Candle Dragon to the left

Chapter 1 1. Mountain God Nanzhu
The mountain wind clears away the clouds and mist, stretching out the green mountains for thousands of miles.

There are many peaks and mountains, the clear water is like a mirror, and the scenery on both sides of the river is like a gallery in the sky.

Folk songs echoing in the fields can be vaguely heard. In the depths of the Taihang Mountains, people here still practice the ancient way of life, almost isolated from the world.

This is the conclusion Li Xi'an has come to after observing for a long time.

The scarlet letter swallowed the air, processing the smell factors brought in the air.It smelled decay, and another old man in the village was about to leave.

It is no longer a person, it is a snake.

The wisdom of the once human and the tyranny of the big snake in this world have jointly created the most unreasonable top predator in this green mountain.

Li Xi'an calculated its snake's birth age based on the number of times it hibernates. So far, it has probably lived for 250-200 years.In fact, it can't figure out why a snake can have such a long lifespan, and even more than [-] springs and autumns have not shown any signs of aging.

It's still going strong.

The red scales rose and fell with breathing, and the muscles that concealed the terrifying power slowly exerted force, pulling Li Xi'an's huge body to move forward in a meandering manner.

The rubbing of the scales played a mourning movement, and Li Xi'an decided to visit that friend.

It watched him from young to married, to now old and about to die.

The young men of their generation were the last to remember it, and he was the last of them.

The red scales reflect the cold light like pig iron, and the snake's body seems to be boundless.

In the end, the big snake disappeared in the deep pond beside the village, and no one noticed.

Li Xi'an is confident that it is a top predator, and no one in this land can threaten its survival, but it also knows the horror and greed of human beings, not to mention, the cables and poles in the village have already marked the times.

So, it's careful.

It's just to see off old friends, it doesn't intend to make itself public.

Lin Youxiang was lying on the bamboo chair, tapping on the armrest with fingers like dead branches.

He is very old and his life is dying.

Leaving, if unsurprisingly, today.

"Alas" sighed softly, the old man closed his eyes and relaxed his mind.

Gray and gray memory fragments flipped quickly in his mind, some of him playing in the summer with a few friends when he was a child, some of his father holding a bamboo pole and yelling again and again, while he ran wildly in front of him, some of the good night he got married and his wife, and some of them. The child's joy as a father is even more so with the big red snake guarding the mountain.

He is ups and downs in it, memory is a bubble that wraps him, and it will be broken at the touch of a touch.

Mountain God
He and the older generation called the big red snake this way.

The heavy rain that summer fell endlessly, the lead gray clouds were endless, and the whole world seemed to be only gray and white.The icy rain washed his face. He was in the prime of his life when he was 20 years old, and the young people in the village carried sandbags to block the rapidly growing river water level.

To no avail.

This kind of natural disaster cannot be resisted by humans at all. The heavy rain poured down, and the half-leg-deep creek at the gate of the village turned into a raging river in less than half an hour.

Then, flash floods fell from the sky.The flood is surging, carrying the mighty power of nature to submerge everything.The muddy yellow flood roared, mixed with broken branches and gravel, and everyone was in despair.But at this moment, the cloud layer split open, and a crack opened in the thick black cloud, revealing the blue sky behind, and the sun shone suddenly.

The warm light made his icy cheeks feel, and it also allowed him to see clearly the huge monster winding in the distance.

They didn't dare to call it a "snake", they could only call it a god. The heavy rain was stopping, and the mountain torrent was receding. The huge creature raised its head and looked in their direction before disappearing into the mountains.

The old man has never forgotten that look.The eyes on the head are dazzling gold, like candles lit on a dark and rainy day.

So they called it Nanzhu.The mountain god Nanzhu, the candlelight of Nanshan.Temples were even built after the flood to enshrine a coiled serpent statue.

