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

Li Mu was panting heavily, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

It wasn't a dream... no, it was a dream, but it felt so real!

He remembered every word his great-grandfather said clearly, even the wrinkles on his great-grandfather's face and the color of his clothes.

Li Mu sat up abruptly, picked up his phone from the bedside table, and glanced at it—3:15 a.m.

He took a deep breath, threw off the covers, got out of bed, slipped on his slippers, and walked out of the room to Li Xiaoran's door.

"Xiaoran! Xiaoran!" He knocked on the door.

There was no response.

Li Mu knocked a few more times, raising his voice: "Li Xiaoran! Wake up! Get up!"

"What's wrong...?" came Li Xiaoran's groggy voice from inside the room. "What's wrong with you in the middle of the night...?"

"Open the door quickly, I have something important to tell you!"

After a few rustling sounds, the door opened, and Li Xiaoran, wearing pajamas, rubbed her eyes and looked at him with displeasure.

"Li Mu, you'd better have something really important to say, or I'm not finished with you."

Li Mu, not bothering to argue with her, asked directly, "Did you have a dream just now? Did you dream about your great-grandfather?"

Li Xiaoran's hand stopped on her eyes, and she froze.

She slowly lowered her hand, staring wide-eyed at Li Mu, her lips trembling slightly: "How...how did you know?"

Li Mu took a deep breath: "Because I dreamed about it too."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoran suddenly opened her hazy eyes and looked at Li Mu in front of her with an expression of disbelief!

……

In Li Xiaoran's room, the brother and sister sat on the edge of the bed, checking the details of their dream one after another.

They gradually realized that they had both dreamed of their great-grandfather, and that they had many things in common!

Li Xiaoran looked at Li Mu with a hint of admiration in her eyes. They had worshipped him so many times before, but her great-grandfather had never made a move.

But this time, Li Mu's more complicated approach actually brought his great-grandfather to his attention in a dream!

Clearly, Li Mu's method was effective!

"Will you continue burning cigarettes like this in the future?" Li Xiaoran couldn't help but ask.

"Burn!" Li Mu said decisively. "Not only should we burn, but we should burn a lot! Great-grandfather said that he can only do things for us if he has money. The more we burn for him, the more he will be able to protect us."

He paused, his mind already racing with plans for the next step.

"I'll start preparing things as soon as it's light. This time I'll buy a lot more: gold and silver ingots, paper money, clothes, carriages, everything I can get. Oh, and I also need to write a petition, clearly stating our wishes..."

Li Xiaoran listened to him talking non-stop and suddenly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Li Mu asked, bewildered.

"It's nothing," Li Xiaoran shook his head, "I just think... you're a pretty reliable older brother."

Li Mu paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Alright, go to sleep. You have school tomorrow morning."

"Um."

Li Mu left Li Xiaoran's room, returned to his own bed, and lay down, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

He stared at the ceiling, his mind replaying the image of his great-grandfather in his dream.

……

Li Mu woke up shortly after dawn.

After getting up, Li Mu changed his clothes and washed up, then went out without doing anything else.

Li Xiaoran is a day student, and she's not young anymore, so there's no need to worry about her going to school. She'll go to school by herself after she gets up!

She would buy her own breakfast outside!

Li Mu rode the slightly worn electric bike straight to the Tongling Temple.

Along the way, Li Mu was distracted by his great-grandfather's dream last night; since Yangxia was also an extremely realistic place, he should burn as much paper money as possible for his great-grandfather today.

Otherwise, if the offerings are insufficient and the great-grandfather doesn't have enough, it will cost a lot of money to have him appear in a dream, which would be a loss.

The Tongling Temple wasn't far from where Li Mu lived; it only took twenty minutes to get there by electric scooter.

It was still early, and there were only a few worshippers in the square in front of the Tongling Hall, much quieter than the bustling scene yesterday.

Li Mu parked his electric scooter in the parking area next to the square and headed straight for the sacrificial supplies store from yesterday.

The shop had just opened, and the owner was arranging some newly arrived paper offerings at the entrance. When he saw Li Mu walking over, he recognized him at a glance.

"Young man, you're here again?" the shopkeeper greeted him with a smile. "How's the stuff you bought yesterday?"

"That's great, boss." Li Mu walked into the store, his eyes scanning the shelves. "I'm going to buy more today."

"Sure, see what you want, and I'll give you a discount."

Li Mu didn't stand on ceremony and started wandering around the store.

"Give me fifty bags of these gold and silver ingots."

"Give me twenty bundles of these Jade Emperor coins."

"The burial garments are made of silk or satin."

"Two carriages, please."

"And this..."

Li Mu pointed to each item one by one, and the boss's eyes widened as he listened, his hands clicking away on the calculator.

"Young man, are you moving or what?" the shopkeeper couldn't help but ask. "Buying so much, how many ancestors are you going to burn as offerings?"

"It's just for my great-grandfather," Li Mu said without looking up.

The shopkeeper paused for a moment, then gave a thumbs up: "Your filial piety is commendable! Your great-grandfather is blessed in the afterlife."

Li Mu smiled but didn't explain further.

After all the items were counted, the shopkeeper pressed a few buttons on the calculator and announced a number: "The total is six thousand three hundred dollars. I'll round it down to six thousand two."

Li Mu took out his phone, hesitated for a fraction of a second looking at the balance screen, and then made the payment decisively.

"Boss, there's a lot of stuff, I can't carry it all by myself, could you help me deliver it?"

"No problem!" The boss waved his hand and shouted into the shop, "Old Liu, Little Zhang, come out and help carry these things! To the cemetery behind!"

Two shop assistants came out in response and quickly carried Li Mu's purchases onto a small cart.

Li Mu helped carry the items, making several trips back and forth, until all the sacrificial items were loaded onto the cart.

The entire cart was piled up like a small mountain.

After leaving the shop, Li Mu pushed the cart across the square in front of the Tongling Hall, intending to go around to the cemetery behind it.

Just as I reached the center of the square, a familiar voice came from the side.

"Li Mu?"

Li Mu paused, turning his head to look.

A girl in a beige dress was standing by a stone pillar at the edge of the square, holding a small sachet in her hand. She looked like she had just finished worshipping.

The girl was in her early twenties, with long, flowing hair, delicate features, and fair skin. Her large eyes were looking at Li Mu with a hint of surprise.