After returning from my cultivation journey, I built a farm through fortune telling.

Chapter 88

There were no ancestors enjoying incense offerings at the graves, so it seems that Qingming Festival is not a statutory holiday for the underworld.

However, according to the rules of the underworld, the offerings are sent directly to the ancestors who did not reincarnate.

After burning the paper money, the egret climbed up a path, where it could clearly see the entire Dongshi Village.

"What are you looking at?"

Seeing Bai Lu walk uphill, Bai Chen followed and stood beside her, mimicking Bai Lu's unfathomable expression as he stared at the tiny Dongshi Village in the distance, while scratching his butt.

"Look at the feng shui of our village." Bai Lu looked behind him and saw him still scratching. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "What's wrong? Did you get bitten on the butt too?"

Bai Chen's face darkened instantly: "I have no idea how those leeches managed to get in there!"

"I told you to wear long stockings to cover your pant legs, but you just wouldn't listen."

"Isn't it too late to say this now? I've already bitten it all, and now there's nothing left! And you're still laughing at me? Isn't that just too mean!"

Bai Chen snorted angrily, "Didn't you say you were going to learn feng shui? Teach me! If I ever fail to make any progress in my cultivation, I'll become a feng shui master!"

“Okay!” Bailu said, “Then call your second sister up too.”

In reality, feng shui is not so easy to learn.

"Bai Wei!"

Bai Chen shouted down, and Bai Wei, hearing his voice, looked around for a while before spotting him. She pointed—

"What kind of Bai Wei is this? Call me Second Sister!"

When Bai Wei arrived, she was about to beat up Bai Chen, but she let him go after learning that she was going to give a feng shui lesson.

The egret raised its chin towards Dongshi Village and asked, "What kind of geographical environment do you think our village has?"

Bai Chen squinted: "A valley in the mountains!"

Bai Wei then suggested, "Let's live near the mountains and the water!"

Bai Lu nodded, then shook her head at Bai Chen and clicked her tongue twice: "Our village has mountains and water, surrounded by green hills and flowing streams."

"In feng shui, green mountains represent stability and reliance, while flowing water symbolizes wealth and vitality. Therefore, the geographical environment of 'embracing yin and yang, with mountains behind and water in front' is considered in feng shui to be able to gather vital energy, bring good fortune and prosperity to the people of this place, and be conducive to the health and wealth accumulation of the residents."

"Do you see where that little river is flowing?"

Bai Lu pointed and said, "It surrounds Dongshi Village in a semi-circle. In feng shui, it is believed that 'winding water is auspicious, while straight water is inauspicious.' The winding shape of a river is an auspicious feng shui pattern that is conducive to accumulating wealth and energy. Conversely, if a river is straight or bends outward, it is considered unlucky."

“In feng shui, the direction of the river flowing through our village is called ‘Jade Belt Around the Waist,’ a feng shui pattern that can benefit the entire village. If one day the surrounding area is demolished or the land is requisitioned, but our village is the only one that is avoided, it is very likely because our village’s mother river has turned outward.”

“How can they demolish or requisition our land in such a remote place!” Bai Chen said. “As for this so-called ‘jade belt around the waist’ feng shui that you mentioned, which is said to bring blessings to the whole village? But I haven’t seen our village produce any tycoons or celebrities!”

Bai Wei and Bai Chen had different opinions: "But everyone in our village has been doing quite well these past few years. Houses have been built, and cars are available! Isn't that a kind of blessing?"

After she finished speaking, she asked curiously, "Sister, is feng shui really that magical? What about names like 'jade belt around the waist' and 'gold belt around the waist'? These are all names given by people, so how can they have the effect of bringing blessings to the village?"

"Feng shui emphasizes the harmony between man and nature. Our village is surrounded by green mountains and a winding river. Such an environment has fresh air, which is good for people's life and health. When people are in a good mood and healthy, wealth will naturally come to them."

Bai Lu continued, "Do you remember that time when a typhoon came and the dam upstream released water, several neighboring villages were flooded, but our Dongshi Village held out until the flood receded. Apart from a few ducks drowning, we didn't suffer much property loss."

"Another time was the 'swine fever' that terrified pig farmers. Countless pigs in the surrounding villages died or were injured, but the pigs in our Dongshi Village were completely unharmed. Didn't our family earn half a house because of this? As for the other people in the village, as long as they raised pigs, they earned at least tens of thousands and at most several million!"

