The mountain ghost blows out the lights

At night, the people in Evergreen City set up a huge bonfire outside the city.

There is one of the largest on the lake, surrounded by logs.There are four other bonfires by the lake, which are smaller in scale, enclosing the middle bonfire to form a circle.All the fires were piled with wine jars and food, which the residents of the city had brought from their homes.

It's a city festival, a time for everyone to celebrate, so no one will skimp on it.

The population in Evergreen City is not large, but judging from the current number on the lake, I am afraid that almost all of them who can come have come, even including many old people and children who are unable to walk steadily, and are supported by their respective families.

It is rare for Changqing to be so lively. Most of the young people are holding firewood in their hands to complete the bonfire, and a small number of them are checking the ice surface.Some of the women are leading the children, some are preparing ingredients, and some are younger, running around and covering the bonfire with cushions made of fur.

——This place is really too cold. Even if everyone wears thick clothes, they must not sit directly on the ice, otherwise they will have something wrong with the freezing.

Shen Lianxing and Yan Jinping came here again this time by borrowing the way of the Yin soldiers, but it was a little more troublesome, and it took a lot of time to go around the Outer Wilderness.

The two of them rested in the inn all afternoon, and only went out of the city when it was getting dark. When they arrived at the Ruolai Lake, it was completely dark, and the bonfire hadn't been lit yet, surrounded by torches, busy residents everywhere .

I didn't see Lan Duo when I went out. The little girl might have come early, and there was a sign of "something happened" on the counter on the first floor of the store. She didn't even leave a clerk to watch the store. It can be seen that The folk customs are simple, and they only leave for one night, and they don't worry about any major accidents.

When everything was almost ready, the crowd gradually gathered together. People in Evergreen City sat in a pile with their relatives and friends. On the whole, they surrounded the firewood pile in the middle. There should be a performance. wait.

When everyone sat down, the chatter and laughter around them automatically subsided, and the adults all held wine bowls in their hands, talking to each other in low voices.The children snuggled up to their parents, holding pastries in their hands, and had already started eating ahead of time.

Shen Lianxing also brought two cushions, chose a place not particularly in the front row, but not far from the middle, pulled Yan Jinping to sit down together, and looked at the unlit fire with the people of Evergreen City with great interest. bonfire.

I wonder what the residents are waiting for?

Lando only said that there will be a banquet to celebrate the festival tonight, but he didn't say what the specific process is, and the two of them don't know what will happen next.

Everyone's waiting soon came to fruition. Under the escort of several young people, an old man walked in slowly from the periphery of the crowd.

The old man wore a tall crown on his head, which was entirely made of copper plates, on which auspicious clouds and things that might be birds were chiseled, and a red turban was placed under the crown.The clothes are also specially made red robes, but the neckline and cuffs are pure black. Under the dancing torches around, the head crown reflects the warm firelight, making it look solemn and mysterious.

Because the decorations on the old man's body are too complicated, and the traces of gender on the appearance have been eroded by the years, it is somewhat hard to see the gender.After observing carefully for a while, Yan Jinping barely recognized from some details that this should be an elderly woman.

She is very old, and the folds around her eyes are like cracked loess.Even though he was smiling, the skin at the corners of his raised mouth inevitably twisted down. The loose skin intertwined with the lines extending from both sides of his nose, and there were brown spots scattered around.

The old man is standing in front of the fire with a walking stick in his hand.At the end of the cane is a metal ring, on which are fastened many brass bells and strips of colored cloth.

Her hand was unsteady, her cane was shaking back and forth, the bells were jingling, and the colored stripes were flying with the wind, creating a mysterious atmosphere in the open space.

"That's my grandma." Lando got out from nowhere, and she also changed into clothes similar to those of the old woman, red and black, which looked solemn and solemn on the old man, but lively and lovely on her .

She held two bowls of wine in her hand and gave them to Yan Jinping and Shen Lianxing. She smiled happily, her face was a little red, maybe she was tired from work.Lan Duo enthusiastically introduced: "She is the oldest woman in our city now. According to our custom, she will be in charge of opening the festival for everyone this year."

"Festival?" Shen Lianxing took the wine bowl and asked, "What exactly are you going to do?"

"It's just lighting the fire." Lan Duo stood up. Due to limited conditions, she was still wearing pants under her skirt, but this did not prevent the girl from blooming like a flower. She tiptoed lightly and turned around on the ice, He laughed and said, "The oldest woman in the city will light the bonfire, and then everyone can play freely. The wine here is made from ice springs, and the quality is very good. It can only be seen during the Evergreen Festival. There are so many, you two are welcome, just enjoy it to your heart's content."

