Chapter 512: The Strange Fog of the Ghost Festival
The weather was gloomy and the streets were empty.
The wind was very strong, howling, and blew up paper money all over the ground.
The paper money swirled in the air with the wind, adding a touch of eerie ghostliness to the gloomy weather in the late summer evening.
Xie Yingmian looked out through the screen window and saw a series of white lanterns.
As the distance got closer, you could vaguely see various names written on the lanterns.
When the wind blows, the lanterns flutter in the wind, making rustling sounds.
It added a touch of weirdness to the already eerie atmosphere.
Fu Mo, the driver, shrugged and said, "The Ghost Festival is indeed the Ghost Festival. Only on this day does the sun set so early and the yin energy is so strong."
"Ouch, why is it foggy already?"
"The fog came up really early this year. In previous years, it wouldn't start until the hour of Xu, but this year it's here before it gets dark. It's so strange! Run, run! Let's speed up and try to get home before the fog gets thicker."
The two horses understood Fu Mo's instructions and sped up.
Xie Yingmian looked into the distance.
Sure enough, there was a faint mist rising in the distance, a very light grayish white. There was nothing unusual when viewed up close, but from a distance, one could see with the naked eye that the mist was spreading.
"Does it get foggy every year during the Ghost Festival?" Xie Yingmian asked Fu Mo.
Fu Mo said: "Yes."
"Old people say there was no fog in the past, but since when has fog started to appear every year during the Ghost Festival?"
"The fog during the Ghost Festival is different from ordinary fog. Ordinary fog is mostly milky white, but the fog during the Ghost Festival is grayish white and has an unpleasant pungent smell."
"It's still early now, the fog has just begun to form, and I can't see any difference. As night falls, the fog will gradually thicken, and it will be the thickest at midnight."
"At that time, a thick gray fog will cover the moon in the sky and the white lanterns. The light will be swallowed up, and thousands of ghosts will move forward in the thick fog."
"The thick fog will not dissipate until the sun comes out at dawn, and even then the air will be filled with that lingering smell, which will not dissipate until the end of July."
The wind is blowing.
Paper money of all sizes was blown by the wind.
Fu Mo lowered his voice and said, "Legend has it that the thick fog during the Ghost Festival is the fog of hell, which is actually formed by ghost energy."
"Anyone who breathes in this ghostly energy will either become seriously ill or be haunted by a ghost and die."
Fu Mo became more and more frightened as he spoke.
He was chanting the mantra taught by Xie Yingmian.
After saying these words, Fu Mo felt that he was protected by righteous energy.
He raised his whip and rode faster.
Xie Yingmian lowered the screen window and asked Yu Lingye, "Is what Fu Mo said true?"
Yu Lingye: "It's true."
"A strange, thick fog does appear on the day of the Ghost Festival. It rises after nightfall, and it happens every year. Moreover, it only appears on the day of the Ghost Festival. It is very strange."
"The Astronomical Bureau has investigated many times, as has the Six Punishments Bureau, but they've found nothing. The fog arises and dissipates out of thin air, leaving no trace."
Xie Yingmian seemed to be lost in thought.
The formation of fog requires a certain humidity and temperature difference.
The temperature difference during the Ghost Festival in Shangjing was large enough, but the humidity was not enough.
In this kind of weather, the possibility of natural fog is low.
"The Ghost Festival's Night Parade of Ten Thousand Ghosts takes place in thick fog?"
Yu Lingye: "Yes."
Xie Yingmian: "Are those ghost stories you told me based on real events or just pure ghost stories?"
Yu Lingye: "To some extent, this is the personal experience of many people."
"Personal experience?" This statement was beyond Xie Yingmian's expectations.
Yu Lingye: "On the day of the Ghost Festival, some people went out because they didn't believe in evil. After they went out, they encountered strange things, including Fu Mo."
"Oh? Tell me in detail." Xie Yingmian said.
Yu Lingye: "Fu Mo was fearless when he was young. He insisted on going out on a mission on the night of the Ghost Festival. Around midnight, he encountered something very strange on a certain road. He only woke up when the sun rose the next day."
"According to Fu Mo, he was being chased by something that night. He ran so frantically that his shoes were worn out, but when he woke up, he found that he was still in the same place."
Xie Yingmian: "Not dreaming?"
Yu Lingye: "After Fu Mo woke up, his shoes were indeed worn out, and there were traces of repeated friction on the ground."
"His clothes were stained with traces of blue will-o'-the-wisp."
"The will-o'-the-wisp automatically burned in the sunlight, and countless people witnessed that scene."
"Fu Mo, who never got sick before, was sick for nearly a month before he recovered."
Xie Yingmian: "No wonder Fu Mo is so afraid of the chaotic monster, it turns out he has a psychological trauma."
She always felt something was strange.
As a person who has been resurrected through the use of a dead body, she should have believed that there are supernatural beings in this world.
But her intuition told her that there was something strange about the fog.
Fu Mo, the coachman: ...
He is not deaf. He can hear crickets chirping in front of him.
That was his lifelong dark history.
However, he is not afraid of ghosts now.
He is a person who possesses the twenty-four-word mantra. Once the mantra is uttered, evil spirits and monsters will retreat.
Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!
"What did Fu Mo encounter back then?" Xie Yingmian asked.
Yu Lingye: "He refused to say."
Fu Mo: It’s not that he doesn’t want to say it, it’s just that it’s too embarrassing to say it out loud.
If the princess asked, he would say yes.
Fu Mo waited for Xie Yingmian to come and ask.
Xie Yingmian changed the subject directly: "Are there any guards patrolling during the Ghost Festival?"
Yu Lingye: “Yes.”
"The city gate is at a relatively high position on the city wall and is located on the edge of Shangjing City. The fog has little impact on it, so the guards' shifts remain unchanged."
"The guards in the city only patrol until the hour of Xu. In previous years, the fog only rises at that time. Once the fog thickens, it swallows up the light, making patrols useless."
Xie Yingmian: "The fog only appears in Shangjing City? The fog is thicker in the lower places and thinner in the higher places?"
Yu Lingye: "So far, it seems like this. The fog originates from underground, and the higher you go, the less affected it is. This fits the name of Hell's Fog."
Fu Mo deeply agreed.
"Princess, let me tell you, there used to be patrols, but they would encounter all sorts of strange things around midnight. The next day or so, people on patrol would die, go crazy, or even get seriously ill."
"After that, no one patrolled after the hour of Xu anymore."
Xie Yingmian: "Did you discover anything back then?"
Fu Mo: Here I come.
He scratched his head and said, "I'm embarrassed to say this, but I didn't see clearly. I just saw something strange coming towards me in the thick fog. I was so scared that I pissed myself and ran forward, not daring to look back or look up. I just ran and ran and ran all night long."
"After daybreak, I realized I didn't know when I fell asleep. I had been running around in circles all night."
Yu Lingye: ...It's so embarrassing, no wonder Fu Mo never talks about it.
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