Sun Tianqi's eyebrows signaled to the little Taoist people behind him. They picked up the kerosene in their hands and lit all the dug graves. When the fire burned out, these rotten bones were turned into bone dregs and were followed by the little Taoist people. The surname and place of origin on the stone plaque is placed in the urn.
After doing this, Taoist Sun explained: "Originally, it is most appropriate to bury the body. However, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, and it is really inconvenient to carry the bones and coffins. The old Taoist had no choice but to wrong the concubines and burn them into ashes for burial. Today we will continue leave?"
It was already noon from the time they set off in the morning until Hutou Mountain. They spent a lot of time digging graves and burning the ashes. It was already afternoon, and there was only an hour left before the sun would set.
Before Yue Guanchao could speak, Lao Ma had already intervened: "Old Taoist Master, but you still want to go to other mountains?"
"Yes, we are going to Qianyan Mountain." Sun Daqi said.
"Then, I have to advise the old Taoist. It gets dark early in the mountains, and it will be completely dark in two hours. Qianyan Mountain is indeed not far from Hutou Mountain, but if you want to walk to Qianyan Mountain in half a day, It’s not that easy at the foot of Yanshan Mountain.”
At this point, he lowered his voice: "Qianyan Mountain is the boundary mountain between Guangxi and Western Hunan. There are many caves and sinkholes. At night, mountain monkeys come out to eat people. You can often encounter them when walking at night. We never go out at night because we are afraid of running into giant monkeys."
"You should wait until daytime before rushing on the road. I think the old lady is definitely not that anxious to ask you to go to Qianyan Mountain. Why don't you stay in the cemetery for one night and wait until early tomorrow morning before rushing on the road? What do you think?"
Lao Ma's words were indeed not lying to them. When they asked Tian Liumei about the past, they had already heard her say that there were giant monkeys nearby. Sun Tianqi thought for a moment and nodded: "Well, since you are the same, Lao Ma." With good intentions, I won’t bother you, and I’ll stay here for one night tonight.”
"Okay, I'll take you to the courtyard."
Sun Daqi asked the young Taoist priests to pick up the jar and follow the old horse back to the courtyard. As he walked, the gravekeeper said: "There is a righteous village in this courtyard and several courtyards. Apart from me, the guardian of the garden, In addition, there are twenty or thirty mountain guards. These people usually cut firewood and farm nearby, waiting for the master’s family to come to pull firewood and transport food.”
"The Hu family is prosperous. Although this is the private garden of the head of the Hu family, if any of the family members die, they will be buried in the righteous village here. In order to facilitate the tomb sweeping and worship, they will often be buried here. Time passes. Long, this place has become the family cemetery of the Hu family."
When he spoke, Lao Ma had already opened two sets of courtyard houses: "I see that there are many of you, so the old Taoist priest will live with these small Taoist priests. As for the Hu family's Jiayong Nursing Home, they will live in another set. I will call you in the evening." When you go to eat or sleep, be sure to lock the door."
The driving was tiring, and Sun Tianqi also needed to rest. What's more, he was a deceitful Taoist with chicken feet. He stayed with Bu Bu and Yue Guanchao for a long time, so he simply closed the courtyard door completely on the pretext of sitting quietly and practicing.
Yue Guanchao also knew that these people were deliberately acting, and he did not reveal their true colors, so he moved several nursing homes into another courtyard.
Song Siyuan walked into the main hall and looked around the courtyard. No one was watching, so she could say a few words of her own: "Finally, I don't have to pretend to be a maid anymore."
After saying that, she opened the map of Yongming County: "According to the location of Hutou Mountain, we are at this point, not far from Qianyan Mountain but not close either. Tomorrow, we will probably have to drive for half a day to reach Qianyan Mountain."
"What I'm most worried about is how we will deal with these people after we arrive at Qianyan Mountain?"
Yue Guanchao knocked on the table and explained: "According to Mrs. Hu, these chicken-footed Taoists are extremely cunning. Even if you really catch them, as long as they want to get away with it, there are many ways to get away with it. To catch an adulterer, you need to catch both. The thieves want to catch the stolen goods. When they take out the things in the tomb, the Hu family will dare to go and take the people. They will also get the stolen goods. These chicken-footed Taoists dug people's graves and killed them on the spot without anyone saying anything. .”
"For us, all we have to do is enter the tomb with them. We'll do what's ours, and they'll take what's theirs. We'll settle the score after we get out of the concubine's tomb."
"Rather than what's in the tomb, I'm more worried about the geese."
Xu Xiake's next sentence aroused curiosity among the people around him.
He continued: "Song Qianjin's words about wild geese migrating because of food reminded me that the bar-headed geese in Shaanxi Province do not migrate. They do not migrate because their food is not snakes, insects, rats and ants, but grains. Skin."
"These geese eat worms and earthworms in spring and autumn. After autumn and winter, they will take advantage of the busy farming season to hide the ears of grain in their nests, and then use them to eat and drink during the winter to survive the cold winter in the northwest."
"Brother Xu, what do you mean?"
Song Siyuan didn't know what the little Taoist priest meant.
