~： Extra Story · Essay · Not a Dream

The latest website: The sky was overcast, and a drizzle of cow hair fell from the gray clouds.

I stood in the crowd, staring numbly ahead.

In the square in the center of the village, the village chief was wearing that strange costume that he didn't know how to evaluate, dancing around the sacrifices, chanting some incantations that no one else could understand.

Like me, everyone watched silently. In the entire square, apart from the strange chanting sounds of the village chief, there were only the desperate wailing and cursing of the sacrifices.

This is the seventh time I have participated in the village's annual longevity festival since I was sensible. It only took me three years to go from being ignorant at the beginning, to being shocked later, and now to being numb.

I have long been accustomed to this strange custom in the village, because compared with the strange habits of those people in the village, the longevity sacrifice is actually nothing.

This time I came to participate in the festival, and it was just a routine.

After the village chief finished dancing and chanting the mantra, he pulled out the strange sword that was stuck on the wooden pier and had five prongs. As in previous years, he used the strange sword to stab each of the five sacrifices. , so that their blood was stained on different forks.

"ignition--!!!"

Holding the strange sword high, the village shouted in a long voice.

The surrounding villagers finally became agitated, and everyone's faces showed excitement. In order not to look special, I also pretended to cheer.

Several villagers stepped forward and pushed the five sacrifices into the pit that was already filled with firewood, and then threw the torches into the pit. Those firewood have been soaked in tung oil, not to mention this drizzle weather, even heavy rain can burn.

In the blazing fire, the surrounding villagers cheered wildly, and of course I did the same.

After shouting for a while, I felt a little uncomfortable in my throat, so I quietly retreated to the back and kept my mouth shut.

It wasn't until the flames in the big pit went out that everyone's cheers gradually subsided, and returned to the quiet and quiet appearance at the beginning, but the expressions of many of them were no longer numb, but showed expectations. color.

I know what they are looking forward to, but after so many years, I haven't seen anyone get longevity through this ceremony, so I can't understand why they are still looking forward to it.

But...it doesn't matter.

I followed the villagers to line up in front of the big pit. At the forefront of the line was the village chief's family. Each of them took a handful of ashes from the big pit and shoved it into their mouths impatiently.

The "parents" and "children" of the sacrifices followed, and then the other villagers.

I lined up at the back of the queue blankly, moving forward a little bit as the queue shortened.

This place is called Changsheng Village. According to the old people in the village, it should have been called Merchant Village, because everyone in the village is surnamed Shang, but I don’t know when most people in the village started to pursue longevity, so they changed their name. It's called Changsheng Village.

I don’t know when this strange ritual was passed down today. Anyway, I heard from “Father” that it already existed when he was sensible.

As for the sacrifices of the Longevity Festival, some are travelers who have entered the village by mistake, and some are unlucky people abducted from outside by the villagers, but more often, they are people from our own village.

Whenever the offerings are not enough, the village chief will ask for offerings in the village, and then select suitable offerings from the registered offerings. Occasionally, if there are still not enough offerings, they will be randomly selected from the villagers.

It’s just that such a situation is rare. I have only encountered it once in the past seven years. Most of the time, villagers will take the initiative to hand over their “relatives”, because in this way, they can follow closely behind the village chief’s family. Give priority to eating longevity ash...

Just like those few people just now.

In addition to the Longevity Festival, there is a custom in the village that I think is strange, that is, whenever a new child is born, it will be sent to a special nursery in the village, and then the villagers of that family will be able to start childcare after five days. A baby of the same age was taken from the center.

So everyone in the village doesn't actually know who their biological parents are, but no one has ever questioned this issue...

No, some people have questioned it, but they have already become sacrifices. After being burned to ashes, they were eaten by me and other villagers.

Finally, it was my turn. Because of the rain, the ashes in the pit formed into a ball, sticking randomly in this big pit that I don't know how long it has existed. I can even see the countless villagers on the wall of the pit. fingerprint.

