In the twenty-third year of the new calendar of Qingrui, in July, the eastern part of the royal land ushered in a rare drought.

The crops of the people died, and famine began to spread.

Food, for a time, became the most important but especially lacking thing.

In the easternmost part of Qingrui Kingdom, in a village deep in the mountains, some kind of ritual is being held at this moment.

There are about fifty or sixty households in the village, and roughly calculated, there are about 150 people in the whole village.

At this time, more than 150 people were all dressed in black cloth dresses, and even all the male villagers were wearing the same clothes.

All the villagers knelt on the ground, holding some grain in their hands.

Potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes······

Scattered and scattered, there is a little bit of everything.

At the front, there is a red offering table, on which some fruit is placed.

At the offering table, there stood an old man who was also dressed in a long black cloth dress, and unlike the other villagers, he also wore a black hat with some strange lines painted on his face.

He held a chicken in his hands and performed a strange dance while chanting an incomprehensible incantation.

In this way, they should be holding a sacrificial ceremony.

And the object of their sacrifice turned out to be a river.

Since the emergence of the great drought, basically all the lakes and rivers in the entire eastern part of the country have dried up.

Even if there is a little left, it is only a very small stream of water.

It is almost impossible to see a river with such abundant water.

Soon, the old man at the table stopped dancing, threw the chicken in his hand high, and threw it into the gentle river.

At first, the chicken was still struggling to chirp, but after just a minute, the chicken's struggle stopped.

To be exact, completely sinking.

The scene was very eerie.

But the old man's eyes lit up, and he turned to all the villagers and said, "Heaven has accepted our sacrificial items, as long as we complete the ceremony, I believe that Heaven will rain a heavy rain for us!" ”

Hearing the old man's words, all the villagers were very excited, and some even began to kowtow and pray directly.

The old man calmed everyone's emotions, then turned his head and said, "Bring her up!" ”

Immediately afterwards, a strong man walked up with a little girl of three or four years old.

The little girl did not wear a long black cloth dress like the others, but a bright red dress.

It is said that it is a person, a child, but at the moment, dressing up is more like an object.

The little girl cried out in pain: "Daddy, daddy, I want daddy!" ”

She looked into the crowd, not only did she not notice her father, but the group of usually amiable uncles and aunts were also extremely indifferent at the moment.

"Village chief, Zhao Xiang is struggling so much, Zhao Qiang and they are about to lose his control." The man next to the little girl said.

But that old man is the village chief in his mouth, Zhao Zhonglin.

When Zhao Zhonglin heard this, he frowned: "Call a few more people to watch him, and don't let him interrupt the sacrificial ceremony." ”

"Yes!"

Then, the man handed the little girl to Zhao Zhonglin, turned around and called a few more men, and walked to the back.

Zhao Zhonglin grabbed the little girl, came to the table, and prayed again: "Lord River God, there are not many things that we can prepare in Zhaojiazhuang, and we have given all the things that can be given, here, I hope you can make two rains and end the drought in our Zhaojiazhuang!" ”

After saying that, ignoring the crying little girl, he grabbed her and walked towards the river.

At this time, a man stumbled over to this side, shouting loudly: "Village Chief, let Xiaofeng go, she is only three years old this year, and in order to give birth to Xiaofeng, Gui Fen also died, I can't live without Xiaofeng, Village Chief, please!" ”

After the man ran here, he hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowing, and pleading with Zhao Zhonglin.

"Daddy, why did the village chief and grandfather arrest Xiaofeng, is Xiaofeng not well-behaved? Don't catch Xiaofeng, Xiaofeng is obedient. The little girl, who was crying, stopped crying when she saw her father coming, and said to the man who was kneeling.

"No, no, Xiaofeng is very well-behaved, it's Daddy's fault. I beg you, village chief! After Zhao Xiang heard the little girl's voice, he was even more sad, and kowtowed to the old man again.

Even blood has begun to flow from his forehead.

But in this regard, Zhao Zhonglin was still indifferent, and said coldly: "Zhao Xiang, you are also from our Zhaojiazhuang, you know what the situation is during this time, I finally won this line of life for the big guys, do you have to be so selfish?" ”

The villagers below also echoed at this time: "That's it, Zhao Xiang, you can be regarded as the one we have grown up with, why are you so ignorant today?" ”

"If it doesn't rain anymore, there will be no more water, and we will all starve to death in the whole village, Zhao Xiang, don't interrupt the sacrifice, hurry up and go away!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Hurry up and walk away. ”

Seeing that these usually friendly villagers were all denouncing themselves at the moment, Zhao Xiang was also very uncomfortable.

But in the end, he said, "No, and how can you be sure that this river can really rain?" If not, what should Xiaofeng do? ”

"Xiaofeng is innocent! Please, everyone, let Xiaofeng go, please, it's really not good, let me go! ”

Zhao Xiang shed a lot of tears, Xiaofeng was his only child, and he really didn't want anything to happen to Xiaofeng.

