Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

Zhucui didn't go out to pick up the man. On the bed, when she heard her brother Du Bo calling that the villagers had returned to the entrance of the village, she was pleasantly surprised. She put on her clothes and shoes, walked to the courtyard and suddenly stood up.She saw Ge Heman also coming out of the house, and they all ran out of the courtyard in a hurry.She yelled and called the two daughters to stop, "There is no need to pick him up," she said, "See if he goes to the Meat King's house first or to his own house first when he comes back. He is determined not to want our mother if he goes to the Meat King's house first." Come back first, even if he is reluctant to lose us girls."

Pueraria is planted in the courtyard like the vine tree. Zhucui led her two daughters in the courtyard, listening to the cries at the entrance of the village and Sima Lan's loud and quiet voices. Listening, Sima Lan pushed away with the shovel and sledgehammer on his back. When the gate came in, the three of them were startled, and the two daughters called out "Father" at the same time. Zhucui said, "You're back? Haven't washed your face yet?" Sima Lan glanced at Ge and Man, and felt that Ge and Man had grown a bit taller, but he didn't say anything, threw the shovel and hammer in the courtyard, and walked straight to the house.

Ge said, "Father, I'll get you face wash." He said, "No need, I'm sleepy, and if I can't wake up, don't call me." He went into the house and fell asleep on the bed.Without taking off his shoes or clothes, his head was pressed against the pillow, and his drowsiness rose up like cooking smoke, and he fell into a cloud of drowsiness. It was already dark when I woke up, and I slept through the day without even having a dream.It was very hot, and the sweat in his eyes woke him up.When I opened my eyes, I saw a hazy gray window. The courtyard and the village were so quiet that I could hear the crickets chirping from across the mountains and beams. I thought that the cries of seven families should be included in the cries, but the cries were pure and beautiful. It is as clean as a bright moon, without the slightest noise.

He comes out of the house. The woman Zhucui immediately brought out a bowl of poached eggs from the kitchen.After Sima Lan swallowed the bowl of eggs, he suddenly realized that his daughter-in-law Zhucui had washed her hair and body, and changed into a white polyester shirt, which smelled of sweet soap.It was the beginning of the month, and the moon had been late for harvest for a long time, and the hazy white in the courtyard was as light as drizzle and thin water.In this vague obscurity, under the shade of Sima Lan and Zhucui's crazy affair more than half a year ago, Zhucui laid out a mat and put a pillow there again.She sat on the mat, looked at him eagerly, and said that after you left for more than half a year, most of the other men returned to the village, but you didn't.Seeing that he didn't respond, she said that Ge and Man were not at home, and sent them to watch the night in front of the deer's coffin, and no one would come to the house.When she said this, she went to him to take the egg bowl, and said that there are noodles in the pot, steamed noodles, shall I dig them for you?

"No. I'm full." Sima Lan seemed to be plucked by a woman, his body trembled, and Lan Shi's shadow blew past him like the wind.He suddenly felt strange. Before he left the village, his eyes turned green, and he couldn't sleep all night thinking about forty. Even when the Lingyin Canal was about to be dug through, and the villagers talked about women when they were idle, he could still see Forty's plump breasts. And plump buttocks, I dreamed of Lan Shishi's body at night when I was not too tired, dreamed of Lan Shishi's bed, dreamed that I was rippling on Shili's watery and soft body, woke up dirty My own underpants and body, so I thought about how Shisi and other men were in bed, and what they said.Thinking about it, my body was on fire, my heart was crackling, and I kept my eyes open all night.However, just half a month before the Lingyin Canal was opened, when three or four men were temporarily buried in three or four coffins in an earthen room, Lan Shishi receded from his heart, completely receding, Empty, he seldom thinks about the women again.Fatigue and drowsiness made him forget everything.It seems that he has completely forgotten about Shishi, and when he returned to the village so early, he never thought of seeing Shishi and whether he went to the village to pick him up. Two willow doors.He felt that he was a little sorry for Lan Shishi, and felt inexplicably strange that he could forget about Shibai for a long time.It's like a person goes to great lengths to find something for another person, and when he finds it, he forgets who to give it to.He was numb in the moonlight, trying to listen to some movements in the village, as if trying to capture some memories of his time in the village half a year ago, staring at the closed gate without saying a word.

"Lock the door." The woman Zhu Cui Mao asked in a cat voice. He looked away from the door, "I have to go and see how the funerals of the seven families are going. I have to see Mrs. Lu." He didn't look at his daughter-in-law Zhucui, as if she was not in front of his eyes, and walked out of her thirsty sight.The full moon had reached the head of the village, and the moonlight on the ground was much thicker, and people's faces could be recognized a few feet away.Walking from the alley of Sima's house to the door of Brother Lu's house, he didn't see a coffin shed at the door of Sima Lu's house, and he didn't hear crying in the courtyard.Going closer, the gate of Sima Lu's house was locked.The doors of the neighbors' houses were also locked.I couldn't help feeling suspicious, and walked towards the Du's alley, and walked towards the Lan's alley. As a result, all the doors of the dead were locked, and most of the courtyards of a village were empty. The three main alleys lay in the night. Inside, like three empty sacks, there is not even a single person.Looking up towards the entrance of the village, I saw lights spread out on the wheat threshing field outside the village, and the faint sound of music diffused from there to all directions.

He walked towards the threshing field outside the village. Came across a guy. "What about the villagers?" "It's the village head. Everyone is in the wheat field." "Dead?" "It's all there." Walking to the entrance of the village, the night in Liaotiandi is in all directions, and the mountains in the distance fade into a blur in the moonlight, like undulating clear water, making the whole world float on the lake.I could hear the breathing of the night coming in secret, and it was accompanied by the chirping of insects in the autumn night, ringing in Sima Lan's ears like a metaphor.He calmed down and listened for a while, as if he had comprehended the oracle, he started to walk out of the village, and he saw seven coffins lined up in the middle of the big wheat field of Du's house in the village, all black and bright with paint and coffins. Breath, filled and diffused in the night sky.On the seven small tables in front of the coffin, portraits of seven dead people were placed one by one, three to seven twenty-one bowls of fried offerings and seven half-cooked offering chickens with red chopsticks were placed.In front of the chicken offering, there are three sticks of grass sticks inserted in half a bowl of sand, and three sticks of green smoke curling up, dyed yellow under the light, and swaying in the air with noisiness.The yellow-white grass fragrance is clear and light.In the freshly harvested corn stubble around the wheat field, many rafters and bamboo poles were planted, and a horse lantern was hung on each rafter.The evening breeze was blowing, the lights were flickering, and there were figures and coffins floating slightly in the bright light.The seven coffins were covered with wheat straw and straw mats. The dead man's wife and children sat on the grass and mats under the coffins, without crying or mourning. Holding the soles of the shoes, sitting cross-legged with other women, talking to each other, the white sound of pulling the ropes of the shoes, like Hu Yue, resounded between the coffins, and occasionally a few After listening to this sentence, it makes people feel ironed.

