Chapter 53: scarecrow

After a meal at Lu Qingjiu's house, Jiufeng reluctantly left. Seeing her reluctant appearance, I am afraid that if she were not afraid of the white moon fox, she really had to stay in the old house of Lu Qingjiu for a long time. Lu Qingjiu slept refreshingly. When he woke up the next day, Jiufeng's figure was gone. There was still a dazzling whiteness outside the house, but it made him miss the hot weather in Jiufeng's residence. .
After feeding the two mouths of the house, Lu Qingjiu saw that the weather outside was good, so he put a few small animals in the yard and let them move around freely. After all, they squatted in the house since the beginning of winter, and they were indeed a little panicked after a long time.
Xiao Hei Xiao Hua rushed into the snow wearing a padded jacket made by Lu Sake, leaving a row of cute little footprints. The little fox was a little more squeamish than them, and stayed in Lu Qingjiu's arms for a long time and refused to move. It was not until Baiyuehu reached out to Lu Qingjiu to hug him, then it squeaked twice and cautiously jumped on. The thick snow, the shaggy paws were frozen into a ball.
After the snow stopped, the wind stopped, and the bright sun hung in the sky. Lu Qingjiu was running in the snow wearing thick clothes. He soon sweated and didn't feel cold. Seeing that the little guys were very happy to play, he took a stuffed ball that he used to play with the little fox from the house. The gameplay is similar to walking the dog, he threw the ball out, and the little fox happily took the ball back.
The family is happy and harmonious, and the atmosphere is exceptionally harmonious.
Because there were very few people outside in winter, Lu Qingjiu let them out of the yard and told them to move around in the yard. Don’t run far away, or they would be killed and eaten if they were carried away. They also told them to go home for dinner before dark. After ordering these precautions, Lu Qingjiu let them play by themselves and turned around to make dinner.
Yin Xun sounded amused, saying that Lu Qingjiu looked like a mother. Lu Qingjiu: "You just talk to your father like that?"
Yin Xun: "..." You are ruthless!
Most of the foods eaten in winter are relatively light, and if you eat too much, you will want to taste some food that is stimulating. Lu Qingjiu also felt that his mouth was a little weak, so he planned to make chicken feet with pickled peppers. The chicken feet were bought and frozen in the refrigerator before. Just take them out and thaw them, while the pickled peppers were picked by Lu Qingjiu from his own jar. Put the cooked chicken feet and pickled peppers in the same glass jar, add appropriate salt and some wine to the inside, and the chicken feet will be delicious after a day. I can eat a few while sitting on the kang at night, reading or chatting. Not only does it taste good, but it also kills time.
Lu Qingjiu made steamed ribs with glutinous rice at noon, and cooked a pot of cabbage meat soup. When the rice was almost cooked, Lu Qingjiu asked Yin Xun to call a few from the house and said that he could eat.
Yin Xun went out and brought back three little guys, and said: "Called the little flower, little black little fox cub, but I didn't see the white moon fox."
"Oh, there is something he is not at home for lunch today." Lu Qingjiu said, "Let's eat first."
Yesterday, after Jiufeng came to their house to eat and drink, Bai Yuehu's mood has not been very good. It seems to be thinking about something. Today is even more early in the morning. He told Lu Qingjiu not to cook his lunch and dinner.
This is very rare. Since Bai Yuehu moved into the old house, he has almost no record of going out for more than a day, and he doesn't know what he is busy with.
The little flower, the black little fox, has sat in the living room obediently, tilting his head back and waiting for Lu's sake to feed. The three of them were very obedient. Before entering the door, they wiped off the snow from their paws on the mat at the door. When they saw Lu Qingjiu coming, they raised their hooves to indicate that they had to wash their hands well.
They usually eat with Lu Sake when they eat. They eat what Lu Sake does. Originally, Lu Qingjiu was still a little worried about whether Xiao Hei Xiao Hua could eat pork, but after Xiao Hua strongly stated that she was really not racially related to pigs, she fed them pork.
