On the day of the Ghost Festival.

Thirteen families took the lead in building a memorial ceremony and setting off flames to appease the hundreds of thousands of dead people inside and outside the city.

The temples in the sixty-fourth square invited the names of gods and Buddhas all over the sky, Taoist priests prayed, and monks chanted sutras, and they responded one after another. Even Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism and other barbarian religions also came to join in the fun.

As for the folk, it was even more lively. In every village, rich households organized sacrifices for orphans, slaughtered pigs and sheep, offered melons, fruits, rice and noodles, and offered sacrifices to the ownerless souls. They also planted colorful flags, lit incense and candles, and burned paper money and paper clothes along the road.

All day long.

The ashes of paper are like falling snow, and the smoke of incense is like clouds steaming the city.

When the sun went down, every household came to the river mouths to put out river lanterns. In less than half an hour, millions of lanterns were lit on more than a dozen rivers in Qiantang.

If you fly to the top of the mountain outside the city and look out, you can see the stars gathering into streams, as if the Milky Way is hanging upside down and hanging down into the world.

According to custom, at this time, the underworld releases the gates of ghosts, and lonely ghosts come to the human world in search of food. Living people should avoid their homes and guard their homes.

But with such a beautiful night, there are always men and women who are unwilling to sleep alone for a long night. They will wear masks or face coverings to prevent their identity from being discovered by ghosts and gods, and then invite friends to go out to enjoy the scenery.

As for the travelers, how many are humans, how many are ghosts, and how many mysterious stories will be added after tonight, that is another matter.

When there are more tourists, businesses will follow.

According to the rules, no business is allowed to open tonight. The merchants are quick-witted and put everything on the boat. It is often seen that there are boats loaded with flowers, lotus lanterns or exquisite masks for sale along the "Galaxy".

The most numerous of them are all kinds of food.

Sweet bean soup in front of the grocery store, Guangjia soup in Guanxiangkou, roasted chestnuts in Wanshoufang, Song Wusao fish soup outside Qiantangmen, Guanfei in Yongjinmen, meat buns in Zhongmiaofang, and mutton rice in front of Zhongwa

Waiting like this, Tongtong went out on a boat at night to hawk.

Because it is the Ghost Festival, the usual methods of collecting money for water bowls, dotting cinnabar, etc. to prevent wild ghosts from cheating food are no longer used. Regardless of whether the visitor is a human or a ghost, and whether the visitor is copper coins or ghost money, they are all accepted generously.

, even the unsold items were not taken back, but were thrown into the water, saying that they were feeding the poor.

Every time he saw this scene, Li Changan couldn't help but curse.

"The poor devils are all watching eagerly from the shore. How can they get into our mouths?"

A night of fish and dragon dance.

…………

Li Changan's name was recorded under the Fuguifang Brown Yi Gang, and he originally only shared pork with Hua Weng.

But because of what happened during the day, the ghost heads of several workshops involved also came to invite them. If you don't want to eat, you won't get anything for free, so Li Changan happily went over.

The scene they put on was much richer than that of the brown-clothed gang, which is a bunch of poor people. Li Changan was also rude, as if he was going to the countryside, and he was not even ashamed to eat and drink.

Wait until you have had enough wine and food, and go home drunk.

The harvest is huge.

I have a good piece of mutton, and I plan to cook it tomorrow to satisfy the cravings of the young and old at the Salesian Home.

Two strips of salted pork belly are also left to the Salesian Hospital for wiping the bottom of the pot for cooking on weekdays.

There are also two dried fish, half a smoked duck, and a pork knuckle. I guess it is not a problem to exchange for some goat's milk. The baby girl drinks rice soup every day.

While I was thinking wildly, I saw a monster appearing on the opposite side with my drunken eyes. It was holding a lantern, large in size and small in size, staggering towards me.

Huh?! Where is the ghost?

Despite the cold wind, Li Changan woke up immediately.

Take a closer look...

"Ah? It's Brother Gui." He Wumei, who was facing me, was also startled, "Why were you born here?"

"Just came back from the city." In the middle of the night, He Wumei was dressed in white, holding a lantern in her hand, and holding two large bamboo baskets, swaying like a ghost in the road, "Where are Wuxiang going?"

