Zhongyuan Festival, also known as Ghost Festival. On this day, people mourn their deceased relatives and burn paper ingots for them to convey their thoughts. On the nights from the 12th to the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, some people will light a stick of incense, draw a circle with lime, and burn paper money for their relatives.
Worrying that the ghosts will take away the things they burned for their relatives, people will burn some paper money at will, which is considered a favor. Therefore, this time is also a good day for the wandering ghosts, because they are not worshipped by incense, and they can also be fair and bright and have money to spend.
Ghosts with strong bodies and quick hands can always grab the most money to please, while those who are not in good health can only make up their luck, and whoever burns paper will pick up a little money to spend.
Wang Erma was an otaku during his lifetime. After he grew up in the orphanage, he lived on the Internet as a navy soldier. He usually relied on take-out and online shopping for food and clothing. He hardly ever went out except throwing garbage. At the moment before he died, what he thought was that he had lived for nearly 30 years, and he hadn't even touched his sister's hand.
The date of reincarnation is not yet, and no one will pay tribute to him. After finally waiting until the Mid-Autumn Festival, the gate of hell is wide open, and he has thin arms and thin legs, and he can't win against other ghosts. After being photographed on the wall by other ghosts countless times, he has given up his plan to grab "pleasure money".
He didn't exercise before he was alive, and he was bullied by ghosts after death. Wang Erma was very disappointed with himself before he was alive. If he knew how to exercise at that time, how could he be reduced to this ghost level
After drifting dozens of meters away, he saw a family of old and young burning paper money in the corner. After the paper money was burned, it appeared in the hands of a few ghosts next to it. He sighed and turned to go in the other direction.
Being abused by a couple before death, and being abused by a ghost after death, is really unpleasant.
A young man came across the street, wearing a very ordinary long-sleeved shirt and jeans, Wang Erma was a little envious, so good-looking, he must be a winner in life.
"I'll be right back, I'll be there in five minutes." Fu Li and Kunpeng made an appointment to go out to eat beef noodles. Who knew that Zhuang Qing suddenly informed him that he would be working overtime all night tonight, so he had to hurry back.
Walking across the zebra crossing, Fu Li saw a thin and dry young man with glasses next to him staring at him, so he stopped, took out a few pieces of yellow paper on his body, turned them into ingots, and stood in front of the young man After burning, they rushed to the management department.
Wang Erma held a few ingot ingots in his hand and stared blankly at the hurrying back of the handsome guy with a dazed expression. Did that person just now burn it to him because he saw him
"Have you seen the idiot who was showing off his wealth in front of him, and thought he had a few ingots in his hands to show off. It's amazing to be rich?"
Wang Erma came back to his senses, and saw a few ghosts pointing at him not far away, and hurriedly put the ingot in his pocket.
Wealth is not exposed, wealth is not exposed.
Fu Li rushed to the management department. No other colleagues were there. Only the door of Zhuang Qing's office was still lit. He knocked on the door of Zhuang Qing's office: "Just the two of us working overtime tonight?"
"Tonight's Ghost Festival opens, and many demon cultivators and human cultivators will also join in the fun. Food safety and quality of items are very important now. The ghost market is held in the world. If something goes wrong, our management department will take responsibility." Zhuang Qing stood up and took care of the suit jacket on her body, "You have to work hard tonight, and I will take care of the safety issue with me."
"Okay, okay." Fu Li agreed without thinking, "Then I'll leave now?"
"What's the hurry, the gates of the ghost market will not open until now." Zhuang Qing pointed to the chair opposite her, "Sit down first, and I'll tell you some common sense in the world of self-cultivation."
Seeing Zhuang Qing's serious look, Fu Li sat down obediently, although his heart had already flown to the ghost market.
"The current demon world is very different from thousands of years ago, and genius treasures are even rarer..." Zhuang Qing told Fu Li about the current level of cultivation in the demon world, the preciousness of medicinal pills, and the differences between races. The relationship and contradiction of Fu Li emphasizes how rare and important those things on Fu Li are.
After living in the human world for a few months, Fu Li already knew that the life of the world of self-cultivation had to be very good, but he didn't expect it to be so miserable.
