Jiang Ji looked back at the nearby area in dismay.

There are graves of different heights scattered around, with straw mats and cotton wool scattered everywhere. On top of the graves, there are a few pale yellow flowers swaying in the wind. Occasionally, in front of a few graves, there are a few rotten fruits that were placed there at an unknown time, and gray-black traces of burned paper on the ground.

Most of the bodies buried in mass graves were simply wrapped in a grave and buried in a pit. Only a few were given a thin coffin and a simple tombstone with the name of the grave owner written on it.

Fang Daya, Fang Ermei, Fang Shaoting, Fang Nian'er...

Most of the tombstones here bear the surname Fang.

Jiang Ji also saw this surname many times in the marriage book. It seemed that Fang was one of the big surnames in Shangshan County.

Most of the people buried here are young women, or more precisely, girls who died before they got married. They cannot be buried in the ancestral tombs, and can only be buried in some ownerless wilderness, unable to receive incense and sacrifices, and will soon be forgotten and become wandering ghosts.

Even married women who lost their lives while giving birth could not be buried in the ancestral tomb and could only be buried here.

Judging from the names on the tombstones, this place has not changed much from the past to the present.

"We live together and die together."

The meaning behind this sentence is that a woman cannot be buried alone, but can only be buried with her man. If the woman dies first, she can only be buried alone in one place, and wait until the man dies, then they can be buried together in the ancestral tomb.

Jiang Ji sighed and started walking forward.

No wonder the system said that "foreknowledge" is the most suitable ability for her. Sometimes people are afraid of the unknown.

The roads in Shangshan County in the ghost town are so winding that it is difficult to identify the direction by visual means. When she entered the matchmaker's house, she was still wandering on the edge of Shangshan County. After passing through a yard, it seemed that she had arrived at the back mountain of the county town.

Jiang Ji walked quickly with his head down, grabbing a handful of paper money from his bag and scattering it out.

These were what she picked up on the street when she was at a loss.

The ground was covered with unburned paper money. It should be the wedding procession of a wealthy family coming to disperse the wandering ghosts on the street. Jiang Ji didn't mind. He grabbed two handfuls of clean paper money and stuffed them into his bag for emergency use. After all, money makes the world go round.

The white paper money fluttered in the air and fell down, fluttering like goose-feather snow, and the cold gray mist that enveloped her began to dissipate.

The whistling wind stopped, and the slanting branches rustled and dispersed, revealing the road behind. The uphill road had come to an end. Standing on the hill and looking down, Jiang Ji saw a dilapidated house. He had to walk along a narrow bluestone road to reach it.

The paper money in Jiang Ji's hand had almost been scattered.

I haven't seen anyone here so far. It seems that the locals in Shangshan County really don't like to go out at night.

Under a crooked tree, she saw a small clay temple.

The entire temple was not even as tall as the tombs, less than half a meter. The live chickens and ducks used as offerings on the ground had become a pile of bones that had been eaten clean, and no one knew what was being offered inside.

Jiang Ji walked closer.

The entire mud temple was dark brown-red, darker than the color of the big red lanterns. A dirty red cloth covered the upper part of the mud temple, but only covered two-thirds. A pair of gray feet were two or three centimeters away from the ground.

There is a faint smell of taboo and ominous atmosphere.

This reminded Jiang Ji of the shrine quietly hanging on the wall in the lobby on the first floor of Ping An Hotel. Its interior was also blocked by a red silk cloth, and only a pair of clay feet were exposed, with the feet dangling in the air.

Is there any connection between Ping'an Hotel and Shangshan County?

Could it be that... it's not that Fang He just happened to live in Ping An Hotel, but that the chosen ones can only live in Ping An Hotel?

Anyway, there is definitely no real statue enshrined here.

Jiang Ji had never heard of any righteous god whose feet were not touching the ground. He looked like an evil ghost hanging in the air.

She was powerless now, and although she was curious about the true face under the red silk, she did not dare to provoke her. She just took a few glances and prepared to leave.

At this time, the wind that had stopped for a while started again.

Hanging on the treetop, the lantern made of white paper shook violently, and the flame inside actually emitted a faint blue color.

If each lantern represents a grave mound here, then the increasingly green color means that the owner of this place has returned.

Jiang Ji's heart was filled with alarm and he tightened his grip on the scepter.

There were many footsteps around, and Jiang Ji saw a wedding procession. The whole procession was beating gongs and drums, which was very festive, but the suona was playing funeral music, which was desolate and sad in the wilderness, as if crying and complaining. This wedding procession, a mix of wedding and funeral, passed by here.

It is one of the three families getting married tonight.

Jiang Ji saw a word "Hu" written on the chest of the paper man, and a word "Lu" written on the paper man on the right, which should be the surnames of the man and woman.

She quickly found a sturdy locust tree and hid behind it, using the shade of the tree to shield her.

The wedding procession moved very fast. As they got closer, they heard crying sounds coming from the sedan chair.

The most colorful paper figure next to it laughed even more strangely and excitedly when it heard the crying. It put its head close to the sedan chair and muttered something evilly. Jiang Ji was quite far away and tried hard to listen, but he couldn't hear what it said.

Probably some taboos that can only make you cry and not laugh.

After the paper man finished speaking, the crying in the sedan became louder, and some people were gasping for breath... It was undoubtedly a living person.

He is still alive now, but that may not be the case after completing the process.

Jiang Ji discovered that these paper figures were still scattering paper money from a distance, but they stopped when they stepped onto the mass grave.

When they passed by the crooked tree, the paper man suddenly seemed to smell something and said, "Wait."

The voice was as shrill as a child's, and his eyes were fixed on the white paper money that had been used on the ground. "A stranger has come in."

Then he shouted, "A stranger is coming in!"

The marching rhythm of the entire team was disrupted and it was noisy. The pair of dark eyes looked around, "I smell the breath of a living person, still here, still here!" He was just a paper dummy who had never eaten a human being. He drooled at the thought of the delicious taste of human meat.

But the bride in the sedan belongs to the master's family, and it would never dare to touch her.

"Please wait a moment, bride. I will be back soon."

After it finished speaking grimly, it called the other paper figures of plainer colors and began to search all over the mountains.

These paper figures have flat faces and no peripheral vision. Jiang Ji calculated the blind spots and maneuvered himself into the sedan chair.

bride