People worship their ancestors: I'm just burning some paper money, how did I become a Taoist ma

The Netherworld, the Department of Spirit Communication.

Li Fengnian, with his bulging money bag in his hand, stood in front of the Tongling Division's gate, looked up at the black plaque with gold lettering, and took a deep breath.

"Next," the clerk called out without looking up.

Li Fengnian quickly stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "My lord, I wish to pray for my descendants in the mortal world. Please help me with this."

The clerk then raised his head and looked Li Fengnian up and down.

Seeing that he was dressed in fine silk clothes, with a ruddy complexion and high spirits, unlike those impoverished and destitute ghosts, the clerk's expression softened slightly.

"Pray for your descendants?" The clerk picked up a document from the side. "Fill out the form. Write down the names, places of origin, dates of birth, and the content of your prayers for your descendants."

Li Fengnian took the pen, sat down at the desk, and began to fill it out carefully.

He filled in Li Mu's information first:

[Descendant of Yangshang: Li Mu]

Place of origin: Mingyang Street, Tianhe District, Tianhai City, Great Xia Kingdom

Birth date and time (eight characters): Year of Bingzi, Month of Wuxu, Day of Jiayin, Hour of Bingyin

Prayer: May I have abundant wealth, become rich overnight, and never have to worry about money.

Then I filled in Li Xiaoran's information:

[Descendant of Yangshang: Li Xiaoran]

Place of origin: Mingyang Street, Tianhe District, Tianhai City, Great Xia Kingdom

Birth date and time (eight characters): Year of Ji-Mao, Month of Ding-Mao, Day of Xin-Si, Hour of Wu-Zi

Prayer content: Academic success, smooth college entrance examination, and admission to the top of the list.

After filling out the form, Li Fengnian handed the document to the clerk with both hands.

The clerk took it, looked it over carefully, nodded, then pulled a thick booklet from the wooden shelf behind him, turned to a certain page, pointed at the words on it with his finger, and muttered something to himself.

After a while, the clerk closed the book and looked up at Li Fengnian.

"Li Fengnian, praying for the descendants of Yangshang requires a huge amount of money, and this place is only for handling business on your behalf. Neither you nor I can know the specifics. Are you aware of this?"

"I know," Li Fengnian quickly replied.

"Wealth is managed by the God of Wealth, and academic success is overseen by the God of Literature... We will pass on all the blessings we offer!"

"Sir, how much money do you need for wealth luck and academic luck respectively?"

The clerk picked up an abacus, clicked the keys a few times, and then announced a number.

"A fortune of one million gold coins. A top-tier literary talent of five million gold coins."

Li Fengnian's heart skipped a beat after hearing this.

That's really not cheap!

Fortunately, Li Mu spent a lot of money, otherwise there would have been no way to get things done in the Netherworld!

After paying the required amount, Li Fengnian went and had another dream for Li Mu.

While dream-seeking is typically quite expensive, it's not a large sum for Li Fengnian at his current level; even with the significant expense of the blessing, the remaining amount is still substantial.

……

The world of the living.

At Li Mu's home in Tianhai City.

The next morning, Li Mu was woken up by his alarm clock. Still half asleep, he picked up his phone and glanced at it—it was seven in the morning.

"Great-Grandpa appeared in my dream again so soon!" Li Mu sighed. "The expenses for praying for the descendants of the living are greater than I imagined. So much money was burned, and more than half of it was spent on praying for me and Xiaoran! Fortune, academic success... Now I just need to focus on living my life!"

However, in this way, everything can be preordained, and there will be no problem in delivering things accurately to the deceased and praying for the blessings of the ancestors.

After getting up, Li Mu quickly changed his clothes and washed up. Li Xiaoran had already left for school, so Li Mu prepared to go out for breakfast.

As soon as Li Mu stepped out the door, his phone rang.

Li Mu glanced at the caller ID; it was Jiang Yiling calling.

"Hey? Li Mu, are you up yet?" Jiang Yiling's clear voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Get up, what's wrong?"

"I'm going to the spirit hall to prepare some things now. Are you free? Could you help me with the offerings?"

"Okay, I'll go grab some breakfast and head straight there. See you at the entrance of the Spirit Hall."

"Okay! By the way, I searched for the sacrificial methods you used last night, but I couldn't find them online. Are you sure you learned them from a book?"

