Chapter 11 Chapter Ten Tears of the Rain God

Looking carefully at the map of China, at the southernmost tip of Yunnan, at about 21 degrees north latitude and 100 degrees east longitude, there is a small corner protruding south.Administratively, this area is Mengla County, which belongs to Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province. In addition to being connected to the overall territory of China in the north, Mengla County is bordered by Myanmar in the west and Laos in the southeast. It has always been known as the "land peninsula". It is a natural international passage leading to the Indochina Peninsula and is a national first-class open port.

Mengla means the place where tea is produced, and La is tea.Five of the six Pu'er tea mountains—Mansa, Manzhuang, Yiwu, Yibang, and Gedeng—are all in Mengla County. Xishuangbanna is a famous tourist attraction and has the best-preserved tropical virgin rainforest in China.And more than 60% of these rainforests are located in Mengla County.The tropical rainforest in Mengla is composed of more than 4,000 species of higher plants, in which there are more than 4,000 species of birds and more than 500 species of terrestrial vertebrates. It can be said that infinite vitality is bred here, and of course, there are many unknown secrets hidden here.

Luo Fei, Zhou Liwei and Yue Dongbei came to Mengla County. Of course, these three people did not come to travel. They set off from Mengla County, chose a difficult route that ordinary tourists would never care about, and headed towards the China-Myanmar border in the west. The rugged path no longer allowed vehicles to move forward. They rode their horses and walked for a long time before they finally came to this village called Mihong. Here is a piece of dam land at the foot of Wuliang Mountain, and to the west, there are continuous mountains and dense rainforest. Most of the residents in Mengla County are ethnic minorities, and there are more than ten ethnic groups such as Dai, Hani, Yao and Yi.Mi Hong.Perhaps it is the only village in Mengla County that is dominated by Han residents.

The villagers speak Chinese and earn their livelihood from farming.Although the clothes they wear are old-fashioned, they are also a clear legacy of the Han nationality. Yue Dongbei had already introduced the situation of this village to Luo Fei and Zhou Liwei. "According to historical records, after Li Dingguo's death, many of his soldiers were forced to surrender to the Qing soldiers. But they were unwilling to sincerely serve the Qing Dynasty, so the leading generals asked Wu Sangui for orders to be stationed at the border between Yun and Burma. Wu Sangui agreed to his request, and the Han residents in this village are the descendants of the garrison at that time."

When the three of them entered the village, it was dusk.Under the leadership of the guide, they walked deep into the village along a dry riverbed. The residents in the cottage have always been used to the life of going to bed early and getting up early. At this time, it is rare to see villagers going out for activities.Occasionally, one or two village men met Luo Fei and the others on the path, but they only glanced briefly at them, and then hurried away on their own. "Although this village is located in a remote place, the villagers don't seem to be surprised to see outsiders?" Luo Fei said a little surprised.

"This village is a camp for jungle explorers." The guide from Mengla County explained Luo Fei's question, "Because this is the village closest to the jungle area in the whole county. Tourists who like challenges and excitement will choose this place as their destination. The base camp for the jungle march, and the villagers are hired as guides. Although there are not many such people, there are always a few groups every year, so they are not surprised. Aren’t you also going to explore the jungle?" The three of Luo Fei looked at each other, although none of them answered the guide's words, they each felt emotional.Speaking of which, they can indeed be regarded as explorers, but the danger they face is beyond everyone's imagination.

The scale of Mihong Village is not very small, and there are hundreds of households inside and outside.Walking to the center of the village, the guide pointed to a few mud-brick houses not far away and said, "The owner of this house is surnamed Wang. He has a vacant house in his family and he is honest. Foreign guests usually live in his house." Home." Lao Wang is almost sixty this year, and he is a single man.His wife passed away the year before last, and the two sons and daughters went to the county to make a living.When meeting strangers, he doesn't seem to be good at speaking.After leading Luo Fei and others to the side room, he briefly exchanged a few words with the guide, and then left to do his own business.

"Accommodation is ten yuan per person per day. Meals are also ten yuan per day, but lunch will not be provided at noon tomorrow." The guide conveyed Lao Wang's intentions to Luo Fei and the others. "Why don't you provide lunch?" Yue Dongbei seemed dissatisfied with the situation, and asked with his round head held high, "Do you need to pay more?" "It's not about money." The guide explained with a smile, "Tomorrow there will be a ceremony in the village to worship the Rain God at the Dragon King Temple." "Worship the Rain God?" Luo Fei immediately thought of the dry riverbed in the village, "Hasn't it rained here for a long time?"

