"The dragon is breathing fire again."
The child was right. In the dark night, the fire on the mountain peak was clearly visible, like a huge lighthouse. Even the merchant ships in the vast sea could be seen in the distance.
When Yun Kong first arrived here, he also looked at the firelight on the mountain peak on the sea at night. The captain told him: "That is a holy mountain. The Tibetan people say it is the best mountain in the world."
In the daytime, when you look at the Holy Mountain from the sea, you will have another artistic conception. The Holy Mountain lies horizontally above the layers of clouds and mist, like a huge purple ship sailing in the sea of clouds, sacred and solemn.
At that time, Yun Kong suddenly had a strong feeling: This was the place he was looking for.
"Is this place Kunlun?"
"This is called Bali, and there seems to be a Kunlun Mountain. However, there is more than one place named Kunlun. Some Kunlun slaves passed here." The ship owner Liang Daoqing explained that Bali has many villages, each belonging to different ethnic groups. He couldn't tell the difference between people. Some coastal Tibetan people would go inland to capture Tibetan people from other tribes and then sell them to foreign merchants as slaves.
"Don't they have a king?"
"All I know is no."
Yun Kong couldn't imagine what it would be like in a place without a national concept.
However, he felt Hongye's presence strongly and could even feel her scent on the shore.
He wanted to get off the ship and even settle down. The ship owner said that he had a cousin who settled here, which strengthened Yun Kong's idea.
If the red leaves are really gone, we can wait until the Song Dynasty merchant ship docks next year before boarding the ship and heading to another place.
"The dragon is breathing fire again." To make sure Yun Kong heard it, the child repeated.
The child is the son of Liang Daobin, the captain's cousin, and speaks Guangzhou dialect.
Some businessmen come to Boni to collect goods, miss the monsoon, and stay for an extra year. They even settle here and become "Zhufan" (on the contrary, foreigners who settle in China are called "Zhutang"), marry a wife and have children. Mixed race kid.
But Liang Daobin's situation is special. He is a deserter.
The child pointed to the fire on the top of the holy mountain: "My mother said that the dragon on this holy mountain has always breathed fire at night since the generation of her ancestors."
"Has anyone seen that dragon?" Yun Kong asked the child. He couldn't help but guess that there was also a dragon legend here. Isn't it similar to the one in China?
The child waved his hand: "The dragon is on the top of the mountain, but you can't just go up the mountain. The spirits of the ancestors live on the mountain. If you disturb them, you will get into trouble."
"It must be approved by the clan chief at a meeting, otherwise you will be exiled or executed." Liang Daobin came over with dinner, "not to mention that it is the territory of other clans." He handed Yun Kong the freshly steamed multi-grain rice, served with banana leaves Wrapped in rice and millet, steamed, mixed with many chopped wild vegetables and fish.
Yun Kong holds a banana leaf in one hand and chopsticks in the other to eat.
The two cats smelled the aroma of the food and came over to meow at Yunkong. Liang Daobin gave them a steamed fish: "I haven't forgotten your share."
The two cats have grown very big. The male cat Jiaojiaohu lets the female cat eat the fish first while he waits quietly.
They sat outside the half-finished Mazu temple, lit bonfires under the stars, and used the thick smoke of burning grass blades to ward off mosquitoes.
Mazu Temple was built as a joint venture by businessmen from Quanzhou and Guangzhou. Mazu was a deity that emerged in Quan and Guangzhou in the early Song Dynasty. She was also one of the few folk deities that the Song government did not prohibit worshiping. It is said that she was originally the daughter of a fisherman and later became a witch. , became the god of the sea after death. When the merchants saw that the merchant ship had brought a Taoist priest, they were very happy and asked Yun Kong to preside over the temple and supervise the temple construction project.
Although there were no tiles and bricks, only curcuma and bamboo as materials, Yunkong still tried his best to build a decent temple for the residents and merchants to pray before going to sea and to communicate on weekdays.
"That's not a dragon," Liang Daobin sneered at what the child said. "That's called a volcano. When I sailed past Mayi (Philippines), I also saw a smoking volcano. I heard that it would erupt into fire and cause a big disaster. .”
"So no one has seen the dragon on the mountain?"
"I heard that dragons have been seen in the river," Liang Daobin shook his hand, "But it must be a dazzling trick."
Yun Kong remained silent.
