After a night of rotation, the light of dawn finally jumped out of the green mountains and illuminated Linhu Village.

The early autumn morning is foggy and dewy, and although the morning sun is bright and bright, it doesn't feel warm.

Linhu Village is located in a col surrounded by three large mountains, and the three green hills in the east, west and north are lush and green, although the mountains are not very steep, but they are also rugged and difficult to walk. Diancang Mountain in the north is the highest, the whole Linhu Village sits in the north and faces south, relying on the foot of Diancang Mountain to build along the way, there are dozens of acres of scattered farmland or planting rice or planting vegetables in front of the village, in front of the farmland is a lake with blue waves, Linhu Village is named after this lake.

The so-called relying on the mountains to eat the mountains and relying on the water to draft the water, dozens of families in Linhu Village mainly rely on this lake for their livelihood.

The early autumn is the time for the fish, fat and shrimp to be happy, if in the past, this should be the time for the villagers to go down to the lake to fish, but at this time the whole village seems to have not woken up to the silence, no one goes down to the lake to fish and no one goes up the mountain to collect medicine, even the dogs and chickens in the village are not as noisy as in the past, the fog gradually dissipates, and the bright sun finally illuminates every dark place in the village, but it does not illuminate the shadow in the hearts of the villagers.

In the courtyard of a peasant family with a wide courtyard on the gentle slope of the northwest of the village, an old man with white hair and white beard is standing in the courtyard and staring at the lake shining with silver light in the distance, the old man is seventy or eighty years old, his face is wrinkled, although his figure is thin and rugged, but it is also very tough and capable, the expression on his face is very complicated, serious mixed with the old man's calmness, he is already standing here before dawn, the door of the house sounded, the old man's grandson Zhou Chu came out of the house with sleepy eyes, and slowly rubbed to his grandfather's side.

"Grandpa, why did you get up so early. ”

"Do you remember what your grandfather told you last night? ”

Grandpa looked at his favorite little grandson, and finally showed a smile on his face, but then sighed helplessly.

"Grandpa, is there really a big monster in the lake?" Zhou Chu asked in a low voice, his bright eyes were innocent, he was less than ten years old, thin and thin, slightly taller than his peers, slightly hunched shoulders, although he was dressed in coarse old clothes, but a pair of clear and bright eyes made him seem more intelligent than those children in the village.

"Shhh, don't talk nonsense, the water god will condemn the ......" Grandpa hurriedly stopped Zhou Chu, and the expression on his face became more solemn.

As the two were talking, there was a sound of cheerful footsteps in the distance. Several men from this village walked into the courtyard and came to the grandfather, these people were middle-aged men, and at a glance they knew that they were those farmers who had been fishing and hunting all year round: naked with dark upper bodies, big hands and feet, and strong and burly physiques, but the expressions on their faces were as solemn and worried as their grandfathers.

"Village chief, Niu Er, they went to the town to ask the Taoist chief to estimate that they would be there before noon today, and we will go to the north mountainside to meet them in a while. "Talking is Uncle Wu Zi who lives in the north of the village, Uncle Wu Zi has read some books, so although he works every day, he has more knowledge and shrewdness than other people in the village, he speaks and does things in an orderly manner, and he often helps his grandfather deal with the affairs of the village on weekdays, and he also loves Zhou Chu very much, and every time he hits rare game, he sends some to their grandfather and grandson.

Grandpa listened to Wuzi's words and calmed down a little, nodded and said, "This is as it should be, in a while, you go and let Sister-in-law Shen and them come to my courtyard to prepare a good banquet to entertain the Taoist chief, how about you prepare the sacrifice to the river god yesterday?"

"It's all ready, the things in the river don't dare to move first, I'll prepare some game for the Taoist chief to take care of first, and the tribute is very complete for me to go to the town overnight. As he spoke, Takeko showed his grandfather the bag of tribute he was holding, and he nodded and motioned for him to place it on a stone table in the courtyard.

"Hmph, I also worship the god of water, and I killed five or six people in our village in a row, and it is clear that it is a demon, and I am bankrupt and want to ask the master to eradicate the monsters in the lake, we are all honest people who do our duty, and there are fewer sacrifices during the New Year's festival every year......" Speaking about Da Niu, his voice has become hoarse, trying to suppress the anger in his heart but can't suppress it, his face is angry, his eyes are bloodshot, and the fist in his hand is clenched with a click, the day before yesterday at noon, his third brother overturned the boat for no reason when he was fishing in the lake, and the corpse has not floated up until now, and the people in the village do not dare to go down to the lake to fish, the two brothers of Da Niu and Niuniu are crazy and generally go to the river to fish for a day and a night without seeing the corpse. The two brothers clamored that they must go to the Taoist chief to subdue the demons and eliminate the demons, and under the joint encouragement of the two of them and the other victims' families, the villagers had to scrape together some silver taels for Erniu and others to invite the Taoist chief.

The bull represents the people in the village who are anxious for the victims' families to ask the river god for an explanation.

"Even so, but the matter has not been clarified, we don't dare to point the finger at the water god, after all, we will have to rely on fishing for a living in the future......"

The third master of the book, who was standing in the back, muttered quietly, he represented the other half of the people in the village - although he was also very angry and panicked, he didn't really want to collide with the water god, people will always die, which year must some be drowned, but there are more of them this year - this is the reason for them to comfort themselves, if they really offend the river god, how will they live in the future? After all, they are just honest ordinary people, no one wants to provoke those gods and ghosts, since there are strange things in the water now, then be patient and patient, they have a wait-and-see and calm attitude.

