Chapter 198: with translation of chapter title

Speaking of the legends of Feng Shui history, aside from the founder of the Yang Gong School, Yang Yun Song, many others have left their names in the annals of occult studies, established their own schools, and become grand masters of Feng Shui.

Translation: "Speaking of the legends in Feng Shui history, besides the founder of the Yang Gong School, Yang Yun Song, there are many who left their names in occult history, founded schools, and became masters of Feng Shui of a generation."

We need to keep it concise but include all info. Let's craft: "Speaking of the legends in Feng Shui history, besides the founder of the Yang Gong School, Yang Yun Song, there are many who left their names in occult history, founded schools, and became masters of Feng Shui of a generation."

Speaking of the legends of Feng Shui history, besides the founder of the Yang Gong School, Yang Yun Song, there are many who left their names in the occult arts, founded schools, and became masters of Feng Shui of a generation.

For example, the famous Lai Buyi traveled across the country, using Feng Shui to aid the distressed and help the weak resist the strong, leaving behind many myth-like legends; cities such as Guangzhou, Yingde, and Hong Kong were all sites selected by Lai Buyi.

Translation: "For example, the famous Lai Buyi traveled across the country, using Feng Shui to aid the distressed and help the weak resist the strong, leaving behind many myth-like legends; cities such as Guangzhou, Yingde, and Hong Kong were all sites selected by Lai Buyi."

His footsteps covered the nation; using Feng Shui to aid the distressed and help the weak resist the strong, he left behind many myth-like legends. Cities such as Guangzhou, Yingde, and Hong Kong were all sites selected by Lai Buyi.

After Lai Buyi and Yang Yun Song, during the Qing Dynasty, Fujian produced an outstanding Feng Shui master whose real name was Lin Zhenxian, known in the martial world as Lin Half Immortal.

Translation: "After Lai Buyi and Yang Yun Song, in the Qing Dynasty, Fujian produced an outstanding Feng Shui master whose real name was Lin Zhenxian, known in the martial world as Lin Half Immortal."

In the Qing Dynasty, Fujian produced an outstanding Feng Shui master whose real name was Lin Zhenxian, known in the martial world as Lin Half Immortal.

In the legendary life of Lin Half Immortal, there is an incident concerning the Three Slaughter Stele.

Translation: "In Lin Half Immortal's legendary life, there is an incident concerning the Three Slaughter Stele."

Speaking of Lin Half Immortal wandering to the Damtan Xinzheng area, he found a place with good Feng Shui—a protrusion on the Pingyang close to the great river, although the dragon vein had gone underground; before the site lay Gold City Water, making it a Jade Belt Waist Binding Land.

We need to keep line break? The line ends with a comma. We'll translate as one sentence.

Translation: "Speaking of Lin Half Immortal wandering to the Big Pond New Village area, he discovered a good Feng Shui spot: a protrusion in the Pingyang, close to the Great River, but the dragon vein had already gone underground; before the site lay Gold City Water, making it a Jade Belt Waist Binding Land."

Speaking of Lin Half Immortal wandering to the Big Pond New Village area, he discovered a good Feng Shui spot—a protrusion in the Pingyang close to the Great River, though the dragon vein had already gone underground; before the site lay Gold City Water, making it a Jade Belt Waist Binding Land.

Lin Half Immortal lingered there for a long time; after examining the soil and observing the water, he found this spiritual spot to be a quick-yielding formation, rightly a Yin-month burial, Mao-month prosperity formation. However, although the spot had a quick-yielding spiritual aperture, it faintly leaked slaughter qi; if handled well, it could transform slaughter into auspiciousness, but if handled poorly, misfortune would extend to descendants.

Translation: "Lin Half Immortal lingered there for a long time; after examining the soil and observing the water, he found this spiritual spot to be a quick-yielding formation, rightly a Yin-month burial, Mao-month prosperity formation. However, although the spot had a quick-yielding spiritual aperture, it faintly leaked slaughter qi; if handled well, it could transform slaughter into auspiciousness; if handled poorly, misfortune would extend to descendants."

After examining the soil and observing the water, he found this spiritual spot to be a quick-yielding formation—rightly a Yin-month burial, Mao-month prosperity formation. However, although the spot had a quick-yielding spiritual aperture, it faintly leaked slaughter qi; if handled well, it could transform slaughter into auspiciousness, but if handled poorly, misfortune would extend to descendants.

What is a Yin-month burial and Mao-month prosperity? Yin is third in the Twelve Earthly Branches, Mao fourth. Thus, after burial with this formation, one could become rich in the second month, seeing results extraordinarily quickly—an outstanding Feng Shui spiritual spot.

Translation: "What is Yin-month burial, Mao-month prosperity? Yin is third in the Twelve Earthly Branches, Mao fourth. Thus, after burial with this formation, one could become rich in the second month, seeing results extraordinarily quickly—an outstanding Feng Shui spiritual spot."

