Seeing this, some people may ask, since it is a venue problem, why invite an old lady to come over?

That's exactly what I'm going to talk about next.

According to custom, after the completion of the altar and the sacrificial place, there must be a first sacrifice, similar to the completion of the house, there will always be a sacrificial activity of the house, the first sacrifice here is to pray that the mountain ghost will bless the completed site in the three days of the sacrifice will not have accidents, and bless the entire sacrificial activity can be successfully completed.

The sacrifice here also needs to be presided over by the chief priest himself.

In fact, this work is not complicated, probably after the completion of the site, a tree trunk needs to be erected in the middle of the sacrificial place, called the Zhenshan tree, which means that the tree that grows on the top of the mountain, and is the treasure tree that suppresses the feng shui of a place.

The trunk used as a town tree must be large enough to be a full nine feet and three feet higher than the low poles around the sacrificial ground, with branches and leaves at the top of the tree and a small number of branches on the body of the tree.

Leaving aside the section planted in the soil, the section on the soil alone is ten feet high, and it is not an easy task to plant such a giant tree.

After the Zhenshan tree is planted, it means that the preparation for the early sacrifice is basically completed, and at this time, the grandmother needs to preside over the first sacrifice. It's probably just the slaughter of livestock, the burning of incense and the sacrificial wine, the form of which is more important than the meaning, I met once when I was a child, and because it was so boring, I never went there again.

Although the first festival is boring, the formal mountain ghost festival is quite interesting, and the whole sacrificial process is divided into six parts, namely cleansing, welcoming the gods, offering incense, chanting, praying, and worshipping.

At the beginning of the memorial, all those who participated in the sacrifice and those who watched the ceremony need to tidy up their clothes, and the organizers will have special people to inspect everywhere, and those who are not clean and those who are unclean will be removed from the field.

And this is only the first layer, after the real cleansing begins, you will find that there are people in the sacrificial hall with bowls and sprinkling water, almost every corner of the venue, everyone will be sprinkled with a little of that kind of water.

This is another meaning of purity: to clear the obscure things that linger at the scene of the sacrifice.

Of course, this cannot be made public, otherwise many experts in so-called scientific atheism will lash out in unison that this is a feudal poison and superstition, and it needs to be defeated.

However, the fact is that more than half of the tourists who come to watch the mountain ghost festival over the years come for the ritual of purging the filth.

I don't know anything else, but I know the kind of water used for purification, every year before the mountain ghost festival is held, my grandmother has to spend a lot of time on these clear water, every morning and evening to hold a spell, and then use secret techniques to mix, busy for half a month, and finally only get a small half bucket.

According to the third uncle, this kind of clear water was blessed by his grandmother with some kind of mysterious witchcraft, and its effect of driving away evil spirits and eliminating obscurity was even more useful than the magic weapons that those famous people of the great sect used up to open their hearts and bless.

Miao Xiangu's name resounded all over the Xuanmen of Shenzhou back then, even after so many years, there are still many rich people who have heard the wind and come to their grandmother to seek a way to avoid misfortune, but they are all rejected by their grandmother. As a result, the kind of clear water that is blessed by the grandmother herself and does not require money for the mountain ghost sacrifice has become a holy object sought after by this type of people.

After the cleansing, it is to welcome the gods, that is, to welcome the mountain ghosts, and the mountain ghost festival officially begins.

A few hours before the festival begins, a team of people in charge of welcoming the gods carries a sedan chair made of rattan wood into the mountain to greet the mountain ghosts.

The team entering the mountain did not have a specific route or a prescribed destination, so they walked aimlessly, shouting as they walked: the sun is dark, and the east wind is fluttering and the gods are raining. Stay spiritually and forget to return, and the years are not too old?

Of course, it is impossible to go on like this, when the team encounters something strange, the team leader will shout to stop the sedan chair, and then ask the strange thing to be involved three times: "Please the mountain ghost Niangniang into the sedan chair, please the mountain ghost Niangniang into the sedan chair, please the mountain ghost Niangniang into the sedan chair!" ”

After shouting, the leader got up the sedan chair, and the team lifted the sedan chair made of vines, beat gongs and drums all the way, and went straight to the venue of the mountain ghost festival.

