I didn't intend to be a Fairy

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

The heavy drumming seems to beat people's heartbeats. Even in an empty street with countless people on the roadside, it gives people a mysterious and solemn feeling.

"Nuo..."

"Nuo..."

The first four people are all played by experienced old men. They are dressed in red robes that seem to be stained with blood. They wear fierce and terrifying masks with four eyes. They constantly make low sounds similar to "Nuo" in their mouths, and their dances are also fierce. Radical and powerful. The morning fog is already thick, and with the smoke from firecrackers, the streets are filled with smoke. Four "Fang Xiang" jump out from behind, really like ghosts and gods dancing wildly, rushing towards you.

"Nuo..."

There was another group of teenagers behind them, wearing the same fierce masks, but they only had two eyes.

Behind them are twelve beasts.

Behind the twelve beasts, there were many beggars, also wearing masks or smearing their faces. They followed behind with great momentum, reaching out to the people on both sides to ask for money. Not many people gave it to them, most of them just threw a copper plate.

The Taoist priest and the girl were also standing next to the street, under a willow tree, with a swallow on their shoulders, watching this scene intently.

"Nuo opera is also called ghost opera. They play ghosts, and they are all fierce and ancient ghosts. At first, Nuo opera was performed by the emperor, and later it was also performed by the people. The purpose was to pay tribute to the gods and drive away plagues." Song Dynasty You explained to the two little monsters while staring ahead, "In the past, Nuo opera was mysterious, solemn and inviolable, but gradually it turned into a performance. It was mainly for fun and celebration."

"Can the plague really be driven away?" The little girl raised her head and looked at the Taoist priest behind her from the top of her forehead.

"Can we not know about ancient times? Anyway, in modern times..." Song You looked down at her inverted facial features and smiled at her, "People in Hezhou also dance Nuo dance."

"Can't understand."

"Useless."

"understood."

"The one in the front is called Fang Xiang, who is a madman and warrior. He was originally an official, but later became the god of catching ghosts. People believe that he can catch ghosts." Song You said, "The one in the back is called Zuotou, who was originally the same as Fang Xiang. He was the divine king who cleared the way to catch ghosts, but later he gradually became inferior to Fang Xiang..."

Fang Xiang and Zuotou were walking past them.

Fang Xiang is played by an old man, who is relatively stable, while the boss is played by a boy and a young man, with a light and naughty figure. When he saw the fair and beautiful girl in front of the Taoist, he deliberately tried to scare her when he passed by.

Sanhua Empress only stood in front of the Taoists, motionless, staring at them with a serious face.

I don't know what she is thinking.

When they passed by, she raised her head again and continued to ask her Taoist priest: "Can they catch the God of Paradise?"

The sound was clear and thin, just at the moment when the sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers stopped.

Many people around him heard it and looked sideways.

Song You smiled slightly and said without hesitation: "If it was really useful, there would be no Paradise God long ago."

"Are they all fake?"

"Not entirely."

"Not entirely?"

"Young girl from elementary school." Song You reached out to touch her head and found that it was a little taller than before. "I heard that ghosts and gods can be seen through Nuo opera masks. This seems to be true."

"Miss Sanhua can still see it like this!"

"Of course she's not as powerful as Empress Sanhua."

The Taoist lowered his head and spoke to her. The swallow on his shoulder turned its head and put it into its feathers, as if it was combing its hair, but also as if it couldn't bear to listen.

"Spend money to reward the gods!"

"Spend money to buy Jiluo!"

A group of beggars wearing tattered red clothes and masks, acting as gods, walked past them, jumping around and reaching out to take out money.

Many people threw out one or two coins, which caused a rush of beggars.

"Crush all the Yin Qi..."

"For Yang Dao..."

"Your family is lucky..."

These beggars also learned to say a few kind words.

The beggars gradually passed by the Taoist.

Finally, I saw the expression on Sanhua Empress’s face——

alert! Full of vigilance!

Fortunately, these beggars could see the Taoist priest behind her, and when they saw that it was a Taoist priest, they jumped over them.

"call……"

Sanhua Empress breathed a sigh of relief.

The mighty team gradually moved away, disappearing into the morning mist and smoke.

"It's so lively."

The little girl turned back and said to the Taoist.

"The plum blossoms are blooming."

The Taoist raised his head and said to her.

The little girl then looked ahead. Plum blossoms were planted on the other side of the street. They were in full bloom in the cold winter months.

The Taoist has already taken steps.

"Puff puff..."

The swallow flew away quickly.

The girl also followed.

There are people selling Ningxiang ink on the streets of Yangdu. Since Ningxiang is produced here, it is much cheaper than Yidu.

But it also costs about 6,000 yuan.

Song You visited three houses and chose the cheapest one, which cost five thousand and eight pieces. Under the dull gaze of Empress Sanhua, he bought four pieces, which were probably enough for a long time.

"Empress Sanhua's calligraphy is likely to be passed down through the ages. Her words are priceless, so don't be stingy with this little money." Song You continued to touch her head, "Besides, we don't spend much money on weekdays."

“So expensive!”

"go home."

Song You took the ink and walked to the mansion.

The sound of gongs and drums could still be heard in the distance, mysterious and solemn, and the "nuo"-like shouts came from the fog, like the low roars of evil ghosts and gods.

