"Let's go, get off the boat." Yue Guanchao and the others carried their poles and picked up their banners. After saying goodbye to the boat people and their couples, they got off the boat and came to the river bank.
On the bank of the Qingshui River, there were several women from the village wearing bandanas washing their clothes by the river. The saponaria herb was hammered into pieces and placed in a wooden basin to rub them into foam. They took their clothes and washed them in the clear water. Wring out the water and put it into a clean wooden basin.
Some old aunts looked at someone with curiosity when they saw someone coming off the boat. One of them, a slightly fat woman, wiped her hands with a sweat towel and took a closer look at Ren Peacock, confirming that she was an acquaintance from Tudong Town. screamed in a high-pitched voice
"Jin Qinghua, this is your youngest sister, peacock, peacock!" In the distance, a middle-aged woman set up several round dustpans in the sunshine by the river. They were full of various flowers, fruits and herbs, and some were newly picked. There are still dewdrops hanging on the ground, and some of the ground has been sunburned, dry and shrunk.
The woman obviously didn't expect her daughter to come back. She covered the sun with her hand and looked at it several times to make sure it was her child. Then she dropped something and approached them: "Peacock, why are you back at this time? In the quick house , I will ask A Liang to call you old man back." After saying that, Jin Qinghua took Peacock's hand, and they walked into the village together and walked into the stilted building along the river.
Her family's stilted house is located on the southeast bank of the Qingshui River. The river bank protrudes at a right angle. There are layers of gray and white gravel on the bank. It can be seen that half of the stilted house is protruding into the river, supported by thick wood and stone pillars. There are several rows of square windows and door openings under the gray tile eaves. , you can either go ashore through the river, or take the path at the foot of the mountain behind the stilted building.
Yue Guanchao walked along the path to Ren's house and looked up. On the back of the stilted building was a house with horse head gables connected to it. One doorway was inlaid with a white door, the lintel had a dovetail false eaves, the threshold was half a meter above the ground, and there were steps extending to the stone slabs. On the road.
Walking into the courtyard, you can see that there are four houses surrounding the square courtyard. Only the stilted building facing the river has a three-story pavilion, and the other three sides have only two floors. The second-story houses protrude from the corridor and are surrounded by sloping eaves. They gather in all directions to form a facing direction. Drooping skylight.
There are faucets and drains at the four corners of the courtyard, and the huge pool is connected to the river downwards. When it rains, the rainwater can be collected for daily use. When the rain is too heavy, the excess rainwater can overflow the culvert and merge into the river. It is rainy and humid in the southwest. Building a house in this way, It can ensure that the rainy precipitation is concentrated and will not make everything wet!
"Go to the head of the house, go to the head of the house. You must be tired from walking all the way. I'll make you some fruit tea." Ren Peacock took them into the main room. There was a lot of humidity along the river. In order to keep dry, the houses here would be There are windows behind the wall, which creates cross-ventilation and completely blows away the moisture. Therefore, even though the house is made of wood, you don't feel any dampness after entering.
In front of the huge rear window, wooden seats and tables face each other. As you get closer, you can smell the aged aroma of the wooden furniture. Colorful Tu embroidery paintings of the Tu people are hung on the left and right walls. There is a bamboo curtain separating the left and right halls. There is a round table and round stools for eating, a giant sedan chair, a shrine and an offering table on one side, and a futon on the ground.
When Yue Guanchao and the others were looking at the house carefully, a muffled moan sounded from the courtyard door. Behind the young man named A Liang, there was a middle-aged man driving an ox cart back.
"Hey, Yaomei is back." The middle-aged man took a half gourd and scooped a ladle of water from the ditch, washed the mud off his body, and then stepped into the main room wearing a bamboo board.
Song Siyuan took a closer look, and saw that this middle-aged man had a shaved head, his temples were already gray, his Chinese character face was a little thin, and his eyes were bright. He was wearing a black jumper, black trousers on his legs, and a blue cloth wrapped around his forehead. A long pipe hung from his waist.
Jin Qinghua on the side is also dressed in the same way, except that the cuffs and skirt of the one-piece dress are mostly embroidered with flowers and plants, the headscarf is also a colorful green handkerchief, the apron is wrapped around the waist, and it can be seen that the pleated skirt reaches the top of the feet.
"Dad, while you are all at home, let me introduce you to them. These three are my friends, Song Siyuan, Yue Guanchao, and Yue Guanhai. This is my brother, Ren Qingliang!" After saying hello, a few people sat down. On the seat, Ren Wude obviously did not expect that his daughter would come back. His face was filled with joy and worry. He was happy that he finally saw his daughter again at such an old age, but he was worried that his daughter was back and the cave god would come to invite her. Pass the door.
"Yao Mei, if you miss your parents, just send us a letter. You won't discuss this matter with us when you come back." Ren Kongque said before that she was chosen as the bride by the cave god. Her parents didn't want to ask the cave god to marry them, so they found an old Taoist priest to redeem her body. As long as she never set foot in Sichuan, Hunan and Guizhou again in this life, there would be no danger to her life. Now, let Peacock come back without the consent of the old couple. , somewhat unexpected.