What is Yin-month burial, Mao-month prosperity? Yin is third in the Twelve Earthly Branches, Mao fourth. Thus, after burial with this formation, one could become rich in the second month, seeing results extraordinarily quickly—an outstanding Feng Shui spiritual spot.

Lin Half Immortal sighed, wondering who had the fortune to obtain this spiritual spot. Just then, he happened upon an honest and sincere young man of the Su surname, yet whose home was bare walls.

Translation: "Lin Half Immortal sighed, wondering who had the fortune to obtain this spiritual spot. Just then, he happened upon an honest and sincere young man of the Su surname, yet whose home was bare walls."

Lin Half Immortal sighed, wondering who had the fortune to obtain this spiritual spot, when he happened upon an honest and sincere young man of the Su surname, yet whose home was bare walls.

In the past, "bare walls" was synonymous with utter poverty; nowadays, when many people mention those four words, it's just a line of bitter tears.

Translation: "In the past, 'bare walls' was synonymous with utter poverty. Nowadays, when many people mention those four words, it's just a line of bitter tears."

In the past, 'bare walls' was synonymous with utter poverty; nowadays, when many people mention those four words, it's just a line of bitter tears.

Think about it: current housing prices leave people breathless; even if one wanted bare walls, they'd still need a home. When many ordinary people read the phrase "bare walls", the first thing that comes to mind is—home, then the spicy neighboring household.

Translation: "Think about it: current housing prices leave people breathless; even if one wanted bare walls, they'd still need a home. When many ordinary people read the phrase 'bare walls', the first thing that comes to mind is—home, then the spicy neighboring household."

Think about it: current housing prices leave people breathless; even if one wanted bare walls, they'd still need a home. When many ordinary people read the phrase 'bare walls', the first thing that comes to mind is home, then the spicy neighboring household.

Speaking of Lin Half Immortal, after appreciating this spiritual spot for a long time, seeing the sky gradually darken, he went to a nearby small village to spend the night. Arriving at a thatched hut, after knocking, a young man in his thirties opened the door. Lin Half Immortal expressed his wish to borrow lodging for the night. The young man said: "How unfortunate, my mother just passed away this evening, and I am an only son; my career unsuccessful, I make a living doing odd jobs, still unmarried, my family is arranging the funeral, my mother has not yet been placed in the coffin." Sir, if you don't mind, you may first rest in my room, though it will be crude, for I must keep vigil tonight.

Note: there is a typo 'after knocking' should be 'after knocking'.

Translation: "Speaking of Lin Half Immortal, after appreciating this spiritual spot for a long time, seeing the sky gradually darken, he went to a nearby small village to spend the night, arriving at a thatched hut; after knocking, a young man in his thirties opened the door. Lin Half Immortal expressed his wish to borrow lodging for the night; the young man said: 'How unfortunate, my mother just passed away this evening, and I am an only son, my career unsuccessful, I make a living doing odd jobs, still unmarried, my family is arranging the funeral, my mother has not yet been placed in the coffin. Sir, if you don't mind, you may first rest in my room, though it will be crude, for I must keep vigil tonight.'"

Speaking of Lin Half Immortal, after appreciating this spiritual spot for a long time, he saw the sky gradually darken and went to a nearby small village to spend the night. Arriving at a thatched hut, after knocking, a young man in his thirties opened the door. Lin Half Immortal expressed his wish to borrow lodging for the night. The young man said, 'How unfortunate, my mother just passed away this evening, and I am an only son; my career is unsuccessful, I make a living doing odd jobs, I am still unmarried, my family is arranging the funeral, and my mother has not yet been placed in the coffin.' He added, 'Sir, if you don't mind, you may first rest in my room, though it will be crude, for I must keep vigil tonight.'

Lin Half Immortal said it was fine; seeing the young man's honesty, sincerity, and kind treatment of others, he felt moved, and knowing he was unmarried and in difficult circumstances, he thought, "Since fate has led us to this spot, why not open the door of convenience?" Thus, Lin Half Immortal recommended himself to help the young man find a burial site.

Translation: "Lin Half Immortal said it was fine; seeing the young man's honesty, sincerity, and kind treatment of others, he felt moved, and knowing he was unmarried and in difficult circumstances, he thought, 'Since fate has led us to this spot, why not open the door of convenience?' Thus, Lin Half Immortal recommended himself to help the young man find a burial site."

Lin Half Immortal said it was fine, seeing the young man's honesty, sincerity, and kind treatment of others; he felt moved and, knowing he was unmarried and in difficult circumstances, thought, 'Since fate has led us to this spot, why not open the door of convenience?' Thus, Lin Half Immortal recommended himself to help the young man find a burial site.