A young man who brought Grandma Lan Duo in handed Grandma a torch, which should be used to light the bonfire.

"I still have something to do." Lando said again, "The bonfire will be lit in a while, and we girls have to go to the front to sing, so we won't disturb the two guests. I hope you have a good time."

After Lando finished speaking, she ran to the front. There were a few girls around her age standing beside the bonfire, all dressed in the same way. They must be singing soon.

The old man in front had already raised the torch high, and the wind outside the city at night caused the flames to sway, making it seem unsteady.

The old man threw the torch out, when a gust of wind blew in, and the flame at the top of the torch shook violently, as if it was in danger of going out soon——

Shen Lianxing heard Yan Jinping, who had been silent all this time, let out a soft 'tsk', and then the torch burned vigorously in mid-air.The flames had grown so great that they had almost turned into a mass of fire, which fell fiercely in the middle of the dry pyre of the campfire.

The surrounding bonfires were also lit by several men at the same time.

Firelight illuminates the night on the outskirts of the city.

After lighting the fire, Lan Duo's grandma retreated, jingling her cane to the side of the darkness. Immediately, someone moved a stool for her and helped the old man to sit down.

And Lan Duo and her little sisters hurriedly adjusted their clothes, lined up in a row, stood in front of the people holding hands, bowed to everyone with smiles, and then began to sing.

The girls are all young, with clear voices, and they use Changqing's own language.This language is characterized by a lot of tone changes, and it is already very rhythmic when spoken normally.Cooperating with the drumbeats of several musicians next to it, even without the accompaniment of other instruments, it is very mellow and pleasant, with some mysterious colors, spreading far away on the empty lake.

Yan Jinping didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from admiring it. Holding a wine bowl, he sat on the floor like the people next to him, with only a fur of an unknown animal on top.

The ignited fire outlined the corners of his slightly raised mouth.

"Hey, brother, what do these lyrics mean?" Shen Lianxing also held a bowl, touched the person next to him by the way, and asked, "It's really nice, but unfortunately we don't quite understand it."

Next to him was a young guy with a simple and honest appearance, who watched Lan Duo sing upright and didn't get angry when he disturbed him, and patiently explained: "This song has no name, it is a very famous love song of our Changqing, Basically everyone can sing."

"This song is divided into two sections. The first half is about the eagle falling in love with the flower on the edge of the cliff, so he wanders around her every day, hoping that she can understand his feelings. The second half is about the flower's reply. In fact, Hua'er has also fallen in love with the eagle hovering in the sky long ago, and accepted his heart happily."

The voices of several little girls are cheerful and playful. They are still young, and there is not so much sentimentality in the singing, but more blessings for a beautiful festival and yearning for the future.

Lan Duo was obviously the one who sang the best. Standing among the girls, her braids were dotted with colorful flowers—of course they were fake flowers sewn out of cloth, but they were more beautiful than real flowers on the girls' heads. Be full of vitality.

"In Changqing, when a man wants to court a girl he likes, he will present a flower to her and sing the first half of the song to her." The young man said, "If the girl agrees, accept it." Put flowers on my head, and then sing the second half. If the girl disagrees, plant the flowers on the ground, implying that this relationship has no results, and will not sing again, which is regarded as a polite refusal."

Shen Lianxing listened carefully and took a sip of wine by the way.

The wine brewed by Bingquan has a sweet and mellow aroma. After one sip, the cold liquid burns from the mouth all the way to the internal organs, dispelling the cold air lingering in the body.Compared with the bamboo leaf green poured from the pot of Zhongtian, although it is not a good wine for immortals, it also has a unique taste.

After the young man finished speaking the lyrics, he touched the bowls with the two of them, drank the wine in the bowls boldly, and said with a smile: "Are you two foreigners? We usually don't have any other good things, but you come here That's enough, the alcohol is enough, if you need help, just ask, don't be polite to us."

In fact, he didn't know these two people, but judging by his familiar and enthusiastic attitude, it seemed that they had known each other for a long time and were good friends for many years.

Next to the young man was a family of several people, including men, women and children. When they heard what he said, they all looked over. With a simple and sincere smile on their faces, they raised their wine bowls and respected them from a distance.

This kind of happiness seemed to be contagious, Shen Lianxing and Yan Jinping also smiled and lifted the bowl, and drank the wine in the bowl with them.

The people around continued to laugh and talk freely, no matter how cold the lake surface and the night wind were, they couldn't move these ordinary evergreen people any longer.

At this moment, they have songs, spirits, good wishes, and happy smiles.That's enough, Evergreen doesn't ask for much.

The temperature is cold, but the heart is hot.