"Third uncle, what do you mean by this, do people die in vain, besides, who dares to go fishing now, at this time of the year, you can fish and sell a few dollars to buy food for the winter, and if you don't go fishing now......, you won't starve to death sooner or later?

"I'll just talk casually and give an opinion, what do you mean by that...... The third uncle's voice was also louder, the two of them were about to have a seizure, they were arguing, many people in the village gradually gathered around the courtyard of Zhou Chu's house, these days they neither dared to go down to the lake to fish or even dare to go up the mountain to hunt, the huge panic made them sit still, this kind of precarious depression and irritability finally broke out in the quarrel between the big cow and the third master of the book, everyone joined in the debate between the big cow and the third master of the book, the noise became louder and louder, Zhou Chu pulled the corner of his grandfather's clothes, the grandfather looked at Zhou Chu and sighed long but did not stop everyone, because the grandfather knew in his heart that it was better to let them vent out than to let everyone suffer in silenceIt's been a long time since the village has been so lively.

The sun also rose in the midst of the noise of the crowd, and the three mountains became more green under the sun, and the large lake in front of the village was also sparkling.

In the midst of the noise, a middle-aged woman in white mourning clothes came from a distance, the woman pushed away the crowd and came to the center of the crowd, sat on the stool in front of her grandfather and cried.

"Village chief, my man has been gone for seven or eight days, and I can't see anyone alive or dead, what can I do in the future...... I don't know what a water god or a water demon is, as long as it's a man-eating thing, it must be a monster...... Village chief, how will I live with orphans and widows in the future, you have to call the shots for me......"

"How can the village chief be the master for you at such an old age, since my brother can't come back, how about I call the shots for you......" The young man in the village made a gag, causing everyone to laugh, and the woman scolded her mother with a straight face, and suddenly rushed into the arms of the iron egg to find death and life, and the earth-shattering noise, for a while, there was persuasion, there was a lively coax, and the courtyard of Zhou Chu's house became a lively mess.

Grandpa coughed twice and signaled everyone not to make trouble, grandpa's prestige in the village was still very great, everyone quieted down and waited for grandpa to speak, only the woman who was sitting on the ground was still sobbing quietly.

"Just his daughter-in-law, don't cry first, since the matter has happened, find a way to solve it, and everyone should not follow the coaxing, since we have this village, we have never broken the worship of the water god every year, and the water god is also very protective of our small village, otherwise it will not continue to this day, and recently suddenly one after another people drowned and disappeared, which must be strange, before the matter is clear, don't spread the rumors, let's pool the money to invite the Taoist chief will arrive at noon, the Taoist immortal law will help us ask clearly, and then make a decision......”

Although everyone still had some opinions in their hearts, they had no choice but to listen to what the village chief said.

There was a sudden sound of thunder, and the thunder echoed in the mountains very loudly, and the dark clouds rolled up under the clear sun.

Everyone is no longer surprised, this strange weather has lasted for more than half a month, the sky is clear one second, the next second is pouring rain, even if the snow suddenly falls, everyone will not be surprised anymore, because everyone knows that this world is not peaceful, and they don't know what big things are about to happen.

Grandpa signaled everyone to disperse first, and everyone went home to hide in frustration, the woman sobbed and left with the support of several villagers, and only grandpa, Wuzi and Zhou Chu were left in the yard, grandpa ordered Zhou Chu to enter the house, Zhou Chu reluctantly returned to the house, and then lay in the crack of the door and looked at a few people in the yard, wanting to hear what grandpa was saying.

Grandpa said to Wuzi: "Actually, I didn't want to ask the Taoist chief, but I can't stop the tongue of everyone in the village, now things can only be like this, I am the head of a village, so many people died in the village at once, I can't sit idly by, not to mention that the disaster started because of me, this day is going to come, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, hey, if it wasn't for ...... back then"

Hearing this, Zhou Chu was a little puzzled, and his grandfather's words seemed to know the ins and outs of this matter......

"Chu'er has been miserable since she was a child, if I have any accidents, Wuzi, remember what I told you......"

Zhou Chu also had no intention of figuring out what his grandfather said just now, and he became sad when he heard this, he had no father and mother to live with his grandfather since he was a child, and his grandfather felt like a treasure to himself, thinking of these Zhou Chu couldn't help but shed tears, and was crying when he heard his grandfather's footsteps, Zhou Chu quickly wiped away his tears and got up and hid to the side, grandpa pushed the door and walked in front of Zhou Chu and touched his head lovingly, showing a look of love on his expression.

"Grandpa......" Zhou Chu knew that since the first person died in the village, his grandfather was restless, and he didn't sleep well all night, he felt sorry for his grandfather but couldn't decompose it for him, and he couldn't help but feel very sad.

"Chu'er, remember grandpa's words, don't go out when it's raining, grandpa will go out for a while, and he will come back in a while. ”

After Grandpa finished speaking, he patted Zhou Chu on the shoulder, and then resolutely turned around and took the hat from behind the door panel and walked out of the house.

There was another thunderclap, and then the dark clouds seemed to be filled with lead, and the whole world was gray, and the house was like a dark night, through the door, Zhou Chu saw his grandfather put on a hat and walked to the yard, picked up the bag of tribute, and then went out of the yard.

Zhou Chu was stunned for a long time, and seemed to guess his grandfather's intentions, and walked quickly out of the house to the courtyard, where he saw his grandfather stubbornly walking along the winding path in the village towards the lake in the distance.

After a thunderclap, a happy rainstorm poured down, the rain did not make grandpa retreat half a step, I don't know where the courage came from, Zhou Chu ran out of the yard quickly, and chased up to grandpa.