The flame of the oil lamp on the table kept jumping, and I looked at my watch, and it was one o'clock in the morning.

Mr. Li was fiddling with a slender needle, and the long scar on his face looked extremely dazzling under the firelight, like a medieval European witch in the night of this drizzly mountain village.

His face was sometimes dim and sometimes gloomy with the flames of the oil lamp, and the vicissitudes of more than sixty years carved the rut-like wrinkles on his face, like a series of ancient annual rings, older than this desolate mountain village.

The needle shimmered with golden light, and Li Laoqi pinched it with his hand like a chicken's paw, passing through a piece of yellow paper, and his mouth kept muttering something.

As if I was dazzled, I saw a red liquid flowing from the tip of the needle, and what was even more incredible was that the liquid was suspended in the air, faintly forming the shape of a face.

The wind was blowing outside the window, and the old black man on the bed slept like a dead pig, and the whining of the wind and his earth-shattering snoring made me unable to sleep, so I quietly closed the crack in the door, for fear that Mr. Li would find out that I was peeking.

At one o'clock in the morning, in a sparsely populated mountain village, what was this eccentric old man doing.

I climbed into bed barefoot, the old black wrapped in a thick quilt, the large figure sleeping position occupied the whole bed, I pushed him hard, and the thing snorted and chirped to move in to make room for me.

The damp quilt wrapped around my body reminded me of the shroud, and the sound of the wind outside the window was like $a$ book$ reading $ novel (.( yb)(d)(u).) A group of people were crying, desperately squeezing the window to get in.

My mind is so messy that I can't sleep with my eyes closed.

This is our October 1st trip, Lao Hei and I planned to hike through Jiuling Mountain, Jiangxi, originally we were supposed to arrive in Fengxin County, Jiangxi today, but because of the error of mobile phone navigation, we were lost in this barren mountain.

It was raining in the sky, we were like two lost wild dogs scurrying around in the mountains and forests, the tent we carried was useless, the plan was to cross, but there was no camping in the rain in the plan, and the tent we carried was not waterproof.

After drilling in the forest for an afternoon, it was not until it was completely dark that we came to such a mountain village, and the old man at the head of the village told us that this was Tianmen Village.

Because the road into the village is only a narrow valley, the canyon towers into the sky, like a gate, so it is named Tianmen Village.

I don't remember we passing by this canyon, maybe it was too dark to pay attention.

It's more than 200 miles away from Fengxin County, and we have to climb over a big mountain, Lao Hei and I were stunned, and we deviated more than 200 miles from the original route in the afternoon, damn Google Maps.

Tianmen Village is very poor, and the bustling city has not yet infected this remote mountain village, where there are no electric lights, no telephones, and no mobile phone signals.

Lao Hei jokingly analyzed: "Second brother, we are in the right place, communication in this place basically depends on roaring, public security basically depends on dogs, traffic basically depends on walking, there are basically no beautiful women, a completely primitive society, a paradise!" ”

I said, "Getting rich basically depends on stealing, take care of your own crotch, don't be stolen by the stupid girls in the village." ”

Joke to joke, we still have to stay in this village for the night, it is said that there are mountain wolves and wild boars in the mountains at night, besides, the sky is raining, and the mountain road is slippery and we can't walk at all.

I went around the village with a flashlight, except for the pigsty and chicken coop, there was only a big grinding pan left to sleep, I discussed it with Lao Hei, and I was ready to set up two layers of tents on top of the grinding pan for one night.

For the villagers who work at sunrise and rest at sunset, we are like relatives who have come from afar outside the mountains.

It was already more than eight o'clock in the evening, and they invited us to live at home when they should have rested early, saying that it was cool in the mountains at night, and they were afraid that we would be invaded by moisture.

Lao Hei and I don't want to disturb others, in this strange village, there are many inconveniences, anyway, two tents, one as a tent and one as a tarp, are enough to cope with a night.

The enthusiastic villagers seemed so hospitable, and Lao Hei and I were not very good at refusing all the time, and when we were hesitating, we met Li Laoqi.

