Mute Words

The excitement of the Winter Harvest Festival continued well into the evening.

In the past, when the sun went down, Pengge would have been quiet and there would have been few people on the streets by eight o’clock. Today, however, people were still singing and dancing in the village’s largest square, and glasses were being passed around.

Low tables were set around the bonfire, and in addition to the warming wine, there were some dried fruits and melon seeds. The people of Cenglu gathered around the tables in groups of three or five, chatting and drinking.

“This cup is for Baiyin. He has done us Xia people proud today!” After Yan Chuwen said this, he and Guo Shu raised their wine bowls and toasted me.

I put my arm around my dog and used my other hand to place the bowls on the table.

“You are too kind. It was nothing.” I took a small sip of wine and my eyes drifted unconsciously to the person sitting at the head of the table.

Mo Chuan tilted his head, communicating with Nie Peng next to him and nodding lightly from time to time. In this cheerful atmosphere, his posture remained tense, maintaining the dignified bearing of an Oracle, his back straight.

Perhaps he sensed my gaze, for as he spoke he looked directly in my direction.

I did not avert my gaze, and from a distance across the campfire, I raised the bowl in my hand with a smile.

As he had done many times before, he chose to ignore me this time, looking away as if he hadn’t seen me at all.

I was prepared for this, so when he actually acted as I expected, I wasn’t annoyed, but rather a little amused.

“By the way, what does ‘La Jieluo’ mean?” I asked the two folklore experts present as I put the bowl back on the table.

Yan Chuwen was taken aback: ‘La Jieluo? You went to the temple this morning? These words are a kind of blessing and literally mean ‘the gods have won.

“Well, I did. Why does the mo… Pin Jia say that when he gives blessings?” I continued to ask.

“It has to do with the local mountain god culture,” Guo Shupu said, shelling peanuts. The people of Cenglu believe that Canglan snow mountain is the Mountain God’s territory, and they are the Mountain God’s people. The reason for the peace and stability of Cuoyan Song is that the Mountain God has defeated the ghosts and eliminated the disasters. La Jieluo is both good news and praise to the gods.

Praise to the gods, that’s pretty much what I guessed.

I was curious when I didn’t know, but now that I do, it’s a bit boring.

“Cypress trees are considered the cleanest trees in the eyes of the Cenglu people, and water infused with cypress branches is naturally the cleanest water.” Yan Chuwen said, holding up his right hand and breaking the index and middle fingers, “Point the two fingers at the water and then at your forehead, while running your thumb above your eyebrows and mouthing the words ‘La Jieluo’. This is the ritual for receiving blessings from Pin Jia during the Winter Harvest Festival”.

“That’s quite interesting…” I paused for a moment and then thought, “Wait a minute, this seems to be quite different from the blessing I experienced?

In the morning I was too busy getting food rations to pay much attention to Mo Chuan blessing the people in front of him. I just assumed that everyone was blessed in the same way. Now it seems that the man in Mo Chuan was giving me special treatment.

What’s going on? Is he punishing me for disrespecting the gods?

“You guys talk, I’m going out for a smoke.” I threw the Erqian in my arms at Guo Shu, and just as I stood up, a heavy body fell on my back.

“Brother, you’re awesome!”

I frowned and wriggled out of the hand on my shoulder.

The person had long hair, in his early twenties, with a straight face. I immediately recognized him as my teammate from the archery competition earlier.

“My name is Kun Hongtu. What’s yours?” He held out his hand, not for a handshake, but for a high-five.

It had been a few years since I’d encountered such a street greeting.

“Baiyin.” But in the end, I did shake his hand.

Our hands intertwined, and Kun Hongtu leaned over and patted my back in a friendly manner, smiling and saying, “Thanks to you, we’ll have a chance to drink together this time, right?

“Sure,” I readily agreed.

“Ah Kun, I’ve been here for so many years, why have you never invited me to have a drink?” Guo Shu put her hands under the warm dog’s belly and looked at Kun Hongtu with a teasing smile.

“How can a man invite a woman for a drink?” Kun Hongtu seemed to be quite familiar with Yan Chuwen and the others, and simply sat down as they talked.

I found a relatively empty corner, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

The cold air mixed with the pungent smell of tobacco poured into my lungs. Behind me was the sound of lively singing and dancing, in front of me was the dim and lonely old village. The tremendous sense of disjuncture made me dizzy for a moment, not knowing whether it was a dream or reality.

The hand holding the cigarette accidentally touched my lips, and the scene of being blessed by Mo Chuan in the daytime immediately flashed through my mind.

The cold fingertips pressed against my lips, a little more, and they were about to explore inside…

My breathing suddenly became chaotic, and I was choked by the smoke, coughing so hard that I fainted.

When Kun Hongtu came looking for me, I was cowering on the ground, unable to get up.

“Baiyin… are you okay?” He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me up.

I waved my hand and stood up with all my strength. The wind blew across my face and my eyes were wet and cool.

“I’m fine, I just got a little winded,” I said, wiping my face and sounding a little hoarse. What did you want to see me about?

Only then did he seem to remember why he had come, and he pulled me towards the square: “Pin Jia is going to give us an award, and I want you to go and receive it. Hurry up, it’s our turn!”

I was confused, and he dragged me all the way to the bonfire. When we stopped, I almost lost my balance and fell over. Luckily, he was at my side and caught me in time, saving me from making a fool of myself in public.

“You walk slowly. Can Pin Jia fly?” I complained with a half smile as I regained my balance.

Kun Hongtu laughed, showing his white teeth: “We can’t keep Pin Jia waiting.”

Bureaucracy. I scoffed to myself.

