When the carriage slowly arrived at the entrance of the village, three things the size of millstones could be seen erected in the distance, blocking the only way to enter the village! Old Man Huang's expression suddenly changed, as if
It was as scary as seeing a ghost.
Lin Fengjin also saw very clearly at this time. The three millstone-sized objects were actually three very exquisite bronze drums. The largest one was like a pot lid, and the smaller one was like a large plate. They were very beautifully maintained. In the afterglow of the setting sun,
The bottom is golden, and the side of the bronze drum has a sharp-angled sun texture, as long and thin as a needle.
The surface of the bronze drum has clear embossed frog patterns. These cast frogs are huge in shape, with hollow and flat bodies, protruding eyes, standing on four legs, and wearing braided stripes. They are very delicate and luxurious.
In addition, in the center of the bronze drum, there is a feathered man dancing in the sky, and below this man is a lit bonfire, as if he is going to be burned to death.
Lin Fengjin frowned and said:
"What does this mean?"
While shivering, Old Man Huang whipped the horse hard on the buttocks to make it run quickly. He, who originally cared and cherished the animals like his own children, actually showed unprecedented roughness and impatience!
"One drum breaks the road, two drums lock life, and three drums cut off the soul! This is the soul-breaking drum of the Dong people!"
Seeing that this cave village was quickly left behind, Old Man Huang finally regained his breath for a while, grabbed the water hyacinth next to him and drank a lot, then coughed violently, and finally gasped:
"There must be a plague there!! And it's an extremely violent death plague!"
It turns out that in the customs of the Dong people, the bronze drum is a symbol similar to the tripod in the Central Plains. At worst, it can also be called the authoritative object of the leader of a village, which is very sacred and dignified.
Once there is an important event such as a sacrifice, a bronze drum will be erected at the entrance of the village to indicate that something important is happening inside the village. No one can enter the village. If someone enters without permission, they may be whipped and imprisoned.
When two bronze drums are erected at the entrance of the village, it means that something fatal has happened inside the village. This fatal thing may be that the man and woman who had an affair were soaked in a pig cage, or it may be due to the competition for water and other fields.
There may be bloody weapon fights in the stronghold, or a rare human sacrifice! If you enter the stronghold under such circumstances, you may very well face the intruder's fate of death.
When three bronze drums are erected at the entrance of the village, it means that the people here are completely desperate and have completely dedicated all the honor, power, life... everything in the village to theirs.
The frog god Buluotuo hopes that the gods can accept their dedication and forgive them.
But the most terrifying thing is that if God refuses to forgive, then no living creature will come out of the entire village, otherwise it will be blasphemy to the gods!!
Old Man Huang travels this business route three times a year, and he has been doing so for more than ten years. He has stayed in Fangkang County for more than thirty years. Only in recent years has he changed his career and stopped. He has seen this business many times.
Gu Duandao has seen two drums locking one's life more than a dozen times. However, this is the first time he has witnessed the legendary three drums breaking one's soul with his own eyes!
Although the setting sun was still shining brilliantly at this time, what fell on people was not warmth. It seemed like bursts of chill. Those mysterious conversations by the fire pit and the mysterious legends in the aroma of corn wine. All come from the memory of old man Huang.
Jumped out from inside.
Although he was very old, he still wanted to live a few more years. When he saw his grandson marrying a wife, and when he saw his thatched house being demolished and replaced by a large brick house, he was even more unwilling to show sympathy to the animals and gave him a few severe whippings.
, and quickly left the village that was trapped in terror and weirdness.
***
It's getting dark.
Although the setting sun sank below the horizon, it still stubbornly tried to resist the darkness, so there was still a touch of red like ashes on the western horizon.
Human beings are born with the same tendency to light as moths. The only difference is that they know how to avoid hurting themselves while tending to light. Therefore, almost everyone on the carriage was looking at the red color and feeling the slow darkness.
Slowly attacks with determination.
But for some reason, Lin Fengjin strangely hopes that the darkness will come faster. Even he himself doesn't know when this change happened - this kind of change that is innate to human beings.
A transformation of instincts that defy each other!
This is a world without street lights or flashlights, so if you want to drive at night, you can only have one person walking in front with a torch to lead the way. Even so, it is easy for the animal to step into a depression with a hoof, and then
The tragedy of snapping with force is so common that there is an idiom to describe it, that is, a horse stumbles...
Therefore, unless there is something urgent, few caravans would travel overnight, even on official roads. For Lin Fengjin and his party, even if they want to travel overnight, it is probably beyond their capabilities.
