The next day.
From the Imperial City to the government offices, from the residences of high-ranking officials to the homes of commoners, every street and alley in Chang'an City was hung with white lanterns. The entire city was dressed in mourning.
Throughout the day, fire was forbidden. No one in the city was allowed to light a fire or cook, and the Cold Food Festival was observed with sacrifices to the dead.
At dusk, during the hour of Xu, evening bells rang throughout the city. Every ward and market closed early as the curfew began. The people could move only within their wards and were forbidden from setting foot on the city's main roads.
On the square before the Imperial City, several hundred monks from Prime Minister Temple sat cross-legged on the ground. A lotus-shaped oil lamp burned before each of them, while they held wooden fish in their hands, striking them as they chanted the Rebirth Mantra.
At the center of the square stood a wooden ritual platform, three zhang high. Upon it stood six eminent monks from Baoxiang Temple, Huasheng Temple, and Golden Mountain Temple, likewise fingering the Buddhist Bead and chanting sutras.
Among them, the youthful-looking Chan'er had also changed into an embroidered kasaya. Due to his young age, he stood out especially among the group.
The chanting continued for a full two hours.
Only at the hour of Hai did the ritual finally end. The monks then carried lotus lamps in procession along every main road in the city, calling forth the souls of the commoners who had died tragically throughout Chang'an City.
As pinpricks of lamplight lit up all over the city, ghastly resentful spirits began to emerge. Some had already lost their senses and floated blankly behind the monks. Others still wailed and cried