The medicinal pill he used as a snack in the past turned out to be a rare thing now, and the spiritual energy was far less than before. Medicinal materials are more artificially planted. How can these plants be compared to the elixir that absorbs the essence of heaven and earth
The inheritance of cultivation techniques is broken, the elixir is lost, the human race is prosperous, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth is gradually disappearing, and the demon world is almost living in the cracks. It's no wonder that most of the current demon cultivators are not high-level. It turns out that it is not that they are not motivated, but that the environment does not allow it.
"It's time for you to have a snack too. The world of self-cultivation seems to be peaceful now. If big demons appear frequently, I can't guarantee whether this peace can be maintained." Zhuang Qing sighed, "You were cultivated by the demons in the mountains. Too naive, ignorant of world affairs, the world on earth is not as beautiful as you think."
Fu Li stared blankly at Zhuang Qing, not knowing what to say.
"A seemingly innocent child can steal your things while you're not paying attention. A weak and helpless old man may also be a liar. The weak are not necessarily weak, and the strong may not necessarily protect others." Zhuang Qing Looking at Fu Li's eyes, "Whether it's a human or a demon, they are all selfish in their bones."
Fu Li blinked and stared at Zhuang Qing's beautiful eyes.
These eyes are too clean, and Zhuang Qing feels like a villain who has torn apart beauty, but since Fu Li is already in the human world, he will understand these truths sooner or later. Instead of waiting for him to understand this after suffering, it is better to let him be the villain. Reaching out to cover Fu Li's eyes, Zhuang Qing sneered: "If you are good, in the eyes of others, you may be stupid."
The long eyelashes swept lightly in his palm, a little itchy.
"Do you think so too?" Fu Li asked curiously.
Zhuang Qing was silent for a moment: "It's not what I think, it's just how the world is today." He put down his hands and turned to look out the window, "It's almost time, let's go."
Fu Li looked out the window, then Zhuang Qing, with a bright smile on his face: "Then let's hurry up."
Looking at his bright and somewhat dazzling smile, Zhuang Qing felt that what she said just now seemed to have no effect at all. But for some reason, he didn't feel angry, instead, he was a little bit happy.
When Zi Shi had just arrived, the sky seemed to be torn apart, and the pavilions and pavilions inside were faintly revealed, and then the brilliance shone, the pavilions in the sky disappeared, and there was a lively market in a certain mountain forest.
There is a legend in the world that on the night of Zhongyuan Festival, if someone can see the gate of heaven open, they will get countless gold and silver ingots. If you are brave enough to hear the voices of ghosts, you can lie down under the grape trellis, and there will be voices coming from the ground. But legends are legends. Humans who have seen the gate of heaven do not know that it is not the gate of heaven, but the gate of hell.
Fu Li and Zhuang Qing rode a cloud to the mountain, and the market was already lively. As soon as they arrived at the gate of the market, they were stopped by ghost officers in ancient yamen costumes and asked about their identities.
Fu Li looked at Zhuang Qing, these ghosts are still wearing clothes from hundreds of years ago, and they don't know Zhuang Qing. Could it be that Zhuang Qing has not come to the ghost market to patrol before
"I'm the head of the management department of the human cultivation world, and he's my staff." Zhuang Qing handed a jade token to the ghost yamen, and the yamen took the jade token and glanced at it, with a look of shock on his face, and said again and again: " It turned out to be Lord Zhuang Qing, the villain has no eyes, and he has lost his way."
"Please two adults Haihan, there are rules in the ghost market. Anyone who enters the ghost market must wear a fancy dress and a crown, you see..." The ghost yamen's tone was a little uneasy, for fear of annoying Zhuang Qing.
"Do as the locals do, as it should be." Fu Li just wanted to join in the fun, it didn't matter what clothes he wore. As soon as he finished speaking, the shirt and jeans on his body disappeared, and he turned into a noble boy with a jade crown and a brocade robe. Zhuang Qing glanced at him, and silently changed into a robe and came out.
Fu Li wears white, but he wears a black brocade robe. At first glance, Zhuang Qing is a mature and stable big brother, and Fu Li is a little brother who was taken out by his brother to increase his knowledge.
Entering the gate of the ghost city, there are lanterns hanging inside, people come and go, and there are countless beauties. There are female ghosts of Song Dynasty who move lotus steps, there are mighty generals in battle robes, and there are demon cultivators with beast ears.
