Urban Night Returner

The dog ghost lightly arched Zhong Lecen's leg with his nose.After calling Zhong Yi, Zhong Lecen sat back in front of the computer again, after calculations, he would not stick his teeth for at least one day and one night. Can this kind of suffering be bearable?

Zhong Lecen was still looking at the computer, stroking the dog ghost's back fur casually: "What, are you hungry? Wait a minute, I'll get you some food, let's make it together first."

The dog ghost bit his trousers helplessly.It's time for you to eat something!

Zhong Lecen didn't understand the meaning of the dog ghost at all, and his eyes were still glued to the computer screen, saying that he was making a meal, he didn't mean to stand up at all, and murmured: "Sacrifice, sacrifice, second uncle also thinks what I said is right." It makes sense, but what kind of sacrifice is there to sacrifice the evil spirit of the year? Moreover, Chinese sacrifices are either ancestors, or lifeless mountains and rivers, or void gods. There is really no sacrifice to beasts. What's the matter, you have to have something to do with beasts, right? Chinese people have worshiped totems since ancient times. For example, the four spirits are the four gods and beasts, but there are almost no sacrifices in this regard. Minorities do have them, but... not enough As proof."

The dog ghost scratched his ears with his paws——didn’t you say before that “I’m sorry to ask you to go to the wild”, why is this not enough to prove it?

Of course, Zhong Lecen didn't pay attention to its behavior. He touched its fur and said to himself: "The year has a long history, and there are many sacrifices during the New Year in China. It is impossible that such an important sacrifice will not be passed down... By the way, the New Year's ceremony Sacrifice, I should look up all the sacrifices related to the New Year, including the whole December, instead of just looking up anything with the word "year" or New Year's Eve or New Year's Eve, that's too narrow No matter what, it has been passed down for thousands of years, and it will change. It is like this now, but it may not be like that at the beginning..."

The dog ghost sighed, knowing that there was no point in eating or anything, so he lay down at Zhong Lecen's feet.Zhong Lecen didn't pay attention either, and turned his attention to the computer again.After half an hour, he suddenly slapped the table heavily: "Yakumo, watch this!"

The dog ghost was startled by him, and quickly stood up.Zhong Lecen hugged it excitedly with one hand, and pointed at the computer with the other: "Look at this—wax sacrifice! My God, this is a sacrificial ceremony a long time ago. Confucius once read it, but it seems that it disappeared later. Look , the so-called wax sacrifice, the main content is to thank the gods for their care during this year, and to pray for good weather and a bumper harvest in the next year, and also to carry out some activities to drive away evil spirits and epidemics. "Book of Rites" says, "Yiqi The beginning is wax. The wax is also, the cable is also. In December, gather all things and enjoy them'. Yakumo, you say, this kind of argument is very similar to the current saying of 'asking for nature'? "Waxer, Suoye" is clearly saying that you are taking from all things. Wax sacrifice is because all human activities are taking from nature, and then because of the negative effects, it is necessary to use sacrifices to make up for it. So, isn't it a bit like the Nian Beast I imagined? And you see, there is also a wax speech here-"The soil turns back to its house, the water returns to its gully, insects don't grow, and the vegetation returns to its lake". The general explanation is that the wax festival is related to agricultural production, but think about it, what is the response of nature when people take too much from nature? Is it just an agricultural problem? Isn’t that a disaster? You say nature How many kinds of disasters can there be? Earthquakes? Floods? Debris flows? Pests and diseases? Land desertification? Then the above four words, don’t they cover all types of natural disasters? If the land is against the house, there will be no landslides and earthquakes. If the water returns to its gully, will there still be mountain torrents? Pests and diseases, locust plagues and so on are insects, and the excessive deforestation of the mountains and the desertification of cultivated land are because the vegetation does not return to its waters! So this wax festival is not just related to agriculture. Related, it is the sacrifice to all the disasters of the year! Moreover, the date of the wax sacrifice is exactly December, which also coincides with the time when the Nian beast appears."

