Qiu Xi boating

Chapter 39

It was not too late, the uncle was sitting in front of the lamp and sewing clothes, and they sat side by side, listening to the sound of the rain and watching the rain fall.

The rain continued to fall densely like this, and suddenly Yingxi said: "Asu, look, isn't the moon too round tonight?"

Yin Su heard the sound and looked, indeed, the moon is very bright and round tonight, and it is common to see the moon in the sky, but what is strange is that the moon is not common on rainy days, let alone such a full moon.

"It's cloudy and rainy, the moon is faint and the stars are sparse. Such a full moon is not normal." Yin Su said.

He then asked the uncle in the cabin, "Uncle, is this kind of moon common in Night Rain City?"

The uncle rubbed his eyes, looked at the sky, was a little excited, stood up after a while, looked at the moon for a long time, and said: "It's not common, it's the first time I've seen such a full moon in so many years." After finishing speaking , he folded his hands, put them on his chest, and muttered.

Yin Su asked: "Do you pray to the moon?" The uncle sat back and continued to sew clothes. "This is what my wife told me. She said that wishing to the full moon is very spiritual. I used to laugh at her. In the city of Yuyu, you can make a wish." It would be nice to see the moon and make a wish, but now I really see it."

The uncle wiped his eyes.Yingxi leaned against the door panel and asked, "Then why didn't you see Da Niang?"

The uncle was slightly taken aback, sighed, and said, "It's long gone. I've searched everywhere, but I still can't find it."

Yin Su asked again: "Are you alone in the family?"

The uncle nodded, "So there are my two sons, but later..." He sighed, but then said with a little pride: "They are my pride, forget it, let's not talk about it. "The uncle put away his things, and said to Yin Su and the other two, "Be careful that it's cold outside, don't sit for too long." Then he went in.

The two of them sat outside for a long time, and Yingxi said for no reason, "There must be a reason for the vision to appear in the sky." But Yin Su didn't respond to him for a long time, so he turned his head and saw that he was already sleeping on the wooden board. caught.

Yingxi looked at the time again, it wasn't too late, why did he fall asleep?So she got up and came to him, wanting to hug him in, but just as she stretched out her hand, Yin Su woke up, looking at him in a daze.

Yingxi laughed awkwardly, and said: "This... I thought you were asleep, and it was cold outside, so I wanted to put you..." The word 'hug' typed in his mouth. It turned into a 'wake up'.

Yin Su let out a bewildered 'hmm', and walked into the room slowly as if he was not awake at all, not forgetting to tell Yingxi to go to bed early too.

Yingxi let out a long sigh and entered the room as well.

It really was a good night's sleep without dreams, Yin Su slept until the sun was high, and when he opened the door, he was dazzled by unknown things.

He saw the river surface shimmering with sparkles, so that people couldn't open their eyes. He vaguely saw two people sitting on the board of the boat, holding a long pole in their hands. He squinted his eyes and walked away. Eyes are covered with a black cloth belt, with a fishing rod in his hand, he is fishing in the river wind, basking in the sun.

Seeing him coming, Ying Xi handed him a cloth belt and said, "Tie it on quickly, or you'll be blind." Then he beckoned him to sit down.

Yin Su took the cloth belt and vaguely saw many people sitting by the river bank, all holding fishing rods in their hands.Seeing that he didn't move, Yingxi took back the cloth belt, tied it for him, pushed him on the chair, handed him a fishing rod and said, "Fishing?"

After Yin Su took it, he threw the bait into the river, thinking: fishing when there is no sun, and fishing when there is sun, people here really have no free time.

However, the two of them fished for a long time, but all they caught were ugly fish. Yingxi was heartbroken and wanted to throw them all away, but the uncle hurriedly stopped him and said, "Don't throw them away, ugly fish are also fish, and they are edible meat. Don't give it to me, and eat grilled fish later."

When Yingxi thought about the ugly fish he ate last night, he felt bad.At this time Yin Su said: "Uncle Lin, don't bother, we will go back to the inn later."

Uncle Lin threw down another bait and said, "Well, then I won't keep you guys. If you want to eat fish in the future, come here to find Uncle Lin, and Uncle Lin will make it for you."