"If you die, you will die. If you don't repair the canal, you won't be able to live for two years." "On the contrary, you will suffer less throat damage." "But it's a bit of a loss. If you don't have a sore throat, you can live decades longer." He also talked about other things, that the daughter was married, that the child was married, and that the child was bigger than the sole of a shoe, and asked the young man to help identify the thread, and did not go to refill the oil until the oil lamp in front of the coffin was almost dry, and the three sticks of incense were almost extinguished. Continue to burn incense, and sit back to the original place again.

"Which day will the water reach the village?" The men said, "On this day and a half." Under the lamp post outside the coffin, between every two lamps, there are several men or young people around. They play cards or chess, making a lot of noise, imitating the rules of the people in the city, and whoever loses takes a cloth shoe. Put it on the top of the head, or stick the note on the bridge of the nose, or insert a straw or grass into the nostril.The hustle and bustle of voices made the autumn wind tremble and the moon was swaying. They even started arguing over who had stolen a card. Several people pressed him to the ground, took off his pants, and threw him into the pile of women next to the coffin, or hung him up. onto the bamboo pole.The entire night sky was filled with colorful joy of the villagers with three surnames.Children are playing hide-and-seek games that have been passed down from generation to generation among adults, hiding behind their father's or uncle's coffin, shaking the coffin on the stool creaking.The Lingyin Canal was opened, and the village was filled with festive atmosphere like a warm winter day.Talking and laughing came from the side of the coffin, submerging the Ralou Mountains.People are soaked in the red and willow green laughter and the black coffin.Sima Lan was standing by the wheat field, and he saw that even Du Bo was playing poker with the Erbaos, he saw Sima Lu's daughter-in-law holding the sole of her shoe and brushing needles in her hair from time to time, and he saw that the couplets written by Du Bo were really generous. The sky is long, with black characters on red paper, pasted on an elm tree and a Chinese toon tree at the entrance, and two bright red silk lanterns are hung on the two trees.This lantern was bought collectively by the village, and usually someone's joint shop would lend it to someone for their own use, but now it is hung on two trees, like two rounds of red sun stooping down on Sanxing Village.He turned around under the tree along the ridge of the field, and saw that the couplet on the tree was a revised old saying:

Diversion of water to longevity than Nanshan not old pine Sending people away is like flowing water in the East China Sea Chewed a couple of sentences and tasted a lot. Sima Lan thought that people who read a lot are different, and they can write many meanings in a dozen or twenty characters. I think that next year or the next year, a primary school should be established in the village to prevent children from They all ran to other places to study, and asked to be under the eaves of other people's houses. After running, they suddenly dropped out of school, and the number of illiterates in the village increased like a bumper crop.In front of the lantern, a dozen or so young people from the village could be seen sitting in a corner of the coffin, randomly blowing the instruments of the clapper players, and drinking with the invited clapper squad.The wine bottle was placed under a lantern, and the shadow drawn out was as long as a pole.And the random sound of music, like bowls of water poured out, is loud and out of rhythm, not as loud as laughter with a bit of tinkle, however, out of rhythm, you should still be blowing, you should be pulling Knocking, knocking what should be done, without stopping for a moment, but it seems messy and harmonious, like a piece of grass with no borders, but it is a bit more natural.His daughters, Ge and Man, were both at the coffin of the fifth uncle Sima Lu, and accompanied by one of Sima Lu's daughters, they were touching cards, handing out cards one by one, and from time to time they would put the cards under the lantern to see what was revealed. What is it.From east to west, from south to north, Sima Lan walked half a circle outside the court, but he couldn't find Lan Shishi.Lan Shishi was not found, but he saw his sixth younger brother Sima Hu lying on the spread of wheat straw under a tree outside the crowd, with a radio on his head and a bright and large lamp at his feet. lantern.His daughter-in-law is taking off his left trouser leg to the thigh, taking off the gauze wrapped in him, using cotton to soak the yellow water and white pus on the skinned meat, and then using wheat straw to remove the festering leg Go up and down and push something on the ground.Sima Lan walked around the sidelines from the crowd towards the sixth brother.The auspicious talisman tune of Henan Opera coming from above Sima Hu's head was warm and smooth like a hot river.He walked to the music on the radio in the tune of the auspicious talisman, and saw Sima Hu's right foot bouncing, already in time with the music.The stench of blood pus diffused like the smell of grass.The younger brother and daughter-in-law wore a new pair of woolen trousers, and concentrated on it. The things that had been removed from the blood pus squirmed a few times on the ground, sticking to a layer of dust and stopped moving.Sima Lan saw that the things he pulled out were small maggots that had just grown.He said, "It's festered?" Sima Hu was stunned for a moment, and Sima Hu sat up and said, "Fourth brother, it's all right." Sima Lan said, "Boil some Chinese medicine and wash it off." Sima Hu sighed and asked, "I The matter of being the battalion commander of the militia will not change, will it?" "Wait until the water is brought to the village," Sima Lan said, "Who will not listen to me? If I say I let you be, who can not take you first?" Hui walked forward again, and Xiang Fudiao chased after his heels.He walked back to the village again, his mind was empty and sticky, as if he hadn't slept enough.The villagers who were watching the spirit on the wheat field made his little sorrow for the dead disappear. He started to walk lightly and quickly towards the Lanjia Hutong, and then he dozed off ashamedly. He began to rekindle his love for Forty.He started to go up to the northeast corner of the village, and on the way, he met his daughter Teng, with a big belly, coming to the threshing ground.The bulging belly of the rattan was vivid in the moonlight, like a stone roller lying in front of his eyes.

