I'm not a god anymore

After distributing the cakes, the girl left the woodshed.Bai Yuan happily held three scallion pancakes and followed them with a happy smile.

One person and one monkey sat on the wooden steps at the main entrance of the Wolf Temple, eating the freshly baked scallion pancakes in the cold winter wind.

The white ape chirped, happily talking to the girl beside him.

The girl was a little surprised, "You came back to spend New Year's Eve with me on purpose? You monkey head, do you know about New Year's Eve?"

The white ape scratched his head in embarrassment, and with his oily hands, he wiped the hair on the back of his head to make it shiny.

It is intelligent by nature, much smarter and stronger than ordinary apes.After staying in Hanyu Mountain for a long time, I also know that the human beings at the bottom of the mountain seem to have very important festivals during this time, and it will be very lively.

Thinking of the little girl living alone in the Wolf Temple, it struggled for many days before it gritted its teeth and came back at the risk of being beaten.

But the little girl shook her head speechlessly, and said, "You are a monkey, what kind of New Year's Eve...After eating the cakes, go back to the mountains to play by yourself, I don't need you to accompany me."

But the white ape shook his head quickly, chirping non-stop, expressing that he would never go back.

In the cold wind, the girl was silent for a while, and then nodded slowly.

"It's fine for you to stay, but if you stay, you have to obey my orders and help me do things. Human festivals have many details and troubles. Since you stay, you have to obey."

"Chi! Chi!" The white ape nodded repeatedly, expressing that he would be obedient.

So the monkey head lived in the mountain. When the white ape was forced to practice in front of the wolf temple, a room was prepared for it.Now Xiao Ai cleaned the house again and let the monkey head live in.

But with such a delay, today's practice has not started yet, and noon will arrive.

Xiao Ai looked at the sky, and went directly to the firewood house to carry the bundle of firewood cut in the morning on her back, preparing to go down the mountain to attend the funeral in the village.

Huotongguo believes in the god of fire and advocates cremation.According to the custom, every family who goes to the funeral must bring a bundle of firewood to the host family.

As for gift money and other things, it is not acceptable in this remote mountain village.When the funeral is held in the village, the neighboring villagers will go to every household to help, cooking, washing dishes and tidying up, all of which require a lot of manpower.

If Xiao Ai is still in the village, he must help with such a funeral.

But now that she has a special status, even if she wants to help, the villagers dare not bother her.So it is enough to carry a bundle of firewood and express your heart.

Seeing that Xiao Ai was going down the mountain, the white ape hurried over and chattered non-stop, wanting to go with Xiao Ai.

It has never been in the human village under the mountain, and it is full of curiosity.Now Xiaoai is leading the way, and it really wants to see what the place where humans live is like.

Xiao Ai thought for a while, but she didn't object, so she unloaded the firewood from her back and put it on the white ape's back, and then walked out of the mountain with it.

The footsteps of one person and one monkey are very fast. It takes more than an hour for ordinary people to walk on the mountain road, but Xiaoai took the white monkey for about two quarters of an hour to arrive.

This is because the white ape's cultivation base is low and Xiao Ai is dragged down, otherwise she would be able to walk outside the mountain in about a quarter of an hour.

When they arrived at the entrance of the village, the villagers on duty saw Xiao Ai's shock, but they did not dare to stop her.

After Xiao Ai entered the village, the white ape beside her attracted the curious eyes of many people.

It's just that the villagers peeked at the monkey curiously. The monkey was not restrained, but walked all the way, looked around, and was very happy. Everything he saw was very novel.

Because of the funeral, the village is quite lively now.

When Xiao Ai led the white ape to his uncle's house, he saw his uncle's body wrapped in a white cloth and lying in the mourning hall.

It was meal time at this time, and the mourning hall was very lively inside and outside.Ten tables were set up outside the mourning hall, and the smell of food permeated the crowd. Everyone was looking for a place to sit down and wait for the meal to be served, while others who could not find a place sat around the firewood on the side of the road to keep warm and chat.

The appearance of Xiao Ai surprised the villagers slightly.The host's family even came out to welcome this little girl who was their descendant.

No one thought that Xiao Ai would take the initiative to come down the mountain, after all, no one dared to inform her.However, her appearance made the master and You Rong feel quite proud.

It's just that Xiao Ai didn't stay for too long, not even staying for lunch.After presenting the firewood he had brought, and chatting with the host's uncles, Xiao Ai called the white ape who was crawling around in the crowd to leave.

On the way to leave, Bai Yuan still couldn't hide his excitement.What happened today was so novel to it, it couldn't help asking the girl what all these people were doing together.

