"Bah chi..."
The top of the statue in the temple with its head missing suddenly looked like cracked ice, covered with cracks, and quickly shattered into countless pieces. Even the wooden branches and thatch inside were broken and scattered on the ground.
The temple was built with funds raised by the villagers. It was a building after all. Song You did not destroy it. He just called a big stone from the mountain and stopped it at the door of the small temple. He waved his bamboo stick in the air and cut into the stone. He took out a flat section and looked at the little girl who just ran out:
"Miss Sanhua, please write for me."
"Write?"
Empress Sanhua was holding her bulging gauze and holding the big red rooster in her other hand. After hearing this, she immediately raised her head and looked at him blankly.
"It's nothing else. It's actually that Empress Sanhua has been practicing calligraphy for many years and has achieved some attainments in calligraphy. I would like to ask Empress Sanhua to ghostwrite for me and write a message on this stone to inform the people."
"A warning to the people?"
"Just to tell them that the mountain god has been eliminated."
"OK!"
The little girl immediately took off her robe and put it on the ground. Then she went to the horse to get a pen, and then came over:
"Write what?"
"Just write..." Song You paused for a moment, "The evil god has been eliminated. You can no longer worship. The animals will be taken back by themselves. The rooster is the reward. You all have good intentions. I hope you continue to stick to your true intentions in the future, and you will be blessed."
"The evil god has been eliminated..."
The little girl stood in front of the stone and wrote from top to bottom.
First, he raises his hands high and touches his toes, then slowly lowers his hand to write flat, then slowly bends down and squats down to write, until he stands up again.
Sanhua Empress's handwriting is still neat and tidy, perhaps because she has read too much. It used to be very similar to Song You's writing style, but now it is much closer to printed style. It still lacks its own characteristics and lacks some spirituality.
"Do good..."
Wait until the last word is written.
There was a crashing sound.
A piece of stone dust suddenly fell on the stone and flew away in the wind, which startled Sanhua Empress. Although she was squatting with her pen in hand, she took two steps back.
When she looked up at the stone surface again, every word she wrote on it had been carved into the stone.
"Oh!"
"Write a few small words on the back too."
"Small print!"
"Let's just say that the person wanted by the government is also a local. He hid in the mountain temple last night and was devoured by the evil god. How to write it specifically is up to Empress Sanhua herself."
"OK!"
The little girl then picked up her pen again and wrote a string of small words.
When the words were completed, the flying powder fell off and penetrated deep into the stone.
"What kind of spell is this?"
"It's just a small trick."
"Cricket's little trick!"
Sanhua Empress squinted at him.
"Let's go." Song You took the rooster from her hand, hung it on the horse's back, and walked forward with a stick, "Earlier, Sanhua Empress was hiding in the mountain temple, and I was not idle either. I went to the village to borrow one. We got a pot, and the father-in-law gave us some oatmeal as a gift, and we also got a big rooster. Today we will eat a pot of wood-fired turkey and put a pancake on it."
"Where did you borrow the pot?"
"There is an old man in the village at the foot of the mountain who is easy to talk to. I asked him about the mountain god and things nearby." Song You said as he walked, "I deposited a small amount of money with him."
"Where are we going to eat?"
"I'll go find a mountain spring to pack the chicken first, then find a place with beautiful scenery and a wide view, and cook it slowly."
"I knew it!"
"nature……"
The moon had disappeared from the sky at some point, and was replaced by a flash of fish belly white on the horizon. The sky was full of stars, with only one Qiming left.
The long night was about to dawn, and the world was especially dim. A group of people walked farther and farther along the path up the mountain, leaving only an empty temple in the mountain and a stone tablet in front of the temple.
…
There are many mountain springs among the mountains, and you can often hear the sound of gurgling water. I don't know whether it was the efforts of local villagers, merchants who often passed by this road, or local officials and township officials. Many mountain springs were planted with bamboo tubes. The film leads the water out and keeps flowing all night long. It is very convenient for people to drink water.
Song You found a mountain spring a little away from the official road, boiled hot water, killed the chicken, cleaned it, cut it into pieces, wrapped it in banana leaves, and climbed to the top of a mountain.
He found firewood, took out the stove rack and put the pot on it.
The old farmer's oatmeal had dried up after not being harvested on the mountain for a long time. The Taoist wiped it off and put it in a small pot that he usually used for cooking. He put the lid on the pot and shook it briefly. No movement was seen, and he could only hear the oatmeal in the pot. The rice grains swayed with a clanking sound, but the sound soon weakened or even disappeared. When the lid of the pot was opened again, the oatmeal inside had already turned into white and yellow oatmeal powder.
Add white flour and knead into dough.
The Taoist lit the stove and started frying the chicken.
The little girl wearing three-color clothes and carrying a sash was sleepy and would rub her eyes from time to time, but she still stood stubbornly next to the stove and stared at the Taoist's movements.
No detail is spared.
Song You was lighting the fire and cooking, and said at the same time: "Sanhua Empress was up all night to get rid of the demon last night. Why don't we rest for a while. When Sanhua Empress wakes up, this pot of chicken will be ready."
"Miss Sanhua, you are not sleepy!"
The little girl's voice was very firm.
Highlight a person who is thirsty for knowledge, eager to learn, and never misses any method that can make a mouse delicious.
"..."
The Taoist was very helpless, but he didn't stop moving.
It was already daybreak, the wind was light and the clouds were light. It was neither hot nor cold. It was a comfortable morning.