San Xiaoli buried his face in the small basin and happily ate his lunch.
Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun were sitting on the table eating steamed glutinous rice ribs. They were eating. Lu Qingjiu suddenly noticed something and said, "Hey, where did the straw doll come from?"
Lying beside Xiao Hei's feet was a doll made of straw, the size of a palm, and it looked very rough.
"Straw doll?" Yin Xun thought for a while, "it looks like Xiao Hei brought it in."
"My sister found it in the snow." Xiaohua replied next to his sister who was still addicted to food. "She was arching in the snow for a long time and suddenly such a doll came out.
Lu Qingjiu walked over, picked up the doll, and found that the doll's eyes were sewn up with red beans, as well as a mouth and nose. He was wearing a fancy gown, which looked like a simple toy. At first glance, the doll looks very rough, but after taking a closer look, Lu Qingjiu feels that the doll is actually very complete, with vivid features, which is a bit interesting.
"Where did it come from?" Yin Xun took the doll from Lu Qingjiu and looked through it a few times before losing interest. "Is there any child in the village whose doll is lost."
Their living conditions here are not good, and they don’t have much extra money to buy expensive dolls in the city, so when children are clamoring for toys, parents usually make them. This kind of straw doll is most likely a toy for children in the village.
"Maybe." Lu Qingjiu returned the doll to Xiao Hei. "You can play first. When the spring starts, I will ask the people in the village. If no one wants it, it will be yours."
Xiao Hei hummed happily, hugged the doll happily with his two front hooves, and rubbed his face vigorously. She was a lot later than her brother Xiaohua. Although she can talk, she still has a child's disposition. It is naturally very happy to have such a toy to play with.
Lu Qingjiu finished his meal and went to a nap as usual. Yin Xun asked Lu Qingjiu to go to bed and said that he wanted to clear the snow in the yard while the weather was good. There might be blizzards in the next few days. It is best to make preparations in advance to avoid snow in Dalian. The doors were sealed.
As a mountain god, Yin Xun predicted the weather very accurately. Lu Qingjiu nodded, turned around and went to sleep.
This time, Lu Qingjiu slept very heavily. In the past, he would wake up naturally for more than an hour, but today he slept the whole afternoon. When he woke up, the sky outside was completely dark. Lu Qingjiu, who opened his eyes in the warm bed, was a little dazed. He felt that the whole person was soft, because he slept for too long, but his mind became blurred, and it took a long time to relax.
After slowing down, Lu Qingjiu felt something was wrong. After he slept for so long, Yin Xun would definitely come to wake him up, but now the room was silent, and he called Yin Xun for several times and no one responded.
"Yin Xun, are you in Yin Xun?" Lu Qingjiu called his friend's name while putting on his clothes, but no one answered.
Lu Qingjiu put on a thick down jacket, opened the door, and felt a bitter cold wind blowing on his face. There was no moon in the sky, and the yard was dark and quiet.
"Yin Xun? Where are you??" Lu Qingjiu's bad premonition began to expand. He knew that something must have happened. If Yin Xun was going to leave, he would definitely tell him in advance, but now it's gone.
Lu Qingjiu hurried back to the house to find a flashlight, but when he was passing by the living room, he saw Yin Xun's coat on the sofa and the phone on the table. Obviously, Yin Xun's departure was not voluntary, and he did not even have time to put on his shirt. And disappeared with him, and Xiaohua Xiaohei who played in the yard during the day.
"Yin Xun, Yin Xun?" Lu Qingjiu took the flashlight and returned to the yard. He called Yin Xun and Xiaohua Xiaohei by the names, and walked toward the backyard to see if they were in the backyard. But just as Lu Qingjiu passed through the border of the front yard and the back yard-the withered vine frame, he was suddenly tripped by something under his feet.
Lu Qingjiu staggered when he was tripped and almost fell to the ground. He shone the light of his flashlight into the snow. After seeing things in the snow clearly, his expression was frozen for a moment.
