"The mountains are dwelling, and they want to take my body. Aquatic ghosts, thirsty for my soul. Feed my heart and feed my gods. Chengxi, Chengxi, too vain. ”

Singing was heard from afar, chanting repeatedly, overlapping and overlapping, as if the mountains and rivers were all resonating together.

Xu Wen listened attentively, turned his head and heard the young man's uncertain voice, and looked at him.

"Yes, we just came to the Dragon Temple to do business, is there anything wrong?" asked him with a smile.

"No, there's nothing wrong with that. The boy said a little nervously, moving his butt on the mat, "Can I wait here for you to come back without getting out of the car?"

Yan Jiangguan pondered for a moment, and then nodded: "Well, it's okay." Fourteen virtuous nephews, you are here to accompany him, and I will go back when I go. ”

Xu Wen was a little surprised.

Yan Jiangguan specially asked him to come over, he thought there was something, but now he wants to leave him in the car?

However, he nodded immediately and replied, "Yes." ”

Craftsman Yan smiled meaningfully at him, got up and got out of the car, and the young man was visibly relieved.

The footsteps of Yan Jiangguan gradually disappeared, and the distant singing still floated back and forth between heaven and earth, and the two of them did not speak for a while, listening quietly to this ethereal singing.

"This is the song of the dragon god?" After listening to it for a long time, the young man suddenly asked.

"I don't know, it's my first time here. Xu asked.

"Doesn't sound like that...... It's like a sacrifice to mountain spirits and wild monsters. The boy said.

The two listened quietly for a while.

The boy is right, the song repeats these four sentences, and the main content is to describe and sing about the mandrill and water ghosts, and it has nothing to do with the dragon god. It's a bit strange to sing here in the Dragon Temple.

The more Xu Wen listened, the more interested he became, and said to the young man, "I'll go down and ask." He got out of the car.

"Hey, I'm going to ...... too" The young man was stunned for a moment and followed him.

Xu Wen explained a few words to the coachman, asking him to park the carriage and wait for them, while he walked along the river bank with the young man.

The Dragon Temple was built next to Fenshui, and there were no dwellings around, only a sparse forest.

Now that winter is now on, the leaves have basically fallen off, and the branches are bare, and they look more and more depressed.

Today was a sunny day, and the miserable white winter day hung in the sky, and it didn't bring much warmth. A gust of river wind blew, and a few more leaves fell off the trees, and Xu Wen thought to himself, he had to change his thin jacket when he went back. Then he glanced sideways at the young man, he was not very thickly dressed, but he was in good spirits, and he didn't seem to feel too cold.

The Dragon Temple faces Fenshui, about five or six hundred meters away from the river bank. There is a huge wooden archway in front of the temple, four pillars and three floors, black tiles and red columns, which are particularly distinct under the daylight.

The temple door behind the archway is closed, a monk wearing a gray monk's robe is sweeping the floor in front of the door, and some villagers in front of the archway are burning incense and candles to worship, and they are also singing.

"The Dragon Temple is not open?" Xu Wen walked with Yan Jiangguan when he arrived in Jincheng, and did not hear the words of the locals. He glanced at the boy and asked.

"Look, what am I doing? I, I don't know!" said the young man nervously.

"Just ask, you don't have to be weak-hearted. Xu asked.

"Who's weak!" the boy was about to blow up.

"No, I was wrong. Xu Wen reassured him.

It took a while for the boy to calm down.

"What's your name?" the two walked together in the direction of the torii, and the young man suddenly asked.

"Words 14. Of course, Xu Wen reported a pseudonym.

“...... Why don't you ask my name?" the boy asked suddenly, after waiting for a moment.

"Normally, you should introduce yourself before you ask me for my name. Xu Wen said in a calm tone.

"Yes, is that so?" said the boy, scratching his head, a little embarrassed, "I had another name, but I didn't like it. Then Yun Niang took a name, which I thought was pretty good, so I'm now called Lin Xie. ”

In these years, the parents of the body and skin, and the existence of a person also belongs to his clan.

The name is given by your parents, and after you are on the family tree, it represents the origin of your person, and it is easy to change it.

But Lin Xie said it very naturally, and Xu Wen sounded very ordinary.

He used to have a classmate, and his sister and brother felt that their names were not good, so they said hello to their families, and even changed their names and surnames. The family easily agreed, and there was no objection at all.

Xu Wen had a good relationship with that classmate, and over time, he felt that this thing was too normal.

"Who is Yun Niang?" he asked casually.

"It's me...... Stepmother?" Lin Xie thought for a while before defining the other party's identity.

"It's a good name, she's very discerning. Xu Wen said approvingly.

"Yes!" Lin Xie suddenly grinned a little silly, obviously having a very good relationship with his stepmother.

