Chapter 013 Encountering a Wedding Car on the Road
The cool evening breeze blew across their hairs as Chen Xiao'er and her friend pushed their bicycles sweatily.
It was too dark on the mountain, and there were no street lights, making it inconvenient to ride a bike, so I had to drive for a while and push the bike for a while.
Fortunately, their night vision was pretty good, and they could vaguely see the mountain path in the moonlight.
Near the hillside, there were traces of human excavation, occasionally revealing a broken blue slab. The sides were no match for the scenery, covered only with dense weeds and shrubs.
I'm afraid that apart from one or two passing cars, there are very few villagers digging mushrooms and bamboo shoots.
Lin Lang waved his arms and chopped the branches with his dagger.
The two pushed faster and faster on the path, and as they walked, they found that the mountain path behind them was actually wider. And every few dozen meters, someone would put up a tall wooden pole, and a red or white lantern would be tied about a third of the way up the pole.
Hanging lanterns on the mountain road may be a kind gesture by the locals, but unfortunately, the wind blows loudly, and the old lanterns sway in the wind, giving people goose bumps.
Pasha.
"Ah!!" Chen Xiao'er quickly retracted her foot, as if she had stepped on something soft!
Unable to see clearly in the darkness, she didn't dare to move, so she asked in a trembling voice: "M-M-Might I ask you to check if it's a mouse or a snake..."
Lin Lang lowered his head, his expression looking a little strange.
Chen Xiao'er almost cried out: Wow, look at her expression, it really is a snake!
Fortunately, Lin Lang was loyal and didn't scream "Snake!" and run away. She squatted down and pulled out a selfie stick from the box, tremblingly holding it out to him.
Chen Xiao'er swallowed her saliva and reminded: "Xiao, be careful of the fangs..."
"I know. Don't move your feet yet. Move a little to the left, just a little bit!"
Lin Lang raised her voice, and she swung the selfie stick, scooping up a soft mass on it. "Okay, you can relax your legs now."
Chen Xiao'er retracted her feet as if she had been electrocuted, and saw a black shadow being thrown into the forest along the pole.
"Phew...thank you. What brand is that pole? I'll buy it for you at school."
Although environmental protection is important, she would not dare to go into the dense forest to retrieve the pole even if she had a hundred times the courage.
"Don't worry about it, let's go." Lin Lang retracted his gaze, took her hand and left quickly.
The black shadow that looked like a long snake quickly turned back into a twisted monster after it moved away. Fortunately, the monster had no intention of settling accounts with them. Instead, it ran faster than a dog.
Is Chen Xiao'er's superpower a contamination that also affects the supernatural? I hope she never loses control in her lifetime, otherwise it will definitely cause a major anomaly explosion.
There were more and more lanterns on both sides of the mountain path, so they simply picked up their mountain bikes and continued riding up.
From time to time, strange animal cries could be heard around. Fortunately, these animals making strange noises were even more timid than humans, and the sounds would always drift away after approaching.
"It's still so dark even with so many lights." Chen Xiao'er looked at the road carefully, afraid of running into any animals or locals blocking the road.
"Well, the fog is too thick."
fog?
Xiao'e turned her head and took a look. She saw that the forest was indeed surrounded by a thin layer of mist, which felt cool when it fell on her body.
Thick fog, dark night, deep mountains... Woo.
She remembered a scene from a horror movie and pedaled harder, making the pedals rattle.
The bicycle sped along the mountain road, soon passing through layers of thick fog and arriving at a fork in the road.
There is a pole about ten feet high in the middle of the road, with two signboards hanging on the left and right.
The area on the left is labeled Qiaoshan Road, and there are deep tire tracks on the slope, which is probably the road down the mountain.
On the right side it says [xx village ahead], the village name in the middle is very blurry, and the paint on the wooden board has peeled off over the years.
Chen Xiao'er walked a few steps to the right and saw terraced fields illuminated by lanterns.
At the end of the terraced fields, one could vaguely see some small country townhouses, which were only slightly smaller than those on Blue Star, with each floor probably less than two and a half meters high.
Crash.
A piece of cloth that looked like a hotel flag was hung at the entrance of the village, fluttering in the wind.
Xiao Ai pointed at the flag with some surprise. "Is that a sign welcoming tourists? Let's go to the village and stay in a hotel!"
"...Welcoming tourists? That's not right. This is a mountain valley, where is the tourism industry?"
[“No, I don’t think that’s welcoming to travelers. This should be the base of some wilderness sect.”]
Lin Lang narrowed his eyes and looked at the piece of cloth fluttering in the wind at the entrance of the village.
She recognized the emblem; it must belong to a branch of the Blind God faith. "Soul-calling Banners" like these often controlled the souls of many believers or innocents, acting as a powerful deterrent to outsiders.