In addition to archery, there was also horse racing and wrestling in the afternoon. The first place team would receive a prize from Pin Jia himself. Kun Hongtu and I were at the back of the line, with more than a dozen people in front of us.

“Brother, Teacher Yan said you are a jewelry designer,” Kun Hongtu and I are not introverts, and we got to know each other after a few words and started to address each other as brothers, “so guess how much this piece of beeswax around my neck is worth?”

Beeswax is actually the same as amber, that is, it is resin. Some time ago, the price of this stuff was very high, and the quality of the goods on the market was uneven. The better ones were at least sold as fossilized real resin, but unscrupulous merchants just sold artificial resin as the real thing, and ordinary people just couldn’t tell the difference.

I’m a jewelry designer, not a jewelry appraiser, so how do I know what his piece of beeswax is made of? But people like to hear nice things.

I squeezed the pebble-like, brownish-yellow beeswax in his chest, looked at it for a moment, and said, “This is a good thing whose value cannot be measured in money.

These words struck a chord in his heart and he grabbed my hand excitedly. He didn’t even call me “brother,” but said, “Brother, you city people have good taste. I knew my piece was valuable!”

He took a few steps forward. I patted him on the chest and gave him sound advice: “Don’t sell it, pass it down, pass it down as an heirloom. Pass it down for a hundred or eighty years, and it will be an old honeycomb.”

He nodded vigorously, and two red clouds appeared on his face, either from excitement or from being roasted by the campfire.

While he spoke, it was soon the turn of the archers to receive their prize. The medal was not made of gold or silver, but was a carved square wooden plaque decorated with beige bodhi seeds, very characteristic of the area.

After putting the medal on each player, Mo Chuan would kindly say something like, “You did well, Mountain God is proud of you”.

“These are seeds from the cypress tree in the temple. If you wear them, you can ward off evil and misfortune. Brother, you can also pass it down as an heirloom.” Kun Hongtu’s face was full of sincerity.

I twitched the corner of my lips and teased him sincerely, “I can’t pass them on, I’ve been sterilized.

Kun Hongtu’s expression was blank for a moment, and he opened his mouth to ask something, but it was his turn to receive his award.

He quickly turned around, took a few steps forward, clasped his hands over his heart, and bowed respectfully to Mo Chuan.

“Pin Jia,” he switched to Cenglu.

Mo Chuan put the medal on for him, smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “You’ve done a great job.

Kun Hongtu is a small man, just over 1.7 meters tall, and he has to tilt his head slightly when he looks at Mo Chuan.

“I will always be a follower of Pin Jia and Mountain God,” His tone was firm and powerful, as if this was not a stereotypical set phrase, but a vision from the bottom of his heart.

Kun Hongtu left happily after receiving his award, and I followed him, standing in front of Mo Chuan.

Under the light of the fire, the man who was usually cold as ice had a warm glow. After receiving the last medal from Nie Peng, Mo Chuan silently put it on for me. As he did so, my nose was filled with the scent of sandalwood.

“Thank you…”

“This is not your playground, Baiyin.”

I was about to say thank you when Mo Chuan leaned in and whispered something clearly in my ear that only the two of us could hear.

I froze, and it only took a moment to fully understand his subtext. He was saying, “Dead faggot, do not defile this pure land.

My chest heaved violently and I breathed in the cold, wintry air while exhaling burning anger.

Mo Chuan crossed his arms and stepped away from me. His words were rude and his demeanor was as imposing as a mountain.

The dancing flames cast an ambiguous shadow on his face and body. The human heart is truly a strange thing. Earlier, I felt that the flames had warmed him, but now I wished with all my heart that he would catch fire and be reduced to ashes along with the corrupt flames.

I stared at him and turned to leave.

The medal on my chest swayed uncomfortably, so I grabbed it and tried with all my strength to rip it off and throw it into the fire behind me. In the end, I was a little reluctant to part with it and ended up holding it tightly in my palm until my knuckles hurt.

The one who offended me was that hypocritical saint who was all show and no substance. I had earned this medal through my own hard work, so why should I take it out to vent my anger?

I couldn’t stay any longer, so I said goodbye to Yan Chuwen and the others and returned to the research institute alone.

I didn’t see Mo Chuan for the next few days, and I didn’t go out much. Of course, it wasn’t because of his inexplicable warning. It was just that Huangpu Rou was pushing me hard, and I was buried in my room creating, not knowing whether it was day or night.

The day I left the studio, even though I wasn’t very happy with the design, it was already my limit. I couldn’t wait to get some fresh air and asked Yan Chuwen if there were any nearby attractions I could visit.

“There is a Buzz Sea, where you can see the reflection of distant snow-capped mountains. It is quite famous on the Internet, but it is a bit far away, about 50 to 60 kilometers from Pengge,” said Yan Chuwen.

I had plenty of time, so 50 to 60 kilometers was nothing.

I asked Yan Chuwen for the car keys and set off on my own.

The Buzz Sea is called a lake, but it is not a sea. It is actually a huge inland lake. When the weather is warm, the people of Cenglu will drive their cattle and horses here to graze, and the water birds will also stop here to rest and breed. But now that it is cold, it looks a bit desolate.

I parked the car at the side of the road, put my hands in the pockets of my jacket, and walked slowly along the shore of the lake by myself.

Probably because it was relatively empty, the wind was particularly strong. The Buzz Sea was just like a real sea, with waves crashing onto the shore in succession.

In the distance, I saw a small pier appear in front of me. A group of people were gathered around it, all dressed in black, with a white figure standing out.

I slowed down but didn’t stop. A moment later, I was walking even faster than before.

This place wasn’t far from Pengge, but it wasn’t close either. What kind of evil fate could bring me to Mo Chuan?