After finishing these tasks, Zhang Xiuxiu looked up, staring at the clock.
Outside on the street, there came the sound of orderly footsteps.
Zhang Chi: "They're here."
Xiuxiu immediately went to take down the door panel, then retreated back, kneeling beside her brother.
The footsteps on the street drew closer, and even though Li Zhiyuan wasn't Walking Yin, he could hear the faint music and the clanging of gongs.
Furthermore, even standing inside the shop, several candlelights could be seen flickering ahead and behind, indicating that quite a few people like Zhang Chi had opened ghost shops.
Zhang Chi turned back and said to Li Zhiyuan, "If you want to watch, please kneel. If not, please go back inside. Otherwise, you might cause trouble."
Saying this, Zhang Chi took out two cushions from his side and placed them behind himself.
He probably thought these two guests would be willing to kneel.
To his surprise, after he finished speaking, the two guests retreated to the inner room.
Zhang Chi was slightly stunned but didn't think much of it and resumed his position, bowing his head.
The footsteps approached, and soon people dressed in uniform robes appeared, formed into two teams, passing down the street.
Each of them had a deep white face, so white that their facial features seemed like an incongruous burden on their faces.
Immediately after, a large palanquin appeared, carried by "people" dressed in different attire, with a gentle sway above, seated with an underworld noble from an unknown place.
Though they retreated to the inner room, they could still see the scene outside through gaps between clothes.
Lin Shuyou asked, "Brother Xiao Yuan, is this a fixed nightly event on Fengdu Ghost Street?"
Ah You thought, if it really were like this every night, then tourists coming to Fengdu would truly find it worthwhile.
Daytime has live performances, and nighttime has the procession of ghosts, with no break in the schedule all day long.
Li Zhiyuan: "No."
Last time Li Zhiyuan came, he didn't encounter this situation, and it's not a temple fair day recently.
Moreover, last time on the whole street, only Yin Meng's grandfather had a ghost shop here.
This time, not only did this happen at night, but the number of ghost shops has suddenly increased a lot.
This indicates that during this period, the flow of visitors is quite abundant; otherwise, they couldn't sustain so many ghost shops.
Round after round of processions passed by, each round having a main seat, either sitting in a palanquin, carriage, or simply a large platform, with the distinguished person above often appearing indistinct as if unwilling to show their face, those visible often peculiar.
Lin Shuyou watched with relish.
In his hometown, there's a tradition of god parades, with similar activities aplenty, but all played by humans with coordination and stages, which is but a human-simulated activity, nowhere as authentic as this.
Of course, this is Fengdu, and its occurrence is understandable.
If such a scale of Hundred Ghosts Night Walk happened in his hometown, wouldn't the officials be overwhelmed?
"Crunch... Crunch... Crunch..."
This grinding sound, though ethereal, clearly had a metallic quality, and it was very chaotic compared to the orderly footsteps of the previous procession.
Before long, when a new round of procession appeared, leading the way on both sides were a group of armored soldiers.
All wearing damaged armor, pitted here and there, the soldiers inside had pale faces similar to those in front, marching with mismatched steps.
The figure in the middle of the procession wasn't carried, but rather rode a horse by himself, his posture upright, being stately, yet without a head.
And as the procession advanced, these armored soldiers would break away from the procession and run to both sides.
Several candlelights outside flickered as a result, indicating that several ghost shops had received something.
Two ghost soldiers stopped at the garment store's entrance, broke away from the procession, and walked in.
Zhang Chi wasn't surprised by this scene, and he signaled to his sister to start burning paper.
Xiuxiu ignited the paper money, placing it in the fire basin.
Yet the two ghost soldiers weren't satisfied and still stood in front of the Zhang siblings, with one even leaning its extremely pale face toward Xiuxiu.
Zhang Chi: "Xiuxiu, add an offering."
Xiuxiu responded, took out a bottle, and poured the red liquid inside into the fire basin, producing an immediate "sizzle" sound as a wisp of gray mist rose.
The two ghost soldiers began to suck greedily, with a trace of pleasure emerging on their pale faces.
But they still didn't move their feet to leave.
The previous blood should be animal blood, possibly chicken or cow blood, wrapped in incense ashes left to sit.
If ordinary paper money is compared to plain rice, then this seasoned type is equivalent to fried rice, more pleasurable.
Ordinary people, however, don't need to bother with these tricks during rites, as improperly adding blood without understanding the formula might provoke the originally benign ghostly entities.
The two ghost soldiers in front hadn't been provoked into aggression; they were simply too greedy, insatiable.
Zhang Chi: "Xiuxiu, pour the wine."
Actually, there was wine on the offering table, but it was ordinary wine.
Xiuxiu took out another bottle, pulled out the stopper, and poured the wine on the ground in front of her.
From a Walking Yin perspective, the wine vapor that was supposed to fall down rose instead, absorbed by the two ghost soldiers.
The ghost soldiers' figures began to sway, and a blush appeared on their pale faces.
Seeing this, Zhang Chi felt relieved, thinking they had managed to appease them.
But unexpectedly, one of the ghost soldiers, after "drinking" the wine, further leaned its face towards Xiuxiu, sniffing with its nose, as if intending to extract something.
The other ghost soldier didn't pay attention to Xiuxiu but leaned toward Zhang Chi, performing the same action in front of him.
Lin Shuyou: "Brother Xiao Yuan, what does this mean?"
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