Mantra

Chapter 53 A Bowl of Rice
What is Yin soldiers crossing the border?It is estimated that no one can describe it in detail.It seems that people just pass on such a "phenomenon" by word of mouth.

Some people say that they are illusions formed by underground steam caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, while others say that they are the "poisonous miasma" produced by the stasis of dead bodies after a catastrophe.In short, there are often legends of so-called "yin soldiers" crossing the border after a major disaster.

Those who believe in science explain this from a scientific point of view, while those who don't know much or have religious beliefs think that those soldiers are "ghost messengers" who escort the undead in the underworld.

In short, there are various explanations for the transit of Yin soldiers.Some say it's an entity, some say it's an illusion, some say it's science, and some say it's superstition.

But there is one thing that everyone agrees on.

"The appearance of Yin soldiers" must mean that there will be a big killing.

However, few people know that before and after the transit of Yin soldiers, we can often find many "omens" of Yin soldiers passing through, similar to earthquakes.For example, babies cry at night, willows laugh secretly, magpies move, wells bleed, etc.

What I call Yincao "buys food for Yin soldiers".It was one of these "omens" that was circulated in the cook circle.

All of this starts with an ancient "ceremony", which is the meaning of "buying soldiers and rations".

The so-called "buying military rations", as the name suggests, is the rations for soldiers, but this kind of rations refers to the first rations issued to recruits in ancient times after joining the army.

Moreover, this kind of food is not so much a "food payment" as a ritual.

The procedure of the ceremony is as follows:
In ancient times, there was an unwritten rule in the army of our country. Once a civilian was conscripted as a soldier, no matter how good his physical fitness was or how capable he was, he would be given a bowl of wine immediately.

This bowl of wine is called "Zhuang Xingjiu", and there are only two kinds of people who drink this kind of wine, one is the death row prisoner, and the other is the soldier who went to the army.

The way Zhuangxing drinks is also very particular.Whoever gave this wine, no matter whether he would drink or not, had to drink it on the spot.It's just that the drinking methods of death row prisoners and soldiers are completely different.

An said that the death row prisoners would drink up the wine in one gulp, and then throw the bowl and go on the road "on a red business trip".Soldiers, on the other hand, must not finish drinking or throw bowls.

When recruits drink, they must leave half of it, and pour the rest into the sky, letting the wine fall on the ground, preferably on the yellow ground, to express sacrifice to the ancestors of the world and the mountains and rivers, and to pray for peace and wealth.

When the bowl is empty, recruits will leave the bowl and let the officers fill the bowl with white rice, preferably glutinous rice.

After that, the recruit will give his first handful of "military pay" to the marching cooks, and let them cook a full meal for themselves.

For thousands of years, this unwritten rule has been practiced in our army, and the habit of "buying military rations" is not only ours, but it is still subtly affecting many countries around our country, such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and others have followed or disguised this custom.Even until World War II, the Japanese Army and Navy still had the practice of giving recruits "red bean glutinous rice" as a way to buy military food.

The modern explanation for why Zhuangxing wine is given is the soldier's yearning for peace and courage.However, there are many explanations as to why the military rations should be distributed, but there is no conclusion.

I have to say, this is a pity.

The "cook circle" in modern China lacks the spirit of in-depth exploration of my country's food culture traditions, and more is purely satisfied with the ingredients and taste, which makes Chinese cuisine form an embarrassing situation where there are delicious food but no "food etiquette" .

In many cases, this is also the main reason why foreigners always feel that our Chinese food is not up to standard, the environment is harsh, and we do not care about civilization.

Now... very few people remember it, right?Cooks should pay attention to "knife, fire, work, and etiquette" and "etiquette" is the key to "food can be psychic".

...Of course, the reason why I think so much about a moldy glutinous rice is not because of any complaints, but because I have heard some rumors about this moldy glutinous rice from the old squad leader and rumors a long time ago .

According to word of mouth in the Wu Zang Temple, moldy glutinous rice was used by heretics to recruit "yin soldiers" in ancient times.

This statement comes from a phenomenon.

It is said that when Yin soldiers cross the border, they will always find some inexplicable moldy food at the place where they "transit". For example, the original rice and noodle ingredients will quickly deteriorate and disappear at a speed visible to the human eye.Vegetables, melons, and fruits that were fresh before became moldy, insects, and rotted in a blink of an eye.

People can't understand and explain this phenomenon, so they often say that it is the "soldier food" that the Yin soldiers "eat" when they cross the border.

