My Lady Always Lacks Ambition-Chapter 1083 - 1053: It’s All Retribution

Qin Liuxi looked at the aura surrounding Li Xuefu, and it was truly complex. He carried a burden of bad karma, but he also possessed merit. As for the former, she wouldn’t discuss it, but as for the latter, she believed that Du Mian wouldn’t praise the Li Family as a virtuous family just to ask for her help, since the Li Family indeed engaged in quite a few virtuous acts, including Li Xuefu, and the merit he held wasn’t false.

But the bad karma and misfortune that clung to him were also not false.

If he himself hadn’t sinned, then it must have been committed by his ancestors.

That’s why she mentioned it.

However, Li Xuefu felt that Qin Liuxi was deliberately making things difficult and insulting the Li Family, and he was so angry that he stormed off in a fury.

Qin Liuxi said, "My words are not baseless. I advise you to go back to your tea plantation and dig up those old tea trees. You should find the truth behind your Li Family’s decline."

Li Xuefu was taken aback. Although he was angry and wanted to leave, the decline of the Li Family pained him, so he stood still.

He took a deep breath. A gentleman must be adaptable. If the Li Family could be salvaged, even being scolded a couple of times by her would be worth it. He could endure!

"May I ask, Temple Master, what do you mean by this?"

Qin Liuxi replied, "You are burdened with bad karma and misfortune, your heavenly appearance is dim, your eyes are lifeless, and your complexion is dull, showing a sign of misfortune. You’ve been restless day and night recently, and I’m sure there’s discomfort in your side."

Li Xuefu’s breath tightened, and he instinctively touched his side. She was right; recently, he often felt a faint pain in his side, but because it wasn’t severe, he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

Yet now, Qin Liuxi pointed it out, and she hadn’t even taken his pulse.

"The liver is an extremely important organ in the human body. Once it starts to deteriorate, it will gradually lose its functions, and you will die with no remedy for your illness." Qin Liuxi continued, "With misfortune clinging to you, it starts with small ailments and pains. Then, you will find nothing goes right in your life, as you have no fortune left. If the misfortune intensifies, not even the merit you’ve accumulated can suppress it. Eventually, you will be so unlucky that even drinking cold water will make you choke to death."

Li Xuefu turned pale, and his body began to tremble slightly.

"By observing your face, one can deduce that your family members likely experience the same misfortune. If they usually do good deeds, merit can block the bad luck, but if they are inherently wicked, their end is bound to be tragic or severely disabled. Think about it, am I right?"

Li Xuefu staggered and couldn’t help but begin to think carefully about his family. Who was good-natured and usually kind to others? They suffered from illnesses and disasters, some even unknown, but all passed away slowly or endured tremendous hardships, like his son.

But those with evil tempers, there was a particularly arrogant and domineering cousin who bullied the weak. He fell off a horse and was trampled to death, his intestines spilled out.

And then...

The more Li Xuefu thought about it, the more his face turned ashen, and his teeth began to chatter.

Qin Liuxi smiled, "It seems I was right."

Li Xuefu fell to his knees with a thud, trembling as he asked, "Wh-why?"

"Don’t you understand? If only you, or just you and your son suffered misfortune, it means you’ve sinned, and it would only rebound on you. But now it affects the entire clan, so either there’s a feng shui problem with your ancestral grave, or your ancestors sinned, and now the karma is rebounding on you."

Li Xuefu wanted to argue but didn’t dare. He said, "So you are certain that it’s my ancestors who sinned? Couldn’t it be the ancestral grave’s feng shui that’s the problem?"

"The Li Family has faced frequent issues. Haven’t you sought divine or Buddhist intervention and invited other Daoists to inspect them? Haven’t you checked the ancestral grave?" Qin Liuxi said with a smile that was not quite a smile, "You are well aware if there’s an issue with the Li Family’s ancestral grave."

Li Xuefu’s face flushed because he had indeed invited a Daoist to inspect the ancestral grave, and all was deemed fine; the feng shui was even enhanced a bit.

Qin Liuxi continued, "If the ancestral grave is fine, then your Li Family ancestors must have committed atrocious acts. There’s a saying that goes, ’It’s not that there won’t be retribution, the time just hasn’t come yet.’ Once karma attaches, it will eventually resurface."

Li Xuefu’s body went soft, and he hurriedly got back up, kowtowing frantically until his forehead was swollen, "Temple Master, Master, please save our Li Family. We truly know nothing."

"That’s why I told you to go back and dig up those tea trees." Qin Liuxi said, "Why have you never thought of digging them up?"

"The Li Family has ancestral instructions not to touch those old Jade Mist Tea Trees because they’re the auspicious trees that built our family’s fortune. Since they produced tribute tea, we cannot transplant them or disturb the ground within three zhangs of them to avoid disrupting the feng shui."

Qin Liuxi replied, "Is it to avoid disrupting the feng shui, or to prevent a secret from being discovered?"

Li Xuefu was stumped, furrowing his brow. Why does she keep bringing up those old tea trees? Is there some mystery to them?

He was utterly bewildered and began to think carefully about what his father had instructed about them and how those old tea trees had been managed.

Suddenly, he remembered something from his childhood.

It was during Qingming, right after the rain, and the tea leaves of the old trees had already been picked. But that year, on Qingming, his father mysteriously followed his grandfather up the tea mountain, carrying a basket filled with incense, candles, paper money, and other items.

He found it intriguing and secretly followed them, realizing from afar that they were offering prayers near the Jade Mist Tea Trees. At that time, it was nearly dark, it started raining again, and the wind was strong, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere, so he ran back home.

Later, his grandfather encountered bandits while trading and was killed, and his father, as family head, only lived to forty before he fell into the river and died while on a merchant ship.

These incidents seemed like coincidences before—the unpredictability of life. But now, after Qin Liuxi’s words, Li Xuefu felt a chilling horror.

Was it all retribution?

Yet the Li Family had done so many good deeds, and while they earned a lot, they also gave away much Silver, accumulating many yin de, becoming a renowned virtuous family in Da Feng. How could they suffer retribution?

Li Xuefu’s eyes were red, and tears welled up as he looked at Qin Liuxi, somewhat reluctant, and said, "Temple Master, our Li Family for generations has done many good deeds, genuinely. How could there still be retribution? If our good deeds are futile, are they worthwhile?"

If doing good still results in retribution, what’s the point?

Qin Liuxi smiled, "Every action and outcome is perhaps predetermined. Your Li Family’s ancestral teachings urged descendants to do good. Is it possible that they had no choice? Because they were guilty, because they had sinned!"

Li Xuefu’s entire body stiffened.

What evil did the ancestors commit that they had to atone with good deeds?

Qin Liuxi looked at him for a moment, "Considering you’ve indeed accumulated a good amount of merit, I’ll accompany you. I’m also curious, what did your ancestors do?"