The so-called "send the king's boat" is a custom in coastal areas. It is said that a local magistrate, one night, met an emissary from the heavens and poured plague medicine into the well, and wanted to poison the people who did bad things as punishment. For the sake of his own people, he deceived the messenger of heaven to get the poison, which he swallowed and died. In order to thank him, the local people made him king.
After that, every three years, the ceremony of "sending the king ship" will be held. After the time was determined by divination, the ship was imitated with white paper. Although it is made of paper, it is also very realistic and complex. In addition to masts and sails, there are various cabins, halls and other buildings on the ship. The hull is painted with dragon and phoenix patterns, and paper soldiers are placed on the deck.
On the day of divination, people send boats into the water and let the boats drift down the water or burn them to show off the plague and pray for the coming year.
As for blood sacrifice, it was a custom a long time ago, and it was mostly done to enhance the effect of blessing when a plague really occurred. Unexpectedly, in this beautiful city of mountains and seas, there are people who want to restore such cruel customs.
After the guests at the back table finished their wontons, they discussed going to the flower street, and walked away shoulder to shoulder.
Mu Xiyun glanced at Gu Qingqiao, where the storm was brewing, and gently touched his hand, "Let's go."
The three got up, Qin Le rushed to pay the bill, and the three slowly returned to the inn along the original road.
Back at the inn, Gu Qingqiao has recovered his calm, and instructed the young man to bring hot water to the three of them, and then go back to their rooms to wash and rest.
The night gradually quieted down, and there were waves of sea waves in the distance.
A figure flashed in a guest room of Tinghai Inn, a figure turned out from the window, and after a few ups and downs, he came to the outside of the inn. The person came in black hair and black clothes, and only tied his long hair with a silver hairband. Ancient Green Bridge.
In the evening, when he heard that the villagers were going to sacrifice the blood of a demon mixed-race child, he felt a chill in his heart. Humans fear demons, and even hate mixed blood with demon blood. Demon race hybrids have no status in the Central Plains, they will be driven out and enslaved in the world of the laity, and they will be used as furnaces or medicine men in the world of immortals.
But birth can't be chosen, why is it a child? Not to mention that the free union of humans and demons is not a sin at all, even if one or both parties are guilty, it should not be borne by children.
Gu Qingqiao was in a rage, his feet swept away, and he reached the street in a moment, but suddenly stopped. A figure leaned against the wall at the intersection. Gu Qingqiao became alert and looked up at the man. The visitor was dressed in black clothes, and the thin clothes wrapped his strong body. One leg was straight, and the other leg was slightly bent and leaning against the wall, which made his waist and legs longer. Although his face was covered with a towel, his eyes were sparkling, as if filled with thousands of stars, with a faint smile.
"Ayun... "
"To Xiaoshi Village? Let's go!"
Mu Xiyun didn't often wear black, but the black clothes tonight gave him a charm that was hard to see in ordinary times.
Gu Qingqiao's eyes were a little hot, looking at the figure chasing the clouds and the moon in front of him, the anger that was full of him disappeared without a trace.
Xiaoshi Village is located in the southeast of Shanhai City. It is a fishing village with more than 100 families. Most of the villagers make a living by fishing. On the beach beside the village, a large boat is parked. The paper-paste hull is white and the size is the same as that of a real ship. A few villagers walked back and forth to patrol.
Not far from the big ship, a woman's cry could be heard faintly.
"Please, let Feng'er go, he is still a child!" A young woman knelt in front of the two fishermen and kept pleading.
"What child, that's the devil!" One of the fishermen shouted angrily, holding a harpoon: "Since this child was born, our village has not suffered less disasters. In the past two or three years, several families have encountered storms. And several young adults died. That bastard is a disaster!"
Another person said yin and yang strangely: "Miss Hao, don't you look down on everyone in the village on weekdays? So many young people in our village proposed marriage to your family, but you refused, but you chose a demon as a husband. Now he Leave you alone, what are you raising his children for!"
"No, it's not like this..." The woman murmured in defense, then kowtowed again: "Please, let my child go!"
The two fishermen became impatient and kicked the woman away, threatening: "Tomorrow will be our village's "boat to send the king". For this festival, the whole village has spent a year of blood and sweat, and tomorrow they will Put your demon seed on the boat and send it away together! Hurry up and get out of here, or I will ask the village chief to drive out your family!"
After he finished speaking, he summoned two people and escorted the woman back to the village.
Mu Xiyun and Gu Qingqiao quietly circled to the back of the paper boat. There was an iron cage on the ground, and a two or three-year-old child was curled up in the cage. The boy had red hair, and there were still tears on his face. Although his eyes were closed, his little brows were tightly twisted, and he turned uneasy in his sleep.
A familiar pain hit, Gu Qingqiao closed his eyes.
Yellow sand, Gobi, iron cage. Several children were sitting in the cage, the rough sand blowing across their pale faces, chapped lips, and blood-clotted wounds on their bodies.
The big-bellied businessman from the Western Regions laughed loudly, pointed at the children in the cage and said loudly: "Come and see, they are all bastards with demon blood, strong and strong, take them back to support them and dispose of them at will."
A withered hand pulled the chin of the nine-year-old boy and examined his whole body like a beast. The hooded man nodded and showed a bloody smile.
"Gu Qingqiao, Qingqiao, Brother Gu!" An anxious voice came from his ears.
