Good, this can't be eaten

"I only know that this place is very remote, but I didn't expect it to be so remote." Meng Shu wiped the sweat from his forehead, and couldn't help but slumped down on a tree stump.

After the two of them got out of the car, they took the bus for more than two hours and arrived at the largest town in Qishan. They took a small tricycle from this town and walked for more than an hour before they really entered Qishan.

But no one was willing to give them away any further. They could only walk forward. Meng Shu's feet were almost blistered. Xie Chi was fine. Her home was originally on the mountain, and she went up and down the mountain all day long. Yes, I am very used to climbing up and down, so walking on mountain roads will not be so tiring.

"We should be able to reach the place before dark, work harder." Seeing that he couldn't walk anymore, Xie Chi also sat down and rested for a while, and started playing the recording with his mobile phone. The recording was given by the police and survived. Statements made by two persons.

Xie Chi has already played it for the second time, and she carefully took advantage of this gap to listen to what those two people had to say.

"I really don't know what happened. We just came here to play. I and them... are friends. We made an appointment to come here. At first, I didn't think about going to Yuejia Village. I heard the local people said that There are sacrifices over there for two days, and the scene is very big, so..."

"No, I don't know. The soles of my feet are full of blisters when I climb mountains. I didn't go when they went out to play."

"Am I going to be okay? I haven't done anything... I don't know anything..."

She always felt that there was something wrong, but she couldn't figure it out for a while, so she could only shelve it temporarily, and the two of them took a rest for a while and continued to move forward.

When we arrived at Yuejia Village, it was already dark. From a distance, Xie Chi saw two rows of bright lanterns. Those two rows of lanterns were on both sides of the street. Every household had hanging them neatly. Like two rows of street lights.

But the strange thing is that all they hang are white lanterns. Xie Chi vaguely remembers that red lanterns are generally hung on happy events, and white lanterns are only hung on funerals.

Is it some local custom?

After Xie Chi arrived at the village entrance, he called the village chief. Within a few minutes, the village chief came out. The village chief was an old man who looked to be five or sixty years old, with thinning hair. He seemed to have a lame leg, so he walked slowly come over.

"It's not safe to walk on the mountain road at night. If you call me earlier, I'll ask my son to pick you up." The village head said enthusiastically.

Meng Shu quickly answered the call and chatted with the village head, because it was already late at this time, so they didn't talk much. The village head arranged a place to live, which should be the best house in the village, at least clean .

After walking for a day, both of them were tired. After staying in, they immediately made up the bed and went to sleep. Xie Chi slept in the main room, which was the master bedroom, and Meng Shu lived in the slightly smaller room on the side.

Not to mention Meng Shu, Xie Chi also slept very deeply, but she would let the dumplings out to watch the wind, especially in such a remote place, there would be absolutely nothing wrong with being careful.

The next morning, neither of them got up early. It should be almost ten o'clock according to the position of the sun. Xie Chi's legs were also a little sore, but he was in good condition. Meng Shu next door started crying early in the morning.

Not only did he have several blisters on the soles of his feet, his legs were also sore and soft, and even slightly swollen. When Xie Chi knocked on the door of his room, he was sitting by the bed, poking the soles of his feet with a needle bubble.

He picked it up and hissed, not to mention how pitiful he looked, Xie Chi couldn't bear it: "Why don't I come."

"Don't, don't, jio stinks! Boss, just sit down, and I'll fix it right away." Meng Shu gestured OK, quickly popped the blisters on his feet, and then wiped them with iodine. Simply detoxify.

He fixed his two feet, and then stretched out his two legs, and his whole body carried an air of lovelessness: "Ah, I never thought that walking is such a painful thing ..."

The main reason is that they have to go over mountains and ridges, and they feel very tired when they climb up, and they don't even want to lift their legs when they walk down the hillside.

No wonder the old man always said that going up the mountain is easy and going down the mountain is difficult.

"Because I'm going into the mountain, I brought ointment, you can rub it yourself." Xie Chi threw him a box of ointment, which was made by a brother who studied medicine on the mountain, and the effect was quite good.

"Thank you, boss!" Meng Shu took the ointment and rubbed his calf. It was cool and comfortable. After applying the ointment, he washed his hands and put on his shoes. The two of them went out to eat.

For breakfast, the village head sent someone to send over steamed buns, stuffed with celery and meat, and they tasted very good. Meng Shu ate four big steamed buns in one go: "The pigs raised by the family and the vegetables grown by the family just taste different!"

Xie Chi also ate two. After eating, he simply packed his luggage. After all, he was really tired last night, so he made the bed and fell asleep.

