I consulted a feng shui master in Hong Kong.

The next morning, before dawn, Gu Chengyue's men arrived in Fu'anli.

Two cars without police lights arrived and parked discreetly at the alley entrance. Gu Chengyue got out of the car himself, followed by four plainclothes officers, all dressed in ordinary short jackets, but their backs were ramrod straight, making it clear they were not idlers on the street.

Huang Shouzhou hadn't slept well all night, and now, with dark circles under his eyes, he first poured hot tea for the group, then half-closed the door and asked in a low voice, "Is today really going to pass by like this?"

Gu Chengyue glanced at Chen Qinghe, his meaning clear.

Chen Qinghe put the old compass, wooden ruler, and a small packet of cinnabar into his cloth bag, stood up, and said, "Let's go check the outer area first. If there's really something in the courtyard, we can't force our way in through the main gate."

Gu Chengyue nodded: "I'll do whatever you say."

……

Yongchang Construction is located behind Guanyincang Lane.

The place was small and the storefront was not presentable. An old wooden sign that read "Yongchang Construction" hung crookedly, and there were some broken wood, bricks and stones and old window frames piled up at the entrance.

If you don't look closely, you'll just think of it as a woodworking workshop that's about to close down.

But Chen Qinghe stopped at the alley entrance, looked for a moment, and then frowned slightly.

"You can't come in through the main entrance," he said.

Gu Chengyue immediately asked, "Why?"

Chen Qinghe pointed and said, "The wooden stakes on both sides of the gate are not buried correctly. The left one is higher than the right one, the nail heads are facing inward, and there is half a broken mirror pressing down on the outside. If you step in through the main gate, you will first be disturbed by your own energy. At best, you will feel irritable; at worst, you will feel weak in the legs. By the time you enter the courtyard, before you can even see the people clearly, you will already be half-disordered."

A young police officer, upon hearing this, subconsciously looked down and, sure enough, saw a tiny, shallowly buried piece of broken mirror at the base of the wooden stake, which sent a chill down his spine.

"Then how do we get in?" Gu Chengyue asked.

"The back wall." Chen Qinghe's gaze shifted to the low gray wall at the end of the alley. "The front door of this place is designed to block people from entering, which means that people inside are afraid of being broken in. It also means that people don't always use the main entrance when they come in and out. There must be an exit at the back."

Gu Chengyue immediately gave a wink to the two people behind him.

Two plainclothes officers went around to the left and right, and sure enough, they returned shortly afterward and whispered, "There's a small door at the back, it's not locked, there's just a tattered curtain hanging there."

Upon hearing this, Huang Shouzhou was even more convinced.

He is now increasingly aware that his junior brother's feng shui skills are not as simple as just placing a few objects. He can tell at a glance what a door, a piece of wood, or half a broken mirror is blocking, clashing with, or attracting.

"Go through the back door," Chen Qinghe said. "Don't say anything once you're inside."

The group went around to the back alley, and sure enough, the small door was there. The door was narrow, the curtain was old, and when they pushed it open, a damp smell of moldy wood wafted out. Inside was a courtyard of moderate size, with piles of unfinished timber, door frames, altar table legs, window frames, and several wooden boxes covered with cloth.

In the center stood a rain shelter, under which were several long tables, on which were scattered wood shavings, carving knives, copper coins, cinnabar, ink lines, and even a few doorplates covered with talisman paper.

Gu Chengyue's face darkened after just one glance.

This is no ordinary woodworking workshop; it's clearly a shady operation that sets up scams for people.

Huang Shouzhou's eyes widened in astonishment.

"These people..." he gritted his teeth and lowered his voice, "they'll do anything."

Chen Qinghe didn't respond to that, but slowly took two steps forward and picked up a piece of yellow paper from the table, which was pressed under the window. The paper had drawn half of a talisman base, and the beginning stroke, turning stroke, and ending stroke were all in line with the Pei family's modified Three Mysteries Talisman, but this one hadn't been finished yet.

"You haven't come to the wrong place," he said calmly.

Gu Chengyue was startled and was about to order his men to search inside when a muffled thud came from the inner courtyard as a chair overturned.

Immediately afterwards, two men in short clothes rushed out of the side room. When they saw Gu Chengyue and the others, their expressions changed immediately.

"Who is it?"

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Chengyue shouted in a low voice, "Police! Don't move!"

The two men froze for a moment, then turned and darted toward the side door.

The men Gu Chengyue brought were waiting for this moment, and they immediately pounced on them.

The yard wasn't big, and several people bumped into the wood and the door frame, making a series of loud crashes.

But these two were clearly not simple workers; they were very slippery. One of them bent down and grabbed a carving knife from the long table, while the other overturned a box of copper coins, scattering the coins all over the ground and causing the police officers who were chasing after him to lose their footing.

