The fairy lady seemed very patient and explained to my mother.
"Whether it is extremely peaceful or not, the yin and yang are born. Wu Wa'er's horoscope is the lightest value in theory. When it reaches the extreme, it gives birth to a trace of heaviness. So he is more spiritual than ordinary people, gets along well with me, and at the same time can calm the water. Li Sha takes away part of the aura of such a vicious creature."
"To be honest, everything in the world has its cause and effect. Each of Wu Wa'er's three tribulations was more severe than the last. So although he usually has a good relationship with me, it is not yet to the point where I will help him withstand the second tribulation. Tonight and If I leave once, the cause and effect will be achieved."
These words sounded very complicated and confusing, and my mother was a little stunned.
At this time, my dad next to me answered.
"Yingzi, do you think I'm not worried? But the fairy aunt said that as long as the baby goes with her, she will help the baby get through the second disaster. And the fairy aunt said that nothing will happen to her as long as she is here. It’s just that we don’t have a bearded dog here anymore, so she will be distracted if she has to punt the boat by herself.”
Although I was only over nine years old at the time, not even ten years old. But I'm a little more mature than the average person my age, so I probably understand it.
It means that tonight I help the fairy - and I also help the village. The fairy will save my life in the future!
"Mom, don't worry. It's okay, I've grown up."
"Oh, I want it."
My mother was finally persuaded.
So, I followed Xiangu and my dad out of the house and walked all the way to the river.
The night wind blew, making the grass all around rustle.
The riverside at night is a bit more strange and eerie than during the day.
But because I could see a large group of people standing there from a distance, all holding torches as if they were surrounding something, it made it a little more popular.
"Are so many people going together?"
I was a little surprised, seeing that all the adults in the village were there.
Fairy Gu shook her head: "How is that possible? Just you and I will go. It's just that when sailing late at night, it's best to have a red boat. It just so happens that Chen Butcher in your village, his grandfather is a red boat bearded man. The boat he left behind has been kept there. The backyard of his house is gathering ashes. Your father and I just went to take you home, so I asked them to get the boat first."
Of course I know what a "radial beard" is. In fact, it is a person who makes a living on the water.
In some local dialects, they are also called Chuanguaizi, Chuanbenchier and so on.
For example, Li Laosan, the fisherman who helped recover Wang Fei's body during the day, can also be regarded as a bearded man in the broad sense.
It's just that he can only paddle back and forth in the river near the village to catch some fish, and he doesn't dare to go as far as Lianghe Town, which is thirty or forty miles away.
Because not far from the village, the river gradually merges into the Chuanjiang River. The water is very big and the river is very fast!
Where would a person like Li Laosan dare to go to the river to get food?
"Xiangu, what is the red boat?"
I asked curiously.
It feels like from this day on, my life suddenly took a turn for the worse, and I started to come into contact with many things that I didn’t know before.
"You can call me Aunt Qin from now on. Of course, only you can call me that."
The fairy girl looked ahead and spoke calmly.
Then she explained to me what the red boat was...
In fact, the "Red Boat" is a complete set of the Yishan Tomb and the Hundred Bone Pagoda mentioned before.
Because there is too much water in the Sichuan River to make sticks, there have been people on the Sichuan River who specialize in fishing for water and making sticks since ancient times. The wages are paid by the government in a registered book, and there are also waist badges.
These small wooden boats (small wooden boats) responsible for scooping water and striking sticks are usually docked under the dangerous shoals. The hulls of the boats are painted vermilion. The bearded men on the boats also wear red scarves and red clothes. Even the chopsticks they use to eat are red. of!
Because red is eye-catching, it also suppresses evil and emboldens courage.
Therefore, these government corpse-retrieving boats are called red boats.
In addition, with the fate of the imperial court suppressing them, these red boat bearded men are much tougher and more likely to survive than ordinary private fishermen.
Legend has it that the founder of this "Red Boat" was a father-in-law named Zhou Changqi who lived in Guizhou, Sanxia during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty.
At first, he used his salary to build two small wooden boats and set them up in Zhatan, becoming the earliest red boats on the Sichuan River.
Zhatan is located under the city of Guizhou under his management. It is composed of numerous densely arranged parallel stone beams. It has rolling waves and dense whirlpools, making it extremely dangerous.
Later, Zhou Changqi was commended by the court, so setting up the "Red Boat Beard" on the Sichuan River became a system of the court. It continued until the Republic of China...
While we were talking, I followed Aunt Qin to the river bank.
When the villagers saw her coming, they all automatically dispersed to both sides.
Then I saw a small wooden boat, more than one and a half feet long and three or four feet wide, placed on the riverside. The entire hull showed a strange dark red color, was gray, and was very worn.
But think about it, Aunt Qin said that it was left by Grandpa Butcher Chen, and I am afraid it has been abandoned for decades. It’s not easy to be in decay and tatters yet.
The villagers found the boat, renovated it, and found that it was still usable.
The coffin containing Wang Fei's body was placed in the center of the small wooden boat. The lid of the coffin has been closed, and nails have been driven into the four corners.
So I can't see how scary this little friend in life is now.
Otherwise, no matter how courageous I am when I am not yet ten years old, I am afraid I will wet my pants!
"Xiangu, you are finally here."
"The fairy is here."
The village chief and others looked relieved and wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
Aunt Qin sneered: "I told you to nail the coffin with soul-suppressing nails, which will prevent any accidents for at least three to five hours. How can such a big man be so afraid?"
The crazy woman who had been ignored by everyone in the past was now speaking, but no one dared to refute her and could only laugh along with her.
The village chief hurriedly said: "Xiangu, we are ready. Do you want to leave?"
He was also worried that Aunt Qin said that after dawn, the evil spirit of Shuiyin would leak out, which would bring bad luck to the whole village for the next thirty years.
I took a closer look and found that there were two live chickens tied up on the boat - look at the fiery red combs, they were both strong and powerful roosters.
In addition, there are some bottles and cans, which are arranged very neatly, and I don’t know what they contain.
"Okay, get ready to go."
As Aunt Qin spoke, she directed the villagers to push the little red boat into the water.
Wow…
Under the moonlight, a dark red boat slowly sank into the water, carrying a coffin, a woman, and a child.
This scene, if viewed from the perspective of a bystander, would probably be full of weirdness and gloom.
I saw Aunt Qin holding the boat pole in her hand, pushing it into the shallow water on the shore a few times, and the boat followed the current to the center of the river. Then it drifted downstream toward Lianghe Town.
"Wu Wa'er, don't look, touch, or talk. Along the way, do whatever Aunt Qin tells you to do, and be obedient."
My dad chased the boat for a while on the shore and shouted to me loudly.
He was actually very worried, but thinking of Aunt Qin's promise and my future, he could only let me go.
But for me, although it is a little scary, it is also full of unknown novelty and excitement!
As the boat moved forward, the trees on both sides showed a strange beauty in the moonlight.
The river surface was very calm, and occasionally there was the sound of something jumping into the water and making a splash.
correct!
I suddenly thought of something and asked curiously: "Aunt Qin, I have been in the fourth grade since school started, and I have also learned some mathematics and geography. This kind of small wooden boat is not fast. You and my dad talked about the two rivers We still have forty or fifty miles to the Hundred Bones Tower, can we get there before dawn?"
Aunt Qin at the bow of the boat didn't turn around, but I could hear a smile in her tone, and a bit of pride.
"Wu Wa'er, other bearded men can't do it, but you, Aunt Qin, and I can do it. Sit tight, the ship is about to speed up."
