I whispered, "Since we have a stockade, we can rest for the night." ”

This village is not large, there may only be a dozen or so households, and the pattern of construction is not lined up, on the contrary, it is a circular pattern, the iconic wooden houses, plus the stilted tile building, are all made of wooden planks, the threshold is very high, it should be to guard against snakes, insects, rats and ants in the mountains.

There was no electricity in the deep mountain villages, and every household lit a candle, I looked up at the sky, and saw that it was still early, and it was not dark, and it was very strange why the people in the village lit candles so early?

Zhang Qiang explained in a low voice, "It's unfortunate to come, it seems that there are dead people in the village, and the dead should be very prestigious old people, who light candles not for lighting, but a unique form of sacrifice, just like the dead people of the Han nationality set off firecrackers." ”

I said "oh" and walked into the village, I didn't hear the sound of firecrackers, but saw a lot of white flags hanging on the door panel of the stilted building, it seems that the Miao people are indeed very united, and if something happened to the family, every family followed the funeral.

Walking to the door of a village, I soon saw a middle-aged man in Miao clothes walking out, after seeing us, he was stunned at first, and then said enthusiastically in Miao language, "Brother Zhang Qiang, why are you here?" ”

Appearing at the door was a man from the Miao family, about thirty years old, short and stout, with a dark face, a few wrinkles and ruts on his face, an old man who did not belong to this grade, Miao Jiang's natural environment is harsh, coupled with a unique lifestyle, the average life expectancy is not high, and men will look older because they have been engaged in manual labor for a long time.

Zhang Qiang went up, hugged the other party, turned around and introduced, said that this was the black dog, and said with a smile, "What's wrong in the village?" ”

The black dog lowered his head and said, "Grandma is dead." ”

Grandma is his name for the elders, and grandmother should mean the same thing, and some Miao people will also call the older, noble women in the village as grandma, these people basically serve as priests, goddesses and other roles, very respected by the locals.

Zhang Qiang patted him on the back and said, "It's really not a coincidence, I originally wanted to trouble you to go out of the village with me, but it seems that the time must be delayed." ”

The black dog said, "What do you want me to do first?" ”

Zhang Qiang waved his hand and smiled, "Let's not talk about this topic first, your grandma is dead, can you take us over to worship?" ”

The black dog immediately said please. Under his leadership, we soon walked into the local Miao ancestral hall, which is a special place to park the corpse, in the middle of the ancestral hall on the wooden board lies an elderly grandmother, dressed in white, the wooden board is full of flowers and brightly colored bird feathers, it seems that the status of this grandmother should be more noble during her lifetime.

The black dog pointed to Grandma's corpse and said, "This is my Grandma." ”

Zhang Qiang restrained his expression, walked to the grandmother, straightened his clothes, bowed respectfully, and Azanji and I walked up in turn, and also saluted according to different customs.

After paying homage to the dead, the black dog took us back to his house and said enthusiastically, "You're tired, let's start eating soon." ”

I hurriedly said, "Don't bother, you have relatives in your family who have passed away, so you don't need to greet us......"

The black dog waved his hand and said, "It's okay, the village is small, and the greeting is not good, please don't be polite." "Since the host family said so, we had to agree to come down, the place to eat is in another ancestral hall, because there are elderly people in the village who have died, so everyone gathered together, into the place to eat, I saw more than 20 people, there are old people, there are also children, and a few children waiting to be fed, without exception, all the people in the seats are men, women either feed the children, or work in the back kitchen.

It seems that the status of Miao women is also not high.

Went to the house and sat down, several old people in the village came to toast enthusiastically, everyone's face was filled with a warm smile, and the grief of the death of the elders in the clan could not be seen at all, Zhang Qiang explained in a low voice, "Because many Miao people believe in the mountain god, they think that the death of the clan will return to the embrace of the mountain god, this is not a sad thing, except for the black dog is reluctant to leave his relatives, so it will appear sad, other clansmen will not think so." ”

What a superstition!

I muttered in my heart, at this time someone came to toast, I had to do a bowl, the Miao people's baogu wine is home-brewed, sweet and sweet, but the stamina is great, I drank two bowls and couldn't bear it, but the toaster was not less, the appearance pulled my sleeve and said, "Brother, if you can't drink it, you have to swallow it, the Miao people are not only hospitable, but also very bloody, if you don't drink their wine, it is equivalent to looking down on them." ”

Sure enough, seeing that I was reluctant to drink, a few older people had already straightened their faces, so I had to drink two more bowls of it, and they smiled.

Lingding was drunk that night, and I was helped back to the black dog's house by Zhang Qiang, and the Miao people lived in a simple home. I couldn't find any furniture except the bed and cabinet, so I was helped to the straw mat by Zhang Qiang and fell asleep.

I felt a little cold in the second half of the night, I don't know if it was windy in the mountains or I drank wine in the afternoon, I felt a very painful headache, there was always a feeling of dizziness, I was very unsteady in my sleep, so I opened my eyes in a daze, the room was dark, I sat up with my body propped up, and then a voice came from beside me, "Wake up?" ”

I was startled, and when I looked back and saw that the person who was talking was Azanji, I smiled wryly, "How long have I been sleeping?" ”

Azanji said that your vigilance is too poor, and you slept for five or six hours this night, and it was already early in the morning. I let out an "oh" and asked Zhang Qiang again, it's late at night, why don't you sleep yet?

Azanji said, "The Miao people outside are holding a funeral ceremony, and Zhang Qiang is watching the excitement." ”

I wondered, "The Miao people will also practice the field and spend time for their relatives?" ”

Azanji shook his head and said, "It's not a practitioner, the culture and customs of the Miao people are inconsistent with the Han people, there is no such thing as a supernatural yin spirit in their eyes, the ceremony is held to bid farewell to relatives, but also to pay tribute to the mountain god, they think that they are the children of the mountain god, after the death of the person is just to return to the arms of the mountain god, when the mountain god takes away the soul of the deceased, it is the best time to pray for blessings." ”

"I see!" As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the sound of a bull's horn, the sound was extremely dull, driven by curiosity, I went to the bedside and lay down to take a closer look, only to see a sacrificial platform built in the middle of the village, several elders with feathers on their heads were dancing and singing on the altar, the oldest old man was thinking about praying for heaven, muttering scriptures that he didn't know what they meant, and in the corner of the altar stood a few young men in the prime of life, who were playing the horns diligently.

The old woman's body was placed in the middle of the altar, the ground sprinkled with leaves and flower petals.

I was fascinated by it, and Azanji suddenly put his hand on my shoulder and said with a smile, "What do you see?" ”

I said that I had never seen the way of sacrifice of foreigners, it was quite fresh, if you were sleepy, go to sleep, and I would see and go back to sleep.

Maybe I drank too much and slept for a few hours, and I woke up feeling a little sick in my brain and couldn't sleep at all.

Azanji smiled, "You better go to sleep, the next ritual may make you more uncomfortable......"