"I’ve come this time to ask for a favor from the Abbot, a small matter, really, but one that I must trouble the Abbot with," Qi Guowen said with an embarrassed expression.
Jiangli raised an eyebrow, "The person who tampered with your family’s ancestral graves, has he been found?"
Qi Guowen showed surprise for a moment, then quickly a look of realization crossed his face, "The Abbot is truly formidable, just as you said, we indeed found the person who harmed us."
Just as the Qi Family had speculated before, it was their distant relative Qi Dayong who had done it.
Ever since they last asked Jiangli for help, which resulted in some tampering with Qi Dayong’s ancestral grave, the Qi Family had been busy dealing with the relocation of Qi Changhong and the family’s ancestral graves.
They hadn’t been able to rest for the past few days.
It was just yesterday that Qi Guowen heard about something.
Qi Dayong had brought a local mystic to check on the ancestral grave.
"The local mystic, named Cao Wu," said Qi Guowen, "is from the next village. Like my grandfather, his grandfather was also a local psychic. Unfortunately, no one in our family was able to carry on the tradition, but he inherited his grandfather’s mantle and has some reputation around our parts—for matching birth charts for marriage, assessing Feng Shui for houses, and treating various difficult maladies, people go to him."
It was no surprise that Qi Dayong sought out Cao Wu.
However, Cao Wu’s abilities were limited.
Qi Dayong must have encountered some issues recently, sought out Cao Wu, and based on his advice – suspecting issues with the ancestral grave – he took Cao Wu to see it.
But after seeing the state of the grave, Cao Wu told Qi Dayong straight up that the matter was beyond him and suggested seeking out someone skilled in magical Techniques.
He couldn’t solve it.
When Qi Dayong saw that the grave of Qi Guowen’s branch of the family had been moved, he knew his malicious plan had been exposed.
And the one who’d tampered with their graves could only be Qi Guowen.
Yet Qi Dayong stubbornly refused to back down, still seeking a master’s help, but last night, his son, riding home from work, fell into a manhole, suffering a severe injury with a broken leg, and is now in the hospital.
His son’s accident was too much for Qi Dayong to bear.
This morning, he went to Qi Guowen’s house to beg for his forgiveness.
"So, Mr. Qi forgave him?" Jiangli poured a cup of tea and sipped it leisurely.
Qi Guowen gave a wry smile, "He said he was blinded by his own greed, thinking I intentionally made things hard for him by not lending him money and wanted revenge. He also said he had not realized the seriousness of the consequences..."
Qi Dayong had many justifications.
But as for whether to believe them...
Qi Guowen had his own measure.
No matter how convincing the words now, they were all but sweet talk meant to deceive.
They all shared the blood of the Qi Family.
None of these branches had experienced any huge mishaps, and everyone was fine with no major incidents.
So Qi Guowen thought, if they could all step back, it would be best to avoid any loss of life and prevent the destruction of generations of brotherhood within the family.
Therefore, he had come to seek Jiangli’s help, to see if the small Technique placed upon Qi Dayong’s family’s grave could be removed.
Having understood Qi Guowen’s request, Jiangli said, "This is simple. Have Qi Dayong go to your grandfather’s grave to kowtow and seek forgiveness, bowing his head three times loudly to ask for your grandfather’s pardon. Tell him to be sincere, for sincerity is paramount. Any insincerity will not only be futile but will also increase the backlash, so he should be very careful."
Qi Guowen carefully noted this and asked hesitantly, "Is that really all it will take?"
"There’s no small Technique on his family’s grave at all. It’s just that your grandfather’s virtue has suppressed him. As long as he sincerely repents and your grandfather forgives him, there will be no more problems," Jiangli explained.
Only then did Qi Guowen relax, "Good, I’ll go back and tell him. He’s currently lingering at my house and wouldn’t leave. If he wasn’t so persistently there, I wouldn’t have disturbed the Abbot so late."