This sounds a bit ridiculous, because there is no standard for the so-called strange things that the team encounters in the mountains, and it all depends on the subjective statement of the team leader, for example, he sees a stone that looks like a pig, as long as he thinks it is strange, then he can point to this stone and say that this is the incarnation of the mountain ghost Niangniang, and then shout a few times and forget it.

Of course, this is just an analogy, in my opinion, the so-called peculiar things should not really see things, but the leader of the team according to the time when the team enters the mountain and the time when the mountain ghost festival begins, because the team to welcome the gods needs to arrive at the venue on time, this time can not be too early, let alone late, otherwise the defilement and the welcome of the gods will not be connected, then it will be a big mistake.

In the past, the leaders of the Yingshen team were all experienced people, and there has never been a mistake in the past ten years, which can also support my guess.

The above is only the first half of welcoming the gods, as for the second half, it is the performance of the grandmother, the chief priest.

Offering incense and eulogies are similar to ordinary sacrificial activities, there is nothing special, so I will not repeat them here, and when it comes to praying, it is the highlight of the mountain ghost festival.

The cleansing, greeting, offering incense and chanting can be completed in about one morning, and the remaining two and a half days are basically spent praying.

The prayer here is not simply a prayer for the blessing of the mountain ghosts, but also contains more profound things.

Mountain ghosts are not only the gods worshiped by the mountain people, but also a kind of belief, which is the mountain people's respect for the culture that has been passed down from generation to generation in the past thousands of years, and also contains the desire and pursuit of love for countless young men and women, because the mountain ghost is a mountain goddess who bravely pursues love in the eyes of the mountain people.

Based on the above wishes, there are also a variety of activities in the prayer session.

After singing the praises of the kindness of the mountain ghosts to the mountain people, the elders begin to tell the stories and legends that have happened in the area over the centuries, as well as the history created by the mountain people, and after each story, all the people involved in the sacrifice will pray silently for a quarter of an hour, and then the next old man will tell another story.

In the evening, the real joy begins.

The bonfire is lit, and young men and women from different villages who yearn for love hold hands with each other, sing songs around the bonfire, dance the prayer dance, and bravely pursue their own love. House

Because of this, every night of the mountain ghost festival, the festival venue becomes the home of young people, according to the past statistics, every year the mountain ghost festival has many men and women who are usually shy and timid bravely speak their hearts, and then directly after the festival becomes husband and wife.

Therefore, most of the people who participate in the festival every year are the younger generation.

In addition to these, there are many other activities related to the local mountain culture that has been passed down for a long time.

Hearing me say this, the Taoist priest's pair of thief eyes immediately widened, and there was a fine light shining inside: "You say, if the Taoist Master drags your Sister Bailing to participate in this Laoshizi sacrifice event, as soon as the atmosphere around arrives, the Taoist Master will make another affectionate confession, maybe your Sister Bailing will agree to me on impulse, it will be too beautiful!" ”

I glanced at him, and when I saw his mouth full of laughter, I couldn't help but sarcastically say: "Well, I advise you not to think about it, you kid doesn't know how many handsome guys are worried about Sister Bailing in the three villages and five villages around here, if you really take Sister Bailing to participate in the sacrifice, it is estimated that you will have to fight on the spot when you pray for the bonfire dance." ”

The Taoist priest looked unimpressed by my words, and said very confidently: "I'm afraid that he will be a chicken fir and fight, it's not that the Taoist is bragging, even if they go together, the Taoist will not be cowardly!" ”

"Gotta get it, you're good, don't talk about the calves, today is already the first sacrifice, according to the custom, the official festival will be held in four days, I can tell you first, don't have any more moths in these days!"

The Taoist priest waved his hand impatiently and scolded: "Damn, you have the face to say that master, you don't want to think about it, which accident was not caused by your kid?" Stop talking nonsense, oh, by the way, Dao Ye is also idle, just go and see your brother, do you want to go? ”

I was stunned for a moment, but then I realized that he was talking about the second tiger. Last time Erhu was seriously injured, when I left, he was still being treated in the hospital in the town, it's been so long, I don't know how his condition is? When the Taoist priest said this, I was suddenly a little moved, but when I thought of my grandmother's words, I hesitated a little.

Seeing my hesitation, the Taoist priest couldn't help but roll his eyes, saying that grandma just asked me not to go out as much as possible, especially not at night, not to say that I must not go out, and for most of the day, the sun is on the head, even if there is dirty things, I will already die of sunburn. After that, he asked me again if I was going to go, and if I didn't, he would have to leave.

