"Master Xia Tian, is there any good solution?"

Xia Liang shook his head. Although he was very capable now, he had very little practical experience. "To be honest, this is all just speculation based on the information from the tombstones. The current feng shui layout is indeed excellent. If this situation occurred for only one generation, it might be a coincidence. But for it to happen for several generations in a row means there must be a problem with the feng shui somewhere!"

If Xia Liang hadn't looked at the tombstones, reading the dates of death and the life stories engraved upon them, he never would have noticed these clues. After pondering for a moment, Xia Liang finally spoke.

"According to my calculations, your Lin Family should have another burial ground."

"Another burial ground?" Lin Xiaolan furrowed her delicate brows. "I'm not aware of one. As far as I can remember, this is the only one."

Xia Liang chuckled lightly. "You can call your parents and ask."

Lin Xiaolan immediately took out her phone to call her mother. A short while later, she hung up, her expression a mixture of shock and disbelief as she looked at Xia Liang.

"Master Xia Tian, you were right. There really is another old grave." At this, Lin Xiaolan's expression fell. "But our ancestors had a rule: the location of this old grave cannot be revealed to the younger generation."

Xia Liang scoffed. "Tell your mother to decide what's more important: an old family rule or her daughter's life. The choice is hers."

At that moment, Xia Liang was certain. The real problem is that old grave!

A moment later, Lin Xiaolan hung up the phone again. "Master Xia Tian, I have the location now, but the grave is some distance away."

Xia Liang nodded. "Lead the way. In this situation, the sooner, the better."

「Half an hour later.」

Xia Liang and the others had driven out of Xihong City and parked at the foot of a mountain called Mount Huang on the outskirts.

Lin Xiaolan pointed at the mountain. "The old grave is halfway up that mountain. There's no road, so we can't get there by car."

"Halfway up?" Xia Liang glanced at Lin Xiaolan, a flicker of concern in his eyes. "Can you make it?"

Lin Xiaolan was incredibly frail. Xia Liang seriously doubted she could climb the mountain in her current weak-as-a-willow state. She hesitated for a moment, then gave a firm nod.

Seeing her insistence, Xia Liang didn't try to stop her. The group began their ascent. The mountain path was exceptionally difficult, winding its way up the slope. Before long, Lin Xiaolan was panting with exhaustion.

They continued onward, stopping intermittently to rest. By the time they finally reached their destination, two hours had passed, and the sun was directly overhead.

Xia Liang pointed ahead. "Are those the graves?"

There, on the mountainside, was a patch of barren land overgrown with weeds. Amidst the fields were a dozen or so grave mounds, also covered in wild grass, creating a desolate scene.

However, just as they arrived, Lin Xiaolan suddenly felt unwell.

"Xiao Lan, are you okay?" Li Lizhi asked with concern.

Xia Liang also frowned slightly. If Lin Xiaolan were being affected by something, the peace charm should show a reaction or even shatter, but nothing of the sort was happening. He immediately took out a few more peace charms and had Lin Xiaolan put them on. Even so, her discomfort didn't lessen in the slightest.

To be safe, Xia Liang said softly, "Miss Lin, maybe you should wait here. I can go by myself."

Lin Xiaolan stubbornly shook her head.

Seeing this, Xia Liang could only sigh. He told Li Lizhi to take good care of her, then walked ahead on his own.

The moment he stepped into the burial ground, Li Lizhi's brows furrowed as well. Xia Liang noticed her expression and shot her an questioning look.

Li Lizhi shook her head. "Master Xia Tian, it's strange. The second I stepped into this cemetery, I felt my heart sink. I feel really uncomfortable."

Though the speaker may not have intended it, the listener heard the deeper meaning. Xia Liang turned to the Lin Family's driver. "Xiao Wang, do you feel any discomfort?"

Xiao Wang shook his head lightly. "No, not at all. I think the mountain air is quite fresh, actually."