After a few words, the two of them had already walked under the archway, and at this time the sacrifice had entered the next stage.

A man in a red dress was lifted by four people in a wooden sedan chair and carried in the direction of the riverbank.

The wooden sedan chair is wrapped with red silk and red paper flowers, which looks rough but also festive.

Someone next to the sedan chair was beating gongs and drumming suona, and there was also a person who looked like a bride with a red cloth wrapped around his head.

"Is this to welcome the river god?" asked Lin Xie in surprise.

"Sort of. Xu asked.

"Isn't that harmful!" The traditional god of marrying the river finally pushes the woman into the river and drowns, which is the real bad life. Lin Xie had obviously seen such a record, and he was immediately filled with righteous indignation, and he was about to rush forward as soon as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Wait, see. Xu Wen pulled him.

"It's a big deal, how can you wait!" Lin Xie was very angry, and shook his hand to break free from Xu Wen.

He looked pampered, but his strength was quite great, and Xu Wen almost didn't hold him at once. He tightened his hands, clasped Lin Xie's wrist, and emphasized, "Look again." ”

With this force, his fingers were like clamped pliers, and Lin Xie shook it twice without shaking it off.

He frowned, suddenly raised his hand, and with a dexterous gesture, his leg swept down at the same time.

This is obviously a kung fu move, and if Xu Wen didn't watch out, he would probably be thrown off by him.

But Xu Wen had also practiced fighting five birds, and he had already discovered something by observing Lin Xie's actions before. At this time, his hand relaxed, followed Lin Xie back and forth, grabbed his wrist again, and was not broken free at all.

"You!" Lin Xie asked in surprise and anger, glaring at Xu hard.

"Look over there. Xu Wen shook his head, and pointed his other hand in the direction of the riverbank.

Lin Xie subconsciously looked over, and suddenly let out a "huh", and his eyes froze.

The procession stopped when it reached the riverbank, and the sound of gongs and drums continued, but it became more and more urgent, and it sounded less like a marriage than a war.

As soon as the sedan chair stopped, the "bride" got off the sedan chair and continued to walk in the direction of the riverbank.

This "bride" tried her best to walk delicately and vividly, but Lin Xie immediately saw that this was a strong man dressed as a woman.

Since ancient times, the river god has married, and I have never heard of replacing women with men.

Lin Xie stopped struggling and looked in surprise.

The "bride" walked over to the riverbank, where there was something on the ground, in the shape of a long strip, and it was not clear what it was from their point of view.

Then the "bride" grabbed the thing and wrestled with it.

It was a straw, a dead thing, and it couldn't move at all. But the "bride" moves very much, and the fight with it is quite realistic.

Finally, the "bride" tossed it high and stomped on it again.

At this time, Lin Xie saw clearly that it was a long dragon with a thick grass, which was relatively rough, but he could still see the prototype.

In other words, this sacrifice to the dragon god is actually a story of pretending to marry a relative to trick the dragon god out and then kill it?

This...... It's really unexpected.

Lin Xie opened his mouth wide, and Xu Wen next to him also laughed.

"This is the monthly festival of the Dragon Temple, which is held on the first day of every month. Today, the Dragon Temple came to the big man to seal the temple, and the moon festival did not stop. The sacrificial process is basically like this, with fake marriages as the main thing. ”

It didn't take long for Xu Wen to inquire and come back to tell Lin Xie.

"This is a sacrifice to the dragon god, is it a threat...... "Lin Xie muttered.

"Pretty much. It is said to be a real thing that actually happened. Xu asked.

"Really, is there really a dragon god?" Lin Xie asked subconsciously.

"In the past, when the river god here married, he used a woman's life to fill in. As a result, once a woman was thrown into the river and came back alive, she took the corpse of a strange beast, saying that it was a dragon god clone, and she did not want to be martyred, so she killed desperately. The dragon god is not terrible, it can be subdued. Xu Wen said slowly.

"And then?" asked Lin Xie.

"At the same time, there was also a Fang Shi, who taught people how to deal with the Dragon God. build embankments and plant trees, and clear sand and widen rivers during dry seasons...... After that, the dragon god really never appeared again, and gradually, the ceremony of the dragon god's marriage became like this. Xu asked.

Later, the woman married Fang Shi, and the two stayed near the Dragon Temple, and lived in harmony for the rest of their lives. ”

At this time, the dragon god has been subdued, and the ritual has entered the final stage.

The ethereal overlapping song sounded again, floating back and forth on the surface of the Fenshui River, straight into the sky.

"The mountains are dwelling, and they want to take my body. Aquatic ghosts, thirsty for my soul. Feed my heart and feed my gods. Chengxi, Chengxi, too vain. ”