Chapter 53 Funeral

Lu Heng, who was far away in Hanyu Mountain, was unaware of the lively atmosphere in Qianzhen City.

After Gongshu Jie heard the story told by Lu Heng, Lu Heng had no idea about the decisions and plans he made when he returned home.

Currently, he is cultivating in the temple below the Wolf Temple.

The last epiphany gave him a deeper understanding of the nature of the power of thunder, and he was unable to get out of seclusion for a long time.

Outside Hanyu Mountain, as the last heavy snow fell before New Year's Eve, the weather in the mountains gradually became clearer.

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the sky cleared up and the snow inside and outside the mountains disappeared. Although the wind blowing through the mountains still carries a bit of chill, the coldest days of winter in the twelfth lunar month have passed.

In the aquatic village outside Hanyu Mountain, one or two families held funerals.

Even if they have plenty of food and clothing, there are still a few elderly people who cannot survive the severe cold every winter. One of the families was even a relatively close relative of Xiao Ai.

Although the other party did not dare to go into the mountain to disturb him, Xiao Ai still got up early on this day of Xiaonian.

She took a hatchet and walked through the morning fog to the back mountain, chopped a bundle of firewood, carried it back alone, and then started cooking in the stove.

In the early morning in Hanyu Mountain, a wisp of smoke slowly rose from the woodshed behind the Wolf Temple.

Xiao Ai's original intention was to bake a few cakes for breakfast, then do some spiritual practice, and then go down the mountain to attend his uncle's funeral after noon. But as soon as the stove fire was lit, there was a chirping sound outside the door, and a white ape sneakily peeked its head in from the door.

Seeing Xiao Ai looking at it, the white ape quickly squeezed out a flattering smile on his face, "Chiji...jiji..."

Xiao Ai glanced at it and said, "Why are you lying outside? Since you are here, come in."

More than a month has passed since the last time Xiao Ai let the monkey head go to the mountains, but the white ape has never returned to the Wolf Temple to practice with Xiao Ai. It may have been playing wild in the mountains.

Of course, it might be that he was afraid of Xiao Ai, so he didn't dare to come back.

As for whether the white ape has practiced cultivation since then, Xiao Ai doesn't know, nor does he want to know.

She greeted Bai Yuan in with a calm face, and was not angry because Bai Yuan didn't come back for more than a month. But Bai Yuan could not see the murderous aura in Xiao Ai, so he breathed a sigh of relief and walked in with a chirping sound.

It looked at the woodshed in front of it and the girl standing by the stove cooking pancakes. It sniffed and then very cleverly ran to the stove on the other side to hold the fire. When the fire in the stove was a little smaller, it cleverly added wood to the fire without waiting for the girl's instructions.

Soon, the girl finished baking the pancakes. The tempting aroma of the scallion pancakes made Bai Yuan's mouth water.

The girl didn't even tease it, she just gave three pieces of cake to the white ape, "Here, it's yours."

After dividing the cake, the girl left the woodshed. Bai Yuan happily took three scallion pancakes and followed them with a 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 saying this to the girl next to him.

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

Bai Yuan embarrassedly scratched his head, and with his oily hands, he wiped the hair on the back of his head until it was shiny.

It is intelligent by nature and is much smarter and stronger than ordinary apes. After staying in Hanyu Mountain for a long time, I also know that the humans below the mountain seem to be celebrating important festivals during this time and will be very lively.

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

But the little girl shook her head silently and said, "You're just a monkey, why are you celebrating New Year's Eve? After eating the cake, just go back to the mountains to play by yourself. I don't need you to accompany me."

But Bai Yuan quickly shook his head and kept chirping, indicating that he would never go back.

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

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

"Chi! Chi!" Bai Yuan nodded repeatedly, indicating that he would be obedient.

So the monkey head settled down 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 move in.

However, after such a delay, today's practice has not yet begun, and noon has arrived.

Xiao Ai looked at the sky, then went directly to the woodshed to carry the bundle of firewood chopped in the morning, and prepared to go down the mountain to attend the funeral in the village.

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

As for gifts and other gifts, they are not popular in this remote mountain village. When a funeral is held in the village, every household in the neighboring village will go to help, cooking, washing dishes and cleaning up, which requires a lot of manpower.

If Xiao Ai was still in the village, he would definitely go to help with such a funeral.

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

When White Ape saw that Xiao Ai was going down the mountain, he quickly came over and kept asking questions, asking him to go with Xiao Ai.

It had never been to the human village at the foot of the mountain and was full of curiosity. Now that Xiao Ai is leading the way, he really wants to see what a place where humans live is like.

Xiao Ai thought for a while, but had no objection, so he unloaded the firewood from his back and put it on the white ape's back, and then walked out of the mountain with him.

One person and one monkey walked very fast. It would take an ordinary person more than an hour to walk on the mountain road. Xiao Ai and the white ape walked there in about two quarters of an hour.

This is because the white ape's low cultivation level has hindered Xiao Ai, otherwise she would have been able to walk out of the mountain in about a quarter of an hour.

When they arrived at the village entrance, the villagers on duty were frightened when they saw Xiao Ai's appearance, but they did not dare to stop him.

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

It's just that the villagers peeked at the monkey out of curiosity. The monkey was not reserved at all. Instead, it walked and looked around, very happy, and everything it saw was novel.

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

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

It was dinner time at this time, and it was very lively inside and outside the mourning hall. Ten tables were set up outside the mourning hall, and the aroma of food filled the crowd. Everyone was looking for a seat to sit down, waiting for the meal to be served, while others who could not find a seat sat around the firewood on the roadside to keep warm and chat.

Xiao Ai's appearance surprised the villagers slightly. The host's whole family 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 host proud and proud.

But Xiao Ai didn't stay too long, not even staying for lunch. After offering the firewood he brought and chatting for a few words with the host's uncles, Xiao Ai waved the white ape who was slithering among the crowd to leave.

On the way away, Bai Yuan still couldn't hide his excitement. Today's events were so new to it that it couldn't help but ask the girl what all these people were doing together.

Xiao Ai glanced at it and explained lightly, "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. He froze to death in the heavy snowfall not long ago. ”

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

"Ji?" Bai Yuan didn't seem to understand.

So Xiao Ai explained to it in detail about life, old age, illness, death, funeral customs, and the cremation that would be carried out later.

The white ape became more and more confused and kept asking questions.

die? cremation? Burnt to ashes by fire? Then the ashes are scattered into the river and carried away with the current?

These human customs are extremely unfamiliar to the white apes in the mountains. It had a confused look on its face, but vaguely thought of something.

So the originally lively and happy White Ape suddenly became silent.

It was dancing and barking all the way, but now it was following Xiao Ai with its head drooped and dejectedly, looking gloomy. The silent and depressed look was in sharp contrast to the joy of going down the mountain.