Zhou Qiang's father Zhou Zhishan said feebly: "Aqiang, who are these two?"
"They are some good buddies from my school dormitory. I met them at the village gate and brought them here to sit with them." Zhou Qiang answered truthfully.
"Hello, uncle." Mo Lin and Ye Xiaoyue said at the same time.
"Hello, hello, stop standing around, come in and sit down." Zhou Zhishan said quickly, "Aqiang, hurry up and get your classmate a glass of water."
Zhou Qiang walked into the house quickly, and then he walked out and said, "Dad, the boiling water is gone. I have to boil some more."
"Oh, then burn it quickly." Zhou Zhishan said, "You go inside and sit down."
"Don't bother uncle, we can just move a small stool outside and sit there, just in time to chat with Qiangzi," Mo Lin said.
"Okay, you young people, you can do whatever you want, I won't disturb you anymore." Zhou Zhishan coughed and walked into the room.
Zhou Qiang shook a pot of water in a large water tank nearby, put it on the stove in the house to boil the water, and then moved three stools out to sit with Mo Lin and Ye Xiaoyue in the yard.
"Is your name Zhou Qiang? Don't you have running water here?" Ye Xiaoyue asked.
Zhou Qiang nodded and said: "There is not only no water but also electricity here. Almost every household is like this. The gap between the rich and the poor is not big."
"Then when you carry water, do you carry it from the lake five kilometers away after leaving the village?" Mo Lin asked.
"Yes, people from several nearby villages carry water there." Zhou Qiang replied: "Because my father is in poor health, it is my job to carry water and chop firewood. I also have to study and read every day, so in the morning Around six o'clock I will go out and chop the day's water and the day's firewood.".br>
Ye Xiaoyue looked around, and then asked: "Where is your mother? Is she not at home?"
Speaking of this, Zhou Qiang's eyes dimmed a bit and he said slowly: "My mother passed away when I was very young."
"Ah! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Ye Xiaoyue said apologetically.
"It doesn't matter, it has been many years, and I have already looked away from it." Zhou Qiang smiled bitterly and said, "My mother's biggest wish during her lifetime was that I could be admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University, so I studied hard in school just to complete it. My mother’s ideal, for which I dare not relax at all, because I believe that everything I do can be seen by my mother in heaven.”
Mo Lin nodded slightly. He now seemed to understand why Zhou Qiang and Han Lu were so persistent in studying. They both had pain that they couldn't express and others couldn't understand.
The only thing that can change their current situation is knowledge. Zhou Qiang not only wants to fulfill his mother's last wish, but also uses knowledge to get out of the backward and poor mountain village and lead his family to live a prosperous life; Han Lu wants to prove herself through knowledge and academic qualifications and change her parents and relatives. A disappointed attitude toward him, and through knowledge, he left the selfish, insidious, and hypocritical family that dominated his life for more than ten years. No matter which one you choose, there is a reason why you must learn it.
"By the way, Mo Lin, why are you here at Snake Mountain? This is not a scenic spot. People from remote areas should not tell me that you are here for tourism." Zhou Qiang said with a smile.
"That's right. Something happened to a friend of mine. You residents here may know something, so I came to ask." Mo Lin said truthfully. Zhou Qiang and Mo Lin were friends in the same dormitory. They knew each other well and treated him well. There's nothing to hide.
"Well, if you want to know anything, just ask me. I have lived in Snake Mountain since I was a child. I know everything others know." Zhou Qiang said confidently.
"I...I want to know something about the depths of Snake Mountain." Mo Lin looked at Zhou Qiang and asked tentatively.
"Deep in Snake Mountain..."
When Zhou Qiang heard Mo Lin talking about the depths of Snake Mountain, his expression changed, as if he thought of something terrible.
"Why do you suddenly ask this?" Zhou Qiang said: "The depths of Snake Mountain are deserted, and the mountains and plains there are filled with venomous snakes. No matter what your reasons are, you cannot go to the depths of Snake Mountain. I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of venomous snakes there. So many, even special forces and snake catching experts don’t have that ability.”
"We know this, but I have always had a question." Ye Xiaoyue couldn't help but said: "Since there are so many snakes on Snake Mountain and it is so dangerous, haven't you thought of some way?
Have you taken any measures? For example, report the situation here to the government. After all, this place is relatively close to the city. The government will definitely not sit idly by. "
Mo Lin retorted: "Xiao Yue, you forget that people here don't often interact with outsiders, otherwise why would they be so backward?"
"This...how should I put it?"
Zhou Qiang showed some hesitation on his face and said, "I don't know whether I should talk about this."
"Is there anything you can't say?" Molin asked.
Zhou Qiang pondered for a moment, walked outside the door, looked around, then closed the door and sat in front of Mo Lin and Ye Xiaoyue again.
As soon as Mo Lin saw Zhou Qiang's actions, he knew there must be something going on, and it was definitely a big deal.
