After dividing the cake, the girl left the woodshed. Bai Yuan happily held three scallion pancakes and followed with a smile.
One person and one monkey sat on the wooden steps at the main entrance of the Wolf Temple, eating the freshly baked scallion pancakes in the cold winter wind.
The white ape screamed and happily said this to the girl beside him.
The girl was a little surprised, "You came back to spend New Year's Eve with me on purpose? You monkey head, do you also know about New Year's Eve?"
The white ape scratched his head embarrassedly, and smeared the hair on the back of his head with oily hands.
It is naturally intelligent, and is much smarter and stronger than ordinary apes. After staying in this Hanyu Mountain for a long time, I also know that the human beings at the foot of the mountain seem to have a very important festival during this time, and it will be very lively.
Thinking of the little girl living alone in the Wolf Temple, she struggled for days before she came back with gritted teeth and the risk of being beaten.
The little girl shook her head wordlessly and said, "You are a monkey, what kind of New Year's Eve is there... After eating the cake, just go back to the mountains to play by yourself, I don't need you to accompany me."
However, Bai Yuan quickly shook his head and kept screaming, indicating that he would never go back.
In the cold wind, the girl was silent for a while, then nodded slowly.
"It's fine for you to stay, but if you stay, you have to obey my orders and help me do things. There are many things and troubles in human festivals. Since you stay, you have to obey."
"Gee! Gee!" Bai Yuan nodded repeatedly, indicating that he must be obedient.
So the monkey head settled down in the mountain. When he forced the white ape to practice in front of the Temple of the Wolf, he had prepared a room for it. Now Xiao Ai has cleaned the house again and let the monkey head in.
However, after such a delay, today's practice has not yet started, and noon has arrived.
Xiao Ai looked at the sky, and went directly to the firewood house to carry the bundle of firewood cut in the morning on her back, preparing to go down the mountain to attend the funeral in the village.
The Huotong Kingdom believes in the god of fire and worships cremation. According to the custom, every person who goes to the funeral must bring a bundle of firewood to the host's family.
As for gift money and other things, it is not welcome in this remote small mountain village. When a funeral is held in the village, every household of the neighboring villagers will help out, cooking, cooking, washing dishes, all of which require a lot of manpower.
If Xiao Ai was still in the village, such a funeral would definitely go to help.
However, she has a special status now, and even if she wants to help, the villagers dare not bother her. So carry a bundle of firewood and send it to express your feelings.
When Bai Yuan saw that Xiao Ai was going down the mountain, he hurriedly came over and kept asking, and wanted to go with Xiao Ai.
The human village at the foot of the mountain, it has never been in, and it is full of curiosity. Now with Xiao Ai leading the way, it really wants to see what the place where humans live.
Xiao Ai thought about it for a while, but she didn't object, so she unloaded the fuelwood on her back and handed it to the white ape, and then walked out of the mountain with it.
The journey of one person and one monkey is very fast. Ordinary people have to walk on the mountain road for more than an hour. Xiao Ai and White Ape walked for about two quarters of hours.
This was also because of the low cultivation base of Bai Yuan, which was a drag on Xiao Ai, otherwise she would be able to walk outside the mountain in about a quarter of an hour.
When they arrived at the entrance of the village, the villagers on duty were shocked when they saw Xiao Ai appearing, but they did not dare to stop her.
And after Xiao Ai entered the village, the white ape following her attracted the curious eyes of many people.
It's just that the villagers peeked at the monkey curiously. The monkey was not cautious. Instead, it walked all the way, looked around, was very happy, and saw everything was novel.
Because of the funeral, the village is now quite lively.
When Xiao Ai led Bai Yuan to her uncle's house, she saw the uncle's body lying in the mourning hall wrapped in white cloth.
At this time, it was lunch time, and it was very lively inside and outside the mourning hall. There were ten tables outside the mourning hall, and the aroma of food and meals permeated the crowd. Everyone was looking for a place to sit down and wait for the meal to start, while others who could not find a place were sitting around the firewood by the roadside, warming up and chatting.
The appearance of Xiao Ai surprised the villagers slightly. The host's family even greeted the whole family, and greeted this little girl who was their younger generation.
No one thought that Xiao Ai would take the initiative to come down the mountain, after all, no one dared to inform her. However, her appearance made the owner feel proud and proud.
It's just that Xiao Ai didn't stay for too long, and didn't even stay for lunch. After giving the firewood brought, and chatting with the uncles of the host, Xiao Ai greeted the white ape who was drilling in the crowd and left.