"Lord Zhuangqing!" The demon cultivators looked a little frightened and in awe when they saw Zhuang Qing. They didn't seem to think that Zhuang Qing would appear in this place.
A rat demon even wanted to stuff Zhuang Qing with the things on the stall, and his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't even hold the things firmly.
"Don't be nervous, fellow Daoist, we are just patrolling on a routine basis, please don't misunderstand." Seeing Zhuang Qing's sullen face, Fu Li hurriedly reached out and took out the thing that the rat demon had stuffed into Zhuang Qing's arms, and put it back in the rat demon's body. At the booth, "Everyone should do whatever they want, just do whatever they want."
The demon cultivators looked at each other, their expressions slightly subtle.
"Why are your expressions so strange?" Fu Li looked solemn, "Could it be that they are selling fake and shoddy products?"
"No, no." The demon cultivators shook their heads in unison, not daring to look around again.
After walking past the stalls set up by these demon cultivators, Zhuang Qingcai said: "These are all demon cultivators who hardly leave the mountains, and they have no good demon certificates, so I'm a little nervous seeing us."
"It turned out to be a black household." Fu Li looked back at the demon cultivators. The demon cultivators were whispering something to each other. When they saw him turning back, they stopped talking.
"Some demons like the prosperity of the human world, but some demons are unwilling to contact humans." Zhuang Qing said flatly, "The purpose of the management office is to allow these cultivators to choose the life they want."
Fu Li looked at this almost endless street and suddenly said, "You are really amazing."
Zhuang Qing tilted his head to look at him, and raised his eyebrows after a while: "Even if you flatter me as a leader, I won't open the back door for you when the assessment is at the end of the year." After saying this, he strode forward. .
"You're young, don't be so extreme, so I can't really praise you?" Fu Li hurriedly followed.
Not far away, there are ghosts performing cooking oil pans and walking nail boards, as well as taking off their heads and throwing them as balls. The taste is very heavy, but there are many ghosts and monsters watching.
"This is an educational performance on the eighteenth floor of hell. It warns people and demons not to do evil, otherwise it will be their end." Zhuang Qing saw Fu Li stepping on his feet to watch these uncreative performances, his eyes were indifferent.
A long time ago, when he came to the ghost market, he performed the same thing, but the ghost of the performance changed.
"That's really instructive." Fu Li saw a ghost take off his head, and even his intestines were stuck to his neck, he turned his head and stopped looking at it, "It's just that the taste is a bit heavy."
Not far from the hell education show, a wonton shop opened. Fu Li saw the old man who was cooking wontons cut off a handful of his beard and threw it into the soup. The ghost repairers and the little demons immediately surrounded him, arguing. Rushing to buy wontons. Fu Li suddenly realized that the essence of ginseng is in the realm of self-cultivation, does it rely on this to make a fortune
Across the street, there are several female ghosts performing the Feather Clothes Dance. The sign outside says that Tang Minghuang composed the music and Yang Guifei choreographed the dance. It is the most complete and most restored Feather Clothes Dance in the world. Although I don't know if it's true or not, the dance is really good, and there are a lot of male ghosts and demons applauding under the stage. Some male ghosts wore crooked robes and glasses on their faces, which looked a bit ridiculous.
"Walking by, don't miss it, Huatuo brand painkillers, Guan Yu says it's good to use it!"
"Come and see, Diaochan brand beauty cream, Diaochan's favorite beauty cream."
"This fellow Daoist, come and see, how is this Mo Mo sword? What, he actually said that my sword is worthless. Do you know who his brother is? Has Mo Xie heard of it?"
"Selling lutes, selling lutes, men buy them for their girlfriends, women buy them beautiful and mysterious. There is a magic circle on it, which can resist the attack of the God Transformation Stage once..."
Fu Li looked at all kinds of messy goods on the street and pointed to the iron sword called Mo Mo: "Zhuang Qing, Mo Xiejian and a younger brother?"
"That's all a lie." Zhuang Qing dragged Fu Li back, "Don't look at it."
