the last priest

As soon as the wine was down, the conversation naturally became more frequent. Lao Wang also had only a half-knowledge of the previous organizational actions, so he took this opportunity to ask Dad Shitou. ▏中㊣ ▏

He didn't know whether it was because he drank too much alcohol or if Lao Wang was pretending to be stupid on purpose, he squinted his eyes and asked, "Old man, how did you know that we are from Beijing just by guessing?"

He drank too much, but Shitou's father didn't drink too much, he was sober.Peeling the yams in his hand, the old man said: "There are only a few families in our village, and there are few strangers visiting on weekdays. Some relatives come and go around and everyone knows each other. Besides, people in this season I don’t even know how to come up the mountain.” After that, old man Min took a sip of his wine, smacked his lips and continued: “A few years ago, there were a few waves of people like you who came up the mountain, and they all lived with me and went out during the day. When I came back at night, I went there for a while, and I didn’t say hello when I left. But I’m a tight-lipped person, and I don’t inquire about it. Besides, they treat me well and give me enough money every time I come. Today Looking at your outfits and their appearance, the old man is old but not confused."

Old Wang asked patiently, "Master, do you know where they are going?"

Father Shitou put down the bowl, slowly peeled the yams, stuffed one into his mouth, and then said: "The old man never inquired, and they didn't tell you. You city people have weird ideas, and the old man can't understand it." .”

Seeing that there was nothing useful to ask, Old Wang could only smile awkwardly, took a bowl and had a drink with Shitou Dad, then took out a stack of money from his pocket with a smile and put it on the table: "Old man, how many of us I want to stay with you for a few days, please take care of me."

Shitou's father didn't go to take the money, but instead said intriguingly: "Hey, don't go away again, the old man feels uncomfortable spending this money."

After saying this, the faces of the people present immediately changed. Old Wang wanted to ask, but Cha Wenbin stopped him with a wink.He stood up with a smile and said, "Father Shitou, this junior also came to ask you something. Just now when we were climbing a mountain, we saw a hole in the ice and almost fell. You have lived on this mountain for most of your life. Another hunter, do you know what the hole is for?"

Although he is old, but his teeth are good, he threw a piece of meat into his mouth and finished chewing before he said slowly: "Since the little brother asked, the old man will not hide it, the old man in the ice cellar has seen it before. "

"Oh, what about the old man?" Cha Wenbin still asked with a smile.

"I can't go to that place. When I was young, people from my ancestors left a message saying that the land was haunted by ghosts. If the troubles were not good, they would die there for no reason. This is also a forbidden place in our small village. When the old man was young, he would die. Don't be afraid of anything, dare to spend the night in the grave." Speaking of this, Father Shitou's eyes began to brighten, took another sip of wine, and continued:

"When I was 21 years old, I just married my wife. There were bandits at that time. Although our mountain is remote, it is relatively quiet. There are mountains and land, so it is not a problem to get food. As soon as my daughter-in-law passed the house, there was an extra family. Open your mouth, that night I carried a shotgun and went out to get a roe. It was a coincidence that I saw a roe far away on the hill where you came, and it was a white roe. Yes. The summer moon shines clearly, and it’s only about fifty meters away from me. When I fired a shot, the beast ran away.

It's not the old man bragging, the old man's marksmanship is infallible, and after chasing him, there is indeed a puddle of blood on the ground.I followed the blood trail all the way, and I arrived at the ice hole you mentioned.At a place less than ten meters away from that place, I remembered the last words of my ancestors, and I didn't want to chase after it, but it was the first time I saw the white roe deer, and my brain got hot, so I ran over, not far from the ice hole. One meter away, the beast was struggling on the ground with its hind legs limping, looking like it wanted to enter the hole.

That cave is amazing, no matter how hot it is outside in summer, the surrounding area of ​​the field is chilly, and you can still see ice flowers at the entrance of the cave when you get up early in the morning.I was afraid that if it ran again, I would shoot it in the forehead again, and it would be overwhelmed immediately. The roe was fat, and its body was white and white, without a trace of stray hair. I carried the thing and went home.The skin was peeled that night, and the meat was cut off and cooked in a pot.

At that time, my daughter-in-law was just pregnant, so I brought the first bowl of soup to her. It was so fragrant that it made my mouth water.The daughter-in-law picked up the big bowl and ate it in a few mouthfuls. She yelled for more, so I went to fill another bowl.

