushui turn around and return to his room.
Shen Yiqiong was still sitting in his room, enthusiastically munching on melon seeds. He didn’t know what had happened to Zhou Jiayu, but seeing him mope around, he said, “What’s the matter, little urn?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Sir found out Xu Ruwang told me about the competition venue.”
Shen Yiqiong said, “That’s nothing.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “It’s nothing?”
Shen Yiqiong disdainfully said, “What difference does it make knowing the competition venue? And besides, Xu Ruwang spoke so vaguely, he didn’t give us a detailed address—”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Maybe these things are particularly taboo to Sir?”
Shen Yiqiong thought for a moment: “Not really, when my senior brother was competing, he tried to figure out the venue in advance, but when Sir found out, he had no reaction.” To put it bluntly, no matter what method you used, if you could figure it out, you were amazing. Moreover, if you even knew in advance where to compete and what to compete, the entire feng shui competition was probably of little use to you. Taking Zhou Jiayu’s previous search for dolls as an example, the villa’s structure was very complex, and the places where the dolls were hidden were also very secret. If you were to rely solely on on-site information without employing any techniques, the search could take an entire week.
“Then what’s Sir angry about?” Zhou Jiayu was confused.
Shen Yiqiong said, “En… perhaps because Sir and Xu Jian don’t see eye-to-eye, so he doesn’t want you getting too close to Xu Ruwang? After all, they are uncle and nephew.”
Zhou Jiayu was enlightened.
Shen Yiqiong spoke: “Don’t think too much about it. Right now, the competition is the most important.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded and reached out to gently press the place where the talisman was hidden on his chest.
Around 6 pm, the competition’s organization committee, which had not given much information, asked the contestants to have an early dinner, announcing that they would depart at exactly 7:30 pm.
Zhou Jiayu had little appetite, and as the competition grew nearer, he finally felt nervous.
The other contestants didn’t look too good either, and the only European contestant couldn’t stop making the sign of the cross.
There were no judges in the dining room, indicating they had probably already arrived at the competition venue in advance.
At 7:30 pm, the contestants boarded cars prepared by the organization committee and drove to the competition venue.
This time, Zhou Jiayu and Xu Ruwang were in the same car. Sitting in front was a male contestant they didn’t know.
Xu Ruwang spent the whole ride chatting with Zhou Jiayu, mainly about personal topics such as favorite foods and games.
Zhou Jiayu said helplessly, “Aren’t you nervous?”
Xu Ruwang said, “I’m never nervous.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Then why are you sweating?”
Xu Ruwang said, “It’s too hot.”
Zhou Jiayu looked at the car’s air conditioning, set to 23 degrees, and showed an expression that said, ‘What are you talking about?’
It wasn’t just Xu Ruwang. The ten contestants all had nervous expressions. Most of the contestants who had advanced to this level represented a certain faction or feng shui master, and it was normal for high expectations to be piled onto them.
7:30 pm just happened to be peak rush hour, and the journey that was supposed to take a few minutes took half an hour to complete. When they arrived at the competition venue, it was 5 minutes from 8 o’clock.
Sure enough, it was exactly as Xu Ruwang had expected. The competition venue was a very beautiful building located in the city center. Zhou Jiayu stood in front of the building, and felt a very uncomfortable feeling emanating from it. He received a number plate from the staff, and after walking in, the uncomfortable feeling intensified.
Compared to the bustling cityscape outside, the building was quiet, as if it belonged to another world.
Although the lights were on, all the shops were closed, and the building was empty. The white floor reflected the dim light.
Zhou Jiayu stepped through the entrance. As soon as he entered, he felt a chilly wind rushing toward him, making him feel cold all over. It was different from the coldness produced by air conditioning. This type of coldness seemed to blow directly through his body and into his soul, making him involuntarily want to shiver.
Just as Zhou Jiayu felt uncomfortable, the talisman he had carefully placed near his chest began to emit a warm heat, dispelling the cold and calming Zhou Jiayu’s body.
“Hah….” Zhou Jiayu breathed out heavily, feeling much more comfortable.
“Why’s it so cold here?” Xu Ruwang forcefully rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. “This place really is imposing.”
The reactions of the other contestants were similar to theirs, with those more sensitive to such things displaying more discomfort.
