Chu Keqing whispered, "It’s not just one grave. The largest one in the center, with the biggest surrounding wall, and other smaller graves are all arranged systematically. This place has experienced landslides, and most of the graves must have been buried."
Chen Yan thought for a moment, "So, it’s an ancestral graveyard? Probably the ancestral graves of some ancient wealthy family?"
Chu Keqing whispered, "Yes, it looks like an ancestral graveyard of some ancient family. But... with such neglect, it seems the family has either migrated elsewhere or completely vanished in history."
Chen Yan frowned, then looked up and glanced in the direction of the He family ancestral graves on the mountain.
Qi... has likely been absorbed by the He family.
In common sayings, when describing the rise of a family, people often use the phrase: "The ancestral graves emit green smoke."
Chen Yan had also come across this concept in his studies: Qi is elusive, but the place where a family’s Qi is most concentrated is often the ancestral graves!
Ancestral graves are often the root of a family’s fortune.
Therefore, noble families always place great importance on their ancestral graves; selecting the site and worshiping are of utmost importance.
A family’s Qi is usually most abundant and concentrated in the ancestral graves.
The gathered Qi in the graves would reflect back on the family descendants. For prestigious families with deep foundations, if someone talented emerges, they can easily rise to prominence.
What people commonly refer to as "ancestral blessings" is essentially the accumulated Qi of ancestors manifesting in an individual.
An individual’s rise in the family would further feedback Qi to the ancestral graves, increasing the family’s Qi concentration.
A metaphor: The ancestral graves of a family are like a private bank exclusively serving the family.
They lend the "currency" of Qi to excellent descendants, who then prosper and bring more Qi back to this bank.
This is how accumulation is completed.
This fundamental Qi accumulation is also the root of the enduring prosperity of some ancient families.
Qi can stay concentrated in the graves for a long time, even if the family declines or falls apart.
As long as the ancestral graves remain, the Qi won’t immediately disappear and can sustain the hope of a family’s revival if a talented descendant appears.
Of course, this maintenance won’t last forever!
If too much time passes and the family falls into ruin, the Qi in the graves will eventually dissipate back into the Heavenly Dao.
The ancient graves before them, no matter which family they belonged to... with the loss of Qi here, the first to benefit would be the He family ancestral graves on the mountain!
The direction in which the Qi flows is entirely directed towards the He family.
If the He family graves weren’t there, this mountain wouldn’t retain the Qi, which would then dissipate into the world, returning to the Heavenly Dao and re-entering the cycle of Qi.
But because of the He family graves, the power of the Yin residence and the advantageous location attract and capture all the Qi flowing out of here!
"Could it be... the He family’s ancestors deliberately placed their graves here to steal the Qi of this ancient family, causing their ruin?" Chu Keqing whispered sharply—she had long been involved in the practice of mystical techniques, helping people with geomancy and Yin residence selection, and was no stranger to such sinister methods.
Chen Yan sighed, finally turning his gaze away from the broken tombstone.
"Look at the inscriptions on this stone."
Chu Keqing came over, squatted down and examined the stone for a while, and her face slightly changed!
Although the tombstone was only half intact, with most of the inscriptions damaged and worn, about ninety percent unreadable,
the family surname carved into the stone was still clear enough to be recognized!
Chu Keqing exclaimed, "This family... is surnamed Sun!"
Chu Keqing quickly associated the He family’s Mrs. He, Sun Chen.
However, she then examined the remaining text on the inscription and frowned, "The words below the inscription... there’s a year mentioned..."
"Yes." Chen Yan nodded.
The year inscribed helps determine its age.
The year was noted as "the second year of Qingli."
Chen Yan likely wouldn’t recognize other historical years—but not this one.
Most people who attended school would have at least learned "In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was demoted and governed Baling County..."
In middle school, they had memorized the Yueyang Tower Record.
Chen Yan clearly remembered the "Qingli" era during Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty.
This tomb, dating back nearly a thousand years.
During lessons, his teacher had accurately taught them that the fourth year of Qingli was the year 1044.
Chu Keqing thought for a moment and added, "The second year of Northern Song’s Qingli, that’s nearly a thousand years ago."
Chen Yan looked at her and smiled, "You know Northern Song’s era names quite well; you must have memorized the Yueyang Tower Record well too."