It flies in the morning light.
In the autumn morning, the wet fog is gray and cold, and the air is filled with fragrance. The fragrance is sweet and heavy, it is ripe fruit mixed with soil and dead leaves. It hides in the clouds and mist, chasing each other with the vaguely singing birds. The earth is colorful and the scenery is exquisite, which touches its tenderness and fills its heart with joy, and its thoughts are like the dancing dawn in the mist.
The flying dragon accompanying him roared. It understood the desire to hunt, so it placed its arm guard on the flying dragon's head.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" it said.
Taekhi bowed his head submissively. They passed by the ignorant birds, fell on the dense forest of red and golden colors through the morning mist, and flew low against the tree crowns to patrol.
Sometimes it falls into the dense forest and tramples the dead leaves with its toes, making a continuous sound. Its eyes penetrated the fog and watched everything in the forest. Now it can distinguish deer, wild dogs, wolves, tigers, bears, pterosaurs, vultures, mountain spirits, and humans. There are many plants that it can recognize. For example, on this autumn morning, it smells cinnamon, chamomile, sage, anemone, bone arrowwood, golden ear flower, dianthus, spruce, and anise. It also smelled of fields, leather, dry wood, dung—a village nearby.
The cruiser quietly walked away, preparing to fly into the mist-shrouded morning sky. Then the wind carried the smell of blood.
It stopped.
Blood, carrion, dirt, hemlock and graveyard moss. The scent lingered on the tip of his nose. Following the invisible clues, it found its way to a deep and fast stream in the forest. The water was clear and gurgling, and the fish and shrimp seemed to be swimming in the air. The rocks in the stream are covered with wild water chrysanthemums, which are green and lovely.
A red blood line followed the water and flowed down the green. It looked at the stream and listened quietly to the signal sent by the wind.
Go up the stream. The wind whispers to it. singing. Older woman.
It whistled like an owl. Tayeqi snorted dully, flicked his tail off a thick cloud fir, then flapped his wings and took off, disappearing behind the mist in the sky. When the flying dragon left, it walked into the forest and transformed into a girl. Now she looks ordinary, wearing peasant clothes, a nettle hair scarf and braided shoes, carrying a rattan basket filled with wild fruits, and walking upstream along the stream.
Yun Cong's golden leaves retreated. An old and harsh song was carried in the wind.
"Who's wandering in the woods?
Wolves, vultures and washerwomen.
She went from house to house,
Knocking on the doors and windows of neighbors,
'Do you have any clothes to wash? '
The people in the house were trembling with fear,
'What's your price? '
'It's not expensive at all,' said the washerwoman.
'As long as you get the cheapest stuff. '"
The peasant girl walked upstream to the stream and met an old woman squatting on the bank. The woman's linen robe was dyed pitch black, her face was covered with wrinkles and acne scars, her cheeks and cheekbones were as narrow as a horse, and her fingers were pitch black and sharp. Sparse white hair peeked out from under her shawl, dry and dirty, covered with solidified black patches.
Clothes were floating in the river. There are more than ten pieces for men, women, and children, large and small. The old woman tied them together with cotton thread, collected them one by one, and put them into a large wooden barrel. There are already a lot of clothes in the bucket, which are piled full of clothes. There are forty or fifty items in total.
She spoke in a friendly tone and said to the peasant girl: "Sit down, sit down, my dear. Talk to this old thing like me."
The peasant girl's arms trembled and her teeth chattered. The old woman said to her again: "The world is so bad now. There are wild beasts, evil ghosts, and evil spirits everywhere. If you stay alone in the wild, it will be very disturbing! Please stay with me, this poor old woman. If Otherwise, I will have to go home with you."
She asked the peasant girl to stand in the stream, string the clothes piled in the bucket with strings, and pull them into the stream for soaking. Those clothes were dirty and smelly, dyeing the stream red. The peasant girl's feet were turned blue by the cold water. She slipped on the rocks and moss, and almost lost the string holding her clothes together.
The old woman was very angry. She complained: "The world has changed. In the past, girls of your age ate wheat bread, ear cakes, milk syrup, and venison roasted with parsley, and they became fat. Strong, with a strong body and a nimble brain. But now the world is corrupted - completely corrupted. The gods have disappeared, the pillars of earth are getting shorter every year, and we are closer to the fire of hell. Winter. It's too cold to leave the house, and the wild animals are going crazy. There are also diseases. If you leave the village too far and spend the night in the wild, people will get diseases, covered with pus, and dogs will vomit if they smell it. The most hateful ones are those Robbers, they even ate such dead people in the winter and infected themselves with diseases. They plundered all day long, slept with the women in the villages, urinated on their husbands' heads, and spread the plague everywhere. These skinned men Rats! They are the ones who ruined this world!"