Xiao Ai glanced at it, and explained casually, "A funeral is held for the dead. Didn't you notice a corpse lying in the middle of the mourning hall? That's my uncle, who froze to death in the heavy snow not long ago. .”

Xiao Ai's explanation stunned Bai Yuan for a moment.

"Hey?" The white ape seemed a little confused.

So Xiao Ai explained it in detail, about birth, old age, sickness and death, funeral customs, and the cremation that will be carried out later.

But the white ape became more and more perplexed and kept asking questions.

die?cremation?Burned to ashes?Then the ashes were thrown into the river and flowed away?

These human customs are very strange to the white apes in the mountains.It looked dazed, but vaguely thought of something.

So the white ape, who was originally lively and happy, suddenly fell silent.

It danced and barked all the way, but now it followed Xiao Ai with its head drooping and dejected, depressed.The silent and depressed appearance was in stark contrast to the cheerfulness when he descended the mountain.

Chapter 54

After going to the village with the girl to attend the funeral that day when he was young, the white ape who returned to the mountain has been silent a lot, and is no longer as escaped as before.

Started to practice actively, and even the number of times of laziness and distraction in practice has decreased a lot.

Xiao Ai was quite satisfied, thinking that the hericium had finally changed its nature.

However, in just a few days, the number of monkey-headed slacking off during practice became more and more frequent.

In the end, the old state sprouted, and it was no different from the lazy and idle appearance before.Xiaoai doesn't urge it to practice, it plays and frolicks on its own, lazily.

Xiao Ai was speechless for a while looking at that lazy and optimistic look, and completely gave up her expectations for the monkey head in her heart.

However, with the monkey head, the deserted mountain became much more lively.

This monkey head plays around every day, and occasionally it can make Xiao Ai smile a little bit on his cold face.

And although the monkey head is not willing to sit still and meditate, but if it is allowed to work and do things, it will do very well.

So Xiao Ai handed over all the chores in the mountains to the white ape.

Let it take the broom to clean the fallen leaves around the Wolf Temple every day.

Once every three days, let the white ape clean the floor and altar inside and outside the wolf temple.

Go to the bottom of the mountain to fetch water every day, go to the back mountain to cut firewood every day... After all the chores are handed over to this monkey, it saves Xiao Ai a lot of time and allows her to focus entirely on her practice.

The time soon came to the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, New Year's Eve.

On this day, Xiao Ai woke up very early, and by the way called the white ape next door who was still sleeping late.

On New Year's Eve, there are many things that need to be busy and prepared, so Xiao Ai does not plan to practice today.

She got up early to cook some porridge, and after breakfast with Bai Yuan, she started a busy day.

The main hall of the Wolf Temple was completely cleaned inside and out.Even the few vacant rooms in the front and back of the main hall have been carefully cleaned.

The cleaning work didn't end until noon.Then Xiaoai took the white ape and set off firecrackers in front of the wolf temple.

Although Xiao Ai is no longer interested in firecrackers, Bai Yuan likes them very much. He pestered Xiao Ai to set off a few more before he was satisfied.

After a short rest, the preparations for the New Year's Eve dinner began.

When I was in the village, the New Year’s Eve dinner was prepared by my parents, and the girls only helped their mothers with small tasks such as picking beans and washing vegetables.

Later, my father passed away, and my mother was seriously ill. For the New Year's Eve dinner, the two mothers worked together to cook some meat and fish dishes.However, one of the two mothers was sick and the other was young, so the New Year's Eve dinner they made was naturally not very rich.

Later, her mother died of illness, and the girl was adopted by her uncle. The New Year's Eve dinner was much richer, but the girl could never taste the same taste as before.

This year is the first time for a girl to spend New Year's Eve alone.

Now, of course, add a monkey.

It's just that the white ape obviously doesn't understand the meaning of New Year's Eve, and it's bluffing as always. Although it can do some things like washing vegetables and picking beans, the girl has to do the killing of chickens and ducks, as well as the subsequent cooking and cooking. .

It was the first time that I was busy with these things alone, even with the wolf demon's 200 years of Taoism and abundant physical strength, the girl was still in a hurry and messed around for a long time.

It wasn't until it was completely dark that the scent of vegetables and rice wafted from the mountains.

Bai Yuan sat by the stove, staring at the flames in the stove with dull eyes, already starving.

It doesn't quite understand why there are already so many dishes on the dinner table, but it can't eat it by itself.

And why do you have to make so many dishes... can you finish it?

In the firewood room, the girl's expression was indifferent, but there was slight sweat on her forehead.It's not that I'm tired, but it's the first time that I'm cooking alone, and I'm a little flustered and impatient.

