Chapter 84: Ascending the Mountain

The mountain path was narrow, but the weather was fine today; although it was winter and nearly the New Year, the sun hung high, and the mountain was unusually free of damp, cold mist.

Two vehicles stopped at the foot of the mountain; after the group disembarked, they proceeded up the mountain along the path.

This mountain was not small in scale; on the way, Chen Yan heard Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing give an introduction. The mountain spanned about four or five li in circumference, with three small peaks; although the altitude was not high, the ridges formed a low, continuous terrain.

The He family had lived in the village at the foot of this mountain for generations, for over three hundred years.

A peak in the southwest had become the location of the He family ancestral graves—only the direct lineage could be buried there.

As for the direct line, they were all buried on the mountainside or on the eastern peak.

This mountain had no mineral resources, so no government officials came to develop or requisition the land, and the peaks had remained preserved.

In recent years, the He family had even pooled funds from the entire clan, followed government procedures, and purchased the land of these peaks; nominally for developing mountain produce or orchards, but actually to secure an insurance policy for the ancestral burial ground.

Although these southern mountain roads were not steep, the mountain was lush with branches and leaves, the paths were very narrow, and there was originally no road on the ground; it was merely a mountain trail worn by frequent footsteps, with weeds growing wildly on both sides and tree branches and forks extending across.

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing, after all, was a woman; by the time she reached the mountainside, her legs had gone soft and her breathing was unsteady.

Chen Yan followed beside Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing, glancing at her impassively—this woman's cultivation method from the Yun Sect had a flaw; it lacked the part that guides primordial energy to nourish the physical body, so although her cultivation had reached the Return to Origin Realm, only her primordial energy level had risen, the energy had not nourished her body, and the enhancement to her physical constitution was truly limited.

In fact, her physical constitution was only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person.

Unlike Chen Yan, who had climbed all the way up to here without flushing or panting, his forehead was clean, not a single bead of sweat.

Fortunately, Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing's female assistant was a martial artist; she accompanied her, supported Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing up the mountain, and lent her considerable strength.

This female assistant supported Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing with one hand and carried a backpack on her back.

Her shoes were already stained with quite a bit of mud; Chen Yan climbed the final slope, casually found a patch of grass by the roadside, and wiped his shoes on it.

The He family's ancestral graves lay upon this slope, arranged in a well-ordered manner from high to low.

Some were ancient, their tombstones obviously quite old; although renovated, the inscriptions were clearly redrawn. Several ancient large graves were obviously also repaired by descendants, with cemented grave walls and tops, and newly made corners.

After Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing finally climbed up, Chen Yan watched the woman breathing lightly beside him, thought for a moment, and handed her a bottle of mineral water he was holding.

"Thank you, Senior," Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing said in a low voice, took it, unscrewed the cap, and drank two sips.

He Dong had already walked to the side of the cemetery, but this Mr. He's expression was very gloomy, his face iron-green.

Following Mr. He's gaze, Chen Yan easily found the Old Grandma's grave—on a corner of the slope at the very edge.

That grave had obviously collapsed.

Due to a landslide caused by heavy rain previously, after the collapse, soil and broken trees had been washed down from above.

Originally, the ground on the slope where the Old Grandma's grave was located had cracked; the cement skirt wall and tombstone of the grave had collapsed, and the grave itself was even exposed.

The scene Chen Yan saw now was already the site after the He family had gathered personnel to excavate and clean it, but it still looked broken and ragged.

Chen Yan only glanced once and couldn't help but sigh.

No wonder Mr. He was so angry—he was a great filial son, extremely filial to his mother. His mother's death had already been a huge blow to him, and for his mother's grave to end up in such a state, how could he not be heartbroken beyond measure?

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing and Chen Yan walked over together; Chen Yan looked up at the surroundings, calculated quickly in his heart, and nodded.

The location of this grave was chosen for Mr. He by Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing back then—Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing's skill was not bad; her technique for selecting grave sites seemed to be fully mastered.

The grave's position was on the south-facing side of the slope; looking south, a stream below the mountain wound from west to east, like a dragon.

The dragon's head faced directly toward the direction where the sun rises, forming the shape of a "Dragon Chasing the Sun."

And the water flow of the dragon seemed to encircle the Old Grandma's grave on the slope, truly a location of superior form.

On the left and right sides of the grave, there was a peak each; and the left was high, the right was low.

Left high, right low—this had significance!

If it were reversed, right high and left low, it would be greatly inappropriate.

The so-called "Left Green Dragon, Right White Tiger"; if the peak on the right were higher than the one on the left, it would become a place of evil qi known as "White Tiger Turning Back."

When Chen Yan asked about the location of this grave back then, Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing had confidently said, "An auspicious grave site."

Indeed, it lived up to its name.

He Dong gazed at his mother's grave for a while, then turned around with an iron-green face, nodded to Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing, and said, "Ms. Chu, please take a look."

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing solemnly said, "Very well!"

The female assistant beside her was holding her wooden box and was about to walk over, but Chen Yan stopped her, reached out, and took it. The female assistant felt a stir in her heart, handed it to Chen Yan smoothly, and stepped back a few paces.

Chen Yan brought the wooden box to Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing's side; Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing glanced at him, reached out to open it, and took out a Bai Yu compass from inside.

Chen Yan took a look and recognized it as high-quality mutton-fat Bai Yu—the value of this compass was not small; it was many levels higher than the one he used, which he had bought on Taobao.

