The domestic rivers are criss-crossed, and the river network is dense. Because the river is often diverted and flooded, bringing great disasters to people, the worship of the river god has also been around for a long time.

My family lives on the banks of the Liao River and has been fishing for generations. For others, a big flood is a terrible disaster, but for our Shen family, it is a rare opportunity to make a fortune.

As one of the seven major rivers in China, the Liao River, every time there is a big flood, it will wash down a lot of valuable things, and the ancestors often make a windfall because of this.

As the saying goes, people die for money, birds die for food, Liaohe fed the Shen family, and the same generations also lost their lives because of it.

When the grandfather was forty years old, it rained heavily for nearly half a month, and the water of the Liao River swelled and overflowed from the embankment.

Fortunately, the village is on high ground and has not been flooded by rain. But no one knows why, at dusk when the rain just stopped, the chickens, ducks, geese, pigs and other livestock in the village ran to the river like crazy, and then jumped into the water in rows, and their bodies were swept by the river and floated downstream.

What's even more frightening is that several girls in the village also jumped into the water frantically, and their families couldn't stop them.

The grandfather has been begging for a living in the river, not only fishing for all kinds of strange things, but even a lot of corpses. When encountering this kind of strange thing, the villagers naturally thought of Taiye, and the whole village came to ask Taiye to find a way.

Someone said, "It's the river god who wants to make sacrifices, and this kind of thing happens in the village." "The legend of sacrificing to the river god has been around for a long time, but in recent years, very few people have done so.

The grandfather frowned and looked at the villagers kneeling in the courtyard. He pondered for a moment and said, "Go back, all of you!" Keep the doors and windows closed at night, and no one is allowed to go out. I'll figure it out. ”

The villagers trusted the master very much, and according to his instructions, they all went home.

That night, the grandfather took the old hairless black dog and rowed the boat into the water.

The next morning, he came back exhausted. He sat on the ground, with an iron box more than one person high and one foot long beside him.

The tin box was rusty, and he must have fished it up from the river. No one knows what he did that night.

The chief of the village instructed the village chief to gather all the carpenters and young men in the village and let them build a river temple on a high ground near the river.

He also had a craftsman carve a statue of the river god and buried the box under the river god.

The villagers worked together, and it only took two or three days for the river temple to be built. This trick really worked, and there was no accident in the village, and they treated the grandfather as a god.

But the grandfather has been bitter, and explained the future to his family.

On the morning of the second day after the construction of the river temple, someone saw the grandfather kneeling in front of the river temple and bleeding to death.

Some people say that he died because the grandfather angered the river god and was punished.

Grandpa inherited his business, and still took the old black dog to make a living in the Liao River.

My grandfather was very kind to me, and he always told me to study hard and leave the village as soon as possible. Grandpa was very strict and never let me go into the water.

When I was naughty when I was a child, I quietly went swimming in the Liao River with my friends, but I was almost swollen by my grandfather.

My grandfather has always been very kind to me, and he has never beaten me like this. Grandpa said with a calm face, "Remember, you can't go into the water in the future, otherwise no one will be able to save you!" ”

Since then, I listened to him very much and never went to the Liao River again.

After decades of wind and rain, the river temple has become dilapidated, and people's reverence for the river god has weakened a lot.

Because the river temples were built with good wood, some people even demolished them and pulled them back to build houses.

Grandpa is in his sixties, and of course he can't stop them. He could only watch them tear down the River Temple and shake his head silently.

Strangely, on the night they demolished the river temple, it rained heavily. Someone heard a cry coming from the Liao River, and the sound was very pervasive.

Grandpa shook his head and sighed, and said, "It's all because they didn't listen to me, and now no one can save them!" ”

The next morning, everyone got up tremblingly, only to find that all the people who demolished the river temple were missing.

The group followed the footprints until they found the river, and the footprints were finally submerged by the river.

What is even more frightening is that there are still many traces of chains on the river beach, and they are more like they were chained and pulled into the river.

Only then did everyone think of the legend of the river god, and they were afraid that the same thing would happen again, so they all came to ask their grandfather to find a way.

Of course, Grandpa knew the seriousness of this matter. He was afraid that no one would take care of me after his accident, so he entrusted me to Uncle Chen, who lived in a dilapidated temple on the edge of the village.

