Chapter 1241: The Wanyan Family's Secret
Ye Qing never imagined in his wildest dreams that this young man would actually be in cahoots with Handsome Fatty Wang. Seeing Handsome Fatty Wang, Ye Qing truly felt like vomiting blood. How did he later get entangled with this guy?
Thinking it over carefully, ever since he encountered this fat guy in Liaoshen City the last time, things had been going downhill for Ye Qing. This bastard brought Ye Qing a lot of disasters, including leading the great enemy, Prince Wan Yan, to him. Moreover, he tricked Ye Qing several times. Last time at the Xihang Shen Family Manor, he even went there to deceive Ye Qing, and although Ye Qing managed to trick him back, his initial intention to deceive still made Ye Qing very angry.
However, this fat guy really has some guts. Last time, Ye Qing set him up in Xihang, making Prince Wan Yan suspect that he stole the Gold Silk Armor, and now Prince Wan Yan is looking for him everywhere. Ye Qing thought this fat guy would flee, but who would have thought that he was so bold and dared to run into Prince Wan Yan's lair, even targeting Wan Yan Manor. What exactly is he up to?
Seeing Handsome Fatty Wang, Ye Qing's first thought was to go over and beat him up badly. But in the end, Ye Qing held back; he knew this guy was extremely slippery. If Ye Qing went over now and caught him, even if he could beat him up, he definitely wouldn't be able to get any key information out of him. Rather than that, it was better to follow him and see what tricks he was up to. Ideally, he could strike from behind, like being the oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada, and avenge the several times he was tricked before.
Thinking this way, Ye Qing suppressed his urge to beat him up and quietly circled around to the woods nearby, just in time to hear the conversation of Handsome Fatty Wang and his group.
When Ye Qing arrived, he happened to catch the young man talking about the arson at Wan Yan Manor. After hearing the whole process, Handsome Fatty Wang frowned and said, "This group of people is really as steady as Mount Tai, even when the fire's at their heels, they can still stand firm? It seems my guess is right; inside, there must be the most crucial place of the Wanyan Family."
"What is the most crucial thing, exactly?" a person next to him asked curiously.
"Nine times out of ten, it should be the location of the Wanyan Family's ancestral tomb," Handsome Fatty Wang said in a deep voice.
"What?" the crowd exclaimed simultaneously, and even Ye Qing, hiding in the dark, was shocked. A building like that is an ancestral tomb location? What a joke! That fat guy must be talking nonsense.
"Whose family ancestral tomb would be buried in such a place?" a slightly older man next to him sneered, "They say burial brings peace, and such a big family must pay more attention to such things. How could they casually place the ancestors' remains? Fat guy, you're talking nonsense, right?"
Handsome Fatty Wang glared and said, "Nonsense, we have known each other for so long, do you think I seem like the kind of person who talks nonsense?"
The crowd looked at Handsome Fatty Wang and nodded in agreement, expressing their opinion with action.
Handsome Fatty Wang was momentarily speechless, opened his mouth, and changed the subject: "Let's not argue about these things. Let me tell you, since I say this building is the Wanyan Family's ancestral tomb, there is a reason. You all may not know, but I know best because I spent three years researching the Wanyan Family's ancestral tomb."
"Have you been inside that building?" the young man asked curiously.
"Nonsense, how could I get in?" Handsome Fatty Wang said, "What I said is regarding those suspected graves outside the Wanyan Family. The first suspected grave I entered was that of a Great General of the Wanyan Family. The burial items inside were similar to those of ordinary ministers, with nothing particularly notable. Just that, do you know what I found inside?"
The crowd looked at Handsome Fatty Wang and collectively shook their heads.
Handsome Fatty Wang took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Let me tell you this, the bones in the Great General's coffin were not the Great General's at all!"
"What?" the crowd exclaimed, and even Ye Qing, hiding nearby, was stunned. Such a thing?
"How can you tell about such a thing?" a person next to him asked curiously.
"Very simple," Handsome Fatty Wang said, "The bones in the coffin were tied with ropes tightly. Meaning the body was tied with ropes before burial. Think about it; how could a normal person use such a method to bury a body?"
The crowd looked at each other, indeed finding it very strange. But this alone wasn't enough to prove that the bones weren't those of the Great General.