She spat angrily at the creek bank. The peasant girl responded quietly, still trembling in the stream. The old woman saw her fear, and comforted her sweetly: "My dear, I can't blame you. It's the world's fault... The world doesn't give you good food and drink, but asks you to use herbal juice to take care of your skin." , how can we expect you to still be plump and smart? Look at your dull look. What are in your basket? Dry berries, looking like the corpse of a dead person. It's hard for you to find so many! You You must have gone somewhere far away, haven't you? Let me see if your foot is hurt, dear, I know how to stop it."
The peasant girl walked in under her glare. She grabbed the other person's hand and greedily groped the young and warm hand.
"You're such a stupid girl," she muttered, "but it's good. Your hands are so thick, what pliable bones! What fresh flesh!"
Her saliva flowed down, dripping, and covered the back of the peasant girl's hand.
"I can't stand it any longer!" she said. The eyes with extremely large pupils were shining with green light. She grabbed the peasant girl's hand like an iron hoop and sang happily:
"Who's wandering in the woods?
Wolves, vultures and washerwomen.
She works in the stream,
Just do laundry for neighbors.
The pay is extremely low,
Everyone can pay it off.
Take no penny from the copper plate,
Don't worry about anything at home.
Only a few good things,
Effortless.
Heart, liver, brain, and spleen,
Everyone is born with it. "
After she sang the last line, she grew as tall as a bear. His eyes are burning with will-o'-the-wisps, his teeth are sharp against dogs and wolves, his bloody mouth exudes a strong corpse odor, and his roar is enough to make even the strongest hunter faint. The monster grabbed the peasant girl's arm and hung her in the air.
"Where should I begin, dear?" said the monster. "Head? Feet? Hands? Would you rather live longer or suffer less? Don't piss yourself in a panic, that will take away from your flavor."
The peasant girl raised her head, looked directly into the monster's eyes, and said, "From here."
She suddenly broke away, breaking away from the monster's grasp, and revealed her true image in the air: the silver armor shone with eight kinds of sacred flowers inlaid with gems, and the names of corresponding brothers and sisters were engraved on it; the surface of the shield was covered with real dragon scales. It can resist all dangerous curses in the world; the spear is made of the hottest diamond in the earth's fire, and is filled with the light of creation.
It floats in the air, its body is like a giant woven with light, its eyes are blazing with anger, and it is infinitely majestic and terrifying. The monster screamed and immediately turned and ran away. It took a step forward, threw the spear in its hand, and cracked the earth like thunder, hitting the monster in the back.
The monster died on the spot, and its body was torn into pieces and scattered all over the grass beside the stream. It recalled the spear, used the tip of the spear to set fire to the barrels and clothes, and then blew a whistle to call the flying dragon in the sky.
"Tayechi," it ordered, "eat."
Tayeqi fell in front of the remains of the washer ghost, bit the body parts with his teeth, and swallowed them one by one. Then he crawled and crouched, rubbing his head on the owner's ankles. So it sat on the flying dragon and followed the wind to find the human village. There was blood everywhere in the village. It found poultry feathers and human teeth, and the flesh and blood were eaten clean by the washer ghost. Attacks like these happen every day because the world is getting worse.
It found the broken altar, which was engraved with the orchid and the horse eagle, symbolizing the third sister. So he put the shield on his forehead, chanted the name of his sister, then took away the dried vegetables in front of the altar and accepted the offering from the deceased.
Tajechi waited outside the altar, sniffing for traces of the remains. They searched the village but could not find any more remains. It was full of wonder because it knew that the washer ghost only eats internal organs and brains.
At this time, Tayeqi raised his neck and neighed in a low voice. The wind blows from afar, and its tone is high and low, like the sound of music.
It jumped on the dragon's back and followed the wind. After crossing the village fence, the western hillside was filled with stone tombs. The tombstones were neatly arranged and the color of the soil was new, which surprised him.
Tajechi flew low, passing over the cemetery, and continued to follow the sound of the wind. There are willow trees growing all over the slope, their branches are golden and brilliant, like a curtain woven by the sun. The sound of music came from behind the willow forest, soothing and sweet, which it had never heard before.
It jumped off the dragon's back, turned back into a peasant girl, and walked slowly into the willow forest.
There was an old man sitting in the middle of the willow forest. He was wearing a linen robe dyed black and had snow-white hair. He had many similarities with the washer ghost. But his skin is smooth, his face is clear, his eyes are strong and alert, and his body smells fresh and clean, like the snow forest after rain. He holds a wooden flute in his hand and plays it melodiously.
The peasant girl walked to the tree. The old man put down his wooden flute and smiled at her. His expression was peaceful and kind, and his eyes sparkled with wisdom, something she had never seen before in her life. Smiling, that expression made her feel happy and curious.
"Son," said the old man, "what are you doing here?"
