Chapter 213: The Offending the Geomancer's Deadly Ground

What is the offending the geomancer's ground? In feng shui, wherever there is a cave or dwelling in the mountains that faces the direction of the rising sun in the east and can first receive the essence of the sun and moon, that is the offending the geomancer's ground..

So-called offending the geomancer refers to offending the geomancer who selects burial spots. Any geomancer who selects a burial spot and buries someone in the offending the geomancer's ground will surely die within three years; even the lighter cases will end up disabled for life.

Among the folk, many stories are circulated. Including many modern people, they all parrot the belief that practicing feng shui should not casually give others guidance, and even think that selecting burial spots and seeking the dragon will cause these people to become disabled and short-lived. Consequently, people regard good geomancers as rare as immortals. Moreover, many even hang themselves high to raise their own value, thus mystifying and deceiving the masses.

Actually, this is a fallacy, a huge fallacy. These statements are generally made by half‑understood amateurs who pretend to be Daoist Sect to mystify things, or by those especially greedy for profit who use this to boost their own status.

The so‑called 'selecting a spot means death' is as absurd as saying that entering the Dao must first incur the five flaws and three deficiencies, that divining for others will leak heavenly secrets and bring a bad end. Ask yourself: you spent half your life's energy learning feng shui and numerology, yet after learning you do not put it to use. All day you say heavenly secrets must not be leaked, that leaking brings misfortune for three generations and shortens life! This is like saying you have English level eight but then claiming you cannot speak English—utterly contradictory and laughable.

Yet people are all curious and all worship the mysterious. Those who truly disbelieve instead put full faith in the mystifying nonsense. In modern terms, it's like fishing: if you play the mystery well, the fish will bite more eagerly.

The so‑called Dao and the so‑called Fa are all about seeking blessings for people, driving away evil and settling disturbances for those in need. If even such kind‑hearted people meet no good end, then where is the heavenly principle in this world?

Likewise, the Way of feng shui is like divination and numerology; it does not automatically bring the five flaws and three deficiencies or leave one half‑disabled just by acting. In our trade, there are many who have told fortunes for half a life, observed feng shui for most of their years, and lived to seventy or eighty with descendants filling the hall. The Way of divination only incurs retribution if one goes against heaven, steals fate and luck. The Way of feng shui only brings heavenly punishment if one forcibly seeks a dragon's lair for someone lacking merit to bury them, or if one selects the offending the geomancer's ground and the true dragon emperor's ground.

The offending the geomancer's ground is the ground of the offending feng shui geomancer. Ordinary geomancers, upon seeing such a spot, examine it carefully; without special reason they will not select it for burial. This place differs from ordinary auspicious feng shui grounds; it is a quick‑yielding spot, taking effect remarkably fast. Moreover, it forces wealth and honor upon those buried there; interment guarantees the family a hundred years of prosperity—not mere modest wealth but great riches and nobility. At its highest, a first‑rank civil premier appears in the family, the foremost talent under heaven; at its lowest, a first‑rank high official who holds power, the line lasting three generations.

According to hearsay, the ancestor of Yang Shouren who was buried in the offending the geomancer's ground was indeed a feng shui geomancer. During the Qing dynasty, when this ancestor of Yang Shouren traveled to the vicinity of the Three Gorges, he discovered this blessed spot and conceived the idea of making it his final resting place.

However, wherever there is a feng shui spot, only those blessed with fortune can enjoy it. How many good deeds this Yang ancestor performed to compensate for his later shortcomings we cannot know. The fact before us is that the Yang ancestor lies at rest in this offending the geomancer's ground and has truly secured a hundred years of wealth for his descendants.

When Pangzi declared that this spot was indeed the offending the geomancer's ground among feng shui sites, QingSongShu had not yet spoken, but Yang Shouren involuntarily gave a thumbs‑up and exclaimed, 'Master Xiao Wang truly has keen eyesight—he actually recognizes the origin of this place!'

'A little eyesight counts for nothing,' QingSongShu obviously meant to chide Pangzi, and he said to us with deep meaning: 'In the Way of feng shui, eyesight is only the basics; you must also be able to read the terrain, understand dividing gold and cutting water, and choose an auspicious day for burial.'

Having spoken, QingSongShu took the lead and walked down the mountainside.

The Yang family ancestral grave lay below us, like a small island; although the surroundings were thick with trees, near the tombstone there was a large square‑round plot whose perimeter was encircled by a small stream. To describe it in one sentence, ordinary people would surely say it is 'embracing water and hugging the mountain'.

As we approached the Yang family ancestral grave, QingSongShu squatted down, pinched a small clump of earth from the ground, and rubbed it between his hands.

Observing sand and water, besides relying on eyesight, one also practices the four examinations—look, smell, ask, and feel—just like a doctor. The sand and water outside the tombstone fully explain the interior condition of the grave. The layout of the surroundings and the shape the grave has taken also foreshadow the general prospects of the tomb owner's descendants.

'A level plain before the grave means thriving descendants; water embracing the rear indicates a wealthy household—once you enter someone's grave you can tell their family: a high left side denotes the eldest son with abundant hair, a high right side the second son. If the rear is high and ever higher, the descendants are called heroes; if the rear gradually sinks, they will certainly take three wives; if the rear sinks one foot, generation after generation the offspring will be scarce.'

Such folk sayings are all used to judge graves. This example describes the grave's longitudinal trend; anyone who studies feng shui geomancy almost always has some secret, orally transmitted maxims that directly judge sand and water, yin‑dwelling forms, and from the sand‑water forms predict the fortune or misfortune of descendants. Though simple, we dare guarantee it is a hundred percent accurate.

