I Was Written as Cannon Fodder, Now I'm Rewriting the Genre

The morning of August 3rd.

Yin Zhen, carrying Ding Yi’s ID card, arrived at the villa district near the Guan City Wetland Park.

With earphones in and smart glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, her phone remained in her pocket, maintaining an active call with Lucy. Lucy had found both this villa and the sales agent for her, claiming it was the most suitable choice in every regard.

Zhang, a top-tier sales agent, stood at the villa’s entrance. Upon seeing Yin Zhen, she flashed a professional smile. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, she began her introduction.

”Mr. Ding, as you can see, this villa is the crown jewel of our entire wetland park development,” Zhang said. ”It sits on high ground, flanked by expansive green buffer zones at both the front and back. The nearest neighbor is nearly two hundred meters away, so the privacy is absolutely impeccable. The front overlooks the entire villa district, while the back leads directly to the Guanhe Wetland Park. If you stand on the third-floor terrace, you can see the entire bend of the Guan River. When you open the windows in the morning, you’ll be greeted by a panoramic view.”

Zhang continued her pitch as she swiped a card to unlock the door.

The villa’s exterior featured a modern Chinese design, and the front yard was a meticulously maintained traditional courtyard.

A pathway paved with bluestone slabs meandered from the yard gate to the entrance foyer, flanked by expertly pruned Buddhist pines and heavenly bamboo.

The main entrance featured an antiqued copper door adorned with mythical Jiaotu beast knockers holding rings in their jaws. A plain wooden plaque was inset above the lintel.

”Gui Tang?”

Zhang explained, ”The previous owner specifically commissioned an old master from Su City to custom-make this plaque. Gui Tang... ’Tang’ refers to the begonia flower, which also symbolizes one’s homeland. The previous owner was in the building materials business. His hometown was in the south, so he intentionally decorated the house in a southern style, saying it made him feel more grounded.”

The foyer boasted a ceiling height of nearly five meters. Matte antique black bricks lined the floor, while the walls were a pristine white. Dark wooden beams traced simple geometric structures across the ceiling, giving the entire space a serene and orderly atmosphere.

The central courtyard featured a small atrium. A stone mortar holding Copper Coin grass sat in the center. Daylight cascaded from above, landing softly on the antique black bricks, while a faint scent of sandalwood drifted through the air.

”There are three floors, plus a basement and a garage. The above-ground usable area is nearly five hundred square meters. The overall decor is in the Song Dynasty style, fully equipped with smart home systems and appliances. The first floor includes the living room, dining room, and both Chinese and Western kitchens. The home theater is over here, while the tearoom and gym face the backyard. On the second floor, there are three en-suite bedrooms, each with its own independent bathroom and walk-in closet. The entire third floor consists of the master bedroom, a study, and a terrace facing the Guan River.

”The basement has a wine cellar and a separate collection room. However, all the items have been moved out, so it’s currently empty. The space is massive, allowing you to rearrange it according to your own preferences. You’ve already seen the front yard, and there’s an even larger courtyard at the back. The previous owner landscaped it in the style of Suzhou gardens and planted two persimmon trees and a pomegranate tree over there. When they bear fruit in the autumn, the branches are completely laden.”

As Yin Zhen stepped into the foyer, a gloomy, cold aura immediately clung to her skin. It was a baseless chill seeping out from the walls and deep beneath the ground.

She didn’t stop walking, following Zhang’s guidance deeper into the house, but that uncomfortable sensation stubbornly lingered on her.

”The house looks very new, and a lot of effort clearly went into the design and decor. Why is the previous owner selling it?” Yin Zhen asked.

Zhang’s smile remained unwavering, revealing no flaws.

”He encountered cash flow issues in his business and had no choice but to liquidate his assets quickly. This property is now an urgent sale. As long as you can pay the full amount upfront, not only will the price be slashed to rock bottom, but the off-road vehicle in the garage will be thrown in for free.”

Lucy began reciting data through the earphones. After listening, Yin Zhen stated bluntly, ”Someone died here. This is a cursed property.”

Zhang’s smile instantly froze on her face.