When my old squad leader told me about these dark taboos, he mentioned it once, saying that a "branch" in the Wu Zang Temple would take advantage of this phenomenon to make a special kind of "mildew" glutinous rice.The glutinous rice is made of bad luck from the world, and it is easy to attract ghosts. Once the attracted ghosts eat the glutinous rice, they will become ghost soldiers driven by people to serve their temporary "masters". .
After thinking about it for a while, I was a little bit regretful and surprised. What I regretted was why I didn’t ask the old squad leader more. What I was surprised was why this Wu Zang Temple had such weird people who delved into the “ingredients” of recruiting ghosts. Taoist, what's the use of attracting ghosts?cooking?
When I thought of this, I immediately squeezed that grain of glutinous rice into my palm.At the same time, with the last trace of luck, he looked to the ground.

"What are you looking for?" Seeing my strange movements, Zhao Hong couldn't help asking me, "Is there only dirt on the ground?"

I waved my hand and said, "You guys are looking carefully. Is there any rice on the ground... If there is, take a look..."

But before I finished my instructions, that sharp-eyed Ah Si interrupted me and said, "Brother Tian! I have rice here! It's all glutinous rice!"

While talking, little Ah Si stretched out his hand and pointed at the ground in front of him in panic.

I ran over in a hurry, took out my mobile phone, turned on the flashlight and took a photo on the ground.

The moldy gray glutinous rice is mixed among the stones, stretching slowly like a snake, winding forward on Laoqi Road, pointing intermittently from the direction of the three tables... to our car.

"Moldy glutinous rice, square table, big red paper, white porcelain bowl, three sticks of incense" I looked at these things, recalled all the information I could use in my mind, and quickly came up with a very surprising idea.Even I can't believe this idea, after all, what age is it? !
"These three tables are not inviting others to eat or offering sacrifices!" I suddenly "enlightened" and said, "I think someone is setting up a formation here! The purpose is to summon Yin soldiers!"

"Calling Yin soldiers?! It really is Yin soldiers?!" Zhao Hong was equally astonished after hearing my words, and beads of sweat suddenly appeared on his face.That expression seemed to have touched some taboo in his heart with my words.

And what he said next echoed my thoughts.

Zhao Hong immediately said in a hurry: "Hurry up and get back in the car! I fully understand what you said."

"Understand what?"

Zhao Hong eagerly pointed to the driveway: "Go back and talk about it, it's not safe outside, and the landslide is definitely not accidental, let me tell you"

At this juncture that General Zhao Hong didn't say, the pickup truck light that had been shining on us suddenly went out.

"Ah~!" A scream crossed the sky.

In the darkness, we were stunned to hear a sharp female cry from the direction of the pickup!Immediately afterwards, Uncle Zhao Hong's black dog barked wildly.

During the barking of the dog, Zhao Hong and I didn't slow down for a while, so that we didn't move in the face of this sudden situation.

"A woman's call." Zhao Hong was the first to speak.

His words brought me back to my senses immediately, and I immediately continued: "Xian Hongye!"

Then, I grabbed the short-legged Ah Si, and Zhao Hong and I ran towards the pickup truck one after the other.

We weren't moving very fast in the dark, and I didn't have any good premonitions about what was going to happen.But what I didn't expect was that when we ran back to the pickup truck out of breath, the situation there had worsened beyond all of our imaginations.

I was amazed to see that everything inside and outside the pickup had changed in just a dozen seconds after we ran back!

At this time, Wang Hou and Hongye had already disappeared, the door of the pickup was open, a large hole was opened in the glass on the right side, and the two headlights were completely destroyed.

From the outside, the entire pickup was empty, dilapidated and desolate, as if it had just been ransacked, and the only thing left seemed to be the black dog "Dudu" in the back pocket.

At this moment, the dog was roaring towards the side of Old Qi Road. The black dog was also very strong, and the chain that tied the dog was stretched and thinned.

In the desolation of the dog barking, I stared blankly at all this. Everything that was enough to overturn my thinking.

Did the two living beings just evaporate like this?I can not understand.

If Xian Hongye was "killed" alone, maybe it can be explained, but what about Wang Hou?He is the No.2 of our military region's martial arts competition. He is a character that even a dozen strong men may not be able to fight. He is a killing machine!
Even Wang Hou disappeared in just a few tens of seconds, what does this mean?In other words, is the "opponent" in the dark really a Yin soldier?

I don't know, and I'm not reconciled, but I dare to think about it.

Unwilling to be reconciled, I had no choice but to gently reach out like a puppet, and opened the half-hidden door of the pickup truck.

Although I knew that there was probably nothing there, I still opened the door to look with a little luck in my heart. I hoped that Wang Hou and Hongye were still in the car, maybe they were lying under the car seat?

Soon, the door opened.

When I opened the car door and saw everything in the car by the bleak moonlight, my last glimmer of hope...was shattered.

There, there were no Wang Hou and Xian Hongye, but only a pile of broken glass, and two blood-stained stones placed on their seats.

"Stone! It's Yin soldiers!" Zhao Hong, who also saw everything, became a little hysterical. He pointed to the two very ordinary stones and shouted: "You are right! It is Yin soldiers crossing the border! We will all be turned into stones." Already!"

(End of this chapter)