Teng said, "Father, where are you going?" He said, "Not going anywhere." Teng Li got down and said that he was going to guard the spirit, not only her husband's uncle, but also Uncle Sima Lu, and then turned to the spirit ground.Watching the vine go a long way, Sima Lan chased after him again, asking Du Liu if he came back from draining the water?Teng said he did not come back, fearing that he was walking with the flowing water, and the water in the new canal moved slowly.In response to this, the rattan entered the spiritual field.Sima Lan pretended to be walking home, and walked a part of the alley. When she saw that the village was quiet and deserted, she turned back and pushed Lan Shishi's gate.It turned out that the door was ajar.He yelled outside the door, pushed it, and the door swung open.As the door opened, the blood on his body slowly swelled.He turned back and locked the door, and when he turned his head, the smell of Chinese medicine, which was redder and stronger than the smell of Chinese medicine that he smelled that night half a year ago, overwhelmingly rolled up his nose.Li Zhu took a sniff, and under the hazy moonlight, he saw that the big basin was still placed in the middle of the courtyard. Half of the potion in the basin had a layer of hard skin like rice skin formed on the surface of the water. He stood in front of the big basin. "Forty—" No one answered, and called again, "Forty—" Still no response, he raised his voice, "I'm back forty." The door to the upper room was closed, there was no light, and the window was black as a thick paper in the shadow of a tree. He stood under the window. "forty." Then to the toilet. "forty." Into the latrine again, "forty." Finally went to push the door of the upper room.The door of the room opened with the touch of a finger, and the thick black hole smashed towards him like a wall.He called forty several times, but got no response, and went back to the pot hole in the stove to look for matches.The lights were lit.The dim light illuminated the kitchen room, and at a glance, the ash on the panel was as thick as a kitchen knife.The kitchen knife hung on the wall, rusted to the same color as the wall.The water tank was full, but there were a few grasses floating on the water surface, and a dead mouse was swollen and white in the water.Sima Lan's heart immediately tightened, and an ominous premonition stuck in his throat.He walked out of the stove protecting the lamp holder with his hand, and the first thing he saw at the door of the stove was a pile of oxgrass-like Chinese medicine dregs, sticky pieces, deep red and deep yellow. The closed sluice is rumbling towards the courtyard.Let the light spread into the courtyard, and see that half of the pot of Chinese medicine soup is covered with skin like a piece of red cowhide, and see the two mats next to the pot on the floor, because she often pours Chinese medicine, and it turns into a pool of red blood. On the surface of the water, the tombs were densely covered with a layer of black sheets.He stood on the first stone step in front of the kitchen and stood in a daze, the blood that had just swollen on his body condensed.He began to rush towards the upper room, his legs were slightly weak, and he almost tripped over the threshold.The tables, stools, and the shadows on the walls in the room all tapped and turned under his lamp.Lifting the curtain on the boundary wall door, dust hit his face.Stretched out the light, put his head in again, and when he turned his eyes to the bed in the back room, there was a bang in his head, and something fell from the top of his head, smashing the sevens and eights in his brain into blood .He was nailed to the gate of the boundary wall and did not move. The right hand of the lamp guard was stuck in mid-air, trembling and making a series of white, cold, icy sounds as it fell under the oil lamp.The air was filled with astonishment and blood, which squeezed his chest tight and his eyes swelled as if he had entered a cold hole in the Lingyin Canal. Blue Forty is dead. It really is dead. She was lying on the bed, wearing the green plain shirt she wears every day, no trousers, only a pair of thin and shiny pink pants, her legs were hanging under the bed, like two blue and yellow autumn girls hanging. long loofah.Her upper body was lying on her back, her head was close to the wall in the bed, her eyes were open, staring fixedly at something next to the pillow.It was an old red cloth that had been opened. There was a piece of black and blue cloth in the old red cloth, and a piece of faded and brittle door couplet paper in the old red cloth. Inside the paper lay a rotten gray man's hair or beard.She seemed to struggle to see that the beard or hair died, and the white light in her dead eyes was still connected to the withered white.When Sima Lan's gaze touched the withered white thread, his body trembled motionlessly, as if he was dead, and his breathing stopped.The sound of time passed around him loudly and loudly.He didn't know when he took his eyes off the rot.He wanted to wrap his hands around the withered rot, but he stood there without moving.He began to move his gaze elsewhere, and he saw her lower body, between the two thighs that were once white as powder but now turned green, the