The next day, Lin Half Immortal led the Su young man to the riverbank and declared openly: "This is a Submerged Mud Loach Pit; it prospers upon encountering water, but this year is the Year of Heaven Slaughter, and although the spiritual spot is wealthy, it also secretly harbors an Earth Slaughter formation. Furthermore, your personal fate and this spiritual spot slightly clash, making the three exactly a Heaven, Earth, Human Three Slaughter affliction. According to ordinary burial practice, this would certainly bring misfortune for nine generations, leaving no intact corpse."

Translation: "The next day, Lin Half Immortal led the Su young man to the riverbank and declared openly: 'This is a Submerged Mud Loach Pit; it prospers upon encountering water, but this year is the Year of Heaven Slaughter, and although the spiritual spot is wealthy, it also secretly harbors an Earth Slaughter formation. Furthermore, your personal fate and this spiritual spot slightly clash, making the three exactly a Heaven, Earth, Human Three Slaughter affliction; according to ordinary burial practice, this would certainly bring misfortune for nine generations, leaving no intact corpse.'"

The next day, Lin Half Immortal led the Su young man to the riverbank and declared openly: 'This is a Submerged Mud Loach Pit; it prospers upon encountering water, but this year is the Year of Heaven Slaughter. Moreover, although the spiritual spot is wealthy, it also secretly harbors an Earth Slaughter formation. Furthermore, your personal fate and this spiritual spot slightly clash, making the three exactly a Heaven, Earth, Human Three Slaughter affliction. According to ordinary burial practice, this would certainly bring misfortune for nine generations, leaving no intact corpse.'

Upon hearing this, the young man panicked and hurriedly asked Lin Half Immortal what to do.

Translation: "Upon hearing this, the young man panicked and hurriedly asked Lin Half Immortal what to do."

Lin Half Immortal stroked his beard, pondered, and said: "Since it is a grave slaughter, we need a heavy mourning ritual to neutralize it; I will arrange for a Three Slaughter Stele to be placed in your grave to transform slaughter into auspicious fortune. Remember, within three days, your mother must be buried in this pit."

Translation: "Lin Half Immortal stroked his beard, pondered, and said: 'Since it is a grave slaughter, we need a heavy mourning ritual to neutralize it; I will arrange for a Three Slaughter Stele to be placed in your grave to transform slaughter into auspicious fortune. Remember, within three days, your mother must be buried in this pit.'"

Lin Half Immortal stroked his beard, pondered, and said: 'Since it is a grave slaughter, we need a heavy mourning ritual to neutralize it. I will arrange for a Three Slaughter Stele to be placed in your grave to transform slaughter into auspicious fortune. Remember, within three days, your mother must be buried in this pit.'

Afterwards, Lin Half Immortal selected a Yin-Yang Trimming Date Selection Method; this method differs from ordinary date selection, being the true Yin-Yang method of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, is a 120 Jiazi Cycle Deduction Calculation, a situation where life is found in desperation.

Translation: "Afterward, Lin Half Immortal selected a Yin-Yang Trimming Date Selection Method; this method differs from ordinary date selection, being the true Yin-Yang method of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, a 120 Jiazi Cycle Deduction Calculation, a situation where life is found in desperation."

Afterward, Lin Half Immortal selected a Yin-Yang Trimming Date Selection Method, which differs from ordinary date selection, being the true Yin-Yang method of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden—a 120 Jiazi Cycle Deduction Calculation, a situation where life is found in desperation.

Having calculated the time for burial, dark clouds instantly covered the sky; the originally clear heavens turned gloomy in a blink, and flocks of wild geese flew in, numbering tens of thousands. Lin Bansian said: "This is your fortune; the geese flying in formation is an auspicious omen! In one month, joy will surely come to you, but remember: this is a burial site in a water‑logged loach grave. The tombstone is set in stone, unafraid of submersion—the deeper it sinks, the more prosperous it becomes. I have piled stone steps in front of the grave in the shape of the number 8 to dispel evil, which is also the method of suppressing and expelling malign influences from the mountain. No water will enter the tomb, but from now on, no matter what anyone says, you must never relocate your ancestors' grave; keep this in mind!" Having spoken, Lin Bansian left the young surnamed Su and wandered off.

After the surnamed Su youth buried his mother, just as Lin Bansian had predicted, a month later he immediately experienced a strange encounter: he took a wife and inexplicably acquired a fortune of ten thousand strings of cash. Thereafter, the Su youth prospered greatly, becoming a local landowner.

However, the Su youth who had become a landowner failed to keep Lin Bansian's admonition in mind. Years later, a Fengyang mad geomancer passing by persuaded Su the landowner to tamper with the feng shui of his ancestral grave.

