The so-called Rebirth Gate is the place where ghosts are reincarnated and come out. The underworld can be imagined as a circle, with countless pipes leading to all directions on the circle, and the exits of these pipes are the Rebirth Gates. So, when a person is born, their fate is already determined. If they are reincarnated in the south, they may become Cantonese, if they are reincarnated in the north, they will be Northeasterners.

  Cha Wenbin still held the compass in his hand, and the pointer had been stagnant for a while. Using this thing was more meticulous than sweeping mines, and any slight change could lead to completely different results.

  My grandfathers compass, according to Zhang Wenbin, can see life and death, also known as the life and death disk. The pointer only changes at the moment of life and death, extremely sensitive and subtle. Bringing it here to use, the position of death has already been determined, because the Ghost Gate is open, but finding the Rebirth Gate is a bit difficult. The only hope is that someone will come to reincarnate tonight.

  Everything has its own destiny.

  The Taoist says: Pangu has a thread of life. The Great Way is fifty, the heavenly evolution is forty-nine, so one is left. The Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two give birth to three, and three give birth to all things; All things have life and death, either born or die, or die and then born, are all transformed by creation. In the red dust of thirty thousand feet, some are greedy, some kill, some are sad, some are happy, with causes and effects, entangled with each other, forming a cycle of karma, one cycle after another, is called infinite cycles of karma. Under the infinite cycles of karma, the cultivators of Shenzhou either avoid the world and do not come out, or accumulate merits, or take another path to avoid it, their methods are endless! Therefore, the Heavenly Way is ruthless, regarding all living beings as ants; yet the Heavenly Way also has emotions, leaving a thread of life for all living beings.

  What we want is to find that thread of life, and it so happens that theres a woman in labor in the village tonight, who has been having stomach pains since two days ago, and the midwife thinks she should give birth tonight.

  Cha Wenbin casually scooped up a handful of sand and let it slowly trickle down from his palm. Tonight, there was no wind, the moon was full, and the surroundings were eerily quiet.

  "What time is it?"

  The fat man looked at his watch and said, "Twelve oclock one more moment."

  Zha Wenbin handed us two slips of paper, saying: "One for each person, put it in your pocket, and also stuff the cotton balls into your nostrils, dont be alarmed, theyre coming right away."

  "Is it really as mysterious as you said?"

  "Just you wait and see, people born in the middle of July have extremely heavy yin energy, most were people with extremely heavy qi in their past lives. This type of person always dies with regret, so when theyre reborn, they need a large group of people to escort them. Last year I saw one in Luoyang, Henan, there were five yin messengers just for the escort, and also a horse-drawn carriage. My master said that person was a butcher in their past life, killed thousands of people, with qi as vast as the sky."

  "Found the reincarnation door, what to do?"

  "Wait a minute, Ill go in later. You two stay here and keep watch. Dont let anyone approach me. If any living thing touches my body, Im afraid I wont be able to come out."

  Fatso patted his chest and guaranteed: "Dont worry, even if its a fly, I wont let it come over."

  We were talking, when Cha Wenbin suddenly raised his hand: "Shh, theyre coming. Move aside a bit, dont stare at them. If we provoke them, theyll take us away in no time, those are the vanguard, ancient sword-bearing guards."

  I lowered my head to take a look, and indeed, the needle on that compass had moved. Now its black tip was resting right in the middle of that crimson "death" character. Following the direction of the needle, I raised my head to take a glance, and it seemed like fog was rising from the woods in the northwest direction, blurry and unclear.

  "When you pass by here later, it will be suffocating. Those few talismans were drawn by my master and are called sunshade talismans, which can block the suns energy."

  Fatso was overjoyed: "Great stuff! If I go digging for tombs again next time, get me two more paintings. That old ghost in the tomb will definitely think Im one of them!"

  "Never mind, just this one talisman will take seven days to complete, and it still requires the umbilical cord blood of a newborn baby born in a yin year, yin month, yin hour, and yin moment. Where are you going to get that?"

  I stared blankly at the fog, and slowly, a few human-like figures really walked out of it. I quickly said, "Theyre coming, theyre coming, I think I see someone in front."

  Cha Wenbin looked at me in surprise and said: "Xiao Yi? Can you see?"

  I squinted and looked again: "Theres a mass of fog, with someones shadow moving around inside. Im not sure."

  Zha Wenbin turned his head and took a look, then turned back to stare at me with an eerie gaze, saying in a low voice: "Yin Yang Eyes?"

  I didnt quite catch that: "What?"

  "Nothing, lets talk later." As I spoke, I saw him take out a small gourd-shaped porcelain bottle from his bosom and pour some liquid onto his fingertips. He then rubbed it on his eyes and blinked hard, as if applying eye drops.

  He stared at the fat boy in surprise and explained, "Cow tears can see unclean things, Im afraid youll have trouble sleeping tonight if you look at them, so I didnt let you use them."

  "Here, out, really have a horse-drawn carriage." I saw that the leader in the fog was a white horse, and on the horse sat a man wearing a black hat. The shape of the hat was very strange, long and conical.

  Cha Wenbin gave me another monstrous stare...

  "Why cant I see? No way, Cha Ye, give me some eye drops too." As soon as he finished speaking, the fat mans hand had already reached into Cha Wenbins pocket.

