The footprints have stepped on every inch of the journey, and they have been blown away by the wind and washed away by the rain. Stop-and-go, stop-and-go, over the mountains, over the river, more than a month passed. The road was quite smooth, he had caught the thief and cured the little demon, and he was brave enough to eliminate violence and peace. Occasionally, there is a bit of infighting-noisy small fights, mixed small mouths, and in a blink of an eye, there is only half the distance left from Qinglize.

It coincides with the Chinese Valentine's Day.

Rin Yamakai and his companions arrive at a lively town. They went down the river, and as soon as they came ashore, they found that there was a commotion here. It's so lively, it's like a market everywhere, and there are vendors everywhere making money. They had barely walked a few steps when a couple of pretty girls came up and put garlands of petunias and bellflower on their heads. There are also a few feathers pinned to each wreath. Shi Wuqi took it off curiously and found that it was a magpie's.

The name of this place is Jiangyuan Town. In recent years, more and more people have come to visit this area, and it is slowly expanding. It is believed that by placing lanterns with your partner in front of the river that crosses the town, you can fulfill your love wishes.

The teahouse is so lively that there is almost no place to stay. Xiao Er Zhang Luo and some other individual guests shared a big table before they could sit down to eat. Sitting with them were two couples of men and women, an old man, and a worker repairing the building. When they were seated, they were half-eaten and seemed to be talking about something. After listening to it for a while, I realized that it was telling a story of love and love.

One of them is a young couple, newly married, and wandering around. They were talking about what they had seen and heard before they came here. The other couple, whose parents have a grudge at home, eloped out and wanted to settle here, and they said how they fell in love and how they escaped. The worker is alone, his wife is in the neighboring city, and he comes here to make money by himself, and he listens to it with envy and complains again and again. In the end, the old man told a story that he had heard from afar when he was young.

"It's an old legend. A thousand years ago, when I was out of the mountains, there was a small isolated village. There is a shrine in the mountain village, and a goddess is enshrined in the shrine. The goddess is talented, has a good export, and is also beautiful and likable. The reason why a goddess is a goddess is because she can talk to God and say oracles. How the harvest was, how her body was, and what her marriage was, she could tell with a little divination. The whole village loved her, but she always wanted to go out and see the outside world. The people in the village were afraid that she would not come back as soon as she left, so they coaxed her to offer delicious food and fun every day. ”

"Isn't this house arrest?" Mu Wan muttered quietly.

"Did she get out later?" Dai Luan then asked.

"No, she knows that the mountain people love her and respect her. It was only later that a monster from elsewhere came to the mountain, and by chance he met the goddess. The big monster is an extraordinary talker, and has seen the world, more powerful than anyone she has ever seen. They talked happily and had feelings back and forth. There were many men in the village who liked her, but naturally they were all rejected - if someone really became with her, no one else would be jealous of her. It's just that in this way, everyone hates the monster and tells her to be careful, and she just laughs. ”

Shanhai took a bite of food, shook his head, and Ah Luan asked him what was wrong.

"The relationship between demons and humans can't go far."

"I know that, but I don't know why?"

He paused for his chopsticks and motioned for her to listen.

"After a long time, the mountain people have opinions. As the saying goes, people can't get rid of the monsters, and they have opinions about them. I don't remember much about what happened later, it seems that the goddess made some prophecy, but there was a deviation, and a few lives were lost. Then, she said the prophecy of destroying the village, so that everyone was ready to flee for their lives. A person who has pursued but was rejected hated the most fiercely, spreading rumors that the son of the god and the demon will incur natural disasters, and only by offering the goddess to the mountain god can he survive. What's more, her prophecy has deviated, either because her divine power has been affected, or because she has listened to the nonsense of the monsters......"

"Where is there this" The girl opposite scolded, "Isn't it just that you can't beat the monster, so you bully women, shameless!" ”

The old man took a sip of tea and continued:

"The mountain people are ignorant, but they believe it. They were to offer the goddess to the god of the mountain. Even when it was time to walk towards Huangquan Road, the goddess was still saying, "Run, it's too late—and so, the natural disaster really came. The big monster who loves her deeply, kills everyone, and turns a deaf ear no matter how the goddess dissuades her. He had seen that this group of foolish people was unpleasant, and he ruined the village, and wanted to raze the mountain to the ground. But at that time, the mountain god really appeared; And the mountain god suppressed the youkai, and the story ended. ”

After the old man finished speaking, he stroked his beard. After listening to this story, the people at the table looked at each other, not knowing why.

"The mountain god can also do it, but he has to wait for the village to be destroyed before he makes a move."

"If you want to destroy the mountains and forests, God is not stupid?"

"It's impossible to say, some protectors live by people's beliefs, and maybe they have already given those two people enough face."

The others gossiped, arguing and pestering the old man to explain, but they finished their meal and quickly left the table.

Whether it's ghosts or gods, or people, it's impossible to tell where they go. Demons are sometimes kinder than people, but sometimes people are more terrifying than demons.