This mad immortal's Fengyang arts were superb, and he also understood spirit‑mediation; his divinations were astonishingly accurate, yet his knowledge of burial‑site geography was ordinary. When he arrived at Datan Xinzheng, his predictions about various matters were all precise. Even a well that had been filled in at Gebi Town, where a boy had once died, and even a temple‑collapse incident that had occurred some years ago in the village, he could divine.

Thus, Su the landowner came to admire this mad geomancer greatly and placed his full trust in him.

One day, Su the landowner brought the mad immortal to view his mother's tomb. The mad immortal, unaware of the subtleties of yin and yang and unable to fathom Lin Bansian's yin‑yang method, rashly told Su the landowner: "This grave is utterly murky, already invaded by water; it must be relocated immediately, otherwise disaster will strike."

Thereafter, the Fengyang mad immortal performed rites to select a day for moving Su's mother's grave from the "water‑logged loach site." He began digging up the tombstone, unaware that Lin Bansian had placed three evil‑god stelae upon it; to relocate this grave one must first set up an altar, offer the three sacrificial animals and wine, and send away the three evil gods before breaking ground. The Fengyang mad immortal had already been struck by the evil influence without realizing it, yet he remained oblivious to his impending death. He opened the coffin: the bones were laced with red veins, no water had entered, and the interior was steaming hot.

After forty‑nine days, his money ran out, and suddenly he felt a faint pain in his chest. He counted on his fingers and realized: "Not good!" He summoned the Fengyang patriarch for rescue, but the patriarch said, "Self‑inflicted evil cannot be endured; your lifespan is exhausted—accept your fate!" The Fengyang mad immortal begged the patriarch to save him, yet the patriarch replied that the time limit had passed, immortals cannot save a life‑less wretch, and after saying this he fainted and died.

The mad immortal's death brought no ease to Su the landowner's family. In the first year after the relocation, his eldest daughter died in an accident. In the second year, his second son contracted lung cancer and died two months later. On the third day, his only remaining young son also suffered an unexpected misfortune.

It is regrettable that the mad immortal failed to grasp the subtleties of the water‑logged loach grave, not realizing that loaches thrive only in turbid water—the murkier the water, the more lively the loaches, and the more vigorous the auspicious energy of the site. Even more lamentable, Su the landowner was deluded by this mad immortal and moved those three evil‑god stelae. Consequently, the mad immortal was struck by the evil influence and died, while Su's family suffered three successive sudden deaths. Fortunately, Lin Bansian later revisited the place and managed to retrieve the declining situation.

Of course, all that happened later and can be set aside for now; but in these two incidents, it is impossible not to mention the marvelous use of the three evil‑god stelae.

The so‑called three evils refer to the heavenly, earthly, and human evils. The Three Cycles and Nine Periods pertain to heaven, the earthly situation to earth, and a person's birth date to humanity. For Su the landowner, this water‑logged loach grave ought to have been a malign site, but after Lin Bansian's ingenious remodeling, it became a rapidly prosperous auspicious spot. Apart from Lin Bansian's profound mastery of feng shui arcana, the three evil‑god stelae can be regarded as the core of the entire auspicious configuration.

Many may wonder why the three evil‑god stelae never moved even a fraction while Su's family enjoyed flourishing prosperity and smooth sailing. Yet once the stelae were shifted, the mad immortal instantly fell victim to the lethal qi inscribed on them, and Su's household also suffered invasion by the auspicious‑site's evil qi, which shattered the auspiciousness, resulting in successive injuries to two or three family members.

If you ask me the reason, this half‑learned me can only vaguely give you four words: "a negative times a negative yields a positive!"

The Way of Feng Shui is also not immutable. It is not the case that whenever there is evil one must dispel it, or that whenever there is danger one must eliminate the hazard before daring to bury. As the old saying goes, "danger" means danger and opportunity coexist. Even the most vicious and evil feng shui site can become a prosperous auspicious ground if the right person chooses the proper method.

This is akin to a physician's method of treating illness by using poison to counteract poison.

The auspicious site that Lin Bansian selected already contained earthly evil; coincidentally it was also a wicked year, so Lin Bansian added fuel to that evil qi. Do you like evil? If so, I will bury you in a fierce manner; if you happen to be under the three evils, then I will summon the three evil gods here, let them fight each other, and drive the evil away to the heavens.

Under such mutual restraint where none yields to another, the situation reaches a delicate balance. The vicious evils counterbalance each other, allowing the auspicious qi to seize the opportunity to rise. This must be said to be the profound yin‑yang mystery of feng shui physiognomy—ordinary people cannot comprehend it, and even typical practitioners cannot fathom it.

All that can be said is that Lin Bansian's feng shui numerology is exceedingly profound, ingeniously mastering every nuance of the situation; ordinary feng shui calculations lack such ability and such courage.

As for this trip to Yichang, according to Pangzi, the problem lay precisely with the three evil‑god stelae in the grave grounds of the Yang‑surnamed wealthy patron.