chewing dragon

Chapter 135 Rex Festival
On the way back to the inn, Wei Yingdian's state of mind was obviously very different from when he came here. There was no doubt or worry, but more calmness and relief. Deng Fuqing swallowed his heart and gave birth to his arms.

Qi Jingzhi saw it in his eyes, and he knew that although Wei Yingdian said that the reincarnation was hard to tell, in fact, most of them believed it in his heart. Looking back on his words and deeds today, he knew that this old man clearly did not give all the details of the sacrifice in his dream. He said it, but he had expected the matter of Zao from the beginning, and this trip was just to verify one or two things.

Originally, Qi Jingzhi still had doubts about the child who pried open the door at night to deliver the jujube. He suspected that the jujube woman was raising spirit monsters and using strange magic to fake reincarnation to defraud people of money, but now that Wei Yingdian has such a level, even monks are envious Based on the harvest of experience, whether this trip was cheated or not, on the contrary, there is no way to know the severity, so there is no need to delve into it.

The three of them took a bullock cart and wandered all the way back to Qu'a Town.When paying the check to the coachman, Wei Yingdian, who had always been distracted, suddenly remembered that he was penniless, so he could only watch Qi Jingzhi take out the money with an embarrassed face.

Because they hadn't eaten in the morning, Wei Yingdian's master and servant were starving, so they dragged Qi Jingzhi to find a wine shop next to the river beach.

After sitting down, Wei Yingdian greeted Xiao Er to cut the meat and buy wine, and at the same time winked at his own servant, telling him to go back to the inn to get the money, saying that he would not allow Brother Qi, who had been working so hard, to spend any more money.

Naturally, Qi Jingzhi has nothing to do, seeing that what Xiaoer brought up was also Qu'a rice wine, he couldn't help but feel agitated, immediately put the jujube pouch on the table and opened it, and served it as an accompaniment to the wine.

"Jun buried in the mud to sell bones, I send snow to the world."

Seeing this jujube sac, Wei Yingdian, who had already packed up his mood, couldn't help sighing again: "Brother Yu asked himself if he was not the seed of infatuation, but looking back on what he saw today, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Everyone in the world knows that the spring is full of suffering, hunger, and ghosts. You can’t eat, that’s why you pay more attention to the incense of your children. That Zao’s husband passed away 31 years ago, and there was still someone who missed the night to burn incense and offered him a meal. After Zao’s own death, I don’t know who else can remember her... ..."

"Brother Wei is able to take pity on the poor and the old. It can be seen that there is a benevolent heart in his heart. The world will never know what is going on under the spring. The old man also said before that once the body dies and the front is abandoned, we will do our best. Please. A clear conscience is enough."

Qi Jingzhi's parents died early, and at this moment, he couldn't help but feel emotional. His eyes swept over his right arm, and he thought about the two jujube trees that grew supernaturally, the boy who gave the jujube, and the otter girl who beat the jujube. Every day dies, but there may not be no "people" thinking about it.

Thinking of this, the young man paused, then said softly again: "If you never forget, there will be echoes."

Wei Yingdian's eyes lit up when he heard the words, he chewed these eight words, couldn't help clapping his hands and praised: "A good brother is too high-spirited, but a foolish brother is not as good as it! Life is like a gift for a hundred years, and those who can keep it in their hearts for a long time, don't they just think about it like this ?”

After finishing speaking, he reached into the jujube bag and took one, put it in his mouth, and bit it with a crackling sound.

Qi Jingzhi saw it in his eyes, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, he just felt that this old man was really as he said, very optimistic about his fate.

The young man also reached out and took a jujube, opened his mouth to bite, it was really crispy and sweet, and even had a faint aroma of wine lingering between his teeth.

The two of them immediately pushed and changed cups with the jujube bag, and after drinking two bowls, they suddenly heard noises approaching from far away outside the wine shop.