The dog ghost listened dumbfoundedly, Zhong Lecen made a lot of noises, but it actually only understood half of it.Zhong Lecen let go of it, his eyes were shining, and his fingers moved quickly on the keyboard: "The problem is that the wax sacrifice has been lost for a long time, what kind of sacrifice method is it... Here it says: 'Tianzi Dawaba', a total of sacrifices There are eight gods of agriculture. The first sacrifice is Shennong, and the second is Houji. No! It is generally believed that Shennong is likely to be Emperor Yan, and Emperor Yan himself is surnamed Yiqi. This Yiqi who made the wax speech Shi, could it be Emperor Yan himself? Could it be that Emperor Yan would sacrifice himself? Or... this is not a god to be sacrificed, but a sacrifice to be sacrificed..."

The dog ghost stared at him with wide eyes - there is no one who sacrifices himself, is there anyone who sacrifices himself?

"Yes." Zhong Lecen said affirmatively, "When Cheng Tang prayed for rain in the mulberry forest because there had been no rain for seven years, he cut his hair, took off his clothes and fell on the zu, offering himself as a sacrifice to the heaven. The ancients said The body, hair, skin and skin are the parents. Hair is also a part of the body, so it cannot be cut easily. Cutting the hair here as a sacrifice means sacrificing one’s own body. Of course, this is just a symbol. So I think Emperor Yan’s The wax sacrifice is not really giving yourself to the Nian beast to eat, it's just a ceremony. The sacrifice is sincere. Confucius said: The sacrifice of the gods is like the presence of the gods. It all depends on the lack of intentions. Oh, no, it is also possible The sacrifice is indeed to invite out the Nian beast and destroy it. Emperor Yan was afraid that the people who were used for the sacrifice would be in danger, so he went into battle by himself. You see, the year as the calendar of human society started from the time of Emperor Yan. It was called 'Zai' in the past, and it was called 'Sui' during the Fuxi period. It was after Fuxi that Emperor Yan created 'Nian', so I think the name of the Nian beast started from this time. But there is one interesting thing , that is, we now say that the Nian beast only appears on New Year’s Eve, but until the Western Jubilee period, farmers still celebrated the harvest and the arrival of the New Year in November, because the year at this time has not been fixed on which day. Until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty , it was officially determined that the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the beginning of the year. Then you say, when the "year" is not fixed, did the Nian beast appear? According to the legend that the Nian beast must appear on New Year's Eve In other words, there should have been no Nian Beast at that time, at least the Nian Beast in the current legend, or, there was no legend about the Nian Beast, because the New Year’s Eve had not been settled at all. The custom of wax sacrifice still existed in the Zhou Dynasty. It disappeared in the Han Dynasty. "Tong Dian" said, "Since the Zhou Dynasty, all sacrifices to the ancestral temples of heaven and earth, and the country have been sacrificed. All of them have erected corpses. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, there has been nothing in China." That is to say, the custom of erecting corpses for wax sacrifices , It changed in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it disappeared. "Qing Dynasty Tongzhi" made it clearer, "Since the Han Dynasty, there is no wax, and this ritual has been lost." In the Han Dynasty, there was only Laba and so on, but no wax sacrifice. So can it be said that the reason why the Nian Beast appeared is precisely because wax sacrifices were no longer held after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the Nian Beast could not be induced and eliminated through sacrifice methods, so it had to come out to eat people by itself."