When I came to the pit, I immediately pretended to be excited, then I lay down, grabbed a handful of ash from the pit with my hands, stuffed it into my mouth, and swallowed it with some difficulty.

Then, I got up and didn't pat the dirt on my clothes, just like that, I swaggered towards the house with a happy expression on my face.

It wasn't until I left the square in the center of the village and I couldn't see anyone else around, that I regained my expressionless face and slowed down and walked towards home.

Although I don't like that house very much, I can eat and wear warmly there anyway, so even if I have to suffer often, I have to obey my "father"'s instructions and go home on time every day.

Before sunset, I returned home, and the "father" and "mother" who had returned home after eating the ashes gave me a look, did not speak, but continued to fiddle with their herbs.

I glanced at the medicine they were dealing with, and my face changed slightly. If I guessed correctly, I will be "cooked" again tonight. I was a little bit puzzled. This medicine bath method has been going on for half a year. This is the first time. Once a prescription has been tried on me for so long...

Generally speaking, my "parents" let me try medicines, and it never lasts more than a month. After confirming the effect of the medicine, I will switch to another one. Could it be that the effect of this medicated bath is special? Or have they not figured out the medicinal properties yet?

This is a bit rare. Although I don't like them, I have to admit that "father" and "mother" are indeed very skilled in medicine. The evidence is that I have been tried by them for more than ten years. Although he died, he could still be rescued, and apart from being relatively thin, he didn't even catch a cold.

Forget it... It's not a test to try any medicine. Anyway, this medicine can be confirmed that it is not life-threatening, and it is nothing to be uncomfortable at all.

I was too lazy to think about the reason, and walked to the kitchen on my own.

Today's dinner was as sumptuous as ever, and I picked up the bowl and chopsticks and devoured it.

I hadn't eaten so well before, but "Father" was probably worried that my body was too weak and I would easily die when trying the medicine, so I improved my diet more than four months ago...

I just don't know how long these days can last, so I cherish it very much. Three meals a day now is one of the rare times when I can feel happy.

After dinner, I stood up, cleaned up the tableware and chopsticks on the table, put them in the wooden basin beside, and took them to the yard to get some water to wash.

However, as soon as I walked out of the kitchen, I was stopped by "Father".

"You don't need to wash, come with me."

I put down the tub silently and followed him to a room next to me.

In the center of the room, there was a huge wooden barrel, and the barrel was filled with about two-thirds of the brown liquid. The unpleasant medicinal smell spread to every corner of the room with the rising heat.

"Go in," my "father" said coldly and simply.

And I didn't say much, just like before, I took off my clothes obediently and climbed into the barrel.

The temperature of the potion is very high, and as soon as I entered the barrel, I immediately felt a scorching heat, and my skin quickly turned red, but it was... bearable, and... had to be endured.

What's more, I have not received this medicinal bath once, I have long been used to it.

I endured the tingling of my skin and soaked my body in it without saying a word, with only one head exposed.

The "father" took two semi-circular wooden boards and put them on top of the barrel. After the two wooden boards were combined, there was still a circular hole in the middle so that I could put my head outside.

After finishing all this, the "father" left the room, and I gradually lost consciousness under the fumigation of the heat in the room.

I don't know how long it took, and I woke up in a daze.

As before, I was moved back to my bedroom, naked, and the bed still smelled of potion.

I took the clothes that I had thrown on the bedside and put them on, and I walked out of the bedroom.

At this time, the sky was already bright. I took a sip of water and then went to the main entrance to remove the chain wrapped around it.

The night in the village is very dangerous, because three years ago, there was suddenly a rumor that using people's blood as medicine can prolong life, and then several families were touched in the middle of the night and their chests were opened. , the murderer has not been caught yet...

In fact, not many people in the village wanted to catch the murderer. Even if they did, they would like to ask the murderer how their efforts worked.

In short, after that, as soon as the sun sets in the village, every household will close the doors and windows to prevent others from coming in and opening themselves up.