attractive pink panties were being used by her with the cold Han's scissors cut off five or six, seven or eight, or even a dozen or twenty scissors from the front.The front of the underpants had become a mass of red beehives, and the flesh protruding from the openings of the beehives was as radiant as the withered peonies between her legs.There was a weird stench coming from between her legs, and it flowed out of the house in a few strands.The blood that flowed down her legs was half soaked on the blue Pacific-patterned sheet of the bed, and half flowed on the ground in front of the bed, forming a crimson cake.A layer of flies and mosquitoes were biting and squeaking on the cake.Sima Lan was standing under the curtain, when a few flies and mosquitoes saw him, they flew up and landed between Lan Shishi's legs to rest.At this moment, he also seemed to be standing dead, only the trembling of his hands and the shaking of the light made him know that he was still living in this room at forty.The silence in the room was as thick as a city wall or a mountain range, squeezing his body and heart into a sheet of paper, making his breathing disappear without a trace and stop.He saw a bright red, strange smell spreading out under the light, and gathering again after spreading out.The weird, bright red blood tore his throat to the depths of his throat and squeezed into a ball, blocking it and no longer flowing, making his throat feel like he had the sore throat from the beginning of the year again, dry and unable to breathe.In the dim red light, he saw the half-green and half-purple smell pushing towards the night sky outside the house from the crack of the door and the edge of the house, like a gust of wind in the nest of a mountain ridge, about to rush out of the mountain ridge.He pulled his eyes back from the smell, looked jerky between her legs, looked at the hands on her legs and let go of the scissors hanging from his fingers, and walked forward slowly.The sound of his footsteps moved mountains and rivers, kicking the silence in the room into creases and creases.The flies were startled by him.The room was full of green flies and white bellies of mosquitoes, buzzing and brown.When he got to the bed, the flies had all settled on the wall, except for the big green one that was still rolling around Forty's eyeball.Sima Lan stretched out her hand and slapped her face, and the green fly reluctantly landed on the bed leg.But her eyes still had dull white eyes, staring fixedly at a rafter on the house.He knew that she had died at all.The cold air on her body blows at him like a wind vent.Then he looked down between her legs, and moved his head a few inches closer, he heard the black and red smell of traditional Chinese medicine bubbling clearly between her legs.He saw that among the rotten flesh and blood between her legs, there were dots of white grains that looked like the rice grains that the sixth brother's wife poked on the sixth brother's body with a straw stick.He smelled the strange smell coming from those white beans, and when he saw the white beans, he was neither surprised nor surprised, as if everything was expected.Time also died, the flow disappeared like a dry river, and he just stayed there for a while.After he stayed there for years and years, he began to pull her panties away.The underpants were a kind of light blue, and the blood turned a dignified black on the blue.When the black underpants were peeled off her body, there was a sound of bark being ripped from the tree.After the sound was over, he took a closer look at the white grains under the underpants between her legs, like a plate of blooming and crushed white flowers. He stared at the pot of white flowers, and finally understood ── In this butcher's business, she suffered from an incurable woman's disease. She washes her lower body with half a basin of traditional Chinese medicine every day. Stabilizing himself hard, Sima Lan retreated from the house, went to the courtyard to take a breath of fresh air, looked up at the thin and dark night, and when he turned his head to look at the pile of Chinese medicine dregs at the door of the kitchen, he slapped himself on the face. A slap across the face, the sound was loud and bright, and then I listened to the thin ice-like slap spread on the autumn night, and sighed long and long to the sky.Put the lamp on the ground, sit down softly on the stool by the basin, get up abruptly and walk into the room after a while, put Lan Shishi's two legs on the bed, and put the blue Pacific bed sheet dyed red Pulling it down and throwing it on the ground, covering her with a quilt, he went back to the courtyard and sat by the basin. The stars are sparse.It was hazy in the courtyard.There was a chill of late autumn in the night wind coming from the east.The crowd at the spiritual field at the head of the village did not know whether they dispersed or gathered.Still no crying, but no joking either.The music of the clapper class suddenly sounded in the silence.They ate and rested, and when it was late at night, it was time for them to play and play to help the villagers drive away their drowsiness. The river flows from the sand in the upper reaches to the cracks in the creeks and rocks in the lower reaches. After the bitter