Huwa asked again, "You are a Three Realm cultivator, but Mr. Qing guided you to enter the Initial Realm to cultivate?"

Patriarch Wenjie nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Qing taught me to sit still, sense my own subtleties, and teach me to refine my body and strengthen my body. I later learned that this is the so-called cultivation, after breaking through the Three Realms, you can sense external objects and have the power of imperial objects. But Mr. Qing only taught me this, and did not teach me any magical spells. ”

......

Three days later, before dawn, the people of the place assembled and set out. Carrying the various offerings they had prepared, they left the village and walked to the heights, and when they passed near the courtyard where the tiger baby lived, the Wenjie patriarch respectfully invited the tiger baby to join the team.

Huwa stood on the high slope and looked at the more than 1,000 clansmen who participated in the spring festival, and the patriarch Wenjie and others, who were leading the team in front, had already arrived at the courtyard, and the villagers at the back had just walked out of the village. Obviously, this is not the first time that everyone has organized such a sacrificial event, and it seems to be very orderly on the narrow mountain road.

Obviously, the people had to walk a long way, and they were carrying all kinds of things, and the old and weak who could not cross the mountains and mountains stayed in the village to look after their families, and the rest of those who could be dispatched were dispatched. The tiger baby also saw the butter ball, and she was followed by the lively flowers. The children didn't carry anything, but just followed the adults and climbed the mountain excitedly, for them, it was not only to participate in the spring festival, but also a cheerful hiking spring outing.

The tiger baby walked at the front with the Wenjie patriarch, following a recognizable mountain path in the jungle, winding its way to the heights. In order to take care of the march of the whole group, they did not walk very fast and did not reach the top of the mountain until before dusk.

The top of the hill is not steep, it appears flat and open, and when you look back, you can't see the populated village below because of the trees blocking the view. The patriarch ordered the rest here, and the villagers gathered along the gentle ridge. Tents were set up and campfires were built, and the women began to cook dinner.

The tiger baby stood on a boulder and looked fixedly ahead, a position he had maintained since he reached the top of the mountain, without even blinking his eyelids, for he had seen a tree. As long as you stand here, you can't help but see the tree!

On the other side of the mountain, there is a low-lying undulating valley in between, and the lush primeval jungle stretches from the slopes to the tops of the hills. Looking over the top of the mountain in the distance, I saw the snow-capped mountains on the Western Wilderness Plateau in the distance, which was a place where Huwa had never walked.

And on the opposite side of the mountainside grows a tree. Whoever sees it for the first time will probably think that they have seen a mountain—a steep mountain rising from the ground. It is almost impossible to describe how huge this tree is, it is rooted in the open flat slope halfway up the mountain, but the height of the canopy is almost level with the top of the mountain in the distance, and only from such a position as the tiger baby in the distance can you see it in its entirety.

There are such plants and trees in the world, the tiger baby was shocked for a while, but unfortunately it was too far away, even with the tiger baby's eyesight, it was impossible to see the details of the branches and leaves. It was impossible to tell what kind of tree it was from the outline alone.

When the sun sets, the smell of cooking food wafts all around, the villagers sing and dance around the campfire, and the children chase and play. From time to time, the sound of adults shouting to children not to run too far can be heard. After dinner, many of the elders stood on the west side of the summit and bowed in the twilight to the shadows of the trees like mountain peaks in the distance.

No one needs to introduce it, and the tiger baby can guess that the tree is the sacred tree that the villagers worship. Patriarch Wenjie came to the side of the tiger baby. He whispered, "Divine Doctor, do you need something to eat?"

Huwa waved her hand and said, "Just give me a glass of water." ”

Patriarch Wenjie personally brought the mountain spring water that was beaten nearby, and Huwa took the cup and said, "On the hillside in the distance." Is it the sacred tree that the people of this place worship?...... Can you tell me why it's called the Sacred Tree, is it just because it's huge?"

Patriarch Wenjie tells a story that has been passed down from generation to generation, and it is also the experience of the ancestors of the people here. More than 100 years ago, many villages were destroyed by continuous wars in the Xijie Mountains, and the survivors fled to the mountains to avoid disaster. A boy riding a giant lion appeared in the mountains, guiding the survivors of the tribes along the ridge to the west. The last place they stopped was under the canopy of the towering tree.

By this time, it was already winter, and the canopy of the giant tree could block the wind and snow, and the nearby mountains were densely packed with many huge green oak trees, which had fallen countless acorns. The survivors spent the winter under the canopy of trees, collecting acorns for food, and finally survived this most difficult season.

