The footprints left on every inch of the journey were blown away by the wind and washed away by the rain. Stop-and-go, stop-and-go, over mountains and across rivers, more than a month passed. The journey went smoothly. I caught some thieves and cured some little monsters, and I also acted bravely to eliminate violence and protect the good. Occasionally, there would be internal quarrels, small quarrels, and small talk. In the blink of an eye, there was only half the distance between Qing Lize.
It's the Chinese Valentine's Day.
Lin Shanhai and his companions came to a lively town. They went down the river and found it was noisy as soon as they landed. It's very lively here, as if there is a market everywhere, with vendors making money everywhere. They had just taken a few steps when several beautiful girls came up to them and put garlands of petunia and bellflowers on their heads. There are also a few feathers pinned to each wreath. Shi Wuqi took it off curiously and found that it belonged to a magpie.
This place is called Jiangyuan Town. In recent years, more and more people have visited this place, and it is slowly expanding. People believe that placing lanterns with their partner in front of the river that crosses the town will make their love wishes come true.
The teahouse was so busy that there was almost no place to stay. The waiter arranged for them to share a large table with some other individual customers before they could sit down and eat. Sitting with them were two pairs of men and women, an old man, and a building repairman. When Shanhai and the others were seated, they had half eaten and seemed to be chatting about something. After listening for a while, I realized that it was a story about love and love.
One of them is a young couple, newly married and traveling around. They were talking about what they had seen before coming here. Another couple, whose parents had a feud at home, eloped and wanted to settle here. They talked about how they fell in love and how they escaped. The worker was alone, his wife was in a neighboring city, and he came here to make money. He was envious and complained repeatedly. Finally, the old man told a story that he heard from afar when he was young.
"This is a very old legend. A thousand years ago, deep in the mountains, there was an isolated village. There was a shrine in the mountain village, and a goddess was enshrined in the shrine. The goddess was talented, well-spoken, and was born beautiful and lovable. The goddess The reason why she is a goddess is because she can talk to gods and tell oracles. She can tell the harvest, health, and marriage with a little divination. The whole village loves her, but she always wants to go out and go outside. Look at the world. The people in the village were afraid that she would never come back once she left, so they tried to coax her by offering her good food and fun every day."
"Isn't this house arrest?" Mu Wan muttered softly.
"Did she go out later?" Dai Luan asked next.
"No, she knew that the mountain people loved her and respected her. But later, a monster from elsewhere came to the mountain, and he met the goddess by chance. The big monster had an extraordinary conversation and had seen the world, and was more powerful than anyone she had ever seen. . They talked very happily, and fell in love over time. Many men in the village liked her, but naturally they were rejected - if someone really fell in love with her, others would not be jealous to death. But in this way, everyone They all hated that monster and told her to be careful, but she just smiled."
Shanhai took a bite of the dish and shook his head. Aluan asked him what was wrong.
"Emotions between demons and humans cannot go far."
"I know this, I just don't know why?"
He paused his chopsticks and motioned for her to listen.
"As time went by, the mountain people all had opinions. As the saying goes, people's words are scary. People can't drive away monsters, and they have opinions on them. I can't remember clearly what happened next. It seems that the goddess said something The prophecy was wrong, and several lives were lost. Then, she told the prophecy of destroying the village, and asked everyone to prepare to escape for their lives. One person who had pursued her but was rejected hated her the most, and spread rumors about the Son of God. Falling in love with a monster will inevitably lead to natural disasters. Only by enshrining the goddess to the mountain god can you survive. What's more, her prophecy has gone awry, either because her divine power has been affected, or she has listened to the monster's lies..."
"How could this happen?" the girl opposite scolded, "Isn't it just because you can't defeat the monster that you bully women? It's shameless!"
The old man took a sip of tea and continued:
"The mountain people were ignorant and believed it. They wanted to enshrine the goddess to the mountain god. Even when they were walking towards the underworld, the goddess was still saying, run quickly, it's too late - so the natural disaster really came. Those who loved her deeply The big monster killed everyone, and turned a deaf ear to the goddess's dissuasion. He had long seen that these stupid people didn't like it, destroyed the village, and wanted to raze the mountain to the ground. But at that time, the mountain god really appeared; and the mountain god suppressed him If you kill the monster, the story will be over."
After the old man finished speaking, he stroked his beard. After hearing this story, the people at the table looked at each other in confusion, not knowing why.
"The mountain god can also do it. He has to wait until the village is destroyed before taking action."
"We are going to destroy mountains and forests. Isn't God stupid?"
"I can't tell for sure. Some patron saints rely on people's faith to survive. Maybe they have already given those two people enough face."
The others were all talking, arguing and pestering the old man to explain, but Shanhai and the others finished their meal and left the table quickly.
Whether it is ghosts, gods, or humans, it is impossible to tell where they are. Sometimes demons are kinder than people, and sometimes people are scarier than ghosts.
