Grandma thought for a while, and then she came back to her senses, and she didn't know what she was thinking, and then grandma asked the people in the mountains, "How many people are there in your village now?" ”

    The people in the mountains didn't even think about it, and replied directly: "Now there are at most seventy or eighty people." ”

    "Was there a lot of people in the past? Grandma asked again.

    The mountain man replied: "When I was young, there were about 200 people, and my grandfather said that when we first moved in from outside, there were more than 500 people. ”

    "So, there are fewer and fewer people in your village. Grandma said.

    The mountain people nodded, and said: "Some people can't stand the suffering in the mountains and move out by themselves, and some ...... And some died when they were young. ”

    "Died as a child? Grandma frowned slightly, and I saw that she seemed to think for a moment, and then asked, "How did those villagers who died when they were children die, are they the same as your children are in now?" ”

    The mountain man nodded again, this time he didn't speak, sighed, and looked at the ground blankly.

    I listened to these words at this time, and my mind was full of questions, and I really wanted to ask the people in the mountains, why don't you move out like this, why don't you still live here and wait for death. But the words swirled in my throat, and I didn't open my mouth to say them.

    Grandma stopped asking anything, stopped talking, leaned on the stone, closed her eyes and raised her spirits, maybe she was recuperating her spirits, but I felt that the questions she asked just now were purposeful, and she may have guessed something.

    For a while, the people in the mountains and my grandmother stopped talking, my grandmother closed her eyes and recuperated, and the people in the mountains lowered their heads and sighed, I wanted to speak, but my grandmother didn't let me, and the whole child was quiet.

    After about half an hour of rest, the mountain man got up from the ground, walked to the big rock and got Qiang Shun on his back, it seemed that he was about to leave, and I also helped my grandmother to stand up.

    Grandma didn't talk to anyone from the mountains, and the people in the mountains nodded at grandma, who smiled at him. The mountain people still led the way with Qiangshun on their backs, and we continued to move forward along the path.

     all the way. When we reached the bottom of the mountain beam, the mountain people stopped again, put Qiang Shun to find a place to put down, and we rested for a while and ate something. During this period, I didn't say anything, and I didn't say a word. Grandma, I took advantage of the time to show Qiang Shun again, Qiang Shun is still the same, his eyes are closed, his face is pale, if it weren't for the chest together, no one would think he was alive.

    After eating and resting enough, we went on the road again, but the mountain beam was not steep, and we climbed the mountain beam with all our might.

    The mountain breeze is blowing, standing on the mountain beam and looking at the other side of the mountain beam, my grandmother and I were immediately stunned, why?

     on the other side of the mountain beam, there is no mountain, the mountain beam is like a cliff, there is a large flat land under the mountain beam, I can't tell how big this flat land is, the area must be much larger than our village, the flat land is surrounded by mountains, surrounded by mountains, the whole feeling is like a big basin, there are houses and trees in the basin, a little closer to the mountain beam under our feet, there is a small waterfall, the water flows straight down from the mountain, falls into a pool below, It's just winter at this time, if it's summer, it's like a paradise with green mountains and green waters, if I don't see it with my own eyes, I can't imagine that there is such a good place in the depths of this mountain.

    Grandma finally spoke at this time and asked the people in the mountains: "This is your village below, look at this house, there should be a lot of people." ”

    The mountain people glanced at their grandmother, nodded, and said: "It's our village, Bai Xiangu, don't look at the houses in our village, there are a lot of houses in our village, eight out of ten houses are empty, and there is no one in the house." "It's very sad to say this.

    Grandma nodded.

    The people in the mountains looked left and right, and found a place near the leeward of the sun to put Qiang Shun down, I thought he was going to rest again, who knew that he put down Qiang Shun and said to his grandmother: "Bai Xiangu, you wait here for a while, I'll go home and get some food, and then carry my child over to you to see." ”

    "What? As soon as I heard this, I finally couldn't help but speak, and I hurriedly said, "Uncle, you don't even let us in at the door of your house?" ”

    The mountain people glanced at me, showed a look of embarrassment, and said politely to me: "Little brother, it's not that I don't let you in, yes, yes, you, you don't know, there are rules in our village......"

    "What's the rule? "I didn't wait for the mountain people to finish talking and I asked unhappily, don't look at my young age, I was full of unhappiness at this time, on this broken mountain beam, although there is the sun shining, but it still has wind, cold and swishing, I and my grandmother came all the way from home with him, almost to the wolves to eat, not to say, Qiang Shun at this time also became a half-dead, we are all like this, he still wants to dry us on the mountain to blow the cold wind? We're here to help his family, not to collect debts!