After the beginning of spring, Mr. Qing rode a giant lion and reappeared, this place is not suitable for building villages and cultivating farmland, he guided everyone back, and climbed over a mountain, where the valley is a place of rest and recuperation. The villagers settled down, reclaimed the wasteland in the valley, built villages on the slopes, and after a hundred years of multiplication, they have now merged into a new tribe.

After settling here, these people still retained the four rituals of spring, summer, autumn and winter, but they no longer worshiped the original gods, but went to worship the giant tree that once sheltered everyone.

After hearing this, Huwa nodded and said: "It turns out that there is this origin, but I think that the scale of the spring festival here is so large and so grand, in addition to the experience of your ancestors, it should have something special about it, so that it has been worshiped as a sacred tree by the clansmen for generations, right?"

Patriarch Wenjie replied: "Of course, the Divine Tree is a Sacred Tree, not only because of the experience of the ancestors, but also because it has shown miracles in itself......

There are two main things about the wonder of this giant tree, the first is that it disappears. It is said that the ancestors spent their first winter under the tree, and after the beginning of spring, they walked back to the top of the mountain where Huwa and Wenjie are now standing, and when they looked into the distance, the towering tree that was almost as high as the mountain was gone.

This could not be obscured by clouds and mist, because the entire valley and the snow-capped mountains in the distance could be seen clearly, and it could only be a miracle revealed by the giant tree itself. Some people even believe that the giant tree did not exist in the first place, but that God manifested a sacred tree here in order to guide and save them.

Later, the villagers went to the place where they first wintered to worship, and the sacred tree would reappear. But for most of the year, the sacred tree is hidden in the mountains. In addition, the tree also shows another miracle, which is of great significance to the villagers, and is the reason why the scale of the spring festival here is larger and grander than other festivals.

It is a green oak that looks like it is not different from other green oaks in the mountains, except that it is very tall, but it is evergreen all year round. Evergreen does not mean that it will not lose its leaves, but its green leaves will not fall off in winter, and the original leaves will gradually fall off until the new branches sprout and spread their leaves after the beginning of spring.

The time chosen for the spring festival is the day when the day and night are evenly divided after the beginning of spring, which is commonly known as the spring equinox. When the villagers came to the sacred tree, it was a sign of high temperatures and rain for the year. Late budding and scarcity of new foliage indicate a year of low temperatures and drought.

If it sprouts at the spring equinox and there are not many new branches and leaves, it is a good sign that the weather will be good for the region this year. As long as this law is mastered, the villagers can prepare for various responses in advance, and all of them have been effective in the past 100 years. Therefore, the spring festival is also the most important festival here.

After hearing this, the tiger baby was also amazed, and couldn't help but ask again: "At this moment, we are standing here, and we see the tree, is it because the villagers are about to start the spring festival, is it re-revealed?

Patriarch Wenjie sighed and said, "The miracles I mentioned are all from the past. Since about twenty years ago, the situation has changed, and the miracles that our ancestors have seen are no longer there. This tree has always stood in the mountains, and it can be seen at any time of the year, and its branches and leaves do not grow according to the original season, and the dead leaves fall all year round, and the new shoots and branches are becoming less and less. ”

Huwa was slightly stunned: "Could it be that this tree is sick?"

Wen Jie: "The clansmen also think the same way, but since it is a sacred tree, how can it get sick? We have also asked Mr. Qing if he can help restore the sacred tree to its former appearance? But Mr. Qing has nothing to do, but tells us that the grass and trees between heaven and earth always have a cycle of withering and glory, and this tree has grown here for 8,000 years, and I am afraid that it will not escape the natural laws of heaven and earth.

After a few more years, Mr. Qing also went into retreat and practiced, and we couldn't ask anyone for help. However, the custom of sacrifice has been preserved, which has been a tradition here for hundreds of years and is a symbol of the faith of the people. And today's clansmen also call themselves the Shenmu clan. ”

The tiger baby seemed to say to herself: "What happened to this sacred tree, is it that after eight thousand years of growth, the longevity will be exhausted?"

The lifespan of the green oak is quite long, and in the eyes of the average person, it is almost unlimited. In Huwa's hometown, on the mountain behind Lu Village, there are also patches of green oaks, ranging from hundreds of years to thousands of years old. But the sacred tree that has grown for nearly 10,000 years, the tiger baby is the first time to see it, which is close to the concept of immortal elixir.

Wen Jie: "I don't know, even Mr. Qing can't answer the question, how can I understand? If the Divine Doctor is curious, I can go and see it with my own eyes tomorrow, and I just want to ask you for advice." ”

Speaking of which, Hu Wa had already reacted -- what was the real purpose of Wen Jie's invitation to participate in this spring festival on behalf of all the clansmen? The patriarch had not yet made a direct request, but Hu Wa had already made a clear idea, and he asked again: "Is the annual spring festival held on the top of this mountain?" (to be continued......