Chapter 1, Sacrifice
A white sand beach, endless blue sky and blue sea, a small village called Sanjia Village. Pen | fun | pavilion www. biquge。 info
Sanjia Village is surrounded by mountains and seas, and there are 70 or 80 families living in the village who make a living from fishing, but there are only three surnames in the hundreds of people, one surnamed Qu, one surnamed Jiang, and one surnamed Ji, all of which are uncommon surnames.
According to their ancestors, a long time ago, there were many different surnames in the far, far inland across the sea, and a group of people with the same surname formed a tribe and formed many different tribes.
Tribes often clash with each other over land, food, or simply because of differences in surnames.
Every time there is a conflict, there are rivers of blood and corpses all over the field.
The men of the tribe continue to lose their lives in the constant conflict, losing their men, leaving no labor, and the elderly, women, and children have less food and clothing.
When the food was gone, the bark and grass seeds were eaten, and the surviving women, children, and old became yellow and thin, and a gust of wind could blow them, so there were fewer and fewer people.
The tribes were in a depression, and the population itself was small, and even facing extinction, but they did not stop fighting, their eyes were red, and their bodies were already occupied by blood, that is, they were hungry, and their bodies could not stand steadily, and they still held knives in their hands, and staggered to the heads of the same poor people.
Just when the tribes were in danger, God sent down a virtuous man, who traveled around the tribes, persuading them to put down the knives in their hands, go up to the mountains to hunt, go down to the fields to plant, and provide enough food for the old and weak women and children of the tribes, and stop doing things of fighting.
The hard work paid off, the efforts of the virtuous people were rewarded, and the tribes stopped fighting, no longer arguing over the boundaries of the land, but working together, working on the common land, and putting together what they had earned from their labor, and they changed from conflict with each other to helping each other, and everyone lived in peace.
The men of the tribes gave up their hatred and worked together, and the food was soon abundant, and the population gradually flourished, forming a peaceful scene of men and women weaving.
In order to continue this stable life, and to thank the merits of Xianda, the leaders of the tribes elected Xianda to be their general leader, and after Xianda became the leader, he did a lot of things.
The tribes grew bigger and bigger, and after many good years, no one could have imagined that a catastrophe would suddenly struck, and this catastrophe would almost wipe out all the people.
It's a big war, and it's an unusual war, not between people, but between people and monsters.
All the tribes on the earth were involved in the war again, the monsters were powerful, the mortals were weak, and the mortals were soon defeated, most of them were killed by the monsters, and the people who survived were like frightened birds, flying everywhere, flying there.
The ancestors of the villagers of Sanjia Village were the same, they were attacked by monsters, and they ran all the way to the beach, and saw that this place was not bad, and it was very quiet without fighting and killing, so they stayed and never left.
The stars have changed, and the heavens have sent many immortals to defeat those monsters, and the huge war has long been over.
Although I don't know how many years have passed, the ancestors of the villagers of Sanjia Village were afraid of the war, and they did not dare to go back when they heard that there was no longer a war in their hometown.
Besides, the seaside has the benefits of the seaside, although there are not as many birds and animals as inland, there are all kinds of fish to eat, much more than the fish in the rivers, and the taste is not bad, and gradually I forget the way home, and I have lost the mind of going home.
Sanjiacun has a habit that is different from the mainland is that the calendar here is different from the inside, although they are also divided into sun, moon and hours, and there are more than 300 days a year, but the beginning of their year is not the day of the Spring Festival, but a day called rebirth.
Sanjia Village is separated from the inland by thousands of mountains and rivers, they do not have much contact with the inland, and many inland customs have not been transmitted here, so their biggest festival is the day when their ancestors fled here, called the Rebirth Festival.
Other than that, there are no other festivals in Sanjia Village. The year when the ancestors of the villagers of Sanjia Village established the village is called the first year of rebirth, and the second year is called the second year of rebirth, and so on.
The vicissitudes of heaven and earth, the passage of time, unconsciously, it has been more than a thousand years in the past, but Sanjia Village has not changed much, but a strange thing happened in the first thousand and three years.
The strange thing was that it appeared in the home of a family surnamed Jiang, that year, his wife was pregnant with a child, and one night, a golden light fell from the sky and fell on his home.
It was a moonless night in late autumn, and the villagers of the three fishing villages were chatting outside.
Due to the dark and windy night that night, as soon as the golden light appeared, it was discovered by the villagers of Sanjia Village, and they all thought it was very strange.
The golden light rose from the distant eastern sky, like a burning torch, and rushed down towards the three villages, and fell into the house of the surname Jiang, and there was a red light, red as if it was on fire.
The stunned villagers thought it was on fire, they shouted and screamed, took a basin and bucket, filled it with water, and walked towards the family surnamed Jiang.
The door of the house surnamed Jiang was closed, and there was no sound inside, only the red light was still flashing, and many villagers poured water into the house while shouting for his family.
The villagers were busy for a long time, the door finally opened, and the Jiang man walked out, and as soon as he came out, one villager directly threw water on him, and the other hurriedly pulled him out.
The man of the Jiang family was poured a plate of cold water on his head for no reason, it was inexplicable, and he was very angry, so he asked those people what they were doing, why they were making noise in his house, and they had to throw water at his house.
The villagers told him about the fire in his house, and he was also startled and rushed towards the place they said.
The strange thing is that the red light has disappeared, and the Jiang family men didn't see the red light, thinking that the village names were playing tricks on him, and the anger came up again, so they questioned them.
