The sound of Haotian's bell became more and more urgent. The villagers ran into the house, turned around and pulled the door bolt.
Snap, snap, snap.
The sound of doors and windows being closed was heard one after another. Even the poultry and livestock in the village seemed to feel something. They hurriedly returned to the barns and hid in cowering without making any sound.
"Come here quickly!"
A deliberately soft voice came from the front, and a middle-aged couple wearing simple brown clothes were seen standing by the door, waving to Li Ang.
"Walk."
When Li Ang saw this, he immediately ran over, followed closely by Guan Anyan.
The middle-aged couple opened the door, and after Li Ang entered the house, they immediately closed the wooden door, pulled the bolt, took a few steps back, and turned to close the window.
Through the gap in the window, one can clearly see that the afterglow of the sunset outside the window is gradually dimming, and the deep night is like a thick and unknown curtain, shrouding the mountainous area.
"Are they all closed?"
"It's all closed."
The middle-aged couple made sure that the doors and windows of their home were closed, and then they breathed a sigh of relief. They turned to look at Li Ang, who was confused, and asked with a smile: "Are you two guests from outside the village?"
"yes."
Li Ang nodded and pointed to the closed door, "This is..."
"Oh, this is the curfew custom of our Qishui Village,"
The middle-aged man said: "Once it gets dark, you must go back to the house and cannot go out."
Qishui Village...
Guan Anyan's heart tightened. This village had been destroyed three hundred years ago, and there were no living people. So what "thing" could be appearing here now?
"Is it?"
Li Ang pretended to agree. With the speed at which the villagers were running for their lives, it didn't look like a normal curfew.
However, he did not pursue the question further, but introduced himself: "My name is Luffy, I am from Chang'an, and this is my sister-in-law. I wonder who you are..."
Although the middle-aged man is also wearing a raincoat and holding a hoe at his feet, his face is fair and there are not many wrinkles, and his conversational temperament is not like that of ordinary farmers in the pre-Sui Dynasty. He looks like he has read a book.
"Zhuo Wenbai is also from Chang'an. This is my wife, Lai Qiu."
Zhuo Wenbai introduced his wife, who first bowed awkwardly to Li Ang and Guan Anyan, then reached out and gently pulled her husband's sleeves, and whispered to her husband: "Da Lang, Lu'er hasn't come back yet."
"She's playing with her friends in the ancestral hall. She's fine. I'll pick her up when it gets dark."
Zhuo Wenbai said softly to his wife: "Go to the kitchen to prepare the dishes and entertain the guests. Just cook the fish, the one in the tank." "Ah, wasn't the fish in the tank taken by Hou Juren in the city last year? Have you made a reservation..."
Lai Qiu's expression was a little hesitant, as if the fish in the tank was very precious, but she still couldn't resist her husband's gentle gaze, pursed her lips, and turned around to go to the kitchen.
"I heard your accents just now, so I guessed that you are also from Chang'an."
Zhuo Wenbai smiled and asked Li Ang to sit down, and said enthusiastically: "It has been many years since I left Chang'an. The transportation in Qishui Village is inconvenient, so it is difficult to see fellow Chang'an people. If you don't mind, you can have dinner at my house tonight. Come on. Wait a moment, and I’ll get the jar of home-brewed wine.”
He turned around and walked towards the kitchen, his back disappearing. Li Ang and Guan Anyan looked at each other and raised their hands to signal the other party to calm down.
This village has more than one problem. Other villagers are dull and sluggish, but Zhuo Wenbai and his wife look more "intelligent".
Moreover, Li Ang still maintains the weird combination of bamboo hats, raincoats, and scarves without revealing his appearance.
If he were left on Chang'an Street, he would be arrested and interrogated in a matter of minutes by the Town and Fu Division on the grounds of being "sneaky".
But Zhuo Wenbai and his wife accepted this without any hindrance, which seemed suspicious.
Soon Zhuo Wenbai returned to the house with a jar of wine, opened the jar, poured two jugs of wine, and started chatting with Li Ang.
Zhuo Wenbai claimed to be from the south of Chang'an City. He came to Qishui Village in Bingzhou by chance more than ten years ago. He was attracted by the scenery here and lived in seclusion here. He also married a wife and had a daughter together.
Li Ang made some insinuations and found out from the other party's language that they indeed echoed the speaking style of people from the pre-Sui Dynasty. For example, he said that Bingzhou had the title of Shangshu Ling of Hebei Daoxingtai Shangshu Province - this official position was only available in the pre-Sui Dynasty.
