Chapter 8: My whole life
The sound of crying lasted for a long time.
The more she cried, the sadder she became. Unable to stop, her entire body convulsed from her endless tears. This desperate and sad cry made villagers finally start to feel both guilty and afraid because of their treatment of the girl.
The old village chief nearest to her finally couldn't help himself hastily pulling her sleeve, and said to her cautiously, “Stop crying, Xiao Ai. Lord Mountain God...”
"Never mind," the white wolf clay statue on the altar spoke gently, interrupting the old village chief, "let her cry. If a child is aggrieved, it would be too cruel to not allow her to cry."
After saying that, Lu Heng looked at the girl on the rattan palanquin and said, "Cry, little girl. Cry as much as you want, you don’t need to care what these mortals think. Cry out all the grievances in your heart, cry as loud as you want. It doesn't matter how long you want to cry, no one dares to get in your way here."
Lu Heng's words were not harsh, but the lighter his tone, the more the villagers were afraid.
The old village chief had shrunken into a ball, and both his hands were trembling. Fear of imminent disaster surfaced in his heart, and he no longer dared to say a word. He kneeled with head bowed low, looking fearful and humble.
And the old chief's actions made the villagers frightened. Although they did not quite understand what happened, they were also nervous, everyone followed the old village chief's example of kneeling, bowing their heads, forehead flat to the ground, and did not dare to move.
Dozens of people just knelt terrified and humble, listening to the girl's cry.
And the girl on the vine sedan cried for a long time, finally sobbing, crying gradually stopped.
“Woo... Lord Mountain God....”
The girl was sobbing and her eyes were already red. She kept wiping her tears while walking down from the rattan palanquin, then she knelt in front of the altar and kowtowed heavily.
Looking at this, Lu Heng on the altar of God felt reluctant.
“All right, all right, get up, don't kneel.”
The villagers looked at each other, then raised their heads and felt nervous and anxious. Lu Heng said, "Since this matter has come out, you can take the girl back. I don't need boys and girls any more, so this is the end of the matter. In addition, this girl has suffered from all this, and has been very unfortunate, I hope she will not suffer any more harm."
Lu Heng's words made the old village chief raise his head and hastily open his mouth, "We promise to you, Lord......"
"No need to promise, just do what needs to be done," the clay on the altar interrupted the old man again, "Now you can go back."
Once these words were spoken, the meaning of expulsion could not have been more obvious. The villagers then respectfully kowtowed to the altar under the leadership of the old village chief before they carefully stood up and slowly retreated backwards.
Inside the temple, the girl who had stopped crying looked behind her at the adults who should have been familiar, but tonight were incomparable strangers, and then looked at the dark altar in front of her and hesitantly called out softly, “Lord Mountain God...”
The girl's voice was low, so low as to be almost inaudible.
But the white wolf on the altar still heard it, and he lowered his head, gazed at the little girl in front of him, and asked, "Is there anything else?"
"......" The girl fell into a short period of hesitation and silence, and during this time the girl seemed to think a lot.
But in the end, she shook her head in loss and murmured, "No more things. Thank you, Lord Mountain God."
She also followed the adults’ example and kowtowed to the Lord Mountain God on the altar, and she slowly walked out of the shadowy mountain temple.
Behind her, in the gloomy Mountain God Temple, the clay statue did not move, and Lu Heng once again returned to the ground to cultivate.
The little girl in the dirty, big red wedding dress then walked among the villagers and followed everyone out to the mountains.
The dimly lit torches barely illuminated the road, and the villagers all slowed their pace and kept their mouths shut, not daring to make any extra noise for fear of disturbing the dreaded Mountain God.
Now, they just wanted to leave this eerie Cold Feather Mountain, and return to their warm home of Shuisheng Village, sharing everything they saw in the mountain tonight with their wives and children.
The feeling of facing the God was too terrifying, and that feeling was now a little palpitating when you think about it. Usually the young and strong were bold, but at this time were not hardened, and they all lowered their heads, didn't dare to speak loudly.
And the girl walking in the middle of the crowd did not say a word, and even if the misunderstanding had lifted, no one showed her intimacy again. But unlike the adults around her who were too scared to breathe, the girl was unafraid.
In the process of leaving, she turned back from time to time, looking from far away at the slightly lonely and gloomy Mountain God Temple gradually disappearing in the jungle, with eyes full of sorrow.
What happened tonight made her feel even more helpless and desperate than the day her mother died of an illness.
She never thought that one day, the kind and gracious elders of the village would show such a vicious and hideous expression to her. It was clearly not her fault, and even the person who was chosen was not her at first. But when everyone found her walking out of the mountain, at that moment everyone's expressions became unbearably terrible.
No one believed her, and everyone was cruel to her.
In such a situation, the only one to do her justice and to make her feel warm was the vicious Mountain God in the old legends that adults often used to scare the children.
The loneliness and helplessness spread in the girl's heart. Bewildered, she followed the adults along the rugged mountain path, not knowing where she should go and what place might accommodate her.
The wind in the mountain was gradually picking up again.
But this time the mountain wind was not bitterly cold, and no one cared. They just quickened their pace, not wanting to stay long in the mountain.
But as they walked, someone noticed something not quite right.
"Something seems to be following behind us all the time ......"
said Wang Laoliu, a veteran who had hunted in the mountains for many years.
He looked back in the direction he came from with a tense expression, "Did you guys hear that? There seems to be a sound behind us all the time."
Wang Laoliu's sudden words scared the villagers. Because there were many beasts in the Cold Feather Mountain. In the past, when the beasts lacked food in winter, they would go down to the village to take away children, or even attack the villagers who were left alone.
After Shuisheng Village became dedicated to the Mountain God, the beasts in the mountain no long came down to attack the living. But if the villagers met those beasts in the mountain, they still ate people without hesitation.
Late at night, if there were hungry wolves...
Among the villagers, someone shouted angrily, "Wang Laoliu! Don't scare people, okay? There are so many of us that even if there really were beasts, how could they dare follow?"
“That's it! Wang Laoliu, you are always talking nonsense to scare people. Why at this time too? Can't you just stop? Don't be annoying!”
The villagers cursed loudly, trying to embolden themselves with such words.
The little girl in the group subconsciously held the small wooden token hanging around her neck and felt the cold touch. She was not afraid because the sign of Lord Mountain God was still on her.
And the beast that was following behind her seemed to be able to feel when she held this Mountain God sign.
“It’s the monkeys...”
In the crowd, the little girl suddenly spoke up.
She stared blankly at the dark woods behind her, and in a trance, seemed to see through the heavy trees the group of monkeys that had followed them all the way - clearly her eyes saw nothing, but there was a strong intuition in her heart.
That following them all the way, was the group of monkeys.
But why did this group of monkeys follow her...?
The girl looked in the direction of the mountain temple in a daze.
In the mountain, it was so dark in the direction of Mountain God Temple. And they were already far away from it, where they could not see the old temple which was located deep in the mountain. But the girl's sight seemed to penetrate the barrier of the mountains and saw the temple located in the middle of the mountain and saw the white wolf statue on top of the altar.
“Lord Mountain God...”
The girl clenched the token in her hand and murmured in her heart.
“I must offer incense and worship to you every day for the rest of my whole life.”