and dry flow, it shows a more cheerful rhythm. Ding ding dong dong, gurgling slowly, bit by bit, the river is full of comfort beauty.The last few songs are "Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix", "Meeting on the Bridge of Magpies" and "Children and Daughter", "Backgammon", "Going to the Market" and other folk tunes played only during the wedding. It sounds like the whole rake In every household in the mountains, men are getting married and women are getting married. On the mountains and fields, in the sky, in the forest, on the grass, in the corners and doors, under the bricks and behind the tiles, folk music is everywhere.The leaves swayed to the music and fell asleep. The flowers and plants seemed to lose their lives on the earth except for the sound of their snorts; Watching under the stage is as quiet under the eaves among the branches, a mountain range, and the whole world is soaked in this leisurely and moist funeral music.In the sky above Sanxing Village, there was a jingle of joy that had never been so flowing in history, and a few gongs and drums were suddenly mixed in, like water being splashed by women and children.At this moment, the sound of footsteps rushing towards the spiritual place sounded on the village street again, from far to near, and from near to far, like white petals blooming leaf by leaf in the quiet night.Sima Lan listened to the sound of footsteps, to the music of celebration, and her heart gradually became calm and empty, like gravel, sand, chaotic firewood, all washed away by the river-like funeral music What is left is the clean river bed and the scenery of wattle trees on the cliffs on both sides of the river. Everything seems natural, solid, casual, and just right. Sometimes, you will feel a little empty and lonely, monotonous and empty.Sima Lan leaned back slightly, and the stool under him whispered something to him for a while, as if he understood, looking up at the sky, at one of the stars, he thought about tomorrow It was his fortieth birthday, and from this to the next, when he thought that he would spend the rest of his life with Zhucui, he suddenly felt a little troubled in his heart. Bamboo greens piled up with twigs and grass sticks one after another, and because the bamboo greens came and went, in and out, it became more and more complicated and bigger, and finally crowded from his heart to his throat. , making the throat up and down, a little itchy, and then the itching turned into dry cracks, like the land being scorched in the sun.He smelled the black smoke in his throat, first it was burning, then it was burning, and then it seemed to be burning there.He wants to drink water.He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and the saliva dried up on the road before reaching the bottom of his throat.Leaning his body forward, he pressed his tongue against his lower teeth, tried a few times, but still couldn't squeeze a trace of moisture from the tip of his tongue and between his teeth, he turned his head towards the door of Upper Forty's room, and died. Staring at the darkness in the door frame. He said, Forty, quickly bring me a bowl of water to drink. The courtyard was as quiet as a cemetery, only the cheerful copper-colored suona sounded over the wall and resounded in the courtyard. He really saw Forty, wearing the same clothes and gait as before, standing silently at the door of the house for a while, then turned and walked into the inner room.He remembered that when he was young, he would often see dead people still alive in the cemetery, basking in the cemetery, dead men cutting wheat and wiping sweat in the wheat field, and dead women holding shoes and laughing at the village head.Later, as I got older, these visions disappeared.But now, all this has come again.He didn't have a trace of fear, but a faint layer of surprise, as if something that had been lost for decades suddenly reappeared before his eyes.He looked at Forty who walked into the back room, and said loudly, bring me a bowl of water, Forty.Saying this, Forty flashed out of his line of sight into the door of the boundary wall.He faintly heard Forty say something, as if the rice was covered in a pot, the vegetables were put in a bowl, and when he was thirsty, there was bean soup on the chopping board to relieve heat.He stood up following her erratic voice, the funeral music in the courtyard was still gurgling, and the starlight sprinkled a layer of light on the music like a drizzle.Standing in the midst of the music for a while, he walked towards the kitchen with the oil lamp in his hand, took out a bowl under the chopping board, scooped a bowl of water from the mouth of the jar, took a few sips, and the thirst in his throat subsided quietly.Coming out of the kitchen, he saw Sisili standing at the door again, and called him to her room, as if saying that it was late at night, you should go to bed, and lie down on the bed after a day of work.It also seems to mean that you have lived on the Lingyin Canal for half a year, and you haven't had a solid sleep, and the water will flow immediately, so why don't you hurry up and sleep in the house.He was really sleepy, and her words continued his lack of sleep, making him hear the sound of his eyelids drooping louder than the funeral