"It's almost a month." The guide nodded helplessly, "In this season, it's really terrible. If it doesn't rain, the food rations of the whole village will be suspended for the second half of the year." This is indeed the truth, and Yue Dongbei knew that he couldn't make things difficult any more, so he swallowed resentfully, and waved at the guide: "Okay, okay, let's solve it ourselves. But today's dinner has to be prepared as soon as possible." Alright, go and rush." The guide agreed repeatedly, turned around and left the side house.

Yue Dongbei lay down on the bunk in the room, his belly puffed up, he let out a long breath, closed his eyes and sighed, "Oh, I'm really exhausted today." "You're tired now?" Zhou Liwei chuckled, "What would you do if you really entered the jungle?" "Don't worry, I won't lose to you." Yue Dongbei responded in a strange tone, he didn't know whether it was due to fatigue or to show disdain for Zhou Liwei's words just now, he didn't even bother to lift his eyelids. Luo Fei did not participate in the quarrel between the two, he habitually looked around and observed the hut.The area of ​​the room is only about fifteen square meters, and the furnishings are extremely simple. There is only a row of bunks on the west wall against the wall. Apart from that, there are no tables and chairs.

About twenty minutes later, the guide came to inform us that dinner was ready.After traveling all day, the three of them were already hungry, so they immediately followed the guide to the main house next door. As soon as they entered the main house, they smelled a tempting fragrance, which aroused the hunger of the three people even more. They saw several large bowls on the dining table in the middle of the room, and the staple food in the bowls were some white rhombus cut The flakes seem to be fried with ingredients such as sliced ​​meat, eggs, and vegetables. "What is this?" Luo Fei had never eaten such a thing.For things he doesn't understand, he is always willing to ask. Lao Wang was still silent, and the guide rushed to answer: "This is the specialty of our Mengla County. Fried bait. The bait is made of rice, delicate and has a good taste. It also has a name called 'big meat'. Help'?" "Help me?" Zhou Liwei was not too curious. Hearing this strange name, he couldn't help asking, "Is there any explanation for this?" The guide had already prepared for such a question from the other party, and he answered it somewhat ostentatiously: "There is a legend here. At that time, Emperor Yongli of the Nanming Dynasty was chased by Wu Sangui and fled to Mengla. He was tired and hungry. Li Dingguo, the general of the Nanming Dynasty, ordered the local villagers He fried a bowl of bait for him to eat. Emperor Yongli was full of praise and said: "The fried bait saved my Dajia." Since then, the fried bait has another name, which is Dajiujia." All three of them were taken aback for a moment, and when they suddenly heard the name "Li Dingguo", the originally relaxed legend seemed to have an indescribably mysterious atmosphere. Luo Fei thought of something, took out a photo from his bag and handed it to Lao Wang: "Take a look, have you seen the person in the photo?" Lao Wang took the photo, looked at it carefully for a long time, and finally said: "He has lived with me for almost a year." The man in the photo is naturally the young man in the Kunming Mental Hospital.Yue Dongbei shook his head triumphantly: "Am I right? His first stop must also be this village, and he followed the instructions I gave him." Luo Fei remained calm and continued to ask: "How long has he lived?" "Two days. He asked how to get to Uncanny Valley, and then he left." "Has he not hired a guide?" Old Wang shook his head: "He has always been alone." Luo Fei let out an "oh" in disappointment.If young people hire a guide, they will undoubtedly get a lot of information from the guide.But now this way is obviously not going to work.But it seems that young people have indeed gone to the "uncanny valley", and their pursuit direction has not deviated. What did the guide catch from Luo Fei's expression: "Why, are you going to 'Uncanny Valley' too?" Luo Fei asked without answering, "You know about 'Uncanny Valley'." "I know, I know, but I have never been there. The Hamo people have lived near there for generations. It is too deep for ordinary people to enter. But there must be some contacts between the Hamo people and the village. Old Wang, can you tell me?" "The guide turned the conversation to Old Wang. Lao Wang replied in a calm voice: "It's better not to go to that place now." Everyone could tell that Lao Wang was hiding half of what he said, Luo Fei immediately asked: "Why?" "It's not peaceful there now. In the past six months, many clansmen have escaped. They say the devil has returned." Old Wang stared into Luo Fei's eyes as he spoke.It seems that although he is not good at communicating with people, he is really worried about the safety of the guests at the moment. "Devil? What kind of demon?" Yue Dongbei leaned forward excitedly to the hound who had smelled the breath. Old Wang shook his head: "This is the secret of the Hamo people." "Secret?" Yue Dongbei chuckled twice, retracted his body and said, "The meaning of secrets is to wait to be solved by others." Luo Fei turned his face away and exchanged a helpless look with Zhou Liwei.Whether they are willing to accept it or not, all the facts seem to confirm Yue Dongbei's absurd academics. Uncanny Valley, the devil is back in Uncanny