'This sand is black on the outside but white as fresh snow within—it is unequivocally killing sand. No wonder your family, Yang brother, has suffered successive misfortunes.' QingSongShu clapped his hands and rose to his feet.

The speaker meant nothing, but the listener took it to heart. Upon hearing QingSongShu's words, Yang Shouren's expression grew more worried and anxious, and he wondered aloud: 'Could it be that the three killing steles my ancestor placed in the cemetery have gone wrong?'

QingSongShu pondered a moment, then slowly shook his head: 'Saying that now is still premature; let me have another look.' After speaking, QingSongShu stroked his beard and began to walk around the grave.

After a while, QingSongShu stroked his beard, gazed at the terrain around the grave, and said with lively interest: 'I was wondering why—now I see the reason.'

Upon hearing this, Yang Shouren hurriedly leaned forward, looked at QingSongShu anxiously, and asked: 'Master, have you discovered something? Is there hope for my son?'

'Hehe, Boss Yang, please calm down!' QingSongShu waved his hand and explained: 'I have not discovered the cause of your son's affliction by the killing influence; I merely clarified the concern that has long been on my mind.'

QingSongShu said: 'When I saw this offending the geomancer's ground, I have always wondered—such a place is a rare spiritual spot in the world; logically it should not bear killing influences, nor should one install those superfluous three killing steles. I did not understand before, but now I have resolved my doubts.'

Yang Shouren followed QingSongShu's gaze; their eyes fixed on a spot about ten meters northwest of the grave, where there was an abrupt little pit that had accumulated water, which was quite strange.

'Alas, just as Master Wang thought. Back then, too, it was because my ancestor's servant unintentionally damaged part of the spiritual energy of the coiling serpent's ground, causing the underground spirit form to rage and generate killing qi. My ancestor could not bear to waste this spiritual ground pointlessly, so he placed a three killing stele beneath the grave.'

Yang Shouren sighed, and in the midst of his sigh he recalled the deeds of that ancestor.

It turns out that long before this ancestor anticipated his great age and prepared for burial here, a servant discovered that a locust tree had sprouted on this spot for no reason. Know that the locust tree is one of the five yin trees; although this locust tree is relatively far from the grave, one would think that having a locust tree grow beside the tomb is altogether an ill omen.

Thus the servant, acting on his own initiative, took a shovel and dug up that locust tree. But the servant did not know that the spiritual form of this place was well known, and the derived spirit form was none other than the coiling serpent, one of the auspicious beasts. In feng shui, wherever there is spirit there is form; according to the terrain, every spiritual spot possesses its own spiritual form.

Moreover, the servant did not realize that the locust tree had grown right on the coiling serpent's seven‑inch spot, which the serpent uses to absorb sun‑and‑moon essence for cultivation. The stronger the spiritual form underground, the more flourishing the feng shui earthly fortune naturally becomes.

However, if the coiling serpent is injured, it will naturally damage the spiritual energy of a good feng shui spot. Even more serious is that it will suffer a backlash from the underground spiritual form.

The vital point of a snake is its seven inches; now that his seven inches have been wounded, how could a sentient being not be angry? When the coiling serpent flies into a rage, this place naturally gives rise to killing qi; for an ordinary person buried here, forget about a hundred years of wealth—just avoiding the serpent's revenge that would cut off descendants would be a relief.

But this Yang ancestor was different; he had means. Although he also regretted his carelessness, he knew that further regret would only be futile sorrow.

He thought of himself: he had spent a great deal of time seeking feng shui apertures, and half his life accumulating virtue and doing good. Unexpectedly, this calamity arose, nearly ruining his efforts. How could this Yang ancestor possibly resign himself to giving up?

Thus the Yang ancestor thought of the three killing steles and chose the method of fighting poison with poison, using the killing qi of the steles to counter the coiling serpent's killing fortune. Their opposition caused the earthly fortune to rise, bringing benefits to later descendants.

However, the Yang ancestor's approach, though akin to mending the pen after losing the sheep, also greatly damaged the earthly fortune of the offending the geomancer's ground. Although the Yang descendants later produced many officials, scholars, and warriors, they never attained the first‑rank grand premier that should have resulted from burial in the offending the geomancer's ground.

Moreover, before burial the Yang ancestor left this saying for posterity.

'The earthly fortune can be guarded for only three generations; feng shui's prosperity lasts no more than four sixty‑year cycles.'

Taken at face value, this means that the earthly fortune can protect only three generations of descendants, and the wealth and honor brought by feng shui can last no more than four sixty‑year cycles.

One sixty‑year cycle equals sixty years; four cycles equal two hundred forty years. From the Qing dynasty to the present, we have almost reached the time foretold.

And one year ago, Yang Shouren's eldest son was suddenly taken by a malignant illness and passed away; his younger son now lies ill in bed, said to have been harmed by killing qi entering his blood vessels.

Many physicians found it ineffective, and some diviners claimed the problem lay in the ancestral grave. Yet the exact cause, these diviners could not determine.

Left with no choice, Yang Shouren called in a favor and found QingSongShu. Combining his son's illness with the ancestor's prophecy, Yang Shouren wondered whether the fortune of this place had run its course and whether the ancestor ought to be relocated.

Perhaps this matter is not so simple!

'Xiaoqiang, Hai Sheng, come over here.' QingSongShu, who had been idling near the ancestor's tombstone, suddenly waved at us and called out

After I and Pangzi ran over, QingSongShu, without a moment's thought, pointed to the soil on the left side of the burial mound and said: 'You two, go get shovels and dig here!'

'What? Dig here? This is someone else's ancestral grave!' I was shocked in my heart, but my hands were not slow; I took a shovel together with Pangzi and began to dig at the spot QingSongShu indicated.

QingSongShu had us do this; he surely has his reason..