On the way to leave, Bai Yuan still couldn't hide his excitement. What happened today was so new to him that he couldn't help asking the girl what all these people were doing together.
Xiao Ai glanced at it and explained lightly, "Holding funerals for the dead. Didn't you find a corpse lying in the center of the mourning hall? That was my uncle, who froze to death in the heavy snow not long ago. ."
Xiao Ai's explanation made Bai Yuan stunned for a moment.
"Gee?" White Ape didn't seem to understand.
So Xiao Ai explained it in detail, about birth, old age, sickness and death, funeral customs, and cremation to be carried out later.
The white ape became more and more puzzled and kept asking questions.
die? cremation? Burned to ashes? Then the ashes are scattered into the river water and go down the river
These human customs are unfamiliar to the white apes in the mountains. It listened blankly, but vaguely thought of something.
So the originally lively and happy White Ape suddenly fell silent.
It danced and screamed all the way, but at this time it hung its head and followed behind Xiao Ai in dejection, feeling unhappy. The look of silence and depression contrasted sharply with the joy of descending the mountain.
Chapter 54 New Year's Eve
After the girl went to the village to attend the funeral that day in childhood, the white ape who returned to the mountain was silent a lot, and no longer jumped out as before.
Began to take the initiative to practice, and even the number of times of being lazy and distracted during practice is much less.
Xiao Ai was quite satisfied, and felt that the monkey head had finally changed.
However, in just a few days, the monkey head became lazy and distracted more and more times while practicing.
In the end, it was even more old-fashioned, and it was no different from the lazy and idle appearance before. Xiao Ai did not urge it to practice, but it would play and play on its own, slacking openly.
With that lazy and happy appearance, Xiao Ai was speechless for a while, and she completely gave up her expectations for the monkey head in her heart.
However, with this monkey head, the originally deserted mountains became much more lively.
This monkey head is playing nonsense every day, and occasionally it can make Xiao Ai laugh and cry a little smile on his cold face.
And although this monkey head is unwilling to sit still and do penance, but if it is allowed to work and do things, it does a good job.
So Xiao Ai gave all the chores in the mountains to this white ape.
Let it take a broom to clean the fallen leaves before and after the Wolf Temple every day.
Once every three days, let the white ape wipe the floor and altar inside and outside the wolf temple.
Every day I go to the bottom of the mountain to fetch water, and I go to the back mountain to chop firewood every day... After all the chores are handed over to this monkey, it saves Xiao Ai a lot of time, allowing her to focus entirely on her practice.
The time soon arrived on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month and New Year's Eve.
On this day, Xiao Ai got up very early, and by the way called up the white ape who was still sleeping in next door.
New Year's Eve, there are a lot of things that need to be busy preparing, so Xiao Ai does not plan to practice today.
She got up early to cook some porridge, and after having breakfast with White Ape, she started a busy day.
The main hall of the Wolf Temple was completely cleaned inside and out. Even the few empty rooms in front of and behind the main hall have been carefully cleaned.
The cleaning work did not end until noon. Then Xiao Ai and Bai Ape set off firecrackers in front of the Wolf Temple.
Although Xiao Ai is no longer interested in firecrackers, Bai Ape likes it very much, and he is satisfied after pestering Xiao Ai and setting off a few more.
After a short rest, we began to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner.
In the past, when I was in the village, my parents prepared the New Year's Eve dinner, and the girl just helped her mother to pick beans and wash vegetables.
Later, my father was gone, and my mother was seriously ill. For the New Year's Eve dinner, my mother and I worked together to cook some meat and fish dishes. But one of the mothers was sick and the other was young, so the New Year's Eve dinner they made was naturally not very rich.
After arriving, her mother died of illness, and the girl was adopted by her uncle. The New Year's Eve dinner was much richer, but the girl never tasted the same as before.
This year, it was the first time for a girl to spend New Year's Eve alone.
Of course, now to add a monkey.
It's just that this white ape obviously doesn't understand the meaning of New Year's Eve. As always, it's babbling. Although it can be used to do things like washing vegetables and picking beans, but killing chickens and ducks, and subsequent cooking and cooking, the girls must do it by themselves. .
It was the first time that a person was busy with these things, that is, with the wolf demon's two hundred years of Taoism, the girl was still in a hurry and messed around for a long time.
It was not until it was completely dark that the smell of vegetable rice wafted from the mountains.
Bai Yuan sat by the stove, staring blankly at the flames in the stove, he was starving.
It doesn't quite understand why there are already so many dishes on the table, and it can't eat it by itself.
And why so many dishes... Finished
In the firewood room, the girl's expression was indifferent, but her forehead was slightly sweaty. It's not that I'm tired, but it's the first time I'm in charge alone, and I'm a little flustered and impatient.