At the entrance, there were ten tables and ten chairs. Atop the tables were stationery and a thick stack of files.
The staff seated the contestants one by one and then instructed them to read the files.
The files were clearly deliberately organized, similar to what Lin Zhushui had shown Zhou Jiayu before. They mostly consisted of newspaper clippings and a small amount of records.
Zhou Jiayu turned to the first page.
The first file was a case that had occurred in this building—a bizarre murder committed in a shop selling jade.
The saleswoman on night duty was found drowned in a bucket in the store the very next morning. The bucket was an ordinary household bucket, and was only half-full. The saleswoman’s head was immersed in the bucket, and everywhere were signs of her desperate struggle, indicating that before her death, she had desperately sought help.
It was such a small bucket, but she still couldn’t break free and drowned like this. The surveillance footage of the mall showed the saleswoman had committed suicide. She personally went to fill the empty bucket with water to its halfway point. She then knelt down and submerged her head in it, after which she began to struggle like a madman.
This case made people feel very uncomfortable. Although it was ultimately closed as a suicide, anyone could see it was not as simple as imagined.
But this was just the beginning, and three days later, a second bizarre situation happened again.
This time, it took place in another shop. As a person came to open the roll-up door in the morning, a stream of black fishy-smelling water gushed directly out from the store and flowed all over the corridor.
So far, the source of the water remained a mystery, and the official statement given was that blockage of the sewer caused the sewage to flow back up. But no one could explain why, before the door was opened, not a drop of water had flowed out, and only after opening the door did a stream of black water gush out directly.
The black water was very foul-smelling, and after the janitors treated it, they fell ill for a week. However, there were no fatalities in the end, which could probably be considered good enough.
Following these two bizarre incidents, the mall’s manager moved the mall’s closing time a little earlier, and stipulated that except for security personnel, no one else was allowed to stay overnight.
But even so, bizarre things continued to happen.
The second murder occurred during the day, and the victim was a customer of the mall.
The customer came with his wife to go shopping, and disappeared when he went to the restroom. The wife called the police, and after a search, they found the victim’s body in the underground parking garage of the mall.
The victim died of suffocation and his body was thrown aside to a corner of the garage. The police found mud and aquatic plants in his mouth, but could not find any place where he could’ve drowned. And the surveillance footage showed it was not a simple homicide, because the victim himself walked into the garage, and then knelt on the ground, struggling uncontrollably, before finally his movements stopped.
Someone had drowned in air— if the video wasn’t there as proof, then anyone would’ve dismissed it as a joke.
However, when such a situation really happened, it ceased to be a laughing matter.
Afterwards, the building was closed for a period of time, and the mall manager invited many feng shui masters to look into the situation. However, the majority of these feng shui masters were swindlers… reflecting the disgusting part of the original Zhou Jiayu’s identity.
The manager of the mall thought that once a ritual was conducted, this matter would be concluded.
Yet, to everyone’s surprise, shortly after the mall reopened, something even worse would happen— someone was directly torn apart.
It was like something only a wild beast would do. The victim was a security guard at the mall whose body was torn apart so thoroughly it couldn’t be put back together. This time the footage of the surveillance cameras was blacked out, as if they had been obstructed by something. The motive, technique, and identity of the killer were all unclear.
A police investigation was unable to provide even a perfunctory statement.
At this point, both the mall manager and the police were both feeling uneasy. The manager made one last desperate attempt and contacted the organizers of the feng shui competition, providing this place as the competition venue. An agreement was reached that if the contestants failed to resolve this issue, the judges would take action to resolve it.
Zhou Jiayu finished reading the files and fell into silence.
The staff announced the competition rules. The goal was to investigate the problem with the building. The time limit was one night, from 8 pm to 8 am the next day. The entire building could be investigated, and you could exchange information with other contestants, but you could not contact the outside world. If any violation was discovered, you would lose the right to participate.
To prevent potential mishaps, it was recommended that the contestants form teams of two to take action. Then someone distributed talismans, and said if there was some accident, the talisman could be torn directly.
Xu Ruwang sat next to Zhou Jiayu. He clucked his tongue in interest at the talisman, and said, “This building is quite interesting.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “What do you mean?”
