Volume One: The Eight Coffin Corpse Grounds Chapter 17: The Corpse Grounds

When Liang Yue entered, her attire and manner were impeccable, displaying the poise and confidence expected of a business professional. Yet, after a brief exchange of words, her true nature slipped through. Upon uttering her last remark, embarrassment flickered across her face, and she unconsciously stuck out her tongue.

Third Uncle watched our banter, stifling his laughter behind his hand, only to receive a glare from Liang Yue.

Putting on a stern expression, Third Uncle said, “Assistant Liang, my nephew isn’t wrong. Since so much has happened at that plaza, with so many deaths, I don’t need to see it to know—the place must be steeped in yin energy. As a young woman, it’s not wise for you to go there.”

Liang Yue waved her hand dismissively. “You don’t need to worry about that. I know what I’m doing.”

Seeing her persistence, we could only acquiesce.

She asked when we planned to visit, and Third Uncle replied, “The sooner, the better.”

Liang Yue nodded, led us out of the conference room, and down by elevator to the plaza in front of the building. She told us to wait while she fetched the car.

Taking advantage of her absence, I asked Third Uncle, “Didn’t you say that places like haunted houses—most things are masked by daylight and only revealed at night? Why are we going during the day this time?”

Third Uncle glanced at the sky. “You’re right. We call this kind of site inspection ‘reconnaissance.’ A haunted house is usually a single building, maybe a larger apartment building, and concerns the feng shui of interior rooms—what we call minor feng shui. But Tianyou Plaza is different. According to what they’ve said, it’s a commercial district, so its feng shui involves the plaza itself, its surroundings, wind patterns, terrain, the layout of neighboring buildings—all together, we call that major feng shui. To assess major feng shui, only daylight reveals the full picture.”

His explanation made perfect sense, and I nodded along.

Soon, a striking wine-red BMW X5 screeched to a halt before us. Both Third Uncle and I jumped in surprise, realizing it was Liang Yue at the wheel. I thought to myself, either she’s a rich kid, or—as I’d suspected before—she’s latched onto Wu Tianyou, the big boss. She insists she’s an assistant, but what assistant drives a car like this? The color alone suggested it was chosen specially for her.

Liang Yue rolled down the window and beckoned us in.

I opened the front passenger door, but Liang Yue, face full of disdain, gestured for me to sit in the back. “You sit in the back.”

Annoyed, I muttered, “Who wants the front anyway.”

Third Uncle and I climbed into the rear seats. Liang Yue glanced back and reminded us, “Seatbelts.”

I was taken aback. “Can you be any more particular? Who wears seatbelts in the back?”

“Suit yourself,” she retorted, starting the engine.

Tianyou Group’s headquarters was in Shenzhen, but the plaza project was in a neighboring city, so we had to take the intercity expressway.

Once we were on the road, I understood why Liang Yue had insisted on seatbelts in the back.

Despite her delicate appearance, her driving was ferocious. The expressway was packed, and most cars sped along, but she pushed her BMW to its limits, overtaking every vehicle in sight, tossing Third Uncle and me about in the back like rag dolls.

We exchanged glances and, without a word, buckled our seatbelts.

After nearly an hour of this wild ride, we finally arrived and staggered out, collapsing onto the steps. It took a long while to recover from the ordeal, nearly sick to our stomachs.

Liang Yue stood nearby, smug and gleeful at our misery.

I was too exhausted to glare at her, only managing to complain, “Is this how you drive? Aren’t you speeding?”

“None of your business. Tianyou Plaza is just ahead. Shall we go?”

Third Uncle looked even worse than me—his face was deathly pale. After Liang Yue handed us water, we both drank a few sips before regaining our composure. From her expression, I realized she might have meant to give us a hard time, as punishment for underestimating her.

I surveyed the area, finding it indeed a prime location—surrounded by commercial buildings, shops lined up in neat rows, pedestrian and shopping streets crisscrossing, with crowds bustling everywhere. Following Liang Yue’s directions, we left the parking spot, crossed a pedestrian street, and headed toward the famed Tianyou Plaza.

She pointed ahead. “Those buildings are the Tianyou Plaza project—eight in total. The tallest in the center is the main building, where the key tenants are.”

Looking up, we saw that among the cluster, one building stood out. Its facade was painted a vivid red, and four bold calligraphic characters were inscribed vertically: Tianyou Plaza.