I finally finished all the meals before Hai Shi, but the soups I made earlier were already cold.
Just when Bai Yuan was happy to think that he could finally have dinner, the little girl chased him away from the dining table.
"I want to sacrifice Lord Wolf God first!" The little girl glared at the monkey and said.
The monkey whose stomach was already grumbling suddenly had a bitter face, but he could only obediently hide to the side and watch the little girl worship the wolf god.
By the end of the worship, more dishes had cooled off on the table, and only the one or two dishes that had just come out of the pot were still hot.
In the dim light of the candles, the white ape sat in a corner of the table with grievances, and ate the soup that was mostly cold. Although it wanted to complain, it didn't dare to speak.
The little girl opposite was also a little depressed, but after seeing the expression of the angry little daughter-in-law, she couldn't help laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha… "
The little girl's laughter spread far and wide in the mountains. In front of the quiet and dark Wolf Temple, there is a window with lights on from a distance.
Outside the mountain, the New Year's Eve in the Kaze Department is very lively.
The Li people do not believe in gods, and they do not worship gods on New Year's Eve. What they worship is the spiritual seat of their ancestors and the holy mountain of the Li people.
When the ancestor worship was over and each family had their New Year's Eve dinner in their own homes, the Li people, who were not afraid of the wind and cold, lit a huge bonfire in the center of the camp. The blazing fire lit up the night sky, making the crowd singing and dancing beside the bonfire happy.
In the mountains, one person and one monkey who had finished their dinner began to clear the table.
After leaving the kitchen, the little girl dragged the white ape to the Wolf Temple and lit the candles in front of the altar.
In front of the altar, candles were lit one after another, and the dim candlelight illuminated the spacious and huge wolf temple. The little girl took the white ape and put a stick of incense on the statue of the wolf god on the altar, and then sat on the futon.
"There will be a vigil tonight," said the girl, "so you don't have to sleep. If you are bored, you can try to practice meditation."
Bai Yuan was stunned for a moment.
"Gee?" Its eyes widened in disbelief.
The girl looked at it indifferently and said, "This is the custom of New Year's Eve. You have to keep watch until dawn. You have learned the method of entering meditation. If you are really sleepy, go into meditation. You can stay up for a while."
The white ape was dumbfounded, but the little girl had closed her eyes and settled down. Obviously, she really didn't plan to sleep tonight.
Bai Yuan hesitated for a while, then secretly looked at the statue of the white wolf on the altar, but in the end he didn't dare to say anything.
In the mountain temple, it was temporarily quiet.
When the child was reached, a harsh crackling explosion sounded suddenly outside the mountain. Dazzling colored lights rose in the Li camp and burst into the night sky.
The strange sound broke the tranquility of New Year's Eve. The girl opened her eyes and saw that the white ape was already lying on the gate, looking curiously at the bursting colored light in the night sky outside.
"That's the fireworks set off by the Li people," Xiao Ai said. "If you want to see it, go out and watch it."
After getting the approval, Bai Yuan suddenly became happy, and quickly opened the door and ran outside, wanting to run to the open space to see the colorful fireworks rising in the night sky.
However, as soon as Bai Yuan ran out, Bai Yuan screamed in horror outside.
The scream made the girl's heart tremble, and she rushed out subconsciously.
"What happened?" she shouted hurriedly.
Under the cold moonlight, the girl saw the scene in front of the Wolf Temple.
The white-haired white ape was lying on the ground in horror and awe, shivering.
And in the direction of the worship of the white ape, in the open space paved with bluestone, a figure stood quietly. Hearing the girl's voice, the man slowly turned his head and looked at her and the white ape.
Under the moonlight, the girl could clearly see the man's appearance.
A white robe is spotless, and it seems that all the filth in the world cannot impregnate it, and it has an indescribable ethereal appearance.
There seemed to be a smile in his calm eyes.
It seems that he is not very old, but facing the man in white, Xiao Ai has an inexplicable feeling of awe, as if he is facing a god who has a long history and has seen the world of the world.
Xiao Ai's heart skipped a beat, thinking of a possibility.
"Wolf... Lord Wolf God?" The girl muttered to Ai Ai, her voice weak and mosquito chirping.
But the man in white in front of the Wolf Temple heard it clearly.
He smiled and nodded. That warm smile seemed to dispel the harsh winter cold, making the entire Wolf Temple feel like a spring breeze.
"Well, it's me."
The man under the moonlight said with a smile, "Tonight on New Year's Eve, I'll come to see you."