On the first day of the Lunar New Year, it is the time to sacrifice to the gods.

Originally, Hezhou produced grain, the population was prosperous, and the cold crisp was also a large county, and it was next to Heyuan, not to mention 200,000 people.

I heard that there are 20,000 or 30,000 people in the city alone.

But then there was a military disaster, and there were demons, and many people died. However, it is precisely because of this that people know that the demons are terrible, so when the snow temple is built, every first day of the Lunar New Year and the sixth day of the sixth month of June, almost half of the people who can still walk around in the cold crisp will come to the temple on the edge of the snow field to worship. Many people even carry backpacks and burdens filled with incense and worship next to each other, and every temple is not missed.

At that time, the temple was really full of cigarette smoke, and pilgrims lined up at the edge of the snowfield, and sometimes there was a long queue at the entrance of the snow temple.

The county town has become an empty city, and the countryside has become an empty village.

The newly appointed county magistrate saw it, and there was nothing that he was not shocked.

In the past two years, the drought in Hezhou has not stopped people from coming here to offer incense, but after the epidemic, it must not work, a lot of people have died, and the cold crisp is still sealed in the city, and the entry and exit are strictly controlled.

But the city was sealed, but the countryside was not.

There are still sparse black spots between heaven and earth, wrapped in thick clothes, covering their mouths and noses, braving the wind and snow.

There is also a people's village closest to the border of the snow field and the Taoist night temple, about twenty miles, and the woman set off at dawn, with the children, carrying the fragrance of grass, walking for more than an hour, and coming to the snow temple.

The snow was too thick and the wind was too strong.

The woman carried the basket to the wind, and the child was young and frail, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and occasionally had to be blown away by the wind to the side of the road.

I don't know if it's a god or not, but when she approached, the wind and snow here were a little weaker.

"Mother."

"Talk less."

"Why are there so few people this year?"

"There's a plague this year."

"Are they all dead?"

“……”

The woman did not answer this, but said, "It is better to have fewer people, so that you do not get sick." ”

"Muramasa said that after eating the divine water sent by the mother-in-law of the land, we will not be sick."

"Still be careful."

"It's so deep in the snow here!"

"Talk less."

"Why do we come here to worship God? Why don't you go to the land mother-in-law? ”

"Tell you to talk less."

"Why?"

"Because there are monsters here, they want to come out to eat people, and they have to spread diseases, and it is precisely because there are gods in the sky that there are gods and temples of gods are built here, so the monsters dare not run out. We came here to burn incense, so that the gods could bless us from being eaten by the monsters inside, and bless this disease to get better soon. The woman gasped and said, "When we go back, we will go and worship the land mother." ”

"Youkai? Where is it? ”

"Right behind these temples, inside the snow, inside the inside."

"What does the fairy look like?"

"It's like in the long temple."

"Mother, have you ever seen a fairy?"

"I don't know if I've seen it, sometimes the gods will become people, and I can't recognize them when I see them."

"What if people go into the snow?"

"Youkai will eat ......"

The woman replied patiently while panting, not forgetting to warily admonish, "You must not go inside......

But she didn't notice that the child next to her was staring ahead with a pair of dark eyes.

In the direction he was looking, there was a Taoist, holding a bamboo cane, walking alone into the snowstorm. The footprints stretched from the entrance of the temple to the snowy fields behind the temple.

Until the child stretched out his hand and pointed in that direction:

"Is that a fairy?"

Then the woman looked in the direction he was pointing.

The wind and snow were so big that I could barely see clearly.

The woman was stunned for a moment.

"Is that a fairy?"

The child's eyes widened and he asked again.

"I don't know ......"

"Is that a youkai?"

"I don't know! Forget! Talk less! ”

"Oh......"

The child still couldn't help but stare in that direction.

The figure walked farther and farther, gradually blurred by the wind and snow, perhaps adults could no longer see clearly, and children often had a pair of brighter eyes, which could still see clearly, reluctant to blink.

I don't know if it's a fairy.

I don't know if it's a youkai.

I'm afraid I'm going to be remembered by him for many years.

There was a pull from his mother's hand, and the child silently quickened his pace, followed his mother, and walked into the small temple in front.

This is the tradition of worshipping the gods in Hanshu.

The plague is also unstoppable.

How long is this tradition, and where is it?

It has only been more than ten years since Heyuan was entrenched by the big demon.

But don't underestimate these ten years, even if you are already in the prime of life, these ten years have been most of your life since you can remember, and for young people, it is even more so since childhood.

It has been like this since childhood, and it is not much different from the ancient times.

Maybe one day the demons of Heyuan will be eliminated, and there will still be people who follow the tradition and come here to worship the gods. Every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year and the sixth day of June, this continuous line of snow temples will still be like incense, and if you are lucky, you may continue to pass it on to thousands of years later.

I don't know what future generations think.

……

A swallow shuttles through the clouds at great speed, sometimes rushing into the clouds, fighting the rain and fog, sometimes passing through the clouds, soaring between the wind and snow, free and strong.

The land is vast with snow, flat and boundless.

At this time, there should be no swallows.

This world seems to have a pair of eyes, looking at the swallow, and the swallow is also looking at the world with its own eyes.

Flap your wings and rush into the clouds.

One made a U-turn, and then rushed straight down like an arrow.

The cold, wind, snow and ice are all around.

until you fly to the edge of the snowfield.

There was a Taoist there, sitting cross-legged on the snow, and the wind and snow had fallen all over his body.

"Brush!"

The swallow crashed into the Taoist and disappeared.

The cold wind does not stop, and the whimpering does not stop.

The snow is really bigger than a goose feather.