  Fatso had just finished painting and looked up to shout: "Oh mother, there really is a ghost!"

  I saw the horse carriage led by the other party stop immediately, and the driver stood up and slightly leaned forward to look at us. I quickly covered Fatsos mouth and whispered: "Dont you want to live?"

  Its not one chariot, its three! And behind them, two rows of armored soldiers are following in an orderly manner!

  "Wow, what a big shot has arrived, with such a grand setup."

  Fatso peeked from behind the haystack and said, "I think theres a woman sitting in that sedan chair. Whats her story? Was she also a swindler in her past life?"

  "Women?" I and Zha Wenbin simultaneously flipped over the grass, and indeed as Baozi said, behind the three horse-drawn carriages was a sedan chair, carried by four small devils dressed up in a flashy way. Those little devils looked just like the clowns in Peking Opera, with two large white patches on their faces, their mouths decorated to be cherry-sized, and they wore small hats on their heads. As they walked, they swayed back and forth, but their feet didnt touch the ground at all, they were floating as they walked...

  I looked up at the fatty, this guys two eyes were wide open like bronze bells, looking very enjoyable. I lightly pulled his clothes to hint him to lower his head. The fatty lowered his head and glanced at me before turning back to continue watching.

  Im afraid Ill really have nightmares tonight. Probably since I can remember things, Ive always seen some messy things.

  When I was nine years old, an elderly person in our village died of natural causes.

  In the countryside, when someone dies, a funeral feast is held to show neighborhood relationships. Every household has to go and ask about it first. I remember that evening was Sunday, and I still had homework that wasnt finished, so I stayed at home doing my homework.

  Around eight oclock in the evening, three firecrackers suddenly rose from the village, and the quiet rural night sky was filled with sound. Immediately, my parents turned off the TV and walked into the courtyard, saying that someone had probably passed away. Below our yard is a highway, and soon people were walking into the village with flashlights in hand, some of whom also greeted my parents, which is traditional and customary.

  When someone dies in the village, villagers will go to the owners home to pay their respects and see the deceased for the last time. This is what Chinese people have been emphasizing for thousands of years - the dead are more important than the living. In such a society, human relationships are often more important than money, and these trivial matters are what maintain the social attributes of a village community.

  I was still young at that time, nine years old. I remember my dad saying you havent finished your homework yet, stay home and wait for me and your mom to come back.

  Around 9:30, I finished my homework. The weather in December was very cold, and I went to the small house to get some charcoal to start a fire. There was a white incandescent lamp in our courtyard, with a dim yellow light of only 40 watts, which wasnt much stronger than a lantern in this weather. As I walked out of the door, I headed towards the small house, and it seemed like I saw someone outside the yard. I dont know where I got the courage from, but I shouted loudly: "Who? Whos there?"

  I saw someone coming in, but the gate of my homes yard was still closed. I dont know how she got in, and I wasnt afraid, just watching that person.

  Under the lamplight, that person was quite dark, not tall, slightly hunched back, wearing a deep blue cotton-padded jacket. She took two more steps towards me, and it wasnt until then that I saw clearly that it was Zhang Ahpo from our village, whose granddaughter is my classmate.

  She didnt say a word, just smiled at me. I often go to their house to play. Theres nothing good to eat in the countryside, but Zhang Ayi can make corn pancakes with salted vegetables and dried tofu inside. Whenever we kids went there, she would give each of us one, golden yellow and fragrant.

  Theres a guest, if I dont greet them my dad will scold me. He has taught me since young that one must be polite and courteous, so I said to her: "Auntie Zhang, my parents are not at home, would you like to come in and take a seat?"

  "No." The old lady said and turned around, after a while she turned back and asked me: "Little Yi, did you see Yueyue today?"

  "Isnt Yuèyuè going to her grandmas house in Shaoxing? I heard her say at school that shes taking a leave tomorrow and wont be back until Tuesday." Yuèyuè is her granddaughter, who is also my classmate.

  "If you see her at school, call her back and tell her Grandma misses her."

  "Oh." I responded and then looked around the yard again, but there was no one left.

  Around 10 oclock, my parents came back. They both spoke in very low voices as if they were afraid I would hear something. Then my mom asked me if I had finished my homework and told me to go to sleep if it was done.

  I said: "Tonight, Zhang A Po came in and said she was looking for Yueyue."

  My parents faces turned pale, and then my mother quickly pulled me over and scolded: "Zhang A Po? Looking for Yueyue? You child, dont talk nonsense!"

  "I continued: She really came, when I went to fetch coal, she was in our yard."

  My mother looked down and saw that the charcoal in the fire pit was indeed newly added, and the fire had not yet burned strongly. It seemed like they realized something bad had happened. My mother hastily instructed: "Old Six, go take a look?"

  I saw my dad take out the shotgun from the corner of the wall when he went out, and it wasnt until a while later that he came back shaking his head at my mom. Then my mom urged me to go to sleep, and that night, our family of three squeezed onto one bed.

  I started sleeping alone since I was five years old. In my memory, it was the only time after I was five that I slept with adults again. The next day when I went to school, I heard other classmates say that Yuanyuans grandmother had passed away last night. Then who did I see?