Ren Kongque saw the worry in the old couple's eyebrows and stepped forward to comfort him: "Dad, I know what you mean. You are afraid that the cave god will confuse me again. Don't worry, these friends and I will come back this time." , just to solve this problem. In the next few days, we pretended to be salesmen and sold everything, and we thoroughly understood the situation in Tudong Town. I would like to meet this cave god and see what he is. ." These words were said without fear of heaven and earth. Jin Qinghua quickly looked at the niche and held her daughter's hand to prevent her from continuing to talk nonsense: "Shh, shh, you don't dare to talk like that. The family is a mountain god. This The cave spirit has great power, and asking a mortal to be a bride is a gift. Your mother and I couldn’t bear to part with you, so we made great efforts to redeem you. It is a great kindness from the cave spirit not to blame, so how dare you and The cave god can’t get through it, so don’t say this again.”
"Sister, let me tell you, you, go back after a few days. I will take care of your parents at home. What if something happens to you if you stay for a long time." The young man on the side also said. .
"Auntie, I know you are afraid that something will happen to me, but after I leave, will the other women in the village be okay? Will the cave god only arrest me?" These words made the three of them lower their heads, Chuan In central Hunan and Guizhou, the Luohua Cave Girl is most likely to appear in western Hunan. The cave god wants to marry more than just Ren Peacock. Before her and after her, there were countless beautiful women who were lost in thought and were sent into the cold and terrifying cave. He served the cave god and never came out again.
When Ren Wude and Jin Qinghua think of other girls like Ren Kongque, it's hard not to be moved. After all, their children were taken back from the hands of the cave god.
"Then you have made up your mind. If the cave god blames you, it will be a big disaster?" Ren Peacock nodded with a firm look: "If these gods are really good gods, they will not harm people's lives. This way Even if the evil god is real, it should not be enshrined. What I want to do is to prevent them from being coerced by the cave god." Old man Ren listened to his daughter's words, his face was gloomy, he chewed his pipe and sighed: "You kid is getting older and has big ideas. You won't listen to anything we say. Now that you have made up your mind, go ahead and try it. If it really doesn't work, you have to listen to your parents and fly away. Don’t come back.”
"Oh, that's right!" Jin Qinghua's eyes lit up and she looked at Ren Peacock: "When you were sick and couldn't get out of bed, it was I who found the old Taoist priest on Fengtou Mountain who exorcised corpses. This matter is too mysterious. Do you want to Let’s discuss it with the master.”
"I understand, Auntie, go and pack up three houses for us. These friends of mine will stay here for a few days." After saying that, he lowered his voice and pulled her aside: "Auntie, these friends have helped me. I'm very busy. I'll take advantage of this time to come back and entertain you with delicious food and drinks. If you don't have enough money, ask me to help you."
"That's right. When guests arrive, they must be well entertained. Don't worry, you can keep this money for yourself. You will have to pay more when you go out." Jin Qinghua immediately stuffed the silver coins back and glanced at Song Siyuan: " You follow Peacock outside for a walk, and when you come back at noon, Auntie will help you clean up the dust." Cleaning the house will take some time, and Ren Peacock wanted to take them to see the village anyway, so Yue Guanchao and the three of them simply followed her, along the Walk across the Shibanshui Bridge to Jiangxin Island.
The area of Jiangxin Island is not too small. There are three ancient arch bridges on the irregular rhombus-shaped island shore, which can be used by boats and people. The island is lush with flowers and trees, and there is a stone tower foundation the size of a house in the middle. Several people can surround the brick tower, and more than a dozen stone houses guard the surrounding area.
Opening the tower door and climbing up the stairs, there was nothing in the tower, only the stairs leading to the stone brick arch. They walked to the fourth or fifth floor and walked out of the arch. Their surroundings opened up and they had an unobstructed view.
Standing on the top of the tower, you can overlook the ancient town. Nearby are Kuahu Mountain, Fengtou Mountain, Funiu Mountain and Laolongkou.
Among them, Kuahu Mountain in the southeast is the most prosperous. There is a Fox Fairy Temple with white walls and raised eaves on the top of the mountain. The surrounding wild forests are lush, the mountain roads are secluded, and the mountains and plains are full of wild fairy shrines and stone gods.
The top of Fengtou Mountain in the north is covered with a righteous village, and there are also several houses for the exorcists. Once you cross Fengtou Mountain, you will find Fenghuang Village. Funiu Mountain in the northwest has the largest fortress, and the rest of the mountain villages are also built with watchtowers and watchtowers. The trestle allows villagers to pass through, and they can also see the surrounding situation clearly from a height.
The most special place is Laolongkou! After walking for more than ten miles from the ancient town, as the river gradually narrowed, steeper and taller valleys appeared in the distance. The river water lapped both sides to form scouring rocks, winding out of the Changshe River Road. What they called Laolongkou, that is, It is an exposed mine that I saw shortly after entering the valley.
This mountain used to be a copper mine. Later, the mountain became empty after the copper mine was abandoned. When it was rainy in the southwest, flash floods broke out during the rainy season, which washed away most of the mountain. Most of the mountain sank into the river. After the mountain collapsed, the previously excavated The mines that emerged are exposed outside the mountain, and countless large and small mines appear like stars on the mountain wall.
These caves collapsed all the way to the top, leaving
On the "Ji"-shaped cliff, there is a steady flow of groundwater flowing out of the rock formations, just like the dragon head on the top of the mountain spitting out a waterfall and falling into the Qingshui River. This is where the cave god they call comes from.