Yin Su agreed, and after saying goodbye to Uncle Lin, Tong Yingxi returned the harpoon to the stall owner.

The two were walking on the street, Yingxi noticed the fish stalls on the street, all of them were selling ugly fish, and occasionally there were two or three normal fish, but thinking of the stall owner just now, all of them were selling serious fish, and she felt very sad. I feel strange, is his fish from that river?

At this moment, the sound of drums came out from somewhere, very rhythmic.

Yingxi said: "Where is the sound of the drum coming from?" Yin Suzheng listened attentively, and suddenly saw many people rushing forward. He asked the people next to him, and found out that today is the time for the sacrifice of Yeyu City, so the two of them If you have nothing to do, go join in the fun.

They followed the crowd to an open plain, with big drums wrapped in blue and white cloth on both sides of the plain, and a huge high platform in the middle, on which there was an altar table filled with offerings. At this moment, a man in a blue robe, He walked slowly up the high platform amidst the sound of drums, and when he reached the center of the high platform, the sound of the drums stopped abruptly.

The man opened his arms, as if everyone was submitting, and then, the sound of the flute sounded, the sound was desolate and distant, and spread throughout the night rain city.

This is to let the god know that his subjects are praying to him.

After the sound of the flute stopped, the man opened his arms and faced the blue sky again, and all the people around him suddenly knelt down. Since Yin Su and the others stood far away, it didn't matter whether he knelt or not.

Then, the man inserted the incense into the incense burner, and said from his chest, "Sacrifice! The grace of the spirit, pray! The wish of all peoples."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone kowtowed.

At this time, Yingxi suddenly asked: "What is Lingze?"

Yin Sudao: "Lingze is rainwater, but what I'm surprised is, how do they offer sacrifices to rain? Are you afraid of God's blame?"

Yingxi said again: "Why do you say that?"

"The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sky also includes the three gazes, the sun, the moon, and the stars. Normally, the sun, the moon, and the stars are also included in the offerings to the sky, but they offer sacrifices to the rain."

Yingxi wanted to ask again, when the person on the high platform shouted again: "Burnt offering spirit!"

The people under the stage lit a huge bundle of burnt firewood in response, and gradually, thick smoke billowed up into the sky, and everyone was respectful and solemn.

Then the blue-robed man shouted: "Blood sacrifice to the spirit!"

The two teenagers under the high platform cut their hands, and the blood flowed down the palms into the same bowl. Everyone kowtowed and shouted a word in unison.As for the word, Yin Su didn't understand it, it sounded like a local dialect.

The blue-robed man shouted again: "Human offerings to spirits!"

In vain, the two teenagers started to dance, and the bells on their hands and feet made melodious sounds as they swayed, but at the next moment, they took the short knife at their waist and cut themselves on the neck, spraying blood One place, but they did not hesitate, nor did they have the slightest timidity in their eyes.

The man in blue yelled again, "Sacrificing souls to Lingze!" The two strong men in the audience picked up the boys and threw them into the burnt wood.

At this time, the drum sounded again, but the rhythm changed, faster and more impatient. The man in blue knelt on the high platform and said: "Sacrifice to the spirit, pray for the wishes of the people, and the rain in my city will last forever."

After the sacrifice, everyone left one after another. No one went to collect the ashes of the two teenagers, and no one even had a sad face, all of them were happy and fortunate.

What we are happy about is a good harvest in the future, what we are celebrating is death, not ourselves.

In less than a quarter of an hour, there was no one on the flat ground, but Yin Su was thoughtful. Human sacrifice is a common occurrence in sacrifices. It's not that he can't accept it, but he feels that everything just now is like a scene in the audience. The spectators seemed to be enjoying the singing and dancing, but the two teenagers were waving sharp knives instead of veils.

The spectators in the audience are insensitive, and the actors on the stage are indifferent. One thinks it is natural and the other thinks it should be taken for granted.

"Looking at it this way, their sacrifices should be like this. The old customs are deeply rooted." Ying Xi patted Yin Su's shoulder, signaling that he could leave.

Night Rain City does not offer sacrifices to the yellow sky and thick soil, nor mountains, rivers and waters, but rain. Few people would do such sacrifices, but such sacrifices are extremely normal in this city.