This will last almost a whole day, and it will take you around the entire city of Yangdu.

Dancing Nuo dance is also hard work.

It's still early now, but as time goes by, people from outside the city will gradually enter the city, and more people will participate. The government, shops along the street, restaurants, and even ordinary people will prepare wine and food for them. This is not only a sacrificial ceremony, but also a lively event for the whole city. This is the so-called gathering of parties and groups, staying up all night, searching for wine and food.

Song You has already returned to the house.

As soon as I pushed the door open, someone knocked on the door. It turned out to be a gentleman from the folk who didn't know whether it was true or false. He brought talisman paper, a bell and a wooden sword, and wanted to exorcise them from evil spirits and remove filth, and collect some money by the way.

Naturally, such "experts" usually won't tell you the money directly, and just let you give it as you like.

Naturally, Empress Sanhua didn’t want to give her a penny.

However, after Song You's persuasion, he was still allowed to walk around the house and mutter some words, which made him feel more involved. Before leaving, he asked Empress Sanhua to give him a penny.

The moment he took the penny, the private gentleman was stunned for a moment.

After that, Sanhua Empress had been standing guard at the door, scratching the crack in the door to see what was going on outside. Several people knocked on the door one after another, and she immediately withdrew her gaze, then looked back at the Taoist, telling him not to say anything with her eyes, pretending to be a housekeeper. There is no human appearance in it.

Song You didn't disobey her either.

The sky slowly darkened.

At night, after dinner, the Taoist was not in a hurry to fall asleep. Instead, he asked his children to light the oil lamps in the house. He also fetched well water to grind the ink until it was light. He spread the paper on the table and drew plum blossoms. .

I wrote leisurely, with just a few strokes, and the ink spread naturally on the paper, revealing the branches of the plum blossoms.

The cat jumped on the table and looked down at it carefully.

Ningxiang ink exudes the fragrance of familiar medicinal materials, neither strong nor light, deep and quiet.

The Taoist also wrote seriously.

The plum blossom branches are shaped, and the tiny branches are outlined with a fine pen. There is no need for much background, and no words are needed for pedestrians on the street. You only need to outline a corner of the white wall and blue tiles to highlight the plum blossoms, and leave the rest blank, just like the streets under heavy fog today, with the plum blossoms showing in the fog.

"The trees are bare!"

Mao'er pointed at the painting and said, then turned to look at Zhu Sha beside him, as if he still remembered being in Yidu many years ago: "Do you want to use this to sprinkle flowers?"

"Yes."

"It's red again!"

"no way."

"Why don't you draw those people dancing?"

"I also want to paint, but unfortunately I don't have such good painting skills, so I can't do it." Song You shook his head, "It would be great if Master Dou were here, and I would leave another rare treasure painting for future generations."

"Then sprinkle plum blossoms quickly!"

"Miss Sanhua can help me sprinkle it."

"Sanhua Empress Sa?"

"Um."

Song You mixed cinnabar with water and handed it to Mao'er.

The cat stretched out its paws, which were fluffy. While turning to look at the Taoist, it slowly stretched its paws down. When it touched the cinnabar ink, it quickly lifted it up, still staring at the Taoist, and slowly moved it to the painting.

"Just do whatever you want."

The Taoist smiled and encouraged her with his eyes.

The calico cat was afraid that he would not sprinkle well and make the painting he had worked so hard to paint look ugly, but when he met his eyes, he gained courage again, so he just shook his paw.

Suddenly cinnabar splashed, and the falling paper turned into plum blossoms.

Everyone and the cat are extremely focused.

In addition to being focused, Mao'er was also a little uneasy. His eyes stayed on the paper, but he also moved his eyes from time to time, quietly looking at his Taoist priest's expression. He was relieved when he saw that he was satisfied.

It's just that his expression is as serious as ever.

Her attention was focused on this, and for a while even she, who was usually vigilant, did not notice the faintly visible and seemingly invisible shadow shaking outside the window.

I saw the Taoist also reaching out and dipping his hand in cinnabar.

But he waved to the window casually——

"brush……"

A bit of cinnabar flew out of his hand.

The doors and windows outside the house were tightly closed, and the windows were also covered with thick window paper. But somehow, this little bit of cinnabar got through the window paper and flew out without breaking the window.

"ah!!"

There was a sudden scream outside.

Then there was a gust of wind.

"Meow??"

Mao'er reacted instantly, turned his head and stared out the window, then without any hesitation, jumped off the desk and rushed over.

A gust of wind opened the door, and it was dark outside.

Another gust of wind closed the door.

The lights were blown away and cast shadows.

Song You was not in a hurry at all. He stood there, holding the painting he and Mao'er had just made, and looked at the candlelight carefully.

Although the painting skills are average and the charm is lacking, it still has some aura and can be considered a good painting.

The Taoist himself became more and more satisfied with it.

After a while, the door opened again.

"Squeak..."

This time it was pushed open by the girl's hand. After walking in, she carefully closed the door, as if she was afraid that the door would be broken if she used a little more force. Then she said to the Taoist:

"Escaped."

"It doesn't matter." The Taoist continued to look at the painting, "I have left a mark on him, and I will always find him."

"mark!"

"Miss Sanhua, come and see the painting..."

The Taoist didn't seem to care at all and only showed the painting to the girl.