During the conversation, the sound of pots and pans and knives chopping bones kept ringing in the kitchen.
After a while, an alluring aroma of food wafted over, so fragrant...it didn't seem like fish.
"By the way, you two are also here for the Qishui Village celebration the day after tomorrow, right?"
Zhuo Wenbo asked with a smile,
celebration?
Li Ang was confused in his heart, but remained calm on the surface, and said as usual: "Yes, we brothers and sisters came here for this reason. However, on the way here, I heard several versions of the explanation, but I still don't know the origin of the celebration. I wonder what Brother Zhuo can do Can you help me solve my doubts?"
"Haha, of course."
Zhuo Wenbai said with a smile: "The Qishui Village celebration is to commemorate the Qishui God. According to legend, in ancient times, a group of refugees fled into the mountains to avoid the rebel army. Because there was no food, the refugees were extremely hungry, and many of them were starving to death. die.
At this moment, a man discovered a round lake behind the mountain - Qishui Lake.
The lake was perfectly round, the water was clear and translucent, and you could clearly see the snakehead fish swimming inside.
Each black fish is over ten inches in size, extremely fat, and there are huge numbers.
The refugees were overjoyed and tried to catch or directly catch the fish in the lake.
But those snakehead fish disdain to eat the bait thrown in, and are extremely agile and flexible. They cannot be fished out whether they are fished with a fishing rod or a fishing net.
Some people tried to jump directly into the lake and catch fish directly, but the water was so cold that they would freeze to death within half a moment of staying in it.
Similarly, the method of building a dam in the lake is not feasible - the water in Qishui Lake is extremely deep, and no matter how many stones are thrown in, it will not be able to reach the bottom. Some people even suspect that the lake water is connected to an underground river.
Seeing hundreds of refugees starving to death despite guarding this lake full of fish, a young man who claimed to be familiar with water stood up - he took off his shirt, braved the cold and jumped into the lake, and jumped out of the lake. A fat black fish was caught.
By the second and third clauses...
Soon, the shore of the lake was filled with black fish. The refugees finally survived, but the young man died of hypothermia not long after landing.
In order to appreciate his life-saving kindness, the refugees built a temple in his image, named Qishui God, and worshiped him every year.
The descendants of that group of refugees settled in the mountains and gradually formed the current Qishui Village. "
at this time,
Zhuo Wenbo's wife came over with a basin of fish soup.
The fish meat was crystal clear, the fish soup was as white as snow, and the green onions sprinkled on top gave off an irresistible food aroma.
Gudong.
Guan Anyan, who was sitting next to Li Ang, swallowed subconsciously and clenched his fists under the table.
Zhuo Wenbai picked up his chopsticks, held up a piece of crystal clear fish meat, and introduced with a smile: "Because the black fish produced in Qishui Village has extremely delicious meat, residents in surrounding towns flock to it, and one fish can even be sold for hundreds of dollars. "
"Hundreds of Guan is such an exaggeration..."
Li Ang raised his eyebrows. The purchasing power of Baiguan in the pre-Sui Dynasty was even higher than it is now.
"Yes, it is precisely because of the high price and good sales that Qishui Village is richer than other villages and towns.
However, we only catch fish from the lake and sell them during the celebrations in the last few days of November every year. "
Zhuo Wenbai nodded and said: "On the one hand, it is because there are ancestral teachings that prohibit overfishing to prevent fish stocks from becoming extinct.
On the other hand, it is because the snakehead fish in the lake are as agile and flexible as ever, and it is impossible to catch them with a single fishing net. It takes the whole village to pool their efforts and use a very large fishing net to cover the entire lake before they can catch the fish.
This fish now is one of the ones given to our family by the village last year.
It had been raised for a year and was going to be sold to a juren named Hou in Bingzhou City. However, this year it was rare to meet a fellow from Chang'an, so he simply cooked it and ate it. The day after tomorrow, he changed one and sold it to that juren. "
"Thank you, Brother Zhuo, for your kindness."
Li Ang's heart moved. The black fish sentiment produced in Qishui Village is still an expensive commodity that is highly sought after.
No wonder I saw before that many of the buildings in the village were relatively clean and high-end courtyards, which were incompatible with remote mountainous areas.
"You two, eat quickly. It won't taste good when it gets cold."