The Taoist opened his eyes, stood up, and then took the bamboo cane, and without saying a word, he went all the way north to the center of the snowfield.

Ten miles away, the snow didn't reach the knees.

Walking out of twenty miles, the snow did not reach the thighs.

After walking thirty miles, there is no trace of stepping on the snow.

The world gradually became white, and I couldn't tell the boundary between heaven and earth, and I didn't know whether I was walking in the snow or the clouds.

Still walking, watching at the same time.

I heard that the demon here is the spirit of the water within a radius of 100 miles, because of the blood and bones, the resentment and the ghost became a demon, and later turned the Heyuan into a snowfield, I thought that this place should be a dead and silent place, but I didn't expect that although this place is snowy all year round, the four seasons are like winter, but in this snow, there are also living creatures.

It's like tiny footprints on the ground.

It's like a bird passing by in the sky.

Suddenly, the Taoist stopped and looked ahead.

I saw the heavy snow flying in front of me, and the original rows of poplar trees had already died, leaving only dry branches, guiding the direction of the original official road, and in front of this row of dead trees, there were several white cranes resting.

Or stand on one foot, stretch your body, or turn your head back to comb your feathers, or raise your head high, fluttering your wings, whatever you do, it's like dancing.

The whole world was white in the heavy snow, and most of the feathers of the white cranes were white, but the row of dry trunks was dark, and they were reflected by the snow like ink. The legs and necks of the white cranes are also black, and when they stretch their wings, the feathers on the tips of the wings are also black.

The landscape painting that was once freehand became realistic at this moment.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

A familiar voice came from behind him.

Gently and delicately, with a milky note.

Song You looked back-

Maybe it was because the wind and snow were so loud that I didn't even notice it, but at some point, there was a series of small footprints behind me, like small holes poked out of the snow.

At the end of the footprints was a three-flowered cat, also with its head stretched out, looking at the group of white cranes beside the poplar tree.

Song You looked at it calmly.

"Meow? What's wrong? ”

The three-flowered cat tilted its head to look at him.

“……”

Song You looked at it silently, and only after a long time did he retract his gaze, continue to walk forward, and said calmly: "In the next place, although I want to suppress Your Excellency, but I also come with dignity, Your Excellency treats it like this, but I don't know whether it is too contemptuous or too arrogant and rude. ”

"Hoo ......"

It seems that it also knows that it is not pretending, only a cold wind blows, and the three-flowered cat behind it turns into snow.

The small footprints were gone.

The Taoist continued to walk forward.

When I passed by the row of poplars and the flock of white cranes, I saw one of the white cranes raise one foot and stretch its wings, but it turned its head to look at him, opened its mouth and spoke, and its voice was fluttering, as if there was an echo:

"According to human etiquette, you should also register for your own number, right?"

"Puff puff ......"

The rest of the white cranes around him were suddenly frightened, and they all ran forward, spread their wings, and flew up as they ran, flying in a row into the distance, and gradually disappeared into the wind and snow.

"The surname is Song Mingyou, a native of Lingquan County, Yizhou."

"Fulongguan's?"

"Exactly."

Although Song You replied, he still walked forward.

The pace does not stop, and the direction does not change.

Even if you walk past the white crane.

However, the white crane was still standing in place, turning his head as he moved, staring at him all the time, and said to him, "Who are you?" ”

“……”

Song You stopped at this time and turned his head to look at it:

"Your Excellency has met the family teacher?"

"It's your master!"

"Exactly."

"That's fate!"

The white crane also spread its wings as he spoke, with a wingspan of at least a few feet, and ran a few steps forward, took off, and flew in the direction where the white cranes flew away before.

It's really beautiful.

Song You retracted his gaze and continued to move forward.

About ten miles away.

“……”

Song You stopped again.

There was an abyss in the snow.

It's like a crack in the snow.

In the vast white world, this crack leads from the far left of the line of sight to the far right of the line of sight, and there is no end in sight on either side. If you look down and go down, the vertical depth is bottomless, and you look up and move forward, and the opposite bank is at least a hundred feet away from this side, blocking the way ahead.

“……”

Song You smiled and stepped forward.

When I reached the edge, I accidentally stepped on the snow and ice, and all of them fell down, and I couldn't hear the echo.

However, the Taoist's footsteps did not stop at all.

Look ahead, and your face does not change.

Walk in the air, as if walking on the ground.

A hundred feet away, I'm afraid that I will have to walk half a cup of tea.

Sometimes the wind and snow are blowing, sometimes the wind comes from the soles of the feet, sometimes the snow and ice fall from the opposite shore, and after a while, there is an echo below, which is really shocking.

In the half-light tea room, the steps of the Taoist are always the same.

Walk through the ravine and look back.

Is there any bottomless ravine?

It's just the same snowy field as always.

But don't think that this is just a simple illusion, if you say illusion, it is also an extremely clever illusion. If you can see through illusions, know that it is false, and have a firm heart without the slightest wavering, it is fake. But if you shake your heart a little and have a little doubt in the process, you will fall down and fall straight into the depths of the earth.

Song You retracted his gaze and continued to move forward.

An elk came from the wind and snow, its body was strong, the antlers on its head were like dry branches, and the snow fell on its shoulders on both the horns, and gradually walked parallel to Song You.

"What kind of Fa are you cultivating?"

The elk turned to him, his voice leisurely and ethereal.

"Your Excellency will soon find out."

"Bang!"

There was a chaotic sound of hooves, and the elk turned sharply and ran to the side in fright, and the deer's hooves raised a lot of snow.

Soon it ran away and became a small black dot in the snow.

Song You glanced at it, and walked deeper and deeper.

(End of chapter)