Why can't we just say the village has good feng shui?
Why can't we just say that the ancestral graves have good feng shui?
"Besides the feng shui of a place of residence, the feng shui of a burial site is also a very important subject in metaphysics."

Looking down at the ancestral tomb, Bai Lu said, "A house affects one family, while a grave affects several generations. There's an old saying that 'one grave governs three generations,' meaning that if an ancestral grave is well-buried, it can protect three generations of ancestors and descendants!"

"Is the feng shui of our great-grandparents' gravesite considered good?"

At this point, Bai Chen perked up immediately, but then he thought about it and realized that his question was unnecessary—they had been poor for so many years, and even the best feng shui could only do so much!
Wait, that’s not right!

With his sister having such a great fortune, could we attribute it to "auspicious ancestral graves emitting green smoke"?

"So-so." Bai Lu shook her head. "Extremely so-so. I've carefully examined the feng shui of these three graves, and I can only say they're neither good nor bad. Neither the location nor the burial method violates any taboos! As for being particularly good, or able to bless descendants with great wealth and honor, that's impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Didn't you do anything?" Bai Chen slapped his thigh in frustration. "You know the feng shui is bad, why didn't you change it! Isn't that how it's always done in novels? It's your own family's ancestral grave, you know how to change it, but you didn't!"

"How do you know I didn't change them?!" Bai Lu rolled her eyes at him. "I changed all three of them. Just wait and see. In a while, 'May our ancestors bless us' won't be a dream anymore!"

Actually, it doesn't matter whether the feng shui of the cemetery is changed or not. After all, even without the blessings of the ancestors, Bai Lu herself can still influence the aura of the Bai family.

"Hey sis, let me ask you something. You just said 'one grave governs three generations,' right? What if three generations of descendants have bad luck? No one is successful? Or they have a hard time?" Bai Wei asked curiously.

Bai Lu counted on her fingers: "Our great-grandfather's generation, our grandfather's generation, and our father's generation, three whole generations, were all poor. If it were ancient times, families that were more particular would move their ancestral graves! They would change the location of the ancestral graves to change the family's fortune!"

"What do you mean?"

Bai Chen's mouth dropped open: "It's definitely not because our own child is incompetent! It must be because the ancestral grave location wasn't chosen well, right?!"

Bai Lu smiled and said, "You could say that!"

"What are you three doing climbing so high?"

Qin Xiu called out, "We're going back now, hurry up and get down—watch your step, don't fall!"

The egret's science lesson ended, and it clapped its hands before leading its younger siblings downstairs.

The procession that arrived was already quite large, but the number returning was more than double, a grand procession of fifty or sixty people, chattering and laughing. Along the way, they also encountered other tomb-sweeping groups, and everyone shared some fruit and biscuits.

Wow, so many cookies!

I don't know which child shouted, but his parents stopped him: "Don't pick up the cookies on the ground! Those are for ghosts!"

Hearing the sound, the egret looked over and saw that along this stretch of road, there were many colorful candies and cookies, as well as red paper, burning incense and candles.

Bai Jiang and the others also threw some food to the side of the road. The second grandfather warned his grandson, who was carrying Bai Feng on his back, not to be greedy if he saw food on the ground, because he would get a stomachache after eating it!

His ten-year-old grandson nodded repeatedly and said to him, "Grandpa, I know. I eat these cookies all the time. I'm not greedy!"

According to them—

These things left on the roadside—food and household items—are all for wandering ghosts who have no one to worship them, so as to prevent them from stealing the offerings from our ancestors.

But if someone else gives it to you, you can eat it.

The graves of both the old lady and the young lady were on the way home. They would first pay their respects to the old lady, and then to the young lady. Uncle Tong and the others had already finished tidying up the graves of both ladies. They would go up to pay their respects and then go home.

To be honest, climbing mountains to sweep graves is really tiring. Except for the first grave, everyone was in a pretty good mood, but after trekking through mountains and rivers, it's hard to say how sincere we were when we visited the other graves. We could only say that we had completed our mission.

So the graves of the two great-grandmothers were swept in an extremely perfunctory manner. Bailu and the others returned home at exactly 6:30.

Bai Chen dropped what he was carrying, took off his school uniform jacket, kicked off his shoes, and ran to the bathroom. He carefully examined his face and neck in the mirror, and to be on the safe side, he also "introspected" himself.

He wasn't very skilled at internal vision the first time, but he was much better the second time. The good news is that there was nothing extra in his body that shouldn't have been there.

