Ancient natural disasters: The whole family traveled through time and was almost wiped out

Chapter 235

"Dad, you have no heart! This medicine of mine can only last until midnight tomorrow night at most!"

As Jiang Xiubai went out, he was almost driven back by the cold wind, luckily he was wearing more clothes.

"So you can still hold on today, right?" Jiang Yida was also dressed in plain clothes. He patted Jiang Xiubai on the shoulder and said, "Son, the great fortune of our village depends on the blessings of our ancestors. Be sincere, and the ancestors will be happy. Besides, when the effect of the medicine wears off tomorrow, you can say that you caught a cold while worshiping the ancestors. It's a ready-made excuse, so you don't even need to find one."

"Thank you!" Jiang Xiubai was speechless and choked: "We should thank our ancestors, why don't we thank Uncle Pei? Without Uncle Pei, even if our ancestors tried their best, we wouldn't be able to get anything out of it."

"You don't have to say that! Hurry up! We're waiting for you. You're really good at dawdling!"

"Dad, I advise you to be nicer to me. I am also one of the heroes of the entire Jiangjia Village!"

"So I am the father of a meritorious official, right?"

"Go, go now, go faster."

Between the loving father and the filial son, Jiang Xiubai had no chance of winning. When he and Jiang Yida arrived at old Jiang's house, more than 60 families in the village were already waiting there.

This year is a special year.

Not to mention far away, just take the neighboring village as an example, nearly half of the people died. Other villages also lost some people in the rain and snow disasters, but only Jiangjia Village was safe and sound, and may even have new members in the near future.

Men like Jiang the Hunter and Jiang the Butcher followed Jiang Yipei outside to deal with matters big and small, so they naturally knew how rare this kind of comfort was. They were grateful to Jiang Yipei from the bottom of their hearts, and no matter what he said or did, they were the first to respond without any hesitation.

How lucky the whole village is to be together in one piece!

Perhaps it is for this reason that the older generation has abandoned the secular prejudices of the times - allowing believing women and young girls to go to the mountains to pay homage.

Everyone went to pay respect to their ancestors in an orderly manner and thank them for their blessings - the other people in the village didn't know about the "ancestors bringing goods", so in Jiang Xiubai's view it was a blessing in disguise.

His father thought about it all night and finally decided to say nothing and maintain the status quo.

Jiang Xiubai was happy to see this happen, but in fact, it was not a good thing if too many people knew about this kind of thing.

——There is one more person keeping a secret~

"set off!"

At the command of Old Master Jiang, he walked in front with a cane, and the heads of each household followed behind him carrying baskets, with their wives and daughters following beside them. They were like a long dragon, marching towards the mountains in a mighty procession.

It was the first time for the little girls to visit the grave. They were so excited that they jumped up and down all the way.

——In the past, grandpa, dad, uncles and aunts would take their brothers and sisters to visit the graves of the deceased. When they were young, they also wanted to go, but were told by their mother that they could not go. After crying and making a fuss, they still could not go. When they grew up, they naturally accepted the convention that girls could not go to visit the graves of the deceased.

They didn’t understand why girls couldn’t go to pay homage to the ancestors, but they accepted it over time and would teach their daughters about it in the future - that was the rule.

There is no rule that prohibits laughing and joking when paying homage to ancestors. Meeting the ancestors is a happy thing, and the ancestors will also be happy to see their descendants living well, so the adults don't care about them and just let them do what they want.

"The situation in Luoshui County is better. We have food and are not in a hurry. You don't know how miserable Chunzhou County is!"

"Crossing the mountain in Chunzhou County, you can see Luojiang County next door. It's even worse. It was a big village. More than a thousand people were killed by the refugee army."

"The refugee army is nothing but a bunch of bastards. They even kill children as young as two or three years old!"

"Kill? Killing them is considered good. They still eat... Pah, pah, pah - I have to go see the ancestors, so let's not talk about these unlucky things..."

.........

The ancestral tomb of Jiangjia Village is in a place called Shaoji Mountain, which is quite far away from Jiangjia Village. It takes half an hour to walk and climb the mountain. The tribesmen talked as they walked.

Many of them were sent to different places by Jiang Yipei, and what they saw and heard were different. When all this information was integrated, there was no worst, only worse. Hearing this, Old Master Jiang's heart began to beat fast.

"Are we sure that the wall of our village will be built after Qingming Festival?" Jiang Xiubai felt terrified when he heard them talking: "This world is too dangerous! How can you be so calm when the whole village is being massacred, sister!"

Jiang Xiaomi asked back: "What else can I do if I don't stay calm? Should I fight them to death?"

