"The wind's cold, put on your sheepskin coats. Don't catch a chill in a bit."
Lu Yuan returned to his own territory and looked at the two junior brothers under the withered tree who had taken off their coats, their bodies still steaming with heat, raising his eyebrows lightly.
Having just downed a large bowl of mutton soup each, they had indeed dispelled the night's chill, the drink warming their insides thoroughly.
The two junior brothers were always obedient. Hearing this, they immediately put their sheepskin coats back on.
Lu Yuan fished out an old brass pocket watch from his pocket and glanced at it by moonlight.
Seven o'clock at night.
Still three hours until midnight.
"It's getting late. Let's do a final check of the ritual, and while we're at it, treat the local folks to 'dinner.'"
As Lu Yuan spoke, he walked toward a heavy large chest nearby.
Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an immediately followed. The three lit a candle, its faint firelight illuminating three serious faces.
Lu Yuan took out a large bundle of incense sticks and lit them over the candlelight. The crimson fire points flickered in the darkness.
"Spread out, the usual routine."
The three then separated, each holding a bundle of incense, walking in different directions across this mountain peak, beginning to offer incense to each scattered grave mound one by one.
Xu Erxiao walked toward the farthest area. He held the incense, his footsteps light, murmuring in a low voice, "Neighbors from all directions, passing through this precious land, we've disturbed you. Those with homes return home, those with temples return to temples. Those without homes or temples, follow the light forward and don't suffer desolation in this place. Having received this incense offering is fate. May you all rest in peace and receive blessings..."
Wang Cheng'an walked toward the other side, reciting in a more professional tone as he walked, "Clear incense connects the dharma realm, offering to masterless spirits. By the Supreme's command, transcend you lonely souls. Incense clouds float as covering, the path leads to the netherworld. Receive this incense offering, may each be at peace."
Lu Yuan was responsible for the nearby grave mounds. His movements weren't hurried. At each spot, he respectfully inserted three incense sticks, praying aloud, "Lonely souls from all directions, passing divine spirits, today we pass through and respectfully offer incense. One clear incense stick, universally offered. Do not disturb the mortal world, may each obtain peace."
Throughout the day, the "local folks" here had given him a pretty good feeling.
All were well-behaved.
As long as the offerings were adequate, they promised not to cause trouble.
How did they promise?
Accepting the incense was the promise.
Ghost beings were simpler than people, especially these lonely wild ghosts with shallow cultivation and unopened spiritual wisdom. They didn't understand so many complications.
Receiving incense offerings was equivalent to making an agreement.
If any harbored ill intentions and wanted to mischievously cause trouble at night, they absolutely wouldn't touch this incense.
Throughout the day, the incense offerings at all the grave mounds had been "eaten" clean, indicating the local folks were all giving face.
There were actually quite a few lonely wild ghosts in this vicinity, but the [Subdue Demons and Eliminate Evil] system didn't mark them all individually.
That system only gave prominent markers for things that could threaten Lu Yuan's safety.
For the others, it was entirely up to Lu Yuan's own Daoist "techniques" to perceive them.
As he inserted incense, his steps paused. He came before a rather special grave mound.
This grave was solitary, far removed from that cluster of burial grounds.
Those with friends who lived in rural villages should know that village graveyards were all in clusters, in groups.
That is, all the grave mounds were basically together.
After all, when people were alive, they liked living together with others.
When dead, they didn't want to be alone in a solitary grave mound in the wilderness either but this grave mound before him clearly had distance from that circle of grave mounds, alone and isolated outside.
There were many reasons for this situation.
Either this person had extremely poor relations in the village during life and wasn't allowed into the ancestral graves after death or the death was too tragic, too inauspicious, and the villagers feared she'd become an evil ghost after death, so they didn't dare let her be buried with their own ancestors.
Lu Yuan lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the characters on the tombstone eroded by time.
The deceased, Gu Qingwan, died at age twenty.
So young...
What a pity.
"We meet again, Miss Qingwan."
Lu Yuan said softly, inserting all the dozen or so ordinary incense sticks remaining in his hand before her grave.
He looked left and right. The figures of Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an were still in the distance, not yet returned.
