Chen Shuyu paused slightly before continuing, "The workers said that the master in the pit suddenly shouted something at the top of his lungs, like a hidden message from a book, and then fell silent.

"The white candles around the pit were blown out by a gust of wind, plunging the construction site into darkness.

"The workers were terrified and scrambled down the mountain.

"The next morning, the foreman, with a mix of coaxing and threats, led them back up, only to find the master dead on top of the coffin.

"No one knew how long he'd been dead, but his body was still sitting on the coffin, his eyes gouged out, leaving bloody sockets staring blankly, as if looking at something.

"The foreman, taking a risk, tried to move the master's body, but it wouldn't budge. It was as if it had been glued to the coffin.

"Any other developer would have cut their losses and abandoned the land, perhaps even burying the coffin as it was and selling the property.

"But this developer did the unexpected: he sought out the original villagers of Shanglin Village and asked if anyone could deal with the coffin. He was willing to pay a huge sum if they could get rid of it.

"Eventually, someone from the village stepped forward.

"Who that person was, what they looked like—even the people of Shanglin Village couldn't say.

"They all knew the person was from the village, but no one could remember who it was.

"Some even warned the developer not to trust that person, pointing out the oddities surrounding them.

"The developer asked around the village, in front of the person, who remained silent as the villagers claimed not to know them.

"Once the developer was done questioning, he politely invited the person into his car.

"Within days, construction resumed, and the coffin was gone.

"That person seemed to still be in the village, and yet not. In any case, no one ever spoke of them again.

"However, there's reliable information that the developer changed the blueprints when building Shanglin Residential Area, shaping it into the 口 (kou, mouth) shape you see today."

Chen Shuyu said, "That's all the information I could trace from the construction site at the time. The developer isn't in the country anymore. I'm asking friends abroad to help me find them. Oh, right..."

Chen Shuyu remembered something: "I also learned that very few of the original Shanglin Village residents chose to move back. Only about ten families, mostly elderly."

"Because the story of what happened at the construction site spread like wildfire, the houses in Shanglin Residential Area didn't sell, and it became a deserted complex, rarely inhabited."

"I understand! Let me know immediately if you find anything else," I said, hanging up the phone. "So, the coffin that appeared at Shanglin Residential Area and the person who disposed of it are the key."

Xia Mengying said, "That person must be from the Confucian School. They've been using the Confucian secret art of 'Shu Shi Wu Du' (familiarity breeds blindness) to conceal their identity."

Shu Shi Wu Du, literally means: Often seen but as if not seen.

If you pass by a poplar tree every day, after a while, you won't even look at the tree, because you know it won't change.

If someone quietly replaced the poplar with an elm, or a similar tree, it might take you a long time to notice the change.

You might even wonder if you remembered wrong, and it was never a poplar in the first place.

The Confucian "Shu Shi Wu Du" is like that. The person using the secret art will appear before you again and again, but never speak to you, and allow you to talk about them.

Over time, the people who have seen them will not only fail to become more familiar with them, but will gradually forget who they are.

Xia Mengying said, "The renegade Confucian who asked me to find him must be the person who built Shanglin Residential Area."

"Shu Shi Wu Du...Shu Shi Wu Du..." I murmured, "It seems the strange tales of Shanglin Residential Area are his test for you!"

Xia Mengying realized, "Are you saying that we can only find him by solving the strange tales?"

"Yes!" I nodded. "You said yourself, he didn't tell you his name at the time."

"In fact, whether he told you or not doesn't matter. Since he used the secret art on the villagers, even if you know his name, you won't be able to find out where he is."

"Unless, as soon as you arrive in Shanglin Village, he comes out to meet you!"

I said solemnly, "Let's go! Let's go into the complex and see what these strange tales are all about!"

After entering the complex through the main gate, I went straight to the flower bed in the middle: "Leng Gou, do you think this is where the coffin was buried?"

"I can't tell!" Ye Yang said, "The Confucian School doesn't believe in feng shui, they won't act according to feng shui layouts. The coffin could be anywhere."

With a slight thought, I looked up at the residential buildings in the complex.