Chapter Seventy-Three: The So-Called Enlightened Monk

Chen Yang wore a look of confusion as he walked over to Qin Guoshan. Once he reached him, he asked with a curious smile, “Dad, what is it?”

Qin Guoshan’s expression was serious. “I wanted to praise you.”

“Praise me?” Chen Yang was surprised.

Qin Guoshan nodded, sighing. “Just now, Mu Xue’s grandfather called and gave me quite a scolding. But I don’t blame you—I think you did the right thing.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang burst out laughing. “Dad, your assessment of this matter is truly fair this time.”

“Mm, that’s all. I’ll bear the pressure from Mu Xue’s grandfather for you. As for Qin Hao, for him to harm Mu Xue like that—he deserves what’s coming to him.” Qin Guoshan’s face showed anger.

“All right, all right.” Chen Yang nodded repeatedly.

Since Qin Guoshan was willing to shoulder the pressure from Qin Tianrong’s side, that was certainly for the best. Of course, even if Qin Tianrong tried to pressure him, Chen Yang wouldn’t care much, but with Qin Guoshan’s support, it would save him a lot of trouble. That was undoubtedly a good thing.

Chen Yang chuckled, then asked, “So, Dad, is there anything else?”

“No, go on with your work,” Qin Guoshan replied.

“Okay.” Chen Yang smiled slightly and quickly left. This time, Qin Guoshan didn’t blame him for hitting Qin Hao. In Chen Yang’s view, this was a sign of his father’s newfound resolve.

Qin Guoshan’s firmness in handling family affairs now made Chen Yang feel both gratified and amused.

In the blink of an eye, night passed.

The next morning, Chen Yang arrived at the Huading office. Not long after, he called Shen Donghua over.

When Shen Donghua entered Chen Yang’s office, he asked with a beaming smile, “President Chen, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes,” Chen Yang answered with a faint smile. “In a while, come with me to check the construction site.”

After all, Chen Yang had been fully in charge of the North Suburb New City project for some time, yet hadn’t properly visited the site. Since there weren’t many urgent matters today, he decided to take Shen Donghua along to have a look.

Naturally, Shen Donghua had no objections and nodded quickly. “Sure, all right.”

“Then let’s depart right away,” Chen Yang said with a smile.

Shen Donghua nodded again.

Half an hour later, Chen Yang and Shen Donghua arrived at the North Suburb New City site.

They made a thorough tour of the place and found everything going well. Chen Yang felt deeply satisfied.

As they were leaving the site entrance, Chen Yang turned to Shen Donghua and said earnestly, “We need to keep up the pace here, but safety must always come first.”

Shen Donghua nodded quickly. “You can rest assured, President Chen. I always pay close attention to safety.”

“That’s good,” Chen Yang nodded slightly.

Just then, a red Mercedes C-Class approached from a distance, slowing to a stop beside them. The door opened, and a striking figure emerged—it was none other than Xiao Rongfei.

She walked toward Chen Yang with a bright smile. Upon reaching him, she said happily, “President Chen, what a coincidence!”

Chen Yang smiled. “It certainly is. President Xiao, where’s your race car?”

Xiao Rongfei replied immediately, “Oh, I’m out on business today, so of course I couldn’t drive the race car.”

“Indeed.” Chen Yang nodded, his gaze inadvertently drawn to the new white jade pendant hanging from Xiao Rongfei’s neck.

The jade was pure white and beautifully carved in the shape of a tiger, strung on a red cord around her neck.

Chen Yang studied the white jade tiger pendant for a while, feeling a stirring within.

There was something wrong with this piece of jade.

As the saying goes, medicine and martial arts are inseparable. Back when Chen Yang learned martial arts from his master Hua Zhongwu, Hua had also taught him the art of healing. Among these teachings was a portion of metaphysics.

In metaphysics, the most crucial aspects are Feng Shui, Yin and Yang, and the Eight Trigrams.

The reason Chen Yang realized there was a problem with Xiao Rongfei’s jade tiger pendant was because, for her, it was clearly an object of extreme evil.

At first, wearing it might have brought her some good luck, but as time passed, the tiger-shaped jade would continuously draw out her vital energy.

Chen Yang didn’t know where Xiao Rongfei had obtained this pendant, but whoever made it certainly hadn’t done so with good intentions.

Intent on warning her, Chen Yang turned to Shen Donghua and said, “Director Shen, I have something important to discuss with President Xiao. Could you leave us for a moment?”

Shen Donghua nodded at once. “Certainly.”

He left, which took Xiao Rongfei by surprise. After all, for Chen Yang to send Shen Donghua away just to speak with her piqued her curiosity—what could he want to discuss?

After Shen Donghua drove off, Chen Yang looked at Xiao Rongfei and said, “President Xiao, that’s a beautiful pendant you’re wearing.”

“Is it?” Xiao Rongfei was pleased by the compliment and immediately picked up the pendant. “Isn’t it lovely? I spent over a hundred thousand yuan for it from a master at Guanshan Temple.”

Chen Yang narrowed his eyes. “Yes, this is top-quality jade. If there were no issues, it would be worth every penny. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good piece of jade.”

Her body stiffened at his words.

After a moment, she asked with a complicated expression, “President Chen, you… you mean this isn’t good jade?”

“That’s right,” Chen Yang replied. “Jade comes in two types—Yang jade and Yin jade. What you’re wearing is Yin jade, which means it was excavated from underground. If worn for a long time, it will gradually drain your life force, storing it within. If someone with ill intentions were to shatter the jade tiger, they could take your energy for themselves.”

Xiao Rongfei was utterly unfamiliar with such matters as Feng Shui and metaphysics. She was stunned by his explanation.

Still, she managed to gather her thoughts. Did this mean the piece of jade she’d bought for over a hundred thousand was actually from the dead?

A chill ran through her. She quickly removed the pendant and looked at Chen Yang. “President Chen, really? But I feel perfectly fine.”

“To your eyes, it’s good because you only care about its beauty, not its essence,” Chen Yang said with a gentle smile.

“But how did you know?” she asked, confused.

“I’ve studied these things before,” Chen Yang replied nonchalantly.

She nodded, thinking it over, then looked at him seriously. “So what should I do?”

“The simplest way is to destroy the jade. But I doubt the monk who gave you this was well-intentioned,” Chen Yang said.

She responded immediately, “He’s the abbot of Guanshan Temple, a highly respected monk. Many business owners in Linhai seek him out for talismans, and they say he’s very effective. I know a businessman whose business was stagnant—after he got a talisman from Master Xuanchan, the very next year he made over ten million, and his business has been booming ever since.”

Chen Yang laughed. “Sometimes it’s not the talisman that works, but the confidence it gives people. With that sense of protection, they approach everything with more self-assurance, and naturally, their luck changes. It’s not the talisman’s power at work.”

Xiao Rongfei found this reasonable. She was planning to consult Master Xuanchan that evening about the pendant anyway, so why not invite Chen Yang along?

She smiled. “President Chen, you seem insightful. I think you and Master Xuanchan would have a lot to discuss. I’ll be heading over to see him tonight about the pendant. Would you care to join me?”

“Certainly,” Chen Yang agreed at once.

After all, he was curious to see what kind of person this Master Xuanchan was—someone who’d given Xiao Rongfei such a sinister object—and what was really on his mind.