"I'm sorry."

Mi Yali whispered in Yu Qiutang's ear.

The two of them watched in front of the Goddess of Childbirth for a long time. Seeing women of all ages getting dolls one after another, Miyali still didn't dare to take action.

Yu Qiutang pointed at the people next to him and whispered, "Look, it's all women who steal. It doesn't work if a man steals."

Miali actually noticed this as well.

But she was still not used to stealing things directly. Her parents had been decent people since she was a child. They taught her that even if she was poor, she should have the ambition to be poor and should never do anything illegal or immoral.

"I'm sorry."

Miali still didn't dare.

Yu Qiutang had no choice but to continue fooling people, "This is the custom. We didn't steal it. It was the treasure given to us by the Goddess of Fertility.

Think about it, children are born, but it is not appropriate to ask God to give them to you directly, right? It seems not grand enough, so there is such a custom.

Look at the old ladies around you who are taking things for their daughters-in-law. How can they not be afraid? Do they steal things from others on a daily basis? That’s definitely not the case.

Anyway, when we give birth here, we have to come and get the baby. Otherwise, if we don’t have a baby for a long time, we can’t blame God for not giving us one.”

"Is there still such a thing?"

Yu Qiutang nodded: "Yes, there is."

Miyali thought about it, and had to move closer and stand to the side: "You block my hand, if I am discovered, I will be so embarrassed."

"Don't worry, I'll watch over you."

Yu Qiutang knew that his wife had already given in, so he cooperated with her and carefully approached the bottom of the lotus.

But it’s okay if you don’t do bad things. But once you have this thought, you will immediately feel something is wrong, as if people around you are staring at you.

Originally, the three nuns turned a blind eye and looked straight ahead, but Miali always felt that the nuns were looking at her sideways.

Soon, her palms were sweaty as she grabbed Yu Qiutang.

This really made Yu Qiutang laugh.

"call out!"

Suddenly, when a nun turned her head, Miyali was quick to grab a doll and put it in her pocket, then she pulled Yu Qiutang and ran out of the crowd.

Yu Qiutang didn't think it was necessary to be so exaggerated, but seeing Mi Yali like this, he thought it was fun and ran out with her.

The two men ran for dozens of meters before stopping at the edge of the ditch.

Miyali looked over there nervously, and when she was sure that the nun hadn't caught up with her, she patted her chest and said, "I was scared to death."

"Haha, I'm not that nervous. Look at all the people stealing, but not one of them is being chased."

Miali actually looked at it for a while and found that it was indeed it. Only then did she feel relieved and carefully took out the hidden doll.

She is a skinny little girl.

Two small braids, big eyes, a small mouth, and short arms and legs.

Yu Qiutang couldn't help but associate this doll with his eldest daughter in his previous life. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect or if they were really destined to be together, but they really did look alike.

"Well, it looks like our first one is a daughter."

Miyali was somewhat uninterested. She stroked the baby's braids and whispered, "Do you want to have a son first?"

"No, did I say that?"

Mi Yali said: "It's not the same for everyone. Who doesn't want to have a boy first? With a boy, there will be less pressure later.

Look how strict the law is now. If you can’t have more children, what will you do if you have a girl?”

Yu Qiutang didn't know how to complain for a moment.

First of all, he really doesn’t care whether the baby is a boy or a girl, and he even subconsciously thinks that a daughter would be more obedient.

Secondly, although the enforcement is a bit strict, there are always loopholes to be exploited. There have been several loopholes exploited in the past life.

But at this moment he thought about it, gently held his wife's hand, "I am different from others, you haven't seen it yet, maybe other men like to give birth to a big fat boy, but I am fine with anything.

Whether it's a girl or a son, they are both my precious children. I'm just afraid that if you steal this doll, it will be useless and I won't even have a precious daughter."

Miyali smiled shyly, "When I talk to you seriously, you always like to laugh it off, which makes me wonder if you are telling the truth or not?"

"It doesn't really matter whether it's the truth or not. After a while, you will know that life is not just about words, but about actions, right?"

"Too."

Miali carefully put the doll back together.

"Let's go. We just stole the doll and haven't offered incense to the owner yet."