As soon as I heard his words, the hesitation in my heart was immediately dispelled, and the two sneaked out while Sister Bailing was busy.

The door of Erhu's house was wide open, but there seemed to be no one at home, and the Taoist priest and I shouted at the door for a long time and no one responded.

Just when we wondered if something had happened, a figure covered in mud suddenly appeared from behind Erhu's house.

The Taoist priest and I were stunned, and when we looked at it, it turned out to be Erhu's mother, who was holding a hoe in her hand and sweating profusely, and I realized that she was working in the vegetable garden behind the house.

Erhu's mother was a little stunned when she saw me, because of the curse of the black vine, I put on a mask before I came out, so she didn't recognize me immediately, but the Taoist priest on the side, she actually recognized it at a glance.

"Ah...... You, you are the Taoist who saved my second tiger last time, ahhhh......h

Erhu's mother warmly invited us to come in as guests, of course, she was mainly an invited Taoist, and my nephew was still stained with the light of a hairy Taoist.

After entering the house, Erhu's mother poured water for us, and I saw that she still wanted to say words of thanks, so she hurriedly took off her mask and shouted: "Auntie, I'm Xiaoyi, you didn't recognize me, alas, I'm so sad!" ”

Hearing this, Erhu's mother was stunned, looked at me carefully, and immediately shouted in surprise: "Ah, Xiaoyi, it's really Xiaoyi, alas, look at my eyes, I really didn't recognize it, hey, what's going on on your face?" ”

I was a little helpless, and said that Erhu's mother was not like this before, why did she become startled now, and she hurriedly dealt with a few words casually, and pulled the topic to Erhu: "Auntie, Erhu, why didn't you see him, did he heal his injury last time?" ”

"Okay, it's good morning, thanks to the Dao Chief, isn't this the Mountain Ghost Festival about to start, Erhu is busy with his father." As she spoke, she seemed to think of something, and immediately stood up, "Oh, yes, you're here to find him, you sit down first, and I'll call him back!" ”

I was about to say no, we went to find him by ourselves, but I didn't expect Erhu's mother to pause at all, as soon as the words fell, the person was gone, and the Taoist priest and I couldn't help but look at each other and smile bitterly.

Just a cigarette of effort, the second tiger rushed back, but the mother of the second tiger did not come back with him, seeing us, the second tiger was very happy, a few steps forward to give us a bear hug, it can be seen that his injury is indeed completely healed.

I punched him and asked him how he was doing, and he told me that he had been discharged from the hospital after another week after the last time I went to see him, because he was not used to being in the hospital, and he was worried about Alain.

After returning to the village, Sister Bailing sent him medicine, and after taking a few pairs, his injuries were completely healed in less than half a month.

Hearing him talk about Alain, I immediately asked Alain about the situation again, but Erhu couldn't stop shaking his head. He told me that Alain's father was still not found, and that since that incident, she had been in a trance all day long, and that Erhu often went to accompany her, but it was useless.

When he said this, Erhu seemed to suddenly remember something, and slapped his head suddenly: "Ah, by the way, the female police officer named He Xiaoyi didn't find it in the end, Officer Niu came to the village to look for you a few times, and later when I searched the mountain, there were also a few officials who came to look for you, but unfortunately you weren't there!" Well, this is one of them that I asked me to pass on to you. ”

As he spoke, Erhu took out two letters from the drawer under the offering table and handed them to me.

"Isn't it a person? How could there be two letters? I asked, a little confused.

Erhu scratched his head and said, "I left one for He Xiaoyi, and one was given to you by an old gentleman, and he said what he was... What is the test for what experts? ”

"Archaeologist?" I blurted out, amazed.

"Yes, yes, yes, it's an archaeological expert, and the people who came with him called him Professor Han, and he also came to look for you, and he also visited his grandmother, and then I don't know why, he handed me the letter, saying that when you come back, I will forward the letter to you."

The Taoist priest and I looked at each other, both a little strange, since I had already found my grandmother, why did I have to transfer the letter to Erhu, just give it to my grandmother?

The Taoist priest stabbed me and asked me to read the contents of the letter first, and then I reacted and scanned the signatures of the two letters, one was written by a person named He Jianjun, and the other was Professor Han, the archaeologist mentioned by Erhu, and the full name on the envelope was: Han Shouyi.