Linjiang Township.

A stage was being sung on the riverbank, but the scene looked weird and terrifying, like a group of demons dancing wildly, and people dressed in strange shapes imitated demons, screaming and roaring.

The whole riverside was chaotic and lively, and I don't know how many people gathered, as if the villagers from several surrounding townships had run over, but the atmosphere was a little solemn and serious, not at all like the atmosphere of watching a big show.

Then, the people on the stage retreated, and a goddess who was over the age of old wore a dress full of colorful stripes, looked at the waves of the river rolling down, and stood on the high platform.

"Hoa!" the goddess watched quietly for a long time, then suddenly raised her hand, shouted, and knelt on the ground.

A tall man in black clothes beside him served behind him, and immediately carried something and set up the offering platform on the bank of the river.

On the altar not only help live pigs, live cows, or sheep, but in the very center, there are three children of four or five years old who are dressed as children and placed on it.

This is a human animal, except for this custom in ancient times, which has long been banned now, but there are still remnants in the countryside.

In the audience, many men, women, young and old villagers pointed and pointed, showing unbearable expressions.

But more people looked at the goddess with a feverish expression, and the statue of the river god that had been erected.

Every year when the river god is sacrificed, Shili Baxiang not only has to offer sacrifices, but also selects a boy to sacrifice to the river god, and this year's turn is Linjiang Township.

At the end of the crowd, the heart-rending crying was the mother of one of the children, the child's father, Sun Laoer, holding his wife and children to death, and behind him, two children, one older and one younger, grabbed their parents' clothes and cried.

There are still a lot of people from Linjiang Township who are glaring at the back, but they are being watched by others, and the people of Linjiang Township have made trouble many times this year, and the people of other townships have to join together to suppress them.

Sun Tieshan from Linjiang Township stood at the front: "The year before last was our people from Linjiang Township, and last year was our people from Linjiang Township, why is it still this year?"

"Ten miles and eight townships, why is it always our turn in Linjiang Township, there must be a problem here. ”

A fisherman dressed in cool clothes with a fishy smell on his body stepped forward and buttoned down a big hat: "What's the problem? What's the problem? This is the river god who chose your Linjiang Township, are you not convinced? Or do you think the river god chose the wrong one?"

"Who will bless us if we don't sacrifice to the river god?" the others followed.

"That's right, if you don't worship the river god, it will be unsafe to fish, ferry, and cross the boat in the future, our ancestors have sacrificed to the river god for generations, and no one has died in any village in ten miles and eight townships. The boatmen at the ferry port gathered together and blocked the people in the neighboring villages, and the two sides looked at each other angrily.

"The river god blesses us with good weather and good weather, and we have been like this all these years. ”

These people talked about him left and right, and directly led the problem to the people of Linjiang Township who were unwilling to sacrifice to the river god, and turned a blind eye to the cats mentioned by the men.

Anyway, as long as it's not from their township, who cares about the life or death of Linjiang Township.

The whole crowd was in turmoil, and a clash seemed inevitable, attracting the attention of the goddess on the high platform.

The goddess looked at the chaos in the crowd behind her, and listened to the report from the person next to her, as if she was extremely dissatisfied.

Immediately, I saw more than a dozen black-clothed men rushing out, beating the people from Linjiang Township to the point that their heads were bleeding, and they were lying on the ground one by one.

A big man in the lead is vicious: "The river god blesses you every year, there has been no big water for many years, why have we not died on the river for ten miles and eight towns over the years, all of this is the blessing of the river god." ”

"As a result, you don't want to sacrifice to the river god once a year? You brutes don't think about the good of the river god at all, you are simply wolf-hearted, and you dare to be disrespectful to the river god. ”

They were beaten and wailed all over the place.

"Kneel down for me, if you disturb and snub the river god master, it won't be a sacrificial thing at that time, don't say that I don't talk about feelings, you Linjiang Township will not have a good life after this ten miles and eight townships." ”

Although the people in Linjiang Township made trouble, it was just an atmosphere, but they didn't dare to seriously fall out with the goddess, and at this moment, the rest of the people could only kneel on the ground, and suddenly the whole situation subsided.

The goddess turned around with satisfaction, and then began the whole ritual of worshipping the river god.

The means of sacrificing to the river god are obviously extraordinary, and the sacrifices selected are also quite particular, and the most important thing is human animals.

The goddess smeared the boy with special blood, drew all kinds of strange symbols, and finally pressed a pill into the boy's mouth.

The boy didn't cry or make a fuss, just like a marionette.

As the pill was taken, the boy's blood and qi circulated all over his body, and his skin looked ruddy and shiny, as if he was about to become an immortal.

The other two are the same.

At this time, the goddess lit the thick incense, inserted it one after another on the offering platform in front of her, knelt on the ground again, and suddenly let out a voice as before: "Ho~Wei~"

The whole ceremony came to a climax, with gongs and drums beating on the shore, and everyone kneeling on the ground and chanting the same trumpet.

Every time the drum was beaten, everyone knelt down and kowtowed, and the sound of the mountain and tsunami came out, and the thick smoke of the followers flowed to the river.

They were calling to the river god and coming to enjoy the offerings.

The customs of ancient times, with a sense of savage mystery, are more convincing, and make all the people of the country believe that they worship the true gods, and give birth to fear and faith.

The smoke cruises over the river, down the wind and downstream, towards the downstream.

And at this moment, there happened to be a person who was going up the river and coming towards Linjiang Township.

Gao Xian sat on top of the snake head of the giant snake, and the lazy donkey behind him also lay down, all relying on the green dragon protector to guide the body of the giant snake to swim across the river.

At this time, the lazy donkey's nose suddenly stirred: "What smell?

Gao Xian also smelled this smell, but he felt different from the donkey, he only felt the incense in the Taoist temple in the past, and this smoke seemed to have a special effect on the existence of the donkey.

Further on, in the distance, you can hear the sound of drums and earth-shattering shouts on the riverbank.

You can faintly see the high platform erected, and the dense crowd of people on the shore bowing to the river, as if welcoming the arrival of the Taoist.

Gao Xian was stunned for a moment, and then his waist straightened.

Could it be that the name of this great immortal has already spread to Jiangzhou, and so many people have come to greet this great immortal?

It turned out that the prestige of this great immortal had reached such a point, and the empty dust great immortal was quite relieved in his heart.

On the shore, the goddess was already sweating profusely.

After bowing for a long time, the incense was also lit, and he shouted for a long time, according to previous years, the river god should have come early at this time, why has he disappeared this year.

The black-clothed man behind him also stared at each other with big eyes, not knowing what was going on, so he could only follow the goddess and bow down.

Round after round, the drums beat again.

After a long time, I finally saw the waves surging above the river, and the wind blowing across the riverbank.

When everyone looked up, they saw a silver figure like a dragon on the river bank in the distance coming upstream.

"The god of the river has appeared, the god of the river has appeared. ”

A goddess shouted loudly, dancing with excitement.