He saw a cluster of straw, which was buried in the snow. Their family did not grow rice, so naturally there would be no straw. Moreover, Lu Qingjiu walked this road during the day, and he clearly remembered that there was no such thing before. thing.
Lu Qingjiu slowly approached there, reaching out his hand to poke away the snow buried in the straw. The snow is getting less and less, and the things buried under the snow finally reveal its true colors.
It was a huge scarecrow with a height of one meter and seven meters. It was buried in the snow with a creeping posture, but this was not the reason for Lu Qingjiu's failure... What made Lu Qingjiu desperate was that he was here. On the huge scarecrow, he saw the clothes that Yin Xun wore during the day.
Yin Xun has become a scarecrow.
Lu Qingjiu got goose bumps all over his body, and he used almost all his self-control to force himself to calm down. He took a deep breath and continued to dig hard, and soon found three other little straw dolls under the scarecrow, two pigs and one fox, all of his missing children.
Seeing this, Lu Qingjiu immediately understood that the straw doll that Xiao Hei brought back during the day had a serious problem, but now it seemed to be too late to react, and Yin Xun had turned into an absurd appearance before him.
Lu Qingjiu wiped his face, dug Yin Xun out of the snow, and carried him into the house with the other three. He was afraid that Yin Xun would be ignited by the fire, and he deliberately moved the charcoal basin away from Yin Xun.
With the faint light, Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun had big eyes and small eyes. They sighed helplessly after a long while, took out the phone from their arms, and dialed a certain number.
After the mountain was covered by heavy snow, the signal from the mobile phone was intermittent, and Lu Qingjiu didn't know if it could get through.
Fortunately, he was lucky, the phone was successfully dialed out, and after a dozen rings, he was picked up.
"Yuehu." Lu Qingjiu called his tenant's name.
"Lu Qingjiu." Baiyuehu replied.
"That..." This was the first time Lu Qingjiu called Baiyuehu, but it was because of this reason that Baiyuehu had only left for a day, and the bear kid in the family had already put himself in. "Something happened at home."
"What's the matter?" Bai Yuehu said. "Are you OK?"
"I'm fine." Lu Qingjiu said, "It's Yin Xun... he has become a straw doll."
White Moon Fox: "..."
The conversation between the two was silent for more than twenty seconds. Just when Lu Qingjiu thought Bai Yuehu had hung up the phone, Bai Yuehu's voice came from the other end: "What's the matter?"
Lu Qingjiu simply told Bai Yuehu about Xiao Hei's picking up the straw doll and Yin Xun's change.
Bai Yuehu thought for a while after listening, and seemed to understand what had happened, and said, "Don't worry, it's not a big deal."
"Isn't it a big deal?" Lu Qingjiu looked at Yin Xun's scarecrow, still feeling panicked, "Is there anything wrong with Yin Xun?"
"It's okay." Bai Yuehu said, "He is not in danger. Wait for me to come back and explain to you slowly. I will be here tomorrow afternoon. Later, there may be a guest at home. You can hide Yin Xun's scarecrow."
"Oh." Although Lu Qingjiu heard the cloud, but since Bai Yuehu said that Yin Xun's life would not be in danger, he was relieved, but what happened to the guest that Bai Yuehu said? Could it be that the man turned Yin Xun and the three little guys into scarecrows?
"Then you come back early." Lu Qingjiu felt that the most reliable family member was Baiyue Fox, and said, "Let's stew lamb tomorrow."
"Good." Bai Yuehu's voice also warmed up.
After hanging up, Lu Qingjiu hid Yin Xun's scarecrow as Bai Yuehu said. There were a lot of vacant rooms in the house, so he randomly found one and stuffed Yin Xun and the little guys in it. Afraid that they would be cold, Lu Qingjiu put a thick bedding for them.
After finishing it, Lu Qingjiu simply settled for dinner, then looked for a book in the living room and started reading. I have to say that it is strange that Yin Xun, who likes to talk, and Xiao Hua Xiaohei, who are noisy, are absent at home. Especially when the temperature started to drop at night, the cold wind roared outside the house, and the blowing glass rustled, and it sounded a lot like the howling ghosts.
