Chapter Forty-Nine: The Taishan Stone of Unyielding Resolve

After applying the talisman, the fat man let out a deep breath. The two dragon eyes on the stele, which had been bleeding, finally ceased their bloody flow once the talismans were affixed. The villagers, meanwhile, watched the fat man in fearful silence. Perhaps they disagreed with him meddling with the Chen family’s dragon-head stele, but with Chen Ergou’s previous fate serving as a warning, who dared utter a word?

After finishing his work, the fat man’s expression remained tense. Chen Qingshan and I approached, barely daring to breathe for fear of disrupting the proceedings. After a moment, the fat man said to Chen Qingshan, “Village chief, call a few people to carry the dragon-head stele back inside and bury it properly.”

“What’s going on? What does all this mean?” Chen Qingshan asked, his mood clearly unsettled after the series of events that day.

The fat man shook his head. “I don’t know. Just now Sun Zhongmou told me four words: ‘A leaf blinds the eye.’ I don’t really know what he meant by that, but in the urgency of the moment, I used my own blood to draw a talisman and placed it on the stele. I didn’t expect it to work.”

“A leaf blinds the eye?” I muttered. So my brother had said those four words in the two seconds we had on the phone. I repeated them several times, and realized it made sense for the fat man to cover the stele’s eyes—it’s about blocking the vision, after all.

“What does that phrase mean, Yezi? You know I’m not educated,” Chen Qingshan asked.

“It’s an idiom,” I explained. “‘A leaf blinds the eye, and one cannot see Mount Tai.’ It means being fooled by appearances and unable to see the essence of things.”

“What did you say? ‘A leaf blinds the eye’ what?” To my surprise, the fat man’s expression changed as he stared at me, nervously pressing for an answer.

“‘Cannot see Mount Tai,’” I replied, confused.

“Mount Tai, Mount Tai, Mount Tai Stone as a ward,” the fat man muttered, repeating it several times before suddenly slapping his thigh. “I understand now! Village chief, quickly have someone move the dragon-head stele back to its original place, right now!”

Chen Qingshan was bewildered by the fat man’s urgency, but seeing his tense demeanor, he didn’t dare delay. He immediately called a few young men to carry the stele back into Han Xue’s house and lower it into the deep pit. The fat man followed them inside and directed, “Fill it up with earth.”

Only when the pit was filled and everything restored to its original state did the fat man’s expression ease slightly. Chen Qingshan announced to the villagers, “Everyone get back to your tasks—haven’t eaten breakfast yet, have you? Go on, there’s nothing more to see here.”

At this point, there was no excitement left to witness. The villagers dispersed, though their curiosity was piqued; many walked away discussing the events. Once everyone had gone, we noticed the mute Chen Ergou crouched on the ground, his gaze strange as he watched us.

“Aren’t you leaving?” Chen Qingshan scolded.

Chen Ergou remained crouched, hugging his knees, pointed at his mouth, and glanced fearfully at the fat man, indicating he wouldn’t leave until the fat man removed the silencing talisman. Chen Qingshan laughed, “Now you’re afraid? Where were you earlier? Stirring up trouble, weren’t you? The fat man told you—either kneel and kowtow, or wait for your tongue to rot. I can’t save you.”

Chen Ergou shook his head, indignantly refusing to kneel. Chen Qingshan shrugged, “Suit yourself. Wait as long as you want.”

Then Chen Qingshan turned to the fat man, “Let’s go find somewhere to talk.”

Seeing us about to leave, Chen Ergou panicked, his face torn between fear and indignation. My heart softened; after all, he was a fellow villager. I said to the fat man, “Enough, Fatty. Don’t stoop to his level—it diminishes your dignity. Let him go; he’s pitiful enough.”

“You don’t understand. People like him need to be disciplined. Show him leniency and he’ll only push further. If you really want him to learn, you have to make it count; otherwise, he’ll keep causing trouble and finding ways to make life difficult,” the fat man replied.

“You’re supposed to be a practitioner of the Dao, but you’re filled with hostility. There’s not a trace of naturalness about you,” I laughed.

