Northeastern Wild Fairy Tales Record

  For children living in the northeastern countryside dominated by plains, the mountain is a very mysterious term. It represents various mysterious stories and also represents various mountain delicacies, which are so curious and yearning for me at a young age.

  Since I was a child, I have never seen what mountains look like. Now that I have the opportunity to see what mountains look like, it is extremely precious.

  He and his elder cousin rode their bicycles all the way to the land of his home, which was a piece of arable land reclaimed at the foot of the mountain. Every year, they could plant some soybeans on it. His elder cousin's family made tofu, with a tofu workshop, every year using their own land to plant some soybeans, thus saving many cost problems and gaining more RMB profit.

  I went in the season, it was midsummer, trees were tall and green, walking into the fields, I could smell that familiar scent, wildflowers everywhere. Midsummer is the most vibrant season for all plants and animals.

  On the way to my eldest brother's house, there were those grayish-white stones on both sides of the road, lying in the wilderness. I also saw a snake with dark patterns coiled up on one of the stones.

  This is the first time I've seen a snake, a real snake, not in books or others' final descriptions of what snakes look like, but right before my eyes.

  It was very quiet, without any movement at all, as if it were enjoying the scorching sun's rays. But aren't snakes cold-blooded animals? How could they like sunlight?!

  I couldn't understand, so I asked my cousin, but he didn't know either. He just told me that the snake wasn't a venomous snake, it was a grass snake, a non-venomous kind of grass snake.

  I also asked him if this snake can be eaten, anyway my brother said a lot of nonsense, just knowing that the snake cannot be eaten because there are parasites in its belly, which may harm people.

  Later I saw a snake again, this time in a factory under Qingdao. Inside the factory there were many trees and lush grass, and a snake was crawling on the main road with an air of grandeur.

  He was later killed by a man with a ferocious face, and I was so scared that I escaped far away.

  After about half an hour, I and my cousin finally arrived at his home, which was located at the foot of a mountain. Looking up, the mountain was high, really high, it was the first time I saw such a tall mountain.

  So I asked foolishly: "Brother, can we go up the mountain and take a look?"

  "You can stop now, look at the land under your feet, these seedlings, they were all messed up by the wild boars and bears on the mountain. If you go up the mountain and are unlucky enough to run into a bear, you won't know how to end up. Just take a look from down here, maybe next time you can go climb the mountain." said my uncle in a calm tone.

  But I didn't give up and continued to ask: "Then let's not go to the top of the mountain, I'll just take a look around the foot of the mountain."

  My brother saw that I really wanted to go and take a look, so he looked around in all directions, then squatted down on the ground, took some of the soil that had been overturned by the wild boar and rubbed it between his hands. Only then did he stand up reluctantly and say: "Alright, let's move forward for now, but you have to listen to me. If I tell you not to go any further, you'll have to follow me back, got it?"

  "Alright, as long as you let me take a look ahead, I'll absolutely listen to you, brother. If you tell me to go forward, I'll go forward; if you tell me to retreat, I won't take another step forward, how's that?" I also hastily expressed my attitude in a gentle manner.

  Seeing how obedient I was, my elder cousin found a larger piece of wood nearby and held it in his hand as a weapon, also using it to brush aside the grass and other obstacles on our path, so that we could avoid stepping on anything we couldn't see.

  The two of us walked towards the foot of the mountain, one in front of the other. As we went deeper, I found that although we were walking towards the foot of the mountain, we were also slowly rising, because the land behind us was already feeling like it was under our feet, and compared to when we looked back earlier, the range was also getting bigger.

  When a person looks down from a high place, he will unconsciously produce a feeling of being on top of the world and overlooking all the small mountains. At this time, because what is seen in the eyes presents itself in the heart, that kind of spatial expansion brings about an enlargement of the heart as well.

  People often say that when they are on the top of a mountain, it's easier to think through many things. It's because of this reason that one's heart broadens and things become simpler and clearer. Therefore, naturally, many things that were unclear before will become clear.

  But I still don't have anything that I don't understand now, it's just that the feeling at this moment is very good, as if suddenly I feel like I've grown up a lot.

  The mood naturally became happy, so I hurriedly turned my head and urged my brother to say: "Brother, let's go up a bit further, this feeling of looking down is really great."