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing held the compass in one hand and pinched her fingers with the other, stepping around the grave in a circle; Chen Yan took the opportunity to hold the wooden box and followed beside Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing.

Chen Yan used the Art of Gazing at Qi to survey all directions, nodding slightly as he looked.

The location of the He family's ancestral graves had quite a good momentum; with the geographical advantage of a superior form, it surrounded the primordial energy from all sides, and even had a slight tendency to gather and absorb it.

Under the Art of Gazing at Qi, Chen Yan squinted and could see the primordial energy of heaven and earth, in an extremely fine and extremely weak state, gathering here bit by bit.

This effect was achieved purely by the momentum of the feng shui form, without any enhancement from magical arrays.

Although the effect was a hundred thousand li worse than his own Spirit-Gathering Array.

But... this was a cemetery; placed here, over ten years, a hundred years, or several hundred years... day by day, month by month, the momentum would naturally strengthen gradually!

Clearly, when the He family ancestors chose this place for their ancestral grave back then, someone knowledgeable had helped select the location.

Beside the grave, two coffins were placed.

One was obviously damaged on the surface; the paint in many places had been scratched off, and the coffin wood had damage in many places, even cracks.

The other coffin should be a new one made later.

Chen Yan glanced at Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing; Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing understood, immediately stepped toward the coffins, and Chen Yan took the opportunity to follow her.

Getting closer, on the lid of that old coffin, the nails had been removed; although the lid was still covering it, there were obviously traces left from the coffin being opened some days ago.

Chen Yan used the Art of Gazing at Qi to look, then shook his head.

He couldn't see a trace of Yin Qi.

The so-called Yin Qi was corpse qi; wherever living beings were, at places of death, decaying corpses would leave behind some Yin Qi.

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing pinched a finger seal, murmured a incantation under her breath, opened her eyes to scan around, then suddenly felt Chen Yan gently kick the back of her heel.

She turned her head and saw Chen Yan signaling with his eyes, then glancing at the coffin lid.

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing immediately understood Chen Yan's meaning and raised her voice to ask He Jianbo: "He Dong, I need to open the Old Grandma's coffin and take a look."

He Dong's expression turned grave; after a brief hesitation, he nodded: "Look. The body is already gone—opening the coffin now isn't disrespectful to my mother. As long as you can find the root of this matter, you may examine this place freely!"

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing nodded and loudly told Chen Yan: "You help me open the coffin!"

He Dong glanced at Chen Yan, then turned to his two accompanying subordinates: "Go help him."

"No need," Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing immediately stopped them. "Opening a coffin follows specific rites. He Dong, keep your men back. Don't interfere with my methods."

He Dong didn't understand, but he trusted Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing. He nodded and waved his two men away.

Chen Yan stepped forward, took a deep breath, and first circulated Qi throughout his body.

He reached one hand into his pocket, activated a 【Toward Fortune, Avert Misfortune Talisman】 hidden there with Qi, and slapped it onto his thigh.

Only then did he pull his hand out of his pocket and used both hands to push the coffin lid.

After three sharp clicks, the lid was pushed open a third of the way. Chen Yan exhaled, then walked with Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing to the coffin's side to peer inside.

The coffin's interior was empty; the silk padding beneath remained intact, and several funeral incense items left behind at burial still lay inside.

Chen Yan sniffed, then glanced at Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing. She narrowed her eyes and said nothing, only lowered her head in thought.

Chen Yan's gaze carefully scanned the coffin's interior. Suddenly his eyes flickered—he extended a finger, lightly brushed a corner inside, then drew back his two fingers, rubbing them slowly between his thumb and forefinger, his lips curling slightly.

Then he reached into the coffin again, fumbling for a moment, before exhaling, withdrawing his hand, and standing beside Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing.

They stood beside the coffin for a full two minutes before Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing finally looked up at Chen Yan and saw him give a slight shake of his head.

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing paused, then said: "Close it."

She stepped away from the grave, walked to the side, and exhaled.

The female assistant came forward and took a small silver basin from her backpack. It was called a basin, but it was no larger than a large bowl.

She placed the basin down, then opened a bottle of water she'd brought and poured it inside.

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing walked over, pulled out a talisman, flicked it lightly—it burned to ash instantly—and dropped the ashes into the water, letting them dissolve gently.

She extended her hand, rubbed the water twice, then turned to He Jianbo: "He Zong, come wash your hands too."

He Dong blinked, and Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing said slowly: "This is my rootless water, activated by talisman power. We've walked through a graveyard today—inevitably picked up some yin energy. You should wash your hands."

He Dong raised an eyebrow, walked over, rubbed his hands twice in the water, then looked at Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing: "What did you find?"

Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing shook her head: "He Dong, we'll discuss this after we return."

He Jianbo fell silent, stared at Seeing Chu Seeing Chu Keqing, then nodded once.

Then everyone gathered around and washed their hands in the silver basin, before retracing their steps down the mountain.

Chen Yan noticed that on the way down, He Dong looked back every three steps, reluctant to leave his mother's damaged grave, his eyes slightly reddened.

He Dong's reaction made Chen Yan sigh inwardly.

He thought of how, when his own Old Grandma first "passed," he'd shown exactly the same grief-stricken expression.

The group reached the foot of the mountain, got into the car, and drove off.

But barely minutes after leaving, a procession of music and drums came toward them on the road they'd just traveled.

Others along the way set off firecrackers—popping and crashing without end.

The procession carried white banners and white hangings; sons and grandsons in mourning garments walked solemnly…

It was clearly a funeral procession heading up the mountain!