Xu Xiake continued: "What I mean is that no matter what kind of wild geese, whether they migrate or not, it is entirely because of whether they have something to eat. These wild geese have existed in Qianyan Mountain for thousands of years. This means that even in winter, Qianyan Mountain produces There is enough food to feed them.”
"Is this where the problem arises?"
He paused and his tone became mysterious: "There is no farmland near Qianyan Mountain. In fact, due to the wide spread of caves, there are very few terraces. In other words, it is unlikely that there is anything to eat nearby. It is possible in spring and summer. They eat insects and berries. Leaves fall and snow falls here in autumn and winter. What kind of food is there in Qianyan Mountain that can allow thousands of geese to survive the cold winter without migrating?"
When Xu Xiake said this, they already knew there was something fishy!
In the cold winter, everything dies, but these geese should have migrated south but stayed because there was plenty of food. From the results and the process, it must be a large amount of food that allows thousands of geese to survive the cold winter.
However, Qianyan Mountain is surrounded by caves and sinkholes that are difficult to cultivate, and it is unlikely that there will be grains. This also means that if the geese want to survive, they must find food to survive the winter.
What kind of large amounts of food can allow them to survive the winter safely? Thinking of this, everyone shuddered.
"Perhaps the wild geese can live without food? Maybe they can really survive without eating for a whole winter." Yue Erpao said, scratching his head.
Xu Xiake's smile was a little bitter, and he hugged the little brother's neck helplessly: "Bedu? I am a Taoist. Bigu means not eating whole grains or any grains, and using the special Taoist methods of convincing Qi, swallowing fluids, feeding, guiding, etc. Means to absorb the essence of the universe."
"but!"
He changed the subject: "It doesn't mean that you don't eat at all. For example, you will eat meatballs made from flax and sesame seeds, and you will also eat meatballs made from dried red dates and sweet potatoes. Of course, some people will also eat a kind of green rice, and even... Some people are deliberately lazy and eat meatballs made of chicken and duck. Generally speaking, it is okay to eat grains, but you will definitely not eat anything and starve yourself to death."
"Besides, Bigu is just an emergency measure for Taoist priests who can't make a fast meal. It's not a way to ascend to immortality. The last time I Bigu was because I had no money, I had to eat a good meal at Song's house to regain my strength. .”
His tone became mysterious: "Think about it, people have to eat to live. Livestock like wild geese have no fat for them to waste. Let alone a cold winter, even three days of being fasted, they will starve to death. A big piece.”
"I think there must be enough food, or something highly nutritious to keep these geese alive? But what exactly is this thing?"
"Of course, this is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is why the wild geese are attracted. Even after being attracted, they basically cannot leave Qianyan Mountain. If you think about Mrs. Hu, will it happen? Could there be something strange in the mountains?"
Xu Xiake's speculations were not alarmist. After hearing this, everyone became curious about the current situation of Qianyan Mountain.
"So, what does Brother Xu mean?"
Yue Guanchao asked.
"It's so weird, really weird. People can walk out of Qianyan Mountain, but geese can't. I don't know the specific reason for this situation, but I think the geese must be trapped by something. Maybe there is something in Qianyan Mountain that can trap animals but not living people."
Listening to the little Taoist priest's words, Song Siyuan's eyes lit up and she explained: "Maybe it's because of the magnetic field."
She paused and continued to explain: "Any animal that can migrate can sense a magnetic field in its brain. They can migrate long distances because of their perception of the magnetic field. During their migration, they have to pass through changes in the magnetic field. , to constantly correct the direction and route to ensure that we can reach our destination.”
"However, if the magnetic field cannot be sensed or the magnetic field is chaotic, they will lose their direction and either fall behind and get lost or disappear, or they will land in a place with an abnormal magnetic field. Only by correcting the perception in their brains can they return to normal."
"I'm thinking?"
She looked at everyone and guessed: "Could it be that the magnetic field around Qianyan Mountain is not normal? These geese originally came here to look for food. It was not until they were about to fly away that they realized they had lost their way and were trapped here. Because There is food here that does not need to be moved, so it is left behind. These geese have lived and died here, and it has been like this for thousands of years."
"Birth, old age, sickness and death?"
Xu Xiake listened carefully to Song Siyuan's words and suddenly realized: "When wild geese grow old, get sick and die, the corpses they leave behind are probably food."
“Goose doesn’t eat meat, right?”
Yue Erpao had only heard of chickens and ducks pecking at the corpses of their own kind, but he had never heard of geese eating their own kind.
Yue Qingshan puffed on his pipe and frowned: "Not necessarily. As long as it is a meat-eating bird, whether it is eating scales, insects, snakes, earthworms or other things, it can eat meat. Chickens and ducks peck at their own kind because they see them. Blood arouses animal nature, and perhaps these geese have no choice when they are hungry and cold."
"If you don't eat the same kind, you must die. The bestiality of animals is actually the instinct to survive. They cannot have the idea of propriety, justice and shame. Then, eating the same kind is no different to them than eating insects, let alone a bird. Individuals, in times of famine, have to go to the graves of the dead in Bala to cut meat to eat."
Sun Daqiao interrupted and said: "Brother Yue is saying, otherwise, how can we know etiquette only if we have enough food? Without food, there is no difference between humans and animals."
Some people died, but not completely...