Xu Ruwang spoke: “I asked about previous competitions. Apparently, when protective measures are in place, the competition becomes more dangerous and accidents have a higher chance of occurring.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Oh…”
Xu Ruwang said, “How about it? Do you want to team up with me?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Sure.”
Since this competition supported cooperation, it was good for him and Xu Ruwang to form a team. At the very least, it would be safer when walking around and investigating.
After receiving Zhou Jiayu’s consent, Xu Ruwang smiled happily and said, “Then let’s go. We can find a place to discuss what we just read.”
Therefore the two of them left the crowded area and randomly found a corner to exchange information.
“All of these cases definitely had something to do with water,” Xu Ruwang said. “Except for the last one, they were all drowned.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded: “That’s right.” He hesitated for a moment, and said, “They also seem to have something else in common.”
Xu Ruwang said, “What?”
Zhou Jiayu spoke: “Have you noticed that the drowning victims and where the black water spilled out of were all situated in jade shops? Even that place where the security guard was torn apart was also a jade shop.”
Xu Ruwang indeed had not noticed this. He picked up a newspaper and carefully examined a photograph, saying in surprise: “That’s true.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Jade… and water… what connection do they have?”
Xu Ruwang stroked his chin: “Looking at their nature, both of them are yin-natured. Most jade is yin-natured, and only jade that has not yet been polished into an object will have some portion of yang energy.”
All the jade in the mall were meticulously crafted handicrafts, likely all yin-natured.
Zhou Jiayu said, “Why don’t we go see where the murder cases occurred?”
Xu Ruwang grinned: “Sure, if you’re not scared.”
Zhou Jiayu thought to himself, I’ve already died once, what do I have to be afraid of?
So the two of them went to the jade shop where the first murder occurred. Two other contestants were already standing there, and it seemed they had just formed a team. However, their relationship seemed less harmonious than that of Zhou Jiayu and Xu Ruwang, and they seemed to be arguing about something. Seeing others come over, they immediately shut their mouths.
Zhou Jiayu arrived at the murder scene and was not at all surprised to see layers of black mist there. The source of the black mist seemed to be under the floor. He half-knelt down and touched the floor with his hand, and felt once again the chill he had when entering the mall.
Xu Ruwang was studying the jade shop, and spoke: “With everything happening now, this store is still open?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Seems so.”
This point was really a bit strange. The building was still open for business, but reasonably if a murder occurred, the mall would definitely not be far from closing. Yet looking at the surrounding shops, the business of the mall hadn’t been affected much.
“Interesting,” Xu Ruwang spoke.
Zhou Jiayu had his head lowered looking at the floor. His nose twitched: “Do you smell something?”
Xu Ruwang said, “En? What smell?” He carefully sniffed but detected nothing unusual.
Zhou Jiayu said, “…the smell of fishy water.” He had encountered this scent during his childhood. It was a bit like a river during flood season; a mix of fish, sand, and other muddled things. Although he didn’t dislike the smell, it was obviously out of place here.
Xu Ruwang’s instincts in this field weren’t as sensitive as Zhou Jiayu’s. His hard work bore no fruit and he ultimately gave up, saying, “Do you feel anything else?”
Zhou Jiayu was about to speak when he felt a chill on his cheek. He reached out a hand to wipe it away, only to find a drop of water had fallen there at some point.
Zhou Jiayu: “…” Fuck.
Xu Ruwang said, “Little urn, what’s the matter with you?”
Zhou Jiayu: “???” Xu Ruwang, do you have to team up with Shen Yiqiong to make trouble?
Zhou Jiayu angrily said, “There’s water!”
Xu Ruwang said, “Water? Water from where?” He also saw the water on Zhou Jiayu’s face and hands. Both of them craned their necks to look at the ceiling, but couldn’t find the source of the water even after searching for a long time.
Zhou Jiayu sniffed the water and sensed a particularly fishy smell. It was obviously not tap water, but rather a bit like river or lake water.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Zhou Jiayu confessed. “This discovery goes against socialist values.”
Xu Ruwang was still looking at the ceiling and said, “Socialist values? Can you even join the Party?”
Zhou Jiayu muttered, “I really want to…”
The ceiling was shrouded in darkness, and it was impossible to discern any details. Other contestants also came over one after another, probably hoping to discover something.