Mr. Li's home is next to the mill, and this old man with a scar on his face who seems to be fierce is very enthusiastic, holding Lao Hei's hand and taking a bite of his eldest grandson, which makes us very embarrassed.

The corners of Lao Hei's mouth were straight when he was called, and he said that he would live in Uncle Li's house and not go anywhere.

Li Laoqi is 62 years old, and he is the only villager who has ever walked out of the mountains. In the seventies of the last century, there were bandits in the mountains, he and the villagers failed to resist, and as a result, the bandits robbed him and some villagers to the mountains to do hard labor, and when he sneaked back, he was slashed by the bandits who guarded him, so he left a scar on his face, telling us not to be afraid.

Lao Hei dipped in moldy tofu and nibbled on Airi cakes, and asked Li Laoqi to tell the story of the bandits.

Li Laoqi frowned: "What do the bandits have to say, they have all been pulled by the People's Liberation Army and knocked on the head." ”

There was only one oil lamp in the living room, flickering and flickering, and the black smoke left by the burning of kerosene emitted a rancid smell.

I took an Airi cake, and Mr. Li said that the locals called this kind of cake Eremis, and I said that it was very foreign, but Mr. Li said Erimis again in the local dialect.

I smiled awkwardly, a local country atmosphere, not foreign at all.

The cake is green, breaded with bamboo shoots, eating in the mouth like a nest, a little astringent but very fragrant, carefully tasted, this taste reminds me of my mother's mugwort leaves used in the room.

"Uncle, this Airi cake is made of Aiye?" I say.

Li Laoqi nodded: "There are no good things in the poor mountain village, you can't get used to eating, right?" ”

I hurriedly shook my head: "No, no." I just think it's weird, we only use mugwort leaves to bathe and smoke the room, and I really haven't eaten the cake made with mugwort leaves, it's very fragrant and delicious. ”

Li Laoqi smiled: "Eat a few more if it's delicious, the night in the mountains is cold, and if you are full, you will get up less at night, and it is easy to freeze." ”

Lao Hei stuffed a big mouthful of Airy cake in his mouth, and said hemmily: "You're welcome, you're welcome, don't be polite to Uncle Li." ”

I quietly kicked the old black under the table, and the old black looked at me in a daze. I didn't speak, meaning to let Lao Hei eat less.

I have heard a lot of the custom of eating mugwort leaves, this plant is all over the mountains, used to fill hunger when poor, and our family often uses it to insert it on the door to ward off evil spirits during the Qingming Festival. But mugwort leaves are a plant in May, and now it's October, and it's a bit strange to say that the poor countryside deliberately stores it to satisfy hunger.

I only ate one Airy cake, and Lao Hei didn't understand what I meant, so he ate four or five and said it was delicious. More is better than less, and I feel uneasy about the villages that I can't find on this map.

After eating, Mr. Li placed us to sleep and lived in a side room next to the living room. Lao Hei is simply a pig, just lying in the bed, he fell asleep.

Although Lao Hei and I also slept in a construction tent when we were on the construction site, it was two beds after all. I'm not used to sleeping with other people, and now I'm crammed into a bed, tossing and turning, and I can't sleep.

I counted the sheep with my eyes closed, and I couldn't sleep until my eyelids trembled. I climbed up, wanting to go out into the courtyard to breathe, and take a look at the night in the mountain village after the rain, even though I knew that it must have been pitch black.

Just as he was about to push open the door, he heard Li Laoqi muttering in the living room as if he was talking to someone, looked at his watch, at one o'clock in the morning, he still hasn't slept yet, what is Li Laoqi doing? I quietly pushed open the door and saw the beginning.

Lying back in bed, I was more energetic than just now, not to mention sleeping, I felt awkward when I was lying down. The floating face on the gold needle in Mr. Li's hand and the yellow paper kept spinning in my mind, whether it was I dazzled or not, the yellow paper was obviously a yellow mount for Taoism, and the face seemed familiar but I couldn't remember it.

