At the southeast end of the dam is a diversion canal, because the terrain outside is relatively low, so on the outside of the diversion canal, a river embankment leading to the south side of the mountain is built next to the dam.

The diversion canal also made a southeast turn with the mountain near the south side of the mountain, and followed the valley south into another mountain stream in the mountain. The mountain stream has now become a nature reserve to the south and the dividing line between the village.

The three-meter-wide diversion canal is made of granite hewn into one-foot squares, but over the years, Xu Yi has never seen how much water is stored in the dam, let alone the need to open the flood gate next to the dam like an ornament to release water.

The wind and the sun were blowing, and the winch used to lift the gate on the flood gate was rusty, and there was no oil on the threaded rod in the middle, which was also covered with a layer of reddish-brown rust, and Xu Yi wondered if this thing was completely rusted. But even if it doesn't rust, even if the floodgates can be opened, the mud in this dam is so deep that it's hard to say whether water can flow out of the reservoir.

When the dam was built, the Taoist temple was not dilapidated, and the road could not be cut off, so a cement bridge was built next to the flood gate, which became the only way for Taoists and pilgrims to enter and exit the Taoist temple after the dam was completed.

When the fruit trees were planted earlier, there were more people walking on this bridge, after all, there was such a bridge on the diversion canal, like a few mountains to the south of Qingyuan Mountain, they could only pass from this bridge, and then walk along the bank on the other side of the diversion canal, and no one cared about the fruit trees in recent years, so the mountain was completely deserted, and together with the dam, it became a witness left over from that era.

The ground on the opposite side of the bridge is paved with bluestone slabs, which are connected to the mountain gate not far ahead.

The mountain gate is a blue brick built, almost more than three meters high, the traditional style building with two layers of eaves on the top, the eaves are flying corners, the carved beams are painted, the upper layer of the eaves can still be seen vaguely under the painted moire, and there are several eaves beasts on the ridge of the original house.

When he was a child, Xu Yi also heard Lao Dao say that the one riding the big in front of him was Jiang Ziya's brother-in-law.

He wanted to use Jiang Ziya's relationship to climb up. Jiang Ziya saw his brother-in-law's intentions, but he also knew that his talent was limited, so he said to him: "Your official has risen to the top, and if you climb up again, you will fall down." ”

So this is placed at the very front of the eaves, which means that if you take a step further, you will fall down and fall to pieces.

Of course, the real reason is that the difference between the ridge and the eaves of this traditional building is too large, so the ridge tile will have a downward stress, and the tile of the eaves is easy to fall, so it is necessary to fix the tile of the eaves with tile nails, and it has evolved into an architectural ornament with a decorative effect, and at the same time has a blessing and auspiciousness, and distinguishes the class level.

However, even if the eaves beast did not climb forward, it did not escape the fate of being crushed, and these eaves beasts were successively shot by the children of the village with slingshots, and they were all crushed to pieces.

The gate also fell down a few years ago because of the rotting of the doorpost, and the village chief found someone to help move it to the warehouse, after all, this door is made of very good materials, if it is really used to chop wood for fire, it will be a pity.

Before Xu Yi stepped over the courtyard wall, he heard a "fluttering sound", which startled him, and when he looked again, it was a sparrow flying out of the crack in the stone in the wall next to the door.

Connected to the two sides of the gatehouse is a wall more than two meters high and more than half a meter thick, which is made of a kind of local cyan stone that is commonly found in the local area, picked up from the nearby mountains.

Of course, the purpose of this wall was not to prevent thieves, but the Taoist temple flourished in those years, the surrounding mountains and rivers are still beautiful, green trees are shady, every winter night, often sneak into the Taoist temple and hurt people, so the old view of the Taoist people spent almost three months every day to go up the mountain to pick up stones and carry them down, built this temple wall, but at that time this mountain gate was not so magnificent, this mountain gate was later donated by good men and women to build, but the donation of the stele was originally standing next to the gate, but it was also smashed by the Red Guards with a sledgehammer。

No one has maintained it for so many years, so most of the whitewashed sand walls on this wall have fallen off, and even the sand between the stones on some walls has been washed away by the rain, revealing irregular cracks.

There are no big birds in the mountains, but there are a lot of sparrows, and this kind of bird that does not nest in the trees often likes to grab a bird's nest or find a hole under the eaves or in the wall, and take some grass or something to pad it as its nest.

When Xu Yi was a child, he often liked to go around the wall in circles, and when he saw a sparrow flying out, he secretly wrote it down, waiting for the evening to reach in and catch the sparrow, but once because of catching the sparrow, the stone hole was too small and too deep, Xu Yi reached in, but the sparrow was not caught, but his hand was stuck in the hole in the wall, and he hung himself on the wall for a long time.