After a day of hiking, everyone was exhausted. They ate a simple dinner, took a shower, and sat on the sofa, not wanting to move a finger. No one even wanted to put their dirty clothes in the washing machine—if Bailu didn't know magic, she wouldn't do it either.

I'll take a break tomorrow, but I'll continue tomb sweeping the day after tomorrow.

On the day of Qingming Festival, people pay respects to the ancestors closest to their families. On the third day of Qingming Festival, people pay respects to the ancestors of the community.

Not a single day of the legally mandated three-day holiday was wasted.

These large-scale events, which concern the entire village, are organized by the village chief and clan head. Because there are many people involved—in Dongshi Village, ancestor worship is highly valued. People may not return home for the Lunar New Year, but they must attend the ancestor worship ceremony. Therefore, for lunch, people bring their own chicken, duck, and goose to cook in the mountains. This serves as both an ancestor worship ceremony and a "very novel" picnic.

Qin Xiu, Bai Jiang, and the others went to bed early, and Bai Lu called Bai Chen and Bai Wei into the room.

"The rice has been planted at home, and the vegetable seedlings have sprouted again. Whether it's pest control or management, it's a huge undertaking. So I need to go to the cultivation world to buy a compass or something, but the problem is, I don't have any money..."

The egret spread its hands.

"Where you spend spirit stones, right?"

Bai Chen scratched his head: "You've been over there for so many years, haven't you made any money? In novels, every transmigrator manages to live a very successful life! Ascending to immortality in ten years is not a dream. But you're not bad either, sister. Being able to shatter the void means you're at least at the Tribulation Transcending stage, which is the cultivation level of an ancestor! You don't have money?! I don't believe it!"

“Ahem…”

Bai Lu coughed lightly a few times. When people are embarrassed, they tend to make a lot of small movements. She tucked the short hair from her left temple behind her ear and started scratching her right ear, saying softly, "Actually, I'm not that good..."

"Sis! My dear sister! We're family, so stop pretending to be modest! You can travel freely between two worlds, isn't that amazing?! Do you want me to praise you? Okay, okay, I'll praise you! Alright!"

Don't blame Bai Chen for having too much of a soft spot for his sister!
After all, he really hadn't seen much of the world!
—He only ever saw the fierce and shrewish side of the egrets.

Look, even the top-notch Master Qingxu and his prized eldest disciple were no match for her. And that hairy zombie, she beat it up so badly that it was demoted before handing it over to him and Bai Wei. If it weren't for her, he and his second sister would never have dared to face that zombie alone, or those wandering corpses and drought demons. Behind every perfect solution was the figure of his dear sister.

All these incidents and events demonstrate just how incredibly capable his eldest sister is!
So much so that Bai Chen and Bai Wei still don't understand Bai Lu's true level. Bai Lu's identity as a Tribulation Transcending stage ancestor is deeply rooted in their minds!
"Your compliment is so perfunctory!" Bai Wei wrinkled her nose, nuzzled Bai Lu, and smiled brightly: "We know you're amazing! We feel so at ease when you're around!"

"Ugh—" Bai Chen looked like he was about to vomit: "Can you not talk so mushy? I really don't understand you women, why do you talk so cloyingly?"

"If you want to spit it out, then spit it out. If you don't like it, then close your ears!"

Bai Wei and Bai Chen started arguing again.

Egret: "..."

She was just lifted up by her younger brother and sister, and lifted up really high.

So much so that she opened her mouth again and again to tell the truth about how she was doing very poorly in the cultivation world, with extremely low cultivation level and being extremely poor, but in the end she still couldn't bring herself to say it.

People really shouldn't pretend to be cool!
When you put on an act to the extreme, you easily forget your true self...

"Alright, you two, shut up!"

Bai Lu rubbed his face and said.

Bai Wei and Bai Chen both shut their mouths and glared at each other.

"Just consider me busy with cultivation and too busy to make money—after all, it's really not easy to cultivate from a mortal to the Tribulation Transcending stage in more than ten years..."

Feeling guilty, Bailu tried to come up with an excuse for not having money, which seemed like a case of trying to hide something obvious. She covered half of her face with her hand, not daring to show any expression.

Bai Wei nodded: "It really wasn't easy, sister, you suffered so much, all alone over there..."

Compared to Bai Wei's heartwarming words, Bai Chen was like a contrarian: "With higher cultivation, you have everything, right? Even if you don't earn money yourself, it will come to you automatically! Is your sect so stingy with its Tribulation Transcending stage ancestors? Hey, sister, what's your sect's name again?"

Egret: "..."

The boomerang almost killed the egret.

(End of this chapter)