Entering the plaza’s domain, the contrast was stark. Outside, traffic surged; inside, few people wandered, and those who did seemed in a hurry, never lingering. Two-thirds of the shops were shuttered, and even those open for business looked deserted, as if barely clinging to life.

I shook my head in silence. It was obvious—the place lacked vitality. This was a vicious cycle: the fewer people, the worse the business, and the worse the business, the fewer the customers. The difficulties here seemed greater than expected; I wondered if Third Uncle could handle the task he’d accepted.

We walked along the commercial street. It was nearly two in the afternoon, and the sun was bright, but as we entered the district, it felt as though a cloud had settled overhead, the atmosphere suddenly gloomy. Looking up, the sky was clear. Both Third Uncle and Liang Yue showed no reaction, leaving me to wonder if it was just my imagination.

The closer we got to the main building, the stronger the sensation became—and my left shoulder began to ache subtly.

I couldn’t help but rub it. Third Uncle noticed. “Shoulder bothering you again?”

I nodded.

He asked with concern, “Do you still have that seal ointment on?”

“Yes, it’s still there. I’m fine.” From his reaction, I guessed the place was so saturated with yin energy that my shoulder was reacting—after all, it lacked a spark of yang fire. The thought made me sad again, wondering when my lost yang fire would be restored. After this ordeal, I’d need to ask Third Uncle about it.

As we walked, Third Uncle asked Liang Yue, “Where can we get a full view of all these buildings and their surroundings?”

She pointed to the main building. “Only the main building. It’s the tallest around, and there’s a rooftop where you can overlook the entire complex. But…”

“But what?”

“Oh, nothing… If you want to go, I’ll take you up.”

By now, we’d reached the foot of the main building, and Liang Yue was about to lead us inside when Third Uncle stopped.

He tilted his head, inspecting the facade. Liang Yue and I, puzzled, followed his gaze.

Soon my neck grew sore, and I asked, “Third Uncle, what are you looking at? There’s nothing there.”

He ignored me and instead asked Liang Yue, “Those four characters for Tianyou Plaza—whose handwriting are they?”

She replied, “A renowned local calligrapher wrote them. Is there a problem?”

Third Uncle let out a cold laugh. “Is there a problem? There’s a huge problem.”

Liang Yue was startled. “It’s just a few characters—what could be wrong?”

I was equally confused, waiting for Third Uncle’s explanation.

He raised his hand, pointing. “Read them with me: Tian…you…corpse…field!”

Tianyou Corpse Field?

I looked closely. With Third Uncle’s prompting, I realized that the character for ‘plaza’—because of the exaggerated ending stroke and the upper dot placed far apart—looked, from below, strikingly like the character for ‘corpse.’

A perfectly good Tianyou Plaza had become Tianyou Corpse Field.

A single character, a world of difference.

Liang Yue was seeing this for the first time and was dumbfounded.

Third Uncle explained, “From a distance, the calligraphy looks energetic and bold—a fine hand. But from below, it’s extremely inauspicious. It’s unclear whether the calligrapher did this intentionally or unintentionally. If it was deliberate, things here are even more complicated…”

Liang Yue muttered, “Really…? If that’s the case, can’t I just have Mr. Wu change the sign?”

Third Uncle shook his head. “Major feng shui isn’t swayed by a single character. If the overall layout is weak, this sign is just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s check the rooftop first.”

Liang Yue nodded, leading us into the main building, which housed a large shopping mall. Various retail counters were arranged throughout.

Though Tianyou Plaza was languishing, it hadn’t yet closed down. To survive, merchants had slashed prices, attracting bargain hunters. Inside, we saw a few scattered shoppers browsing.

Perhaps it was the air conditioning, but I felt a chill rising from the floor, making me uneasy.

Liang Yue guided us to the elevator and pressed for the top floor.

The elevator diagram showed commercial floors from one to eight—jewelry, clothing, dining, entertainment, fitness—and offices from nine to eleven. The elevator ascended smoothly, stopping at the eleventh floor.

Liang Yue was familiar with the layout. On the eleventh floor, she led us down a corridor, up a stairway, and pushed open an iron door, saying that the rooftop lay beyond.

Third Uncle nodded. We stepped through the door onto the rooftop, and immediately a fierce wind swept over us…