After hearing the words "Grandpa Dragon King", Cheng Yu braced himself and raised his ears, not even daring to move, for fear of making some noise and missing some important information.
However, after Zhuangtou's wife muttered a few times in the house, the sound of Zhuangtou's snoring and the babble of the youngest son beside him could be heard.
……
The next morning, the red sun rose in the east, and a thin layer of mist floated on the land that was about to be harvested.
After getting up early, Heitan Tou shivered and stretched. He actually saw that Cheng Yu, who usually slept in late, had woken up at this time, so he flew to Cheng Yu's nest to visit.
Cheng Yu was thinking about what he heard about Grandpa Dragon King last night, so he called Heitan Tou and asked.
Heitantou started chattering, and Cheng Yu was confused after hearing it.
Seeing Cheng Yu's confusion, Heitan Tou called him and asked an old man in the village to ask.
It is said that this old bird has lived in the village for more than ten autumn harvest seasons. He is the oldest bird in the village. He is naturally well-informed. He should have some useful information.
The teenage old bird lived in Houzhuang. When we first saw him, his eyes were dim and his feathers were sparse and dull. When he saw Cheng Yu, the two black-headed birds ignored him and turned around in their nests to doze off. The black charcoal chirped twice, turned around and flew away. Not long after, it picked up the corpse of an insect that seemed to be a dung beetle and threw it in front of the old sparrow.
The old sparrow trembled, turned his head and saw the delicious food in front of him, grabbed it in one bite, raised his little neck and swallowed it whole.
After swallowing it, I thought about it for a while and then cheered up.
The old bird lay in the nest and chirped intermittently for about a stick of incense. The black charcoal head had already lost its temper and flew away to play elsewhere.
The old sparrow screamed and fell asleep again. Cheng Yu stood by the eaves and was not in a hurry to wake him up. He only calmly sorted out the scattered information provided by the old sparrow.
It turns out that Cheng Yu only asked about what was special about the area and did not mention the word "Dragon King".
Come to think of it, the Dragon King is not for food. How can these sparrows know what the Dragon King is?
As a result, after the old sparrow chattered around in a circle, he finally revealed that there was a forbidden place for sparrows in the village at the foot of the mountain behind the village, and repeatedly warned them not to fly there. This had formed a consensus among the sparrows in the village. As for what exactly is there? Why can’t we go? After generations of sparrows passing it down by word of mouth, the reasons have been lost long ago, and no bird has ever bothered to get to the bottom of it.
It stands to reason that the back of the village should be regarded as the territory of the farm birds in the village, but the birds simply and roughly regard it as their own forbidden land and cannot touch it, as if it is a matter of course.
The old sparrow couldn't explain clearly, which made Cheng Yu feel more alive.
Cheng Yu turned his head and picked up a piece of thatch in his mouth, thinking in his mouth, what kind of taboo is it that can make even the always lively and bold sparrows reach a consensus to stay away?
How about... go take a look?
After making up his mind, Cheng Yu woke up the old bird and asked if he had any knowledge of other gods, ghosts and spirits.
The old bird rambled on for a while, but he knew nothing about the gods and ghosts.
Cheng Yu thought it would be useless to ask any more questions. He spat out the thatch with a "pop" and flew up in the air. He found Black Ermao and once again confirmed that all the birds in the village did not dare to fly to the forbidden place and could not tell.
What is the reason?
I remember when Hei Tantou first learned how to fly, he rebelled and flew there, but was repeatedly beaten by the elders in the family, which formed a conditioned reflex.
He also threatened Cheng Yu that when he has a baby bird in the future, he will need a good meal to make up for it.
At this time, Cheng Yu suddenly remembered that Madam Que had indeed told him about this matter before, but he was in a trance at the time and didn't take it to heart.
The old lady Que was in a hurry to go to the threshing floor. After giving instructions in a hurry, she flew away in a hurry.
Heitan Tou was still chattering profusely, but he didn't expect that Cheng Yu had already raised his wings and flew towards the back of the village against the rising sun, covered with morning glow.
"Chirp!"
Hei Tantou shouted at Cheng Yu's back and thought, "This is the fourth son of Gu Er's family...
……
Behind the village, at the foot of the mist-shrouded mountain.
Cheng Yu was extremely careful all the way, fearing that some wild finches or other wild birds would suddenly fly out and drive him away in the name of defending his territory.
Fortunately, the journey is not far. Not far after leaving the village, an arc-shaped overhang is like a crescent moon, cantilevered out from among the tree crowns. The blue sky, black eaves, and green leaves all fit together like a carefully composed picture.
Landscape painting.
The taboo place in the mouths of the sparrows is already looming.
I don't know whether it was because the sparrows had made this place too taboo before, or because it was already shady and cool at the foot of the mountain. Cheng Yu only felt that the closer he got there, the colder he became.
"Boom"
The originally sunny sky suddenly became covered with dark clouds, and bursts of thunder could be heard faintly in the distance.