Everyday I went to my "father" to try the medicine and helped "mother" with some housework, so I took a fishing rod and a small bucket from the house and walked to the small lake in the south of the village.

Fishing is one of my rare entertainments. When the school is not in session, I will go fishing in the small lake in the south of the village or the river in the east of the village as long as I have nothing to do.

On the way to the small lake, I dug some earthworms and picked some fruits as bait for fishing.

When I got to the lake, Ming Geer was already fishing there.

Brother Min is a child who lives diagonally across from my house. He has the same fishing hobby as me, and is one of my few friends.

His experience at home was not much better than mine. He had to gather morning dew for his "parents" every morning, and often accompanied them to fast. The original purpose of his fishing was because he was too hungry.

"Brother Yan, you are late today!" Brother Min greeted me from a distance.

I nodded lightly, then shook the small wooden barrel in my hand and said, "I dug some earthworms."

Then I found a fishing spot on my own and sat down, skillfully baited and cast the hook, and quietly waited for the fish to bite.

After a while, Brother Min dropped his fishing rod and ran to my side, hesitating to say something.

I glanced at him and retracted my eyes. I was indifferent and not very curious.

"Brother Yan," he finally said, "Have you thought about leaving the village?"

"Have you forgotten the youngest son of the tailor's family?" I replied lightly.

The youngest son of the tailor's family I mentioned tried to escape from the village a few years ago, but of course he was taken back and burned to ashes as one of the offerings of the longevity sacrifice that year.

Actually, he's not the first time I've seen a villager trying to escape, it's just that I've never seen anyone succeed.

Maybe some people have succeeded, but they were concealed by the village chief?

Who knows, I don't care anyway.

"I guarded the sacrifice for my father two days ago, and then chatted with the sacrifice from outside for a long time..." Brother Min was silent for a long time, and said again: "He said that the outside world is not like this, outside Everyone knows their biological father, and they don’t push people into the fire pit every year to burn them to death, let alone a group of people all day long thinking about how to live forever!”

The more he talked, the more excited he became. I could even see the veins on his neck bulging.

However, I was still unmoved. I knew that something was wrong with the people in the village, but I had no interest in going against them.

Seeing my indifferent look, Brother Min angrily flicked his sleeves and left without even taking his precious fishing rod.

The next day, I didn't see Brother Min by the lake. His fishing rod was still left where it was yesterday, and I continued to catch my own fish without thinking.

On the third day, he still did not show up.

On the fourth day, I saw the bruised and bruised Brother Min being dragged by two villagers towards the village head's house.

It looks like my friend is missing another one.

I watched indifferently as Brother Min was towed away, then with a fishing rod and a wooden barrel, I turned around and walked towards the river in the east of the village...

Recently, I probably don't want to go fishing at the small lake.

...

Today is the day I go to school to report. Finally, instead of picking up my fishing rod and barrel, I dug out the schoolbag with a thin layer of dust from under the bed.

After a few slaps, I knocked off the dust. I slung my light schoolbag across my shoulders and walked out of the house.

Because of the particularity of the village, in addition to teaching us some common words in the first two years, the school in our village has no textbooks since the third grade, and usually there are no classes to be taught.

Occasionally, people will shout around the whole village, asking us to go to the school to gather, just like yesterday.

When we got to school, we were usually called to do some work—for example, making some handicrafts, or helping to harvest wheat.

But today is not for us to work, or I won't bring a schoolbag that I haven't used for a long time.

According to the notice in yesterday's call, today should be going to the school for a medical examination, and the schoolbag is used to hold the medical report.

What I am a little curious about is that the physical examination was only done half a year ago. In the past, the physical examination was once a year.

But...it doesn't matter, anyway, just be obedient.

As the school got closer, I put a smile on my face, greeted the acquaintances I met along the way, and walked through the school gate, all the way to my class...or grade.

The children in the village talked more and less, and said less and less. Basically, one grade was one class.

I smiled and nodded at the classmates who were familiar but not necessarily by name. I found a random seat and sat down.

