Record of Yin and Yang

"Wealthy..."

Gu Jiu was wearing a coat, holding a cup of tea in his hand, standing at the door like an old cadre, looking at Bao Fugui folding ingots under the eaves.

Bao Fugui turned his head, "Little Ninth Brother, what's the matter?"

Gu Jiu was very calm about being called by a man in his 30s all day when he was not yet eighteen.He took a sip of hot tea and said, "You've been folding since you woke up in the morning, so take a break."

Bao Fugui lives in a Taoist temple to recuperate his wounds, lives in theirs, eats theirs, and he also hopes to be a teacher, so he naturally wants to perform well.Although the leg is broken and I can't walk, my hands are not idle. Tomorrow will be Ghost Festival. Gu Jiu and Shao Yi will go to the side of the road to give alms to wild ghosts. The gold ingots needed are basically rich and precious. from.

Bao Fugui chuckled, saying that he was not tired, and he would not show that he was tired. He hoped that Gu Jiu and the others could see the advantage of his ability to endure hardships and stand hard work.

Gu Jiu didn't care about him anymore, and turned around to see Shao Yi bring out a basket, and when he got closer, a smell of peppercorns came out.

Gu Jiu couldn't hold back and sneezed twice, but was pushed aside by Shao Yi with disgust.Gu Jiu rubbed his nose and said in a low voice, "This year's prickly ash in the village is of good quality, and the smell is stronger than last year's."

There is an allegorical saying that peppers are sprinkled on the grave-magui, which translates to "who are you lying to?".However, in Taoism, this is also a means of deterring wild ghosts from causing trouble and harming people, especially suitable for ghost festivals when hundreds of ghosts go out.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum bears many fruits, and it is a symbol of prosperous descendants among the people, and it can also be used as a spice. Therefore, there are many farmers in this area who grow Zanthoxylum bungeanum, and they will collect some for use every Ghost Festival.

In addition to the prickly ash used, food and flowers were also prepared for the wild ghosts, such as joss sticks, ingots, paper money, cakes and fruits.It was still morning, so they packed up their things first, and then they would go out when the evening sun set.

Bao Fugui really wanted to follow him out to have a look, but his legs and feet were inconvenient, so he could only stay in the Taoist temple.

Before going out, Gu Jiu told Bao Fugui: "You stay in the Taoist temple. Generally, no ghosts dare to come here to cause trouble. Of course, there are always some bold ghosts who want to kill you in this world. If a ghost knocks on the door and calls you, Just don't bother with it."

Bao Fugui nodded nervously, expressing that he remembered.

Facing the afterglow of the setting sun, Gu Jiu and Shao Yi took their things down the mountain, and the younger brother followed behind them, catching flowers and insects while walking.

When they got down the mountain, Gu Jiu saw that some villagers were still busy in the fields, and reminded them to go home early today and not to go out again when it was dark.Those who were reminded also said that they would go home soon. They all knew that it was the Ghost Festival and they could not walk around at night. They also prepared sacrifices and burned incense and paper money at the door of their homes to give to their ancestors and relatives who have passed away.

The sky darkened bit by bit, and then the wind blew up, making the branches and grass leaves rustle, the cloudy air between the sky and the earth suddenly became stronger, and the wild ghosts who were inconvenient to come out during the day became active.The little brother who was almost integrated into the night jumped into Gu Jiu's back basket, stood up and hooked his paws on Gu Jiu's shoulders, looked around with his little head, and meowed in Gu Jiu's ear from time to time.

As Gu Jiu and Shao Yi walked, they took out small paper lanterns and hung them on the side of the road, then lit them.Paper lanterns are made of blue paper. Blue lanterns can guide ghosts on their way home and prevent them from entering the realm of the living.

While walking, Gu Jiu would occasionally sprinkle a handful of peppercorns on wild ghosts with a particularly sinister spirit. Every time they passed an intersection, the two of them would stop and hold sacrificial ceremonies on the side of the road, offering incense, candles, and paper money. The wild ghosts who swarmed over fought for money and food, and they had to come forward to make adjustments.

The two finally came to a deserted cemetery. There were many ghosts walking around. Most of those who stayed here forgot where they came from and where they were going. They stayed here year after year. Paper balls, throw out the rest of the peppercorns, and the peppercorns hit these ghosts, making it even more uncomfortable for them to float slowly.

It was released by the underworld, and they had to go back when the time came, so pepper was mainly used for this kind of ghosts who had not yet been registered by the underworld.

After finishing all these, Gu Jiu and Shao Yi walked back.

When passing through the village at the foot of the mountain, there were also piles of burnt paper ashes on the side of the road, all of which were circled with tongs. Only relatives of this family could use this kind, and wild ghosts could not enjoy it.

When passing by a resident on the side of the road, the door suddenly opened, and a man stood at the door holding a lantern, and asked anxiously, "Is this Daoist Shao and Daoist Gu?"

"It's us." Gu Jiu and Shao Yi turned their heads, "What's wrong?"

"My old lady was taken by my old lady." The man walked up worriedly and asked them to take a look, because he knew that Gu Jiu and Shao Yi would sacrifice along this road every year, and he had been waiting there after the accident Here, after waiting for a long time, he finally asked him to wait for the two of them back.

Gu Jiu and two people followed him into the courtyard, but didn't go directly into the house. Gu Jiu and Shao Yi heard the sharp curses from the main room, and asked in surprise, "Today's Ghost Festival, you didn't burn paper as a sacrifice for your old lady?"

When the man was asked, he immediately looked ashamed, "It's not that after winter, my son is going to marry a wife, and my wife and I just want to save some money..."

