After I showed my friend the entire series about the “I’m a Search and Rescue Officer for the US Forest Service” last time, we had a chat.
Me: ‘Why does that mountain abroad feel especially dangerous?’
Friend: ‘Honestly, it’s unusual. Mountain spirits might enchant, mislead, or toy with people, but they rarely—almost never—directly harm them.’
Me: ‘Guess the moon’s just rounder overseas, huh? ‘
Friend: ‘From what I’ve studied, when people get lured into their traps, they enter a hypnotic state. They’re guided along, and weirder still, it seems these entities feed them. That’s why some who are found after days deep in the mountains show no signs of starvation—just mild dehydration. The paths they take are eerily easy, like when we hike trails or creek beds, heads down, picking the best route. But in that state, it’s like divine help—every step lands on flat ground, leading them safely to wherever these beings want. Maybe adrenaline even kicks in, making them move like they’re flying.’
Me: ‘What’s the point of it all?
Friend: ‘I don’t know.’
Me: ‘(ﾟ⊿ﾟ)’
Friend: ‘Geez, good luck figuring out how a different species thinks.’
Me: ‘I thought you knew everything. Can I post your experiences on the ptt Marvel board?’
Friend: ‘Sure, but didn’t I tell you?…….‘I’ve never actually seen a ghost with my own eyes.
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Let’s start with my friend. I’ll kick off with a bit about his early life—this post will mostly just cover that. We met in junior high, but his journey into geomancy began when he started university. His family had no ties to this occupation originally—just the usual routine of attending a few clan gatherings each year to eat, drink, and chat. They knew some relatives were geomancers or feng shui masters and that there was a temple dedicated to honoring generations of ‘destined’ geomancers, but as kids, we couldn’t care less.
What did that have to do with us? According to him, one day their clan temple’s incense burner flared up, pointing to a specific family branch. They traced the lineage, and it landed on him. Suddenly, a bunch of people showed up at his house to ‘discuss’ it with his parents and him.
Friend: ‘Holy crap, a ton of people came telling me I was the chosen one. I thought they were all nuts—what era are we in, saying this has a future and gets you close to nature?’
The clan offered his parents a monthly stipend if he agreed to take it on—a stable gig, even while studying, as long as he learned geomancy on the side. His parents were sold (apparently the money was decent, even more after training), but he flat-out refused at first. Still, with people nagging him daily, he finally snapped.
Friend: ‘ Fine, I’ll do it! If I suck at it, don’t come whining to me. (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴ And don’t expect me to give the money back!’
So, weekdays he’d attend classes, and weekends he’d get dragged off to learn random stuff—climbing mountains included. Thus, a bookish, outdoorsy teen was born. Later, he learned the temple kept a record book of treasured and cursed lands and tombs, painstakingly mapped out by past geomancers. Only the ‘destined’ could read this… guidebook, I guess?
Me: ‘With so many in your family, hasn’t anyone found those treasure spots?’
Friend: ‘Sure, some must’ve, but my book lists more than most could find in a lifetime.’
Me: ‘What happens if a non-destined person looks at it?’
Friend: ‘How should I know? Probably bad luck for years. The elders swear by it. Wanna peek?’
Me: ‘Why don’t you eat your sxxt instead?’
Anyway, it’d been a decade since the last destined one, so you can imagine why the clan was freaking out.
Friend: ‘The destined have to update and inspect the lands in the book, plus find new ones.’
Me: ‘Wait, didn’t you say some never find that much? How do you update it?’
Friend: ‘It’s not hard—I’m halfway done already. d(`･∀･)’
Me: ‘How?! Σ(*ﾟдﾟﾉ)ﾉ’
Friend: ‘Google Earth.’
Me: ‘…(′･_･)’
Friend: ‘What? Aerial shots show if a place is wrecked or not. Then I just visit the intact ones to update. Modern folks need modern smarts, you know.’
So yeah, my friend’s a bit… unconventional. During his training, he also learned fortune-telling—sort of. He said it’s mainly about figuring out if someone’s fate can handle nature’s energies, then picking a treasure tombs they can endure.
Friend: ‘ But I don’t recommend it. Bad predictions are like Schrödinger’s cat in modern terms.’
Me: ‘ Because observing it makes it real?’
Friend: ‘ Exactly. Whether it’s accurate or not, the person or those around them start leaning toward the predicted outcome. Their future gets boxed in—like parents hearing their kid will be a doctor, so they push only that path, narrowing their life.’
I’ve had him read mine, though—more about solving problems than fate. It actually worked. His method’s odd—no birth charts or standard stuff. He uses the time, direction, and subtle signs from when you ask to predict solutions, people, or events. His ‘fee’ might not be cash—sometimes it’s a hair, a scrap of clothing, or, he claims, a slice of your luck. Other times, he won’t even let you ask.
Friend: ‘The cost’s too high—you can’t pay it.’
Weird, right?
Here’s a fun tidbit: when he was learning fortune-telling, his teacher asked, ‘What tool do you think suits you best right now?’ Think turtle shells? lots? poker cards? tarot?.
He pondered, then said, ‘Dice seem cool—eight-sided, six-sided, perfect for I Ching numbers. Extra dice, extra layers. Why doesn’t anyone use them?’
Later, he saw why his teacher’s face dropped (′ﾟдﾟ`). Days after, the teacher declared dice were his destined tool for life.
Friend: ‘Damn it, that question was a trap! Per clan rules, whatever you say locks in your tool. That sneaky jerk! Using dice for their special method isn’t hard, but it kills the vibe. FXXK!’
Now, whenever he’s about to divine something, he pulls out a bowl and dice, looking like some guy playing mahjong. We still tease him about it.
- I Ching, usually translated Book of Changes or Classic of Changes, is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics.
- Geomancer, earth divinationer. Usually it refers to people who help others find a good tomb place based on feng shui.
Repost from the ptt Marvel board (Taiwanese Reddit)
Original writer : lepeace
Time stamp: Sep 20 04:50:32 2015
True TAIWAN Horror story 
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