Valley! It seems that they will carry this journey to the end no matter what! After dinner, it was only seven o'clock.The guide will rush back to the county seat tomorrow and go to rest early.Luo Fei and the others are used to city life, even if they are tired from the journey, it is difficult to fall asleep at this hour.Taking advantage of the cool evening breeze, the three of them sat in the yard for a while. When they were feeling bored, they saw Old Wang packed up a big bamboo basket and walked out of the house with it in his hands, as if he was about to go out. Luo Fei simply asked a few words, and it turned out that the basket was filled with offerings to the Rain God.Lao Wang will go to the Dragon King Temple now, so that his sacrifices will have the opportunity to be placed in a good position close to the Rain God, so that he can get extra care from the Rain God in the coming year. "Is the Dragon King Temple far away? Can we go and see it together?" Luo Fei asked. "It's just a mile and a half. If you want to say that in this village, the Dragon King Temple is the only one worth seeing. The previous guests have also visited it, but it's not as lucky as you, and it just happened to be praying for rain." Old Wang While talking, he stopped in the yard, apparently waiting for Luo Fei and the others to set off together. Luo Fei and the three stood up immediately.The host and guest went out of the courtyard gate and walked towards the east end of the village. Walking along the mountain road, there are fewer and fewer houses along the way, and it seems to have reached the edge of the village.Seeing that he walked more and more sideways, Luo Fei was a little puzzled in his heart. Suddenly, the path made a sharp turn. After that, he felt that the field of vision widened, and a small open space appeared in front of everyone. The size of this open space is about one acre. It should have been meticulously repaired, and the surface is even flat, giving it the feeling of a small square.At the east end of the square, facing south and backing north, stands a temple. Although the temple is not big, standing alone in the open space can also show a unique momentum.Everyone quickly approached. Judging from the architectural style and material quality, the temple should have a long history, but due to proper maintenance, it does not feel old and dilapidated. "This is the Dragon King Temple. Inside it is enshrined the patron saint of the village." When Lao Wang said this, his expression was extremely reverent.Then he stepped lightly and walked into the temple first. Luo Fei originally believed that although Mi Hongzhai was relatively closed, but today, the so-called worshiping the rain god is mostly a procedural ceremony, to help the villagers in distress seek some spiritual comfort.But looking at Lao Wang's performance now, things don't seem to be that simple. Perhaps infected by Lao Wang's emotions, when Luo Fei entered the temple, he felt a sense of solemnity in his heart.At this time, the sky was already completely dark, and all the light in the temple came from the two long-burning lamps standing beside the incense table.In the lonely temple in the dark night, the candlelight flickered dimly, and the atmosphere was somewhat gloomy. Someone has already arrived first and placed their own offerings on the incense table.But the first thing that attracts everyone's attention is the statue standing behind the incense table. To Luo Fei's surprise, Lao Wang always called this temple "Dragon King Temple", but the statue enshrined in the temple was not the Dragon King. "Ah" let out a soft cry! Not only him, Zhou Liwei and Yue Dongbei also opened their mouths wide at this time, with surprised expressions.Yue Dongbei couldn't control it even more, and shouted: "What? This...this is Li Dingguo?!" Indeed, on that huge tablet, there are five words written clearly: "Rain God Li Dingguo"! Lao Wang didn't care about the abnormal reactions of the three visitors, he prostrated himself on the ground, and after knocking three times, he got up and respectfully placed the offerings in the basket on the incense table, and explained to Luo Fei and others: "We The village depends on the sky for its food. The rain god has blessed us with prosperity and safety for generations.” Luo Fei's mind raced.According to what he knew, this village was all descendants of Li Dingguo's subordinates, and it was not particularly strange to enshrine Li Dingguo as a god, but he couldn't figure out one question. "This is the Dragon King Temple, why is Li Dingguo enshrined?" Luo Fei hoped that Lao Wang would give him an answer. "Originally, the Dragon King was also enshrined, but the Dragon King ate and worshiped, but did not bless the village." The reason for this was originally a story passed down from generation to generation in the village, and Lao Wang naturally knew it, so he told Luo Fei and others at this time . It turned out that Li Dingguo had led his army to station in Mengla before he was defeated and entered the jungle.There was a drought that year, and the village was in danger of having no harvest.Villagers flocked to the Dragon King Temple to pray for rain, but the sun was still scorching after days.Li Dingguo just went to inspect the village. Knowing this situation, he went to the Dragon King Temple and cursed. The general meaning was: You are the Dragon King, in charge of rainfall. Now there is no rain for a long time, and the people are suffering. Assuming the great responsibility of