This only made Xia Liang more perplexed. Could it be that the feng shui of this graveyard only affects women? He felt this was highly likely. Now certain that there was a major problem with the feng shui here, he led them toward the graves. The situation was so severe it could kill the descendants. Moments later, they stood before the grave mounds.

"So that's how it is!" Xia Liang suddenly understood. "I know what's going on now."

"This formation isn't actually that difficult," Xia Liang explained with a smile. "Forget about Taoist Priest Cha and myself—even that pretentious Master Tonghui could have easily resolved it. Unfortunately, Taoist Priest Cha was too reliant on his knowledge of feng shui back then. He was deceived simply because he overlooked the inscriptions on the tombstones."

As he spoke, he sighed inwardly. It seems I'll need more practical experience for this feng shui business in the future. Finding the root of the problem this time was half due to his meticulousness and half due to sheer luck.

Xia Liang pointed at the burial ground. "This place is the reason every generation of Lin Family women produces a genius, and it's also why those geniuses all die young!"

Lin Xiaolan gathered her remaining strength and asked, "Master Xia Tian, I don't quite understand. Please, enlighten me."

"Enlighten you?" Xia Liang gave a small smile. "If you're looking for someone to blame, you can only blame your greedy Lin Family ancestor for setting up such a heinous feng shui formation."

Lin Xiaolan was puzzled. "A heinous feng shui formation?"

"Yes!" Xia Liang nodded, then asked, "Have you heard of Lin Daiyu?"

Lin Xiaolan and Li Lizhi nodded in unison. Lin Daiyu was the tragic heroine of the classic "Red Tower," a woman fated to a life of suffering. As young ladies from prominent families, they were of course familiar with her story.

Xia Liang smiled faintly. "The formation your Lin Family ancestor laid out is none other than the viciously cruel Burial Flower Formation!"

Lin Xiaolan was shocked. "Burial Flower Formation?" The ominous name sent a chill down her spine.

"Legend has it that Lin Daiyu herself had the fate of the Burial Flower. However, hers was natural. The fate of the women in your Lin Family was artificially created by your own ancestor," Xia Liang glanced around, his tone certain.

Lin Xiaolan looked confused. "Artificially created? Master Xia Tian, could you please elaborate?"

Xia Liang nodded and pointed at the graves. "Look, the mounds are arranged in a Plum Blossom Formation. This isn't something that can be achieved in a single generation." He then pointed to the rich earth around them. "And these mounds in a Plum Blossom Formation are situated on thick soil. This is the basic structure of the Burial Flower Formation."

Li Lizhi asked curiously, "So what is it about the Burial Flower Formation that is detrimental to the descendants?"

Xia Liang chuckled. "Strictly speaking, the Burial Flower Formation is only detrimental to the female descendants. In fact, it greatly benefits the males."

He paused, his voice turning somber. "Extreme intelligence leads to an early death. When you are granted such wisdom and talent, your life is taken in return."

Lin Xiaolan's gaze grew complicated. "Why?"

Xia Liang did a quick mental calculation. "This formation was likely established about 200 years ago. You know how severe the patriarchal mindset was back then, don't you? In that era, most people had no concept of gender equality. Women were seen as mere tools for the family. To them, sacrificing a tool to ensure the prosperity of the entire clan was a perfectly reasonable trade-off."

He let out a soft laugh. "Of course, very few people still think that way in modern times."

Only then did the two women understand. In that period of history, women truly had no status to speak of.

But this only made Lin Xiaolan more confused. "Then why did the Lin Family eventually stop having male heirs?"

"That can only be described as the will of heaven," Xia Liang sighed. "What goes around, comes around. Your Lin Family ancestor thought he could sacrifice the women of his clan to bring the family wealth, but he never imagined that the wheels of fate would turn, bringing that karma right back upon them."

Li Lizhi and Lin Xiaolan listened, lost in a fog of confusion.

Xia Liang explained with a smile.

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