"I know you all have doubts. Actually, I couldn't be sure at the time either. However, I found some scratches inside the coffin, which had some words on them that proved the identity of the person inside," said Handsome Fatty Wang, glancing at everyone. "According to those words, the person buried in the coffin was not the Great General at all, but a servant of the Great General's family. He was tied up and buried alive!"
The crowd's expressions changed, and the young man asked anxiously, "What mistake did that servant make that caused him to be buried alive?"
"You are asking the wrong question!" Handsome Fatty Wang waved, "If he only made a mistake, they could just dig a pit to bury him, why place so many burial objects? I checked those burial items, and they matched the rank of the Great General, with many valuable things. Think about it, such a large tomb, so many burial objects, how much would it cost to build it all? Spending so much to punish a mistaken servant, is it worth it?"
The crowd simultaneously shook their heads, of course, it wasn't worth it.
"So, what is actually going on?" the young man asked.
"At the time, I was also very curious about it. That servant only left those words. He probably died of suffocation, so there was no way to find out from the tomb itself. But I was very intrigued by this matter, so I started to specifically study the Wanyan Family's tombs, robbing over a dozen. Finally, I discovered something very shocking!" Handsome Fatty Wang looked around at everyone, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice: "Do you know? Of the dozen or so tombs I've robbed, about eighty percent of them contained bones that weren't of the actual person, but substitutes. Moreover, the substitutes were all living people, tied up and buried alive!"
The crowd gasped, even using their toes to think they could tell there must be an untold secret here. It could be considered a coincidence with just one person, but over a dozen implies a bigger issue.
"What exactly is going on then?" a person asked curiously.
"After discovering this, I was even more curious than you all are, so I specifically researched this issue," Handsome Fatty Wang paused and said, "And you won't believe, I learned the reason from a senior in the tomb-robbing world."
"What reason?" everyone asked in unison, very curious about the matter. Not only them, but even Ye Qing, hiding in the dark, perked up his ears, eager to know what had happened.
"That senior is a master in our tomb-robbing world, who has seen many strange things," Handsome Fatty Wang said. "He told me that this burial method is called 'living substitute burial,' which is a method of transferring feng shui."
"Transferring feng shui?" everyone was shocked, as none had heard of such a thing.
"That's right, transferring feng shui," Handsome Fatty Wang said. "Regarding transferring feng shui, let me explain it to you this way: say your ancestor has passed, you want to find a Dragon's Lair for his burial. But Dragon's Lairs are hard to find, and all you found was a Tiger's Den. Then, at this point, should you or should you not bury them?"
"Of course, bury them!" everyone said in unison.
"That's why none of you have ambitious pursuits." Handsome Fatty Wang sneered and said, "But the Wanyan Clan is not like that, their ambitions are grand. They want to choose the best feng shui for burial and won't casually settle for any feng shui. However, without finding a good feng shui spot, wouldn't the ancestor's remains remain unburied?"
Someone next to him asked, "Why not initially bury them in the Tiger's Den, and later on, once a Dragon's Lair is found, re-bury them?"
Handsome Fatty Wang glanced at him and said, "Transferring an ancestral tomb is extremely taboo in geomancy. Because once a body is buried, it absorbs the feng shui of that location and blesses future generations. If the tomb is relocated, it can destroy the feng shui of that place. Furthermore, the feng shui absorbed by the body will conflict with the new feng shui and won't have the intended effect. Think about it, throughout history, how many Emperors moved their ancestral tombs? None, probably fearing such feng shui conflicts."
The crowd was astonished, not having much knowledge of feng shui, and couldn't have imagined there was so much to it.
On the other hand, Ye Qing's heart sunk, thinking that his grandfather's remains were transferred into Third Master Li's tomb. Would this cause any effects?
"I've seen many people transfer ancestral tombs, it's not as mysterious as you say." The young man said.
"Transferring ancestral tombs isn't impossible; there are mysteries in it." Handsome Fatty Wang said: "I consulted a feng shui expert, who told me that if the previous tomb's feng shui was poor or not considered feng shui at all, the body wouldn't absorb much feng shui, so there wouldn't be conflict. The better the previous feng shui was, the greater the conflict with the new feng shui. If it was a Tiger's Den before and then changed to a Dragon's Lair, you'd have a dragon-tiger struggle, which would be bad for descendants!"
Listening to Handsome Fatty Wang speak eloquently, even Ye Qing, hiding in the dark, couldn't help but be surprised. He had never paid attention to these things before. Who would have thought that geomancy and feng shui would have so much knowledge, it's truly mysterious.