Qi Jingzhi turned his head and looked out the window, and saw a hale and hearty old man in sackcloth and straw sandals walking slowly past the door, followed by many people carrying empty fish baskets and barrels, among them was the inn where he lived buddy.

He and Wei Yingdian looked at each other, and they both remembered the anecdote that there was only an old man selling fish here yesterday from the boatman, and he didn't wait past noon.

I saw the old man walking slowly with his hands behind his back and a low stool in his hand.

When he passed by the door of the wine shop, he stopped suddenly, untied the wine gourd from his waist, and threw it to the waiter who had been waiting by the door, and said: "Wine is still the old rule, as for the dishes... take a piece Just roast chicken."

The old man stood still in front of the door, and the people behind him also stopped, showing no sign of impatience.

"Otter wait a moment!"

Xiao Er agreed, and ran back to the back kitchen quickly, and came out after a while, carrying a wine gourd and an oil paper bag in one hand, and an empty fish basket in the other hand, and consciously followed the old man. behind the old man.

Seeing this, Qi Jingzhi grabbed the jujube bag, looked at Wei Yingdian again, and then stood up in unison.

Wei Yingdian even greeted the other side of the counter, pointed to the rice wine on the table, and asked the shopkeeper to keep it for himself. The shopkeeper of the wine shop seemed to be familiar with it, and agreed without any hesitation.

The two went out and followed the crowd to a rocky beach near the river.

Qi Jingzhi noticed that there were several caves dotted among the rock crevices near the water on this river beach, and a big long feather with bright colors was inserted outside each cave.

Qi Jingzhi is very familiar with this kind of plumage, it should be the tail of a pheasant, that is, the tail of a pheasant in the mountains.

The old man still paced over unhurriedly, pulled out those pheasant tails one by one, and yelled softly twice.

From the middle of the cave, many small blue and black beasts came out, which looked very similar to the otter girl Qi Jingzhi had just seen.

There are always [-] or [-] of these little guys, as soon as they come out of the hole, they throw themselves on the old man like a slapstick, or pull his trousers, or climb the hem of his clothes, and circle around him non-stop, like a domestic dog.

The old man played with the otters for a while, then coughed and pointed to the river not far away.

As soon as the little guys heard the military order, they immediately formed a long queue, walked to the riverside one by one, and jumped into the water with a plop.

Seeing this, Qi Jingzhi couldn't help being stunned, no wonder the waiter called the old man "Otter".

He watched intently for a while, and saw that apart from his vigorous blood, he was comparable to a mature man, but he couldn't see any other peculiarities. The dozen or so otters had ordinary breaths, which were far from the otter girl.

The otter found a flat place to put a low stool on the spot, and then made a gesture, and the waiter at the restaurant immediately ran over and offered him wine gourds and roast chicken wrapped in oiled paper.

The otter sat down as if no one was there, spread out the oiled paper bag on the ground in front of him, tore off a chicken leg, opened his mouth and bit a big piece, chewed heartily, opened the wine gourd, and took a sip with his head raised.

The smell of meat and wine wafted away, and Wei Yingdian immediately roared with hunger.

He rubbed his stomach in distress, and immediately walked over to the waiter in the restaurant to give some instructions.

The little boy hesitated for a while, then handed over the fish basket in his hand to Wei Yingdian, and ran towards the way he came.

Wei Yingdian walked back with the fish basket in his hand, pouted his mouth at the otter who was eating and drinking not far away, and said with a low laugh: "I'll ask the little one to send two copies, and you and I will follow the example of this otter." My lord, there are green mountains and green waters everywhere, and when you are happy, you will have white wine and yellow chicken!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly slapped his head again: "Wrong, wrong, there should be rice wine and white chicken in front of me!"

Unexpectedly, although Wei Yingdian's voice was soft, the Otter Lord's ears were very sharp, and he turned around and laughed when he heard the sound, "Laughing white hair is still wrapped around sharp locks, and I am happy that the world of mortals can't reach the fishing coir!"