The dog ghost was completely confused.It is a Japanese shikigami. Even if Zhong Lecen's literary sentences are explained, it still can't understand it, let alone such a long text.But Zhong Lecen became more and more excited as he spoke: "If my guess is correct, then the Nian beast can be drawn out and eliminated through the wax sacrifice. 'Tianzi Dawaba' means that there are at least eight 'corpse' during the sacrifice. Why are there eight? And among the eight corpses there are so-called "cat tiger gods" and insect gods, which are not even human beings. Why do we have to sacrifice things that are not even human beings? Is it true? Is it necessary? Or is it just a name? Eight, eight... Does this have anything to do with gossip? Could it be that these are all clever names, just for the purpose of using gossip to destroy the Nian beast? I remember that in the "Book of Songs" There are poems about sacrificial offerings: "The etiquette is ready, the bells and drums are the precepts", and after the sacrifice is completed, "the emperor's corpse is loaded, and the bells and drums send the corpse." Here is interesting, why the bells and drums are required when the etiquette is ready What about precepts? It means that the bells and drums cannot be rung before the sacrifice begins, and the bells and drums should be rung after the sacrifice is completed. Is it because the Nian beast is afraid of loud noises? Don’t come; wait until the Nian Beast is lured, and then suddenly ring the bell and beat the drum to destroy the Nian Beast. Then the so-called sacrifice may be to set up a magic circle to lure the Nian Beast and surround it. On the one hand, use sacrifices to appease It, on the one hand, wiped it out with a loud voice. Well, if the eight corpses correspond to the eight trigrams, then it can indeed be counted as a formation... Yakumo, I want to try."

The dog ghost was startled, and looked at Zhong Lecen worriedly.Zhong Lecen smiled at it: "Second Uncle said that I can't use spells, but this is actually a kind of sacrifice, which is different from spells. I think it should be fine. And - time can't drag on any longer, although I protect Live in a solid body, but if his soul leaves his body for a long time, it will eventually be exhausted, and at that time he will not even be able to reincarnate. Even if he is not exhausted, if any one of the three souls and seven souls is missing, he will I don’t know what it will be like when I wake up again. What if I become a fool, what should I do? So I can’t wait any longer. At least try it first. Even if it doesn’t work, it won’t be worse than now Already!"

Little Heizi was called over by another phone call. Hearing that he was going to lure out the Nian Beast, he was gearing up: "Brother Zhong, tell me what you want to do!"

Zhong Lecen stood holding something in his hand for a while, then turned to look at him: "Hold this well first, hold it in your hand, don't let it go."

Little Heizi took it inexplicably: "What is it? This - a mobile phone?"

"There is a sound of firecrackers recorded here. If——if I fail and I am swallowed by the Nian Beast, you should immediately turn on the playback to scare the Nian Beast away, and then immediately call my second uncle and ask him to come to Binhai immediately .”

Xiao Heizi was immediately frightened: "Brother Zhong, what do you mean? Failed? You, you are not sure? Brother Zhong, if you are not sure, let's think again."

Zhong Lecen shook his head: "I dare not, I am afraid that if I delay, Shen Gu will not be able to come back."

Xiao Heizi stretched his head into the bedroom and saw Shen Gu's body still lying there, he couldn't help but a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back—Brother Zhong couldn't be... sad and crazy?He is willing to avenge Shen Gu, but going crazy is just...

Zhong Lecen turned on all the borrowed stereos, placed them in the four corners of the room, and asked Xiao Heizi to sit next to the stereos: "Don't make any sound at all. If I can succeed, I will shout, and you will immediately turn on the stereos."

Xiao Heizi nodded in a daze, watching Zhong Lecen take off his coat, which was a set of plain white clothes.The tables and chairs were all removed, a picture of the Eight Diagrams was drawn on the ground, and seven strange things were placed, like wood carvings, but what was carved could not be seen, and words were written in cinnabar on the back.Xiao Heizi couldn't help asking: "Brother Zhong, what is this?"

"There are no eight corpses, I will act as one corpse, and the rest can only use the god master."

Little Heizi was confused and didn't understand: "Corpse?"

Zhong Lecen shook his hand at him, lit a circle of candles and placed them in the corner of the room, turned off the lights, and the room suddenly became dark.Zhong Lecen took a deep breath, and put a bowl of rice mixed with mung beans, millet, sesame, and wheat on one side of the Bagua diagram.Xiao Heizi became even more confused, wanted to ask but held back.While arranging the arrangement, Zhong Lecen said: "The wax sacrifice is made of five grains. This is the gate of death for the Bagua formation. I think it will lead the Nian beast to the gate of death." Too tight and it will break.

