smuggler

I walked over and shouted, "Speak up if you have something to say, what are you doing when you hit someone!"

Although I live here on loan, but when encountering such a thing, I can't just watch it and ignore it.

Wang Xiulian just tilted her body, as if she was used to resignation, the expression on her face didn't change, she picked up the pot on the ground and walked out.

When the village chief saw me, he was taken aback for a moment, then quickly put on a smiling face, and trotted eagerly over: "I didn't hit her on purpose, I was just careless. Did you rest well last night?"

I thought about my experience last night, but didn't say much, just nodded: "It's pretty good, the air here is much cleaner than in the city."

But thinking of Wang Xiulian's accustomed appearance in his heart, he felt a little blocked for no reason.

"That's good, that's good." The village head rubbed his hands together and rolled his eyes: "Our village will worship the mountain god in the afternoon, do you want to go and see?"

I frowned: "Sacrificing to the mountain god?"

"Yes!" The village head nodded again and again: "Our village has always had a rule, and there is a reason for this."

The village chief slowly introduced to me the history of offering sacrifices to mountain gods. During the Song Dynasty, Niujiao Village was surrounded by mountains on three sides and rich in products. The villagers lived a stable life isolated from the outside world.

I said, "Is the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the mountain gods all spontaneously by the villagers?"

Although I shouldn't interfere in other people's family affairs, the village head gave me an uncomfortable feeling. His attitude towards his wife made me very angry.

Suddenly, a strange force field was slowly condensed.

I dared to move closer to get a better look.

But I don’t know when it started, the village suffered from various natural disasters one after another, especially when the sky was dry, the two wells in the village also dried up at that time, the food harvest failed, and wild animals in the mountains died and ran away. I had to walk more than 100 miles of steep mountain roads to fetch water from other villages.

I saw that the slap marks on her face were still there.

Her voice was hoarse, rubbing against her throat like sandpaper.

I'm still very curious about what happened to this priest, so that I can follow him out in a legitimate way without making people suspicious, while looking at where the so-called nursing home in the village is.

Seeing that I didn't speak, the village chief said again: "You came just in time, you can stay and visit tomorrow to see the sacrificial ceremony in our village!"

Under the suggestion of Mr. Yin Yang, everyone chose a new address for the mountain temple, and even built a new mountain statue by themselves.

But over time, the life of the villagers became more and more comfortable. Gradually, the villagers no longer went to the temple to offer incense, and the mountain temple was also abandoned.

The village head said with a smile: "It was Daoist Yin who took the lead. He is now the host of the sacrificial meeting. He has spiritual roots and can communicate with mountain gods."

"Does the village chief always beat you like this?" I tried to continue communicating.

After everyone heard this, they remembered the mountain temple located in Yunfeng Mountain in the north, which had been abandoned for many years.

It seems to be entangled by something for a long time.

I have also seen many anecdotes, but it was the first time I saw the Mountain God, so I didn't refuse.

When I came to the village ancestral hall, everything needed for the sacrifice was almost ready, and I saw a man holding a flagpole.

The mountain temple was built by the villagers led by the ancestors of the village. It is said that every August [-]th, the villagers would spontaneously go to the mountain temple to offer incense and pray for blessings, and the village has been safe and sound.

The sacrificial meeting began, and at this time a thin old man with white beard and hair came out of the ancestral hall.

After hearing these words from the village chief, I couldn't help but think of Hualong Village.

Even though Wang Xiulian seemed to be used to it, I still didn't hold back and grabbed Wang Xiulian while sending the bowls and chopsticks back.

In order to solve this predicament, the village sent people out to invite Mr. Yin Yang. Mr. Yin Yang told everyone after doing the trick that they had offended the mountain god and needed to hold a sacrifice to the mountain god.

"But these are all things in the mountains, and they are all under the control of the mountain gods, so worshiping the mountain gods is also appropriate! Although the conditions are much better than before, there are still villagers who go hunting in the mountains, so the custom of worshiping the mountain gods is also It passed on.”

As for the way of sacrifice, it is also quite special, and it is held once a year.The amazing thing is that after offering sacrifices to the mountain gods, the weather in the village can really be smooth, and even the dry wells have water again. Killed.

In the middle of the line, four strong men surrounded a newly made bamboo chair, on which sat a woman in white.

At this moment, the woman suddenly looked away, her cold eyes met mine, and she even smiled slightly.

Fanaticism flashed in the eyes of the surrounding villagers, forgetting everything and everything.

The village chief didn't seem to pay attention to my attitude, he was still very enthusiastic, and I was looking around the village all the way.

Lunch was also eaten at the village chief’s house. Wang Xiulian brought the prepared meals to my room. I wanted to have a chat with her, but she didn’t respond to my words. She kept her eyes down and put the meals on the table. and left.

There are also people holding drums and suonas, and the creaking and squeaking sounds rise and fall with each other, which sounds uncomfortable.

But for the second half of my sentence, she turned around and left the room without any response.

After a smile, the woman looked back, and her gaze was lowered dully again.

"Fellow folks, today, according to the order of heaven, I sacrifice the jade girl to the mountain god, and pray for the gods to bless our people with prosperity!" The old man rang the bell and shouted, one by one came with the buzzing sound of the music, faintly bewildered .

The smile on the village chief's face was even wider: "I'll pick you up after lunch."

I looked around and felt that something was wrong with each of the villagers, as if they had been hypnotized.

When I saw this smile, I shivered, because that smile was too weird.

"As the saying goes, you rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and you rely on the water to eat the water! Our village was too remote and didn't have so much arable land a long time ago, so we could only go to the surrounding mountains to dig some mushrooms and some herbs, and we also caught some mountain animals. "

Wang Xiulian froze for a moment, looking at the ointment in her hand, wondering what she was thinking.

In fact, when I first entered the village, I discovered that the land here is barren and surrounded by barren mountains and fields. To be able to live here for a long time, there must be some means. Is it possible that offering sacrifices to the mountain gods is really what they rely on for survival.

The village chief came to pick me up as promised. I didn't have a good impression of this man, and I was very indifferent to his partners along the way.

Thinking of this, I nodded: "Okay."

The moment she reached out, I saw an old scar on her wrist under her long sleeve.

"This is ointment, you can apply it on your face." I prepared some emergency things in my cloth bag, just in case.

I believe in ghosts and gods, but I don't believe in things that pedantic villagers worship.

The woman looked young, in her twenties, with delicate features in profile, with an orchid in her mouth, her black and smooth black hair hanging down, and her head bowed down.

Wang Xiulian took the ointment in one hand: "Thank you."

"Sacrifice to the mountain god!"

To talk about the difference between the two, one is to worship the Dragon King, and the other is to worship the mountain god.

The old man held a hexagonal bell in his left hand and a copper coin sword in his right hand. He began to dance with his arms and legs, making strange beeps that fluctuated from time to time, and his feet took strange steps. It seemed to be irregular, and it seemed to imply a mystery. The surrounding men immediately rang the bell and rang Exhausted, Xun and drums played in unison.

"Sacrifice to the mountain god!"

"Sacrifice to the mountain god!"

One by one voices sounded, and the villagers shouted excitedly.

One person in the crowd shouted.

Immediately, as if they had woken up, countless people responded loudly: "Sacrifice to the mountain god! Sacrifice to the mountain god!"