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

After hanging up the phone, Li Xiaoran leaned over and asked with a gossipy look, "Who was it? Male or female?"

"A woman." Li Mu put away his phone. "A college classmate."

"What does the woman want from you?"

"You need my help with something."

Li Xiaoran responded with an "oh" and didn't press further, but her eyes clearly showed a hint of curiosity.

……

The next morning, Li Mu received a message from Jiang Yiling while he was having breakfast. They had already set off and would arrive in about ten minutes.

Li Mu replied with a "Okay," then quickly finished his meal and went out.

Li Mu waited at the entrance of the residential area for a short while before a car pulled up and stopped.

"Li Mu! Over here!" Jiang Yiling, who was in the passenger seat, saw Li Mu and waved to him.

Upon seeing this, Li Mu immediately opened the car door, got in, and sat in the back seat, where he immediately saw a young and beautiful woman in the driver's seat!

"You must be Li Mu?" The woman turned her head and greeted her with a smile, "Hello, I'm Xu Qing, Jiang Yiling's friend."

"Hello," Li Mu replied with a smile.

"Let's drive first, we can talk about the rest on the way," Jiang Yiling said.

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing immediately drove off!

……

As the car drove out of the city, the scenery outside the window gradually changed from skyscrapers to farmland and villages.

While driving, Xu Qing explained the situation to Li Mu.

Her father died in an accident a few years ago and was buried in her hometown. She would go back to pay her respects every few days, but she never saw her father appear in her dreams or appear in her spirit.

However, after hearing Jiang Yiling mention the dream of her ancestors yesterday, Xu Qing asked her about the details, which gave her the idea of ​​asking Li Mu to help worship her father!

……

On the way, Xu Qing bought some necessities under Li Mu's guidance, and the remaining sacrificial items such as gold and silver ingots would be purchased after arriving in her hometown.

Since the vehicle has limited space, it was impossible to carry too many sacrificial items, so we only bought some things that might not be available in the countryside!

……

An hour and a half later, the car entered a small village.

When Xu Qing passed by a shop, she greeted the owner she knew and asked them to help deliver the offerings to the grave!

Then, Xu Qing led Li Mu and Jiang Yiling to the grave at the foot of the mountain!

After lighting incense and offering a simple prayer, Li Mu began writing the seal and petition, while simultaneously asking Xu Qing for information about her father.

Xu Qing answered them one by one. Although she didn't remember some of the information very clearly, she had the general idea.

After finishing writing the memorial, Li Mu stood up, ready to follow the familiar steps and begin the worship ceremony.

"Xu Qing! Light the incense and candles and offer a prayer first!" Li Mu reminded Xu Qing.

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing immediately lit incense and candles and bowed three times!

After bowing, she stuck three incense sticks into the ground.

Li Mu stood to the side, looking at the three incense sticks, and frowned slightly.

The incense wasn't burned correctly.

Of the three incense sticks, the two on the sides burned fairly well, but the smoke from the middle one didn't rise; instead, it swirled and sank downwards, as if it were being held down by something.

When Li Mu was a Taoist priest in his previous life, his master taught him to discern good and bad fortune by observing incense. He could tell a lot from whether the incense was burning brightly or the smoke was moving smoothly.

This type of incense, characterized by "two strong and one weak" aromas, is called "pressing-down incense," indicating that the deceased in the grave has not yet returned to the underworld!

Li Mu remained silent and glanced at the pair of candles again.

The candle flame was also not right.

A normal candle flame should shoot upwards, although it may sway in the wind, but overall it should point upwards.

But the candles in front of me had short, flickering flames, as if they were about to go out but couldn't be extinguished.

A candle burning like this is called "yin wind suppressing the fire," which is also an unlucky omen.

Li Mu already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on, but he didn't rush to conclusions. He squatted down and began to help Xu Qing burn paper money.

Gold and silver ingots and paper money were placed into the circle and burned one by one.

The paper was burning quite brightly, but Li Mu noticed a detail—the color of the ash was wrong.

Normally, when paper money is burned, the ash is grayish-white, light, and easily dispersed by the wind. But the ash in front of me is black and heavy, clumped together, as if it had been damp.

"Xu Qing, stop for a moment," Li Mu finally spoke.

Xu Qing was taken aback, and quickly stopped what she was doing, looking up at him with a puzzled expression in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Yiling also came over.

Li Mu did not answer directly. Instead, he took out a piece of yellow paper from the bag, folded it a few times to make a small figure, and then dipped a brush in ink and wrote a few words on the figure.

Xu Baoguo's name and birth date.

After finishing writing, Li Mu placed the paper figure in the center of the circle, picked up a few pieces of paper money from the side and covered it with the paper, then lit it with a lighter.

The flames licked at the paper figure, and it quickly caught fire.

Li Mu stared at the ball of fire, motionless.

The paper doll burned very quickly, but a strange phenomenon occurred at the end.

The paper figure's body was completely burned to ashes, except for the head area, where a small piece of paper remained that hadn't been completely burned. It was shaped like a face, but the ink on it had been distorted and blurred by the heat.

Li Mu's face immediately darkened.

"He's not here," he said softly.

"What?" Xu Qing didn't hear clearly.

"Your father's spirit is not in the underworld." Li Mu raised his head, looked at Xu Qing, and said, word by word.

Xu Qing's face turned deathly pale instantly.

"What...what did you say?" Her voice trembled. "My father's spirit isn't here? Then...where is he?"

Jiang Yiling was also startled and quickly asked, "Li Mu, how did you figure it out? Was there anything wrong when you were burning the paper money?"

Li Mu pointed to the three incense sticks.

"Look at the incense stick in the middle. The smoke sinks downwards; this is called 'pressing down incense.' The deceased has not yet returned to the underworld, so the incense cannot be continued, and that's why the smoke sinks."

He then pointed to the pair of candles.

"The candle flame is short and flickering, which is because the yin wind is suppressing the fire. There is no owner in the grave, so the yin energy is unstable, and the fire cannot burn well."

Finally, he pointed to the scraps of paper remaining in the pile of ashes.

"I wrote your father's name and birth date on that paper effigy. If his spirit were here, the paper effigy would have burned completely, leaving not a trace. But look, the paper at the head didn't burn through, which means your father's spirit is not here. The paper effigy can't find its owner, so it naturally didn't burn completely."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing burst into tears.

"Then where is my dad...where is my dad?"

Jiang Yiling quickly stepped forward to support Xu Qing, then turned to look at Li Mu, her eyes filled with worry.

"Li Mu, is there any way? Since you could figure it out, you must have a way, right?"

What Li Mu was saying was a bit mystical, and she didn't quite understand it, but seeing how seriously Li Mu was talking about it, she figured it wasn't just nonsense!

Li Mu pondered for a moment, but did not rush to answer.