The villages at the foot of the mountain gradually come to life, with cocks crowing and dogs barking, and smoke from cooking cooking accumulates mist in the mountains, wrapping around the mountains like a jade belt.
The wilderness on the top of the mountain is also a place of human fireworks.
Seeing that the oil in the pot was heating up, the chicken was lowered into the pot with a sizzling sound, and countless oil bubbles popped out. Then the chicken quickly lost its color and turned golden, and the meat gradually shrank. Except that there is no bean paste, there are also a lot of ginger, garlic, chili and spices in Song You. Adding them one by one, it becomes a rich aroma that is blown far away by the mountain wind.
"Gudong!"
The little girl rubbed her eyes and swallowed again.
The little girl rubbed her eyes and swallowed again.
The Taoist mixed some water in, took off the bamboo hat and put it on the pot, which became the lid. Then he took his time and sat down to watch the clouds surrounding the green mountains. After waiting for a long time, he took off the bamboo hat.
Then he put six corn tortillas on the pot, close to the chicken soup. Then he covered them with the bamboo hat and continued to sit next to them.
The little girl also sat next to him.
This top of the mountain is a very small area, and no one is farming. It is covered with stipa, the kind of weed that can grow into small clumps with each blade of grass as hair-like. It often grows on top of the mountain or on cliffs. The advantage of grass is that when you spread it out slightly, it becomes a mat that you can sit on.
There was a gurgling sound in the pot nearby, and the heat continued to penetrate the bamboo hat.
The aroma also keeps spreading.
The Taoist sat still and looked into the distance.
Sanhua Empress seemed to be unable to open her eyes. She would rub them from time to time, but she would stay awake. She would look far away like a Taoist, and turn her head to look at the iron pot next to her from time to time. When she was really sleepy, she would crawl away. Get up and feed the horses the trampled oranges and pears we got from the mountain temple today.
Time passes leisurely and slowly.
The dew on the grass on the mountaintop slowly dried.
Unconsciously, the little girl had lowered her head and half-closed her eyes, as if she was thinking about life.
"alright!"
Song You finally opened the lid.
"brush!"
The little girl immediately raised her head and stood up, running to get the bowls and chopsticks.
"sit down."
Song You invited her to sit around the pot.
Swallow rarely eats food made by humans, let alone poultry, so it is not difficult for him.
At this time, there was a large pot of chicken in the pot, with only a few wild vegetables as decoration. There were a few pancakes stuck next to the iron pot, which had turned golden brown, and revealed a familiar and long-lost aroma to Song You.
Naturally, Song You used his first chopsticks to pick up a oats pancake.
Sanhua Empress also followed suit.
Song You took a bite.
The girl also took a bite.
The surface of the pancake is golden and has a rough texture, but the bottom has been burnt brown. When you bite it, the texture is slightly rough, but very sweet.
"..."
Song You was silent for a moment, and the familiar feeling naturally brought back the long-lost memories. When he tasted it, he was no longer limited to the taste of the tortilla itself.
But he didn't say anything, he just picked up the pancake and stuffed it into the turkey soup. When he was full of the soup, he picked it up again.
Sanhua Empress also followed suit, staring at him closely while doing it, and even took as long as he did to submerge the pancake.
This kind of action always makes people feel cute.
But when I thought about one day in the future, among the few remaining swallows that the old farmer gave to Song You, one of them would be missing half of the rice grains. She would make it into pancakes that were not much different from today's, and then flood them with similar movements to today. Into a pot of wood-fired mouse soup, this cuteness is mixed with a touch of weirdness.
"What do you think, Sanhua Empress?"
"Miss Sanhua thinks it tastes delicious!"
"Eat meat."
"Eat meat!"
Song You picked up the first piece of chicken.
The little girl then followed suit.
It is a big red chicken that is at least two or three years old. The meat is actually a bit tough, but after being stewed, it becomes firmer. The chicken skin is also elastic. It also absorbs the soup and the flavor of the spices. It will make you feel better after one bite. Song You and Sanhua Empress felt that the evil spirit last night was not in vain.
"tasty!"
The little girl admired and thought seriously.
Song You said nothing and enjoyed the food silently.
At this moment, the fatigue from last night is gone, the world is vast and my heart is satisfied. It is undoubtedly a rare moment of comfort during the journey.
At the same time, there was some noise in the mountains in the distance.
…
A group of villagers plucked up the courage and went to the mountain temple together.
I originally wanted to see what was left of the six animals worshiped yesterday, and also clean up the mountain temple. But I knew that the mountain god wanted to eat the six animals, and saw someone offering a little girl, so I couldn't help but be afraid, so I called a large group of old people. Come with the young people.
But in front of the mountain temple, all the six animals except chickens were tied to trees. In front of the mountain temple, there was a bluestone cut into a tablet with words written on it. The temple was in a mess.
The most shocking thing is that the mountain god statue has been shattered.
"what happened?"
"Suffer it!"
"It must be the Taoist priest last night!"
"There's writing on it!"
"If you can read, read it!"
"Zhang Sangong, Zhang Sangong comes to read!"
For a moment, everyone gathered around the entrance of the mountain temple and the mountain stone tablet, staring at the words on it.
Someone read it aloud.
Everyone was shocked.
Only then did I realize that the Taoist man last night was not here to offer sacrifices to the mountain god, nor was he here to steal livestock. He was a true god who knew there was an evil god here and came here to kill him! Only a true god would, after getting rid of the evil god, leave the precious cattle, sheep, and horses, not even the pigs and dogs, but only take the most worthless chicken.
If he doesn't pity the world, he just likes to eat chicken.
(End of chapter)
