People who can afford to invite ghosts to perform are not ordinary families. The Hu family is a big family in Wuligang, and almost one-third of the people in the village are surnamed Hu.
Li Huowang has learned from Lu Zhuangyuan that the one who paid for the performance is the richest landlord in Wuligang and the most senior, Hu Qinghe.
At this time, he was accompanying Lu Zhuangyuan and his group to the Hu Family Ancestral Hall.
"Mr. Hu said that it's nothing serious. He has invited other troupes to perform ghost plays in previous years. Nothing happened."
Li Huowang glanced at him, not knowing who he was comforting.
Pressing the bell on his waist with his hand, Li Huowang felt relieved. Even if something happened, it didn't matter. With this thing, he felt much more at ease.
Of course, it's best not to get into trouble. After all, inviting a Taoist priest once costs three months of life.
Walking on the path in the village, they soon arrived at the Hu Family Ancestral Hall with many red lanterns.
There were so many people at this time that Li Huowang and others could not squeeze in. He saw many people offering incense and kowtowing to the black tablets after passing through the layers of people.
"That's Mr. Hu. He also told us not to leave after the show and to treat us to a meal."
Lv Zhuangyuan pointed to the old man in satin clothes at the front of the kowtowing people and said.
While he was talking, those who were kowtowing stood up and respectfully took down the black tablets of their ancestors and placed them on the semi-immortal table that had been prepared long ago.
There were many tablets and tables, filling up the spacious ancestral hall with three entrances.
The table in front of the seats was not empty. There were also delicious dishes of many kinds on it.
Red candles, incense, gold ingots, and yellow paper were neatly arranged on the serving plates for the ancestors to enjoy.
As if they were afraid of not taking good care of them, there were more than a dozen paper figures serving tea and water standing by the wall of the ancestral hall. It was estimated that they would be placed next to the table and wait.
"Hey, Mr. Huang is really generous. He personally paid for the troupe to perform for the ancestors."
"Yes, no wonder the families of Mr. Hu's family are free from illness and disaster. This is all because of the blessing of the ancestors."
"Ah, I don't know if I can be this rich after I die."
"Then wait for your descendants to make a lot of money like Mr. Hu. It costs a lot of money to hire people to perform for ghosts."
Listening to the words of the Hu family and looking at the solemn scene in front of him, Li Huowang felt relieved. This doesn't look like a situation where something bad will happen.
He leaned slightly to the side of Lu Zhuangyuan. "Master Lu, you have traveled all over the country for so many years. Do you encounter more ghosts or those who ask for titles?"
"Huh?! What's the matter? Aren't they the same thing?" Lu Zhuangyuan widened his eyes and looked very surprised.
"How can they be the same? One is what people become after death, and the other is..." Li Huowang said this, not knowing how to explain.
But Li Huowang was sure that no matter the great grandmother that Danyangzi used to make the elixir, or Master You, or even the bound-foot woman that night, they were definitely not ghosts, at least not the ghosts in his impression.
Just then, the tablets of the Hu family had been prepared, and Hu Qinghe led a large group of Hu family members to Lv Zhuangyuan's side.
"Master Lu, please take care of the trouble. That, Jiaoliang, you take others to help Master Lu set up the stage."
"Oh, oh, I'm so sorry, Master Hu is really too polite."
"Master Lu, you also know the rules of singing opera. When the ancestors come out to watch the opera, the younger generation who invites the opera will leave and stay at home. Please take care of the ancestral hall." Master Hu said kindly.
"It should be, it should be. Master Hu, don't worry, with me here, the ancestral hall will definitely be fine." Lv Zhuangyuan patted his chest and said firmly.
Although no one was watching, Lu Zhuangyuan really didn't dare to make any mistakes. If something happened in the ancestral hall, the Hu family would bury the entire Lu family group alive.
"Also, when the opera starts, the living people can't talk to the opera singers, lest the ancestors are uncomfortable listening to it."
"As for the opera, just choose something happy. The ancestors told us in their dreams that the underworld is too deserted, so they want to watch something festive."
"You don't have to sing all night. After the fifth watch, my son will come to take the ancestral tablets home, and you can rest."
Lu Zhuangyuan nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice, "Hey, hey, hey, don't worry, Master Hu, I will never break the rules."
With the help of the Hu family, the stage was quickly set up in the ancestral hall. There were only five people on the stage tonight. Luo Juanhua didn't come because women were not allowed to enter the ancestral hall.
Then, under Hu Qinghe's shouting, the crowd that had just been watching the excitement dispersed and went home.
"Clang, clang, clang, clang!" When the Lu family began to perform on stage, Li Huowang stayed backstage and waited.
Time passed by little by little, and the whole Wuligang became quiet. The large village fell into darkness, and only the ancestral hall had lights.
It was the first time for Li Huowang that a living person performed for a dead person. He pulled open the backstage curtain and looked outside.
It must be said that this was quite creepy. The stage was lively, but the audience was dead silent. There was no applause, only rows of black tablets with names engraved on them, and yellow paper with precious candles between the tablets.
After walking around Qingfeng Temple, these scenes still couldn't scare him, but the Lu family troupe couldn't. After a while, the Lu Juren who was performing the opera forgot the words several times, and the Lu Zhuangyuan who was beating the gong was very anxious.
However, as time passed by little by little, they began to get into the state and began to flow smoothly.
In the silent night, the sound of opera singing spread far away. Li Huowang, who was carrying a sword on his back, sat backstage with his eyes closed to rest his mind.
As he listened, Li Huowang, who was a little bored, really heard a hint of charm, and shook his head along with the singing.
In this environment, the second watch passed unknowingly and came to the third watch.
Li Huowang had already figured it out at this time. The third watch was from 11 am to 1 am, the fourth watch was from 1 am to 3 am, and the fifth watch was from 3 am to 5 am. Generally, after 5 am, the chickens in the village would crow.
He yawned. For some reason, he was always more sleepy than others when he came here.
You can't really fall asleep when you get paid to do things. Li Huowang simply put the book in his hand and pondered it to relieve his sleepiness.
Recently, when he was on guard at night, he would also take it out to study, but apart from being more certain that this was a scripture that advised people to be good, he didn't gain anything else.
As time went by, the second watch passed and it was the third watch. Everything was normal in the ancestral hall. Nothing happened.
Li Huowang looked up at Lv Zhuangyuan who was changing his makeup in front of the bronze mirror. He thought to himself, "Master Lv's heart must be bleeding now. Six taels of silver were missing for no reason."
It made sense. Logically, nothing should happen. This is the Hu family ancestral hall. The younger generation invited the elders to watch the show. The elders would not ruin the show.
Just when Li Huowang thought that this would be the way tonight, an accident happened. He heard the sound of the show outside suddenly stop without any warning.