When we returned to Fuzhou City, it was already late at night. The streets were quiet at night, and piles of paper money burned to ashes were dancing in the night wind.
Some children from poor families gathered together in twos and threes, holding white lanterns in their hands, and secretly took home the sacrifices offered by wealthy families to eat.
Placing sacrifices outside the door is a local custom of Fuzhou people.
Fuzhou people believe that on July 15th, the Ghost Festival, their ancestors will go home to visit.
Place a table of sacrifices outside the door to bribe the escorting ghost guards, so that the ancestors will suffer less pain down below.
There are many kinds of sacrifices. The poor people will make straw cakes with corn flour mixed with weeds. The straw cakes are hard and dry. They are strung on reed poles and hung on the door. They can also be used as rations the next morning. Faced with such a situation,
Even if the household is broken, beggars will not come to visit it, because the straw cake must be boiled in water before eating, otherwise it will be as hard as stone, and beggars will think it is useless.
Those who are a little richer will use dim sum and rice wine as sacrifices. The portion does not need to be large, a box of dim sum and two cups of rice wine are enough.
Once these things are placed at the door, beggars and homeless people will come to pick up food in the middle of the night. As long as they are not too stingy, they will generally not stop them.
As for the rich and powerful, that's a big deal. Generally, on the Hungry Ghost Festival, a table of food and wine is placed outside the door.
So on this day, ghosts and poor people celebrate it like a festival. The first half of the night is for ghosts, and the second half of the night is for humans.
The adults care about face and are too embarrassed to come out to take it, so they let their children do it.
More than a dozen children gathered together and swarmed over them. The entire table of food and wine would be snatched away within a few minutes. Everyone's mouths were full of food. They had never been so happy during the New Year.
"The third watch has passed, and the gate of hell is about to close. If you want to party again, you have to wait for the next auspicious day in the underworld."
Wang Xu walked through the street. Today is an auspicious day for the underworld. Even lonely ghosts can enjoy offerings outside. This kind of good thing happens only a few times a year.
"Look, who has grabbed more than me? I grabbed half of the roast chicken!"
"I robbed two pig's feet, and I robbed more than you."
"I only grabbed one fish tail, wow"
A group of children carrying white lanterns chased and slapped each other and ran past Wang Xu. Their innocent appearance was really joyful.
Wang Xu watched them go away, and when he was about to continue walking, he saw a big-headed child lying behind a big tree with an envious look on his face.
This big-headed kid looks to be seven or eight years old. His head is as big as a pumpkin, but his neck is as thin as a chopstick.
He lay quietly behind the big tree, holding a handful of grass in his mouth. Wang Xu felt like a left-behind child locked in a room, watching his friends play outside. It was a kind of
An unattainable sight.
"It turns out to be a starving ghost!" Wang Xu knew his origin after looking at the child's appearance.
Starving ghosts are ghosts transformed from people who died of hunger. This kind of ghost is also a kind of ghost that died in vain.
But compared to ghosts such as hanging, suicide, homicide, sudden death, and drowning, starving ghosts are not particularly evil.
Under normal circumstances, starving ghosts will only enter people's homes and steal leftovers to eat. There are no rumors of hurting people, but they are very rare compared to other ghosts.
Judging from the little boy's appearance, he must have been a child when he starved to death and wanted very much to go out and play with others.
But he knew that he couldn't go out, otherwise he would scare others, so he hid behind the big tree and watched from a distance, picking a few handfuls of leaves from time to time to satisfy his hunger.
"It's almost the fourth day, hurry up and leave, this is not the place you should stay."
Wang Xu stopped and waved to the big-headed ghost.
The big-headed ghost was startled by Wang Xu's voice. When he looked back, he realized that someone had seen him and hid behind the tree in fear.
"Come on, the door of hell will be closed soon. A lonely wild ghost like you won't even have a place to stay. When the sun comes out, you will be out of your mind. You won't even be able to become a ghost."