This is because although the two animals pulling the carriage are good horses selected by the Lin family, they were already exhausted in the evening and were driven by Old Man Huang desperately, so they were already extremely tired at this time. Look at those horses.
It seemed that even if he didn't pull the cart, he would be exhausted on the road just by walking a few more miles.
"We can't go anymore." Lin Fengjin frowned and jumped out of the carriage, and said to the still frightened old man Huang: "If we go on, then we will be the only ones carrying horses on our backs tomorrow."
"But..." Old Man Huang glanced behind him in fear. The village was already more than ten miles away. Even if it wasn't dark, he would definitely not be able to see it. What's more, this village would soon be out of sight.
Five fingers of barren mountains?
Lin Fengjin first took the water bag and fed the horse water, then took out two and a half large bags from the carriage, all of which were filled with fried soybeans. Then he added a handful of salt to the bags and handed them to the puller.
The two horses snorted immediately and started eating greedily.
"Where is the nearest village?"
Old Man Huang swallowed his saliva, and after regaining his senses, he said respectfully:
"It's the one behind us."
Lin Fengjin frowned and waved his hand:
"That ghost place is indeed filled with evil spirits. I don't want to look back. I mean the village on the road ahead."
Old Man Huang said with a bitter face:
"The nearest village is fifty-three miles away..."
Lin Fengjin sighed, and the horse's soft tongue licked the palm of his hand, constantly sweeping away the fragrant fried soybeans and salt, so it felt warm and itchy. In this case, Lin Fengjin did not make any suggestions.
, but asked professionals.
"Linde, what do you think we should do now?"
Linde jumped down from the carriage very quickly, and it was not obvious at all that he had broken his arm.
For Linde, animals like horses occupy a very important position at at least some stage in his life: they are a means of transportation, a friend, a toy, food, a bed, a stool, and even a betrothal gift.
.... He grew up on horses, so when Lind got close to the two horses and touched them, he said simply:
"If you bleed, then there is no problem in reaching the next village before dawn, provided of course that the horse does not stumble along the way. If it rests, the horse will die."
"What if we don't bleed?" Lin Fengjin asked.
"It can only be ** miles at most?" Linde said with certainty: "After all, they dragged us for more than 60 miles today during the day."
Old Man Huang hesitated for a moment and then said:
"Two miles ahead, there will be a branch road. Three or five miles from the end of the branch road, there was originally a Han village. Unfortunately, it was abandoned a few years ago. However, if you walk one mile along the branch road, there should be a temple dedicated to the local god Ban.
Temple, the last time I saw that temple, I took shelter in it for a while, so there shouldn’t be any problem if I go in and stay for the night today.”
The Ban God is an evil god believed by the local people, just like the Wong Tai Sin Temple in the north. However, Lin Fengjin clearly heard the words "There should be no problem" and said doubtfully:
"should?"
Old Man Huang smiled bitterly and said:
"I went in to take shelter from the rain two years ago, and it was daytime. There were a group of local Dong people taking shelter inside. They looked very nervous and panicked. Unfortunately, they didn't say anything when I asked them.
Ken said that he left in a hurry as soon as the rain stopped, as if he was taboo about something."
Lin Fengjin glanced at Lin De, and the four silent, thick-shouldered servant guards who followed him, smiled and said:
"Let's go there. It will probably rain tonight. Not to mention people at this time of year, even animals have to lie down after being exposed to the rain all night."
The group of people carried torches and trekked for nearly an hour before they arrived at the Ban Temple that Old Man Huang had mentioned. The reason why they walked so far on the mere three-mile road was because the side road leading to the temple had been abandoned.
There is a small trail, which seems to have been trampled by birds and animals. It is really difficult to detect it if you don't look carefully.
Han people and Dong people live together here, so the beliefs are also very complicated. This Ban Temple is quite solidly built. There are three main halls and back halls, which at least shows that there are many believers in this area. Otherwise, a shrine
He dismissed it.
In the wilderness here, Lin Fengjin had to be more careful, so before entering the temple, he took a deep sniff, his brows suddenly furrowed, and he had the intention not to go in, but in the vastness of the surroundings, there was no better place than this.
Yes. But if I stay here, I'm afraid I won't be able to calm down tonight.
But now Lin Fengjin is not that helpless young man. At this time, the wind in the distance is also getting louder. If you can look up like in the daytime, you will definitely be able to see the dark clouds all over the sky.