When the two returned to the inn, they fell asleep without thinking about it. On the second day, they were sitting in the living room having lunch, when they heard the cry of a child, and saw the innkeeper holding a baby in his arms. Pacing back and forth in front of the cabinet table, after coaxing for a long time, the child stopped crying, but unfortunately, someone shouted at this time: "Little Er! Here is a plate of fish!"

But there was only one waiter in the shop, he was already in a hurry, he just responded verbally "Okay!" But no fish came for a long time.

The diner got impatient and urged loudly: "Boss! Where's my fish! I've been waiting for a long time!"

The innkeeper was in front of the cabinet table, and responded repeatedly: "Guest officer, don't worry, just come here." But just as he put the child down, the child burst into tears again. He was in a hurry, and Xiaoer was too busy Go round and round.

So he said to the diners at the side: "Excuse me, guest officer, can you hug the baby for me?"

The diner said yes, and after the innkeeper thanked him, he rushed into the back kitchen like the wind.

Seeing being hugged by a stranger, the child cried even harder, kicking and kicking, crying, "I want my brother, I want my brother."

After the diner heard this, he hugged him and shook him, and said: "Your brother went to heaven to pray for us. The child's tone said these words.

The child didn't understand and just kept crying.

And Yin Su felt uncomfortable when he heard that person say that, although human sacrifice is an old custom, and it is not related to oneself, it is normal, but is it his responsibility that the child's elder brother was chosen to sacrifice?

At this time, the innkeeper was done with his work, and after thanking the diner, he picked up the child and went back to the cabinet table to coax him.

But the child couldn't be coaxed well, and the side started to rush to serve the food again, and the innkeeper's eyebrows were twisted anxiously.

At this moment, Yin Su said, "I'll hold the baby."

After the innkeeper handed the child to him, he thanked him again and again, and ran into the back kitchen like the wind.

The child was still crying, Yin Su coaxed: "Don't cry, when your brother comes back, he won't be happy to see you like this."

The child suddenly stopped crying, with red eyes, sobbing and childishly asking: "Really? Brother will come back?"

Yin Su nodded and coaxed: "Of course, you will be good in the future, and he will come back."

The child wiped his tears with his short white hands, "Okay, then I won't cry anymore, so my brother will come back sooner."

Yin Su patted his head and said warmly, "Yes."

After noon, there were fewer people in the shop, and the innkeeper thanked Yin Su repeatedly after finishing his work, and said that they would not be charged the rent for the past few days, so he had the right to thank them.

Yin Su said no, and then asked: "Why didn't you see the child's mother." The innkeeper said: "I disappeared a long time ago."

It disappeared again, just like the fishing boat uncle's wife.Yin Su continued to ask, "Why don't you hire more guys when you're so busy?"

The innkeeper said: "Where can I get it? There are not many strong men in Yeyu City. I used to be busy with my eldest son. Now that he is gone, I am so busy."

Yin Su said: "Then where is he going?" The innkeeper suddenly smiled, with a smug expression on his face, "He was chosen by heaven, so he went to heaven."

Hearing what he said, and seeing how proud he was, Yin Su thought: Could it be that Uncle's two sons were also chosen as human sacrifices?

But he pretended not to understand and asked what he meant. The innkeeper explained: "You are from outside and don't know the customs here. Night Rain City has two sacrifices every six months. People, seek rain and dew for Night Rain City."

Yin Su asked again: "Will you come back later?" The innkeeper waved his hand, "I won't come back, stay in the sky, what are you doing when you come back for such a good thing."

Suddenly Yingxi said from the side: "Isn't that dead?" The innkeeper looked at him complainingly, "Hey~! You can't say that, it's God's prayer."

At this time the child started to cry again, the innkeeper hugged him, thanked Yin Su and the other two, and left.

Yingxi asked: "Asu, do you want to check?"

Yin Su was silent for a while, and said: "Well, every time there are sacrifices, living people are sacrificed. The family members know that they are dead, but they still deceive themselves. Besides, his wife and the wife of the fishing boat uncle are both missing. I always feel that There is a problem here."