"Yes, it's more than that!" Old Man Yao's tone suddenly became urgent, "We carried him on someone's back, but as soon as we put our hands on him, I felt something was wrong. This person was too light, so light that it was scary. Look at him. He's a pretty strong man, but he's as heavy as a half-grown boy."
"Except for scratches, there were basically no external injuries on his body. He certainly had a breath, but he couldn't wake him up. We had no other choice, so we carried him back to the village."
"As a result, as soon as it got dark that night, the man woke up and yelled. You don't know. The crazy people couldn't hold him down. He shouted some words that we couldn't understand. He let me Don't get in his way, he wants to go with those people! If it's too late, he won't be able to go!"
"Where is he going?" Jiang Cheng knew that the matter was coming to a head.
"Go to heaven and become a god."
"immortal?"
Old man Yao put away his pipe with a solemn expression, "Yes, that's what he said. He also shouted that he had already climbed up the ladder to heaven. He saw that he was getting higher and higher and was about to touch the sky, but he missed the point. Fell down.”
"Just when we were helpless, there was a sudden commotion outside. Someone was banging the gong as hard as they could. This is also a traditional method passed down from our ancestors. It is said to scare away evil spirits."
"As soon as I heard the gong being beaten, I knew something was wrong, and something happened again. We all ran towards the ancestral hall, where the village chief and several elders who could speak to the village were discussing countermeasures."
"It's dark outside again, just like before, but this time it went away as quickly as it came, because no one dared to stay outside to keep watch after something like this happened, so there's no shame in the village this time."
"The person who had the accident this time was the same person from before, right?" Jiang Cheng looked at Old Man Yao's face.
"Hey!" Pursing his chapped lips, old man Yao sighed, and glanced at Jiang Cheng with a deep look, "Young man, I really let you talk about it. When we rush back, that man's My mother-in-law is lying on the bed crying, crying heartbreakingly, the bed is wet with water, and it is still dripping down, but she has disappeared."
"According to the aunt, as soon as we walked away, the man stopped struggling. He stared blankly at the sky. After a while, his face seemed to be very excited when he saw something. He said, "Climb the ladder to heaven, and really come to pick me up." I said something weird and started sweating."
"I shed a lot of sweat, soaking the entire mattress. The color on my body also faded with the sweat, and my whole body became lighter and lighter. Wait...when we rush over, it will be All that’s left is a puddle of water.”
This description made Jiang Cheng recall what Old Man Yao had said before, that after the second darkening, those increasingly shallow steps ended in a wet depression.
A living person loses its color and finally turns into a puddle of water. No one has ever heard of such evil things. After further understanding, everyone finally figured out that the so-called Mahakala was just a legend created by the people in the village based on their imagination. The name given to the thing, after all, the sky turned dark when the thing came, and no one knew what it was.
"Old man, are there any legends handed down in this village?" Folklore is the field that Tang Qisheng is good at. He was keenly aware of something mentioned by old man Yao before. He said that there is a folk custom spread in the village. The trick is that beating gongs can drive away evil spirits. Normally, a well-behaved village will not attract any evil spirits.
"There are so many legends, but they are all made up by the villagers to scare the children. If you waste food, you will be clawed by the starving ghost. If you lie, you will be knocked on the door by the long-tongued ghost at night..." After saying this, old man Yao immediately said He stopped, and slowly opened his mouth, which was missing two front teeth, as if he suddenly thought of something, "Oh, there is really a weird legend."
"What legend?" The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense, and everyone was staring at Old Man Yao's wrinkled face.
"I don't remember the specific details. Anyway, there was a battle on the barren mountain behind. The gods and a big demon fought fiercely for three days and three nights. In the end, the gods won miserably, but the gods couldn't kill the big monster. Demon, in the end, I had to use the magical power of moving mountains to suppress the big demon under that barren mountain."
This sounds like the nonsense plot in Journey to the West in which Buddha used Wuzhishan to suppress Monkey King. Not only did it not bore Jiang Cheng and others, on the contrary, it greatly attracted their attention, because they had seen the battle between the top weirdos. The power of reclaiming mountains and seas cannot be overstated, and it is normal for ordinary people to regard it as gods when they see it.
The old man couldn't help but frown, "The barren mountain behind? If I remember correctly, those footprints also lead to the mountain behind."
"Yes, yes, those footprints do lead to the back mountain!" At this moment, Old Man Yao also realized that something was wrong, and the atmosphere at the scene became increasingly depressing.
Just when Jiang Cheng was about to ask something, the door was pushed open with a creak. The scene that came into view in the next second almost made the fat man jump up in fear. He saw two paper figures with painted eyebrows bursting open the door. Appear outside the door.
"Master, I'm going to groom the boys and girls. You can help these foreigners. It's fate to meet each other. It's fate to meet each other!"
An old lady with small stature and an extremely stooped back leaned out from behind the paper figure. Only then did everyone see clearly that the old lady with a hunchback was carrying a thin pole, with a paper figure placed on each end of the pole. The workmanship is quite rough. In fact, there is only one decent-looking paper head. The body is made of straw, and then a layer of paper is pasted on the outside.
However, the bright colors on the paper man are eye-catching, with a green melon cap and bright red clothes.
The moment Jiang Cheng saw the clothes, something was wrong in his eyes. The clothes were bright red and the paint was clearly blood, and the blood was not dry yet.
Just when the old man and the others were about to lose their balance and planned to strike first, Wu stretched out his hand and gently put his hand on Jiang Cheng's shoulder, "It's not human blood, it's animal blood."
Hearing this, Old Man Yao stared at the man who had never spoken in surprise, blinked and said, "Of course it's animal blood. The new roe deer I hunted this morning is hanging in the woodshed in the backyard."
"Master, don't neglect me. I've stewed a lot of meat in the pot. Remember to take it out to entertain."
After the hunchbacked old lady finished speaking, she left, taking the two paper figures with her at the same time. But through the door, everyone saw that the old lady first inserted two torches on the courtyard door, and then took the two paper figures, one on the left and the other on the door. The one on the right is placed behind the courtyard gate, facing inward and leaning against the wall, facing the room where Jiangcheng and several people are.
Looking at the strange expressions on the faces of the two paper figures, the fat man felt the hair on his back.
"What do you mean by putting these two paper figures behind the door?" Jiang Cheng got straight to the point.
"Don't underestimate me. I can tell you that these boys and girls are of great use. It's thanks to them that my mother-in-law and I are alive today!"
(End of chapter)
