Uncle's words made sense. Whether it was Feng Shui, military strategy, or strange arts, most of the harm was caused by humans.
Someone benefits, and naturally, someone else will lose.
In the grand scheme of things, it seemed like a misaligned balance.
Once I understood this, I felt much more at ease.
As for the people from the Luban Sect, I was now prepared. If they came, I would deal with them as they came, blocking the soldiers and protecting myself as best as I could.
From now on, I would eat when it was time to eat and make money when it was time to make money.
I grabbed the cat bag, stuffed Huang Jiu into it from the tea table, and followed Uncle out.
He said there had been an incident at a construction site, and on the way there, I thought it might be something like a coffin being dug up. However, when we arrived at the site and learned more, the situation exceeded both my and Uncle's expectations.
The construction site was for the foundation pit of a residential complex. It wasn't a small area, but a large project.
To meet the deadlines, they had been working 24-hour shifts.
At first, everything was normal, but the day before yesterday, a safety accident occurred—a worker fell into the foundation pit and died.
In construction sites, accidents like this are usually settled privately so that the worker's family can receive a higher compensation, and the construction party can avoid delays caused by investigations.
Thus, the body was stored in a temporary shed while waiting for the family to claim it.
However, last night, the worker's body was gnawed on by some animal. A hole was bitten into the skull, and the brain had been sucked out. The chest cavity was also opened, and the liver was missing.
If it had ended there, it would just have meant a bit more money for the company.
But this morning, while pumping water from the foundation pit, a worker saw a child, about three years old, with a grotesque face, walking on the water. The child bared its teeth at the worker in a terrifying manner.
After scaring the worker, the strange little boy submerged back into the water.
The story quickly spread, and the workers said that the child was the monster that had eaten the brain and liver. After scaring the workers, it vanished.
The site manager, Chen Kai, also seemed quite shaken when he talked about it.
When he finished, he looked at Uncle and said, "Boss Zhang said that as long as we solve this problem, money won't be an issue."
He went on to imply that it wasn't crucial whether the matter was fully resolved, but that it was important to convince the workers that everything was safe and that they would return to work.
Uncle and I understood what he was getting at, but I felt that if this issue was glossed over, there might be more deaths.
Based on Chen Kai's description, the red child seemed like a creature mentioned in the Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou)—a monster known as Moxiang.
It was a water beast that fed on the brains and livers of the dead.
In ancient tombs, various tomb guardian beasts were placed there to ward off the Moxiang.
The Zhou Li records the Moxiang and also its nemesis, the divine beast Fangxiangshi. According to the legend, Fangxiangshi had four golden eyes, wore red robes and black pants, rode a horse, and wielded a spear. It would enter tombs and strike the four corners with the spear to drive the Moxiang away.
Because of these stories, most tomb guardian beasts were designed to resemble Fangxiangshi.
However, whether these mythical creatures or beasts ever truly existed in the ancient past, they had long disappeared.
If Moxiang truly existed today, the hundreds of workers at the site would already be dead.
Chen Kai led us to the shed where the incident occurred and asked if we wanted to see the deceased worker.
I didn't wait for Uncle to respond and quickly said, "We won't look at the body, but take us to the foundation pit."
After hearing his description, I felt a chill run down my spine and didn't dare go near the body.
Besides, I wasn't a coroner.
Work had already stopped at the site, and various machines and equipment were scattered across the muddy ground. Half-assembled steel cages looked like massive, ferocious steel beasts.
It was clear that when the child appeared, the workers had fled in panic without even cleaning up.
As we got closer to the foundation pit, Chen Kai, looking fearful, awkwardly said that he wouldn't go any closer, and we'd have to check it out ourselves.
I glanced up at the sky—the sun was high, and the Yang energy was strong. I nodded to Uncle, and together, we walked toward the pit.
The pit was about two meters in diameter, and the water inside had risen up to the opening. There were three water pumps nearby, but the water was murky, so thick with mud that it was impossible to see anything.
Uncle knocked on the cat bag and asked Huang Jiu, "Huang Xian, can you sense any beastly aura?"
Since Uncle and I were both from the same sect, what I thought, he probably also guessed.
Huang Jiu seemed to have just woken up, yawning. "Nope. If there was a beastly aura, I, Lord Nine, would have come out long ago to deal with it!"
He was always bold with his words, flicking his tongue.
I opened my spiritual eye and looked at the foundation pit.
Unfortunately, the underground water contained too much Yin energy, and it was so muddy and sticky that my spiritual eye couldn't make out anything.
I relayed the situation to Uncle, and he said, "It will be noon soon, and the Yin energy will lessen. Let's go eat first, then after lunch, we'll have Chen Kai bring people to pump the water out."
I had already eaten the breakfast Su Yimei brought earlier, so I wasn't very hungry.
However, skipping a meal at this time would feel disrespectful to the boss.
Moreover, noon was when Yang energy peaked and then started to wane, making it the time when Yin energy was at its strongest. No matter what was in the water pit, it was better to keep our distance.
Back at the shed, Uncle briefly explained the situation to Chen Kai and mentioned the Moxiang.
I thought he might need to explain further, but surprisingly, Chen Kai, being a university graduate, knew about the creature.
However, after hearing about it, his round face became even more unpleasant. He looked at Uncle and asked, "Master Li, do you think this issue can be solved today? The engineering department is pushing us hard, and we're losing a lot of money with so many machines idle for a day."
Uncle didn't respond directly. He only said, "It's getting late. Let's go eat first. Afterward, have Chen Kai bring people to pump the water out and we'll check what's below."
Chen Kai, realizing we couldn't give a definite answer, didn't try to hide it. He directly said to Uncle, "Master Li, how about this? I'll call the workers back, and you can just reassure them that everything is fine and get them to start work again. What do you think?"
Based on my understanding of Uncle, I thought he might agree.
But suddenly, Uncle's tone became more serious as he looked at Chen Kai and asked, "Is this Boss Zhang's idea, or is it your own idea?"
Chen Kai immediately hesitated.
He cared more about the construction schedule than the lives of the workers.
I was a bit speechless.
But there are many people like Chen Kai in this world—who can talk their way out of anything while others do the hard work.
What puzzled me was that such people get promoted so quickly.
Seeing that Chen Kai wasn't responding, Uncle continued, "I'm entrusted by Boss Zhang to solve this problem thoroughly once and for all. And since you know about the Moxiang, you should understand that if we don't handle this properly, even more people might die."
Chen Kai smiled awkwardly, "Master Li is right. Let's go eat first."
I could tell that what Chen Kai feared wasn't more accidents on the site, but that Uncle was familiar with Boss Zhang and might report him.