Lu Qingjiu warmed himself a cup of tea and held it in his palm to keep warm. He was watching "Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio". Since Baiyuehu moved into the house, Lu Qingjiu has been actively learning about these ancient Chinese legends. In the boring winter days, looking at this is a pastime.
Sure enough, there was a blizzard as Yin Xun said tonight. It was about ten o'clock in the evening. Lu Qingjiu hadn't waited for the guests in Baiyuehu's mouth. He thought that no one would come again. He closed his book and was about to go to sleep. But two clear knocks were heard.
This voice was extremely weak in the roaring wind and snow, and if it hadn't been for Lu Qingjiu's attention, he would definitely not have heard it.
Lu Qingjiu walked to the door carrying the lamp, and asked through the black iron door: "Who is outside?"
"The poor monk passed by here, wanting to spend the night at the donor's house, I wonder if you can?" A young man's voice came outside.
Lu Qingjiu: "..." How the is like the beginning of a horror story.
If Bai Yuehu hadn't told him that there were guests coming, Lu Qingjiu might have refused decisively. It's not that he is afraid of trouble, but that he can't tell whether the person outside the door is a ghost. If something unclean is really invited in, wouldn't he be looking for death? Moreover, Shuifu Village has long since covered the mountains with heavy snow. Where did the exposed monks come from in such blizzard weather...
But since Bai Yuehu called this person a guest, he shouldn't be a bad person.
Lu Qingjiu opened the door and saw a monk wearing a gray monk uniform and a hat. The light was too dark, he couldn't see the monk's face clearly, and said, "Little master, come in."
The young monk saluted Lu Sake and carefully stepped into the threshold.
Lu Qingjiu carried the lamp and led the way, leading the monk into the living room, and into the warm living room. The monk took off the hat from his head and revealed a very young face. His face is not too handsome, but with a strange charm, people look at his eyes, and his heart calms down.
"How did the little master come to Shuifu Village?" Lu Qingjiu poured him a cup of hot tea, "Here is already covered by heavy snow. It is very dangerous for you to walk in a blizzard like this."
After receiving the tea, the little master folded his hands together and bowed to Lu Sake again, saying, "The Buddha made the poor monk come here."
Lu Qingjiu smiled and said, "It was the Buddha who asked you to knock on my door?"
"One peck and one drink, there are destinies." The little master replied.
Although Lu Qingjiu did not believe in Buddha, it did not prevent him from having a good impression of monks. Although the little master in front of him came suddenly, but his attitude was respectful and courteous, he was very likable. He said, "Have the little master used fast food?"
The little master shook his head: "Just call the poor monk Xuanyu."
Lu Qingjiu didn't answer, and said with a smile: "Then I'll make you something to eat, so let's drink tea here to warm your body."
After speaking, he went to the kitchen and simply cooked some vegetarian dishes. The weather is cold, and vegetables are not easy to preserve. Fortunately, there are many sweet potatoes and cabbage in the cellar. Lu Qingjiu made sweet potato rice for the little master and fried a sweet and sour cabbage.
After it was done, he brought the food to the little master: "There are only these vegetarian dishes at home, I am really embarrassed."
Xuanyu smiled: "It's completely enough, thank you donor."
Lu Qingjiu gave him another cup of tea.
While Xuanyu was eating, Lu Qingjiu was observing the monk in front of him. He vaguely felt that the identity of the monk in front of him seemed unusual. Also, how could ordinary people appear in the snowstorm night.
After eating, Xuan Yu thanked Lu Sake again.
Lu Qingjiu said, "I have prepared a room for the little master. You can rest there at night."
Xuan Yu said, "Thank you for the donor."
Lu Qingjiu led him to the door of the room and turned to sleep after watching him go in. He thought about Yin Xun, but was still a little worried, so he found time to drag Yin Xun into his house, because the straw was afraid of fire, and Lu Qingjiu did not dare to order the kang, fearing that his stupid son would be used as fuel for burning. Up...
