Ghost marriage is an ancient custom, previously often given to those who had a marriage contract but one of the parties died suddenly before getting married. In order to let the deceased rest in peace, people usually invite someone who understands to hold a ghost wedding for them, that is, the living and the dead get married.

  This custom is extremely vulgar and outdated, people think that the person will become a vengeful spirit because they didn't get married, which will destroy the feng shui of their ancestors' graves. Of course, there are also great believers in love who follow their pre-marital promises, marry or be married to someone who has passed away, and then spend the rest of their lives accompanying them by the ancient lamp and Buddha.

  Love is great, but also selfish. Even if the person has left and the house is empty, they still leave their key with me; even if the person has walked away and the tea has gone cold, they still leave those two seats for me; even if their world has been completely occupied by him, they still tell me where the boundary stone is; even if they have promised each other forever, they still leave what comes after forever to me...

  However, few people would arrange a posthumous marriage for the deceased. Firstly, it's not a good deed and might even provoke evil spirits. Secondly, death is already sad enough; who would want to recall it in such a stark way and add to the chill?

  This can no longer be considered a ghost marriage, but rather a yin marriage, where two dead people are completely matched with each other. However, Cha Wenbin insisted on going through the entire wedding process again with a newly deceased corpse and a long-decayed skeleton.

  White is the main tone of this special "wedding", through those white paper flower petals and streamers cut into willow catkins floating everywhere, the children's laughter cannot drive away the tears in the eyes of those women. The men gave up their beloved mahjong and poker, smoking silently, with empty and dull eyes.

  Perhaps they and Chen Fang were not familiar with each other, and some people had never spoken to him. Children like us just thought he was a mad old man. His story with her should have ended on that night decades ago. Fate played tricks on them, and in the end, he did not marry her, and she did not wait for him.

  The elderly people and the young daughter-in-law talked about the stories they heard from their elders, after many changes, Xiao Die became Zhu Yingtai, and Chen Ping was that Liang Shanbo.

  Perhaps, in our rural village where even car navigation can't find its way, people's understanding of love is just like oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar - plain and real. This kind of passionate and legendary love made them forget that this arranged marriage itself isn't such a simple matter.

  Although, that year's Cha Wenbin was already quite seasoned, "The Book of Intent" after all is just a book, with only 72 words, recording everything that penetrates heaven and earth, how could he possibly grasp it in such a short time.

  One who understands the Tao is not necessarily invincible in another world. This is just like Wang Yuyan, who has a lot of knowledge but lacks actual martial arts skills.

  The Way is an understanding of nature, a pursuit on the spiritual level, and not just a talisman, an incantation, or a sword that will become sharper as a result.

  Those who attain Tao are able to do so not because they can catch ghosts, descend into the underworld or ascend to heaven, but because their inner world has a far-reaching, clear and calm vision.

  Even if you have ten copies of "Ru Yi Ce", what's the use? It doesn't teach you how to draw talismans or set up arrays. All it says is a worldview that most people find vague and uninteresting. As for these symbols and incantations, they are just things that these seekers of the Way have come to realize on their journey.

  The existence of Tao is not for chanting spells, and the existence of Taoist priests is even less about catching ghosts!

  The slaughter of pigs and sheep during the day was just a prelude to this inhuman wedding at night.

  Clear the field, this is what Cha Wenbin did first. For children like us, we were dragged home by adults before dark, and every household had already closed their doors tightly. The women held their children who kept poking their heads out of their arms, just like that fun whack-a-mole game, stretching their necks out, only to be pushed back into bed by the sighing, tearful old mothers.

  This is a common way for people to interpret and avoid their fears, the safest place is always under the covers, as long as I don't see it, then nothing has happened.

  The most important thing is to figure out who can stay and who must leave, it's all clearly written on the notice posted outside the big gate. There are also some curious people who climbed up the back mountain to watch the excitement in the place where that father fired countless shots without a single one going off.

  In China's customs, whenever there is a marriage, one of the most important figures is the matchmaker.

  In China, marriage has traditionally emphasized the importance of a matchmaker, so if a couple gets married without going through a matchmaker, it would be considered improper. Even if two people are in love, they will still pretend to have a matchmaker introduce them and ask for their parents' permission before getting married. The matchmaker plays an important role from proposing the marriage to arranging the engagement and finally to the wedding ceremony itself.