Lao Dao was ready to sleep, but seeing why Xu Yi hadn't come back so late, he came out to look for him, and then he knew that he was stuck.

In the end, the old road went up to the wall and dismantled a section of the stone there, which put Xu Yi down, and after returning home, Xu Yi was also repaired.

But these are all old things, and now watching this sparrow fly away, Xu Yi has no idea.

There is still some distance from the house where he lives, but a little past to the south, there are a few partial buildings left, and after thinking about it, Xu Yi still walked to the side building that was regarded as a warehouse.

Since Xu Yi went to university, the crops in the field will be directly pulled back to the village, and when the grain harvested in winter enters the village, it will be sold directly.

Xu Yi opened the door, took out a dusty shovel from the door, thought about it and took a ladder and went home.

After the fire, the broken Taoist temple was full of broken bricks and tiles, broken walls, and ruins, but this road to the house was cleaned up because it walked back and forth.

In the past few years, there have been few people walking, and the road is also overgrown with artemisia, and Xu Yi can't help but walk carefully. After all, no one has left for too long, and the surrounding environment has gradually recovered, although no one has heard of large animals in the reserve running out, but it is difficult to ensure that there are some snakes, insects, rats and ants hidden in the grass, which is uncomfortable to be bitten again.

But fortunately, I got to the front of the house safely all the way and didn't encounter anything.

The house has not changed much from before, but after all, it has lost its popularity, and it is also a little dilapidated, and there is no trace of the two nests of swallows that nested under the eaves in the early years.

But whether this swallow is still in the south and hasn't come back, Xu Yi is also a little unsure, think about it, it seems that he came back twice last summer, and stayed for one night, and he hasn't seen a swallow, or they also think that this is not popular, and they give up here, thinking that this house is really completely lifeless.

The bricks and tiles of the house are all removed from the burned old house, and even this door and window is also a combination of several doors and windows that Lao Dao picked up from the ruins and picked up something that is not broken, although the material is good, but after all, it is handmade, so there are some slight differences in the length and width of this thing, like the window in the room, if you want to open it, you have to push hard to open. Although there is some paint stripping, it is basically sturdy and will not fall apart at the first touch.

It's just that no one takes care of it, no one takes care of it, and the glass of the doors and windows is covered with dust and rain, forming pieces of dirt, which are not transparent at all, and even the window lattices inlaid on them can no longer see the original color.

However, Xu Yi didn't want to clean it up, after all, it was unlikely that he would come back to live recently, even if it was really cleaned up, it wouldn't take a year and a half, and he would have the same virtue as now.

There are no valuable things at home, and there are people from the village to help clean up the fields, which can also give people a place to rest and drink water, so Xu Yi did not lock the door of this house, and only took an iron bar and stuck it on the nose of the door to tie the door, so as not to be blown open by the wind and blow the door leaf.

Leaning the ladder and shovel against the wall next to the door, Xu Yi reached out and pulled out the iron bar and pushed the door open.

As soon as the door was pushed open, a musty smell that was heavier than when the warehouse was opened just now came from the room, and Xu Yi couldn't help but sneeze twice in a row to get used to it.

Don't look at it, this roof is really leaking.

This house was built directly on the foundation of the Taoist temple hall in that year, when the main hall was built, the ground was raised with loess and then tamped and then paved with sand, and then paved with green bricks. The terrain is almost a foot higher than the outside of the main hall, and I have lived at home for more than ten years, and no matter how heavy the rain is, I have not seen any time when the room is damp and moldy.

When I came back before, at most, the door was closed for a long time, and the air in the room was a little fresh, where would there be such a heavy musty smell.

The room was a little dark, just entered the house, Xu Yi couldn't get used to it for a while, and after a while he could see clearly, then he turned to the back of the door, pushed the electric switch up, and then turned on the electric light to carefully check the kitchen.

Xu Yi carefully checked the edge of the stove and behind the water tank, and deliberately opened the rice box and grabbed the rice out, it was very dry and tasteless, Xu Yi didn't have a paddy field himself, and this rice was carried from the village chief's house every time, but if he wanted to give money, the village chief got angry: "You only live at home for a few days a year, and such a little rice also costs money, you let the people in the village think of me, and how do you look at you!" I don't accept it alive or dead, so that's it, this rice is still carried back by myself before the New Year, more than 20 catties, but there is more than half left.

There is no ceiling on the top of the kitchen, you can directly see the thin board, look carefully, and there is no place where there is mold or rot, it seems that the problem is in the back room.