On either side of the intersection, a dozen or so people squatted in scattered groups, more than ten meters apart.
Most wore ordinary civilian clothes, with windproof iron basins set before them, feeding sheets of yellow spirit money into the flames one by one.
Occasionally, ashes rose on the night breeze, swirling through the air before scattering.
Only then did Lin Mo realize that today was the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.
The Ghost Festival.
In the traditions of Blue Star's people, it was a day to honor the dead and express their grief.
A gentle breeze brushed past as Lin Mo stopped in the shadow of a roadside tree, more than ten meters from the intersection.
Closest to him were a mother and daughter.
The mother looked barely over thirty, yet there were already traces of gray at her temples. She wore an old coat.
Beside her squatted a little girl of about five, her hair tied in two little braids, blinking her big eyes as she watched the brazier curiously.
The mother clutched a stack of spirit money, tossing it into the fire as she murmured softly, her eyes red.
"Yaya's dad... it's the fifteenth tonight. Is it cold over there?"
"All this money is for you. If you need anything down there, buy it. Don't be stingy like you used to and make yourself suffer."
As the woman spoke, her voice began to choke up, but she quickly wiped her eyes hard with the back of her hand and forced a smile.
"Don't worry about us. Life in Great Xia has gotten better now."
"You missed the good times... our country is so powerful now. We even have spaceships flying in the sky. We don't have to live in fear of earthquakes, typhoons, or tsunamis