Yu Qiutang pointed to the incense burner in front of the Guanyin statue.

Mi Yali wanted to not go, but she thought that if she took the doll but didn't offer sacrifices, what if the doll didn't work? In the end, she gritted her teeth and went over to light some incense.

Yu Qiutang also put a dollar into the donation box.

The two then went to other temples and went to the third floor, where they saw the Mengpo Temple. Yu Qiutang suddenly remembered that he seemed to have an aunt in there, so he took Mi Yali in to take a look.

Compared with other rooms, Mengpo's temple room looks particularly shabby.

The room was very small, only about one-third the width of the large temple chamber, but as soon as she entered, Miali was frightened and screamed.

It turned out that right next to the threshold was a lifelike clay statue of a dog.

The dog looked ferocious to begin with, and was facing the door. Its fur was alternating between red and black, and there was a candle lit in its mouth.

At first glance, it's really a bit scary.

There might be a leak somewhere, or there might be an air hole. When you walk in suddenly, the draft will make a "puff puff" sound, which adds to the sense of horror.

Many things in Yaowang Temple are quite suitable for the atmosphere. For example, the atmosphere in the Ten Kings of Hell is similar to this one, with the Ten Kings of Hell on both sides.

Some of the kings of hell also have monsters under their feet. It is dark and damp inside, and even in broad daylight, children and women dare not go in, and they must be accompanied by men.

The incense room of Guanyin Bodhisattva Tathagata Buddha is magnificent, making people feel as if they have entered a mysterious world. The main theme is a real one that suits people with different needs.

Miali is actually quite courageous. As the eldest sister at home, she often takes her younger brothers and sisters to do things.

At night, her younger brothers and sisters were afraid to go to the toilet alone, so she would accompany them.

The toilets here are often outside the house and require the door to be opened. The outdoors is often pitch black, and the night wind blows all kinds of weeds and leaves, making a rustling sound, which is really a bit scary.

But there is a slight difference between that kind of fear and the fear here.

Due to the limitations of this era, people always have a little taboo about ghosts and gods. This fear is not as simple as not doing bad things and not being afraid of ghosts knocking on the door in the middle of the night.

Humans cannot see at night, so their fear of the dark is instinctive. However, causes such as birth, aging, sickness and death cannot be solved or dealt with, so people's subconscious mind will combine it with various mysteries.

Even in this era, when scientific education has become popular, the traditional consciousness that has been deeply buried in the minds of our ancestors since childhood cannot be dissolved and cleansed so quickly. It is fine during the day, but at night, we can't help but make the connection.

It's certainly not night.

But to enhance the atmosphere, the room was deliberately shielded from all the light, and even the only wooden window was covered with black paper, creating a pure Naihe Bridge. Yu Qiutang held Mi Yali's hand and stood on the ground to get used to the environment for a while.

The walls on both sides gradually became clear.

Only then did he realize that there was a weak water painted on the wall, and there were all kinds of little ghosts in the water.

Some had already drowned and were floating in it, some had half of their heads exposed, and some were shouting and howling in pain with their teeth bared.

Next to the piers of the Naihe Bridge, there were little ghosts as densely packed as ants, trying desperately to climb up.

There are masters among the people.

I don’t know who drew these little ghosts so vividly.

Originally they should look dull, but when they got here, everyone had their own expression, and at first glance, you couldn't see anyone who looked alike.

Among these little ghosts, there are high-ranking officials in fancy clothes and ragged peddlers.

There are men and women, young and old, fat and thin, tall and short, and even some with disabilities. What matters is fairness and justice, and no one side will be favored.

Yu Qiutang had also visited the Yaowang Temple many times in his previous life.

But to be honest, he didn't have the money to go up to the second floor.

At each step, there was a person waiting to collect money, and each step cost 1 yuan. So even if he came, he would only walk around the steps because he was short of money.

And when you go around downstairs, you can't go into every room.

Every time you enter a room, you need to pay a fee, at least 20 cents, or even 50 cents, and if you pay a little more, you have to pay one dollar.

He doesn't have the money to spend on this.

Because this place is close to the mountain, landslides often occur and it has been renovated many times.