When he was young, Master Po Lu did have personal contact with a dragon.
Yunkong really wanted to go up the mountain and have a look. Whether there were dragons or volcanoes, he wanted to find out.
The firelight on the peak dimmed, appearing and disappearing, reflecting the outline of the peak's top.
Quietly, a face appeared in front of the dark red firelight.
Hongye's face appeared in front of her eyes anytime and anywhere just like usual, and the firelight of the holy mountain just passed through her eyes.
"Hongye..." Yun Kong whispered her name, just like he did every day when he missed her.
"After eating, go home and find your mother." Liang Daobin pushed his son and handed him a torch, "Dad spend the night with the Taoist priest."
The child looked at the dark grass with fear. Seeing this, Yun Kong said, "You all should go back. I also want to sit quietly alone."
"Is it okay, Taoist Master?" Liang Daobin confirmed again and again.
Yun Kong touched the boy's head: "Bring a pen to practice calligraphy tomorrow morning, okay?"
It would be great if the boy could go home with his father.
After both of them left, Yun Kong fully enjoyed the tranquility.
He won't go home to sleep tonight, since the temple is built not far from home anyway.
The temple is located on the seaside. In the quiet night, in addition to the sound of insects all around, the sound of roaring waves can also be heard from a hundred steps away.
It was at low tide at this time, the water was far away, and the sultry sea breeze blew from the warm sea. The temperature will drop sharply after midnight.
Since coming to Bo Ni, Yun Kong no longer wears Taoist robes from the Middle Kingdom. The merchants made him some light robes, otherwise he would have been covered in sweat.
Liang Daobin left several young coconuts for him. The top of the coconuts had been thinned with a long knife. He could break the hole with a knife and drink. After drinking, he could scrape the soft flesh inside to eat.
Unknowingly, he spent nearly a year here leisurely, living a life without any need for copper coins, and was provided with food by Liang Daobin every day. He also organized a vegetable garden around the stilt house and planted bananas, mulberry trees, taro, beans, melons and other vegetables. As long as he went out for a walk, he would be able to satisfy himself for the whole day.
The distant Song Dynasty seemed to be a memory from his past life. Many disturbing things that happened in the past had nothing to do with him. But he was still tied to Hong Ye tightly in his heart. Although he didn't miss her all the time, her image followed him like a shadow. No matter what he did, he would imagine what it would be like if she was by his side.
From time to time, he recalled the three years when Hongye traveled with him. She never mentioned her master Wu Sheng or other senior brothers and sisters, but just stayed by his side quietly. He even once had the illusion that Hongye had followed him. Lived a lifetime. Unexpectedly, Hongye suddenly left without saying goodbye, leaving only the word "Kunlun". At that moment, he was shocked to realize how important Hongye had been in his life.
The night was getting colder, Yun Kong looked lonely at the bonfire, stretched out his right hand, and still felt the warmth of the red leaves once left in his palm.
He sighed and decided to move the bonfire to the temple.
The Mazu Temple was built on the ground, not on high feet. Yunkong was afraid that wild beasts, lizards or snakes would run in, so he brought burning firewood into the temple one by one, piled it on the ground to form a bonfire, and closed the temple door. . He sat in meditation in the empty temple. The Mazu statue on the altar had to wait for merchant ships to arrive from Quanzhou.
Sitting quietly until late at night, Yunkong suddenly woke up from his meditation.
The bonfire went out at some point, and in the darkness, he clearly felt eyes staring at him.
He also heard the scorched-footed tiger growling angrily at the strange visitor.
"Who?" he asked loudly.
The creatures in the darkness responded with silence, and Yun Kong couldn't help but feel creepy.
"Who?" Yun Kong asked using the newly learned Tibetan language.
The creature in the darkness was silent for a long time before making a sound. What he spoke was also in Fango, but Yun Kong had not learned enough Tibetan words yet, but he had a general understanding of what he was talking about: "A new god is coming..." His The voice was rough, like the roar of a beast, full of provocation.
He felt the creature slowly approaching in the darkness, so close that he could smell its breath, filled with the sour smell of the beast.
Yun Kong didn't dare to speak, he just hated that the peach wood sword was not beside him.
The strange thing is that when the creature approached him, the Scorched-footed Tiger stopped roaring and even made a coquettish hum, which puzzled Yunkong!