music on the wheat field. He walked up to the room with the oil lamp in his hand. He saw Forty lying on the bed alive, sleeping extremely sweetly, breathing long and evenly like silk threads. Putting the oil lamp on the corner of the table, he undressed and went to bed with Forty to sleep. This time Sima Lan slept with Forty, and slept for a long time, and did not wake up until the Lingyin Water flowed onto the beam.At that time, the autumn sun was mild, and the vast mountains were full of subtle and bright sounds. At the collective spiritual site, the chime class finally stopped after playing all night. The dutiful son and the villagers who guarded the spirit were all dreaming of pink, sweet, black, purple and fear.Only the dewdrops on the black coffin and the lingering grass fragrance shrink and rise in the sunlight, exuding a fresh, moist and comfortable atmosphere.The mountain range in the east is like a hump, and the waves are higher than the waves. I don't know from which two peaks the sun will come out, and I don't know when it will rise to the sky.I saw those hump-like beam heads and ox-back-like ridges, showing a dark brown color in the sun, and the newborn wheat looked like pieces of light green water splashed everywhere in the dark brown.The village is quiet and peaceful. Even the animals lazily fell asleep without waking up after a night of happy funerals. Whose chickens that have not entered the nest lie on the trees at the head of the village for the night, just like a A vulture landed early on over the village.Here in the cemetery, the funeral music has stopped, the snoring of the men danced around the coffin like dry branches, and the sleepy talk and inexplicable laughter of the children are like songs on the way to the end of the work from the mountains. Vague, yet intimate.Women always let men and children do that. They don’t lie on the floor to sleep, nor cover their bodies under the quilt to avoid the cold. Tired and nourished.Some women have saliva dripping from their mouths, just like the milk on their breasts. Sleeping like that is unspeakably alluring. It always reminds people of many beautiful things and the meaning of life. Look at them a few times, even though their heads are leaning on the coffin.At this moment, Du Bo woke up from under his cousin's coffin. He rubbed his eyes, looked at the rapidly rising sun, and glanced at the sleeping people under the coffin, hurriedly put on his clothes, and started I went to look for those men under the coffins one by one, and kept saying, "Hey, it's time to get up and dig the grave." "Get up, the village chief told me to bury people today." "Get up Get up! It’s time to dig the grave.” The men stretched their waists reluctantly, yawned, and sat up on the straw bed around the coffin, gossiping and discussing, saying that the village chief was also in such a hurry What are you doing to bury people? It's not the hot summer. If you bury the body for one more day, it won't stink.Said his ancestors, after burying the person, I slept for half a month, and the girl of Huanghua took off her clothes and stood in front of me. If I opened my eyes, I would not be human.At this moment, there were a few wild shouts from the village, as if praying to Buddha and praying for rain, thunder exploded overhead: "The Lingyin Canal is flowing—" "The Lingyin Canal is flowing—" "My ancestors—the Lingyin Canal is really flowing!" It was the second leopard who called wildly.He carried a shovel on his shoulder, and yelled as he ran through several alleys in the village. The rough and long yell of the mountains and tsunami was strong and long, like leather ropes stretched on the village street, and many leaves and trees were pulled away. The mud skin that had fallen off the wall.Someone opened the courtyard door behind him and asked Er Bao what is your name?What do you call Erbao?Erbao didn't turn his head back, and didn't answer, he just carried the shovel like an arrow and shot from one alley to that alley, shouting wildly, "The Lingyin Canal is open to water──, the Lingyin Canal is open to water!" La--" The whole village alley was filled with his bloody yells, as if all the cloth bags in the village were filled with food, he ran while yelling, his footsteps were so fast that he kicked the straw sticks and tiles on the ground and finally came On the cemetery, they woke up around the coffin again, and all the people on the cemetery got out of bed with a single sound, and their eyes followed his call, like chasing a fast-flying eagle.He shouted, "Get up quickly—the Lingyin Canal is open—the water is flowing down!" When he ran in front of Du Bo, Du Bo grabbed his arm. "Is the water really coming?" "I went to dig my father's grave early in the morning. I wanted to dig deeper for him. I was afraid that today's grave would be shallow and I would be sorry for him. But as soon as I arrived at the graveyard, I saw the water from the upper reaches like a green dragon flowing downstream." Seems to be the call of the law, when Du Bo woke up, the laziness disappeared in the spiritual field. After hearing the words of Erbao, the villagers hurriedly put on their clothes. The men who were sleeping stood on the quilt without covering up, shook their ugly faces, scribbled on their pants, and