“This is the real Dao—do what needs to be done, free and unconstrained. That attitude of indifference to everything, always going against one’s nature, is just foolishness,” the fat man retorted.

Just then, I heard the sound of someone kowtowing behind us. Turning, I saw Chen Ergou kneeling, banging his head forcefully against the ground.

He was a completely different person from the swaggering troublemaker he’d been earlier.

Without turning, the fat man said, “See, King of Thieves? Wasn’t I right? The louder someone boasts, the less backbone they have. Real tough guys don’t waste words. You should learn from your namesake Ye Jihuan—Ye the social boss, ruthless and silent.”

“Enough already. He’s kneeling; just release him,” I said. The fat man’s words made me think of my brother Sun Zhongmou, the epitome of a ruthless, taciturn man.

The fat man, never one to miss an opportunity to kick someone when they’re down, turned and grinned at Chen Ergou. “If you could stay tough, I’d respect you as a man. But you’re just a coward. Go home and drink a pound of sesame oil—you’ll be fine.”

“Does he really have to drink a pound?” I whispered.

“One sip and he’ll be fine. But unless he drinks so much his guts run with oil, he won’t learn his lesson,” the fat man answered.

“You’re awfully vicious,” I laughed and scolded.

—

When we arrived at the village committee, the fat man’s earlier lightheartedness faded, replaced by worry. Before Chen Qingshan or I could ask, he said, “The phrase ‘a leaf blinds the eye’ isn’t the key. If not for you, King of Thieves, I wouldn’t have known about the last four words—‘cannot see Mount Tai.’ Those two words, Mount Tai, are crucial. ‘Mount Tai Stone as a ward’ is used to anchor homes. Sun Zhongmou was telling me that the dragon-head stele sits atop the feng shui node of Fudigou—not to bring prosperity, but to serve the function of Mount Tai stone, suppressing the earth’s energy. The stele is likely made of Mount Tai stone.”

“Suppressing earth energy?” I asked.

The fat man nodded. “We kept wondering—Fudigou backs onto Funiu Mountain, stands by the Luo River, and should be a place blessed by wind and water, full of talent and vitality. It shouldn’t be so poor and desolate. I couldn’t find the root cause, but now it’s clear: the dragon-head stele your third grandfather swore to protect is what keeps Fudigou’s earth energy from flourishing.”

“So you mean if we remove the stele, Fudigou will become prosperous?” I asked.

To my surprise, the fat man nodded.

“Then why bury it again? Dig it up!” Chen Qingshan exclaimed. Not only he, but I too thought so—who wouldn’t want wealth if all it took was removing the stele?

“You’re both short-sighted. Didn’t you hear me say it’s suppressing the earth’s energy? When the stele’s eyes began bleeding, I knew trouble was brewing. If I’m not mistaken, the stele was placed by a master—not just any expert, but someone deeply versed in feng shui. Placing a dragon-head stele on the feng shui node is like putting the finishing touch on a dragon’s painting—the dragon comes alive, gains spirituality. But when the stele is removed from the node and its eyes bleed, it’s a warning. Even if Sun Zhongmou hadn’t said anything, I would have returned it immediately,” the fat man explained.

I understood most of what he said—someone placed the stele on the feng shui node to prevent the dragon energy from escaping, not to nourish Fudigou’s villagers. Instead, the energy is suppressing something else, serving another purpose. That’s why the fat man put the stele back—it’s like sealing something in cultivation tales.

I asked the fat man about this, and he nodded. “Smart kid, you’re teachable!”

“So what’s being suppressed?” I interrupted his flowery speech.

“If I’m right, it’s something in the water. The Twelve Ghost Caves are full of corpses—a place of accumulated death, with heavy corpse energy. The stone coffin in the water is called the River God; you’ve seen its powers. But the caves don’t bring disaster to the living—people who enter don’t come out, but it doesn’t harm anyone unless provoked. Why is that? Because the dragon-head stele is suppressing it! Now do you still blame me for putting the stele back?” the fat man said.