Psych Hunter (Haunted House Notebook) : Book 1

Chapter 17 - My birth's Bazi

This is the first time in my life for me to have encountered unclean spirit, or to be precise, the first time to have actually seen it with my own very eyes. I tried to get a better look but I can only see its outline and its existence, as for its gender, I cannot properly determine it. In any event, I can feel Qin Yi Heng's nervousness, because his vibe while he was standing beside me had changed. However, we just stood there standing still, not daring to make a move. Time seemed to have frozen, and even though I tried hard to adjust my breathing, I felt even tighter in my chest.

After a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes, which I'm unsure of as my conception of time had been messed up by my nerves, the shadowy figure suddenly disappeared. I heard Qin Yi Heng sighed in relief, and my own face is covered with a cold sweat. Qin Yi Heng quickly recovered his composure and searched his flashlight to light our surroundings. In our business, we usually do not use a flashlight when we enter a house at night, because the light of the flashlight is too strong. If it's lighted up, it will obscure other senses. After all, our business is a dark one, and countless spirits do not like light. This fear of light is not because light has the capability of exorcising them, but they will usually instinctively hide themselves in the dark, just like how people like to sleep with their lights off.

There were many footsteps on the house's floor which can be seen from the light shone by the flashlight. It was originally already messy, and it was impossible to tell whether the mess was caused by us or someone else. Qin Yi Heng held the flashlight and slowly walked towards the Zhong Kui's statue.

I was afraid that those people would suddenly come and attack us, and without anything to defend myself, I can only take one big joss stick from Qin Yi Heng's bag. While this stick can't scare the opponent, at least it can give me some courage.

I followed cautiously behind Qin Yi Heng who was walking to the Zhong Kui's statue but was surprised when he suddenly stopped. I also stopped and asked him what wrong. Qin Yi Heng didn't answer me, but he instead leaned over and squatted down, as if looking at something on the ground.

I was still a few steps away from him. Despite the light from the flashlight, I was unable to see the thing Qin Yi Heng was looking at. I called Qin Yi Heng again, but I watched his body trembled slightly, and he suddenly said, Jiang Shuo.

I thought he was calling my name to beckon me nearer, so I approached him, but when I got closer, I saw a wooden board lying on the ground. It seemed that it was very old and was covered with very dark paint. The wood's condition is very bad, but there are still a few words written on it. My eyes buzzed when I saw it. How come there's my name and birthdate written on it?

Qin Yi Heng was also surprised by the wooden plank, and he went back to explain to me that this is a coffin board. He did not know where it comes from. To have written my name and to have put it in such an evil place, there must be a reason to do so, and while he might not know the reason, he knew that it must be not a good one. I didn't reply him for a moment, as even though I have heard Qin Yi Heng's words, I couldn't understand any of it. My brain had turned mushy, and I can't think clearly, and can only take a breath of smoke and lean myself back on the wall for a while to regain my composure.

I asked him, how on earth could this be?

Qin Yi Heng looked at me and told me, we must buy this house, because this house had previously been bought by you.

The words he uttered are so philosophical that I couldn't comprehend it, however, after saying his look, I can only agree as I was afraid that this could cause a big trouble. I asked him to explain to me further, he used the flashlight to shine the outer part of the house, as if he felt uncomfortable and hesitated for a while, and brought me to the garden, to tell me, in ancient times, houses were built especially for large households. When people build a house, they would consider its feng shui, architecture or even its spiritual aspects. A small token of its owner is usually buried under the house. If it's a house belonging to a government official, they would usually bury the owner's hair, and there're strict requirements for the number of hair, and the strands of hair can only be singular. It is said that this practice is called "Ju Zhai", which meant that it is intended to gather the house's luck, and not to disperse it. At that time, technology was not as advanced and labor was considered the symbol of a family's prosperity, so "Ju Zhai" is commonly practiced among large households, to prevent future troubles. It is worth mentioning that if the head of the family is a woman, when the house is build, a purse with a sentence written inside it will be buried under the house, but the content can only be known by her, and outsiders shouldn't be able to know it. One of the term used in ancient films and dramas are, that we should find out by digging the ground three feet down. This term actually originated from this practice, and this is done in order to find the item buried in the "Ju Zhai" practice. When a well-known clan is murdered, the last thing that the murderer does is to find the "Ju Zhai" buried. They believe that only by finding it will this murdered person not be able to return their home and the family too won't be able to trace the murderer.