Li Mu's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly regained his composure and casually said, "That kind of book is rare on the market. I found it by chance at a used bookstore. If you're interested, I'll look for it another day."

"Okay! That's all for now, see you at noon!"

……

At 9:00 AM, at the entrance of the Tongling Temple.

Li Mu arrived on time on his electric bike and saw Jiang Yiling standing by a stone pillar at the edge of the square, surrounded by large and small bags.

"Why did you buy so much?" Li Mu parked the car and went over to take a look. Jiang Yiling had bought six large bags of sacrificial supplies, including gold and silver ingots, paper money, clothing, incense and candles... everything imaginable.

"Didn't you say you wanted to be sincere? Buy more to show your sincerity," Jiang Yiling said matter-of-factly.

Li Mu smiled but didn't say anything more.

He helped Jiang Yiling load her things onto the cart, and the two of them pushed the cart together toward the cemetery behind.

Jiang Yiling's ancestors are buried on the other side of the cemetery, about five or six hundred meters away from the grave of Li Mu's great-grandfather.

Jiang Yiling chattered incessantly the whole way.

"Let me tell you, I was so excited last night that I couldn't sleep well. All I could think about was whether my great-grandfather and maternal grandfather would appear in my dreams after I performed the rites according to your method today."

"Don't think too much about it right now, just focus on doing today's worship well," Li Mu reminded him. "You must be sincere and not half-hearted."

"Okay, you decide."

The two quickly found the grave of Jiang Yiling's great-grandfather.

The tombstone is inscribed with "Tomb of Jiang Gong, whose given name was Demao," while his maternal grandfather's tomb is on the other side, about a hundred meters away.

Li Mu first had Jiang Yiling put her things down, and then taught her how to write the seal and the letter.

"What was your great-grandfather's name? Do you know his birth and death dates?"

"Jiang Demao's birth date... I don't quite remember, but his death date was the third day of the fifth month," Jiang Yiling said somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's alright, write as much as you can." Li Mu handed her a calligraphy brush. "You write."

Jiang Yiling took the brush and nervously began to write on the yellow paper.

Her handwriting wasn't bad, but compared to Li Mu's flowing and elegant style, the difference was still quite obvious.

After writing the seal, Li Mu taught her how to write the formal petition.

This time, Li Mu didn't do it for her; instead, he taught her how to write it word by word.

"Then write the date. March 29, 2026 AD, the eleventh day of the second month of the Bingwu year in the lunar calendar. Jiang Yiling, granddaughter of Yang Shangxiao, respectfully offers incense, candles, paper money, clothing, and other offerings to..."

Jiang Yiling wrote stroke by stroke, her expression as serious as a primary school student just learning to write.

It took almost half an hour to finally finish writing the document.

Li Mu checked it once. Although there were some minor issues with the formatting, the basic content was there and it should be usable.

"Alright, next, light incense and candles, and place three sticks of incense in front of each of your great-grandfather's and maternal grandfather's graves."

Jiang Yiling did as instructed.

"Then, like this, draw a circle on the ground, leaving a gap towards the tombstone." Li Mu squatted down and drew a circle on the ground with a stone. "Remember, burn some paper money outside the circle to appease the underworld officials and wandering ghosts on the road. The paper money inside the circle is for your great-grandfather."

Jiang Yiling studied diligently, afraid of missing any step.

"Finally, start burning things. While burning, silently recite your great-grandfather's name, tell them who you are, what you sent them, and what you hope they will bless you with."

Jiang Yiling nodded, squatted down, and began to place the sacrificial items into the circle one by one to burn.

Flames rose and wisps of blue smoke rose.

As Jiang Yiling burned the paper money, she murmured softly, "Grandpa, Grandma, it's me, Yiling, your granddaughter. I've burned a lot of money and clothes for you. Don't be stingy with the money down there. If you need anything, just tell me in a dream. Please bless me with peace and safety, and that my work goes smoothly..."

Her voice was soft, but the sincerity and longing in her tone were enough to make one's heart ache.

Li Mu stood aside, watching silently without saying a word.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that his journey to this world might have been ordained by fate.

In my previous life, I was a Taoist priest, performing rituals for people; it was just a way to make a living.

And in this world, what he learned actually helped the living reconnect with their deceased loved ones.