Chapter 99: The Gate of Death

Although he was just a child, the skill and fluidity with which he killed the chicken sent a slight chill down my spine.
Especially since he looked to be only seven or eight years old, yet he could hold the chicken wings so steadily with one hand, preventing the headless chicken from moving even as it flapped violently.
His strength was a bit exaggerated.

‘It’s probably just my imagination,’ I thought.
‘Maybe he often helps his father kill chickens and has become skilled through practice, which is why his knife skills are so sharp.’
‘It’s also possible that it was inconvenient to grab the chicken’s neck while holding both the wings and the knife, so he just chopped off the head with one stroke.’

By now, the little boy had collected a full bowl of chicken blood.
The chicken’s body had gradually lost its vitality and stopped struggling.
He threw the chicken into hot water, preparing to pluck its feathers.

“Customer, it’ll take some time to pluck the chicken, remove its innards, and clean it.”
“You can go buy some other things first and come back later when it’s done,” the chicken stall owner said.

What else could I buy?
Considering I had chicken blood, maybe I could buy some leeks to make a soup, and then some eggs.
I could also buy some appetizers.
As I thought about it, I wandered around the wet market, buying whatever I saw that I needed.

Just then, I saw the old man again, carrying his pole, walking to a corner of the wet market.
The two baskets were still filled with cut pieces of meat.
He placed the baskets on the ground, and before he could even take out his sign, a crowd of people had gathered around him.

I remembered that the old man was selling ostrich meat.
Seeing so many people wanting to buy his meat, it must be delicious.
Considering that I might have to treat the carpenter to dinner today, buying some fresh and special ingredients would be nice.

So I went forward.
Since he had just started setting up his stall, there weren’t that many people around the stall yet.
I looked at the meat in the basket and chose a lean piece.
It felt quite tough to the touch, and seemed to have been frozen.
I might have to marinate it to soften it before slicing and cooking.

After buying the ostrich meat, I went back to get the chicken.
The child handed me the chicken, which had already been plucked and gutted.
The chicken blood and giblets were in two separate bags.

Looking at the congealed chicken blood, I had an inexplicable urge to swallow it whole.
I immediately shook my head vigorously.
This chicken blood hadn’t even been cooked yet, why would I have such a strange thought?

Well, I had bought all the groceries.
I carried the few bags of ingredients home.
When I entered, I saw Xiao Qing and the carpenter arguing about something.
I asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Sister Xia is back?”
“Master carpenter said he wants to set up the incense holder for your parents in your bedroom,” Ou Zhiqin said.

“Huh?” I looked at the carpenter in confusion.
He said, “It’s not that I want to set up the incense holder in your bedroom.”
“It’s that this room is not suitable for a bedroom in the first place.”
“In Qi Men Dun Jia,¹ the position of this bedroom is where the Gate of Death is located.”
“It should be a place for an ancestral hall.”

“Huh?”
I was even more baffled as I looked at this bedroom.
This four-bedroom, two-living-room apartment had three rooms designed as bedrooms.
I had chosen this one because it was the largest and had the most complete furniture, including a dressing table and a wardrobe.

In other words, the previous tenants who had moved out had slept in this room, or at least someone had slept in this room.
Now the carpenter was saying that this room was the Gate of Death.
Just hearing the name sounded very inauspicious.

“Is it really the Gate of Death?”
“You didn’t calculate it wrong, did you?” Xiao Qing asked again for confirmation.
Although Xiao Qing knew more about these occult matters than I did, she was still just an enthusiast.
She couldn’t grasp professional knowledge like how to distinguish the Eight Gates.

“There’s no mistake.”
“Although my family specializes in carpentry now, our ancestors were also construction masters.”
“And the placement of vanquishing objects requires consideration of the positions in Qi Men Dun Jia.”
“If I make a mistake on such basic knowledge, I’d be ruining my own livelihood,” the carpenter said.

“What’s wrong with the Gate of Death?” I asked.
The carpenter replied, “The Gate of Death is not suitable for living and resting.”
“Sleeping in this bedroom will make you feel depressed, irritable, and restless.”
“Your luck will also decline.”
“But it is suitable as a place for an ancestral hall for worship, or to be left empty as a storage room.”

No wonder I had been hearing noises in the hallway when I slept these past few days, and felt irritable and my body itchy when I woke up.
So it was because I was sleeping in the Gate of Death.

“Then what was the designer thinking?”
“Why design the Gate of Death as the master bedroom?”
“Isn’t that harming people?” Xiao Qing asked angrily.
I had the same question.
Among the four rooms, this was the largest, undoubtedly the master bedroom.

“The designer probably doesn’t know about Feng Shui and Qi Men Dun Jia.”
“And calculating the Gate of Death is very complicated.”
“The position of the Gate of Death will change with height, aura, surrounding Feng Shui, and the orientation of the building.”
“Maybe it’s the Gate of Death here in your home, but the master bedrooms upstairs and downstairs are not,” the carpenter said.

“Doesn’t that mean that as long as it’s a high-rise building, the problem of the Gate of Death is unavoidable?” I asked.
If the Gate of Death changed from floor to floor, it would be almost impossible to avoid.

“That’s how it is with apartment buildings.”
“That’s why rich people live in detached houses, so they can hire someone to design them specially.”
“But with the population explosion and the demand for housing exceeding supply, they have no choice but to build many high-rises.”
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter much if the Gate of Death faces a balcony, toilet, or kitchen.”
“And as long as the overall Feng Shui of the building is good, it can offset the influence of the Gate of Death,” the carpenter said.

“Then, master, do you think the Feng Shui of this building is good or not?” I asked.
The carpenter said with a wry smile, “I’m just a carpenter, not a Feng Shui master.”
“Reading Feng Shui is not my specialty.”
“But if we’re just looking at the fortune of the aura, the Feng Shui here should be pretty good.”

Just like me, I couldn’t read Feng Shui or study artifacts either.
I judged whether something was good or bad entirely based on the size of its aura or the form of its spiritual light.

“Miss, you decide for yourself.”
“I suggest you move out of this bedroom and turn it into an ancestral hall.”
“Besides, it’s in line with filial piety for your parents to occupy the master bedroom.”
“You enshrine your parents in the master bedroom and sleep in the second bedroom yourself.”
“That is the Gate of Life, which is beneficial to your fate,” the carpenter suggested.

“Alright, let’s do that,” I agreed immediately.
Even the secondary bedroom was much larger than my original home.
In fact, the master bedroom was too spacious, and it felt a bit uncomfortable for one person to sleep in.

“Then I’ll help you move it.”
“You just need to pack your things in the bedroom,” the carpenter said and went to unpack the incense holder, preparing to install it in the master bedroom and then invite the parents’ paper figures in.

I also began to pack my personal belongings.
Xiao Qing walked over and said, “I’ll help you pack too.”

“Ah, no need.”
“I don’t have many personal belongings.”
“But those ingredients, could you help me prepare them, Xiao Qing?” I asked with a wry smile.
I could handle simple dishes, but I didn’t know how to cook complicated ones.

“Eh?”
“Alright, someone said they were going to treat me to dinner, but in the end, I’m the one doing the cooking,” Ou Zhiqin sighed and carried the ingredients into the kitchen.

Footnotes:
¹ Qi Men Dun Jia : An ancient Chinese metaphysical and divinatory art. It is one of the Three Styles  of Chinese metaphysics. It involves complex calculations based on the lunar calendar, stems, branches, and the Eight Gates to determine auspicious and inauspicious directions and times for various activities. The Gate of Death is one of these eight gates and is generally considered inauspicious for living activities but suitable for things related to the deceased.