Chapter 801: Extra Chapter 4: 38

Xiao Jiu raised her hand and lightly pressed Gu Ya's temples, her fingertips carrying a bit of true qi.

The warmth of the true qi slowly flowed into Gu Ya's body, and she gradually fell asleep.

Xiao Jiu laid Gu Ya's body flat; this bit of true qi will protect her and let her sleep soundly for at least three hours.

Then she gently placed her hand on Gu Ya's abdomen, concentrating to feel.

Almost instantly, Xiao Jiu felt the little guy inside Gu Ya's belly trembling.

So, what she had been afraid of was this little guy, not Gu Ya.

Xiao Jiu thought it over, still uneasy, so she summoned the Soul-guiding Lamp again, leaving it in the room to guard Gu Ya.

Opening the door and stepping out, Gu Ya's husband anxiously said, "Master, how is Xiao Ya? How is the child?"

The old man also looked eagerly at Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu first looked at Gu Ya's husband and said, "Two things: first, do not enter Gu Ya's room for now; let her sleep well. Second, do not place too much hope on this child—she does not originally belong to your family. If this matter can be resolved safely, you will still have your own child in the future."

Gu Ya's husband immediately became agitated: "Master, this child is something we and our wife painstakingly prepared for—how could it not belong to our family? Do you know what you're saying?"

"Shut up!"

Hui Moqiong stepped forward and directly pulled Gu Ya's husband to one side.

This matter cannot be explained to him, a layperson, for the time being.

Xiao Jiu then turned to the old man and said, "Please take me to the Meng family ancestral tomb to have a look."

The old man nodded in agreement.

Half an hour later, Xiao Jiu stood no more than a hundred meters in front of the Meng family ancestral tomb.

The Meng Lao family likely often comes here to the ancestral tomb to offer sacrifices, so the road to the tomb, though not paved, is scattered with some stones, allowing a vehicle to drive straight to the site.

Xiao Jiu stood before the vehicle, looked around, and suddenly felt a bit dizzy.

This dizziness was not discomfort, but rather an excess of spiritual qi that gave her a sense of overload.

Hui Moqiong exclaimed repeatedly, "The feng shui here is indeed extremely prosperous; the Meng family is positioned at the wind's mouth—no wonder they can soar to great heights."

Meng Lao, however, gave a bitter laugh and shook his head: "Hui Fifth Lord, I actually do not agree with your view, because this burial ground is not exclusively ours, the Meng family's."

The old man said, pointing westward at a small cluster of low houses, "That is my hometown; I stepped out of that small village step by step. Back then the village had few people, only a dozen or so households, and whenever anyone in the village died, they were buried in this area. Our Meng family has never done anything special."

Xiao Jiu asked, "Is anyone still living in the village now?"

"It's been empty for over thirty years," Meng Lao said. "The younger generation that could leave has basically bought houses in the town or county seat; the few elderly who stayed behind and refused to leave have long since passed away and are also buried here. If this area's feng shui were truly exceptionally auspicious, it shouldn't benefit only our Meng family alone."

"What's so strange about that?" Hui Moqiong said. "In feng shui patterns, a tiny difference can lead to a thousand-mile disparity; even if two ancestral tombs sit right next to each other, their feng shui could be one heavenly and one earthly. All we can say is that the Meng family got lucky—their ancestral tomb happens to lie in the most auspicious spot."

Meng Lao still doubted this view: "I am already ninety-six years old. In those days, the more backward a small village like this, the more particular they were about funerals—the time of burial, the placement of the coffin, and so on were all decided by the feng shui master. Our village had a feng shui master; logically, the best feng shui treasure land should have long been claimed by his family, so how could it fall to our Meng family?"

Hui Moqiong grew a little impatient: "That just means his training was inadequate, and he inadvertently gave the Meng family an advantage."

Clearly, this still did not convince Meng Lao.

"My head feels dizzy," Xiao Jiu suddenly said.

Hui Moqiong was startled, hurried forward to support Xiao Jiu, and asked anxiously, "What's happening? Is it motion sickness?"

Xiao Jiu waved her hand, took two deep breaths, then stepped back a dozen paces, after which she felt better.

"The feng shui pattern of this area is very strange."

Xiao Jiu calmed herself, pointed westward, and said, "Look, this area is surrounded by mountains on three sides; the mountain range comes from the west and heads east-southeast, higher on the left, lower on the right. The Meng family's ancestral tomb lies exactly in this embracing low spot—it is indeed a good feng shui layout, but it is not the best feng shui treasure land in this area."

Meng Lao startled: "How could that be? I consulted many feng shui masters, including several top experts in the field, and they all said the selection of burial sites in our village is the best in this area."

Xiao Jiu shook her head: "I say it's not, so it's not."

She then turned to Meng Lao and said, "The spot where I was just standing lies within the feng shui pattern; the reason I felt dizzy is because this area's feng shui pattern is special—it is constantly changing."

Meng Lao, puzzled, asked, "Changing? What do you mean by that?"

Xiao Jiu had everyone get in the car and guided Hui Moqiong to drive the vehicle slowly forward along the mountainside.

Heading west to east, then turning south, a mist rose ahead and greeted them; Hui Moqiong then sighed, "Ah, so this is the variable. Meng Lao, it seems those industry bigwigs you consulted have already been bribed—such a clear reverse-water-facing layout, and yet nobody has ever told you about it?"

Meng Lao shook his head: "Those people spouted heavenly nonsense, but nobody has ever taken me to this side of the mountain to see what a 'reverse-water-facing layout' is."

The vehicle stopped at the water's edge, and everyone got out.

Xiao Jiu gazed across the vast expanse of water, and the more she looked, the more alarmed she became.

Then she silently measured the land with her steps, walking forward step by step; after several dozen paces she stopped, turned to Meng Lao, and asked, "During each flood season, how much does the water level rise here?"

"In recent years the rainfall has diminished, so the water level hardly rises at all," Meng Lao recalled. "But I remember when my eldest son was still young, every flood season this area would be drenched in continuous rain for a stretch, and the water level could rise up to my knees. Whenever that happened, the villagers would come to the water's edge to cast nets and fish."

"That makes sense," Xiao Jiu interrupted Meng Lao, then pointed to the protruding patch on the southern shore and asked, "Could you recall again—did that protruding bit appear only after your eldest son was born?"

Meng Lao fell silent, and as he recalled further, his expression grew uglier: "Yes, though it cannot be said to have appeared entirely later—back when there was more rain, that patch might have never been beneath the water surface; later, as rainfall decreased, development there also improved..."

As they spoke, Meng Lao already realized the crux of the matter: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, do you mean that the development of that plot was aimed at our Meng family all along?"

Xiao Jiu did not directly answer Meng Lao's question, for her thoughts were also in turmoil at the moment; she merely asked, "From your perspective, what does that protruding piece look like?"

Meng Lao almost blurted out: "Forked snake tongue!"