ran up the mountain ridge with their jackets in their hands.There was also a young man who was engaged but not yet married. He lifted the quilt and stood naked under his brother’s coffin, found his clothes and pants, and shone his naked body under the quilt in the golden red sunlight.She is more delicate than him, he has scars all over his body because of the repair, but her naked body is like a peeled carrot.When the villagers saw this pair of scenes, they were slightly startled, and then they were overwhelmed by the ecstasy of the flood.The boy said where are my pants?The girl said it was on top of your brother's coffin.He took the clothes from there, and ran towards the beam while wearing them. The dubious people from the village asked Du Liu and Dabao, who had not seen the water, how could they pass the water when they came back?Not seeing people on the left and right answering, they squeezed into the crowd and rushed towards the beam.The cemetery, the village street, and all the small roads leading to the beam road were crowded with villagers who were maddened by Tongshui.A family with the surname Du didn't sleep in the mourning ground last night. Hearing a call at home, he jumped out from the wall of his backyard and collapsed the adobe courtyard wall, but he didn't even look back. nothing.In order to immediately see the flowing water, a woman put on her trousers backwards, the front of her trousers was put on the back of her trousers, and the back of her trousers was put on the front of her trousers. Go behind a persimmon tree with thick arms, hide in a symbolic way and put it on again.A brother of her own family pinched her buttocks and ran away when passing by the tree.She chased after her brother and cursed a very nasty word, but then smiled brightly, as if she had gotten a big deal.Everything changed because of Er Bao's wild call.The world seems to be in the call of the two leopards. Autumn has turned into mid-spring, and the sun is shining brightly, and the golden sky falls on the mountains.The turtledove, magpie, and crow on the cliff looked at the three-surnamed man who was running wildly towards Liangzi, and they didn't know what happened, they screamed in alarm, and the rain fell white and bright wild.The crop seedlings turned their heads and saw the beam path.The wind stopped in mid-air and stood still.The rice-like dust in the sunlight collided with the sound of messy footsteps.At this moment, the silent Ralou mountain range twisted, the hard beam road trembled under the footsteps of the villagers, and the stones on the road that had been trampled out were kicked back and forth under the footsteps of the villagers.从村人们的身后望过去，梁道像有人拉展又起伏掀动的一匹织布，蓝姓、杜姓、司马姓的男人、女人、大人、孩娃，黑黑鸦鸦一片，在那织布上跑着如朝着同一个方向滚动的大豆、豌豆、绿豆和黑豆。脚步声此起彼伏，狂唤声云天雾地，脚下带起的尘土浓烟滚滚，连晨时整个山脉爽新的空气都被搅得乌烟瘴气。有孩子跑不快了，被大人拉下来，就索性蹲在路边哭闹，他的父母恼怒地折回来，在他的屁股上打了几个巴掌，又抱着他和他愈发响亮刺耳的哭声及屁股上的红光满面的掌印去追赶前边的村人们。 一切都动了起来。 一切都响了起来。 天空日光的照晒中，隐隐地暗含了一个挨一个、一片连一片的噼噼剥剥，如正夏时无边无际的豆地里豆夹的炸裂一样。马队羊群一样狂奔着的村人们的身后，飞起来的尘埃落下去又被弹起来，仿佛梁道的地下，有一条汹涌的暗河在奔袭。只有被村人丢下的村落，转眼之间安静下来了。房屋静静的，街道沉默不语，各家敞开的大门，如永远张着合不拢的嘴，那么方方圆圆地敞开着，却又无声无息，寂静得深远悠长。胡同里寥无一人，鸡和猪沉默在门口或村头。从树上偶尔飘下的半黄半绿的树叶，打着旋儿落下时，响声如瓦片在水面漂飞一样儿。 最后一个走出村落的是司马虎，他是昨儿夜在五哥司马鹿的棺下守到下半夜的秋寒深时回家睡了的。他睡得如醉如痴，甜腻四溢，早上听到二豹的狂唤，从床上折了起来，一阵激动之后，又躺在了床上去，好象通水就在他的料定和安排之中。可是村人草毛不剩地出了村落之后，他又按捺不住那渠通水至的喜悦，于是，他有章有法地穿上衣服，把生蛆的伤腿小心地插进裤管，拄着拐杖走出了大门。立在门口，看看天空，望望西梁道上的人们，欲要走时，却发现有几只鸡、狗从哪儿出来围在了他的周围。狗嗅着他的伤腿转来转去，有两只公鸡去他的裤管下大胆地啄来啄去。他用拐杖把那些畜牲赶回去，骂骂咧咧出了村。麦场上的七副棺材在十四条凳子上寂寞着。日光在司马虎的头顶如烧热的菊花汁液黄爽爽地浇下来。鸟叫声在他身后雨滴一样落到四十家门前时，他盯着四十家掩了的大门淡下步，过一会又朝山梁看一阵，才迈腿往梁上走过去，一瘸一拐，每走一步，架着的两根拐杖都把地面敲得当当响，双脚落地时，不时地有几粒大米样的蛆虫从裤管掉下来，站一会就会有脓水从鞋旁流到脚地上，那些鸡、狗、麻雀就是跟在他身后拾吃蛆虫和闻他双腿的腥味儿。他身后跟了一群鸡和狗，麻雀蹦跳跳，追不上时就飞到他身前。赶不退这些畜牲和鸡雀，他就朝梁上的人群唤：“娃他娘——我日你八辈，你回来扶我一把呀！”他媳妇就从人群的最后站出来：“你在家里呆着吧，你出来干啥呀——”便又走进人群了。 司马虎只好又骂着祖宗往前走，鸡雀在后边一步一趋地追得他急了，他一拐杖打断了一只鸡的腿。那些鸡、雀和狗就都惊恐地站在他身后不追了。到了山梁的官道上，他看见梁顶和村落的腰间，那片麦场上的灵场，七口棺材在日光中闪着七片黑乌乌的光，黑光中夹裹了米黄色的亮。那些棺前的熟食供品桌上，细微升腾的一股股白烟，在半空变成紫金色，有黄有白，有红有青，变幻的颜色，像一股股彩色的丝线缭缭绕绕，由低到高，由深到浅，最后就深化在天空里。他闻到了那彩色烟味和黑木棺材的漆味，还有供品隔夜的熟食味。他惊奇他身后的鸡、鹊和狗，为啥儿不去那儿觅寻食物，便越发仔细地扭头深望，就隐隐约约看见那死过的四哥、长棍、蓝石头等人，他们似乎都坐在供桌的边上，或立在棺材头上，脖子拉得细长，把目光投到梁西的水渠头的末口那儿，彼此说着什么，一个个脸上闪着红润的亮光，喜悦如赤绸样在脸上飘飘荡荡。司马虎随口叫了一声四哥，可司马鹿没有听见他的唤叫，自己扶着棺材，第一个从棺架的凳上踩到棺盖上，撞倒了吹鼓手忘在棺盖上的笙。司马鹿弯腰把笙扶起来，直起腰朝村人们涌去的方向指指划划，随时后那六个人也都踩上了棺材，一起望着西渠道那儿的村人，望着灵隐渠的末端。他们叽叽喳喳，说着啥儿，身上闪着寿衣的青光亮色，彼此还相互扶着，踮起脚尖。司马虎看见了他们捆脚的麻绳，看见他们望着那将通水的灵隐渠的说笑，灿灿烂烂，桃红李白地在麦场上跳跃。他从他们浓烈的说笑声中闻到了浓烈的麦香谷甜气，闻到了清水流来的湿润和潮气。他不想再往灵隐渠的末口走过去。他的腿疼得和生割人皮时一模样，每走一步腿上的筋骨皮肉都白哇哇地叫。他想和他们七个一道，站到供桌上或是凳子上，再或索性站到棺材盖上看那终于流来的灵隐渠的水。可他往回走了几步时，他看见四哥司马鹿朝他摆了几下手，示意着不让他朝他们走过来。他看见司马鹿摆完手后，脸上的红光灿灿没有了，代之的是一片灰蒙蒙的云色，继而是一片雪白色。再看另外那六个一道去修灵隐渠的男人，也都和司马鹿一样，脸上的光闪不见了，也不再在棺材上喜悦无控，手舞足蹈了。有一股淡淡的凉气从麦场那儿淫过来。他们的脸上都成了冰白色，如水湿的孝布结冰在他们的脸上了。司马虎不再朝着灵场那儿走，他车转身子朝梁西路上的一个梁顶瘸过去，他知道四哥们脸色的变化一定是因西边的村人那儿出了什么事，他急脚快步朝着梁顶跳，像只三条腿的狗。日头在村落上空金盆一轮，如村头的几棵老树上着了一团火，他看见村里的一头犟牛在树下挣裂了鼻子，脱开僵绳，滴滴嗒嗒流着鼻血在树胡同中跑。还有杜姓的一只狗，刚才还跟在他的身后，这会儿忽然跑回村里，爬在他家的房顶朝着西边灵隐渠那儿望，似乎还有呜呜的哭声从那房顶传过来。这时候，司马虎满脸流汗，一蹦一跳到了梁顶上，一眼看见梁西的山头下，水渠末尾的沟崖边，已经站满了三姓村的男人和女人，背对着他，凌凌乱乱一片，都正点脚朝渠的上游死死活活张望着，脖子都拉得又细又长。有的人站在从渠里挖出来的土堆上，有的站到梁道边的石头上，还有的孩娃不是爬在大人的肩上，就是爬到崖边的槐树、楝树上。渠头上有一棵十几年树龄的老柿树，本来海碗一样粗在渠道里，渠到那儿要把柿树挖掉时，司马蓝念起柿树每年无论旱涝，无论大年小年，它都尽心尽力，给村里的孩娃们最少结下一担红柿子，也就让渠绕了个弯，把它留在了渠边上。这当儿，那柿树上的枝枝杈杈都坐吊满了孩娃们，一串串黑头葫芦硕在柿叶间，像黑柿子悬在半空里。人声鼎沸，说笑一片，半空里唾星四溅，闪闪烁烁，脚下蹬落的土粒叮当响动。朝灵隐渠的上游伸指的胳膊和手像伐倒又架起的一片森林。 司马虎悬起的心哐地一声落下了。 他开始不慌不忙朝着村人们走，迎面吹来的风抚摸着他的脸，腐烂的腿上有一片蛆虫在蠕动，痒痒痛痛，又舒心又难受，如一片孩娃的小手在那伤口上上下挠动着。