Nirvana of Tomb Raiders

Places with beautiful mountains and clear waters often exude a simple atmosphere. Zhao Qingming shuttled through the trails among the woods, and the loose and soft dead leaves deposited for many years under his feet, the fragrance of pine and grass permeated the air.

But the more he walked up the mountain, the more he felt that there was a strange atmosphere in the mountain. He hugged the food box in his arms tightly, pretending that he could not hear the sound outside, and quickly climbed up the mountain. The mountain road is also familiar, because every time he walks this mountain road, he will see a few tombs beside the road, his heart beats faster, and he thinks silently: he can't see, can't see, can't see, can't see...

Panting, Zhao Qingming finally climbed into a small kiosk. The food box in his arms was still warm, not cold. It was golden autumn and October, and the temperature in the mountains dropped extremely fast.

After passing the tomb just now, his back was covered with sweat, and the autumn wind blew, and suddenly there was a coolness behind him, so he continued to climb up without taking a rest. Because he has been doing mountain climbing recently, his physique is much better than before .

After 5 minutes, he breathed a sigh of relief. He came to his grandfather who was sitting on the flat stone in front of the small house with his legs bent and smoking a long bamboo pipe. He calmed down and called out, "Grandpa, I'm here."

Grandpa Zhao has a gray beard, and the bamboo tube in his hand has a certain history. He slowly exhales smoke, which quickly fades and disappears. , with a red cloth scarf wrapped around his head. As for how many years his hair has not been let down, it is not what Zhao Qingming wants to know. This is the custom of Yaoxi Village. Strong ethnic flavor.

The villagers in Yaoxi Village are naturally a minority. Grandpa Zhao belongs to the Yao nationality. The people in the whole village belong to the Yao nationality. People who come to visit call them Yao people. Yaoxi Village is the oldest of this ethnic group. Yaozhai.

This ancient nation has a history of more than 1000 years. This nation has its own language, but there is only one Chinese character recorded in it, which can also be found in a dictionary.

Grandpa Zhao didn't know why Zhao Qingming couldn't speak the Yao dialect after waking up two months ago, but it didn't affect the communication between him and his grandson, but he felt that the grandson who couldn't speak the Yao dialect became very silent.

"Yes." Although Grandpa Zhao can speak Chinese, he is not fluent. He rarely communicated with his grandson at first, and even less now.

Zhao Qingming found a smoother stone and sat down on his own. He hurriedly looked towards the stone tomb door at the back of the cabin, then lowered his head again, seeing the closed tomb door, the cold sweat that had been blown dry was gone again. He has always been timid, and what he is most afraid of is ghosts. Although he has never seen them before, he is really scared. However, he admires his grandfather very much. Don’t tell me that old people are not afraid of ghosts? something.

Grandpa Zhao told him that it was their turn to guard this ancient stone tomb this year. As for whose tomb is it, Grandpa Zhao didn't tell him, even if Zhao Qingming told him, he might not know. Now he is only a ten-year-old child , when he grows up slowly, Grandpa Zhao will slowly instill these histories into him.

After Zhao Qingming woke up, he knew that his father had passed away due to illness, and his mother who looked a little bit ran away with the Han people, leaving behind their grandfather and grandson. He has a second uncle, but this second uncle has been working outside for many years. With two children at home, food and clothing are not too expensive.

Because there are few middle-aged men in the family, Grandpa Zhao shouldered the responsibility of guarding the tomb.

Zhao Qingming lives in the house of his second uncle now, and the task of delivering the food is almost handed over to his other cousin. The two take turns to deliver the food. When it rains, they will deliver together. Fortunately, the second aunt is a hardworking and capable woman. Otherwise, the family doesn't know how to live.

After Grandpa Zhao finished his lunch, Zhao Qingming went down the mountain with yesterday's lunch box. In the evening, grandpa would cook for himself, and in the afternoon, the second aunt would bring up enough rice and vegetables. There should be no need to come up in the next few days. The road was really flustered, Zhao Qingming said goodbye to Grandpa Zhao and turned to go down the mountain, but when he took the first step, he heard a chirp from behind, like a chirp piercing the sky, he turned his head, Grandpa Zhao gave him a kind smile. Obviously, the voice he heard just now was his hallucination?

Zhao Qingming shrank his neck and rushed down the mountain, running fast with his small body.

Yaoxi Village lived in stilted buildings, but due to the introduction of Han culture, some families built bungalows, but this did not affect the flavor of the Yao people here. They all walked the mountain road for half an hour, but this did not affect the enthusiasm of the cousins ​​and cousins ​​to study. Of course, their age was not much different from Zhao Qingming, and they all belonged to the nature of playing.

After another two weeks of living like this in peace, Zhao Qingming couldn't use his many ideas, so he returned to reality and worked hard to get out of the mountains. He no longer wanted to walk the mountain roads where he could see the tombs casually.