"When we turn over the mountain in front of us and reach another mountain, we will see a big red snake as thick as a water tank in a vermilion temple. Its old man coils there, just to see which naughty boy runs around to eat him... …” Occasionally, he would tell these made-up stories to the village children.In fact, he had never seen the temple, nor had he seen the big snake again.It's just that he hopes that one day it will appear in the temple they built, so he can tell the one that they never forgot.

It's a pity that he is the last person in the village who still remembers the mountain god. I wonder if there will be people enshrining him in the temple after his death?
Hearing the crowing of the rooster in the yard, the old man was heart-piercing, and even the black dog, who was as old as him, growled in a low voice.

Waking him from his frothy dream.

"What's going on?" The old man was puzzled.Picking up crutches, he walked slowly to the backyard.

There used to be a small stream flowing through the backyard, but now it is called a river, and the current is not rushing. It is normal for the villagers to cast a net to catch some fish and shrimp on weekdays.

The chickens, ducks, pigs and dogs raised in the whole yard barked like crazy.

"Clatter——" There was a sound of water flowing, and a huge creature raised its head from the river.

The old man's eyes widened suddenly, thinking of something, he staggered towards the river bank regardless of his crutches.

Then, he was enveloped by shadows.

The Red Snake looked at him quietly, his eyes were the same as in the past, they were dazzling golden, his huge body was lurking in the river, and row upon row of red swirling river bottom could be faintly seen.

Li Xi'an stared at the dying old man in front of him.

There seemed to be a wave of turbulence in the heart that had been silent for a long time, and even it didn't know why it ventured into the human village.

It has been a human being for decades and a snake for hundreds of years, and its ideology has long since changed. If it is allowed to face a human being that threatens it, it will kill it without hesitation without any psychological burden. When the old man passes away, the world really does not remember him, and it is inevitable to feel a little emotional.

Perhaps this is because it is still Li Xi'an, rather than a purely brutal serpent.

Decades ago, flash floods broke out deep in the Taihang Mountains, and the torrential rain lasted for three days and three nights.

Dark clouds overwhelmed the city, with thunder rushing in it.This is for it, according to the literature and books it has known when it was a human, maybe this is the so-called crossing robbery?Although the rainstorm passed, it did feel stronger, but it was not as magical as it was written in the book.

The village was almost flooded because of the torrential rain it caused. After it noticed it, it managed to disperse the heavy rain and mountain torrents. Only then did it realize that it really didn't seem like the ordinary creature it remembered.But so what, it always belongs to this mountain, not the wandering pedestrians in the steel forest before.

But he began to pay attention to the village at the foot of the mountain, to the people who had seen it.They told stories to their younger generations, saying that they should respect this mountain. Although the children didn't understand what they heard, they still left the seeds in their hearts.They also build temples so that it can enjoy incense like a god, even though it doesn't seem to be doing it any good.

"Lord Mountain God..." The old man raised his arms tremblingly, as if he wanted to hug him.

Li Xi'an poked his head out, ready to lower his body, but the old man didn't hug it. The old man knelt down and bowed down, without even raising his head.

Tsk, I'm in trouble.It murmured in its heart, thinking that it was okay to let the old man hug it, but being touched like this made it feel a little heavy in its heart.What are you praying for? What is there to pray for?

Li Xi'an was speechless.

The old man didn't seem to have thought about getting up at all, his face was pressed against the muddy river bank, and his palms were covered with mud and he didn't care.

I don't know how long it has passed, he is very old, and bowing his body like this made him unable to feel the flow of time. He heard the sound of water, and the waves hit his face, and then rushed back into the river.

The chickens and ducks in the yard stopped, and the old black dog crawled into the nest again.

it's gone.The old man knows.

Standing up, there was a red scale in front of him, the size of a baby's palm, and its texture was like high-quality jade.The scales were buried in the mud of the river bank, as if the One was still watching him.

But it's just as if.

　Newcomers and new books, family members please take care of me (laughs)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)