I Have a Date with a Thousand-year-old Female Corpse
Chapter 601 Tomb-sweeping Day_1

Chapter 601: Chapter 601 Tomb-sweeping Day_1

Scratching your head, you actually didn’t know why Mother En had summoned Wu Qiyi, but since childhood, you rarely went against her wishes.

"I’m not quite sure myself right now, just that I want her to accompany me to Chaotian Village tomorrow."

"Chaotian Village?"

Xi Yu’s willow-shaped eyebrows immediately furrowed, and confusion shone in her beautiful eyes; clearly, with her knowledge, she hadn’t heard of such a place.

"Yes, it’s a small village in the mountains. Just tell Little Yun, and she’ll know."

"Alright, I’ll go back and pass the message to Miss right away."

As she spoke, Xi Yu turned to Xi Yao and said, "Little Yan, we’re leaving. Say goodbye to Brother Mu Yun."

Xi Yao chuckled and waved at you and Little Qinniang, "Goodbye Sister Xi Yan, goodbye Brother Mu Yun."

Watching the two depart into the distance, you carried Little Qinniang to the backseat of the carriage.

Only after getting on the carriage did Little Qinniang notice Zhao’er. She immediately stood up, peeked her head through the gap between the seats, and said with a giggly smile to Zhao’er, "Sister Zhao’er, you’re here too?"

Zhao’er turned her head to look at Little Qinniang, her expression still indifferent, "Hello."

Her smile seemed very sparing, only truly blossoming when she was facing you.

The mischievously clever Little Qinniang still smiled at you and asked, "Brother, should I call Zhao’er Sister or Sister-in-law in the future?"

"You little imp, you can call her whatever you like," you said indulgently as you stroked Little Qinniang’s head. Just then, your mother’s phone call came through again.

"Did Little Yan pick up?"

"Yes, she did. Where are you?"

Your mother gave you an address, you hung up the phone, and immediately drove to pick her up, joining her in the car about fifteen minutes later.

Compared to the usual, your mother’s attire hadn’t changed much and she obviously wasn’t enthusiastic about graveyard visits.

Of course, you’d grown accustomed to her attitude, as it was the same every year; and to you, this only made your mother’s inner loneliness and desolation seem all the more poignant.

Through the rearview mirror, watching your mother playfully holding Little Qinniang, you softly said, "Mom, I’m an adult now. Although I’m not very capable, I can still take care of myself and my sister. Isn’t it time you considered your own life too?"

Right in the midst of pinching Little Qinniang’s tender cheeks, your mother paused. Blinking her long eyelashes, she quickly raised her head to look at you with an even expression, smiling gently, "Good son, come closer with your ear, Mom has a secret to tell you."

Huh?

A secret?

You were puzzled but still leaned your head in, "Mom, what secret?"

She likewise brought her lipstick-stained mouth close to your ear, "My secret is... it’s none of your damn business!!"

"Hiss—"

This sudden scolding, like an explosion, made your ears buzz uncontrollably.

"Little rascal, you’ve grown up, got some nerve now, have you?" Your mother spoke as she casually tugged at your ear.

"Ah, ah, ah, Mom! Be gentle, be gentle!"

She glared with eyes like copper bells, hissing viciously, "What, now that you have a wife, you don’t need your mother anymore? Do you find me a burden, an obstacle to your little married life?"

"Mom, that’s not what I meant!"

With the old lady in a rage, all I could do was try to explain.

"You ungrateful child, I carried you for ten months, enduring hardships to raise you. Through years of wind and rain, I’ve worried myself sick over you! And now, you’re actually despising your old mother. Oh heavens, open your eyes and see, my son doesn’t want this old mother of his anymore!"

As I held my forehead, I looked at my mother putting on quite the drama, although her acting was so poor, it made you roll your eyes in disbelief.

At that moment, Little Qinniang leaned over and spoke a line that left my mother utterly speechless, "Brother, Mom’s acting is really fake."

"You little girl, badmouthing your mother behind her back, you’re asking for a spanking!"

Even after being called out for her pretense, my mother still shamelessly hugged Little Qinniang and gave her a symbolic pat on the bottom.

Watching the two of them create a ruckus, I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head.

Turning to look at Zhao’er, I noticed a hint of a tender smile in her eyes, and a sense of faint happiness spread across my face.

Settling back into my seat, I buckled the seatbelt, tapped the brake, shifted into drive, then pressed the accelerator, and with a "roar," the Ye Xiao shot off like a ferocious beast toward the southern outskirts of Yuhang City!

Although it wasn’t Tomb-sweeping Day, the cemetery outskirts of Yuhang City were already bustling with many people coming to sweep graves.

My father’s tomb was halfway up the hillside, and we slowly made our way along the white steps.

To tell the truth, I didn’t like this place at all. I’ve detested its atmosphere ever since I was a child.

Especially today, even without using the Sen Luo Eye, my view was filled with ghosts of all shapes and sizes.

The Tomb-sweeping Day differs from the Hungry Ghost Festival. During the Hungry Ghost Festival, the gates of Hell are wide open, allowing those in the Underworld with unfinished earthly life or holding tokens for their suffering to come out – to exact revenge, repay kindness, wander, or play. In contrast, Tomb-sweeping Day is for descendants to clean the tombs and make offerings, sending clothes, food, and other necessities to the afterlife in a display of filial piety.

In reality, most of what people burn isn’t received by their ancestors since most have already reincarnated after drinking the Grandma Meng Soup, therefore severing all ties to their past lives; only those who died before their time or committed heinous deeds and suffer in the eighteen levels of Hell could receive these offerings.

And most of the ghosts I saw appeared to be those who died before their time.

Perhaps one might ask, what does it mean to die before one’s time?

The explanation is complicated, but put simply, it’s when a ghost enters the six realms of reincarnation to be reborn, and from the moment his new parents name him, his name appears in the Book of Life and Death. Simultaneously, the Book of Life and Death, based on the actions of his past life, automatically determines his lifespan in the mortal world.

For example, a man named Zhang San might have a lifespan of eighty years written in the Book of Life and Death; normally, Zhang San could live to be eighty, but due to diet, air quality, and other uncontrollable factors like natural disasters or car accidents, Zhang San only lives to sixty. Therefore, the remaining twenty years become his "ghostly lifespan," which he must spend in the Underworld.

An old saying goes: a day in heaven is like a year on earth; similarly, a day on earth is like a year in the Underworld.

In other words, Zhang San, with a ghostly lifespan of twenty years, needs to remain in the Underworld for 365×20 years, which sums up to 7300 years.

Of course, to humans, this 7300 years is equivalent to just twenty years, but in the Underworld, time feels excruciatingly long, an experience I was all too familiar with from Heavenless Hell; each day felt like a year.

Actually, this is a form of indirect punishment by the Heavenly Dao.

Humans are the smartest of all creatures, and their lifespan is decreed by heaven. If the Book of Life and Death says eighty years, it means eighty years, and nobody can change that.