Lu Qingjiu slept well that night. After he got up, he saw Xuanyu standing in the courtyard, seeming to observe something.
"Little Master." Lu Qingjiu called him.
"Donor." Xuan Yu replied.
"Did you sleep well last night? What do you want for breakfast?" Lu Qingjiu asked, "I'll make a pancake for you. It's snowy outside, so don't stand outside."
The night passed and the blizzard didn't stop, but the monk was standing in the wind and snow. Although his body was thin, he gave the illusion of being as hard as a stone carving. It seemed that no matter how strong the wind was, he wouldn't be moved by it.
Xuan Yu didn't move, he said: "Donor, have you heard the story of the Buddha sacrificing himself to feed the tiger?"
Lu Qingjiu was taken aback, he said: "I... have heard of it."
This story probably tells the story of the Buddha feeding the tigress with his body and saving the tigress and the tiger cubs. The meaning is that the Buddha has compassion for all living beings and all beings are equal.
"What do you think?" Xuan Yu asked.
Lu Qingjiu frowned: "I don't believe in Buddha."
Xuanyu smiled and said, "I know that the donor does not believe in the Buddha, but I just want to know if the donor will feed the tiger with his body?"
Lu Qingjiu didn't say a word. He didn't agree in his heart. He just said that he was a bit rude to Xuanyu, so he changed the subject: "Little master, let's come in and eat the meal."
This was a kind of answer, Xuanyu understood Lu Qingjiu's consciousness, he sighed slightly, and then said, "The donor saw a little scarecrow yesterday?"
As soon as he said this, Lu Qingjiu became nervous for an instant, and he said, "That scarecrow is yours?! My pet accidentally took it into the house, and after a whole afternoon, I found that my pet had also become straw. Looks like." Poor Yin Xun didn't know that his status had fallen from a son to a pet...
"It's a poor monk." Xuan Yu said, "It's just my scarecrow, not a bad thing."
Lu Qingjiu said, "Isn't it a bad thing?!"
Xuanyu said: "Can the donor distinguish between the people and ghosts around him?"
Lu Qingjiu was taken aback.
Xuan Yu said: "Some people can't tell the difference, so the poor monk helps them to tell the difference." He looked at Lu Qingjiu, and in those black eyes, there was compassion and compassion, "But since the donor already has a certain number in his heart. , The poor monk can't say much."
Lu Qingjiu said: "You mean that the scarecrow is here to distinguish between humans and non-humans?"
Xuanyu nodded.
"Okay." Lu Qingjiu said, "I already knew about these things... how can they change back?"
Xuan Yu said: "You can recover after three days."
Lu Qingjiu was thinking of something, he frowned: "What if they were burned when they became scarecrows?"
Xuan Yu smiled and said: "The donor cares about them so much, how can they be willing to be burned?"
Lu Qingjiu said, "Someone is willing to do it, right?"
Xuan Yu said: "Then why don't the donors ask those people why they are willing?"
Lu Qingjiu understood the meaning of Xuanyu's scarecrow. He was actually giving mankind a choice. You can choose to continue or end the relationship. Non-humans who touch the scarecrow will also become scarecrows, and if humans decide to end, then the scarecrows can be burned directly.
Dust returns to dust, soil returns to soil.
But I don't know whether the burned scarecrow is still conscious, whether he knows what is happening around him.
Of course, Lu Qingjiu also understands that not every non-human is as friendly as his own. The relationship between them and humans is even more bizarre, with friends, lovers, coercion, and parasites.
No wonder Bai Yuehu said that Xuan Yu was a guest, because Xuan Yu gave the power of choice to Lu Qingjiu. He is a compassionate monk.
Lu Qingjiu laughed.
Xuanyu asked: "Why does the donor laugh?"
Lu Qingjiu said, "I don't know if Little Master has ever heard the name Fahai?"
Xuanyu blinked, "Does the donor know why my master lived to be a hundred years old?"
Lu Qingjiu said: "Why?"
Xuan Yu said: "Because he doesn't care about nosy."
Lu Qingjiu laughed loudly.