Cheng Yu heard the thunder in the air and almost fell to the ground.
"Boom~wow~ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding..."
Behind him, there was a sudden burst of cheers in the village, and then every household was carrying earthen pots and utensils, and there was a loud collision.
Cheng Yu, who had stabilized his flying posture, looked back and saw that all the men, women, and children in the village were carrying pots and jars of different sizes and placing them in the courtyard. They looked up at the sky, as if they were preparing to catch the rainwater.
It's strange that it's going to rain during the autumn harvest. Instead of harvesting the wheat quickly, we rush to get the basins to collect water. I guess these farmers are quick enough and have already put the threshed wheat into the warehouse?
During this time, he saw many women clasping their hands together and praying endlessly to heaven.
What's going on? Cheng Yu muttered in his heart, turned around and found an open space in front of him. A low earthen wall surrounded a courtyard. There was a plaque hanging on the door of the courtyard with the three characters "Dragon King Temple" written on it.
It turns out that the taboo mentioned by the birds is this Dragon King Temple, which also corresponds to the Dragon King Grandpa mentioned by Zhuangtou.
Look carefully at the back of the plaque and there are a few small words: Autumn of the 22nd year of Jiarui.
No signature.
Jiarui?
What the hell is that again?
Never heard of it...
Another small court in a corner?
Cheng Yu searched through the memories of his past life again, and found no memory of this dynasty. He began to suspect that what he had traveled to was not simply ancient times, but perhaps a parallel time and space.
After stabilizing his mind, he decided to observe the overall environment around the Dragon King Temple first to avoid encountering traps such as network traps.
Big trees on both sides of the temple surrounded the Dragon King Temple on three sides. The surrounding area was eerily quiet, not even the chirping of birds.
After confirming that it was safe, he planned his escape route, then carefully flew to the top of the earth wall and looked into the courtyard.
The courtyard is not large, not as spacious as the courtyard of Gu Er's family. A three-bay Dragon King's Hall is located in it. It is half old and not new. Judging from the cornices and brackets, the rough sections are at least from before the Ming Dynasty. There are walls on both sides of the main hall, and
Wubiandian.
The two doors in the middle are open, and a pair of couplets are hung on both sides of the door.
The first couplet is: Clouds and rain protect the common people and bring good weather.
The second line is: Offering auspiciousness and praising blessings, contributing to the prosperity of the country and the people of the world.
The temple is not big, but the tone is not small.
Cheng Yu still stood on top of the earthen wall and did not fly into the temple rashly, just because he always felt that he was being watched secretly since he landed in front of the temple door, and he felt uncomfortable all over.
The bankers are not very friendly to sparrows originally. If there is anyone in the hall, catch them in a jar...
The trees around the small temple are tall and block the sunlight, making it much colder than in the village.
He jumped from one wall to the other, stretched his head and looked into the hall. Although he couldn't see everything clearly, he probably understood everything.
The furnishings inside are simple, just two futons, an altar table, and a statue of a god.
There are various kinds of pastries, melons and fruits on the altar table, and the color combination is very careful.
There is an incense burner in the middle. The three burning incense sticks in the burner are about half burned by visual inspection. Someone must have lit them not long ago, and now Cheng Yu is even more afraid to enter.
Only the lower body of the statue behind the altar can be seen. Up to the waist, it is just an ordinary seated human statue.
Since it is the Dragon King Temple, the upper body must be a crowned dragon head.
This small Dragon King Temple itself is ordinary and unremarkable. No specific historical background can be seen, and no inscriptions or inscriptions have been found. It is just a small temple in the countryside. If it were not close to a village, it would probably not even have incense.
Cheng Yu suddenly shrank his neck and shuddered. The feeling of being watched came back again, and he felt that even the surrounding temperature had dropped a few points.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, with no other unusual noises, not even the sound of insects in the woods.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Suddenly the wind picked up, making the woods rustle.
The rain is about to come and the wind is blowing all over the building. The rain must be not far away, so it is better to go back quickly.
I don’t know if this bird feather is waterproof or not. If I get wet, there will be no hot water for showering, no towel to wipe with, and even cold medicine. With my small body at this time, if I get bird flu or something, I will be very vulnerable.
He might die just like that.
"Boom!"
Cheng Yu turned around and was about to return to the village when another burst of thunder came, which sounded much louder than the previous one.
Thunder is approaching...
Fly lower, don't get hit by mistake again...
He flapped his wings almost close to the ground and flew quickly towards the back of the village. The fence of the village could be vaguely seen in front of him.
"Tweet!"
Far away, Yuan Yuanyu heard the call of the old sparrow waiting in the village, and beside him were Heitan Tou and several other old female sparrows.
Is this a welcome to my triumphant return?
Cheng Yu's heart felt inexplicably hot, he flapped his wings vigorously and accelerated towards the village.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
In Cheng Yuque's eyes, Madam Que and Heitan Tou suddenly shouted loudly, warning Cheng Yu.