"Daoist, going overboard is just as bad as not doing enough,"
Li Yan gently shook his head as he advised.
Everyone has their likes and dislikes, no one is exempt.
He was obsessed with spells and martial arts, Lv San loved animals, and Sha Lifei had a particular fondness for firearms.
Initially, he thought Wang Daoxuan was open-minded, but as they spent more ti together, he realized that this elder Daoist was also obsessively fascinated with sothing.
What he was obsessed with was various kinds of knowledge.
Whether it was historical folklore or the secret techniques of Magic Veins, he would beco crazed as soon as he encountered sothing he didn’t understand.
From Guanzhong to Ezhou, whether it was the estates of wealthy households or Taoist temples and monasteries, the only thing this elder Daoist was interested in was their collection of books.
This once resulted in him staying up for an entire night.
"Alas, I can’t even control myself,"
Wang Daoxuan said with a wry smile, "I thought about sleeping early, but when I lay in bed, I couldn’t fall asleep, and before I knew it, I had spent the whole night reading."
"The collection of Liu Gang included several lost tos with annotations and insights from predecessors; I gained a lot from them."
As he spoke, Landlord Tian also arrived in the courtyard with his servants.
His face also showed signs of fatigue as he said, "Gentlen, I have prepared so breakfast at ho. I’ll have the servants send it over in a bit."
Li Yan was a bit surprised, "Landlord Tian didn’t sleep well either?"
"Indeed,"
Landlord Tian said helplessly, "It was fine outside, but as soon as I returned ho, the problems started again, and I had restless dreams all night long."
"Oh..." pondered Wang Daoxuan, "Did you see anything in your dreams?"
Landlord Tian shook his head, "I can’t rember; I forgot everything when I woke up."
Wang Daoxuan continued to ask, "What about the servants of the household, do they have similar symptoms?"
Landlord Tian shook his head again, "I know what you’re trying to ask."
"My wives and concubines, as well as the servants from the Tian Family’s extended household, all have similar symptoms. So got sick, and so were so frightened that they ran away."
"We’ve had people co to check before, suspecting there was a problem with the ancestral burial site’s fengshui, but after several inspections, they found nothing wrong."
"Moreover, the illness doesn’t occur if they leave this residence. It seems like this house and my family have so conflicts."
Wang Daoxuan furrowed his brow, "That’s quite strange."
Landlord Tian rubbed his temples, "That’s why I’ve asked you, the Daoist, to co and investigate, as we cannot find any reason. I fear we might have to sell this newly built residence."
"I’ve already arranged for my wives and concubines to go back to the old residence, and I’ll also sleep sowhere else tomorrow night. Later, I need to visit the Chamber of Comrce, so if you need anything, just let the servants know."
With that, he bowed and took his leave.
After he left, Sha Lifei and Lv San also woke up.
The servants brought breakfast, and Wang Daoxuan gave a signal, dismissing the servants before starting to eat and saying, "Sothing isn’t right about this matter."
"If there were issues with the ancestral burial ground, no matter where Landlord Tian and his family move, they couldn’t escape it."
"If there is a problem with the residence’s fengshui, then everyone living here should have the sa symptoms."
"An anomaly suggests that soone may be causing mischief."
Li Yan also expressed his curiosity, "Last night, I applied Divine Skills several tis but apart from sensing the Gang Qi of the protective artifacts in the house, I didn’t detect any Yin Evil Qi. Which technique could achieve this?"
Wang Daoxuan pondered, "The most likely is a suppression technique, but the Magician who ca before should have thought of that, so perhaps there’s another reason."
"Isn’t that simple?"
Sha Lifei laughed, "I might not understand spells, but this clearly looks like a sche from the pugilistic world; soone probably covets the estate and wants to drive Landlord Tian and his family away, then spread rumors to purchase it cheaply."
"We should discuss with Landlord Tian upon his return, leak so false information to the public, and try to draw out the people behind this."
Li Yan shook his head, "If there really is soone causing mischief, they could easily cover their tracks; even if it cos up for sale through brokers a few tis, they could hide their identity."
"What if they don’t show up for several years? Can we wait that long?"
Sha Lifei frowned, "That’s also true."
"There’s no rush."
Wang Daoxuan shook his head, "Let carefully inspect the residence’s fengshui today, and then make a trip to Landlord Tian’s ancestral burial site. If we truly can’t find the cause, then we’ll figure out what to do."
"Mm."
Li Yan finished his bowl of white porridge in one gulp, "In that case, let’s split up and take action."
"Lv San, stick with Master Wang, and Old Uncle Sha and I will go gather so information in the city and then make a report at the City God Temple."
Since they had decided to rest in Han Yang City, it was natural to understand the situation within the pugilistic world and the Mystical Sect to avoid unnecessary trouble.
After breakfast, the four n split up.
Wang Daoxuan’s advancent in fengshui was apparent as he took out several instrunts; not only did he have a fengshui compass, but even a Lu Ban ruler for determining auspicious and inauspicious situations.
Lv San had two rats to assist in the inspection and also to protect Wang Daoxuan.
Li Yan and Sha Lifei, after asking the servants about the situation in the city, gathered their belongings and left.
Although Han Yang City was ancient, it wasn’t very large.
To the north of the city were the administrative offices of the Prefecture and the court’s various governnt agencies; to the west were the prefectoral school, county school, and academies; and the City God Temple was in the east.
Just as they left, Sha Lifei whispered, "What should we do first, gather information or go straight to the City God Temple?"
Li Yan pondered for a mont, "Let’s head to the City God Temple first."
"The news from the traveler’s inns in the pugilistic world is mostly common knowledge, and the more secretive information is not cheap."
"Let’s go directly to the City God Temple, see if the Daoists there are easy to deal with, we might also be able to find out what we want."
But to tell the truth, he didn’t have much confidence.
Before coming, he had already gathered so information.
There were two strongholds in the Mystical Sect of Hubei: one was Yunyang Prefecture, and the other was the tri-cities of Wuchang, Han Yang, and Han Port.
And these two places had clear differences.
Yunyang, close to Wudang Mountain, was under the influence of Zhenwu Palace, with almost no presence of Buddhist Tao, and even if there were monasteries, they were just ordinary monks.
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