There was a basket-like thing hanging on the beam, black only a round shape, my mind was very confused, I imagined it as a human head hanging on the beam, I pulled the quilt up, covered myself, and had a little sense of security, but the quilt was too thick, breathing began to be difficult, and after a while, I was sweating profusely, I suddenly lifted the quilt and sat up, this sleep was unable to sleep.

A faint light shone in through the crack in the door, and I pricked up my ears, trying to hear clearly what Mr. Li was talking about, but Lao Hei's snoring was too loud to hear anything. A feeling of being a thief arose, and I didn't dare to push Lao Hei awake, for fear that Mr. Li would think we were awake.

After thinking for a while, rubbing my face, I crept to the door again, wanting to take another look at the strange golden needle.

The door was made of pine planks, and I put my face on it, and I could smell a faint smell of pine, and I pushed the door open little by little.

Outside the door, there was a scarred face, with dry wrinkles, and a pair of eyes full of whites and no pupils were only a crack in my face.

"Ahh I kicked on the door, took three steps back, and sat on the bed.

Lao Hei was woken up by my exclamation, and sat up.

The door creaked open, and Mr. Li stood outside the door.

His back was to the light, I couldn't see his face clearly, was that dark face a devil or a passionate old man?

The old black said in a daze: "Neurotic, what the ghost is called if you don't sleep in the middle of the night!" ”

I swallowed my saliva to moisten my parched throat, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Li Laoqi didn't speak, like a corpse blocking the door.

The room fell silent, and the air seemed to freeze.

I slowly reached behind my back, trying to touch something to arm myself, but I didn't touch anything but the wet quilt.

Lao Hei should have also sensed that the atmosphere was wrong, grabbed my shoulder with one hand, and pushed me back: "Uncle Li, why haven't you slept yet?" ”

Li Laoqi's voice was low: "It's cold at night in the mountains, be careful of freezing." ”

Lao Hei looked at me and said, "What time is it?" ”

Then I came back to my senses: "One o'clock, one o'clock in the morning." ”

Lao Hei said: "Uncle Li, in the middle of the night, hurry up and go to sleep." ”

Li Laoqi still didn't move, but his mouth was muttering something, and his voice was very small, and I could imagine his eyes, which had no eyes, rolling the whites of his eyes like a dead man.

I whispered to the old black, "This old man, there is a problem. ”

Lao Hei put on his pants and took out an electric shock rod from under his pillow, the 100,000-volt electric shock stick was bought by us for self-defense, after all, when we meet a large beast in the barren mountains and mountains, we will not be bare-handed.

Lao Hei didn't hesitate at all, got out of bed and held a sparkling electric shock stick at Li Laoqi: "What do you want to do!" ”

I also stood up and put on a posture, ready to rush up and put down Mr. Li at any time as long as the situation was not right.

Li Laoqi suddenly lowered his head, stomped his feet, and shouted: "By asking where this boat goes, the disaster will go to the western sky, and it is as urgent as a law!" ”

Lao Hei's body shook, and then the electric shock rod fell to the ground, and the whole person seemed to be stunned.

As soon as I saw that this was not right, I jumped up, grabbed the basket that looked like a human head on the beam, and rushed towards Li Laoqi, trying to put him down at once.

Li Laoqi raised his head and said, "Slow! ”

Where am I willing to care about him slow and fast, a basket smashed on Li Laoqi's face, the old guy staggered, took two steps back, I chased up, raised his foot and kicked a high kick to his chest, Li Laoqi raised his arm to block my foot, slammed up, I was pushed by him and almost fell to the ground, with the strength of Li Laoqi pushing me, I turned around and kicked a flying kick, I have been boxing with my father since I was a child, how many masters of the fifth section of the black belt have been overturned by me, not to mention an old and frail old country master, Li Laoqi did not reactand I kicked him to the ground.

This old man is a bit evil, I don't care about entangling with him anymore, so I pulled the old black who was in a daze, and ran out of the house.