Chapter 314: July Sacrifice

Xu Jia has already begun holding the summer harvest sacrifice here. It is the seventh lunar month, which is also the time of the Ghost Festival. From the first to the thirtieth, the ghost gates open one after another. Ghosts with families to offer sacrifices can return home to visit their kin, while ghosts without families to offer sacrifices can receive the alms of incense fire from the human world.

Holding a harvest sacrifice and a deliverance ritual during this month can pray for blessings for the living and accumulate Yinyuan, as well as provide liberation for the dead so they may enter the reincarnation process sooner.

Xu Jia recruited twenty masters skilled in making flour-based foods. He did not ask for anything else, as long as they could make steamed buns, and as long as the buns could be taken out of the steamer without being shriveled.

This item is needed to offer sacrifices to wandering ghosts and lonely spirits; no matter how much fish or meat you have, it is not as effective as a steamed bun.

It would be best if these buns could be molded into various shapes, but it does not matter if they cannot be.

Besides this, vegetarian meatballs were also fried; they were made of vegetables and flour, with no meat in them.

In addition, there were hand-pounded rice cakes, sticky rice balls, fried rice cakes, frozen rice sugar...

These were basically made from staple foods because, given his current strength, he could not afford much else. If one wishes to perform the sacrifice oneself, one can also prepare small three-animal offerings: a whole chicken, a whole fish, and a piece of pork belly, which can be eaten after the sacrifice.

It is currently mid-summer, and Xu Jia is afraid these will spoil quickly. The steamed buns can last a little longer, but they cannot be kept for more than two or three days, so they will be distributed to everyone to eat after the alms-giving ritual is finished.

Ghosts eat incense fire, and people eat rice and flour; the sacrifice is the same, meant to reward their spirits and comfort their internal organs.

This alms-giving ritual is being conducted by both Buddhist and Daoist practitioners. On the twenty-four bridges, the ritual was started early by Xu Mu, Elder Xianhuan, and the others from Jinshan Temple when the moon was like a hook. The Shunji Little Dragon King assisted, as he can disperse clouds and mist to reveal the true form of the moon.

The main venue was still set at Shanju Guan. Five hundred young Daoists who had just learned to chant scriptures, along with the Daoists of Shanju Guan and other Daoists invited from elsewhere, performed the "Face-Burning Altar" together.

When Xu Jia made his vow, the three thousand six hundred hungry ghosts transformed into heavenly beings emerged from his belly again. They arrived in the Dharma Realm to "bestow Dharma Treasures." Having received the scriptures from Xu Jia, they were now teaching them to other hungry ghosts. Each one looked like a "Ghost King," with flames burning on their faces, sitting cross-legged on lotus flowers, their hands forming wondrous mudras, and their mouths chanting Dharma Treasures. What scripture was it? The *Lingbao Boundless Salvation Scripture of the Superior Grade*.

Therefore, this main venue was where Xu Jia displayed his Dharma Power, intending to liberate at least a million wandering ghosts and lonely spirits in one go.

The disaster this year is severe. If these wandering ghosts and lonely spirits can be liberated, there will be fewer who transform into the hungry ghost path in the future, or perhaps plague ghosts, freezing ghosts, or animal ghosts and demons transformed from mountain spirits and wild monsters after death... all souls of sentient beings can be liberated together.

Because a vast number of wandering ghosts and lonely spirits need to be saved and alms given to the ten directions, Xu Jia does not intend to use the Water-Fire Refining Degree method as before. Otherwise, how much True Yin and True Yang could he draw out to ignite the True Fire and True Water?

A single spark can start a prairie fire. The Dharma Treasures Xu Jia transmits are all methods of self-salvation.

"How many gold ingots have been folded?"

"How many sheets of Jade Emperor Money have been printed?"

"Has the sacrificial text for the alms-giving, written by my father using Haoran True Qi, arrived yet?"

"Most importantly, has the embroidered silk map of the Sun and Moon Bright Immortal Palace been finished?"

Xu Jia inquired about these important matters one by one, ensuring there were no omissions. Otherwise, if the alms-giving failed, the million hungry ghosts would backlash, gnawing Xu Jia and all the ritual masters who dared to perform this rite until nothing was left, leaving them paralyzed, demented, or in a state of madness on the spot. As the saying goes, if you do not have the Diamond drill, do not take on the porcelain work. Such a ritual, if not performed by a person of great virtue, truly cannot be completed.

