The two deliberately lowered their voices, and after Nan Yuanman and Feng Yuli finished writing down what they wanted to buy, they turned around and saw two big heads whispering to each other.
Nan Yuanman ran up to them curiously, placed her little hands on Feng Langqing's knees, tilted her head and asked, "Third brother, second brother, what are you talking about?"
Feng Xingchi touched his nose and quickly said, "Cough cough cough, it's nothing. I told your third brother to hurry back to work! His fans are clamoring for him to post something, afraid that he'll be heartbroken and quit the entertainment industry because of what happened on that set."
Feng Langqing pretended to take out his phone: "I'll post something now, that'll be perfect. If you and your brother have something to do, go ahead and do your thing."
Nan Yuanman, unsuspecting, said in a childish voice, "Then I'll go shopping with my big brother first! You all keep Aunt Qingwan company!"
Feng Langqing: "Mmm!"
Feng Yuli looked meaningfully at his two younger brothers, pretended not to have heard anything, and took Nan Yuanman's hand to leave first.
Nan Yuanman's requirements for the items she gave to Gu were quite strict, and they were difficult to buy on the market. She had to call Zhong Xueliu to ask if she had any reliable shop recommendations before she could buy them all little by little.
With everything in place, the most special day of the year, July 14th, arrived.
That morning, Nan Yuanman gave each member of the family a blessed red rope for protection, and also stuffed several amulets into their hands, earnestly instructing them: "Make sure you come back early tonight! Even if you can't come back early, don't go to deserted or sparsely populated places!"
On the 14th of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell open. Ghosts whose lifespans in the underworld have not yet ended will return to the mortal realm to visit their relatives or to collect their offerings.
Not all ghosts will obediently visit their relatives. Some ghosts still have attachments to things in the mortal world and will try every means to harm the living. So on this day, it's best to go home as early as possible.
Otherwise, what you encounter outside might not even be a 'human'.
Having already witnessed the ghosts firsthand, the Feng family members nodded obediently: "Okay, Yuanman, we understand."
"Yuanman, what time does the ritual you mentioned start? Do you need us to accompany you?" Feng Yuli asked gently, half-squatting in front of Nan Yuanman.
"No need!" Nan Yuanman shook his head: "I can manage on my own."
Feng Congqian replied calmly, "I'll go with you."
He reached out and patted the little boy standing next to him: "There's too much stuff. You're too small to handle it. I can help you with some chores without bothering you."
Nan Yuanman tiptoed, tilted her head back, and rubbed it against his palm, happily agreeing, "Okay, okay."
The Feng brothers, who were a step behind Feng Congqian: "..."
It's alright, they have more important things to do tonight.
"Ahem, well then, Yuanman, you can go out with your father tonight. Get things done quickly and come back soon," Feng Jingcheng said, touching the tip of his nose.
Nan Yuanman had already mentally prepared herself to serve water to her brothers and father, but when she suddenly heard Feng Jingcheng say that, she was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"
She quickly realized what was happening and glanced curiously at her brothers. The Feng brothers looked up at the sky and down at the ground, but dared not look her in the eye.
When Feng Yanxiu met her clear eyes, he almost couldn't help but confess, but Feng Jingcheng pinched his thigh hard.
His lips twitched, and he gave Nan Yuanman a stiff smile: "Come back soon, I... Fifth Brother is waiting for you at home."
Nanman blinked, "It seems like the older brothers have their own little secrets! That's nice."
The atmosphere at home is much better now than when she first came back!
She smiled and her eyes crinkled: "Okay!"
During the day, the Feng family members were all busy with their own things. At five o'clock in the evening, Feng Congqian returned from the company and drove to the suburbs with Nan Yuanman in a pickup truck that the family had just purchased.
The pickup truck's trunk was crammed full of paper money and various paper offerings, making it particularly conspicuous.
Nan Yuanman sat in the back seat. After Feng Congqian drove the car out of the manor, he cast a divination. According to the divination, he headed southeast and soon arrived at a place specially prepared by the residents of Shangjing for burning paper money for the annual sacrifices.
From afar, Nan Yuanman could see bursts of firelight and the smell of incense in the air. He also saw many people squatting on the ground or sitting on small stools, throwing paper money into copper basins while whispering with red eyes.
Besides the living people burning paper money, there were also dense clusters of vengeful spirits.
As if noticing that someone was watching them, the ghosts turned their pale, illusory faces to look at them, their expressions blank.
It looks extremely terrifying at first glance.
Besides the spirits with owners, Nan Yuanman also saw some lonely ghosts without anyone to worship them fighting over a piece of paper money that had fallen out of a copper basin. They were fighting fiercely over the paper money, even tearing off arms and ripping off heads, creating a chaotic and bloody scene.
Nan Yuanman looked away and found a relatively spacious spot for Feng Congqian to park: "Dad, let's park here."
"Okay." Feng Congqian stopped as instructed, opened the car door first, got out of the car, and carried Nan Yuanman out of the back seat.
After Nan Yuanman got out of the car, he instructed Feng Congqian to unload the items from the trunk.
Under the cover of night, Feng Congqian and Nan Yuanman's outstanding temperament and appearance did not attract the attention of others. Instead, they glanced at Feng Congqian a few more times as he unloaded so many things from the pickup truck, but quickly looked away.
After the items were unloaded, Nan Yuanman took out a small incense burner, lit three incense sticks, and then drew a circle with the small incense burner as the center, and began to burn things in the circle.
As she burned the paper money, she beckoned to the pale-faced girl who was squatting outside the circle, staring longingly at the paper money: "Miss, come here."
The girl didn't realize Nan Yuanman was calling her. She was still squatting outside the circle of light, looking on expectantly. When Nan Yuanman called her a second time, she pointed at herself in disbelief and timidly asked, "Are you calling me?"
“Oh right.” Nan Yuanman smiled and said, “Go in and get your things, but you can only take one of each item, you can’t take more than that.”
The girl's eyes lit up instantly. She quickly got up and bowed repeatedly to Nan Yuanman to express her gratitude. She carefully moved into the circle of light. When she found that the circle of light did not harm her, she was overjoyed. Following Nan Yuanman's instructions, she happily took one of each item.
As she was choosing, Nan Yuanman said, "Miss, go and call over your older brothers and sisters, younger brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers. You can only take one of each item."
Upon hearing this, the girl instantly understood that Nan Yuanman had come to offer alms. She immediately put away the items, bowed solemnly to her, and ran off to inform her companions.
Besides the girl, Nan Yuanman also called over several wandering ghosts with merits to choose items, but she didn't call over those wandering ghosts with dark and malicious souls.
Even if they come uninvited, they cannot enter the circle she drew to take anything.
“Um…” As Nan Yuanman watched the wandering ghosts distribute the items, a weak voice suddenly came from behind him: “Little friend, if you burn things like that, the people over there won’t receive them.”
Nan Yuanman turned around curiously and looked in the direction from which the sound came. The first thing he saw was not the person who spoke, but the towering, ghostly belly.
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