  Because the little butterfly has been gone for a long time, those relatives who were scattered around at that time are now nowhere to be found, and it's even more unnecessary to mention Chen Fang. He grew old alone, with no children under his knees. If you insist on finding a matchmaker, I'm afraid those village women who love to chatter won't dare to do it. Who dares to make matches for the dead? What if this young couple doesn't get along in the future and comes to find the matchmaker to resolve their conflicts? Wouldn't that scare away two and a half souls out of three?

  This matchmaker, in the end, was still solved by Zhang Wenbin's idea. He asked the village's bamboo craftsman to weave a shell of human size, paste paper on the outside, stick some paper clothes, flower jackets, and also asked someone to make a fake hair bun, stuck it in the middle of the mourning hall, and specially painted bright red blushes and a big smiling face.

  At first glance, people who don't know her would really think that's an old lady standing there.

  There is no "奠" character that is commonly seen at funerals, but instead "" characters made from white paper can be seen everywhere.

  Because there were no elders at home, this traditional "Dragon and Phoenix Couplets" was written by Zha Wenbin himself, in the name of Chen Fang, and placed in the ancestral hall where Xiaodie's family used to worship their ancestors. This served as a substitute for Chen Fang's wedding invitation.

  Of course, Zhang Wenbin didn't care whether the ancestors of Xiaodie's family agreed or not, he just assumed they did. Then he had someone bring in two paper-covered boxes, which contained the betrothal gifts from the groom to the bride.

  In these dowries, the first trunk contains half real satin and some common grains, while the other half is made of paper-made leather, cotton, interlining, and single garments.

  The second box contained two pairs of brocade boxes, inside which were earrings, bangles, rings and hairpins. Although they were all cheap goods, the villagers didn't want their big wedding to be too shabby, so they made a concession for Xiaodie, who had been wronged her whole life, saying that they would also come up with this set of dowry.

  There were also some gold and silver ingots made of tin foil with a thick layer of hell notes underneath, which were the betrothal gifts placed for Xiaodie's family.

  Similarly, Cha Wenbin also prepared dowry for Xiaodie, the content is not much different from this, all are some paper-made things, let a group of young people who are enthusiastic and not retrograde carry these guys around their coffins for a few laps, it's considered to be comforting both parties.

  Apart from the set of jewelry, everything else was immediately carried to the empty space in the middle of the ancestral hall, a fire was lit, and the two coffins reflected the trembling flames, ashes fell on every corner of this ancestral hall.

  At this time, Cha Wenbin personally posted two white large flower balls, also made of paper, under the two coffins. Below them was a small note with the words "New Groom" and "New Bride" written on it, as well as their birth dates in eight characters each.

  In front of these two coffins, a tribute table was also placed. On the table, in addition to two bowls of inverted rice and raw eggs, there were some fruit plates such as dragon and phoenix auspicious cakes.

  In the four corners of the courtyard, offerings were placed, including pig heads and fruit. Incense sticks were kept burning continuously, and Zhang Wenbin specially assigned someone to take care of these things. In each corner, there was also a table with two stools, on which were placed two bowls of clear tea. These tables and stools were not for the busy living people to sit on, but were prepared for the little ghosts who came to attend the wedding.

  An ordinary wedding invites relatives and friends to eat and drink, while a ghost marriage naturally invites people from the other world. The "banquet" must also be arranged in accordance with the taste of that world.

  In front of each stool, some lime powder was also sprinkled, and the same was true for the table. People with small courage would not dare to move early. Why? The chaotic footprints in front of the stools and the tea water splashing on the table were not done by them, but by "them"!

  With this measure, Cha Wenbin naturally grasped it. He was polite and replaced Chen to open a grand banquet, inviting guests from all sides. If there were any lonely souls or wild ghosts who wanted to cause trouble, they would probably not be able to leave the temple.

  The most particular thing about this ghost marriage is the worship of heaven and earth, which is to see the true skills. Only couples who have worshipped heaven and earth are considered real husbands and wives. How do they worship? They must do it under the witness of relatives and friends! This is why Cha Wenbin invited these lonely ghosts to come and eat together, because a wedding needs witnesses, and this group of people serves as the witnesses.

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