World Tibet Bureau

Chapter 672 Erlong Lake Troupe

Shaanxi Province is a holy land for antique collectors.

West Market is the shining pearl among the Holy Land.

To give an example, when Xishi built an antique mall in Jinshang Plaza, it was located in the middle of Zhuque Street (later moved to Xingshan West Street). Someone specially conducted statistics and found that the sampling rate of authentic items in the shops was as high as 5-8%, which was The highest in the country.

Don’t think this ratio is too low.

If placed in Panjiayuan, can it reach 1%?

Xiaozhu and I immediately followed up.

After Mr. Cui came to Shaanxi Province, he went to the West Market and specifically to Zhuque Road.

I thought he would go to an antique mall.

But Bian Wu told me that Mr. Cui entered a small road opposite the antique mall. The small road turned right into a large alley, and he entered a house in the alley.

I asked, "What is this house for?"

Bian Wu replied: "There is a sign at the door that says Erlong Lake Opera Troupe."

Hang up.

Xiaozhu asked me: "Mr. Cui went to the West Market specifically to listen to the opera?"

I shook my head: "It's not about listening to a play. The theater is usually a certain theater or a certain club, and it is basically located on the street, so that people can buy tickets to watch it. Inside this alley is the stronghold of a Caotai troupe."

I don’t know what Mr. Cui is going to do.

Later, Bian Wu came to the news that Mr. Cui had never come out since he entered the Erlong Lake Opera Troupe.

We rushed to the West Market on the second day and came to the big alley.

Bian Wu found a house for an elderly person living alone diagonally across the street, gave him a little money, and lived there to monitor.

After we arrived.

Bian Wu opened the window and pointed it out to me.

Diagonally opposite is a very old house, with a wooden plaque hanging at the door, which reads "Erlong Lake Opera Troupe". The ink paint on the font is very mottled, and there is also dust on the plaque.

I asked Bian Wu: "Is anyone coming in or out?"

Bian Wu replied: "Yes, they all seem to be from the theater troupe."

"I asked the old man who rented the house, and he told me that the Erlong Lake Opera Troupe is an old troupe. He had it when he was a child. They mainly traveled to villages to perform acrobatics and opera. In the past ten years, TV and movies have become more popular, and their business is far less than before. , but when I encounter some happy or funeral events in the countryside, I will go out to perform."

"I heard that a large temple fair will be held in Luonan Temple for two days, and the Erlong Lake Theater Troupe will perform for three days. Everyone who comes in and out in the past few days seems to be preparing for this."

In my mind, I thought of the mysterious head of the family in the Tian family compound, also wearing a gorgeous costume.

There is a vague feeling that the Tian family must be inextricably linked to the Erlong Lake Theater Troupe thousands of miles away.

It was about eight o'clock that night.

A four-wheeled vehicle with a canvas cover entered the alley.

The theater door opened.

The person who came out with the head was a bald middle-aged man, carrying a lantern in one hand and a big red rooster in the other.

There were more than a dozen people behind him, including Mr. Cui among them.

The bald man hung the lantern in his hand on the rearview mirror of the car. Someone next to him brought him a mask, and he put it on.

When I saw the mask, it turned out to be the Red Evil God, the red-faced Zhong Kui.

The bald man should be the leader.

He chanted lyrics that we couldn't understand, then picked up a knife, killed the big red rooster in his hand, and then sprinkled the chicken's blood around the car, especially on the lanterns, and then sprinkled the chicken's blood He unscrewed the head and hung the chicken head on his belt with a red rope.

Everyone dipped their fingers into some chicken blood from the lantern and wiped it on their faces.

This is a ritual of the old opera troupe, called the opening ceremony.

People have to work during the day. In the past, opera troupes sang in the evening.

Sometimes, the host may require three performances a night out of generosity or other reasons, and the troupe must perform three performances. Often by the end of the second performance, the people cannot stay up late and the stage is empty. What about acting or not?

Lao Guo once said that even if there is an audience in the audience, he still has to perform.The old theater troupe was paid to work, and even if there was no audience, they still had to perform.

People don’t listen in the audience.

It is said that ghosts will come to the stage to listen to the opera at this time.

Therefore, the opera troupe has this kind of opening ceremony before going out, dressing up as Zhong Kui and killing a rooster for good luck.

After the ceremony, everyone started to move the props.

I saw Mr. Cui also helping to carry tools.

Tools packed.

The middle-aged man got into the cab and the car started to drive away.

Now that we know their destination, we don't panic anymore.

Wait until the next day.

A few of us rushed to a village in Luonan Temple.

This village is an ancient village. Sure enough, there is a temple fair going on. People are coming and going on the street, which is very lively.

There are many stalls on the street selling masks of gods and ghosts, and both adults and children wear them to play with.

When Xiaozhu saw it, his childlike innocence grew. He bought a few masks to dress up and play with. Among them was a Zhu Bajie mask with a big mouth. She stuck out her tongue at me from behind the mask cutely.

I inquired about it and was told that people here believe in the Blessed Lord Tianguan, and hold a large temple fair every three years. Many people from nearby counties come to play. These masks are all made from the trees next to the Blessed Lord Tianguan Temple. Yes, wearing a mask when visiting temples will bring good luck and ward off all evil, so everyone likes to wear a mask to play. The local officials have already planned to promote this folk custom into the tourism industry.

I think this has a bit of an Eastern Halloween meaning.

At night.

The stage has been set up.

The audience is crowded with people.

A large high platform was built opposite the stage, on which sat the statue of the Blessed Lord Tianguan brought from the Blessed Lord Temple.

God watches the show.

People also watch plays.

Some people still wore purchased masks on their faces and were joking with each other.

The first opening scene is Allegro.

As soon as the Allegro was played, accompanied by the humorous words of the people on the stage, many people gathered in the audience, and basically no one went shopping anymore.

The second performance was to sing Peking Opera "Suo Lin Nang".

The third performance was a hard qigong performance, with Mr. Cui taking the stage and locking the throat with an iron gun.

A huge and sharp iron gun was held by a big man. The tip of the gun was pressed under Mr. Cui's throat. Mr. Cui had no expression on his face. As he began to exert force, the barrel of the iron gun slowly bent, and finally Mr. Cui shouted loudly, and the barrel of the gun broke with a snap.

A burst of extremely warm applause suddenly erupted from the audience.

The fourth scene is the acrobatic flying fairy.

There was a rope tied between the two pillars nearby. A teenage boy got on the rope and started to walk swaying on the rope with his hands raised.

Everyone was stunned and frightened.

Bian Wu sent us a message: "Mr. Cui has left the troupe and comes east quickly!"

We pushed through the crowd and walked quickly to the east.

Go some way.

We came to a small gentle slope outside Zhuangzi. The woods on the gentle slope were very dense.

Bian Wu was waiting for us outside the forest: "He went in wearing a mask!"

I asked: "Where is it inside?"

Bian Wu replied: "Blessed Lord Tianguan Temple!"

(End of this chapter)