A few days ago, someone in Zhaojiazhuang found this river that had not dried up, and the whole village was very excited at that time, thinking that there was a solution to this famine.

But as soon as the man approached the river, he quickly lost consciousness and fell unconscious, and no matter who called, he would not answer.

After a while, the unconscious man was reduced to a white skeleton, which was terrifying.

Just when the villagers didn't know what to do, Zhao Zhonglin, as the village head, stood up in time.

When he was young, he used to go out to see it, plus the reason for his seniority.

So in Zhaojiazhuang, what he said was very prestigious.

At that time, Zhao Zhonglin said: "There is a river god living in this river, but the people of Zhaojiazhuang have no intention of disturbing the river god and his old man, so they will punish those people like that." ”

After hearing what Zhao Zhonglin said, the people of Zhaojiazhuang didn't dare to approach the river for a while, including Zhao Xiang, who couldn't help but be glad that he didn't let Xiaofeng run to the river to play.

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Zhonglin said: "As long as we can complete a sacrifice and make the river god happy, he will give us water and let us get through this difficulty." ”

When the people of Zhaojiazhuang heard this, they were immediately happy, and they knew that if there was no more water, they would all starve to death.

And when Xiaofeng was selected as a sacrificial item, Zhao Xiang only felt that the sky had fallen, because he had seen the horror of the river with his own eyes.

As long as Xiaofeng goes, he will definitely lose his life.

"Presumptuous! Zhao Xiang, what are you talking nonsense in front of Lord River God? Hearing Zhao Xiang's words, Zhao Zhonglin scolded.

After hearing the village chief's reprimand, the other villagers also hurriedly kowtowed to the location of the river to admit their mistakes, and at the same time frantically accused Zhao Xiang.

There were even a few sturdy men who rushed up directly and punched and kicked Zhao Xiang.

Xiaofeng saw that his father was beaten, and his mood, which had just stabilized, suddenly cried again, and hurriedly cried: "Don't beat my father, it's all Xiaofeng's bad behavior, don't beat my father." ”

Those sturdy men naturally didn't care about Xiaofeng, and the strength in their hands became bigger and bigger.

Zhao Xiang looked at the crying Xiaofeng, while he hated his incompetence, he also began to resent the people around him.

It's really not worth exchanging Xiaofeng for them to live.

"Xiaofeng, run!"

Zhao Xiang withstood everyone's attacks, resisted one of them, and rushed in the direction of Xiaofeng.

wanted to bump into Zhao Zhonglin, and then let Xiaofeng leave.

But Zhao Zhonglin picked up Xiaofeng and hurriedly ran to the side.

Seeing this, the other villagers hurriedly rushed up together and held Zhao Xiang down.

Zhao Zhonglin hugged Xiaofeng to the position close to the river, and then he didn't go deeper, he was worried that if he went too deep, he would also be swept away by the river.

Then he squatted down, touched Xiaofeng's head and asked, "Xiaofeng doesn't want his father to be beaten, right?" ”

Xiao Feng nodded with red eyes.

Zhao Zhonglin continued: "Daddy Xiaofeng was beaten because Daddy Xiaofeng was not well-behaved, as long as Xiaofeng went to the river and came back with a handful of water, then Daddy Xiaofeng would not be beaten." ”

"Really?"

"Doesn't Xiaofeng still believe in the village chief's grandfather?"

Xiaofeng believes! Then Xiaofeng will go, and the village chief and grandfather will tell them not to beat their father. After saying that, the little girl hurriedly ran towards the river.

"Don't, don't! Xiaofeng, come back quickly! Zhao Xiang, who saw this scene, had cracked eyes, and hurriedly shouted.

Seeing this, the surrounding villagers hurriedly blocked his mouth and stopped him from talking.

It wasn't until Xiaofeng went to the river, fell unconscious, disappeared, and was taken away by the river that they let go of Zhao Xiang.

Zhao Zhonglin said excitedly: "Do you see it? There are no bones, no bones, and the river god has heard our prayers, and he will help us! ”

The villagers who knelt down immediately danced with their hands, and it seemed that the sacrifice really had an effect.

It's just that when they were cheering and celebrating, no one paid attention, and Zhao Xiang slowly walked towards the river.

When he came to Xiaofeng's position just now, the river was very clear, but he couldn't see Xiaofeng's figure.

Zhao Zhonglin is right, there is no Xiaofeng's white bones here.

Turning his head to look at the group of people celebrating wildly, Zhao Xiang's eyes were full of vicious resentment.

"Don't worry, Daddy won't give up Xiaofeng!"

By the time the villagers reacted from the joy of cheering, Zhao Xiang had disappeared without a trace.

"Village Chief, when will the River God give us water?"

Zhao Zhonglin didn't have a bottom in his heart, and even he wasn't sure if this sacrifice would have any effect.

But looking at the eyes of the surrounding villagers, he nodded: "I believe that soon, Lord River God will respond to our prayers!" ”