I made myself the protagonist

Chapter 159 Sacrifice
It was the old man in his sixties who spoke.Everyone turned around and saw him slowly supporting the chair and standing up from the chair.

One of the middle-aged men immediately turned back and carefully helped the old man into the yard.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the old man holds a high status in the hearts of the villagers.After he uttered a sound to stop them, all the irritable villagers fell silent and obediently stood aside.

The old man's eyes flicked across the crowd and stopped on Ling Yun.

He was wearing a gray cloth shirt, with a short and hard mustache, and a pair of brown eyes sunken deep in the eye sockets, sharp and bright as if they could penetrate people's hearts.

"My surname is Li, and I am the head of this village. Although I am a rural man, old man, I can tell that you don't seem to be passing by by chance."

Although the old man's tone was flat, his words were indeed sharp: "The purpose of your coming here should be to investigate the affairs of this village, right?"

Village Chief Li's words hit the nail on the head. When everyone heard what he said, they looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Since you're always straight to the point, I won't hide it anymore."

Ling Yun simply admitted the purpose of his group: "We are very interested in the culture of Guxun Village, and the purpose of this trip is indeed the same. Our companions may have been too impatient before, so they treated you in a rough way. Here , I apologize to you on their behalf."

"It's okay. I'm already old, and I can't be bothered with young people."

Village head Li waved his hand, twirled his beard and said, "Our village is sparsely populated. If you look around, there are only a few hundred households, and the total population of the whole village is no more than 500 people. Speaking of which, it's all because our ancestors hid here to avoid the war. Since then, I have settled down in my family."

Village head Li told everyone that since their ancestors, their family has served as the village head; his family has lived here for generations, and it is also for the convenience of guarding the ancestral hall.

Speaking of this ancestral hall in Guxun Village, in addition to offering sacrifices to ancestors, it is also used for weddings, funerals, birthdays, and celebrations.

Other than that, I and the rest of my clan seldom set foot here, let alone other ordinary villagers.

"But as soon as your group of companions came, they ignored my dissuasion and insisted on going to the ancestral hall to find out. I am old and in poor health, so I really can't stop them."

Village Chief Li sighed: "If you want to know about the village, you can sit down and chat calmly. I know everything, old man. As long as you don't offend your ancestors, you have nothing to hide. It's just that outsiders trespassed on the ancestral hall. It is disrespectful to the ancestors. Hey, even if I die, I will have no face to face the ancestors of the Li family."

Everyone didn't expect Village Chief Li to be so easy to talk to.

Shen Tinglan glanced at Erika Nakama, remembered the ruined temple that the other party had described before, and immediately asked: "Then Village Chief Li, we found an abandoned temple near the top of the mountain in the north, I don't know if it is Guxun Village It was built? Which immortal family is that temple dedicated to?"

Village head Li raised his head, squinted his eyes and recalled carefully: "You are talking about, it should be the temple built by the ancestors for the mountain god on Qingyuan Mountain. According to legend, when the ancestors migrated here, the clansman inhaled poisonous miasma on the way and was contaminated The disease is difficult to cure with medicine and stones. In times of crisis, fortunately, a red asshole with a spirit grass came to his rescue."

The red gnat has a spirit, and it turns into a jiao in a hundred years, and a dragon in a thousand years.

The ancestors of the Li family were deeply grateful for his kindness, and called him a mountain god, built temples for him, and offered incense to him, helping Chifei to cultivate the right way as soon as possible.

In order to correct the way, the red pheasant has always protected Guxun Village, eliminated various diseases, floods and other natural disasters for the villagers, and made the livestock harvest plentiful.

Therefore, every year during the sixth and seventh months of the lunar calendar, when the wild waters in the mountains and countryside are green, the grass is green, and the leaves are blooming, the villagers of Guxun Village will go to Qingyuan in a mighty way under the leadership of the village head. Mountain, participate in the annual ritual of offering sacrifices to the mountain god, begging for Murakami's safety and avoiding disasters.

Under the blessing of the mountain god for a hundred years, Guxun Village has enjoyed good weather and good weather, and the villagers live and work in peace and contentment.

