The Story of Leaping from the Dragon Gate

Yuancheng, the capital of the Xianxi Dynasty, has four main gates in the south, east, west, and north, named after the four gods and beasts.East Qinglong, West White Tiger, South Suzaku, North Xuanwu.Each main gate has two guard gates on the left and right, a total of twelve gates in size, connected in all directions.It connects the inland in the west, Jiangnan in the south, and the East China Sea in the east.In comparison, only the outer boundary of the North Gate leading to the northern border is relatively deserted.

Even so, due to the stability of the border in recent years, both official and non-governmental exchanges with ethnic minorities in the north have gradually increased.In addition, the headquarters of the Fuwei Army guarding Gyeonggi is located nearby, so there are not many villages and towns, and the market is also quite prosperous.

Song Wei followed Mu Ping and came out from Xuanwu Gate, the main entrance of Beicheng.

Ask passers-by, and know that this place is forty miles away from the city, and it is the first big fork in the north of the city, which naturally forms a service station for floating population.

At this time, the sky was getting dark, Song Wei carried the burden and moved into a small hotel.

He wandered outside for half a year, feeling frightened and aggrieved and depressed. These days, he was even more joyful and startled, sometimes sad and sometimes afraid.At this moment, my heart is confused and my mind is chaotic. I want to lie down in the room. I fell asleep and couldn't get up the next day.sick.

The owner of the inn was very enthusiastic. He didn't see any guests coming out the next night, so he specially asked the staff to come over to check on him, only to find that he was lying on the bed with a high fever, so he immediately invited a doctor to see him.

In the middle, Song Wei regained consciousness a little, thanked the host, took out the money to pay back the advance medical expenses, and paid an advance payment for the accommodation, let his mind go, thinking about nothing, and used the hostel as a ward, staying for more than half a month at a stretch.

There is no touch-up with loose foam powder, and the color that was deliberately applied before gradually fades away.Song Wei asked the cook for some grass ash to soak his face in water, and the remaining dye was gone.Because of being ill for many days, her face is pale and bloodless, her chin is sharply sharpened, her hair is still loose, and her long bangs hang down to cover her eyes and eyebrows.

He huddled in the room and did not go out. The hostel staff delivered meals and medicines on time without disturbing him.Every time I knock on the door and come in, I always see this young man in a daze.Sometimes I lie on the bed in a daze, sometimes I sit in a daze at the table, sometimes I stare at the window in a daze, and I don’t know what I’m thinking.

This day, he came to deliver dinner again, and the guy who was as warm-hearted as the boss couldn't help but talk: "Mr. Ma."

On the first day of staying at the hotel, the boss asked his name and name, Song Wei happened to see a man leading a horse out, and casually said that his surname was Ma, and his name was Ma Liang.

The guy said: "Mr. Ma wants to go to the capital to find relatives? It just so happens that Jin Dalang is resting in a small shop today, and tomorrow he will send wood to the city. Jin Dalang is very familiar with the capital, and he also knows the boss in the city. He is also kind. I see Mr. Ma This disease is almost cured, why don't you take this opportunity to go to the city with Jin Dalang, ask him to help you find out, maybe you can find your relatives soon."

When Song Wei was so ill that he was confused, the hostel owner once asked him where he came from.I don't know how I thought about it at the time, but I told people that something happened in my family, and I went to the capital to seek relatives and defect.

Song Wei looked up at the clerk, and smiled: "Thank you for your trouble, little brother. I wonder when Jin Dalang will leave tomorrow?"

The guy was dazzled by his smile, shook his head, and then settled the details with him.Consciously doing a good deed and feeling happy.

The next day, Song Wei sat on the wood of the mule cart and walked slowly towards the capital.That Jin Dalang was really kind, he didn't want his money, Song Wei still insisted on giving ten copper coins.

The mule cart was much slower than the horse, not to mention it was fully loaded.When resting at noon, Song Wei gnawed on dry food, only to realize that Jin Dalang was not taking the road that Mu Ping sent him out.There are several earth slopes near and far, and there are densely packed earthen buns, which turned out to be a cemetery.

It is said that Song Weiding was also a staunch materialist in the past, and he did not believe in gods, ghosts or evil, but later his views were forced to change, and this is no longer the case.It's just that he never thinks too much about it because he can't figure it out.For example, did this life suddenly have more memories from the previous life, or did the soul of the previous life travel to this life? After trying to think about such profound questions a few times, Song Wei knew that with her own IQ, it was useless to think about it. , It's like looking for trouble when there's nothing to do.