Gu Qingqiao's eyes were straight, his whole body was shivering, his upper and lower teeth were rattling, and his whole body was stiff.
He intuitively should wake up, but he can't come back to God.
A burst of warm spiritual power came into his heart, allowing him to control a little. Gu Qingqiao bit the tip of his tongue, the bloody smell spread out in his mouth, the pain stimulated his mind, and he slowly woke up.
He turned his stiff neck, only to realize that he had been taken to a row of empty rooms at the back of the village, and Mu Xiyun was holding his shoulders with one hand and pressing his chest with the other, delivering spiritual power to him.
"It's alright, I'm alright." Holding Mu Xiyun's hand weakly, to prevent him from wasting his spiritual power, Gu Qingqiao let out a long sigh and leaned his head on Mu Xiyun's shoulder.
Mu Xiyun's body was tense for a while, and then he heard Gu Qingqiao weakly whispering in his ear: "Let me lean on it, just for a while."
Mu Xiyuan nodded, hesitantly reached out, and lightly patted Gu Qingqiao's back twice.
After a while, I saw Gu Qingqiao standing up straight, those eyes that were deeper than those of the Central Plains were still closed, and only opened when they stabilized.
Mu Xiyun looked at him with clear eyes, and heaved a sigh of relief, but suddenly saw a bit of dazedness in those eyes. Afraid that he might get sick again, Mu Xiyun hurriedly grabbed the pulse gate on his wrist and asked in a low voice, "Is there any discomfort?"
Gu Qingqiao pondered for a moment, with a smile in his eyes, and asked, "Just now, what did you call me?"
"Cough, cough... It's nothing." Mu Xiyun choked, and threw away his hands as if burned to the point of being burned, and he asked hesitantly, "What should I do now, go save that child? "
"No, go back to the inn."
"Can't be saved?" Mu Xiyun was very strange.
"No, we'll come back tomorrow night."
After thinking for a while, Mu Xiyun figured it out.
The fishermen of Xiaoshi Village had long believed that the child was the source of the disaster. If the child was rescued at this time, the mother and child would not be able to survive here. Moreover, it took a lot of effort for the fishermen to send the king boat. If the ceremony fails because of this, the fishermen in this village and even people in Shanhaicheng will be worried that they will fail to pray for blessings, and the people will be in chaos in the coming year. It is difficult for everyone to change their opinions for a while, and maybe they will intensify the persecution of mixed-race people. To save people, the only way is to wait for the king's boat to go into the sea, and then go to rescue quietly.
After thinking clearly, the two quietly walked out of the empty house and returned to the inn.
There was silence in the inn, Gu Qingqiao sent Mu Xiyuan back to the room, but stood at the door of the room, hesitating.
"Come in and sit?" Mu Xiyun raised her eyebrows.
"Okay." Gu Qingqiao replied. As soon as he stepped into the room, he suddenly said as if he had remembered something: "Wait for me for a while." After that, he hurried downstairs.
Mu Xiyun didn't know what was going on with him, so he had to sit down at the table and drink slowly when he got a cup of tea. The moon has risen, shining a frost outside the window.
The door shaft slammed softly, and Gu Qingqiao pushed the door in, holding a tray in his hand. On the tray, a pot or two cups, a few side dishes.
"I went to the kitchen," Gu Qingqiao said with a smile, "fortunately there is wine."
Mu Xiyun looked at the delicate dishes and looked up at him: "Did you make it?"
"Yeah, but it uses clinker from the kitchen. You ate half a bowl of wontons and a piece of cake in the evening. Are you hungry?"
Pulling Mu Xiyun to sit down, Gu Qingqiao poured the wine and handed it to him, hesitant in his eyes, as if he had something to say, but he didn't know how to say it, so he could only look at the wine glass in his hand, drank several glasses in a row, silent Do not speak.
Mu Xiyun accompanies him to drink.
After a long while, he spoke again, his voice a little hoarse: "Ayan, what do you think of the demons? What do you think of the mixed-blood demons? Do you hate them too?"
Mu Xiyun took a sip of wine and looked into his eyes quietly.
That's right, Moyunshan is the great sect of Xianmen, and it has strict requirements on its disciples. Beginning disciples spend half a year specializing in the study of physical fitness. Some lecturers in the academy even made no secret of their disgust and disgust for the mixed-race demons. The first disciple of Moyun Mountain back then, Mu Xiyuan, who was famous all over the world for subduing and eradicating demons, had almost no suspense about what he thought of the demon race and the demon species.
Gu Qingqiao's eyes dimmed, and he poured another glass of wine: "Forget it, when I didn't ask." Then he had to drink it again.
Mu Xiyun held his hand.
"In my previous life, I was the first disciple of Moyun Mountain, killing 326 demons, killing 152 demons, of which 37 were mixed blood and demons," Mu Xiyuan said, her voice as clear as the moonlight outside the window, " But these demons have all harmed one party, and they are all supported by witnesses, and there are no omissions. There are also forty-three cases involving demons, which are false accusations or sins that do not lead to death. Rules, or abolishing pills, or expelling, or handing over to a teacher for supervision, there has never been an indiscriminate killing of innocent people."
Gu Qingqiao suddenly raised his eyes, his eyes became fiery.
Mu Xiyuan faced his gaze calmly: "So, in my eyes, there are no demons or mixed races, you ask me how to face it..." He spoke in a low voice but very clear, word by word in Guqingqiao Exploding in my heart: "No matter where you are from, just rely on your heart."