Hot as China, cold as snow

The faint scent of crape myrtle flowers permeated the entire Cang Qiong Mountain.There is a crape myrtle flower branch pinned at the door of every house, hoping that the crape myrtle flower god will come to bless my house, and it also heralds the beginning of a big sacrificial activity.Every family prepares old wine, every family steams yellow rice for food, and every family burns incense before meals. The closer to the sacrifice, the stronger the smell of the incense.

Liu Moran hadn't left the house for three whole days, because he knew that even if he went out, he would be followed by a burly man, inside and outside the house, there were quite a few people watching him openly and secretly.Even when Qu Wu came to look for him, he was blocked outside and not allowed to enter.The sky was already dark, and the stars in the sky were very bright. Liu Muran's ears moved slightly, and when he heard a small voice, he went to the inner room to look at the window, only to hear a plop, a black figure came in from the window, Liu Muran sighed In a low voice, he said softly, "Didn't I tell you not to come?"

Qu Wu turned up from the ground: "But, but Hua Xi is gone."

"Huh? Hua Xi isn't with you? When did you disappear?" Liu Moran thought that he hadn't seen Hua Xi for about three days. If Hua Xi didn't see her, he must have gone to look for Leng Xuanren and Xi Yuan.

"It's been two days."

Liu Moran walked in and said, "It doesn't matter, Hua Xi is psychic and quick-witted, so nothing will happen. Don't worry, it will come back when it wants to."

"Actually, I'm more worried about you, Brother Ran."

Being worried by the children, Liu Moran laughed at himself: "Brother ran voluntarily, there is nothing to worry about." Liu Moran picked up a mahogany sword from the table, turned around and handed it to Qu Wu: "Qu Wu, I have always wanted to give you something as a souvenir, and I have nothing to do in the house these days, so I made a mahogany sword. This mahogany sword is given to you, and the mahogany wood can ward off evil spirits and keep you safe."

Qu Wu held the mahogany sword with his hand, but shook his head vigorously: "But what will you use to keep you safe? Tomorrow morning, you will worship the ancestors, at noon, you will worship the gods, and at night you will worship the stars. Then brother, you will be burned to death. Brother , you run away, I will cover you."

Liu Moran smiled: "You won't be afraid of being discovered by the guards if you come in through the window like this."

"Don't be afraid, I put crotons in the guard's meal, and the guard will be in the latrine now." As he said that, Qu Wu pulled Liu Moran to go out the window.But Liu Moran smiled and patted him on the head: "Silly boy, if the guards are not feeling well, they will take shifts. You can come in. It was Uncle Zhang who kindly let you in." Saying this, Liu Moran turned to look at the guard at the door. Uncle Zhang smiled, and Uncle Zhang smiled back: "Young Master Liu, you have to take a bath and incense before going to bed tonight and get up early tomorrow morning to prepare for the sacrifice. I don't think you had anything for dinner, so I brought some Cakes, more or less, I’m afraid I won’t have time to eat tomorrow.”

"Thank you."

"To tell you the truth, there are many people in the clan who still admire the young master. The young master could have just left, but he is willing to stay here. Since ancient times, the Ziwei clan has regarded the returnees as gods, and they saved their lives. It's getting late, please rest early, young master." He stretched out his hand to hold Qu Wu.Qu Wu took a step back, grabbed Liu Moran's clothes and cried 'wow'.Liu Moran patted Qu Wu's back: "Qu Wu, don't cry, you are already a man, and a man cannot cry."

"I'm afraid that if I leave, I'll never see you again, just like my mother." Qu Wu was unwilling to leave, so Liu Moran glanced at Uncle Zhang, who gently pressed Qu Wu's sleeping point, and hugged him. After leaving Qu Wu, Qu Wu's face was still full of tears before going to bed.

In the early morning of the second day, worship the ancestors.Liu Moran dressed up to attend, standing at the front of the crowd in the ancestral temple, followed by Yuan Ai.A recent young man named Kang Cheng read the sacrificial text. Dozens of young girls, carrying trays, came forward one by one and placed them in front of the table. This is the sacrificial food, which must be placed in front of the ancestor's tablet for three days. can be removed.Then he took out a thick genealogy and began to announce the list of additions and deletions. Liu Moran's name was also included in the genealogy this time.The whole process lasted for nearly a morning, and then there was no rest, and it was the noon sacrifice.

All the people gathered in the largest open place of the crape myrtle family. In the center was a crape myrtle tree. Half of the body of the crape myrtle tree was scorched to death, but the remaining half was still blooming beautifully.

