剝 → 咸

Commentary

Mountain upon earth decays into lake above mountain — Influence, where openness at the summit invites connection. Three men push a handcart, rolling into the tiger's domain. The Queen Mother grows covetous and steals the plough-ox. The three men entering danger together should evoke mutual support, but what they find is predatory: a 'Wang Mu' figure — here not the celestial goddess but perhaps an overbearing matriarch or local power — seizes the very ox needed for livelihood. The plough-ox represents productive capacity; its theft is an attack on sustenance itself. From Splitting Apart to Influence, the mountain's erosion opens the summit to the lake's receptivity, but receptivity without discernment invites exploitation. Influence works through sensitivity; here that sensitivity is weaponized by the covetous.