When I heard Qin Yi Heng said this, even though I had smoked a cigarette, I could feel a cold sensation all across my body.

He continued to explain that obtaining the "Ju Zhai" is not enough. There are two types of houses, yin houses and yang houses. The yang house is a human residence and the yin house is a tomb, but this is not strictly so. Many lonely and wild ghosts who do not live in their yin house cannot enter into the path of reincarnation and continued to wander in this world. They always have a place to stay and a yang house is a good one and a very good place to stay. Therefore, in Chinese culture, there is everything from the gate god and stone carvings in front of their houses. After burying the "Ju Zhai", the family would often put two stone lions in front of the door and put the owner's birthdate and surname on its right and their details on its left. This method is used to show that the house had an owner, and in this way, both small and large ghosts wouldn't dare to enter the house. However, it does not mean that not all houses with two lion statues will have this function. If not placed properly, they will mess up the Feng Shui and bring disaster to the owner. First of all, one of the lion's mouth should be open while the other is closed, which expressed vomiting something. Furthermore, the stone lion should be a male one on the left and a female one on the right. You can probably understand from the mouth's shape, one is saying "A" and the other is saying "Mi", and if they are reversed, it will have an opposite effect.

When I heard Qin Yi Heng's explanation, I can understand quite a bit. According to him, the thing buried beneath the Zhong Kui statute is the bazi (eight characters) from my birthdate. Would that mean that the spirit of this house considered me as a master? However according to him, there would also be strands of my hair buried in this house? When I thought about this, I grew very uncomfortable, and I tried as hard to recall- I can even swear that based on my memory alone, I've never been to this place, let alone bury my own hair inside it.

I asked him about his opinion, but his eyes suddenly darkened and said that he himself is not quite sure, but he had seen my bazi beneath the Zhong Kui statue and afraid that there might be something we are not aware of. At this moment, we can only confirm whether or not there is a "Ju Zhai" buried beneath the statue. Regardless of whose "Ju Zhai" it might be, we still have to dig it out. He is afraid that if his guess is correct, then this house is now going to use my life to pay for the spirits residing in it. Moreover, even if his analysis is wrong, just by owning such a house, one would lose their luck.

In an instant, I was struck by a chill across by body. This house has far exceeded my expectations. However, this might only be our speculation and things might not be as bad as it seemed.

However, when I saw Qin Yi Heng's expression looking so troubled, my heart also became nervous. As we discussed this, I realized that I hadn't smoked the cigarette in my end, and it is almost finished. I took another one and inhaled a deep smoke to calm myself down.

After that, we simply packed things up, and this might be caused by my presumptions, but once I looked again at this house, what I felt is not fear but rather a sense of awe. I did not know where the feeling came from, but one thing that I know is that the matter regarding this house is not settled yet. The journey back is smooth, but my legs ached. I was running a long time and my legs are weak. Fortunately, we kept the phone number of the taxi driver who brought us here. We called him and waited for half an hour. When the driver came, we got into the car and started our journey back. ON the way back, I looked out at the window and tried to think, but was unable to do so.

After returning back, Qin Yi Heng gave Liu Zhi a call, however he unexpectedly did not answer the phone. I thought that this is probably because he was still asleep, after all, we arrived very late at night in the hotel. However, Liu Zhi still did not answer the call when we called him again the next morning. Even when noon comes, we are still unable to reach him.

The daylight entered to the room through the hotel's window. I opened the curtains and laid myself on the bed, trying to forget the thrill of last night. But Qin Yi Heng frowned. He stood by the window while thinking for a long time. He suddenly turned to me and said that he had searched for a few construction workers and had said that even if we cannot buy the house, we should still demolish it. He then left the room quickly after he finished speaking.