The cycle of life and death.For him, this moment is life, and yesterday is death; what is remembered is life, what is forgotten is death; the beginning is life, and the end is death.Why ask about the meaning of life and the value of death.

Having said that, anyone who suddenly faces so many dead people will inevitably feel a little bit numb with fear.Even the wind passing through the woods seemed to become chilly and biting in an instant.Song Wei looked up, there was no village in front, no store behind, it was really the best place for killing people and stealing goods, throwing corpses and destroying ruins.

Steady his trembling teeth, he asked, "Jin Dalang, don't we enter the city through the Xuanwu Gate?"

Jin Dalang said: "Huh? You don't know? We entered the city from Kitaemon, and my car is full of high-quality coffin boards. The evil in the city is concentrated in Kitaemon, and going to Xuanwumen is a detour. .”

Seeing that he was sitting stiffly, he understood, laughed and said, "It's broad daylight, what are you so afraid of? You are really a pampered son."

He knew that this young man surnamed Ma was a son of a poor family, so he was not surprised to see him behave like this.Explained: "As the saying goes, the king of Hades wants you to die at the third watch, and dare not keep you at the fifth watch. There are so many people in the capital, even the emperor's family. If they say dead people, they must also die, right? The fierce places in the city are all in the north Inside the Uemon, the cemetery outside the city is just outside the Kitaemon, which is convenient and trouble-free. The piles of graves in front of us are all buried by poor people. Going further, do you see the highest mountain? At the foot of the mountain is the emperor Tombs. The shorter ones beside the imperial tombs are all buried with relatives, princes and nobles."

Jin Dalang patted the mule cart with great pride: "If you talk about the heavy materials used by the emperor, such as golden nanmu and red jade cedar, I can't pay tribute. However, I, Jin Dalang, can't pay tribute to the yellow cypress and flower cedars used by princes and nobles. It’s really not that I haven’t delivered it.” Then he chatted endlessly with the coachman and helpers about the coffin scriptures.

Song Wei laughed secretly that she was overly nervous at the beginning, and looking at the stretches of tombs, they were nothing more than mounds of earth, it was really not worth shivering.Listening to Jin Dalang and his group talking about who used what plank coffins, it was hard not to think of the emperor lying in the palace, and think of many other people and things along the way.The steps that seemed to be well-organized at first, can't help but get confused again.

After the lunch break, the mule cart restarted.

Lu Yuyi listed the funeral procession, and the mule cart avoided the side of the road.The flags and flags are waving, the public service is mighty, and the mourning songs are sad and sad, which makes people feel sad and weep.

Song Wei watched the funeral procession go away, then turned her head to look at the gradually clear city wall and gate tower ahead.The closer you get, the more confused you feel.He didn't know what to do and how to do it.

After more than half a month, the rules of wide entry and strict exit at the gate of the city were obviously abolished, and there were no guards to check out the people who left the city one by one.

The city guards glanced at Jin Dalang's mule convoy, answered a few general questions, and entered directly without any additional requirements.

Walk for a while, turn a corner again, and there is a narrow street in front of you. All the shops have black curtains on a white background, and they specialize in the funeral business of the dead.Along the way, there are those who write sacrificial rites, those who draw paper horses, those who sell paper money, those who make shrouds... Finally, they come to the shop where the coffin is made.

Jin Dalang is very familiar with the owner of the coffin shop. After explaining the business, he really talked about Mr. Ma Liang, who was brought to the city to find his relatives.Song Wei was talking nonsense at first, but a group of enthusiastic people naturally had no clue after listening to it.He looks haggard, with a dull expression, and he is tender and delicate, so he doesn't need to pretend, he is a typical son of a former rich family who is down and down.Everyone sighed, and promised to help to inquire more, and then asked what they planned now.

Song Wei said that there is still a little money left, and she will support it for a few days before making plans.Jin Dalang introduced him to live in the hostel where the delivery man rested, which was on this street, and he even offered a discount.

Since then, Song Wei has settled down on this fierce street.He looks like a wandering ghost every day, with a pale face and loose hair. He can spend a long time looking at the embroidered shroud, watching the coffin being opened for a long time. Occasionally, half of his head is exposed from behind the finished product hanging in front of the paper horse shop. Somewhat popular, it scared the guests who came to the door.