After a while, the teacher of our class, a stern middle-aged woman, walked in quickly.

She glanced around the classroom, her eyes seemed to stay on me for a while, and then she said straight to the point: "We will start the medical examination now, and the person who was called by my name immediately stood there."

She pointed to the medical scale in the corner of the classroom, a device that measures weight and height at the same time.

The classmates were called up by the teacher. I leaned against the wall lazily and stared at the sky outside the window.

"Business words!"

The teacher's voice pulled me back from the state of emptying my mind. I calmed down, then got up and walked forward.

Stepping on the heel to take off my shoes, I stood barefoot on the rectangular iron block of the medical scale.

The hands on the dial wobbled and stopped between the numbers 30 and 40.

I recalled a little bit, it seems that the last physical examination was also in a similar position? It seems that the improvement of the food during this period is of no use...

The teacher recorded the data on my physical examination form, and then stretched out a black iron rod from behind the dial. A flat piece of wood was attached to the iron rod, and the teacher pressed the piece of wood on top of my head.

It's just that she was probably too tired, and the iron rod in her hand could not be grasped firmly. It fell back several times, and it took a lot of effort to measure my height.

The teacher returned the physical examination form to me. I looked at it and it seemed that it was similar to the last physical examination, and there was no change. But I didn't care about that either, and stuffed the form in my bag.

Soon, the physical examination was over, and I returned home from school slowly.

"What about the watch?"

As soon as they stepped into the house, "father" and "mother" greeted them uncharacteristically.

Although I was a little surprised, I still passed the form obediently.

The two of them looked a little excited after reading the form. Before I could ask anything, "Father" dragged me into the house, while "Mother" closed the door, but did not tie the chain.

After entering the house, "Father" asked me to sit on a chair and then got into the pharmacy. I didn't know what happened, so I could only sit on the chair in a daze.

After a while, I heard what seemed to be a noise outside, and then, "Mother" walked in with a group of people...

It is the teachers of the school and the village chief.

And "father" also came out of the pharmacy at this time.

"Are you sure?" the village chief asked.

"It's confirmed!" Both my teacher and "parents" nodded their heads excitedly, and "father" replied: "For the past six months, I have been feeding him a lot of fish and meat, and I have also fed him some tonics from time to time, but his weight is not enough. And there is no increase in height!"

"Mother" also added: "We have tried all kinds of feeding him before this, and it did not produce the same effect!"

"So... did you eat something special outside?!"

My teacher rushed up with a single stride, clasped my shoulders tightly and asked, her face became extremely hideous, and the light in her eyes made me chill for a while.

I looked blankly at my "parents", the village chief, and the other teachers. Their expressions and eyes were exactly the same as the teachers.

At this time, I reacted with hindsight, they seem to think that I have gained immortality?

And...the expressions on their faces...isn't that the expressions on the longevity sacrifice when the villagers were waiting to go to the pit to get the longevity ashes?

They want to eat me!

I finally got it.

When I didn't care about anything at first, I suddenly panicked. I struggled hard, trying to break free from the teacher's hands.

However, her hands clasped my shoulders like iron tongs.

"Speak! How on earth did you do it?!" she asked loudly with a greedy face.

That hideous face almost touched the tip of my nose.

Looking at the terrifying eyes that were almost poking into my mind, I finally couldn't help but scream...

"what!!!"

I sat up abruptly from the bed, wet and cold on my forehead and back.

Reaching out to wipe the cold sweat on my forehead, I looked around with a little daze.

The familiar furniture around and the charging mobile phone at the bedside made my beating heart gradually calm down.

"It turned out to be just a nightmare..."

I let out a long sigh of relief, then took a look at the phone by the bedside.

Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 7:34am.

Today is the weekend, and I have to update the code and can't rest... When I think of this, I can't help but feel a sour nose, and sadness comes from it.

I reluctantly pinched my thigh.

it hurts……

not a dream...

"Ugh……"

ε=('ο'*)

...

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