more... but wait, okay I'll stay and help my brother with this..." I whispered.There were only two hours left until dawn. According to Jiang Qiyun's schedule, he needed to return to the Mingwang Tianz...Ghost stepping

My brother and I looked at each other. We'd heard this word before, it was considered a kind of strange and eerie craziness.

"Who's responsible for clearing this sand and dust It's blocking the road, how can we get through" My brother didn't want to waste time here.

“Everyone’s freaking out, no one came to shovel the sand. This truck is blocking my driveway, so I had to do it myself.” The villager also grumbled, “Take another route, this truckload of sand will take at least a few hours to shovel.”

Detour After passing this village, we'll be near our old home. Where would we detour to

"I'm almost at my doorstep, you made me take a detour. Do you think I'm an outsider Outsiders come here for tourism..." My brother frowned.

Hearing this, the villager immediately asked, "Where are you going Are you going to Xiguxi Village"

"Are you kidding me Is there any other way to go down this road" My brother said helplessly: "Forget it, forget it. You go call two countrymen, five hundred each, I'll pay them to move the tricycle and shovel away the sand."

This windfall made the old farmer smile and say, "Okay, okay, young man, you wait. I'll call my children-in-law to come help!"

This villager is really keeping all the good things to himself.

As the saying goes, "money makes the world go round," and it's so true! I was standing at the village entrance, waiting for my neighbor's family to start digging. My brother couldn't bear to see it and pulled out his folding shovel to lend a hand.

I also want to help, but my older brother drove me to stand by the roadside.

In the village under the night sky, many families were burning paper money. In the countryside, things aren't as formal; some used white paper bags with the names of their ancestors written on them, burning them in bundles. Some directly burned stacks of gold and silver ingots, squatting by the fire while burning paper money and muttering prayers.

Legend has it that during the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Gate opens wide. The ghosts who are still waiting in the underworld to be reborn will come to the human world to enjoy offerings. Offerings from the living can alleviate the sins of the souls and allow them to be reborn sooner.

However, some ghosts will still cause trouble, which is why there are various taboos during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

For example, you should avoid saying words like "ghost" or "death," and refrain from engaging in arguments, insults, or curses. Words have power and can attract negative things.

There are also sayings about not swimming because "water passing the shoulders weakens one's life force" and accidents are prone to happen; as well as not taking photos at cemeteries or drying clothes outdoors at night, etc.

There are so many different opinions, it's impossible to count them all.

Some of this makes sense, while some is people stretching to make things up.

But the elderly believe these things because as they age, they feel the impermanence of life more acutely and thus become more reverent of life and death.

"Miss...could you please take a look, did I tear the paper money backwards..." Leaning against the tree on the hillside, an old woman using a cane, tremblingly held a bundle of paper money.

I looked at her feet.

Wearing a pair of old canvas shoes, only the toes were exposed.

When I was a child, I also saw this kind of paper money. It's easier to tear along the direction of the nail knife. If you tear from the back, it's easy to rip.

Most banknotes nowadays are printed, and I didn't expect this old woman to still be holding such "ancient" banknotes from the large denominations of Tiandi Bank.

I took another two glances, and the old woman hurried forward, motioning for me to come closer.

A cool breeze rustled the paper money in her hand, but there wasn't a sound.

I silently pinched a talisman and asked, "Old woman, is this paper money for yourself"

The old woman was taken aback, her lips stretched into a wide grin revealing her black teeth. She spoke in a hoarse voice, “An old woman dares not deceive the Taoist priest and kind people. I’ve made a mistake, my fault, my fault…”

I saw that she wasn't the kind of indiscriminate demon who harmed everyone, so I took out a Shen family's triangular Duyou Xiao Fa altar.

"Grandma, how about I give you this golden bridge to cross the Netherworld It's much more useful than incense." I said kindly.

Who knew the old woman wouldn't accept it. She whispered and retreated, her figure gradually fading into the darkness, muttering softly, "No, no... My unfilial grandchildren haven't turned righteous yet, I can't go, I can't go..."

Seeing her resistance, I didn't force her.

The gates of hell are wide open these two days, it is just a cycle of cause and effect between good and evil. If she doesn't want to leave when the time comes, she will naturally be detained by the ghost messengers, adding another sin to her list.

"Alright then, since you still have some consciousness left, don't drag the innocent into this." I put away the small magic altar and ignored her.

A ghostly fire flashed behind the tree for a moment, and the old woman's figure vanished.

I turned on my phone's flashlight and saw several stones and a freshly dug pit behind the tree. It looked like an empty grave that had just been dug.

I walked up to the old man who was shoveling sand and asked, "Uncle, there's a new grave by the roadside here"

"Huh" The old man was taken aback and exclaimed, "Isn't that the unlucky Old Wu's house His wife is said to have been possessed by a ghost and tied up. Now that the sand truck has overturned, no one is shoveling it!"

"What did this place even do" I asked curiously.

“Hey, Old Wu said that the grave of his late wife in the back mountain collapsed half way and asked the children to come back with money and effort to fix it. As a result, neither his wife nor the children were willing. Recently, they heard from somewhere that the village was going to build a road, so the children said they would move their grandmother's grave to the side of the road, and in the future they could get compensation for 100,000 or 80,000… Look, this is retribution, right” The countryman said grumblingly.

The car was parked in front of his house, which must have been really annoying. He was shoveling snow himself when he saw my brother pay him to shovel and even help out. So the fellow villager was extra friendly towards us.

"Miss, let me get you a mat to sit on"

"Don't be so polite."

"No no no, aren't you guys... people from Kikigakamura"

I nodded.

An old villager hurried over and said, "Is it the Taoist priest from the Mu family"

"...What do you want to say"

"About this old Wu's family matter, although it has nothing to do with us, I always feel quite sorry for them. Would you mind taking a look at it"

I've already seen it. That old woman burning paper money must be Old Wu's mother, right

She would appear at crossroads, no doubt hoping to absorb some life force from passersby so she could manifest more fully and frighten those who had disturbed her grave.

As I was pondering how to politely decline, a sound like a baby's cry came from behind me.

The sound rose abruptly and then ceased just as quickly!

I immediately turned my head and saw that something in the empty grave seemed to move.

Just now, so fast that I almost thought I was seeing things.

I drew out my Zi Xiao Ruyi and ran over in three hurried steps.

As the oppressive energy around the empty grave dissipated, a flutter of paper money drifted from behind a tree and landed on the tomb. These were all manifestations of ghosts, slowly vanishing into thin air at this moment.

Where's the old woman

I crouched down to take a look and suddenly saw a finger.

Hands covered in black spots and withered, wrinkled skin, lay near the paper money, fading away little by little.

Who's that old woman!

"Brother, brother!" I hurriedly turned my head to call out to my older brother.

My brother stood far away, shovel in hand. Hearing me call, he ran over just as the last sliver of the nail bed disappeared.

My brother and I looked at each other, my brother let out a cold laugh and slung the shovel over his shoulder.

"It seems ~~something is following us~~..."over my shoulder, his voice serious. “Though the mortal world may be most corrupt, it is also the most colorful and varied place. Few people can quiet their minds to cultivate themselves and seek the...