According to the usual time after school, the cousins ​​and cousins ​​went home with him, but the two brothers seemed to be more emotional today than yesterday. I heard from the second aunt that the second uncle he hadn't met was coming back from outside. Children mostly want toys from their fathers. The second uncle who has been working outside for many years is the object of their expectation and the sustenance of their whole family.

The second uncle has another task when he comes back this time, that is, the annual "Song Hall" on October [-] is about to start. He wants to represent his elderly father to participate in this festival. There is another important sacrificial activity to get fire from the gods, that is, the sacrificial activity related to the stone tomb in the back mountain. This year, it was their family's turn to give birth, so he had to rush home to discuss this matter with his family.

At around eight o'clock in the evening, the second uncle of the Zhao family who had been waiting for a long time finally stepped into the house amidst the barking of the earth dog. Zhao Qingming was sitting under the dim light and writing the homework assigned by the teacher today. The cousin next to him had already rushed to the door to hug him. Holding the second uncle's waist, Zhao Qingming raised his head to look at the second uncle who had put down his denim bag, and paused holding the ballpoint pen. He is a man in his 30s with an ordinary appearance and a medium build. The Yao family got married relatively early. It doesn't look too old, but the eldest son is eleven or twelve years old, which is not surprising.

The second aunt must have told him that Grandpa Zhao was still guarding the tomb. He was not surprised that Zhao Qingming was at his house, but took out a schoolbag with Transformers and Superman printed on it from his big denim bag For him, Zhao Qingming accepted the gift from his second uncle with embarrassment. He didn't like Superman wearing red underwear.

The second uncle lovingly rubbed his short, yellow hair due to malnutrition, and smiled encouragingly: "Amin, study hard and make progress every day."

Looking at the schoolbag with Transformers and Superman printed on it, Zhao Qingming nodded with a complicated expression, then lowered his head and replied in a low voice: "...Thank you, uncle."

The second uncle, who was still smiling, only thought that his complicated expression was touched by the gift he gave, and then continued to take out the candies, wine, and cigarettes he bought from outside. Zhao Qingming thought that these cigarettes and alcohol should be for grandpa. Prepared, although the second aunt is also good at wine, but she is not addicted to alcohol, Zhao Qingming looked at the wine, it seems that the price is not cheap.

Zhao Qingming's two cousins ​​saw their father come back, and after their second uncle Zhao Xian had finished eating, they insisted on listening to him talk about the colorful world outside the mountain village. There is a TV, but there are only a few channels that come and go, and there are not enough to watch. Apart from the news, there are TV dramas. The two cousins ​​are sitting around Uncle Zhao. Be a curious child, find a bench and sit with your chin on your legs and your legs together, listening to Uncle Zhao tell interesting stories.

Zhao Qingming always just thought that Zhao Xian was working outside. His complexion was darker, but he spoke clearly and logically. It is not easy to understand so much after graduating from junior high school, but what they listened to was the changes outside, and there was nothing complicated. For things that Zhao Xian didn’t understand, Zhao Xian just told the children about the interesting things, such as Happy Valley, amusement park, zoo, subway, and train. The cousins ​​who had never seen these things, their eyes lit up, and they said that they would put it next time. They must be taken to play during the summer vacation. Zhao Xian said that they must pass the county-level middle school before taking them there, so the faces of the two children immediately darkened again, but Zhao Qingming was more sensible. They had to go to school the next day, and Zhao Xian was tired after driving all day, so he drove them back to their room to sleep after ten o'clock.

Zhao’s house doesn’t have many rooms. There are only two bedrooms in a bungalow, one for children and one for adults. If grandpa comes back, Zhao Qingming will go back to the stilted building next door with grandpa. Now he has to share a room with his cousin , my cousin sleeps in the same bed, he and his seven-year-old cousin sleep in the same bed, and each person has a quilt. The temperature in the mountains is always lower than outside. Zhao Qingming quickly closes his eyes, wraps the quilt and turns his back to the bed for ten seconds. When the sleeping cousin falls asleep, the child's sleep quality will always be better than that of the adult.

The second uncle Zhao Xian went to the oldest old man in the village the next day after he came back, that is, their village chief. Of course, Zhao Qingming didn't know what they talked about. He was helping the second aunt to carry wild vegetables for pigs back At that time, I saw several adults including my second uncle coming out of the village chief's house.

That night, because the sound insulation effect of the bungalow was not so good, Zhao Qingming vaguely heard the husband and wife discussing about sacrifices. He had not been in Yaoxi Village for a long time, and he could only understand 50.00% of the Yao language. The next half is almost blind.

However, relying on his knowledge, he could only make a rough guess, that is, a boy and a girl should be prepared for the ceremony of taking the fire. Afterwards, the voice from the next room became a panting tone. Zhao Qingming put the quilt over his head and covered his feverish Ears sleep.