Mantra

Chapter 116 Requiem Food

After Zhao Shuihe connected the phone, she briefly talked about the situation with the other side, she put down the phone, and her expression immediately became serious.

Seeing that she was not responding normally, I quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Sure enough, she calmed down a bit, then raised her head, and said to me slightly trembling:

"Zhao Haikun's call... He said that the body of your master Zhao Haipeng has been found, and your comrades-in-arms and friends are over there."

After hearing what she said, I was agitated and asked urgently, "Where is it?"

A trace of incomprehensible fear appeared on Zhao Shuihe's face, and then quickly calmed down.She waved her hand and said, "Come with me, I'll take you there. But you have to be mentally prepared. The situation over there is not very good"

His words were inexplicable, but I didn't ask them in detail urgently.

After nodding, Zhao Shuihe took me straight to the north in the village, during which she didn't speak much, and the scene became a little quiet.

As for me, I was constantly thinking, thinking about a series of questions and doubts caused by the death of my old squad leader.

During the day, because I got Zhao Shuihe's promise to help us undo the free-eating Gu, my mood now is far from being depressed and impulsive like when I first came to Zhao's House.But the ensuing problem is that I really want to unravel all the "tricks" about the funeral of the old squad leader.He wanted to dig out the bastard who made Huoweilian make troubles again and again from the soil.

After the battle just now, I have already deeply understood that there is a "power" in this village that always wants to kill me.From the Duan Tianshi who pretended to be crazy, to Li Douniu who led me into the trap of the "cat array", from Uncle Lei Ren who spied on my old squad leader's ancestral kitchen knife, to the old lady in black who held a white-faced doll every day.

They are all bad things!Maybe it's a gang.

But what is their purpose?I don't know, and I can't figure out why someone would kill me over and over again.I don't know any core clues about the old squad leader's death, let alone prevent anyone from getting the old squad leader's relics.

All in all, I feel like I'm just an outsider getting involved for no reason.

Why are some people afraid of me as an "outsider"?Are you so afraid that you have to get rid of me?

At this time, I thought of the old lady who was elusive again. Out of curiosity, I couldn't help but ask Zhao Shuihe: "Shuihe? Do you remember that old lady holding a white-faced doll at the door?"

When I asked about this old lady, Zhao Shuihe's face suddenly twitched slightly, then she regained her composure, nodded at me and said, "I remember. What do you doubt?"

I was afraid that she would misunderstand, so I just asked: "She...do you remember the method of snatching away the body of my old squad leader? Can you analyze it with me and see what clues you can find?"

At that time, the old lady only yelled to my old squad leader, "Go and see my wife", and my old squad leader's black iron body immediately laughed. Not only did he laugh, but he also followed the old lady out step by step.The weirdness of this is really confusing.

I can't figure it out, so I naturally want to ask.

After Zhao Shuihe heard what I said, she didn't answer me immediately. After she thought carefully for a long time, her pace suddenly slowed down.

In deep thought, Zhao Shuihe said: "I don't know which kind of fairy this old lady is... But, I know the doll in her hand."

I was so happy to hear this.

From the beginning to the end, the old guy was holding a white-faced doll in his hand. She called the white-faced doll her son and made the white-faced doll laugh.

Anyway... very abnormal.

So, I eagerly asked Zhao Shuihe, "What is the origin of that white-faced doll?"

Zhao Shuihe told me: "The white-faced doll is scientifically called 'Fruit Food'. Fruit food has two functions in the past, one is to eat, and the other...is used to sacrifice to the soul!"

"Requiem?!" I said in astonishment.

"Requiem!" Zhao Shuihe nodded.At the same time, he told me the history of this "fruit food".

"Fruit food" is actually a modern "dough figurine", but it is different from modern dough figurines that can only be used for viewing and pay more attention to appreciation. Fruit food can be used for eating.In many remote places in ancient and modern times, this kind of dough-sculpted characters and animal images were also used for sacrifices, and even disgusted and voodoo.

The source of fruit food is steamed buns. According to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Kongming captured Meng Huo seven times, and the victorious team returned to the court. When they were seeking to cross Lushui, they were blocked by strong winds and could not pass after seven days.

At the right time, the natives said that it was the ghosts in the water who were causing trouble, and they had to kill and use their heads as sacrifices to the grievances, and practice the method of defeating hatred before they could return to the teacher safely.

Zhuge Liang didn't want to sacrifice human animals, so he came up with a clever plan to wrap pork, beef and mutton with dough, and carved the shape of a human face on the dough, using "steamed buns" as a sacrificial tribute.

He first practiced the method of tired of victory, and then threw the object into Lushui to sacrifice. After that, Lushui was calmed down, and the army was able to return to the army safely.This white dough is called "mantou" because it looks like a human head. Later, it developed into a kind of steamed bun food that we all know and eat.

After the production of steamed buns, it was differentiated into two types of pasta in the Tang Dynasty. The first is the well-known "steamed buns", which pay attention to food and also have the function of offering sacrifices.The production method is oriented toward simplicity.The eyebrows, eyes and facial features of those people's minds are all omitted.

Another production method, which is what Zhao Shuihe called "fruit food" dough figurines, mainly inherits the religious functions of steamed buns for offering sacrifices and requieming souls. The edible properties are gradually deteriorating. Today's fruit food is often used for religious rituals, calling out the soul and disgusting. It is a kind of "sacrifice" of other methods.

Speaking of this, Zhao Shuihe told me with the keen sense of smell of the cook in Bai's case: "The dough in the old lady's hand is so vivid, it can be seen that it is made by everyone. It is probably the craftsmanship of the 'abbot' in the cook's case in Bai's case."

I had no choice but to smile bitterly and said, "He's another mysterious person. Why do the masters in the Zhao family building like to pretend to be crazy..."

Zhao Shuihe shook her head slightly, apparently, she was not too clear about the purpose of this abrupt old lady.

I asked unwillingly: "Can you see anything else from the mask in her hand?"

I asked this, obviously hoping to get more clues.And I feel that Zhao Shuihe is very observant, she can judge my best dishes from my knife skills, I am afraid she also has a unique vision to see some clues from the dough in the old lady's hand.

Zhao Shuihe thought about it for a while, and told me: "I can only give a general idea! Whether it is accurate or not is not guaranteed."

I nodded.

Later, Zhao Shuihe told me that Chinese dough sculptures originated in the Three Kingdoms and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. They are very regional, and the number of ways that can be counted is nothing more than the "South" and "North" schools.The northern school of dough figurines is represented by Shanxi dough figurines, mostly made of glutinous rice flour, with exaggerated shapes, rich themes, good at expressing emotions, but not good at detailed depiction.

Thinking back to the doll in the old lady's hand, I shook my head and said, "It's definitely not this way. The white-faced doll is well shaped, vivid, and clever."

"That's South Road!" Zhao Shuihe said.

She went on to tell me that the dough sculptures on the South Road were shorter than those on the North Road, and they developed from the North School when they went south with "Su Zizuo" in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.It combines the principles of the Northern School of dough figurines with the techniques of Huaiyang pastry, and pays attention to the delicate and lifelike shapes. Zhenjiang and Shanghai dough figurines are the most representative.

"Zhenjiang! Shanghai, Su Zizuo!" I stared at Zhao Shuihe with wide eyes and said, "Isn't that the site of your Huaiyang Two Ancestor Temple? Don't you have any impression of it, old lady?"

Zhao Shuihe's next answer made me feel strange.

(End of this chapter)