"Oh." Fu Li took two steps and pointed to a sandalwood carved incense fan on a booth, "Is that really Emperor Wu's favorite fan? If we buy it back for Chaoyun, she will be very happy. "
"When Emperor Wu was in power, there was no such fan." Zhuang Qing grabbed Fu Li's belt to prevent him from walking around.
"Ah, it's also a lie." Fu Li lowered his shoulders, "Why are these ghosts and demons not honest at all."
"Well." Zhuang Qing smiled, but the smile was fleeting, "Do you know how dark this society is?"
Fu Li suddenly pointed to a signboard in front of him, and his expression was a little excited: "Human eye candy, it's not allowed to eat people now!"
"It's a candy made of longan." Zhuang Qing's hand, which was hooked on Fu Li's belt, remained motionless.
Fu Li: …
"There are grilled fish there, let's go buy two." Fu Li suddenly regained his spirits.
Zhuang Qing sighed helplessly. He, a 1,900-year-old dragon, could only accompany Fu Li, a 4,000-year-old demon, to eat grilled fish while walking. Occasionally, a passing demon peeked at Zhuang Qing, Zhuang Qing glanced over, and these eyes disappeared immediately.
After eating the grilled fish, Fu Li threw the bamboo sticks into the rattan basket for garbage on the street, turned his head and was amused by the old-fashioned street cross talk again, took out a pearl and threw it into the bowl handed by the other party.
The performer thought happily, who is this rich and generous. When he looked up, he almost knocked over the bowl. How could Zhuang Qing be here? He plagiarized the cross talk jokes of those cross talk masters before his death, and was found out
Zhuang Qing glanced at the pearls in the bowl, turned to see Fu Li, who was smiling and bent his eyes, and said to Fu Li, "Go ahead and take a look."
"Oh." Fu Li nodded obediently and followed Zhuang Qing to squeeze out of the ghost group. Several ghosts babbled on the stage, singing joys and sorrows, life and death love and hatred, Fu Li couldn't understand, but seeing that there were not many audiences in front of their stage, so he took out a pearl and threw it into the other party's bowl.
Zhuang Qing couldn't help but ask, "Do you have a lot of pearls?"
"Human currency can't be used here, and you said those herbs are rare, so the most worthless thing here is these sea pearls." Fu Li was a little nervous, did he do something wrong
"Compared to Sea Pearl, they may prefer loose silver." Zhuang Qing handed Fu Li a bag of broken silver, "Give this to them."
"So that's the case, thank you." Fu Li took the broken silver and happily rewarded the demons who performed the performances. Zhuang Qing followed behind him expressionlessly, staring at the reward bowl with a particularly indifferent gaze.
After walking around for two or three hours, Fu Li's excitement finally lost half of his energy, and the package of loose silver that Zhuang Qing gave him was almost exhausted.
"Two adults, why don't you rest here with the old lady?"
Fu Li followed the sound and saw a woman in a purple dress looking at him with a smile. There was a stall in front of her, but there were no customers. There is a sign next to the stall with the words "Five Flavor Soup" written on it.
"What is Five Flavor Soup?" Fu Li walked to the stall and found a row of clay pots, each filled with different colors of soup.
"There are five flavors in life. I have joy, anger, love, hatred, and sadness in this soup." The woman's eyes went beyond Fu Li and stayed in front of Zhuang Qing, "Which one do you two want to drink?"
Seeing that Fu Li didn't answer, she scooped a bowl of soup from the jug and handed it to Fu Li: "You can taste this, it can bring you supreme joy."
Zhuang Qing reached out and stopped in front of the bowl.
"Long Jun, what does this mean?" The woman smiled at Zhuang Qing, the orange hot soup in her hand was steady, not spilling half of it.
"How can the five flavors of life be tasted from a bowl of soup." Fu Li shook his head and said, "I don't think it is necessary."
"That's it." Seeing Fu Li's refusal, the woman put down the bowl. He brought a bowl of colorless soup and handed it to Zhuang Qing, "Longjun, if the ghosts drink this bowl of soup, they will forget this life. If a living person drinks it, they may remember their previous life. Do you want to try one? taste?"
"Meng Po-sama really knows how to laugh." The word "laugh" was on his lips, but Zhuang Qing showed no expression on his face, "I'm not interested in the ethereal past life, and I don't want to pay the price of drinking this bowl of soup."