He paused, raised the wine gourd in his hand to agree with Wei Yingdian, and continued: "In the eyes of this old man, this predecessor's words are naturally good words, and the two of you are undoubtedly wonderful people! If you don't dislike it, come down." Wouldn't it be nice to have a few sips of leisurely drinks and chat and laugh!"

Wei Yingdian was startled when he heard the words, and immediately beamed with joy: "Haha, I don't think there is such a reclusive and virtuous man as Otter on the beach of the water town, how dare we brothers disobey!"

He immediately dragged Qi Jingxia to the river beach, and just wanted to see the ceremony, he heard the old man say: "You two don't stick to those common etiquettes, otherwise the old man will not be able to eat this meal."

After speaking, Mr. Otto handed the wine gourd in his hand to Wei Yingdian, but his deep eyes turned around Qi Jingzhi's body seemingly unintentionally.

Wei Yingdian couldn't care less about these things, he quickly thanked him, took a sip of the gourd wine without hesitation, nodded and praised: "The rice wine in Qu'e town is really not bad!"

As he spoke, he stared at the roast chicken in front of Mr. Rex.

The corners of Qi Jingzhi's mouth turned up slightly, and he passed the jujube sac in his hand to Mr. Otter: "Old man, this jujube can also be served with wine, can you exchange a chicken leg for my brother?"

"Oh? It's from Mrs. Zao's house..."

Mr. Otter glanced at the jujube bag, and immediately nodded happily: "Is there anything you can change, just eat and drink with me!"

"My virtuous brother knows me! Mr. Otter, then you will not be polite. When the wine and meat I asked for arrives later, I will definitely give you back double!"

Wei Yingdian laughed, stuffed the wine gourd into Qi Jingzhi's hand, turned his head to look around, and moved two relatively flat stones over.

He sat on a piece for himself, and left a piece for Qi Jing, and then, without the slightest bit of politeness, he tore off the remaining chicken leg and gnawed it.

Qi Jingzhi also took advantage of the situation and sat down. Seeing that Wei Yingdian was eating too quickly, he had to hand him back the wine gourd. He reached out and took a jujube, and chewed it slowly in his mouth.

Wei Yingdian quickly took a big sip, and immediately praised: "With the roast chicken, this wine tastes three points more mellow! Mr. Otter really knows how to enjoy it!"

Otter also smiled when he heard the words, and said leisurely: "As the saying goes, rice is the meat in wine, koji is the bone in wine, and water is the blood in wine. The flesh, bone and blood of our Qu'a Yellow Wine are all top-grade, with excellent natural flavor."

"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it!" Wei Yingdian asked curiously as his energy recovered a bit.

Mr. Otter casually threw away the chicken bone in his hand, and picked up a jujube in his hand. He ate it like a treasure: "First of all, the meat in this wine is rich in glutinous rice, which is large and full, fragrant and sticky, and white as jade. It is naturally suitable for wine making. Besides, the bone of this wine, the barley koji for wine making is also made from the best red-skinned wheat in the vicinity, with a strong aroma, it is also a good product."

Wei Yingdian immediately nodded in agreement: "Xunyang County has a mild climate and abundant rainfall, and the farmland around Qu'a is irrigated by rivers and lakes, so the rice and wheat grown must be good."

"Well, you know how to do it!"

Mr. Otter praised him, and then said: "In the end, the blood in the wine is the most important thing. Speaking of it, it is related to Naqu'a Houhu Lake. When digging a depression into a lake a few years ago, the young men were in the lake. An ancient well of unknown age was dug out on an unnamed hill. The inscription is Yuruquan. The color of the spring in the well is like milk, sweet and cold. The princes of the counties were amazed and tried to order people to make wine from it. It was really mellow Very chilly!"