Things like money and valuables must be brought with you, but other messy things can be put in the room first, Xie Chi also told Meng Shu not to leave valuable things behind.

Of course, the most important thing is the Demon Slayer Sword. She put it in a box like a piano box and carried it behind her back, which didn't seem to be out of order.

After breakfast, the village head sent someone to be a tour guide for the two of them. The two of them came here to travel in name, saying that they were interested in the sacrifice here and wanted to watch the whole process, so they paid a lot of money to the village. Money, otherwise the village head could treat them so well?

The village chief himself was not very good at his legs and feet, so he sent a younger man over, who seemed to be the son or nephew of the village chief, named Yue Feng.

He also looks to be in his 30s, with a simple and honest appearance. It is said that he graduated from a university. Although he only has a junior college degree, he is already highly educated in such a remote place.

Xie Chi was a little curious: "I see that many of their young people have gone to work outside. Don't you have any ideas about this?"

Yue Feng just smiled: "I also went out to work when I was young, and I really didn't earn much money. After all, college students are everywhere these days. My degree is really nothing outside, and the expenses outside are also high. How much work? I came back after a year, wondering if there is a way to make the village rich."

"This is a good thing." After Xie Chi had a casual chat with him, he naturally brought the topic to the so-called sacrifice.

"The sacrifice here refers to the mountain god sacrifice. It is a rule handed down from a long time ago. The mountain god will protect us from being attacked by wild animals, bless the crops in the field to grow well, and bless the weather." Yue Feng smiled honestly: "Our There is a small festival every year, and a big festival every three years. It is a coincidence that you are here, and it will be the time of the big festival in two days."

"Is that so? I'm really curious. Is there any procedure for your Mountain God Festival?" Xie Chi asked with a smile.

"Yes, you must have the five grains and five animals, and you have to send the mountain god grandfather a bride."

"Bride? Are you still using people as sacrifices?" Xie Chi asked in surprise, raising his eyebrows.

"Hey, it's a symbolic meaning. On our side, girls who have been brides for the mountain gods can also marry, and they will even receive more blessings. Therefore, many families are willing to marry their girls to Mountain god, if you marry a mountain god, you can't remarry, a bride in three years, our village can't afford it." Yue Feng waved his hands and said: "It's a big deal for us to marry a mountain god. Not only the bride, but also the bride's family can enjoy a lot of joy, if you two come a few days earlier, you can see many girls with school-age girls at home, vying to be the wife of the mountain god."

"It turned out to be like this, I was thinking about it." Xie Chi looked suddenly enlightened, and then said: "By the way, when I came to your village last night, I found white lanterns hanging on the doors of every house in your village. , why is that?"

"This is to guide the mountain god." Yue Feng said vaguely: "You also know that after many rules have been passed down, the meaning at the beginning is actually a bit vague. Anyway, I only know that this is to guide the mountain god. I don’t know much about the road, but we have formed a habit here, and in the days before and after the mountain god festival, every household in the village has to hang white lanterns.”

He didn't seem to want to talk about these things very much, and after chatting for a while, he moved the topic to other places, and Xie Chi followed the trend and turned a corner.

She always feels that there is something wrong with this village, but you can't keep asking people questions that they don't want to answer. If you get annoyed, just drive her away, and it will be troublesome if you want to do anything else.

Xie Chi's intuition has been quite accurate since she was a child, and her intuition told her that this mountain god sacrifice is not that simple, and she might really have to stay for a few more days.

Although Yuejia Village is very remote, it is still surrounded by mountains and water. The village is built on the mountain, and in the center of the village, there is a small lake full of lotus flowers. The lake is not very big, and there are several houses. It is still built around the lake, which is quite beautiful.

It is said that there are crayfish raised in the lake, and Meng Shu has always wanted to catch some crayfish to eat, but catching crayfish is quite a troublesome thing, and it is not good to be too domineering in the village, so he gave up regretfully. up.

There are still two days before the Mountain God Festival. Xie Chi spent the two days on scouting, from the beginning of the village to the end of the village, accompanied by the villagers, went up the mountain to pick mushrooms.

So what I ate at noon that day was stewed chicken with mushrooms.

Everything was calm, but there was always a smell of rain coming and the wind filling the building. Xie Chi actually wanted to go to the mountain temple the most, but the mountain temple was temporarily closed before the mountain god sacrifice started.

It will open normally after the Mountain God Festival.

Xie Chi had dinner, sat in the courtyard to enjoy the breeze, and was thinking about what to do next. Meng Shu suddenly came in from the outside: "Boss, do you want to see the daughter-in-law chosen by the mountain god?"