"Damn it!" A young police officer nearly slipped and cursed under his breath.

Chen Qinghe, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up: "The one on the left can climb over the wall, so block the corner first."

Without a second thought, Gu Chengyue lunged at the man on the far left. Sure enough, the man flinched, trying to use the high door frame to climb over the wall and escape. But as soon as he stepped onto the wood, Gu Chengyue grabbed him and pulled him down to the ground.

Another man with a carving knife rushed in amidst the chaos. Chen Qinghe's eyes darkened, and he grabbed a piece of broken window frame from the side and used it to block the way.

With a "clang".

The carving knife struck the wooden block, making the man's wrist go numb.

Before he could even react, Chen Qinghe had already closed in, shoving him forward with his shoulder, sending him staggering back two steps, his lower back slamming hard against the edge of the long table, and the knife slipping from his hand.

Huang Shouzhou gasped in shock.

He knew his junior brother was skilled in martial arts, but seeing how swift and efficient he was when he fought, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, both of them were subdued.

Gu Chengyue took a breath, but a ruthless look appeared on his face: "Search!"

This threw the courtyard into complete chaos.

One by one, the covered wooden boxes were opened, revealing not ordinary wood, but all sorts of items used for setting up traps: half-mirror plaques, carved but unpainted door plaques, cabinet legs weighed down with copper coins and cinnabar, wooden screens carved with strange patterns, and even several Buddha and deity statues with their bases hollowed out.

Huang Shouzhou squatted beside a wooden box, picked up an unfinished wooden plaque, and his face grew increasingly grim: "If these things all get out, and one house after another is renovated, how many people will be harmed..."

Chen Qinghe had already reached the innermost side room.

The door was half-open, and the inside was much cleaner than the outside. On the table were account books, a roster, and a small bronze stove.

Next to the bronze furnace, there were several sheets of paper, densely covered with notes on various locations, construction dates, types of mirrors used, animal figurines placed on them, and talismans used to suppress them.

Gu Chengyue followed in, and his breathing became heavy after just one glance.

"This isn't just one or two incidents," he muttered under his breath.

Chen Qinghe reached out and flipped to the top ledger.

The first page shows the entrance of a teahouse in North Point, the second page shows a silk shop in Sham Shui Po, the third page shows a private residence in Kowloon Tong, and then there are warehouses, temple shops, tenement buildings, gold shops, at least twenty or thirty places. Turning further, there are even words like "old record book bottom", "Qiu Wu resells", and "Zhou Mou lends money".

"Detective Gu," Chen Qinghe closed the ledger, "Your men take over this place. Arrest those who need to be arrested, seal off those that need to be sealed off. Don't let those guys outside escape again."

Gu Chengyue nodded: "And what about you?"

Chen Qinghe looked up at the old wooden cabinet in the corner of the room that had never been moved.

The wooden cabinet wasn't large, but the lock was new, making it stand out awkwardly from the old tables and desks in the room.

He walked over, tapped lightly twice on the cabinet door with his fingers, then looked at Gu Chengyue: "Pry it open."

Gu Chengyue gave a signal, and a police officer immediately stepped forward and used a crowbar to pry it open.

With a "click," the lock opened.

When the cabinet door was opened, there weren't many things inside. On top were a few old letters, and below was a small box wrapped very tightly in oilcloth.

Chen Qinghe took out the small box, and the moment he lifted the oilcloth, his expression finally changed.

Inside the box was a thin, old booklet with a yellowed cover and badly worn edges, but the old seal of the Sanxuan Sect was clearly visible in the lower right corner.

It's not the complete book, only half of it.

But that's enough.

Huang Shouzhou stood to the side, his throat tightening: "This is... the score that my martial uncle lost?"

Chen Qinghe did not answer immediately, but reached out and turned to the first page.

The top of the document contained the drafts of several talisman manuals that were kept secret within the Three Mysteries Sect. The side was also covered with numerous annotations, some in Li Zhengfeng's handwriting and others not.

Further on, there were even a few pages with forcibly altered pen designs—the kind of unorthodox talismans found under the portraits of the Pei family ancestors and in the old workshops of the Su residence.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Gu Chengyue stood to the side, looking at the old book. Although he didn't understand everything, he knew it was no ordinary book. For someone as composed as Chen Qinghe to change his expression so drastically, it couldn't possibly be just an ordinary old book.

"Master Chen?" he asked in a low voice.

Chen Qinghe slowly closed the booklet, his voice soft but deliberate and deliberate.

"This is not stolen goods."

"This is the lifeblood of my Three Mysteries Sect. I must take this back."