越过村人们的黑葫芦头儿，看见山腰上开肠破肚的灵隐渠，愈远愈细，像褐色的布匹朝远处拉去变成了布条儿，布条变成了红绳儿，最后就和一面梁坡、日光、田地溶为一起了，化在了日光下田地上的红色烟尘里。 司马虎快到灵隐渠的末口了。渠的末口开在一条沟头上，那沟高有数丈，深有几里，沟崖上长满杂树，沟底却是一片沙石。往年沟里有狼，这些年那沟里只有黑乌鸦。渠口开在那儿，像那沟垴上裂了一道血口儿。司马虎看见有人沿着梁道朝着上游叫着跑，像是去迎接那流下来的水。这时候从人群那儿骤然传来了响器班的民乐声。是送葬的响器班在那人群中又一遍吹奏的《步步高》，红音绿响，欢快清脆，如一崖泉水从山缝挤出来朝着崖下跌，叮叮咚咚，汩汩潺潺，立马间几道山都染成了红白相间的响器声。接下来是一曲《喜相逢》，一曲《风雨狂》，跟着鞭炮放响了，噼噼啪啪，火光一片，声音和纸屑在渠头上满天飞舞。司马虎骂着说娘的×，是卖我的皮买的鞭炮哩，你们不等我去就放呀。村人们手舞足蹈，大唤大叫，声浪滚滚地沿着山梁、沟壑朝远处荡滚去，没有人听见他的唤，也没有人听见他的骂。男人女人围着鞭炮万马齐鸣地叫。孩娃们从树上下来去抢捡那没有响的死鞭炮。有个女人在渠头的炮声中，突然疯子一样笑起来，笑着唤“水来啦，我能活过四十岁了呀，我能活过四十岁了呀！”笑着笑着又忽然哭起来，哭着说“我也能活到五十、六十，七老八十了，要看看谁比谁的日子好。”哭哭笑笑，又笑笑哭哭，红呵呵的声音冷冰冰地向着四处飞。司马虎看见了那女人是四嫂杜竹翠，他的脚步跟着淡下来，看见又有几个女人同竹翠一样的疯疯颠颠在梁上又哭又笑，又笑又闹，跺脚挥手，蹦蹦跳跳，一群女人仿佛是一个疯人院。他的五嫂在女人堆里哭着说：“鹿哇——你好命苦呀，你再熬几天就能长寿哩，你为啥儿就走得那么急？为啥不再多活几天呀？”她这一哭，几乎所有的寡妇，也都跟着歇了手脚，不再蹦跳了，她们席地而坐，抱着儿女孩娃哀哀伤伤，转眼间红的紫的哭声笑声，波波涛涛地堆砌在山脉上，淹没了前面的山梁、后面的村落，和左右的沟沟壑壑。似乎整个辽天阔地的耙耧山脉都是女人悲悲哀哀的哭声了。男人们不管女人们。男人们只管放着鞭炮，只管吹着响器，只管莫名地把拳头挥在半空中，莫名地一句接着一句骂，“我日他祖宗——水来啦！”“我日他祖宗——水来啦！”“我日他祖宗八辈子，灵隐渠终于来水啦！”连跟到渠口的几只家狗，也在人群中对着上游惊喜惊恐地狂吠着，只有那些不谙世事的孩娃们静静默默，惊异地望着父母或哥姐，不知道为什么水来了村人却全都疯了哩。 司马虎终于到人群背后了。他闻到有淡凉一股水气飘过来，一丝一线，轻轻柔柔，在日暖中还有些浅青色的薄荷味，看上去如同日光下飘来了时有时无的青色的烟。日头已将至正顶，由金盆一圆，变成了一颗熟的瓜果，挂在天空仿佛有许多松动，久看时就发现它晃来晃去，似乎随时会咣的一声掉下来。山脉由黄亮转成了赤红，土地和荒草野坡都如洗染了一般。三姓村的人们，由于激动，由于蹦跳，由于不停地去敲打锣鼓，男人们大都汗汗浸浸，水湿了衣领和肩背，有人开始把上衣脱下来，露出赤裸的上身就像漆过的红松。从上游漫下来的水气，如破窗而入的风样越来越浓。有更多的村人不约而同地从渠岸往上游走过去，蹬落的土块不停地朝着渠下落。杜柏在追着人群唤，说走到渠下，走到渠下，不要蹬塌了水渠，就有人说那么几十里的水渠都用石头砌了，用洋灰糊了石缝，为啥到了门口这二里咋就不砌不糊呢？在渠上流过血的男人就吼道，你他娘的，让人喘口气儿吧，就是再卖皮买洋灰，也得让大腿养一年伤。还有的孩娃，为了不踩踏渠土，就跳进渠里，沿着渠底朝着上游跑。有一股西风从上游吹下来，湿润的水气如雨天的阴潮一样转眼到了渠末口，所有的村人们都吸了一鼻子。司马虎柱着拐杖立在人群背后的一块石头上，他从人群缝中望出去，那二米宽，米半深的水渠，在山脉田野上这一段，如无休无止的红马槽。不用水时就让水从这马槽口如瀑布样跌到沟下去，于是人们就狂乱在沟前的渠末端，把杜家的一片刚播上的小麦地踏得又硬又平，闪着深红的光泽。依然是灰色的鞭炮声，依然是红绿白亮的响器声，依然是红彤彤的哭笑声。日光在这一片喧闹中被震得哆哆嗦嗦。头顶上要落回沟里的乌鸦在半空盘盘旋旋，不敢低飞只好朝梁顶飞过去。司马虎走近槽口扶着那块刻着“引水来延年益寿，司马蓝功德无量”的石碑立下来。他看见杜柏将一把燃着的纸烟往响器班的手里塞，手忙的就塞进人家的嘴里去；不忙的把烟递上去，说“吸！吸！水通了，是村里大喜的日子哩。”那样子好像是他把水引到了村落里，功德无量是他杜伯样。于是，司马虎心里哗啦出一个翻动，在人群搜寻几眼，唤叫着“村长咋没来？我哥咋没来？”声音吵杂，一世界闹腾，没人听见他的叫，他就用手不停地拍着石碑头，大唤“都他妈叫啥呀，都他妈叫啥呀，谁回村把我哥快叫来，没有我哥哪儿有这灵隐水。”依旧没人听见他的唤，他急得往地上一坐，用手去拍那石碑上的字：“二豹——藤——蔓我日你们祖宗──我是民兵营长啦，你们谁都不理我，看我腿好了如何收拾你们吧。”这时候山脉上的水汽由清蓝浓成了薄黑色，凉汽阴包住了村人们。不消说水是终于要到近前了，也许已经到二百米前的渠弯处，也许那些涌到上游的村里的大孩娃正在水头撩泼着灵隐水又戏又闹哩，翻天覆地呢。这边的人们，喘过了一口匀气，把唢呐的喇叭对着天空吹，脖子青筋跳动，脸上胀红如血，汗珠在额门细密如雨；吹笙的摇头晃脑，手指在笙管上起起落落。还有一个男人，敲着村里的旧鼓，在麦地里旋着脚步跳动，踢起的土粒不断落到别人的脸上和脖里。又一阵鞭炮的急鸣，如迎亲的已经到了村头或门口，金砰红啪，天空中响声不断，纸屑飞舞，渠头上一片都是寸厚的马粪纸，踩上去如踏在林地的落叶上，从脚下跳荡出的火硝味在半空滚来滚去，一时间把清凉的水汽烧得又焦又白，又一时间被水汽浇压在地面，成了水泼火烬的湿碳味。那些在灵隐渠上破皮断骨的男人们，开始享受着男人们的尊严，他们蹲在一边抽着纸烟，脸上又堆又砌地码满了“没有我们这水能流到村头吗？”的兴奋，望着村里的女人和孩娃，眼角的孤傲和得意落叶一样哩哩啦啦往下掉，柿树楝树上的孩娃们，最先看到渠弯那儿有哗哗的白水从渠里朝下卷，他们摇着树枝，大唤大叫，啊呀啊呀的叫声，打得日光东倒西歪，树影人影摇摆不定。蓝家的一个孩娃从一丈多高的树上被摇掉下来了，女人们的惊叫还没有被止住，他一骨碌站起来就往树上爬。女人们已经不再像先前那样又哭又笑了，他们一个按着一个的肩，后边的狠不得踩到前边的肩上去，狠不得把脖子伸到上游的流水上。他们虽不哭不笑，可嘴都张得又大又圆，发出一声声古怪的呜呜来。 司马虎还在那块石碑旁，他叫着“谁回去唤唤村长呀，我腿疼，谁回去快把我哥叫来”。杜柏对他说，虎，村长累呢，你让他好好睡个透彻觉。说完时司马虎还想说啥儿，杜柏就又如村长一样过去召唤喝令渠岸上的人，让他们跳到渠里把塌进去的一堆土给挖出来。听着杜柏的喝三吆四声，看着杜柏人到令到的指手划脚，司马虎不用手去拍打石碑了，他用他的拐杖一下一下去砸那石碑头，骂他的媳妇疯到哪里去了，骂他嫂子竹翠情淡意薄不回去唤他哥，说我日你们的亲娘呀，全村都是没心没肺的猪，喂不熟的狗，没有良心的骡子马，这时候都把我哥忘掉了。然就在这当儿，水渠的拐弯那儿，去上游迎水的年轻人又簇簇拥拥回来了，在最前跑的是二豹、葛、蔓一群成了人的大孩娃，他们向回跑着，越来越近，每个人的手都在半空不停地摆，好像要制止啥儿样，嘴里一连声儿叫着“不好啦——不好啦—”却并没说什么不好啦，就那么一连声儿叫，脸色青紫，唤声白亮，脚步飞快不息，在半空摆动的手如冬风中的一片小树。蹲在地上傲慢的男人们听到唤声站将起来了。女人们的嘴无声无息了。树上的孩娃们惊愕着不言不语。响器班偃旗息鼓。鞭炮声戛然而止。山脉上突然静下来，日光和风嘭地凝在了半空，村人们痴痴症症呆了各自的原处，闻到了愈加浓浓的水润气中有股腥红腥白的水臭味。都看见快到近前的水流声白哗哗地响在日光里。还有土地吸水的声音吱吱吱吱像一个山脉坐满了吸烟的人。 杜柏问：“咋的啦？” 跑回来的葛、蔓和二豹，瘫坐在人群面前，连指几下身后跟来的水渠头，“你们看吧，不得了啦。” 所有的目光都哐哐当当集中到了水渠上。都看见沿渠而下的流水，最前的水头，泥黄乎乎的在日光下，如不断卷着的一条席，有许多草棒树枝，在那半尺高的水头翻上又翻下。 渐渐那水头就近了。 果然地有一股冰凉的臭味扑过来。是一股半盐半涩的黑臭味如夏天各家院落门前酵白的粪池味。村人们都把鼻子吸了吸，一片目光盯在那铺天盖地的气息上。开始有男人朝那水头涌过去，及至那人到了水前，便立在渠岸上呆住了。黑臭的气味愈发浓烈，粘粘稠稠，把秋天耙耧山脉的清淡都熏得微微黑起来。日光的透亮模糊了，半空的透明被腥烈的黑臭糊涂住，如雾罩在山坡上。所有的村人不再说话。一片惊愕的白色目光。一片木然不知所措的土黄面庞。一片被压到最最细微的短促呼吸。太阳升到了头顶，辽阔无边的山脉上到处是浊泥的色泽，只有身边马槽一样的水渠还是它的本色，还有它本来的土腥土味，似乎借灵隐水腥臭的帮衬，且它的新土气臭仿佛比原先更为鲜亮，更刺鼻目。流水越来越近，翻卷着到了眼前。水深约有渠深的一半，被吞进水里渠床上的松土，发出一种更加响亮的白哇哇的叫声。水头扑打着渠岸，像无节无律的数十双手在拍打着谁家的树木和墙壁。渠崖上本不算松软的礓土，千年渴饿般地猛吸着流水，抓捞着水面的枝枝棒棒，贪婪了，过度了，流水就把它一块一块从岸上撕下来，砰拍一响，小小大大的土块砸落进水渠里，腥臭的气味就愈加浓烈地朝人们面前推搡一下子。 村人们谁都不语，分开立在水渠两边，望着流水从脚下哐哐咚咚流过，脸上莫名的不解，灰蒙蒙尘样飘着。发黑的污草，泡胀的死鼠，灌满泥浆的塑料袋和旧衣裙、旧帽子，红的死畜肚，白的脏毛皮，挤挤搡搡，推推捅捅在水面上又碰又撞。上游的那儿，开始有几只乌鸦还是别的鸟雀在水面的上空慌慌张张，起起落落，好奇得不知所措。下游渠末马槽的端口，那堆塌下的礓土早已被村人清理出去，如敞开的门样等着流水一泄而出。渠水从人们脚下过去了，村人像被人脱了袜子样，从脚底生出来的寒凉迅速地扩展到全身去。树上的孩娃刚才还呼天唤地地惊喜着，这一会却都缩身焉声了。有几个叫着爹娘，说这水咋这么臭呀，要把人都给熏死呢，可他的爹娘却白他一眼，他们就知趣地无声无息了，一动不动了。女娃们都从树上下来了，过去默默拉着娘或姐的手，把头勾下来，仿佛渠水是因了她们才变得漆黑腥臭呢。 一片死静。 渠水轰鸣。 日光被污水染得昏暗潮润。 湍急在厚渣渣的白沫下的灵隐水，终于走完了它的60里，从三姓村人的脚步下无所顾及地到了马槽口似的岸渠头，轰哗一下跌进沟里，骤然之间，巨大的静谧沉默中就水响一片了。沟崖上的荆树在水流下摇摇摆摆，不断有草枝、布衫和胀圆肚子的水袋儿挂在树枝上。村人们没有谁看那跌落下的一段瀑布在沟崖的景致，没有人看水从崖上跌下惊飞的一群家在半崖的黑乌鸦。他们一列两行站在水渠边，无休无止地把目光盯死在流水上，看着水面上黑色的布片，腐烂的水草和白哗哗的泡沫从他们脚下迟迟滞滞流过去。杜柏爬在渠边舀起一捧水，如舀起一捧黑面汤样放在鼻前闻了闻，又把那水倒在了渠崖上，然后软软地坐下往死里沉默着。许多人都学着杜柏的样儿，舀水闻闻沉默着坐下来，脸上厚下的不解，实实在在如不解三姓村人为啥儿世代活不过四十岁。水渠两岸，山梁上下，耙耧山脉，甚或是一个人世，除了黑色粘稠的水响，沉默丝连着沉默，无边无际把三姓村人和世界都给罩住了。谁都不言不语，谁都不扭头探望，谁的脸色都呈出坚硬的青色，蹲着或是站着，仿佛是蹲站的一片死尸。时间如凝固的石头一样。日光落地有声，流水悲鸣悲哀，村人们的呼吸坎坎坷坷。过了许久许久，过了岁岁年年，忽然间是小心地问了一句：“咋会事儿呢？杜流和大豹咋还不回来？”跟着就响起一片“咋会事儿，杜流和大豹咋还不回来”的问话声，随后就开始目光相撞了，这个时候就都把目光落到杜柏脸上去。杜柏的脸上是一层死灰色，他不看村人，只望着上游像看见了啥儿样。就看见泡白的死猪、死鼠炸着毛发从上游漂下来。从村人面前过去时，猪白鼠灰，如一灰一白大小两袋面粉从水面流过去。有人开始吐起来，吐出的黄水流在渠岸上。杜柏把手扶在了他的喉咙上，像喉咙疼痛一样脸上扭曲变形了。竹翠和她的两个妯娌媳妇并排坐在挖渠翻出的新土上，眼睛又大又圆，白茫茫盯着渠水，又像啥儿也没看。藤坐在地上无休无止地看着上游梁上的路。葛、蔓和二豹站得又硬又直，在人群中像是无枝无杈的几棵桩。 有人看见司马虎往村里走去了。他丢掉了双拐，走得又快又急，像是一阵风，似乎从来双腿就未曾化过脓，未曾生过蛆，未曾拐过腿，可他身后的路上，不断有麻雀和乌鸦落下来跟着他的双脚啄食儿。这个时候，藤忽然从地上站起来。她腾的一声站起来，圆胀的肚子把半空的腥臭推得像气流一样滚一下。她说你们看，那人是不是大豹？所有的目光便都哗哗啦啦被她带到上游的水渠上，水渠里有一块门板，门板上像放着一袋粮食一样漂下来，那漂着的粮食后──渠岸上跟着一个人，近了些就