Lu Yuan's hand moved slightly within his sleeve.
When it emerged again, three unusual incense sticks had appeared between his fingers.
These three incense sticks were entirely blue-black, their texture fine and delicate like jade, their surfaces seemingly wreathed in a faint halo difficult for the naked eye to distinguish.
These were things he'd brought from Earth.
As mentioned before, most people who transmigrated did so via soul transmigration.
That is, their soul transmigrated into a dead person's body in this era, then continued living as that person but Lu Yuan wasn't like that.
Lu Yuan was a pure body transmigration!
Lu Yuan's body was his own body from Earth.
Back then, Lu Yuan had been climbing Mount Tai to watch the sunrise. He dozed off for a bit, and when he woke up, he was here.
After transmigrating, he'd also brought quite a few things from Earth.
The incense in his hand was one such item.
The premier incense from Mount Tai's Jade Emperor Hall. Legend had it that in ancient times, when emperors performed feng shan ceremonies, this was what they used to venerate heaven and earth.
This incense was normally kept in the system space. Only when Lu Yuan encountered someone pitiful would he take it out to use.
After a year, not many sticks remained.
"How about it, does the flavor from my hometown taste different from yours here?"
"It should... taste better, right?"
Scratch—
Lu Yuan struck a match, the flame licking the incense head.
An indescribably clear and refreshing fragrance instantly permeated the air.
Different from any incense in this place, this scent seemed able to penetrate yin and yang, reaching directly to the depths of the soul.
Lu Yuan looked at the name on the tombstone, pondering in his heart.
Twenty years old and not allowed to be buried in the village graveyard...
It probably wasn't because she was disliked by the villagers during life. More likely it was because her death was somewhat tragic.
Lu Yuan silently and with utmost seriousness bowed three times. The prayer in his mouth was also different from before, becoming far more solemn and grave, "Heaven is clear and earth is tranquil, laws and decrees flow freely. In this netherworld realm, hear my incense prayer! Your previous karma is settled, old debts unclear. Today with heavenly incense, temporarily comfort your spirit. Grievances have sources, debts have owners. Don't be trapped here mistaking reincarnation. Three bright incense sticks point the way, one heart lamp illuminates the darkness! Receiving this offering, quickly become clear and bright. Each seek karmic law, neither stagnate nor stop!"
Those who cultivate the Dao, walking between the yin and yang realms, if they had no bit of benevolent thought accompanying them, dealing long with those evil spirits who only knew how to harm people.
Their hearts would also become like iron and stone, ultimately degenerating into walking corpses wearing human skin.
This was a principle Lu Yuan had comprehended himself.
"Safely set out on your journey..."
Lu Yuan steadily inserted the three heavenly incense sticks before the grave, straightened his body, and sighed softly.
Just as his words fell, Xu Erxiao's voice came from behind, carrying a few traces of surprise.
"Huh?"
"Brother Lu, you know this local folk?"
"How come you're even giving her special treatment and reciting an incantation?"
Lu Yuan turned around to see Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an had returned at some point, staring at him curiously.
Lu Yuan casually shrugged, "Don't know her. Just felt it was somewhat regrettable that she died at only twenty."
Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an both nodded, not saying much more.
After all, they'd always known Brother Lu was kindhearted.
Wang Cheng'an glanced at the solitary grave mound behind Lu Yuan and grinned, teasing, "Then her luck is pretty good~"
"After all, when our Brother Lu properly recites prayers for someone, it costs at least ten yuan~"
"She really profited~"
Lu Yuan walked over and gave him an exasperated kick.
"Stop being cheeky. Is everything settled on your ends?"
The two quickly nodded, indicating everything went smoothly. The incense offerings were fine, and the arranged ritual was safe and sound.
Everything was ready, just waiting for that Old Master Xu to transform into a corpse.
The three were talking and turning to head back.
Just then, Lu Yuan suddenly felt a bone-chilling yin wind brush past the nape of his neck from behind.
Immediately after, an intermittent voice, as if squeezed out from deep within a throat, sounded behind his ear.
That voice was very light, carrying a gurgling sound like bursting bubbles.
"...Thank... you..."
Lu Yuan: "???"