My Lady Always Lacks Ambition-Chapter 1086 - 1056: The Li Family Deserved Their Retribution
The Jade Mist Tea Tree unearthed a human head, scaring the few long-term workers that Li Xuefu brought. If Li Xuefu hadn’t stopped them, they probably would have run down the mountain.
The tree roots dragged out a skull, making the resentful energy from the large pit grow even thicker. Qin Liuxi cast an Exorcism Talisman into it and then said to Li Xuefu, "Dig it up, but be careful."
Li Xuefu shivered as he looked at his laborers.
The workers: "..."
Can they quit?
Even if they wanted to, they could only think about it. Having signed death contracts, they had to work whether they wanted to or not, so each resignedly picked up a shovel, hands shaking as they dug the pit.
"Be careful not to break the bones, or they might hold a grudge against you and come for you in the middle of the night," Qin Liuxi said.
The workers: "!"
Wuwu, they really didn’t want to do it!
As they shoveled deeper and deeper, Feng Xiu grew a bit impatient. Who knows how deep it was buried, and these workers, useless despite their appearance, trembled like sifted chaff, unable to dig it out by nightfall.
He used his demonic power again, the demon wind lifted the dirt, and he opened it bit by bit until the full pit was revealed.
Upon seeing the scene at the bottom of the pit, everyone was terrified, their faces turning pale as coldness seeped through their bodies.
At the pit bottom sat many skeletons, one, two, three ... nine in total, and these skeletons looked young, definitely not over fifteen years old, meaning these nine skeletons were all children.
Qin Liuxi examined the orientation of the skeletons and the headless one in the middle, pinching her knuckles a few times, and said, "It’s a Five Elements Mutual Generation Array."
She nimbly jumped into the pit, walked to the center, examined closely, and looked at the other skeletons’ twisted limbs and some with heads that hadn’t fallen but were slightly raised askew, showing signs of struggle.
At the pit bottom, there were also some talismans, and various items were buried at the Kun Earth Qian Gold positions, whether gold, jade, or incorruptible Black Wood.
At the array eye in the center, another Transformation Array for endless generation was set up.
Qin Liuxi picked up a nearly illegible talisman paper, vaguely seeing a word or two, which mentioned birth dates, after some deductions, she said, "These people’s birth dates should correspond to the Five Elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth. They were buried alive here as human sacrifices, forming a Five Elements Formation. The Five Elements feng shui then transforms through the central array, making vitality and fortune endless, serving as nourishment and Spiritual Energy, benefiting the tea trees above, the first to gain. The vitality and spirit then spread over the tea plantation, slightly lesser but still better."
Li Xuefu was dumbfounded.
This entire tea mountain, Jade Mist was tribute, but the teas picked from these tea trees, though not as good as Jade Mist, were stronger than other tea mountains, hence called High Mountain Cloud Mist, being the most available tea on the market, and expensive too.
But all this was built on others’ misery?
Buried alive – who wouldn’t hold a grudge?
Li Xuefu felt waves of resentful energy hitting him, making him feel like he was in an ice cave, trembling so hard his teeth chattered.
Feng Xiu glanced at him and said, "Was your ancestor not thinking straight, setting up such an array just to grow tea? Was he obsessed with tea? With such a blessed and fertile mountain, a feng shui treasure land, he buried himself, benefiting future generations, but opted to become a tea king instead of a high official. I can’t tell if his mind was wise or foolish."
He bore no disdain for merchants, but everyone knew in the hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants were the lowest. If such unorthodox methods were used to prosper the family, why not aim higher, and not fixate on the lowliest merchant status? Wealthy, yes, but noble?
And now, rich for decades and suffering backlash, isn’t it clear as day that trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it?
Foolish!
Li Xuefu also wondered why, why set up such a grand array here? Reflecting on how much Jade Mist he drank over the years, which was produced from the nutrients of the dead, realizing that what he tasted was brewed from the bones and blood of the dead.
Woah.
Li Xuefu’s stomach churned violently, and he turned to kneel on the ground, vomiting.
Feng Xiu clicked his tongue, looking at Qin Liuxi and said, "No wonder the Li Family prospered. They already occupied a Lucky Mountain and set such a sinister Five Elements Mutual Generation Array, their fortune endless and Spiritual Energy abundant. This tea can’t help but be delicious. But why did the array change?"
Qin Liuxi looked at the skeleton in the center of the array, picking up the reversed finger bone, and observed some skulls with open mouths, the bones blackened from intense resentful energy, said, "They used the living for a heavenly ritual array. Naturally, resentment arises. If they could offer sacrifices to heaven, wouldn’t they also use their soul for curses since they’re bound to die?"
She had just attempted summoning souls with the bones but couldn’t summon any. Unless reincarnated, which was unlikely given such strong resentment, they couldn’t reincarnate, so it must be the latter—soul sacrifice.
Li Xuefu had recovered, hearing this, said, "You mean the Li Family suffered a curse?"
"It’s both a curse and backlash. After all, this involved living burial, and these are children," Qin Liuxi pointed to the small skeletons. "Killing is already a grave sin, and this was live burial. How could there be no resentment?"
Li Xuefu stared blankly at these all too evidently juvenile skeletons, suddenly feeling utterly ashamed.
The Li Family deserves this retribution!
Qin Liuxi contemplated this Five Elements Mutual Generation Array.
"What’s up? Something’s not right?" Feng Xiu walked over and asked.
Qin Liuxi pointed at the skeletons and said, "Five Elements and Eight Characters, Five Elements Mutual Generation Array. Doesn’t it look familiar?"
Feng Xiu was puzzled.
Qin Liuxi softly mentioned, "Prince Xinyang Mansion."
Feng Xiu understood immediately, "Are you saying this array was set up by people from over there? But it’s been decades apart."
Qin Liuxi said, "Just thinking it’s a coincidence. Though sinister, it’s undeniably successful. But someone so well-versed in the Five Elements wouldn’t need such methods to establish the array. With the right materials, they could also set it up, without worrying about array breakdown and backlash. Why use people with the Eight Characters of the Five Elements to set it? They can’t all be mentally deranged, thinking their lives are too long, right?"
Feng Xiu was silent too, "Is it possible this was just an experiment?"
"What do you mean?" Qin Liuxi immediately looked over.
Feng Xiu pointed to the array, "This method is indeed sinister, but the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Array is ever-changing, the power varies with materials. Some alchemists passionate about this would go to extremes for perfection or researching more powerful arrays, having no limits. Like using Five Elements Eight Characters people for live burial arrays. If successful, they could do much more with this method. As for backlash, Xixi, you know saving someone might cause you to suffer the Five Disadvantages and Three Deficiencies or face Heavenly Punishment, yet you dare to do it; why? Because you’re fearless. Likewise, these people act first, and deal with the backlash later."