A young man took the place of Xiyuan and danced the unique Nuo dance of the Ziwei tribe. The man wore a mask on his face and was dressed heavily. Liu Moran's clothes weighed more than a dozen catties by visual inspection.The young man danced the Nuo dance around Liu Moran in the middle of the square, and Liu Muran was dazzled by the straight dance. When the man finished the Nuo dance, everyone offered crape myrtle flowers, whole grains, live chickens and ducks to the gods and gods in the sky. , and tied Liu Moran to the altar for Nuo dance.The blazing sun shone on Liu Moran's body, and his blue hair reflected the sun's light dazzlingly.

The young man named Kang Cheng recited a long sacrificial oration.After the sacrificial text was over, all the Ziwei people who participated in the sacrificial ceremony below, all adult men, each raised a bowl of rice wine and drank half to half of it.

Even Liu Moran was fed half a bowl of rice wine as an exception, and Kang Cheng was muttering about something while feeding him.During the whole sacrificial process, there was indeed no time to eat, and Liu Moran only drank this bowl of rice wine while offering sacrifices to the gods.

After drinking the rice wine, all the married middle-aged women raised the bells in their hands and began to ring the bells. With the sound of the bells, everyone withdrew from the sacrificial site. None of the sacrificial objects could be moved. Three days and nights.

And Liu Moran was left on the altar to bear the sun for half a day.When the sun was slanting to the west, people began to enter the square one after another, and built wood around Liu Moran. When night came, the last step of sacrifice was ushered in here, offering sacrifices to the starry sky.

Worshiping the starry sky, admiring the magic of the universe, admiring the Big Dipper above the sky, admiring the Ziwei Star Palace, lighting up torches at night, also has the meaning of worshiping the God of Fire and thanking the fire for bringing warm and well-cooked food to human beings.

Everyone danced cheerfully around the altar tied with Liu Moran. It was the Ziwei people who were showing the happy and beautiful life of the Ziwei people to the ancestors, representing the happiness gained by the sacrifices of the ancestors.When the stars in the sky were at their brightest, a torch was lit, and the altar where Liu Moran was located began to burn, and soon the fire lit up into the sky and the night was like day.

The people of the tribe threw all the edibles, such as roasted sheep, roasted pigs and roasted cattle, into the fire, hoping that Liu Moran could also taste this delicious food on the way to heaven.

In fact, Liu Moran's situation is not as good as the people of the clan expected. He has endured a day of hunger and an afternoon of exposure to the sun, and now he is under the attack of a raging fire. The smell of smoke covers up the smell of food. Fragrance, let Liu Moran not be disturbed.The strange thing is that under the raging fire, Liu Moran didn't feel the scorching heat. Just like in his memory, the raging fire used to be a kind of energy that could be used. Unfortunately, Liu Moran is not the blue spirit fox he used to be. Being strong doesn't take him out of danger, and not being afraid doesn't mean he won't die.

Seeing the smoky Liu Moran in the raging fire, triggered the deepest memory: At that time, Xiyuan, him, and a wolf monster named Liangchen surrounded the top of Cangqiong Mountain, and there was a snow monster Lian Bing Di Lian, the fiery red Bing Di Lian is extremely conspicuous in the vast snow-capped mountains.Xiyuan pointed to the snowy demon lotus and said to Liu Moran: "Extreme things must be reversed. Where there is extreme cold and extreme yin, there must be an extremely hot sun at the same time. You can see that the snowy demon lotus is a flower with extremely cold cathode on the sky snow mountain. "Xiyuan pointed to the petals of the snowy demon lotus, and lit them one by one: "Dark red, deep red, orange red, red orange, kumquat, golden yellow, golden white, pure white, white blue, sky blue. Ten Color, the color of real fire, the temperature gradually increases, with sky blue being the most, blue spirit fox, you are the most yang and hot thing derived from the snow mountain in the sky. You are inseparable from the snowy demon lotus, and they are inseparable from each other."

In the light of the fire that was enough to illuminate the dome, the smoke covered Liu Muran's sight. Liu Muran was coughing uncontrollably due to the smoke, and in a trance, he saw a black shadow approaching quietly and then disappeared. Now, Liu Moran thought it was dizziness, and said bitterly: "Leng Xuanyan, if you don't come, I will really die here." Liu Moran smiled wryly: "It's really a gamble." On Leng Xuanyan's body, if he loses, he will be doomed.