Uncle Chen and his grandfather are about the same age, and they are also alone. He had a good relationship with his grandfather, and said to his grandfather with some worry, "Old Shen, Chao'er is still young, and he can't do without you." You don't have to worry about it. ”

Grandpa said with a wry smile, "This is the fate of our Shen family, and no one can escape it." ”

In addition to asking the villagers to restore the river temple to its original state, Grandpa also asked the carpenter to help make a coffin.

The coffin is more than one person high, and it is about the same size as the iron box that the master buried in the river temple.

In the middle of the night, Grandpa took the old black dog and drove the carriage to pull the coffin to the river beach, and then loaded it into the boat with great difficulty, and rowed the boat towards the center of the river.

The next day, when the grandfather came back, he was covered in mud, as if he had taken a muddy bath, and he collapsed as soon as he entered the house.

I didn't sleep all night and waited for him. When I saw him come back, I quickly helped him clean up.

At this time, Uncle Chen also came. Grandpa looked at me with a reluctant face and instructed me, "Chao'er, you are trapped and can't enter the water, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

Grandpa's words puzzled me very much, as the saying goes, only when a trapped dragon enters the water can he show his strength.

Grandpa explained to me, "Chao'er, I just want you to live a peaceful life like everyone else." Don't follow in my footsteps and your grandfather's footsteps. ”

Grandpa looked at Uncle Chen and told him, "Old Chen, I have to trouble you to help me take care of him in the future." You have to remember what I said. ”

Uncle Chen's eyes turned red, and he said, "You can rest assured that you will not be disappointed." ”

Grandpa pointed to the old black dog squatting by the wall and said to me, "I'll entrust it to you in the future." ”

The black dog's eyes were full of sadness. Generally speaking, a dog can only live for more than ten years, but it has seen his grandfather die with his own eyes, and now his grandfather will die in front of him. It has been with us for two generations.

After Grandpa finished speaking, he quickly swallowed his breath. Everyone in the village remembered my grandfather's good deeds and helped me deal with my grandfather's funeral.

I followed my grandfather's instructions to study hard, but my talent was limited, and I didn't get admitted to college after graduating from high school, so I had to go home to take care of the few acres of thin land left by my grandfather.

Usually with Uncle Chen taking care of him, life is passable.

Except for following my grandfather's instructions to incense the river god on the first and fifteenth days of the new year, I rarely go to the river temple.

Because I feel that the death of my grandfather and grandfather is related to it, and it is the nemesis of our Shen family.

I call the old black dog Kuroko, but it doesn't bother me much.

It is very watery, and when it sees water, it becomes very excited, and often goes to the river alone to catch fish, and brings back the fattest carp to me.

I thought that I would be like my grandfather said, never touch the Liao River for the rest of my life, and then live my life peacefully.

But our Shen family is like being cursed, no one can get rid of this fate, and the same thing will happen to me soon.

In the summer when I was twenty-two years old, there was another heavy rain that had never been seen before. The Liao River fills the entire riverbed, and it seems that it can overflow at any time.

Although our Shen family no longer makes money, others will not let go of this opportunity. Especially Liu Dehai's family, he has five sons, all of whom are big-shouldered and round-waisted, and they are simply a tyrant in the village, and no one has ever dared to provoke them.

Fearing that the river would wash away the village, the villagers took refuge in the embankment, which is much higher. The embankment was full of people, and there were many small boats rowing in the river.

Because there is a village upstream that is flooded by the river, many things have been washed down, and everyone is scrambling to get the good things onto the boats.

In addition to some wood, there are even live domestic animals floating down the current. However, in half a day, everyone's harvest was very good.

I was standing in the crowd, Kuroko lying at my feet. The current was strong in the middle of the river, and the whirlpool tumbled downstream.

Kuroko suddenly stood up, it became very nervous, its tail drooped, and it stared intently not far from the whirlpool.

Following its gaze, I saw a large red figure swimming past the water.

It was a huge red carp nearly two feet long, and I had never seen such a big carp before.

It was bright red from head to tail, as if it had been stained with blood. It doesn't swim fast and gives it a very elegant feel.