Zhou Qiang said nervously: "This matter is unusual. It is a secret of our village and cannot be told to outsiders. I will make an exception and tell you that you must not spread it to outsiders."
Mo Lin assured him: "Don't worry, we will keep it secret and no one else will know."
Zhou Qiang nodded and said: "It's a long story about Snake Mountain, and it has to start a hundred years ago."
...
One hundred years ago, in the 1920s of the last century.
At that time, Snake Mountain was not called Snake Mountain, but Ghost Face Mountain.
At that time, Guimian Mountain was not as beautiful as Snake Mountain and had outstanding people. At that time, Guimian Mountain had barren land, sparse vegetation, and the mountains and forests were surrounded by fog all year round.
The reason why Ghost Face Mountain is called Ghost Face Mountain is because China was still in the war era, and people often lost their lives for various reasons. At that time, the mayor of Yaozhou City designated the area of Ghost Face Mountain as a mass grave for burying the dead. , over time, this place became full of resentment and ghosts.
There are five villages attached to the Ghost Face Mountain area, and they are not very far from each other. Therefore, it is inevitable that there will be people visiting each other, seeking marriage proposals, and visiting relatives and friends. This will create opportunities for the evil ghosts in the mountain. Got the chance.
Often, people leave one village to do business in another village, only to disappear inexplicably for several days. In the end, they either die in the mountains and forests, or in the lake between the two villages. In short, the appearance of the deceased when the body is found is hard to understand. accept.
At that time, every household was poor, and the villages did not have much money, so they could not hire a great magician to exorcise ghosts. Therefore, the residents of these five villages had to endure the troubles of these evil spirits for a long time.
Until one day, a powerful ghost appeared in Guimian Mountain. This ghost was not like those evil spirits who harmed people and used some deceptive tricks to confuse them. It rushed directly into the village and killed ten people every time it came. A young man will come and capture their souls and use them for cultivation.
This ghost would come down the mountain almost every month, which drove the villagers of the five villages intolerable. Finally, the village chiefs of the five villages gathered together for a meeting and decided to pool money to hire a mage to cast down the demon. , even if they lose everything, they still have to clear out the evil spirit of Guimian Mountain.
Among the five villages, the village head who has the most opinion and the most weight is the former head of Zhou Qiang's village, named Zhao Wenxian. He was the first one to offer money to kill ghosts and monsters.
Although the opinions were unified, where should we find this great mage? There were quite a few charlatans in that era. The food grown in the five villages near Guimian Mountain was not prosperous because Guimian Mountain was surrounded by gloom all year round, and the money they sold was naturally not much. Zhao Wenxian knew this very well, so he couldn't do it casually. Find someone to let the charlatans fool you.
On the night after the meeting, Zhao Wenxian lay on the bed tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep for a long time, and kept worrying about finding the great mage.
At this moment, the kerosene lamp on the wooden table in front of Zhao Wenxian's bed was suddenly lit.
Zhao Wenxian, who noticed that the room suddenly lit up, jumped up from the bed and shouted: "Who is it?"
At this time, he vaguely saw a hunched figure imprinted on the ground under the light.
A cold voice came into Zhao Wenxian's head: "Hello, Village Chief Zhao, it's our first time meeting you. Please give me some advice."
"You...who are you?" Zhao Wen first looked around and saw that there was no one around, only a black shadow on the ground.
"It doesn't matter who I am, what's important is that I can solve the troubles you are currently facing!" That mysterious voice
appeared in Zhao Wenxian's mind again.
"Can you solve the trouble I'm facing?" Zhao Wenxian said doubtfully: "How can you prove that you have this ability?"
"Humph, Village Chief Zhao, I don't like to talk nonsense with people. If you can trust me, just set up an altar for me with the village chiefs of the other four villages at noon tomorrow. I promise that within three days, all the village chiefs will do it." All the evil spirits and ghosts will disappear completely!"
After that, the black shadow disappeared in an instant, leaving only Zhao Wenxian sitting on the bed in a daze.
Zhao Wenxian sat here for several hours, thinking about what the mysterious man said just now. From his tone, it seemed that he didn't take this matter seriously at all, as if this matter was easy in his eyes.
Seeing that the sky outside was already getting slightly brighter, Zhao Wenxian didn't care so much. He first dealt with the harmful ghost in front of him. He immediately found four young people and asked them to rush to the other four villages immediately and call them. He became the village chief of those four villages.
Zhao Wenxian told what he had experienced that night without reservation, and expressed his thoughts.
Although the village chiefs of the four villages all disagree with each other more or less. After all, this mysterious person has no roots, which always makes people a little worried. But now that the end of the month is approaching, the ghosts are about to come out again, so There was no time to think of other ways, so he had to agree with Zhao Wenxian's method.
The village chiefs of the five villages set up an altar at the entrance of the village on time as required, killed chickens and sheep to prepare tributes, and made sacrifices.