There was a girl on the side of the road who sold impatiens and dyed her nails. Dai Luan ran over to see it, and she also wanted to dye it. Shi Wuqi squatted down, and the two picked some. The little girl, who was about the same age as Ah Luan, saw the garlands in their hands, and knew that they were strangers, so she said:

"Every year on the night of Qixi Festival, there are lanterns here. We have a special candle with a thin layer hollowed out in the middle to fit a note with a wish written on it. Put the candle in the lantern and light it, put it in the river, and float away with the water, and your wish will come true. We also have a bridge here, the name of the bridge, and it is said that there is a youkai who lives there, and we call her Hashihime. ”

"What kind of youkai is it?"

"It was there a few years ago. Some people come here to get acquainted with their lovers, and there are also people who want to see the legend of Hashihime. My mother said that Qiao Ji has always been there, his man went to Beijing to take the exam, and never came back, she just waited and waited, standing in the middle of the bridge every day to watch the boat going down the water, decades have passed, and she has not aged. Sometimes someone can see her, someone can't. Sometimes it's visible, sometimes it's invisible. But on the night of Tanabata, many people said they had seen it. ”

"Is she dead?" Luan asked.

"Probably dead. Some people say that they saw a man like their own man on the boat, leaned out and called him, accidentally fell down and drowned; Some people say that it was lovesickness, and one day it rained heavily, and she got drenched and died on the bridge; Others said that she was angry when it was rumored that her man was married to another woman. However, it is said that if a loving man and a woman see them and walk across the bridge alive together, even if they pass the test, they will be happy for a lifetime. ”

Shanhai asked her if she had ...... Someone who hasn't passed?

"Naturally, there is. I heard that those unfaithful men were killed, and in the past few years, there have indeed been deaths. So in recent years, tourists, that is, to see, do not go to the bridge. Those who are truly affectionate rarely see her. ”

The picky Shi Wuqi raised his head and asked, "Oh? What about unfaithful women? ”

"I think I'm dead, too."

"Oh."

Mu Wan glanced at him: "Are you mentally balanced?"

"That's it."

"Sick."

The two of them picked the flowers, paid the little girl, got up and left. Dai Luan took two steps and asked them:

"Why do I always think that there are the most women and children in this ghost?"

"Yin Qi is a little bit heavy. But again...... It's just that they didn't have the ability to retaliate when they were alive. Those who are sorry are also afraid of female ghosts and children. ”

"This person just likes to pick soft persimmons and pinch them." Shi Wuqi sneered.

It wasn't quite dark yet, and they got tired of walking, so they looked for the nearest inn to the bridge. But it was already overcrowded, and they had to walk a little further to find a place. Dai Luan tossed her nails for herself, and Shi Wu gave up nothing to do, dyeing Miss Qi. Dai Luan also wanted to harm Mu Wan, but she hurriedly excused herself on the grounds that she didn't like warm colors.

"This Snow Yan Sect's clothes are green, they don't match."

"Flowers and green leaves are more matched, you're welcome."

Shi Wuqi rolled his eyes and said, "It's worthy of you, pay attention." was kicked by Mu Wan, who was sitting next to him.

After resting for a while, it was dark, and looking down from the second floor, people rushed to the river one after another. People are dressed in fabulous clothes, carrying all kinds of street gadgets in their hands, what grasshoppers, paper butterflies, and sugar paintings, sugar people, sugar gourds...... Neither the child nor the girl is idle. Dai Luan wanted to go down, the mountains and seas were chaotic, let her wait, she would find something to do. The whole room went around, and finally his eyes fell on Shi Wuqi, and he had to chase after him to comb his hair, otherwise it would be a waste for so long.

You also have today.

Shanhai and Mu Wan looked at each other. Mu Wan tilted his head sideways and leaned back, deliberately glancing at Shanhai's hairstyle.

"I didn't let her get away with it."

After dinner, they followed the crowd.

All along the river, candles and lanterns are sold. I heard that their activities here didn't end until the Midyear Festival passed. But they can't stay that long, if you want to join in the fun, today is just right.

The originally dark and calm river was red and full of red lotus lanterns. It is said that it will be replaced by white on the Midyear Festival. Now the whole river is red, glowing with golden light, flowing into the distance. Looking at the easternmost part, the rising moon was also eclipsed by the light of the fire. The lanterns floated far away, as if they were going to flow to the sky, to the Cowherd and Vega.

Shanhai had just bought the lamp, and everyone borrowed the pen from the stall and wrote their wishes on the small stool. Then they carefully rolled the strip of paper into the bottom of the candle and placed it on the lantern. Mu Wan just watched the whole process and did not participate.

After writing, Dai Luan raised her head and held her chest high, and carefully checked the wish in her hand. Suddenly, she noticed that on the arched bridge in the distance, among the bustling crowds, there was only one figure, and it did not move. Rubbing your eyes is gone.

It should be that the lantern has been staring at it for too long, and it is a little dazzling.