protecting the country and the people, now, I will punish you for God! After scolding, Li Dingguo sent someone to dismantle the statue of the Dragon King, and made his own statue, calling himself the "Rain God", and left a general who asked him to lead the villagers to worship the "Rain God" every day, and left a message, If the sincerity of the villagers can move the "Rain God" to tears, it will rain heavily. The villagers were suspicious at first, but due to Li Dingguo's military power, they could only follow through.As a result, after worshiping for three consecutive days, the statue of the "Rain God" actually shed tears.That night, heavy rain poured down, and the drought in the village was relieved. The villagers were all grateful and enshrined Li Dingguo as the patron saint of the village from then on, which will not change from generation to generation. Hearing this little-known legend, Yue Dongbei was very excited and sighed repeatedly: "To demolish the statue of the Dragon King and proclaim himself the 'Rain God', Li Dingguo's demonic nature is fully evident! Great, this part is worthy of a special book, great Already!" Zhou Liwei had a completely different reaction. He laughed dumbfounded, and asked Old Wang: "The God of Rain shed tears, and the sky rained heavily? Is this possible? It's just a legend, don't you guys still believe it?" "Of course I believe it." Lao Wang's voice was not loud, and he still had an honest demeanor, but his tone was so firm that it could not be disputed, "Every generation of villagers in the village has seen with their own eyes. The rain god shed tears." Naturally, Zhou Liwei immediately asked: "Have you seen it too?" Old Wang nodded silently, his expression was so calm that there was no trace of lying. Zhou Liwei shook his head incomprehensibly, then looked at Luo Fei, apparently asking for his opinion. Luo Fei didn't make any subjective expression, he just asked again: "Then tomorrow, can we see the Rain God shed tears?" "Our hearts are very sincere, and as long as it is worshiped by the white-headed leaders of the village, the rain god will always appear." Although Old Wang did not answer directly, his words have clearly expressed his attitude. "Then the matter is simple." Yue Dongbei laughed haha, "Whether it is true or not, we will find out tomorrow!" Luo Fei didn't say anything more.He absolutely could not accept the saying that the rain god appeared, but it was useless to say more now. Tomorrow, the facts would explain everything. During this brief silence, footsteps were heard at the door, and another person came into the temple.Luo Fei and others turned their heads to look, only to see that the person who came was a young man in his twenties, not tall, but he looked very strong. The young man obviously didn't expect there would be so many people in the temple. He was taken aback for a moment, and then asked alertly, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" "This is a guest who lives at my place. He just came here today." Old Wang quickly replied, looking a little afraid of the young man, "I'm here to offer sacrifices, and they want to follow along." "What's interesting." The young man's words were quite blunt. He glanced at Luo Fei and the three of them with hostility, and then looked at Lao Wang, "There will be a sacrificial ceremony tomorrow morning. Didn't Chief Bai say that Well, no one can disturb the Rain God again before dawn!" "I know I know." Old Wang explained timidly, "Isn't it too late? Let's leave right away." "Yeah." The young man snorted condescendingly, walked a few steps inside, and let the door open.Although he didn't speak, the meaning of chasing the guest was already very obvious. Old Wang gave a dull smile, and then walked out of the temple.Naturally, the three of Luo Fei couldn't linger, so they followed Lao Wang and filed out.Yue Dongbei seemed quite dissatisfied with the young man's attitude, and when he passed by him, he glared provocatively.The young man just kept a straight face and ignored him. "Who is this? He is so arrogant and doesn't know how to treat guests at all." As soon as he left the temple gate, Yue Dongbei couldn't help complaining loudly, regardless of whether the people in the temple could hear him or not. Old Wang looked embarrassed, and waved his hands at Yue Dongbei repeatedly. After walking a few steps, he lowered his voice and said, "His name is Xue Mingfei. He is someone close to Chief Bai, and he cannot be offended." Luo Fei looked at Lao Wang's cowering look, and felt a little funny.But after thinking about it, I felt relieved: In this closed place, the village leader's status is similar to that of the local emperor, and it is normal to have the supreme authority in the village. At that time, the night was dark, and there was an occasional breeze. Although it was midsummer, it was also somewhat cool.In the small square, the shadows of the trees were swaying, creating a strange atmosphere.Luo Fei suddenly had a strange feeling, couldn't help but stop, raised his head and looked around. "What's wrong?" Zhou Liwei noticed Luo Fei's abnormality and asked uneasily. Further east of the square is a dense rainforest.Could there be something terrible hiding there?Luo Fei shook his head, he couldn't explain why.Then he turned his head again and looked at the temple behind him. Xue Mingfei was standing alone in front of the statue of the Rain God.The candlelight was weak, and under the gloomy light, Rain God's face flickered, revealing an ominous ferocity!