Little Heizi nodded, half understanding.The atmosphere in the room suddenly fell silent after turning off the lights, and now even if Zhong Lecen asked him to speak, he didn't want to speak.Zhong Lecen arranged everything on the ground, turned around and took out a mask, and put it on his face.Little Heizi was taken aback by him, the mask was painted gold, with four eyes opened on it.Zhong Lecen said in a low voice: "This is Fang Xiangshi's face, which is used to exorcise Nuo. I am not sure whether it is useful, but there are also rituals to exorcise epidemics in wax sacrifices, and Nuo is the oldest, so I brought it Use it."

Little Heizi nodded, but didn't dare to speak.For some reason, once Zhong Lecen was wearing this mask, he was a little afraid to look directly at it.That mask was actually just a little ugly, but wearing it in this place and the atmosphere gave off a strange pressure.

The flame of the candle swayed gently, and Zhong Lecen's voice chanted from low to high, and slowly rang out: "The soil returns to its house, the water returns to its gully, insects do not grow, and the vegetation returns to its lake..."

The dog ghost was lying on the side, staring at Zhong Lecen with vigilant eyes, all the muscles in his body were tense, ready to jump up at any time.Tangyuan was still rolling and playing with her tail in her arms without worrying about it. In the whole room, it was the only one moving.A small shadow was cast by the candle on the corner of the wall, twisted into a weird shape.

"The soil turns back into the house, and the water returns to the gully..." Zhong Lecen actually found this part of the sacrificial speech after rummaging through it. He was not sure if it was useful, but at this time, only dead horses can be regarded as living horses. Doctor, chanting over and over again.

The dog ghost suddenly arched its back, let out an extremely subdued roar from its throat, and fixed its eyes on the shadow cast by the glutinous rice balls on the wall.Xiao Heizi followed its line of sight, and couldn't help but gasped—the little shadow of the glutinous rice balls had enlarged twice at some point, and it was still getting bigger.The candle flame shook, and the shadow swayed back and forth, gradually revealing the front claws.The tail behind her was no longer Tangyuan's short tail, it was more than a meter long, and there was a big ball of hair at the end, which was raised up and swayed gently.Although the shape of the head has not yet been revealed, it already occupies most of the wall.Instinctively, Xiao Heizi reached out his hand to his waist and held the gun. Then he realized that this thing might be useless, so he let it go again. Instead, he tightly held the mobile phone Zhong Lecen gave him, and pressed the sound switch with his other hand. I feel wet in the palm of my hand.He has always felt that he is very courageous, so he went to the police academy at the beginning, and later became a criminal policeman. He also felt that he had never been afraid of anything. He just came back to his senses after being stunned for half a day, but at this moment, he didn't even dare to breathe out, he just felt layers of cold sweat on his back, which probably wet his underwear.Seeing the shadow moving slowly, gradually getting away from the shadow of the glutinous rice balls, and approaching Zhong Lecen, he wanted to remind him, but then remembered Zhong Lecen's confession that he was not allowed to speak out, so he swallowed the words abruptly, so he had no choice but to fight Zhong Lecen with his hands refer to.Zhong Lecen raised his eyes from behind the mask and looked at the wall, because he was wearing a mask, Xiao Heizi couldn't see his expression, only his hands on his knees were tightly clenched into fists, but his voice didn't stop at all: " Insects do not grow, and the grass and trees return to their luster..." As he chanted, the shadows got closer and closer, but there was a flower stand next to where Zhong Lecen was sitting, and Zhong Lecen put a candle on the flower stand, and the surrounding candles Not as bright as this one, so his clearest shadow was cast under his feet, which was very short, while the shadow on the wall was so faint that it was almost invisible, so the huge shadow turned around for a while, but couldn't cover it with itself Zhong Lecen's shadow seemed to have lost his mind for a moment, and it was just spinning around.At this time, the huge head was exposed, and it seemed that he was a little impatient, and suddenly opened his mouth.Little Heizi's heart skipped a beat, as if he saw a white light reflected by sharp teeth in the thick black shadow.