Although the family was poor at that time, this wild game was eaten at both ends for three days. Why did the daughter-in-law keep eating it tonight?I thought it was because she was pregnant and hurt her mouth, so I went to fill another bowl. The soup came out of my daughter-in-law's mouth, but she still wanted to eat.I thought at the time, is this stuff so delicious?

With doubts, I went to the kitchen to fill a bowl and drink it in one sip. The taste was so fresh that I couldn’t stop it. After one bowl, I immediately had a second bowl, and then a third bowl, until I couldn’t eat it. My wife didn’t know When he had come to the kitchen, he put his whole head into the pot and drank. "

Speaking of this, Father Shitou began to sob. Hearing this, Cha Wenbin also knew that something was wrong. How could anyone eat like this, so he asked: "Don't worry, old man, please speak slowly."

Father Shitou wiped away his tears and continued: "In the end, she and I competed to drink, the pot was full of soup, and we drank it until we woke up the next day, and she had already gone, swollen to death." and I have left a small life to live on till now.”

Few people have never heard of this kind of thing. Hearing it made his heart break out in sweat. Some people would really eat it to death. Chaozi asked: "Old man, is that roe deer meat really so delicious?"

Father Shitou pointed to the plate of meat on the table and said, "This is roe deer meat. Although it tastes good, no one will eat it like the two of us. Later, the old people in the village said that roe deer was We have become spirits, we have been bewitched by evil spirits, and we were killed by it, which is also a punishment for me to enter the forbidden area without authorization."

After some consolation, they drank some wine. The warm charcoal fire made people feel intoxicated. There was no electricity in this village. After eating and drinking, they naturally had to rest. They were also tired all day.

Father Shitou may be a little sad because of recalling the past, so he went back to his kang and snored early. Zha Wenbin and the others went to sleep with their clothes on after the stove was lit in the next room.Several big men crowded together on a kang, it was not cold at all, the wind outside the window was still whistling, Hengroulian, Zhuo Xiong, and Chaozi all fell asleep, only Cha Wenbin was left He rested his head on his hands and thought about the day's events.

"Wen Bin, can't you sleep?" Lao Wang asked in a low voice.

"You haven't slept yet, do you have any ideas?" Cha Wenbin asked back.

Old Wang turned over, walked lightly to the door, put his ear on the door and listened carefully, then returned to the kang, and said to Cha Wenbin, "What do you think of this old man?"

Zha Wenbin knew that Lao Wang was on guard, but this time he seemed to be extra vigilant, even a bit too much: "A very good old man, I can't see any problems for the time being, and you should have the most complete information, why do you still ask?" wake me up."

Lao Wang snorted: "Come on, you think I didn't notice, you didn't drink a sip of wine all night, and you spit it all under the table secretly."

Cha Wenbin turned over on his side, and murmured: "I'm drinking too much, I'll go to bed first." After speaking, he ignored Lao Wang again.

Facing Zha Wenbin's buttocks, Old Wang let out a "hey" and could only give up. He also turned over and started snoring after a while.

That night, Cha Wenbin stayed up all night.

In the early morning, when the rooster in the yard crowed loudly, Chao Zi and Zhuo Xiong woke up one after another, yawning and shouting that the wine last night was really good, but Cha Wenbin said: "You go out first, I will sleep again For a while, remember not to leave this yard for half a step in the morning."

Chaozi was about to say something, but was stopped by Lao Wang. The four of them went out of the room first, and Father Shitou had already turned on the hot water outside.After washing up, the old man served steaming white flour steamed buns. After breakfast, he came to the yard. Chaozi lamented how good the air in the mountains is.

This morning, the few of them were basking in the sun in the yard, except that Dad Shitou went out once during the period to see if the trap had caught the prey, and there was nothing else to do.

When Zha Wenbin got up at noon, there was a burst of hearty laughter outside the door. It turned out that Father Shitou had trapped a wild boar. They were helping to fight the wild boar for lunch.

Cha Wenbin smiled embarrassedly and said, "The old man is a good crafter, we have a good fortune again."

While talking, Dad Shito drew a sharp knife from the middle of the belly of the wild boar with hairy legs, and opened the pig. The old man stuck the sharp knife on the table, and said: "Brother, if you are here I'm really not used to sleeping in the mountains, I'd better go down the mountain earlier."

Others might think this was a joke, but it made Cha Wenbin feel that there was something in it, but he replied without changing his face: "As long as the old man is not afraid of disturbing you, I'd like to stay here for a while."