Yin Zhen continued, ”When this house was being built, the construction team dug up two coffins underground. The developer suppressed the news, hired a master to relocate the coffins, performed a religious ritual, and then finished building the house before selling it to the previous owner. After the previous owner moved in, his business steadily went downhill. He sold everything he could, his wife left with their child, and finally, he committed suicide by taking pills in the living room.”

Zhang opened her mouth to speak, but Yin Zhen didn’t wait for her. She walked across the courtyard to the stairs leading to the basement, then turned back and stood at the entrance of the tearoom to take a look.

Previously, to persuade Mr. Yi, she had resonated with the memories of the Yin Yang Master. The knowledge from those memories could now be put to good use.

To haggle down the price, she might as well show off a little!

”The master the developer hired back then wasn’t a fraud. There is a specific logic to his selection of this plot of land. The low hill acts as a natural barrier, while the Guan River encircles it like a jade belt. Mountains govern descendants, and water governs wealth. In the south, this layout is known as the ’Grandmaster’s Chair’; it is a textbook auspicious site for the living. That plaque is also excellent. Gui Tang. ’Tang’ aligns with wood, and ’Gui’ aligns with earth. Earth generates wood, and wood, in turn, secures the earth. This is a hidden Feng Shui Formation where the Five Elements mutually generate each other.

”The copper door uses Jiaotu knockers to ward off evil and protect the house. The central courtyard features an atrium to welcome daylight, drawing positive yang energy into the residence. The fish pond and Taihu stones in the front yard create a formation known as ’water gathering at the celestial center.’ The stones represent mountains, and the water represents the source of wealth—again, mountains govern descendants, and water governs wealth. The tearoom sits in the north and faces south, with the seating oriented toward the east to usher in auspicious energy from the east. The underlying concept of the entire house is perfectly cohesive. The person the developer hired was highly skilled.”

Yin Zhen walked beneath the atrium in the central courtyard and looked up at the square patch of sky.

”However, his formation was broken by the decorators,” she continued. ”The window in the tearoom was placed incorrectly. It should have been opened in the southeast corner to connect with the Wenchang academic position, but instead, it was opened facing due west. Due west corresponds to the Dui Trigram, which governs disputes and gossip. Once that window was opened, all the auspicious energy of the entire house leaked out. Additionally, the mirror on the curio cabinet in the study directly faces the central atrium. All the yang energy drawn in by the atrium is reflected straight into the basement by that mirror.

”The basement doesn’t have a ventilation shaft. Once the yang energy enters, it cannot disperse. Coupled with the moisture from the wine cellar, it compounds the yin energy. The master’s original design was meant to protect the house and attract wealth, but by altering the energy vents during renovation, the protective formation was twisted into a trap that locks in yin energy.

”When the previous owner moved in and realized his business was struggling, he must have hired another master to take a look. The covered bridge in the backyard was added later. Its orientation suppresses the ley line between the two persimmon trees in the backyard. This effectively channeled the residual yin energy left behind after the developer removed those coffins right back up to the surface. The two formations operated independently and clashed with one another. Caught in the middle, the previous owner was essentially sleeping at the collision point of two opposing Feng Shui Formations every single day.”

[Congratulations Player, you have comprehended a new skill: ’Basic Yin Yang Skill’]

The system prompt made Yin Zhen pause slightly.

Previously, Yin Zhen had never touched the blood of a living person in Ancient Abyss, and her Blood Source Resonance had only been at the B-level, so she could only resonate with a sparse amount of memories.

It wasn’t until this time, when she specifically sought out someone with professional knowledge like the Yin Yang Master to patch the loopholes left by Chi Hai, that things changed. An S-Class Blood Source Resonance required only a small amount of blood to resonate with a massive volume of memories.

These memories could even be extracted and stored in the form of books on a bookshelf within that Special space. This prevented her mind from being overwhelmed by the memories, allowing her to selectively extract information when she flipped through the memory books later.

Yin Zhen hadn’t thought about it carefully before, but this could absolutely serve as a pathway for learning Skills.

Just like when she made her main body comprehend combat and the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method previously—once the memories were stored in her brain, a little practice could turn them into a new skill.

Although Basic skills were quite shallow, it still saved far more time and energy than learning them from scratch.