Hanging flags at the entrance of the stronghold is obviously a warning that the people inside are probably not very friendly.
But as long as she is not surrounded by believers, she will not be too scared.
After all, it is precisely because of their lack of ability that these wild sects in mountain villages hide in the wilderness where the Paster value is relatively high, and generally will not take action against major forces.
We are now members of the church after all, and it is easier to get things done by using this as a symbol.
The village in the ravine is very dangerous.
The smile on Chen Xiao'er's face slowly faded.
Indeed, she had seen some films about desolate mountains and wilderness on Blue Star. There was obviously no surveillance here, and if someone disappeared, even their bones would be hard to find.
If the newspapers ran a headline like [Shocking! Two young girls were admitted to Taoli University but their bodies were buried in a desolate mountain...], those ghost relatives of the Chen family would be laughing so hard that their mouths would split!
She strapped the suitcase to the back seat and got back on.
Jingle, jingle, jingle—
The sound of a crisp hand-cranked bell rang out from behind.
Chen Xiao'er turned around and saw a car coming from the other side of the mountain road.
No, more than one.
Car lights lit up in the darkness, and a whole motorcade followed, a motorcade of flower cars to pick up the bride.
The red car in the lead was covered with plastic paper flowers. Large red flower balls fluttered in the wind, and jingling bells were tied to ribbons.
The motorcade moved slowly along the mountain road, flanked by relatives, welcoming and seeing off the bride. Most wore joyful smiles, while a few wore folk-style masks, their upper faces obscured by festive emblems.
It turns out there was a wedding going on in the mountains. No wonder there were so many brand new lanterns hanging.
Chen Xiao'er relaxed her whole body and was about to lean on the car to continue watching when she felt a pain in her arm.
"Get out of the way!" Lin Lang anxiously grabbed her arm and rolled the car into the forest.
Oops, I actually ran into a sacrificial ceremony!
Regardless of whether these people from the mountain churches are strong or not, they are definitely very crazy.
If you violate any "customs" or "auspicious times", a large group of people will fight with you until the death.
Lin Lang first pulled the confused Chen Xiao'er into the woods, then picked up the bicycle and threw it into the grass farther away.
Boom, boom, boom.
The team came slowly.
A wide, 4-meter-high sedan chair is carried on the shoulders of eight strong men and women.
The lower part of the sedan chair is similar to that of an ordinary sedan chair, with a lifting pole and a square sedan chair cage.
However, this sedan chair did not place the offerings inside. Instead, the gorgeously dressed "saint" or "goddess" sat on the sedan chair - there was a raised platform on the top, with strands of stones and bells hanging around the platform, making a tinkling sound.
There are six attendants standing on each side of the sedan chair, three of whom are responsible for holding lanterns, one is responsible for holding a fan, and two are responsible for holding swords as guards.
The waiters walked lightly, but the real guards were the singers wearing colorful costumes and drum-beating shoes.
Those who sing and chant before the ceremony are often the most "devout" people in the small church.
…
Chen Xiao'er stood in the middle of the tree, tiptoeing to look out with a little excitement.
The beam of light from the car headlights swept across, illuminating her and Lin Lang's figures.
The people who were sending off the bride and welcoming her also obviously saw the two outsiders standing in the woods.
Their expressions changed instantly, and they lowered their heads in silence.
Rustle, rustle.
The paper fan in the singer's hand made a rhythmic vibration sound.
Then the "relatives" raised their heads slightly, no longer looking at the two outsiders, and continued to follow the "convoy".
All the white lanterns at the end of the mountain path were extinguished, leaving only the warm and blood-red light of the red lanterns.
Ding~Ding Dong~
The bride's float was at the front, just behind the lead car. It was plain in shape but adorned with many exquisite gold and silver decorations, perhaps symbolizing the love of her parents and the affection of her in-laws.
Chen Xiao'e stood on tiptoe to look inside as the float passed by:
Perhaps due to local customs, the bride did not wear a wedding dress or the red dress commonly seen on Blue Star. Instead, she wore an agate and pearl crown on her head, a moon-white and pale blue shawl on her body, and heavy gold jewelry around her neck.
The bride's fingernails were long and hard to see clearly, they looked like blue pieces of cow horn.
“…”
bite--
The bride raised her face to her, and the pearls and agate jades tapped gently.
It was a face covered with white powder.
Strangely enough, her face, illuminated by the street lanterns, did not look scary, strange, or reminiscent of a geisha.
The pure white blurred the facial features, but made the eyebrows and eyes painted in red and purple appear more charming.
It was truly a stunning glimpse.
The image of the bride left a lasting impression in her mind: the beautiful outline of her jaw and her lively eyes.
There is also a light tear.
How young she was—
Chen Xiao'er's heart suddenly skipped a beat: the bride looks so sad.
Is she...calling for help?
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