It's hard to finish all the meals before Haishi, but the soups that were made earlier have been cold.

Just when the white ape happily thought that it was finally ready to serve dinner, the little girl drove him away from the dining table.

"We need to sacrifice to Lord Wolf God first!" The little girl said, glaring at the monkey.

The monkey whose stomach was growling suddenly had a bitter face, but could only obediently hide aside, watching the little girl worship the wolf god.

By the end of the worship service, more dishes were cold on the dinner table, and only one or two dishes that had just come out of the pan were still hot.

In the dim light of the candles, the white ape sat at the corner of the table aggrieved, eating the soup that was mostly cold.Although it wanted to complain, it didn't dare to speak.

The little girl on the opposite side was also a little depressed, but after seeing Hou Zi's expression like an angry little daughter-in-law, she couldn't help laughing.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The little girl's laughter spread far and wide in the mountains.In front of the quiet and dark wolf temple, there was a window with a light on from afar.

Outside the mountains, the New Year's Eve in the Wind Department is very lively.

The Li people do not believe in gods, and they do not worship gods on New Year's Eve.What they worship is the ancestor's spiritual tablet and the holy mountain of the Li people.

After worshiping the ancestors and each family had their New Year's Eve dinner in their own homes, these Li people, who were not afraid of the wind and cold, lit a huge bonfire in the center of the camp.The blazing fire illuminated the night sky and reflected the joy and joy of the singing and dancing crowd around the bonfire.

In the mountains, one person and one monkey who had already finished their dinner began to clear the dining table.

After leaving the kitchen, the little girl dragged the white ape to the wolf temple and lit the candles in front of the altar.

In front of the altar, candles were lit one after another, and the dim yellow candlelight illuminated the spacious and huge wolf temple.After the little girl brought the white ape to burn a stick of incense on the statue of the wolf god on the altar, she sat on the futon.

"We will be keeping watch tonight," the girl said, "so you don't need to sleep. If you are bored, you can try meditation."

The white ape was stunned for a moment.

"Ji?" It widened its eyes, with an expression of disbelief.

The girl looked at it indifferently, and said, "This is the custom on New Year's Eve. You have to keep watch until dawn. You have learned the method of samadhi. If you are really sleepy, go to samadhi. You can stay longer."

The white ape was dumbfounded, but the little girl had already closed her eyes and fell into meditation.Obviously, she really didn't plan to sleep tonight.

The white ape hesitated for a while, then peeked at the statue of the white wolf on the altar, but in the end he didn't dare to say anything, and imitated the girl, meditating cross-legged on the futon, meditating quietly.

In the mountain temple, there was a temporary silence.

When I got to Dezi, there was a harsh crackling explosion sound outside the mountain.Dazzling colored lights rose from the camp of the Li people and exploded in the night sky.

The strange noise broke the tranquility of New Year's Eve.The girl opened her eyes, and saw that the white ape was already lying on the gate, looking curiously at the burst of colorful lights rising in the night sky outside.

"That's the fireworks set off by the Li people," Xiaoai said, "If you want to see it, go out and watch it."

After getting the approval, the white ape immediately became happy, and hurriedly opened the door and ran outside, wanting to run to the open space to see the colorful fireworks rising in the night sky.

But as soon as the white ape ran out, the white ape's terrified screams sounded outside.

The scream made the girl's heart tremble, and she subconsciously rushed out.

"What happened?" she yelled hastily.

Under the cold moonlight, the girl saw the scene in front of the Wolf Temple.

The white-haired white ape was lying on the ground in fear and awe, trembling.

And in the direction where the white ape worshiped, in the open space paved with bluestones, there was a figure standing quietly.Hearing the girl's voice, the man slowly turned his head and looked at her and the white ape.

Under the moonlight, the girl could clearly see the appearance of the man.

A piece of white clothes is spotless, as if all the filth in the world cannot be soaked in it, and it has an indescribable ethereal appearance.

There seemed to be a smile in his calm eyes.

Although she doesn't look very old, but facing this white-clothed man, Xiao Ai felt inexplicably awed, as if she was facing a god with a long history who had already seen through the world of mortals.

Xiao Ai's heart jumped suddenly, thinking of a certain possibility.

"Wolf...Master Wolf God?" the girl Qiqi Ai murmured, her voice was thin and weak.

But the man in white in front of the wolf temple still heard it clearly.

He smiled and nodded, that warm smile seemed to dispel the severe winter cold, making the entire wolf temple feel like a spring breeze inside and outside.

"Well, it's me."

The man under the moonlight smiled and said, "Tonight, New Year's Eve, I'll come and see you."