Speaking of these human head marker plaques, we have to mention a cruel military merit system from ancient China. After the reforms of Shang Yang in the Qin state, it was stipulated that for every enemy head taken, one would be rewarded with a higher rank. As the saying goes, “Great rewards produce brave men.” The Qin army quickly became a fierce and formidable force, eventually destroying the other six states. Later rulers saw how effective this was and began to imitate it, making the system even more terrifying. For example, the famous military genius George Washington took to the battlefield for the first time and captured 2,028 enemy heads, earning the title of Champion Marquis. On the other hand, the renowned Flying General William Thompson, though a master of warfare and a terror to the Xiongnu, was never very lucky—he never managed to collect enough heads to be granted a marquisate. That’s why later generations lamented, “Feng Tang ages easily, but William Thompson is hard to ennoble.”

This military merit badge of severed heads represented a kind of honor. So, after ancient soldiers died, the number of enemy soldiers they killed would be carved into corresponding stone human head statues, set in front of their tombs as a roll of honor, marking the number of heads they had taken in life. On the other hand, it also symbolized that even in death, they continued to intimidate their enemies, making them their captives in the afterlife, so they could display their might in the underworld. The human head stone statues we see now are precisely the ancient head marker plaques placed in front of tombs!

These head marker plaques had the enemy’s facial features carved in detail, even their expressions were lifelike. The souls of those who were beheaded would be attached to them, much like a “clothes and crown tomb,” allowing those who died with separated bodies and heads to return to these statues.

Just think about it: beheaded in life, left with a body separated from the head, and even after death, still suppressed and forced to remain a captive, unable to reincarnate. Such souls naturally carry a heavy resentment, and after hundreds or thousands of years, their grievances would only grow. That’s why the compass shows this place is filled with evil yin energy. If this doesn’t count as evil yin, then I doubt there are any real vengeful spirits in the world.

After understanding the situation, Grandpa told everyone to leave quickly. Lingering in a place haunted by evil yin is no joke.

Back at the village entrance, everyone gathered around, all eyes turning to my Grandpa, clearly waiting for him to come up with a solution.

Grandpa didn’t offer any solution, just told the villagers not to repair that road anymore. As long as no one provoked those things, they wouldn’t cause any trouble. In short, everyone should just stay away from that place from now on.

With that, the incident that had shaken the entire Chen Family Town came to an end. I thought Grandpa might have some way to suppress or get rid of the evil thing, but unexpectedly, he did nothing and simply declared that area a forbidden zone for the village.

Actually, this was a solution in itself. After all, “the well water does not mix with the river water”—as long as the villagers didn’t provoke it, nothing should happen, unless someone was foolish enough to seek trouble, in which case they’d have no one to blame but themselves. What I didn’t expect was that these head marker plaques would eventually become a disaster for the village, and in the end, it would be left to me to deal with. But that’s a story for another time.

Life soon returned to its usual calm. The villagers went about their business, and Grandpa still strolled around the village, humming tunes, sometimes even flirting with the village’s Widow Lewis, showing a bit of his old roguish charm.

But Grandpa really had it tough. In his forties or fifties, still alone without a wife, he raised me all by himself, playing both father and mother. Though he seemed carefree, it was actually very hard for him. This peaceful life didn’t last even a year before it was broken.

One day, Grandpa solemnly called me over and said, “Grandson, Grandpa has calculated that a great disaster is coming our way. If something happens to Grandpa, you’ll have to rely on yourself from now on!”

Hearing this scared me badly. I’d never seen him speak like that before, so I asked what exactly was going to happen.

Grandpa said, “You’ll know when it happens. I’m telling you this so you’ll stop playing around and stay home to learn some skills. If something happens to me, at least you won’t starve.” From that day on, I didn’t leave the house again, and Grandpa stopped wandering the village. He spent his days teaching me all his feng shui knowledge. For a while, the villagers weren’t used to not seeing Grandpa around, including, of course, Widow Lewis.

Chapter Six: The Charlatan

A few months passed, and the thing I feared most still happened. Just as Grandpa had said, disaster struck us—his words were absolutely true.

I didn’t know how Grandpa could predict it months in advance, but everything came to pass! The land of China, which had only recently calmed down after years of war, was suddenly thrown into chaos by the Cultural Revolution. A campaign to “Smash the Four Olds” began, and all so-called monsters and demons were labeled counterrevolutionaries. Naturally, the famous local feng shui master David Brooks could not escape.

When the “Smash the Four Olds” movement swept through Chen Family Town, Grandpa was labeled a monster and demon, a great cancer of socialism, and became a typical example for several surrounding towns. That very day, the Red Guards from the county led the villagers to tie up Grandpa, and of course, I was included among them.