A full moon hung high amid scattered stars, while wisps of smoke drifted through the air.
A low mountain shaped like a round pot stood before a larger mountain shrouded in thick clouds and mist.
At its foot stood a gateway arch bearing four words: Pure Mountain Taoist Grounds.
Steps wound their way up the mountainside.
Graves lined the route.
The burial earth was deathly pale, and the grass before the graves grew exceptionally tall.
People stood before some of the graves, looking from side to side.
On others, young boys and girls sat right on the mounds, their faces expressionless and their legs swinging.
Before still others, people knelt and dug at earth stained with incense ash and wax oil, repeatedly cupping it beneath their noses and inhaling hard!
Graves covered the mountain!
Ghosts covered the mountain!
At the summit, buildings clustered densely together. They looked like houses and halls, yet also resembled burial mounds of varying sizes, arranged in orderly tiers.
At the very center, courtyard walls extended along both sides without joining together. A great hall stood between them, resembling the largest grave on the entire mountain!
In ancient times, the dead were buried beside their homes!
Such walls enclosing graves were common enough, but one this large was exceedingly rare.
The hall doors stood open, revealing people seated on meditation cushions.
Tiny fissures were faintly visible above their heads, at their fontanels. Their skin was a dark blue-green, covered in fine hairs that stood on end.
At the very center sat a rectangular red coffin.
The coffin was blood-red. An offering table stood before it, bearing an ever-burning lamp. A pigeon-egg-sized pill hung above the flame, releasing wisps of white smoke as it burned. The surrounding "people" inhaled the smoke to sustain their life force.
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