Zhuo Wenbo urged with a smile: "The black fish in our village is very unique. If you cook it with the correct cooking method, you can see some strange scenes in your sleep after eating it."
"Wonderful sight?"
Li Ang narrowed his eyes, "It can't be a fairyland, right?"
"Hahaha, of course not."
Zhuo Wenbai shook his head and smiled: "Some diners who have eaten Qishui Village's black fish claim that they will see the silhouette of a young man in their sleep - he is the Qishui God enshrined in our village.
Because the rumors are too magical, many diners come here for it. You two might as well give it a try, maybe you can see it too. "
"Is it..."
Li Ang looked at the plump fish meat in the basin that made people move their index fingers, and slowly picked up the chopsticks.
Snap.
Guan Anyan's foot lightly touched Li Ang under the table, indicating that something was strange.
'It goes without saying. '
Li Ang squinted his eyes and slowly picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks. There are legends from the pre-Sui Dynasty about fish that can make people see hallucinations, which sounds weird no matter how strange it sounds.
But... the Mosi clone does not have such a thing as a digestive system.
Under the expectant eyes of Zhuo Wenbai and his wife, Li Ang ate the piece of fish. The moment he closed his mouth, ink swirled in his mouth. He cut the fish into pieces and checked the ingredients.
No parasite eggs or the like were found, but the meat was more tender than ordinary fish.
Li Ang continued to eat calmly, putting all the fish meat and fish soup into the hollow belly of Mo Si's clone, mumbling words and constantly expressing his appreciation for the fish soup.
"Holy Haotian, it's so delicious."
"How can there be such delicious food?"
"If I could eat it every day, I would shorten my life by ten years!"
Li Ang spoke in an intoxicating tone, and ate up the entire bowl of fish soup without leaving any trace.
When Zhuo Wenbo and his wife came to their senses, he was still licking the spoon and marveling.
"It certainly lives up to its reputation as a water-dwelling fish."
Li Ang paused for a moment, then suddenly looked at Guan Anyan with an expression of regret and regret, "Hey, brother, I was so impatient that I forgot to leave some for you. It really shouldn't have happened."
"it's okay no problem."
Guan Anyan instantly understood Li Ang's intention, and the two sang in harmony, covering up the fact that Guan Anyan did not eat fish.
"Well..."
Zhuo Wenbo looked at the empty copper basin and was stunned for a while before he realized what was happening. He nodded with a weird expression, "Actually, it would be better if it comes with a bowl of rice.
Mr. Lu, your sister hasn’t had dinner, isn’t she hungry? Do you need me to ask my wife to cook some more food? "
"No need, she ate too much at lunch and is not hungry at all."
Li Ang didn't care whether he would be considered by Zhuo Wenbai and his wife as the brother who abused his sister, so he waved his hand and dealt with it perfunctorily.
"All right,"
Zhuo Wenbo nodded, "If you two don't have a place to stay tonight, why don't you stay here now? I still have a vacant room at home, but there's only one room left. I wonder if you two would mind."
"It's okay, one room is fine."
Li Ang immediately agreed, got up and followed Zhuo Wenbai's instructions, and went to the room on the second floor with Guan Anyan.
Zhuo Wenbo and his wife said: "You two can just ask if you have any needs, but after you go to bed at night, you cannot leave the room under any circumstances."
Li Ang asked: "Huh? Can't leave the room? Why?"
"Ahem, to be honest, people in our village have more or less symptoms of night wandering. They get up at night and walk around in the house, so the doors of all the houses in the village are designed to require multiple keys. Only then can you unlock the structure.”
Zhuo Wenbo said with some embarrassment: "And before going to bed, you should hide things that can hurt you, such as knives. It's not that our couple will hurt you two, but if you are encountered by you, you may be scared. You and the like.
By the way, if a night outing happens, no matter what we say outside the house, neither of us will open the door. We have to wait until dawn and the morning sun shines through the cracks in the windows before you can open the door - by then we should be back to normal. "
"...clear."
Li Ang nodded, watched Zhuo Wenbai and his wife walk out of the house, and closed the door bolt with a snap. And inside the door, I kept listening to the footsteps of Zhuo Wenbai and his wife getting further and further away, walking downstairs.
When the footsteps completely disappeared, Guan Anyan immediately took out the paper and pen from the package, wrote and drew on the paper, and started communicating with Li Ang.
