Chapter 59 :Grandma

“Huh?” I listened, stunned.
What did he mean, a boy having a female-leaning constitution?
A hormonal imbalance?
Or gender identity disorder?
That didn’t seem right either; I’ve always identified as a boy.

The shop owner didn’t notice my reaction and just continued reading from the ancient book, “It is said that people with the Hidden Yin Physique are very susceptible to attacks from demons and ghosts, but are also very suitable for cultivating evil arts. There are rumors that their blood can cause demons and ghosts to undergo a transformation, but the specifics are unknown.”

“Is that so,” I said with a wry smile.
No wonder the Painted Skin Ghost specifically attacked me.
No wonder the weasel and those two resentful souls specifically wanted my blood.
So that was the reason.

“Hmm? Why do you look unwell? Could the Hidden Yin Physique have something to do with you?” the shop owner’s words made my heart skip a beat.
I was afraid he would uncover some secret.

But then the shop owner shook his head again, “What am I thinking? The Hidden Yin Physique only occurs in boys. You’re a girl, so it definitely isn’t you. If you have a relative with the Hidden Yin Physique, you don’t need to worry. The book says the Hidden Yin Physique is very concealed and difficult to detect. At most, you can buy a yang-aspected Dharma artifact to fill his void.”

“I see, I understand. Thank you for your guidance. It’s getting late, I should be going,” I stood up, somewhat dazed, and walked out with the shop owner.

“That took a long time. Sister Xiao, you two were in there for almost twenty minutes,” Ou Zhiqin said, sitting in the shop a bit impatiently.
She was holding the hairpin.
Fortunately, she had been studying how to use it with the help of a staff member’s explanation, so she wasn’t too bored.

“Sorry, I asked a few things. Let’s go,” I said, leading Xiao Qing out of the Feng Shui shop.
The owner was still behind us, saying, “Please visit the new shop when you have time. We can exchange ideas.”

After walking out of the Feng Shui shop, Ou Zhiqin showed a strange expression.
She looked left and right before saying, “Brother Xiao, it seems like something really is different.”

“Hmm?” I, on the other hand, frowned.
Just as I stepped out of the Feng Shui shop, I once again heard faint, indistinct cries.

“It seems… I was a little restless, or rather, irritable before. I’m not anymore,” Xiao Qing looked at the hairpin in her hand, and a flash of realization crossed her face, “Ah, is it the function of this Dharma artifact?”

Xiao Qing couldn’t hear the crying before, but she would unconsciously feel restless and upset.
After getting the new Dharma artifact, she became calm and composed.
I nodded, “It seems so. That shop owner told me the source of the problem is in the central courtyard. I want to go take a look.”

“Senior Brother once told me that the pool in the center of the courtyard is the eye of the formation. I want to go see it too,” Ou Zhiqin also nodded.
She had a certain interest in Feng Shui formations as well.

The commercial center was shaped like a square donut, with a square courtyard in the middle of the building, which had been converted into a small garden.
The inner side of the mall facing the garden had many food-oriented shops, but now their business was slow.

Upon arriving in the garden, even Xiao Qing could feel that something was not right.
In a bustling mall with a large flow of customers, the central garden was deserted and quiet, with very few people.
Only some flowers, grass, and trees were swaying in the wind.
Coupled with the fact that it was already nighttime, the bright lights of the mall made the garden seem even more gloomy.

“These streetlights, why are they so dim? And the wind here is so cold. It’s surrounded by buildings on all four sides, how can there be such a strong draft?” Xiao Qing looked around in confusion, hugging her arms and constantly rubbing them.

I also felt a similar sensation to what I had experienced in Pear Blossom Park before—that feeling of being trapped on an isolated island, and the bone-chilling cold.

“Two little girls, be careful. Several customers have fainted here for no reason before. The mall said it was due to the cold wind. You’d better not come here at night,” an old grandmother’s voice sounded from the side.

Xiao Qing and I looked to the side.
An old woman was sitting on a nearby bench, her face full of wrinkles and her hair a silver silk.
She looked very old, her head bowed, not looking at us.

“Thank you for the reminder. We’ll leave after a quick look,” I said.
The old grandmother didn’t continue talking to us.
I just thought of her as a kind-hearted person and continued walking towards the center of the garden.

But after taking just a few steps, I remembered how bone-chillingly cold it was here.
She was so old; sitting here, she might get sick from the cold.
So I turned my head and said, “Grandma, it’s cold here, you should… eh?!”

Xiao Qing noticed the anomaly and also turned around.
Our hearts instantly sank to the bottom.
The roadside in front of us was empty.
There was no shadow of an old grandmother to be seen.

“M-Maybe she’s fast. She left right after talking to us,” I said with a dry laugh, saying words I didn’t even believe myself.
We had only walked a few steps.
When we turned around, her figure was gone.
This old grandmother was most likely a ghost.

Xiao Qing was quicker to calm down.
She said to me, “Brother Xiao, remember the principle I told you? No matter what strange phenomenon you see, treat it as non-existent as much as possible. Don’t make a fuss. As long as the ghost isn’t coming for you, it generally won’t attack.”

“Then what should we do? Listen to that old grandmother and leave immediately, or go in and take another look,” I asked.
I really didn’t know what to do when a ghost struck up a conversation.

Ou Zhiqin also showed a very conflicted expression, “The books say not to believe the words of ghosts that have nothing to do with you. Even if they sound sincere, it’s highly likely they are lying. Whatever a ghost says, do the opposite. But I think the old grandmother seemed to be giving a well-intentioned reminder. She probably wouldn’t harm us. Maybe we should do as she said?”

“So should we go in or go back?” I asked.
What Xiao Qing said was as good as saying nothing; it could be yes or no.

“I can’t help it. The books say both situations exist. After all, ghosts are different from one another. The majority being malicious doesn’t mean a minority can’t be benevolent. Tsk! Let’s still go in. We’ll take a look at the situation and then leave,” in the end, Xiao Qing gritted her teeth and chose to go with probability.

I could only comfort myself psychologically, thinking that a quick glance probably wouldn’t cause any problems, and turned to follow Xiao Qing towards the center.

This small garden wasn’t large, only about fifty meters in length and width.
We could soon see the fountain in the center.
It was a rather luxurious golden fountain, but it wasn’t currently operating.

In my eyes, the wealth aura attracted by the Money Bureau had already dispersed to various parts of the mall, while the remaining ominous and yin auras were descending from the sky and gathering in the fountain pool.
As a result, the pool looked as if it were filled with a puddle of sludge emitting black energy.

“I think I’m starting to see it. What a ‘Water Overflows Gold Mountain’ Feng Shui arrangement,” Ou Zhiqin took out her camera and took a picture of the fountain.

“‘Water Overflows Gold Mountain’? A Feng Shui arrangement?” I asked in confusion.
Where was the Gold Mountain?

“Yes, that raised fountain is actually the Gold Mountain, made of pure gold, built in the very center of the pool. When the fountain spouts water, isn’t that ‘Water Overflows Gold Mountain’?” Xiao Qing showed me the photo.

One look at it scared me out of my wits.
In the photo, several pale-faced people were standing in the pool, looking at me.
Among them was the old grandmother from just now.