Hearing Wang Xu's words, the big-headed ghost made a face and stuck out his tongue at him.
The next second, a puff of black smoke appeared on the ground. This puff of black smoke did not go upward, but downward.
The big-headed ghost made a grimace and followed the black smoke into the ground, quickly disappearing without a trace.
Wang Xu walked back with his hands behind his back. As the saying goes, people and ghosts have different paths, and those who should go should not be left behind. It is a foul in itself for ghosts in the underworld to stay in the upper world.
Even if you can escape tomorrow's sun, you can't escape the ghosts of the underworld.
After all, today is the Hungry Ghost Festival, and all the ghosts that were released are recorded in the Difu Middle School.
Once you fail to match the roster during roll call, the ghost agents from the underworld will immediately come to arrest you. Even if you are an old ghost, you will die if you are exposed to the eyes of the ghost agents.
"Huh!"
When passing by Qingjing Temple, Wang Xu found that the temple was brightly lit and many monks were packing their things.
"Wen Dharma, what are you doing?"
Wang Xu walked forward and stopped an acquaintance.
This acquaintance was Monk Wenfa, one of the four disciples of Zen Master Mo Yun. When Wang Xu went to Qingjing Temple to treat corpse poison, he was responsible for brewing the medicinal bath.
"Amitabha, it turns out he is the donor!" The monk who heard the Dharma put his hands together and said softly: "Master's life lamp has been extinguished. According to Master's instructions, we are going to Xiangguo Temple to take refuge. We are preparing to pack up and set off."
Wang Xu frowned slightly and asked, "What will happen to the temple when you leave?"
The size of Qingliang Temple is neither big nor small. It can be called a sparrow. Although it is small, it has all the internal organs. There are many Buddhist halls and Buddha statues inside.
On weekdays, Zen Master Mo Yun takes twenty or thirty disciples to manage Qingliang Temple. It is a pity to abandon such a large temple.
"The master said before he left that when he comes back, the Qingjing Temple will appear again. This is the place where the master achieved enlightenment. We will seal the temple when we leave, and we will gather here when the master comes back.
"
Hearing the Dharma with a smile on his face, he was not at all sad about the death of Zen Master Mo Yun. Instead, he firmly believed that his death was just the beginning, just like a phoenix waiting to be reborn from the ashes.
In the chaos, the monks packed up their large and small bags. There were thirty-three monks including those who listened to the Dharma. Everyone had a smile on their face, as if they had achieved the ultimate bliss.
"I heard that at one time the Buddha was in the Trayasa Heaven, preaching the Dharma for his mother. At that time, all the indescribable and indescribable Buddhas in the immeasurable worlds of the ten directions, as well as the great Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas, came to assemble and praise Sakyamuni Buddha."
Thirty-three monks were sitting cross-legged on the ground, facing the mountain gate and reciting Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Original Vow Sutra.
After reciting three sections in succession, Hearing the Dharma, Hearing the Nature, Hearing the Light, and Hearing the Wisdom, the four major disciples of Zen Master Mo Yun each held gold cloths in their hands and worshiped in all directions.
On the gold cloth, Ksitigarbha Sutra is written in Sanskrit every foot, two are hung on the door plaque of Qingjing Temple, and two are hung on the wall of the temple.
In an instant, the entire Qingjing Temple shines with golden light, and visible to the naked eye, the temple where Qingjing Temple is located turns into a big mountain.
"I have heard that at that time Samantabhadra Bodhisattva Mahasattva spoke to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Benevolent one, I wish to speak about the Saha World for the sake of the gods, dragons, four beings, and all sentient beings in the future and now."
After turning the temple into a mountain, the thirty-three monks left without looking back.
Wang Xu looked at their backs and listened to the rising and falling chanting. After a while, he came back to his senses and muttered: "What a bunch of bald donkeys to turn a temple into a mountain!"