"Dan, do you have a last name?"
"What's a last name?"
"What's your father's name?"
"Mother didn't say anything."
"Then what's your mother's name?"
"Her name is Ginger."
"What about the front? Or the back? Except Jiang?"
"It's just ginger."
"Isn't there two words?"
"Why do we need to call it two characters? Just one character is enough. It's easy to remember. Everyone in the village has the same character."
Wu Sheng inquired later and found that everyone in the village had the same name, only their first name.
A guest came to the remote fishing village, but it did not cause any disturbance. To the villagers, it was as if the incident had not happened. Some people asked Wu Sheng's name and called him "Sheng" when they met. ”, some people simply think that he does not exist, or that he already exists.
Wu Sheng had a headache. The neighbors only knew this place was "Great Wilderness". Why was it called Great Wilderness? No one could tell exactly where it was. They were born in the village, grew up, lived and died in the village. It seemed that There is only this world in the world. .
"Dan, haven't any of you been to the other side of the mountain?" Wu Sheng pointed to the distant mountains in the distance behind the village.
"Those are the Two Boundary Mountains. The one to the north is Quzhi Mountain, and the one to the south is Rongtian Mountain." Dan replied to Wu Sheng: "Why go there? My mother-in-law said that there are monsters and demons outside the mountain. Quzhi and Rongtian are the two mountains. The mountain god who protects the village... On the other side of the sea, it should be the sea, right?"
"Mother-in-law?"
"Grandma Yue."
Dan led Wu Sheng to the foot of a cliff at the north end of the village. There was a cave here. The cave was very deep, winding and going deep inward, with empty stone houses carved on both sides.
An oil lamp is lit from time to time on the cave wall, providing faint light for those who enter.
When we entered the deepest part, an old voice came from inside: "Is this Dan? Who are you here with?"
Dan replied: "Mother-in-law, Sheng and I want to ask a few questions."
Mother Yue stuck her head out with a cane and invited Wu Sheng and Dan into the innermost cave. The grotto here was much larger than the stone house dug outside. There were dark red wooden cabinets, beds, and tables. I don't know how many years it has been.
It turned out that this mother-in-law was the same mother-in-law who told him that this place was a "big wilderness" when Wu Sheng first entered the village. After sitting down, Wu Sheng asked: "Mother-in-law, I heard Dan say that you can't go outside the Liangjie Mountain?"
Granny Yue narrowed her eyes and said, "Sheng, you are a traveler from outside. Can you tell me what it's like outside?"
Wu Sheng was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
Granny Yue waited for a moment, then smiled and said: "Sheng, you are not the first traveler to come to the wilderness. Every few years, travelers will come to the village accidentally. They all want to leave here just like you, so they Choose to leave. Some people leave the next day, some people stay for months or even years before leaving, some people build wooden boats to leave from the sea, and some people prepare food to jump over the Liangjie Mountains, you know What happened?"
Wu Sheng looked at Granny Yue, waiting for the answer. Gu Ao
"I remember that there have been a total of ten travelers in the past fifty years. Six of them were found dead outside Liangjie Mountain. The bodies of three people floated back from the sea. They were buried at the foot of Zhishan Mountain. You can go and take a look. . There is another one. You can say that he escaped, or you can say that he did not escape. In short, he never came back. You are the eleventh. We are all watching what will happen to you. "
Wu Sheng was silent for a moment and asked, "Where do they come from?"
Granny Yue said: "Some come from outside the mountains, and some come from the sea. They say they got lost. Whether they lost their way or found their way, I don't know, old lady. Sheng, you can choose to stay, or You can choose to leave, but the choice depends on whether you get lost or return home."
Not getting an answer from Granny Yue, Wu Sheng left. Granny Yue sent him and Dan out of the cave, and suddenly said to Dan: "Dan, don't forget to perform at the village community tomorrow."
Dan lowered his head and said softly: "I know."
After returning home, Dan jumped onto the roof and stared at the sea in the distance in a daze. Wu Sheng followed her and sat next to her, watched with her for a while, and asked: "Dan, what is the festival?"
Dan replied: "The reason why the village is not invaded by demons is because the mountain gods of the two realms have always protected us, so every year we must choose a person to go into the mountain to serve the mountain gods. Last year, the eagle served the God of Zhishan, and this year it is my turn to serve the God of Rongtian Mountain. .”
Wu Sheng asked: "How long will it take?"
"Never, never come back. Sheng, you won't leave in the past two months, right? We can talk for two months and play games together for two months. After two months, Dan will go to serve the God of Rongtian Mountain. When I leave, I will give this courtyard to Sheng, okay?"
"Why is that you?"
"Because Dan is over twelve years old. There are six companions who are over twelve years old in the village. Dan is the best at learning magic, so Dan is qualified to serve the mountain god."
Wu Sheng looked at the girl beside him, her young face was full of melancholy of farewell, her eyes were full of nostalgia for the sea, and his heart suddenly sank to the bottom.
In the village community the next day, Dan had a rehearsal of the ceremony as scheduled. Under the watchful eyes of several elders, she stepped on a rainbow bridge made of sea water and landed on a big red bed. The big bed was in a pit several feet deep underground. When she lay down, green leaves and flowers kept growing around the pit, exuding the fragrance of the garden.
The peak level of ordinary Qi refining is almost the same as the suppressed self. He has such cultivation at the age of twelve, which is really a gift. Her Taoism belongs to water. Whether she is stepping on the waves or waving her hands to make the rain fall, she is very compatible with water.
Dan lay quietly on the red bed, folded his hands in front of his chest, glanced at the villagers above the pit who were watching intently, then glanced at Wu Sheng who was also watching intently, and closed his eyes.
Under the guidance of Dan's Taoist teachings, the fine rainwater moistened the green leaves and flowers in the pit, and vines quickly grew from them and stretched over the pit, forming a green dome.
Amidst the chants of several elders, layers of soil covered it...
This is a preview of Dan's ceremony. On the day she turns twelve, she will grow green leaves, flowers and vines with her own hands, and build a beautiful flower house at the foot of Rongtian Mountain to complete her destiny.
The performance was praised by the elders, who rewarded Dan with a smoked boar leg. Dan happily took Wu Sheng's hand and went home to share the smoked leg with him.
Once the pig leg was cut into a piece and steamed, served with several vegetables, the table was filled. Wu Sheng sat at the table, holding the rice bowl and holding chopsticks, but he couldn't swallow anything.
"Dan, do you know what will happen after the ceremony?"
"The mountain gods of the two realms will continue to protect the village."
"What about you? What will happen to you? Do you know?"
Dan slowly put down his bowls and chopsticks and lowered his head.
Wu Sheng reached out and rubbed the girl's hair.
——Even after sitting down, her head only reached her chest.
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