"Then there's no need to be so impulsive..."

"Don't worry." Jiang Xiumian yawned and said, "Let alone our village, even the entire Luoshui County is relatively safe. No one will wipe your neck while you sleep."

Jiang Xiubai: “…”

Thank you so much for your comfort!

Will I be able to sleep at night?

fall!

"Brother..." Jiang Xiaomi looked at her brother who was almost unrecognizable and felt distressed: "How about we put on some more face cream? Our face is flaking again."

"I'm wearing the mask so tightly, but you can still see my face peeling?" Jiang Xiumian stretched out his gloved hand and touched his face. Yes, the mask was worn tightly, and the hat was also worn tightly.

"There are dandruff on your mask." Jiang Xiaomi reached out and patted him. The white dandruff on the dark mask should not be too obvious.

"Then apply it." Jiang Xiumian, Jiang Xiaomi and Jiang Xiubai were originally at the back of the team, and now they took out the repair cream without hiding it at all.

When the mask was removed, Jiang Xiumian's dry, flaky face with red cheeks was revealed.

You know, Jiang Xiumian is a fresh and handsome young man, his appearance is two points higher than Jiang Xiubai!

Now he is so devastated that he seems to be ten years older!

"Brother, you are so great!" Jiang Xiaomi couldn't bear it and simply turned her eyes away.

"Now you know how much I have sacrificed for this family!" Jiang Xiumian snorted twice in a proud tone, "You must be nicer to me in the future. Brother has been wronged."

Jiang Xiumian is not like Jiang Xiubai and Jiang Xiaomi who can be lazy. He is the person in charge and has to go to the scene every day. He has endless things to do. His already pampered skin can't tolerate him. Even if he protects himself tightly, his face still peels and gets chapped. These are all minor matters. Getting frostbite is really uncomfortable!

Ears, hands, feet!

One day I was busy outside for too long and didn't notice that my boots were wet. I was frozen all day, and the next day my feet were swollen like radishes, itchy and painful.

During this period, he has already started to hand over his work, so he has taken some time to recuperate. Now you can see this handsome face with just some peeling skin. If you go back half a month, it would have been an ugly face full of cracks.

"Okay, okay!" Jiang Xiaomi responded hurriedly. Suddenly she remembered something and took out two tablets of medicine from her space: "Vitamin E and Vitamin A, did you forget to take them this morning?"

Jiang Xiumian broke off two and put them into his mouth: "I hope it gets better soon, it's itchy."

"Mom said, don't scratch! If it itches, put on more cream and keep your skin moisturized."

Jiang Xiumian nodded: "I know! Walk faster, or you'll fall behind."

Jiang Xiaomi turned around and said to Jiang Xiubai: "I'm talking to you, Jiang Xiubai! Hurry up!"

Jiang Xiubai: “…”

He is just one step behind, how much slower can he be than you two?

Time passed quickly as they were talking and playing, and now they had arrived at Shaoji Mountain.

The ancestors of Jiangjia Village were buried here. Later, the area was full and there was no more room for burials, so each family asked a Feng Shui master to choose a Feng Shui treasure land. Later, each family buried their people on the mountain allocated to them.

Therefore, the ancestral tombs of Jiangjia Village are actually quite scattered, which is why they could not be moved when they migrated to Yunling Mountain.

There are really too many to move them all!

In fact, the situation of the ancestral tombs in Jiangjia Village is considered good. In some villages, the burials are more scattered. Every year when people visit the mountain, they cannot find the ancestral tombs, and it is even possible to visit the wrong tombs.

Every year, the order of visiting graves in Jiangjia Village is the old ancestor's grave, then the graves of each branch, and then the graves of each family. After completing the whole process, it is dark by the time they return home.

If some families’ ancestral graves are buried far away, it may take several days to complete the worship!

"The ancestors are in the mountains, and the unworthy descendants come to pay homage to them."

Old Master Jiang dropped his walking stick, knelt down in front of his ancestors' graves, and bowed three times. Then he stood up and said to everyone, "Clean up the snow on the graves of our ancestors."

The first step of worship is to inform the ancestors, and the second step is to clear all the weeds on the graves.

The men from each family carried their hoes and started working.

The ancestral tomb is really large, it fills up the entire mountain.

This ancestral tomb is where 111 ancestors of Jiangjia Village are buried. Moreover, the ancestral tomb of Jiangjia Village is not the common conical tomb mound made of high loess. Instead, it is a tomb shaped like the Chinese character "山". The "山" character is divided by a vertical line, with high sides and a concave middle. The top of the tomb is one meter higher than the altar for worship. There is also a round earth cone behind the tomb, which is called Hou Tu.