There is a girl on the roadside selling impatiens flowers and dyeing nails. Dai Luan ran over to take a look and also wanted to dye it. Shi Wuqi knelt down and the two of them picked some. The little girl was about the same age as Aluan. She saw the wreaths in their hands and knew they were strangers, so she said:
"Every Chinese Valentine's Day, lanterns are set up here. We have a special kind of candle, with a thin layer hollowed out in the middle, into which a note written with wishes can be inserted. Put the candle in the lantern and light it. If you put it into the river and float away with the current, your wish will come true. We also have a bridge here called Jiangyuan Bridge. It is said that there is a monster living there, and we call her Bridge Princess."
"What kind of monster is it?"
"It started a few years ago. Some people come here to meet their loved ones, and some come here to see the legend of Qiao Princess. My mother said that Qiao Princess was always there, and her man went to Beijing to take the exam and never came back, so she kept waiting. She kept waiting, standing in the middle of the bridge every day and watching the boats going down the river. Decades passed, and she didn’t age. Sometimes some people could see her, and some couldn’t. Sometimes they could see her, and sometimes they couldn’t. But on the Chinese Valentine’s Day night , many people said they have seen it.”
"Is she dead?" A Luan asked.
"Maybe she died. Some people said that she saw a man who looked like her man on the boat, leaned out to call him, accidentally fell in and drowned; others said that she was lovesick, and it rained heavily one day, and she was soaked. , died of illness on the bridge; some people said that she was furious when it was rumored that her husband was married to another woman. However, people said that if a loving man and woman saw them and walked across the bridge alive, they would pass If you pass the test, you will live a happy life."
Shan Hai asked her, is there anyone... who has never been there?
"Of course there is. I heard that all those unfaithful men were killed. In the past few years, there were indeed deaths. So in recent years, tourists do not go to the bridge just to look at it. True love , and see her less.”
The picky Shi Wuqi raised his head and asked, "Oh? Where is the unfaithful woman?"
"Probably dead too."
"oh."
Mu Wan rolled her eyes at him: "Are you mentally balanced?
"That is."
"ill."
The two of them picked out the flowers, paid the little girl, stood up and left. Dai Luan took two steps and asked them:
"Why do I always feel that among these ghosts, women and children are the most numerous?"
"It's a good thing that the Yin Qi is strong. But moreover...it's just that they were unable to take revenge during their lifetime. Those who are unfaithful are most afraid of female ghosts and children."
"This guy just likes to pick on the weak." Shi Wuqi sneered.
It was not completely dark yet. They were tired from walking and found the hotel closest to Jiangyuan Bridge. But it was already overcrowded, so they had to walk a little further to find a place. Dai Luan was tinkering with her own nails, while Shi Wu was free to dye them for Miss Qi. Dai Luan also wanted to harm Mu Wan, but she quickly declined by saying she didn't like Nuan Se.
"This Xue Yanzong's clothes are green and don't match."
"Flowers and green leaves are so suitable. Come and come and you're welcome."
Shi Wuqi rolled his eyes and said, "As expected of you, you are so particular." He was kicked by Mu Wan who was sitting next to him.
After resting for a while, it became dark. Looking down from the second floor, people were rushing towards the river one after another. People were all wearing very nice clothes, and they were carrying various trinkets sold on the street, such as grasshoppers, paper butterflies, and candied sugar figures and candied haws... Children and girls both had their hands busy. Dai Luan thought about it, Shanhai was too confused, so she asked him to wait, and she found something to do. The whole room wandered around, and finally their eyes fell on Shi Wuqi. They wanted to chase him and comb his hair, otherwise it would be such a waste of time.
You have today too.
Shan Hai and Mu Wan looked at each other. Mu Wan turned his head and leaned back, taking a special look at Shan Hai's hairstyle.
"I never let her succeed."
After dinner, they followed the crowd.
Candles and lanterns are sold along the river. I heard that their activities here don’t end until the Hungry Ghost Festival. But they can't stay that long, so if you want to join in the fun, today is the right day.
The originally dark and calm river surface was red and full of red lotus lanterns. Since it was the Hungry Ghost Festival, I changed it to white. Now the entire river surface is red, glowing with golden light, flowing into the distance. Looking to the east, the rising moon was eclipsed by the firelight. The lanterns float far away, as if they are going to flow to the horizon and to the stars Cowherd and Vega.
Shanhai had just bought a lamp, and everyone borrowed the pens from the stall and wrote their wishes on the stools. Then they carefully rolled the note into the bottom of the candle and placed it on the lantern. Mu Wan just watched the whole process and did not participate.
After finishing writing, Dai Luan raised her head and chest, and carefully examined the wishes in her hands. Suddenly, she noticed that on the arch bridge in the distance, among the crowds of people, there was only one figure, motionless. I rubbed my eyes and it was gone.
It must be that I have been staring at the lantern for too long and I am a little dazzled.