While Xu Ruwang inspected the jade shop, Zhou Jiayu walked to the edge of the corridor and looked down. He discovered they were not on the first floor, but that there were five or six floors below them.
As he looked down, he sensed another burst of fishy scent coming from below. Obviously, the scent he had detected had come from below.
Zhou Jiayu spoke: “Xu Ruwang, let’s go down and take a look around.”
Xu Ruwang said, “Sure.” He took out his compass, and not surprisingly, saw its needle spinning energetically. He took a few steps back to distance himself from Zhou Jiayu, but the compass still didn’t stop. It seemed like it would be useless.
Xu Ruwang looked up to the heavens and sighed deeply. “My master was too correct. Relying on external forces is impossible.” Looking at Zhou Jiayu, even though he had been seemingly muddle-headed since the preliminary round, with his heaven-defying talent, he didn’t even need a compass and could use his nose.
Zhou Jiayu said, “Are we going or not?”
Xu Ruwang said, “Let’s go.”
The two of them took the elevator and quickly reached the ground floor. There were several indoor fountains on the bottom floor of the shopping mall, and Zhou Jiayu didn’t notice anything wrong. However, Xu Ruwang noticed something and said, “The person who arranged the decor really is interesting.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “What do you mean?”
Xu Ruwang said, “Have you heard of ‘mountains manage people and waters manage wealth’?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I’ve heard that before.”
Xu Ruwang spoke: “Water can also be divided into five elements: metal-type water flows into gold, wood-type water is heartless, water-type water rushes for wealth, fire-type water brings disaster, and earth-type water holds good fortune.
Zhou Jiayu said, “Get to the point!”
Xu Ruwang said, “A triangular fountain or flowing water is fire-type water, also known as Zhurong water, and is very prone to attracting fire-related accidents.”
Zhou Jiayu glanced at a fountain and said, “That’s not exactly accurate. There were quite a few water-related and not fire-related accidents.” All the people who had died in the building had died in water.
Xu Ruwang said, “That’s true too.” He looked around again and found a square fish pond next to the fountain. Its shape was not good at all, resembling the characters ‘official’ and ‘crying’, which easily attracted misfortune.
It was unknown whether the people who designed these ponds were intentional or unintentional.
Although the lights of the entire building were on, there was no one on the ground floor, and it had an aura of gloominess.
The scent that Zhou Jiayu had smelled was getting stronger and stronger. On the upper floor he had to squat down to smell it, but the ground floor was full of the smell.
However, Xu Ruwang remained unaffected and only said the temperature on the ground floor was slightly lower than on the upper floor.
Zhou Jiayu looked at the ground and said, “It’s August, should the ground be so damp?”
This time, Xu Ruwang also saw traces of water droplets on the ground, as if they were seeping up from the earth. He said, “Even if it were so, how could they permeate directly through the tiles?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “So…”
The two of them glanced at each other and reached a tacit understanding on this matter. Xu Ruwang said, “Let’s go to the parking garage together to take a look.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded.
After reaching an agreement, they planned to take the elevator down to the underground parking garage. Upon entering, they saw two other contestants also inside. The European and a girl had formed a team, and they seemed to be acquaintances of Xu Ruwang.
“Ruwang, have you found anything?” the girl asked.
Xu Ruwang said, “I’ve found…” He lowered his voice, eyes full of mystery, causing the girl to swivel her head towards him. Then this shameless person said, “I’ve found out I’ll definitely advance to the final.”
The girl: “…”
Zhou Jiayu silently looked away, pretending to be unfamiliar with Xu Ruwang.
The author has something to say:
Lin Zhushui: Others are coveting my little urn, drinking vinegar, unhappy.
Zhou Jiayu: …my dear, are you really going to turn me into an urn?
Lin Zhushui: I wish you belonged to only me.
Zhou Jiayu: …
Ahahahahahah Mr Lin drinking vinegar thank you for the chapter !
Little urn is such a cute nickname for zhou jiayu XD and the competition gets tougher! Hopefully nothing bad will happen to the contestants ><
Thank you for your translation 💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟
Awww hahahah, i rly like the snippets of their improving relationship lmao. thank you for the translation!!
Also lil urn, ur Sir probably mad because you didn’t go to him directly when u faced an obstacle smh