By the time the grave was cleaned and the corresponding Hou Tu was found, an hour had passed. The chicken that Jiang Li had prepared was placed in front of the head, and each household also placed their own offerings and paper-made items. These paper-made items were all bought in the town before. There were craftsmen in this field who could make gold, silver and jewelry, and they were very exquisite.

But this year they are not available for purchase, so the women in the village made them themselves after work. Some of them were not very realistic, so they asked their children to write words on them and tell the ancestors what they were - regardless of whether the ancestors could read or not.

In the past, offerings such as golden pigs, chickens, geese, fish, meat, fresh fruits, cakes, and wine were all necessary for ancestor worship. If conditions did not allow, less could be offered, but nothing could be missing. Nowadays, every family offers what they have, so there is no need to pretend to be rich.

Every family placed their own offerings on the table for ancestor worship. In previous years, Jiang Lizheng's family could set up a table of their own, but today the whole village set up one table. Old Master Jiang stood in front of the table, lit the candlesticks, burned three incense sticks, and knelt down tremblingly. The descendants behind him, from old to young, from male to female, knelt down in turn.

The little girls knelt in the last row. They had never seen such a grand ancestor worship ceremony before. They were curious and a little scared. They lowered their heads and dared not make a sound.

Old Master Jiang held incense sticks in his hands, bowed to the sky, the earth, and the ancestors, and finally kowtowed to apologize: "Ancestors, please don't blame me. There are not many offerings this year. It's not that I neglected the ancestors, but this is already the best offering the Jiang family can offer."

"Please don't blame me, ancestors. Today, we are the unworthy descendants who asked all the men, women and children in Jiangjia Village to come and pay homage. We want the ancestors to see that everyone in our village is doing well and living well."

After Old Master Jiang confessed his crime, he raised his head, but he was still kneeling. He held the incense firmly in front of his chest and said, "You all know, right? We have had a hard time in the past six months! It rained for three months and snowed for two years. If it weren't for our Pei'er, our unworthy descendants would not have the face to meet all of you ancestors in the underworld..."

Old Master Jiang chattered on and on to report to the ancestors what happened in the world of the living, mainly praising Jiang Yipei for his great contribution to Jiangjia Village.

The people behind him knelt in an orderly manner without any impatience. Maybe deep down, they were even agreeing with what Old Master Jiang said!

After Old Master Jiang and the ancestors finished their reports, he stood up and said, "The 78th generation eldest grandson Jiang Gen burns incense to the ancestors!"

What was unexpected was that after he finished shouting, he asked everyone to line up and burn incense in turn.

"Dorian, you go."

Dao Lin was Jiang Lizheng's name. He knelt down obediently and lit incense.

At this time, Old Master Jiang sang loudly:

"The 79th generation eldest son Jiang Daolin is offering incense to his ancestors."

Then, before each person burns incense, he loudly announces his name:

"The wife of Jiang Daolin, the 79th generation eldest son, Yang, burns incense to the ancestors."

"The 80th generation eldest son Jiang Yipei is offering incense to his ancestors."

"The wife of Jiang Yipei, the 80th generation descendant of the eldest house, burns incense to the ancestors."

"The 80th generation eldest son Jiang Yitao is offering incense to his ancestors."

"..."

"The 81st generation eldest son Jiang Xiumian is offering incense to his ancestors."

"The 81st generation of the eldest house, Jiang Xiaomi, is offering incense to the ancestors."

"The 82nd generation of the second house descendant..."

This was a sense of ritual that had never been experienced before. Old Master Jiang did not explain at the beginning why he had to do this, but for some reason, every time Old Master Jiang sang a name, people felt like crying.

There were more than 600 people in the village, young and old, and he had to stand beside the altar and shout more than 600 times in a loud voice. Jiang Lizheng wanted to do it for him, but was politely declined by Old Master Jiang. After all the people in the village, young and old, had finished offering incense, Old Master Jiang's voice was hoarse, and his eldest son had to help him go down to rest.

But Old Master Jiang shook his head. He walked to the altar again, knelt down, and kowtowed: "The above are the 682 descendants of Jiangjia Village. I hope the ancestors of the Jiang family will bless you."

Damn it——

Jiang Xiaomi couldn't hold back her tears, her nose felt sore and she started to cry.

She has never been a person who cries easily, but seeing Old Master Jiang like this today, she really... cried to death.

The people in Jiangjia Village then understood why Old Master Jiang did this. He was afraid that the ancestor had forgotten their names and that he had blessed the wrong people.

The old man’s most simple wish is that everyone is well.