Come to think of it, he had never seen this version of Meng Po Temple.

It may also be that the atmosphere was too scary, so some modifications were made to adapt to the crowd and not to scare those who were burning incense and worshiping Buddha.

"Bah!"

Suddenly, the sound of a match being struck was heard in the room.

It turned out that there was an old lady standing in front.

At first, the two of them didn't notice it and were just looking at the mural next to them.

Originally, there was only one oil lamp lit on the left side of the table in front. Perhaps when someone came in, he lit another one.

Only then did Yu Qiutang notice that right in front of the Mengpo Temple was a hunched statue of Mengpo.

He held a lamp in one hand and a bowl in the other. His face looked very kind, which formed a sharp contrast with the gloomy room.

Next to the statue of Meng Po, stood an old lady in her sixties or seventies, wearing a blue or gray off-shoulder buttoned dress.

The woman with gray hair saw Yu Qiutang looking at her and sighed, "Since you are here, please burn some incense."

Yu Qiutang was not familiar with this lady either.

She was a cousin of Yu Qiutang's father. People only knew that there was such a relative, but because the relationship was too distant, even his father might not have had much dealings with her, let alone him.

That is, the kind of relatives that are passed down through the mouths of elders, whom you don't know clearly and don't know, and when you walk on the street, they become strangers.

But he heard that this lady did have some skills.

There are two kinds of occupations in the countryside that are related to mysterious trades.

Men are generally called Yin and Yang, which is the Yin and Yang master in the past, while women are called fortune-tellers.

Because the idea of ​​favoring boys over girls is deeply rooted in people's minds, funerals or other rituals related to the dead are all performed by yin and yang.

And fortune-tellers are usually active in daily medical treatment.

For example, if a child is sick or possessed by evil spirits, they need to call these fortune-tellers to come and exorcise the evil spirits.

The old ladies at home are generally very good at methods of exorcising evil spirits, such as beating with peach branches, inserting chopsticks into a bowl of water, kicking the bowl, etc.

However, they could not solve the more difficult problems, so they had to ask these witches to come.

My aunt is such a person.

Anyway, it is said to be quite effective, and many people nearby know about it. Later, when her life became better, people from all over the place often drove to see her.

He thought of the past of this aunt again. It was said that when she was young, her two children had accidents at the same time.

She cried for a long time and her eyes were damaged.

Although he is not completely blind, he seems to have trouble seeing things clearly.

It is precisely because of the appearance of these eyes that people feel very mysterious, which adds a lot of credibility to her ability to exorcise evil spirits and cure diseases.

"Is this my aunt?"

Miali was already frightened by the dog, and was influenced by the mural next to her. Then she looked at the haggard old lady standing in front of her, and suddenly felt that she should not come in here today.

Scary things, one after another.

She was not prepared. Seeing the old lady turn around and stare at them with cloudy eyes, and her voice filled with a bit of resentment, she felt so scared.

I can't understand why there is such a scary atmosphere inside when it's so lively outside.

Yu Qiutang nodded.

Squeeze her hand.

Miali was confused, and so was he.

He had visited many large temples in his previous life, but none of them looked like this. Perhaps those temples were more for making money from pilgrims, and there was no need to restore them to this scene. It was a complete waste of space.

But in this era, people have a stronger sense of awe for these things.

It may be more of a cultural heritage and a way of educating the people, and by the way, they collect some incense money to maintain basic operations.

This is completely different from the utilitarian temples or Taoist temples in later generations.

"Auntie."

Yu Qiutang walked closer and called out.

The aunt raised her head, and under the reflection of the light, her eyes were gray, as if covered by a layer of cloth.

She stared at Yu Qiutang with these eyes for more than a minute before she sighed, turned around and picked up a triangular talisman for announcing a package from the table next to her, and took Yu Qiutang's hand and placed it in his palm.

"Hang it under your armpit, don't take it off, and wear it until September this year."

There are several kinds of talismans here.

The simplest one is a very small piece of yellow paper with four corners. It only needs to pass through the hands of a fortune teller or a sorcerer and be smoked with incense to become spiritual.

This kind of talisman is also best taken orally, and the method to take is to take it with "rootless water". (End of this chapter)