Chapter 38

"Although the small one is more convenient, isn't the big one more impressive when you go out? In today's society, everyone thinks bigger is better, whether it's a house or a car. A good Peugeot 307, which has no rear in foreign countries, has been forcibly extended to have a rear in China, just to cater to the locals' preference for larger things."

Old Ye could only nod at Tang Zhendong's words. He didn't know much about cars, but he understood the psychology of the locals well. The locals valued face over practicality, so they always preferred larger, less practical things.

"Of course, the engine is still the same engine, and the car is still the same car. By extending the rear, you add dozens of kilograms of weight, which naturally increases fuel consumption and wind resistance."

"Alright, let's buy the big one." Old Ye put down the small, exquisite compass and picked up a large one with a diameter of about thirty centimeters. "This big one is nice. It feels good in my hand! It looks more precise than the small one from earlier."

Tang Zhendong smiled inwardly: Old Ye, you're really a fraud, and not a very skilled one at that.

A compass is an essential tool for a feng shui master. Specifically, it is a necessary tool for the Liqi school of feng shui. Feng shui is divided into two main schools: Xinglan (form) and Liqi (energy). The compass is the operational tool of the Liqi school. As the name suggests, the compass is round, while the base is square, symbolizing the ancient concept of a round sky and a square earth. The square base is not just a symbol; it also serves to correct the angle at which the compass is held and to ensure that the compass is perpendicular to buildings.

Tang Zhendong was very familiar with compasses. His master, Xu Zhuo, had a prison guard bring a compass back for Tang Zhendong to study.

"Junior feng shui masters definitely need to use a compass, but at my level, a compass is no longer necessary. I use a mental compass, perceiving the world through my mind. You have a long way to go to reach that level." This was what Xu Zhuo had said to Tang Zhendong.

Master Xu Zhuo had nothing in prison, but whether it was the warden or the guards, they all revered him like a god. Why? Because Xu Zhuo's compass was imprinted in his mind, becoming a part of his body.

"I only reached the mental compass level after being in prison. You don't need to rush. Every day, you should memorize the structure of the compass in your mind until you are completely familiar with it."

Because the structure of the compass is extremely complex, Tang Zhendong didn't really understand it until he started studying it. He realized that the compass embodies the wisdom of countless people. From the initial north and south poles, to the four cardinal directions, and then using the twelve earthly branches to represent the four directions, which are further divided into twelve directions. Later, the ten heavenly stems were added to the twelve earthly branches, and the four trigrams of the Bagua were integrated, forming the twenty-four mountains of the compass we know today.

The twenty-four mountains represent the compass being divided into twenty-four directions. The Bagua and the twenty-four mountains are two layers of the compass. The compass Old Ye held was very complex, with fifty-two layers, and the outermost layer was divided into 384 grids. Old Ye held this complex compass and chuckled, "I'll take this compass out, and it will show my skills. Xiao Tang, you're absolutely right, I'm an old hand, even older than you!"

Tang Zhendong also laughed, but not because Old Ye praised him. He laughed because Old Ye was a layman. The more layers a compass has, the more complex it is, and the more confusing it is for those who don't understand it. The most important thing to verify in a compass is the sensitivity and accuracy of the magnetic needle. Too many layers are just to fool laymen.

Old Ye was a layman!

Tang Zhendong had memorized a fifty-two-layer compass in prison, which was almost the most complex one available on the market. This was due to Master Xu Zhuo's instructions and the prison guard's efforts to please him. If the guard had only bought a five-layer compass, Tang Zhendong could have memorized it in five minutes. But with a fifty-two-layer compass, the most complex layer had 384 grids. Imagine how much of a compass Tang Zhendong had to memorize in his mind.

It took Tang Zhendong three months to memorize all the grids on the compass.

When Tang Zhendong saw Old Ye holding such a complex compass and chuckling, he couldn't help but want to curse. This damn thing wasted three months of his brain cells.

Only after Tang Zhendong had completely imprinted the complex compass in his mind could Master Xu Zhuo randomly ask about any direction or layer, and Tang Zhendong would answer fluently. This wasn't just memorization; it was regular testing over the next few years.

What puzzled Tang Zhendong was that after he had memorized the compass, Master Xu Zhuo smashed it to pieces in front of him. Strangely, Master Xu Zhuo didn't say a word to him about it.

Old Ye chose a compass that cost over a thousand yuan. Tang Zhendong then picked a pure copper Lu Ban ruler and a Ding Lan ruler. The total cost was 1,800 yuan. Just as Tang Zhendong was about to pay, Old Ye stopped him and used his silver tongue to haggle the price down to 880 yuan, and even got a small compass thrown in for free. Of course, this small compass was something Tang Zhendong insisted on.

"Alright, you take the small one, and I'll take the big one. At least we each have one." Since it didn't cost anything, Old Ye naturally wanted as much as possible.

Tang Zhendong should have been used to Old Ye's lack of knowledge about feng shui, but he couldn't help but want to mock him. However, in the store, it would only make them look foolish, so Tang Zhendong didn't say anything. What Tang Zhendong admired most about Old Ye was his ability to haggle the price down from 1,800 yuan to 880 yuan, which left Tang Zhendong in awe.

The reason Tang Zhendong wanted a small compass wasn't because he wanted one for himself. On the contrary, he hated the compass. He was preparing it for visits to the homes of people who understood feng shui.

Feng shui masters usually carry at least two compasses, one large and one small, to prevent the magnetic needle from malfunctioning or being affected by strong magnetic interference. This is a common practice among modern feng shui masters, and some knowledgeable people pay attention to these details.

Of course, these insights into the trade were things Master Xu Zhuo shared with Tang Zhendong during his free time.