When there was a lot of noise on both sides, there was a baby's cry in the house, and the Jiang family man turned his anger into joy, ignored the other villagers, turned around and walked into the house, and closed the door.
The villagers were originally well-intentioned, but they were reprimanded by others, and they were also very uncomfortable psychologically, but they had nothing to say, and the Jiang family was not on fire.
After the baby cried, the villagers knew that the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family gave birth to a child, which was a happy event, and they didn't want to say much, so they all took the guy and prepared to go back to their respective homes.
Strange things happened again, and a strange fragrance wafted out of the house, like the fragrance of flowers, and it was not, nor was it the smell of vegetables, and the villagers had never smelled this fragrance.
The villagers were originally in a very depressed mood, but after smelling this fragrance, their mood became happy, their bodies became very comfortable, and their steps became lighter.
The next day, the man of the Jiang family reported the good news to everyone in Sanjia Fishing Village that his daughter-in-law had given birth to a big fat son, and the villagers mentioned to him again the matter of red light and strange fragrance.
The man of the Jiang family believed the words of the villagers, and he also smelled a strange fragrance the night before, and he was also very strange.
Since then, the matter of the golden light and the smell of the Jiang family's house have become an after-dinner conversation in the three fishing villages for a period of time.
There are many speculations, and none of the villagers can tell what the golden light and aroma are all about. As time passed, the incident gradually became forgotten.
It is also strange to say that all the villagers of Sanjia Fishing Village who asked about the aroma have not been sick since then, and they have not even sneezed.
More than ten years have passed, and the Jiang family's baby has grown into a half-sized child.
This year's rebirth festival is the 1,000th and 20th rebirth festival of the fishing village, the 102nd big rebirth festival, according to the old calendar, you need to catch a 1002 catties of flat-bellied fish.
The villagers of Sanjia Village call the flat-bellied fish as an auspicious fish, which is specially used for sacrifice, in order to thank the heaven and the earth for the kindness of the sea feeding, after the sacrifice is completed, the whole village shares the soup and eats the meat together, praying for peace and health.
There is no shortage of big fish in the sea, but a hundred pounds of big fish is not small, and it is quite the size of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, and it is not easy to catch such a big fish.
Even harder is to catch a big fish that is exactly the weight they want.
The adults who can be dispatched in the three fishing villages have been dispatched, and even the half-grown children have joined in to help, and they have been busy for two or three days, but they have caught a lot of big fish, but they have not caught the big fish they want, and they are often either heavy two or light, or three or light, which is really annoying.
On the morning of the day of the sacrifice, the fishermen of the fishing village still got nothing, and the sacrifice was going to be made at noon, and everyone was anxious, and they couldn't even take care of the fish, and the men of each family came to the ancestral hall of the fishing village to discuss the matter, and asked the elder of the three fishing villages, Qu Taigong, to think of a way.
Qu Taigong sat in the middle hall, and the two sides were full of fishermen from the three fishing villages, some sighed, some were silent, and some were talking to each other.
Qu Taigong cleared his throat and said, "Everyone has worked hard for several days for this year's sacrifice, and the surrounding waters are all over the Internet. It's a pity that the heavens are not beautiful, and I still haven't caught any fish that can be used for sacrifice, so in my opinion, I have to try my luck in that place. ”
After Qu Taigong finished speaking, everyone, you look at me, I look at you, there are many discussions, but no one answers.
There was silence in the hall for a while, and a middle-aged man surnamed Qu Minghai said, "Third uncle, do you mean that place on Seven Star Island?
Qu Taigong nodded and said, "Nephew Hai, you are right, there is no way to do it, you can't delay the annual sacrifice because there is no suitable fish." ”
Qu Hai said: "Third uncle, I have a suggestion, we have caught a lot of big fish these days, and one fish is only two taels away, so we will use this fish as a sacrifice, do you think it will be successful?"
Qu Taigong pondered for a while, looked a little embarrassed, and said: "Hai nephew, since the ancestor to the present, the fish sacrificed on the Rebirth Festival every year are all used in two pounds. Although the fish you mentioned is only two taels smaller, we can't use it; our ancestors have long taught: Heaven and earth cannot be deceived, and the sea cannot be hidden, and we must catch a worthy fish. ”
Qu Hai's face turned red, and he said: "The lesson of the third uncle is that this Qixing Island is a holy land, and the ancestors have set a rule, and no one from the fishing village can go there." If we go there, I'm afraid the old ancestor will blame. ”
After Qu Hai's words were finished, there was a burst of discussion below, some people opposed his opinion, and some people agreed with his opinion, saying that the sacrifice was not as good as usual, and an exception could be made.
Qu Taigong listened and said: "I have heard everyone's opinions, some agree and some oppose; it is better to do this, I will take a divination once, see what the ancestors mean, if the ancestors agree, we will go, if they do not agree, we will find another way." ”
The hall was full of conformity, Qu Taigong picked up the turtle shell bones on the offering table and divined three times, and the three times on the hexagram showed that he could go to Qixing Island.
Qu Taigong put away the hexagram and said: "Folks, since it is the consent of the ancestors, without further ado, you should hurry up and go fishing on Qixing Island, I am here waiting for your good news." ”
At sunrise and three poles, the fishermen of Sanjia Village did not dare to delay, and after the meeting, they all went home to prepare to go out to sea to fish.