    The mountain people looked apologetic, looked at my grandmother, and said in a low voice: "The rule set by the ancestors is not to let outsiders into the village, what is my real way." ”

    "And this rule? I was even more unhappy, and looked at my grandmother, hoping that she would say something, and my grandmother smiled and said to the mountain people: "Since it is the rule of your village, then we will wait here for a while." ”

    When I heard it, I swallowed my saliva, and my grandmother's mentality was too good.

    The mountain people were very grateful, nodded at my grandmother, and then turned around and walked down a path to the village at the bottom of the mountain.

    I sat on a big rock, looked at the backs of the people in the mountains, turned my head and asked my grandmother: "Grandma, what are their rules here, don't you want us to enter the village?" ”

    Grandma also sat down and said to me: "A place has a rule, there is no rule without rules, especially in the mountains where there are few people, there are many rules, in the future, you have to learn to follow the customs." ”

     Locals? I turned my head and looked at the small village down the hill again, and said to my grandmother: "Their rules must have been set by their village chief, and their village chief must be as bad as ours!" ”

    "Don't talk nonsense. Grandma corrected: "I'm afraid that the village chiefs here are all respected old people in their village, and these people are not bad-hearted." ”

    "Then their village chief must not charge more public grain, right?" ”

    Grandma smiled and said, "I'm afraid the country doesn't know that there is such a small village in the mountains, and what kind of public grain is collected." ”

    "Those who don't pay public food are all black accounts? I said in surprise.

    Grandma smiled again and didn't speak.

    Black hukou, that is, no hukou, their names are not in the national population file, in today's words, that is, no hukou, no ID card, this small village, it is estimated that it is not destined to appear on the map at that time. At that time, the country seemed to have to conduct a census every year, either every year or two years, or three years.

    At this time, grandma stood up and walked to Qiangshun, and showed Qiangshun again, I also stood up and walked to grandma and asked, "Grandma, what happened to Qiangshun?" ”

    Grandma looked at me and said, "Didn't I tell you before, the problem may be in their caves, maybe there is something in those caves, you children go in and get in." ”

    I said, "But I don't think there's anything in the cave we entered." ”

    Grandma said, "That's because you can't see, do you remember what you saw in your dreams?" ”

    I thought for a while and said, "At first it was foggy, and when the fog cleared, I saw a big courtyard, and then the door opened by itself. "I've actually told my grandmother about this before.

    Grandma nodded and said, "This is illusion, a trick used by ordinary beasts, but this beast may not know how powerful you are, and if it knows, it will definitely not touch you." ”

    I scratched my head and asked, "Grandma, what's so good about me?" It seems that I was born different from other children, those immortals say that I am a monster, and Qiang Shun also said the same about me. ”

    Grandma smiled again and said, "It's the same, you're not a monster, or your life is too hard, and you were born with samadhi fire, and our plum blossom tree is because of the fire in your life, and the yang energy on your body is smoked and blooms in advance." ”

    I scratched my head again.

    Grandma sighed softly at this time, paused for a while, and then she said to herself: "It's really strange to talk about the cave they have here, I just thought about it for a long time, and I always felt that these things have something to do with the people in their village, but I don't remember what evil arts the people of the White Lotus Sect have, and I haven't heard my father say what evil arts they can do...... So what's going on in this cave? Became a fine beast to do it? So what are they trying to do like this......

    Two hours later, seeing that it was almost noon, I looked down on the mountain beam, and saw two figures walking out of the village from a distance, one was the mountain man before, and he was carrying a child on his back, and the other was a woman, estimated to be the child's mother, that is, the wife of the mountain man.

    The people in the mountains walked very fast with this woman at this time, and looked very flustered, as if they had stolen something from others, especially the woman, who turned her head from time to time to look behind her, as if she was afraid that someone would follow them.

    The abnormal behavior of the mountain man and the woman was not only seen by me, but also by my grandmother, and I found that my grandmother's eyes flashed, as if she was thinking about something.

     Soon, the mountain man climbed the mountain ridge with the child on his back and the woman on his back. I glanced at the woman, who was about the same age as the mountain man, in her early forties, with a white cloth handkerchief around her head, and her clothes patched and patched, and her face was anxious.

    The mountain man came over and put the child in front of my grandmother, I looked down and saw that the child was younger than me, should be about the same age as my brother, and the face, eye circles, and lips were exactly the same as Qiangshun.

    The woman looked at me and my grandmother, walked over and grabbed my grandmother's hand, and said to my grandmother in a very strong mountain accent: "Are you the white fairy aunt, please save my child." ”

    Grandma patted the back of her hand lightly and said, "It's okay big sister, I'll show your child first." ”

     said as the grandmother withdrew her hand from the woman and crouched down to look at the child. In fact, there is nothing to look at, it is exactly the same as Qiangshun's symptoms, and grandma hasn't given Qiangshun a few times.

    After a while, grandma finished reading, stood up and looked at the woman a few times, and asked, "Big sister, has your family lived here for generations?" ”