Ghost festival requires offering sacrifices to ancestors, and buying paper money requires money. In order to save that little money, this man and his wife came up with the bad idea of ​​using bamboo shoot shells instead of paper money, because they thought the ashes from the burnt bamboo shoot shells were the same as paper money. of.

So on the ghost festival day, other people's families draw circles and burn paper money, and their family draws circles and burns bamboo shoot shells inside.

Gu Jiu was very speechless, a stack of paper money cost only a few pennies, this day is so special, it is not possible to save money on this aspect.

The people inside were crying and cursing, Gu Jiu heard a few ears, and couldn't help but look at the man again, making him feel even more ashamed.It turns out that things are not as simple as this man said. People say that bamboo shoot shells are burned in the middle of July to coax mothers and fathers.They are all children of my own family, once or twice is enough, at worst, I can live with my trouser belt underneath, but this family, except for ghost festivals, like Qingming, Spring Festival, including the death anniversary of the family, in recent years, when worshiping unexpectedly They are substituted with asparagus shells.

Although the bamboo shoot shell ash is the same as the paper money ash, is it money? Even if it is a Yin banknote, it is not a counterfeit banknote that is not certified by the underworld.I have been fooling ghosts like this, even my own mother and I can't stand it.

This is not to take advantage of the ghost festival, the door of hell is open, and there is a chance to come out for free. The parents came up and watched their son and daughter-in-law continue to burn bamboo shoots. body.

As soon as he was upper body, the man was slapped a few times, and now he can still see the slap marks on his face when he walked to a brighter place.

When Gu Jiu and Shao Yi entered, they saw a middle-aged woman in linen clothes sitting in the middle of the main room, crying miserably with snot and tears.She was sitting on one of the benches, which normally fit two adults, and she was sitting on one side, leaving the other free.Of course, this "emptiness" is the situation in the eyes of ordinary people. In the eyes of Gu Jiu and Shao Yi, there is an old man sitting in this seat, who is also staring at the man angrily, echoing his old lady's scolding from time to time.

The man looked at Gu Jiu and Shao Yi as if asking for help.

Shao Yi leaned against the door frame, glanced at him lazily, and said, "Don't kneel down yet."

Gu Jiu explained: "They are your parents. Since you made a mistake, just admit it sincerely. If you correct your mistakes in the future, they will forgive you after being angry for a while."

The man hurriedly knelt down on his knees, kowtowed to admit his mistake, and said that he would not dare to do this again, and that he would buy paper money and burn it for them tomorrow.

His mother took the opportunity to make other requests, saying that they had been hungry for a long time, and besides Yinmo, they also wanted some bundles of joss sticks, some fruits, and roasted chicken to improve the taste. They said a lot, and Gu Jiu made an estimate. , making up for the cost of sacrifices in previous years is much higher.

The man didn't dare to show his heartbroken expression, he only said that he had written it all down and would make up for it tomorrow, and the old couple who had passed away finally let go and temporarily forgave them.

Without Gu Jiu and Shao Yi trying to chase her away, the man's mother got out of the daughter-in-law by herself. There were two Taoist priests standing at the door, one looked like a ghost. The old couple didn't dare to pass through the door, so they walked through it hand in hand. The wall, slipped away from the other side.

Shao Yi went up to check on the man's wife. The ghost has not been on her body for a long time, and her body will be a little weak in the next few days. Just ask the man to give her some good supplements.

The man regretted that he would spend two sums of money all at once. If he had known this, why would he save that little money back then?

Gu Jiu left a requiem talisman for the man to stick on his wife's bedside before leaving with Shao Yi.

After stepping on the mountain road back to the Taoist Temple, the surroundings became quiet, and there were no more wild ghosts passing by them.It's just that when I saw Guanmen from a distance, I suddenly saw a black shadow under the moonlight, struggling to pry open the door with something like a wooden stick.

Gu Jiu shouted loudly: "Hey! Where did you come from, a thief!"

The little thief turned his head, showing a familiar face, "Oh, it's Xiao Jiu'er."

Gu Jiu was startled: "Master?"

Gu Jiu ran over in surprise, and jumped on Shangfang Beiming, hanging like an octopus, "Master, you are finally back!"

Fang Beiming was pushed back two steps by Gu Jiu, managed to stabilize himself, and patted Gu Jiu on the back: "You've grown into a young man, Master can't hold you anymore."

Gu Jiu got off Fang Beiming's body in embarrassment, and laughed twice, "I'm so happy to see Master, I was too excited at the moment."

Fang Beiming expressed his understanding and rubbed Gu Jiu's head twice, then turned his head to look at the senior apprentice who was walking towards him, who was getting calmer by the day, opened his hands, and said, "Little Jiu'er hugged me, do you want to come too?"

Shao Yi was very disgusted, and swept his master's body up and down with a disdainful look, "I'm afraid you will just lie down on the ground."

Fang Beiming said: "Although you are taller than Master now, Master is not as weak as you said." Shao Yi didn't hug him, so he took the initiative to hug Shao Yi.

Gu Jiu was giggling by the side, Shao Yi looked awkward, and glared at Gu Jiu, his ears turned red under the moonlight.

Fang Beiming let go of Shao Yi, scratched the back of his head and looked back suspiciously, "There is a light in the Taoist temple, I thought you left one of you behind." He shook his hands, "I kept knocking on the door but there was no response, so I had to pry it open." The door is open."

Gu Jiu said: "There are indeed people left inside, tell Master later, let's go in first." Gu Jiu went up and patted on the door, and shouted, "Fugui, open the door quickly, we are back."

Bao Fugui's trembling voice came from inside: "Stop yelling, don't think that I will be fooled if you become my brother Jiu's voice, I won't open the door!"

"Give it up!"

"You bloody ghosts!"