  "It's no good, we've already walked very far and can't continue. If we go further in, I'm afraid of encountering wild beasts. Let's head back instead. You have to listen to me, got it?" My older cousin also had this feeling at the time, but as an adult, he still had strong self-control, so he pulled me along as we headed back.

  But I haven't had enough fun yet, and we're going back already? And I feel like we haven't walked very far either. So I pouted to my brother-in-law: "No way, bro! Let's just go a little further in, just a bit more. I want to see... it's not easy for me to come here once, so can you please take me a bit further in? Is that okay?"

  "No, this is already too far. If something unexpected happens when we go further in, it'll be too late to regret it. Let's hurry back with me, no time for discussion." After saying that, my brother-in-law pulled my hand and took me back. On the way back, I was a bit angry, my wish hadn't been fulfilled, and I was feeling a bit unhappy, so I kicked at the surrounding twigs and stones with my feet.

  I walked for about a few dozen steps, and with one kick of my foot on a large stone, I saw the stone roll into a nearby wasteland. Because it was quite big, it flattened all the surrounding grass.

  And just after the grass was pressed down, a building like a small house appeared from inside. I found it because my gaze followed along and looked over there.

  "Brother, brother, look quickly, what is that?"

  Upon hearing my surprise, my uncle also looked in the direction I was pointing and knew at a glance. He bowed to that house and said: "This is either a land temple or a mountain god temple. I don't know who built it here, but anyway, it's for blessing one's own land. There's nothing good to see, let's go quickly, we still need to prepare the soybeans with your aunt for making tofu tomorrow."

  And as I was being pulled forward by my brother, I stared at the small house for a few more seconds and found that inside it sat a small, exquisite, all-black statue with an indescribable face, not human-like, somewhat like a dog's face but without fur, a bald dog's face.

  But it doesn't quite look like it, because the whole face looks a bit *gaseous*, not like good stuff.

  Moreover, the facial expression seems to be smiling at you, but it doesn't seem like it is. It's a bit like the eyes of a dead person, dull and lifeless. This ruins the whole face, making it seem like there is an expression that is smiling, yet also no expression, like a dead person with their eyes open to the outside world, with a feeling of being dead but not closed.

  It was just like when Cui Xiaobo's daughter-in-law died last time, that kind of gaze, with eyes wide open and the eyeballs almost popping out.

  As I looked, I felt a chill run down my spine, so I quickly withdrew my gaze and followed my brother in a hurry to leave this place. After leaving, I didn't feel anything anymore, but just glanced back at the distant mountains behind me.

  Regretful that I didn't make it to the top of the mountain, a bit disappointing. But since my cousin is here, there's no way for me to go on, so I'll just follow him back home.

  Everything is fine, after returning home, my uncle followed my father to soak the soybeans in water, because tomorrow morning we need to use these soaked soybeans to make tofu, and what I like to eat most is freshly baked tofu brain.

  Especially my uncle's skills are very good, the tofu made is very tender and delicious, and the tofu brain is even more unbeatable. Adding a little chili oil makes it even more heavenly.

  After dinner at night, after chatting for a while, I followed my cousin to study for a while and felt sleepy, so I quickly cleaned up and went to bed.

  After falling asleep, I don't know what time it was, anyway, I was woken up by a strong urge to pee. I opened my blurry eyes and walked out of the room in the dark wearing shoes to go to the bathroom.

  But just as I took out the waterproof, I heard some movement coming from under the cucumber rack in my aunt's courtyard. The child wasn't afraid, thinking it was a mouse or something, and didn't pay attention, continuing to put away the water. But just after I finished putting away the water and pulled up my pants to head back, I heard a sound like a chick chirping, accompanied by what sounded like our own dog's barking.

  My uncle's yard is not big, and some cucumbers and beans are planted about 15 meters away from the door. So when I was waterproofing on the empty land next to it, I wasn't far from the cucumber frame, and I heard a noise, thinking it was someone's dog running out to steal chickens.

  So I plucked up my courage and slowly approached to take a closer look, but what I found made my scalp tingle.

  "Uncle, what are you doing?"

  Because at this time, the eldest brother did not know where he caught a chicken and was tearing it apart there. As he tore it apart, his mouth also made a humming sound like a dog.

  After hearing my voice, the brother seemed to be startled and quickly ran out a long distance. He turned his head to look at me, and just as he did, I also got a clear look at his face. It was surprisingly exactly like the statue's head in that small house we met on our way down the mountain.

  Could it be...