"The old man is joking with Lord Longjun, and please don't mind Lord Longjun." The woman is also the legendary mother Meng, and she gave Zhuang Qing a blessing, "I haven't seen you for 1,500 years, Longjun is now The majesty of the world will convince all the beasts in the world."
Zhuang Qing returned a half-salutation: "It's the joke of Mrs. Meng, it's still the same."
Po Meng smiled: "If I meet Long Jun again next time, the old man may make such a joke again."
Zhuang Qing didn't speak, and there was no joy or anger on his face.
The smile on Granny Meng's face was even greater. She turned her head to look at Fu Li carefully, and gave a solemn salute: "I also ask fellow Daoists not to mind the old man's jokes."
"It's okay." Fu Li shook his head and smiled, "Although I don't drink soup, these soups are beautiful."
"I've made soup in the underworld for thousands of years, and practice makes perfect." Madam Meng said, "The ghost market has already passed halfway. Don't waste your time, let's continue to enjoy it."
Hearing the word "fun", Fu Li remembered that he was with Zhuang Qing on patrol tonight, not Zhuang Qing to play with him. He glanced at Zhuang Qing with some guilty conscience. Seeing that Zhuang Qing had no expression, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Leaving Madam Meng's soup shop, Zhuang Qing pointed to a small shop in front of her, "Go to the shop in front of you and have a seat."
"Okay." Fu Li thought that Zhuang Qing was tired, so he nodded in agreement.
Entering the shop, this is a food shop. The dishes are all fish, shrimp, crabs, etc. The chef is a whale demon, and the guys inside are all ghost repairers. The arrival of Zhuang Qing caused a stir in a small area of the store, but in front of the food, everyone seemed to be more courageous, at least no one was so scared that they lost their chopsticks and ran away.
The order came to the table quickly, Zhuang Qing tasted the chopsticks and put it down with a confused expression. The shop is still the same shop, and the cook is still the whale, but he no longer has the hesitation and panic that he used to be.
"What's wrong?" Fu Li tasted the fish that Zhuang Qing had eaten, and it tasted very good, even better than Bao Yu, who claimed to be the chief chef of the palace.
"It's nothing." Zhuang Qing shook his head, turned to look at the pedestrians coming and going outside the store, took out a kit, and handed it to the guy next to him.
"Sir, you, you have given too much." The man didn't know Zhuang Qing, but looking at the attitude of the diners around him, he knew that this person's identity was not simple. Seeing that the other party suddenly gave so many things, he was a little scared.
"Not much." Zhuang Qing pointed to the whale cooking in the back kitchen, "This is fifteen hundred years of interest."
"You owe money to this boss?" Fu Li was a little surprised, but he didn't expect Zhuang Qing to be in debt.
"Yeah." Zhuang Qing raised his chopsticks and picked up a prawn. "When I was young, I was ignorant and had no money to go out, so I ate the boss's overlord meal."
He thought that he would never appear in this place again, and he didn't have to think about how embarrassed he looked back then, but when he set foot in this place again, he realized that everything he thought was nothing more than that.
"Boss." The guy walked to the back kitchen and handed the kit full of spirit beads and pearls to the whale demon, "This is given by a guest, he said... This is fifteen hundred years of interest?"
There are rules in the ghost market. The money and goods are clear, and no credit is allowed. If they are discovered, they will be hunted down by the demon world. That guest looked very dignified, how could he possibly owe the boss money
"One thousand five hundred years ago?" The aged whale demon took the package, "Who is it?"
"That's the guest." The man pointed to the person who gave the money to the whale demon through the door curtain.
"Dragon spirit is lingering, and the merit is extraordinary..." The whale demon looked at the man in the black brocade robe, and suddenly thought of the half-old child fifteen hundred years ago. The child was covered in blood and his spiritual energy was disordered, so he ordered a soup to replenish his vitality.
Later, the child drank the soup and ran away in a hurry, but he watched the child escape and did not stop him. After so many years, he thought that the hybrid dragon without the blessing of the elders had already died in the mouths of other monsters, and he never expected to see each other again after 1,500 years.
Fu Li found an extra bowl of soup on the table, he raised his head and said, "Man, we didn't order this."
The man smiled and said, "The boss said that he gave it to his old friend."