"Entrusted by the neighbors, I am going to the river to help orphans."

"at this time?"

Li Changan looked around.

It was already the middle of the night, everything was quiet, not to mention the people and the ghosts had gone to rest.

He Wumei lowered her head and smiled lightly: "It's just because we missed the time."

Li Changan saw that she was struggling to hold the bamboo basket, and her usual bodyguard was not with her. It just so happened that she had eaten enough incense tonight, the wind was no longer like a knife, and the fog was no longer like ice, so she was forgiven by the world for the time being. He might as well hang up all the "caughts"

He took the bamboo basket from his waist and went to Shigu with her.

…

Arrived at the river.

You can see the reed flowers undulating like snow under the moon, swaying in the wind, and reflecting the sparkling waves on the river from time to time.

The Taoist priest recognizes that he is the shore on this earth.

Without waiting to reminisce, He Wumei continued to move forward along the river.

The tall grass ahead is dense and there is no one there, but there is a faint trail.

Then go forward a few dozen steps along the trail.

suddenly see the light.

You can see a small river beach surrounded by mountains and low cliffs.

The reeds and tall grass are gone, only green grass growing up to the ankles, dotted with various wild flowers.

A fenced garden takes up most of the space in sight.

The flowers in the garden are extremely prosperous.

He Wumei told Li Changan that this was a cemetery.

Cemetery?

After looking carefully, I found small earthbags. In front of the earthbags, there were stone towers stacked with cobblestones.

It was almost completely submerged in flowers and plants, making it very inconspicuous.

The only eye-catching object in the garden is a small temple in the middle. It is made of bluestone blocks and is about half a person tall. The top is in the shape of an upside-down boat. All the surrounding sculptures and texts have been weathered by time and submerged by moss. Only the statues of gods are still intact.

It has a shape. Judging from its appearance, it looks vaguely like a dragon god, with a mythical beast that is either a cat or a dog crawling at its feet.

Could it be the infant-protecting Dragon King that few people worship anymore?

…

The big black cat has been guarding here for a long time.

As soon as He Wumei entered the cemetery, the cat flew towards her and jumped into her arms, meowing coquettishly.

Li Changan didn't join in the fun. This gangster was so fierce that he would scratch anyone who came next to him except He Wumei!

He put down the bamboo basket and opened it.

One basket contains incense candles, and the other basket contains rice balls made from grains and wild vegetables.

Seeing this, He Wumei quickly put down the cat and came over to help.

The two work together.

He Wumei went ahead and dug out the earthen bags and offered incense one by one, while Li Changan followed behind and put rice balls on them.

It's not like Shi Gu, but more like going to the grave.

But these tombs are too small and the tombstones are too simple.

Li Changan had some vague suspicions.

"They are all children who died in infancy at the Salesian Home."

He Wumei leaned over and lit the incense candle, with a touch of compassion in her eyebrows:

"Some were abandoned in front of the Salesian Home, some were picked up from outside, and some were brought in by people who really couldn't keep them alive. Of these children, five or six out of ten died soon after they were admitted to the Salesian Home. Those who survived

, either they were born with defects or acquired the root of the disease, and most of them died within two years."

"They have no tombstones because they have no names. Firstly, they have no father or mother; secondly, the old people say that if a baby who died young is given a famous name, it will be tied to the world and will entangle the person who named it.

So none of them have names or surnames."

"It makes some sense."

"Really? But I have a bad habit. I thought that when I came to the human world, even if it was miserable and short-lived, I would gain nothing and leave nothing behind, so I secretly gave them nicknames so that no one else would know.

"

He Wumei suddenly turned around. She, who was always calm and gentle, showed a sly expression.

"Brother Gui, do you want to hear it?"

Li Changan is a ghost, so he can do anything for himself.

"This child was picked up from the wild five years ago. He was born skinny. I hope he will grow up well and call him Ah Dou. This doll came from the river eight years ago. I call her Lotus. That one is the name of my family.

Hua Weng sent this to me after he died of illness. His eyes are round and bright, so he is called Li Nu. This one was placed in front of the door at night. It was extremely cold that night, so I called him to wait for the sky..."

He Wumei pointed out the little bumpkins one by one who were completely indistinguishable in Li Changan's eyes.
To be continued...