The Li household of Anqing Fu had a servant named Hu Baiwu, who had died several years ago. One day, setting off for the capital, Li saw someone in the street resembling him, at which he exclaimed and questioned the seller. He said: “Your humble servant is actually a ghost; not originally fated to die yet, my ethereal soul could not submit to authority, and has no option but to drift through the mortal world.” Questioned about the things he sold, he said: “These are items from this (mortal) world; every day I bring the travelling pedlar’s stall, and the money I use is also of this world.” Questioned as to his accommodation, he said: “At night I rest at the roadside, on a butcher’s board, where the guards on patrol don’t see me; those trading like this are very many, and are of course ghosts.”
It can therefore be seen that mixed among the floating population (huhai) are ghostly people; even grasping their fingers and pointing none would see this truly.
Anon, Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後2.240 (Tale 433):
死僕賣鵝
安慶府李家有僕胡百五，已死數年。一日如京，於街上見賣炙鵝者似之，呼而問。曰：「某實鬼也，本未當死，魂無歸附，未免混凡。」詰其所賣之物，曰：「即世間物，每日就鋪家行販來，所用之錢即世間錢也。」詰其止宿之地，曰：「夜則泊於街旁肉案上，巡更軍吏皆不得見，經紀買賣如某輩甚多，固鬼也。」 以是見湖海之內，人鬼混淆，持指示數人，皆不識耳。
Yuan Haowen 元好問, Chang Zhenguo 常振國 (ed), Xu Yijian zhi 續夷堅志 (Continued Records of the Listener), and Anon., Jin Xin 金心 (ed.), Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi 湖海新聞夷堅續志 (Continuation of Records of the Listener with New Items from the Lakes and Seas) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986)
Zhiguai Translations 