But in the summer of the 13th year of the Yongli calendar, it rained continuously for several days, and a river called the Yongjiang River on Qingyuan Mountain burst its embankment, and an unprecedented flood swept across.

Even though the villagers made offerings piously every day at that time, they still could not escape the punishment of God.Floods broke out, mud and rocks poured in, and Guxun Village suffered heavy casualties. Worshiping the mountain gods did not help at all.

The ancestor guessed that the scarlet gnat had accumulated blessings over the past hundred years and received incense offerings, so he might have transformed into a dragon and ascended to heaven, and left Qingyuan Mountain.

Losing the protection of the red gnat, the elders in the village believed that the soaring water level was due to the anger of the river god, and they needed to be appeased as soon as possible.

In desperation, the ancestors had no choice but to sacrifice the young girls in the village and throw them into the Yongjiang River to appease the wrath of the river god.But who knows, this method actually worked.

After that, every 20 years, the villagers offered sacrifices to the Yongjiang River for good weather.Over time, the temple, which was originally full of incense, fell into disrepair.

Village head Li said that the terrain in the north of Qingyuan Mountain is steep, surrounded by fog and miasma all the year round, and poisonous snakes and wild animals frequently appear in the forest.

Since the temple was abandoned, the villagers have rarely set foot in it for a hundred years.Now, except for a few older generations, almost no one in the village knows the origin of the abandoned temple on the top of the mountain.

After hearing what he said, Zhao Sicheng shook his head, lowered his voice to Shen Tinglan's ear and said, "Superstition really kills people. Where can there be any gods in this world? If there is such a thing, I'd like to worship it, see Let's see if the old man can save me from the space..."

"Fatty, be serious." Shen Tinglan calmly elbowed the opponent, who shrugged and stepped aside.

"Village Chief, you just mentioned that the ancestors used young girls as sacrifices. Then forgive me for asking, are those young girls willing?" Ling Yun asked without hesitation, expressing his doubts.

Village head Li didn't hide it, he nodded frankly: "It is a supreme honor to be offered as a sacrifice to Lord River God. Once someone's daughter is selected, her parents will also enjoy it in the future." The best treatment in the village. On the second day after the sacrificial ceremony, we will bring the girl’s body back to the ancestral hall and store it for three days to accept the thanks and worship of the whole village. After that, she can be buried in the ancestral grave.”

"What nonsense!" Hearing this, Zhao Sicheng couldn't hold back anymore.

Regardless of the obstruction of the surrounding villagers, he pointed at Village Chief Li's nose and cursed: "That's a real human life! You are killing people, you know? There are no mountain gods and river gods, they are all superstitious superstitions!"

"Stinky boy, how dare you blaspheme the gods!"

"If you don't kill them, just throw them on Qingyuan Mountain!"

Zhao Sicheng's words aroused the anger of the villagers. On the other hand, Village Chief Li was unexpectedly calm and did not feel angry because of it.Ling Yun did not make a statement, but stopped Zhao Sicheng and asked the other party: "You said that a sacrifice will be held every 20 years. I wonder if there is any arrangement for this year?"

Village head Li raised his head, his eye sockets were sunken on his wrinkled face, his eyes were calm and deep, like a pool of calm water.

Ling Yun knew it already, and said to him: "Since it is the rule set by the ancestors of Guicun, we as outsiders can't point it out. It was my friend who was impulsive just now, and I apologize to you on his behalf."

"The ancestral hall is the resting place of my Li family. Your companions are all very skilled. I don't want the villagers to conflict with them in the ancestral hall. If it is convenient, I would like to trouble you to persuade them to leave quickly. "

Village head Li suddenly said: "As long as you don't bother about the affairs of the village, I can entertain you for one night. For my sake, the villagers will not make things difficult for you. Please leave early at dawn tomorrow." If you continue to stay, it will only cause dissatisfaction among the villagers."

"Okay, then thank the village chief first." Ling Yun responded with a few words neither humble nor overbearing, and after saying goodbye to the other party, he left the village chief's house with other companions and went straight to the ancestral hall.

(End of this chapter)