"So the princes couldn't bear to destroy it, so they kept the ancient jade well and the hill, and now it has turned into a small isolated island in the lake. Since then, the best Qu'a rice wine has been made from the jade milk in the ancient well. Brewed from spring water. Because of this, this wine has grown from a small town to a famous wine in the county in just a year or two, and has even become famous in the entire Junzhou. If it wasn’t for the inconvenience of transporting water in the lake and the insufficient production of rice wine, it would have become famous Qi is no problem!"

"I see!"

Wei Yingdian was fascinated when he heard it: "Although my ancestral home is Xunyang, I haven't returned to my hometown for a long time, and I don't even know this kind of scenery in my hometown. I'm really ashamed!"

Qi Jingzhi was also quite emotional when he heard this. A Qu'e Hou Lake not only changed the terrain and water potential, but also affected the livelihood of countless people in the vicinity.

It seems that there is a great mystery hidden in it, but unfortunately he has not dabbled in this way, and he really can't realize anything. If it were Liu Muzhi here, he might be able to make great progress.

While his thoughts were flying, Qi Jingzhi suddenly heard the rushing of the river, and immediately turned his head to look, and saw the dozen or so otters holding the live fish in the river with their paws in their mouths, emerging one by one on the bank of the river .

After these little guys came ashore, they suddenly divided into four teams, each occupying the four corners of the southeast, northwest, and neatly placed the newly caught river fish on the ground. Quietly looking up at the sky.

What's even more amazing is that those river fish are clearly still alive, but they are motionless, with no intention of running away or resisting at all.

"Huh? Is there an otter festival this season?" Wei Yingdian suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

Before Mr. Ottoman and Qi Jingzhi could respond, the former doctor of the Ministry of Rites began to recite with a shake of his head: "There is a saying in "Book of Rites: Moon Order", the moon of Mengchun, the east wind thaws, the stinging insects start to vibrate, the fish on the ice, the otter Sacrificial fish, swan geese come."

"According to this theory, the otter sacrifice should be in the month of mengchun, when the ice breaks and the fish come out, the most tender and plump, the otter will eat it, and sacrifice it first! As the saying goes, if an otter gets a good fish, it is said that heaven has mercy .I don’t dare to eat it first, hold the scales and look at Qingxuan! But now it’s autumn, how can I still see the Rex Festival?”

Hearing this, Mr. Otter was stunned at first, and then laughed loudly: "This statement is absurd! Otters are ferocious by nature, and they take pleasure in killing. When they eat fish, they often only take one or two bites of each fish and then discard them. The leftover fish are piled up together, and it looks like a sacrifice, so some people make a guess and call it "Daji".

"Although these dozen or so have been domesticated by me, they no longer dare to commit suicide or eat fish without authorization, but the problem of accumulating fish has remained, and it looks more like that. But to put it bluntly, this otter sacrifice is nothing but It's because of their animal nature, so how can there be seasons?"

Hearing this, Wei Yingdian refused to believe it: "But this matter has been recorded in many books, for example, the book "Piya" also said that the otter beast, a genus of the western white tiger, is like a fox but small, blue and black, The skin is like a wing, and the carp is taken from the water, and it is placed in all directions, and then it is eaten, which is called a fish sacrifice in the world. Could it be that all these books are written wrong?"

The smile on Mr. Otter's face remained undiminished, he shook his head firmly and said: "You have read the book to death! As the saying goes, it is better to have no books than to believe in books..."

While talking, he stretched out his hand and tore off a chicken wing, and handed it to Qi Jingzhi: "Brother, do you think this is the case?"

Hearing this, Qi Jingzhi looked away from the little guys by the river, and the smoky background in his eyes quietly disappeared.

The young man turned his head, reached out to take the chicken wings, and smiled at the old man: "I have never seen otters elsewhere, so I dare not speak nonsense. But the ones in front of me are clearly offering sacrifices to the blue sky and the loess below. Jiang, Houji... you bastard!"

(End of this chapter)