Although Xu Jia did not arrange it strictly according to the scriptures, he had his own understanding. The Mandala he arranged was not the traditional four-sided Mandala, but an eight-sided one. It had no gates, only bridge corridors. Along the edges of each section were various offerings, and on both sides were iron cans, candles, and oil lamps.

Rice, flour, and steamed buns were sprinkled into the iron cans. Through the ritual, they could emit fragrance in the Dharma Realm to attract all wandering ghosts and lonely spirits.

"The gold ingots were specifically folded by children. They were provided with ingot paper, and for every twenty, they could get one coin. Over a hundred children have already collected the paper, folded the ingots, and sent them over to collect their pay. Now, two rooms are already full—one room of gold ingots and one room of silver ingots. It is truly a mountain of gold and silver."

"There are only two printing blocks for the Jade Emperor Money, and they were printed only after the experienced old Daoist priests personally cast the Divination Cup and received the Three Sages hexagram. It is just that the cinnabar ink mixed is not enough. The Golden Toad has already opened the path to wealth; one sheet is worth ten thousand taels of gold."

"This kind of money is ghost money, not divine money. I still need to communicate with the Divine Office; I need some Wish Power Copper Coins."

"Duobao has also prepared a million coins."

"So much money?" Xu Jia currently has only a little over two hundred thousand Wish Power Dharma Coins collected, and he even used some to repair the altar. How could the Golden Toad, who has only been a Wealth God for so long, come up with a million?

Even if it is for fulfilling wishes of safety and peace, such generic wishes, it is impossible to have so much!

Xu Jia summoned the Golden Toad to inquire about this. Duobao said, "Many people come to worship the Golden Toad to get rich and borrow Yin Debt. The Golden Toad then converts the debt into capital, borrowing from those who have bought Golden Toad bonds and still have plenty of Yinyuan and blessings on them, counting it as some interest for them. With money coming in and going out, earning ten million is not difficult."

"This is what you taught me, Teacher! This time, by providing alms to the lonely spirits, I am taking out these Dharma Coins to contribute our share of heart and effort." Duobao said, "Don't worry, I absolutely have not done anything reckless!"

He was afraid of displeasing Xu Jia again: "I have been doing everything properly, only dealing with merchants. I have not touched ordinary people. Merchants have great wealth in their destiny, especially that Sun Bao and the ten sea merchants; they all have the potential to become wealthy in the future."

Xu Jia did not blame him for this, only saying, "You have tasted a small sweetness, but you might take risks in the future. Let it be just this for now; in the future, you will be extracting too much. This ritual does not need a million coins; a symbolic amount will do. One hundred thousand coins is enough. I am a Lingbao Heavenly Master; issuing this money is to reward the divine officials and Spirit Generals, not to bribe them."

Duobao repeatedly agreed.

Xu Jia thought, "As the Minister of Finance, although you control vast wealth, you cannot be extravagant. The richer you are, the more you must be frugal. For example, this Three Pure Ones Palace, I feel it is too big."

"Teacher, you don't understand. A small temple attracts evil winds. If the world is to believe and worship, it must be solemn and magnificent. Look at the Da Xiong Baodian of the Buddhist sect and the Golden Body of the Bodhisattva; each is solemn and wealthy, so everyone believes in them, feeling that they too can be as solemn and wealthy as a Bodhisattva in the future. If we don't build our Three Pure Ones Palace to be more expansive, how can we propagate Lingbao? How can we educate the masses?"

"If someone criticizes this, know that the greediest people are the ones who talk most about clean government, while those who are not greedy view it with indifference."

"You are lecturing me now. Since our power is weak, keep the money to establish a Dao Kingdom overseas. When that time comes, build it as solemnly and richly as you like, and I won't say a word."

Just as Xu Jia was speaking with him, the silk map arrived. Painted on this silk map were the Sun and Moon Immortal Palace, as well as the Water Pool Fire Swamp. It was not Xu Jia's True Yin and True Yang, but the Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth. By refining the Dharma with this silk map, one can chase the Feathered Immortal during the day and the Yellow Register at night.

(End of chapter)