Not long after, the whole street knew about Mr. Ma Liang's tragic life experience and his pitiful experience, and looked at him with sympathy, and let him float from the street to the end of the street like a ghost.

The owner of the coffin shop felt inexplicably guilty because he didn't help in the slightest by inquiring about the news.One day, I saw Song Wei drifting past the door again, skinny and thin, like a mourning stick for a filial son, and as thin as a banner for a virtuous grandson, and suddenly thought, this Mr. They ran out and had no money to eat.Looking back at my own coffin shop, it was all laborious work, and it was obvious that I couldn't do it.He also thought that most of the poor and rich kids could read and write, so writing a sacrificial oration should be a no-brainer, so he immediately stopped him and told him his idea.

Song Wei stared blankly at him for a long time, then his mind slowly turned.I thought to myself that I can’t say I have money in my pocket, the sacrificial text is too high-end, it knows me but I don’t know it, I am actually looking for the meaning of life and the value of death at your door...

He smiled shyly at the boss: "I think Mr. Mao, who wrote the sacrificial oration at the street corner, wrote it quite well. How can he steal business for nothing."

When the boss heard it, the young man was going to starve to death and still be so righteous, good man.Pulling him up, he walked into the horse shop next door.

From then on, Song Wei became an apprentice at the Paper Horse Shop, with food and housing included, and pocket money for a good job.He is dexterous, and he once helped Ouyang Minzhong draw the shape of a bobbin cart, and he also drew the shape of jewelry for Song Manji. It is not difficult to draw a paper horse.I used to have a problem of being unable to sit still, but now it seems to be cured. I lower my head and sit on the stool, take a pen to paint gold and silver, dip in red and dot green, and walk one by one on the assembly line without moving for a long time.

At the same time, the paper horse shop is also in the business of singing elegy, and has raised several professional lairs.Painting here, singing there, it's really literature and art.

Sometimes Song Wei holds a pen and listens while drawing, and then becomes dazed.

The songs sung by the almsboys are all classic masterpieces widely circulated by the poets of the previous dynasty or this dynasty. The tunes are sad and gloomy, and the words are plain and simple.

But one man sang:

"When I was alive, I traveled around the capital, but when I died, I never abandoned the middle and the wild.

Go up to the high hall in the morning, and go down to Huangquan in the evening.

Entering Yuyuan in the daytime, hang the car and rest the horses.

Although good fortune is divine, it can restore me.

Described as a little rest, the teeth should fall.

It has been like this since ancient times, and who can leave it. "

At the end of the song, someone sang again:

"Press the bridle and follow the long thin, and send the son to the long night platform.

Hu Zizi doesn't hear it, and weeping son doesn't know it.

Sigh heavily on the side, miss me in the past.

Three autumns are still enough to harvest, and the world can think about it.

It is easy to perish if you die, but it is impossible to save your son. "

The previous song, titled No.1, lamented life and death, and it has been the same since ancient times, without exception. It seems open-minded, but in fact it is empty and helpless.The latter song mourns the dead in the second person, and the separation between life and death is irretrievable, more intense and desperate.

Song Wei had already heard these words by heart, but this time she suddenly thought that what Dugu Mian said was wrong.What he knows, what he can remember, no matter how much and how reliable it is, is nothing more than this life.This life is over, that's all.But I may have to take them with me to the next life.It's not fair.

Thinking about it, it can also be done the other way around.What I think may be repeated, other people in the same time and space may not be able to.To have is to have, to lose is to lose.Just as Song Manji only has one Song Xiaoyin, the emperor also only has one sixth prince.

As the old saying goes, what happens today ends today.Things in this life should be in this life.

Listening, listening, humming involuntarily.He didn't feel it himself, he just hummed and sang with all his heart, but he didn't know that those few serious guards all stopped their voices and listened attentively.Another apprentice who was sitting on the paper horse opposite, tears streaming down his face.

The boss waited for him to finish singing, full of pleasant surprises, and immediately asked: "Ma Liang, would you like to become a man? The salary is double that of painting paper horses, and there is also a bounty from the master. How about it?"

Song Wei lowered her head, as if thinking.After a while, he replied, "Okay."

The author has something to say:

appendix:

"Elegy" the first author of the Three Kingdoms Wei Guo Miao Xi

The second author is Lu Ji of the Western Jin Dynasty.

For the poor son who sings dirges to make a living, see the "Biography of Li Wa" written by Bai Xingjian in the Tang Dynasty, haha!