In those years, I heard the sixth folk story: peach demon.

There is a wild peach forest in the back hill of Licun, which has been passed down for hundreds of years. Nobody cares about it all the time, leaving it to its own devices. Because the peach forest grows in the shady place of the ravine, it grows slowly and blooms late every year because there is little sunshine every day. Small furry fruits are hung on the branches of peach trees in front of the mountain, and this wild peach forest has just sprouted. Looking from a distance, a pink cloud is dotted in a remote ravine, which means "flowers bloom in April on earth, and peach blossoms bloom in mountain temples".

Li Cun has a girl who likes her son. At the age of seventeen, a little monkey rolling in the mud turned into a slim girl. She was born with a face like a full moon and cheeks like peach blossoms.

The local language is also very interesting. Unmarried beautiful girls are described as "black spines" because the eldest daughter wears braids and the youngest daughter wears a bun. Big braid just covered the position of the spine, and thick black hair is one of the considerations for girls' beauty. A shiny big braid has become a standard for beautiful girls. Xizi is a famous "black backbone" in the village.

Supposedly, it is old enough to get married, and girls of the same age have already held their babies, just because this is the only girl in the family, and their parents dote on her. They are worried that she will get married early, take on housework, have children, and lead a miserable life, especially her father who practices calligraphy. She has a heart to recruit a son-in-law, but she didn't make it clear. Although matchmakers from all walks of life came to inquire, the father who studied calligraphy picked and chose, and there was no favorite family. Therefore, her marriage was postponed until she was seventeen.

In a blink of an eye, all the playmates who studied calligraphy got married, and only the young girls in the village were still unfamiliar. Xizi can only be played with daughters-in-law who are married to Licun and are about the same age.

Having a good time, these daughters-in-law often make fun of writing.

On this day, Xi Zi and several daughters-in-law were sitting under the big locust tree at the head of the village, and Daxiangjia (XXX's daughter-in-law) laughed that she was not in a hurry to find her husband's family. Is it waiting for the emperor to invite her to be a senior concubine?

Who was not annoyed, smiled and said, "I'm going to be a noble lady. Let the emperor sew your mouth up first!" " Save yourself from being annoying! "

The master pretended to be angry and said with a straight face, "If you want to be a noble lady, the emperor has to give him a title!" " "

Everyone looked at her in unison and asked her, "What's the topic?"

"Old maid!" The Daxiang family couldn't help laughing, and a bunch of wives burst into laughter. Happy son snorted and stamped and ran home. Big braid stayed behind Mao.

A joke is a joke, but it can't be true, but I'm getting older and impatient. Her father turned down many matchmakers, and the matchmakers stopped coming. Three months later, no one mentioned the kiss again. Although I am in a hurry to learn calligraphy, who dares to ask about marriage? Have to wait in an empty place. Xi Zi even thinks that all the better boys in the nearby village have married off. If there is any proposal, as long as the other person is not blind, lame, old and ugly, he is far from home and poor. Don't make people laugh and look for his husband's family.

When the peach blossoms in Houshangou, a matchmaker finally came to propose marriage. This time, this young man is Ershunza in Houting Village, five miles away. He is two years older than Xizi and is already nineteen years old. This second straight, who set up a stall and baked sesame cakes in the market, was seen by Xi Zi in the market. He is a strong, simple and honest young man. Ershunza is a nice young man. Although he is honest and dull, he is hardworking and capable. If his father hadn't been ill and his family was poor, he would have married his relatives. His brother Dafu's marriage dragged on for several years until he was twenty. He married a slightly lame girl in Huazhuang village, and now he has given birth to a son. A large population makes the burden heavier.

Although the young man is good, Xi 'er's father thought about it and refused the matchmaker. Second, Junko's father was in his prime, but he was ill in bed for a long time. Seeing that time is running out, his mother is very strong, but her mind is not very clear. It is said that she is "short of a string" and her grandmother in her 70 s needs to wait at home. Sick, stupid, old and lame at home. If Xizi marries such a family, I don't know what kind of suffering he will have to endure. How can he let Xi Zi and Er Shunzha live together? Besides, Ershunzha's family has a heavy burden, and the family certainly doesn't want this labor force to be a son-in-law from home.

When Xi Zi learned that his father had pushed away another family, he was very angry and didn't talk to his father. He turned and ran out. Xizi Niang cried and asked what she was doing.

"Pick peach blossoms!" Xi Zi left a sentence. When Niang came out, she only saw big braid in the corner, and the person had disappeared.

When it gets dark, the soup has been cooked for a while (note: when life is poor, only soup is served for dinner, so in some places it is also called "soup"). Xizi came back with a big peach blossom in his hand, with fewer flowers and more bones, and a small pink bud, which is gratifying.

Xizi Niang took it, put the peach branches in a pottery bottle, and asked Xizi to drink soup, but she went back to the house as if she didn't hear it, but she couldn't call it out. Xizi Niang just thought she was angry because of the proposal, so she went with her, put the soup into a bowl and put it in a pot for Xizi to keep, thinking that she would come out naturally if she was hungry.

The next morning, Xizi Niang opened the pot and saw that the cold soup was still covered in the pot and did not move. She was a little worried and complained about the old man.

"You blind bad old man, choosy, and there is no good boy left, so that our seventeen-year-old daughter can't find her husband's family. I don't know what's wrong with writing! " Xi Zi Niang talks a lot.

In fact, the father who studied calligraphy was worried about his daughter, but he didn't want to make do with it. Listening to his mother's chatter and impatience, he kicked a chair, put on a cigarette holder and went out.

Xizi Niang is going to wake up Xizi. Just as she walked into the yard from the kitchen, she found that Xi Zi was out of the door, wearing peach blossoms on her head and rouge on her face and mouth. It was still a little cold in the mountain village in April, but she put on a white jacket, put on a summer dress and put it on her body, holding a handkerchief in her hand, and was about to go out on the street.

Xizi Niang thought Xizi was playing with her. Seeing her dressed like this, I smiled first, grabbed her and told her to eat first.

Like not seeing his mother, Xi Zi looked straight ahead with great strength, broke away from her and walked out of the door.

The mother who studied calligraphy was bored, but what happened to her daughter? She hurried out in high heels.

Shortly after dawn, few people were walking in the street. Xi Zi wriggled under the big tree at the head of the village. The weather is not too cold. He sat on the ground and pulled big braid to the front to break up. He took a comb out of his pocket and began to comb his hair. Mother Xizi saw that something was wrong. How do big girls comb their hair in the street? When I went up, I dragged my handwriting, but I didn't know that it followed the "heavy object" and didn't move.

Xi Zi Niang was in a hurry and shouted Xi Zi Dad all over the street. Father Xi Zi appeared from the rape field behind the house.

Seeing Aiko like this, Aiko's father also panicked. What's going on here? A good girl is like a lost soul. She is usually very peaceful. Today, her head is covered with flowers and her face is covered with rouge. She sat there without saying a word, and no one should call her.

At this time, there were more people walking in the street, and many people ran under the big tree to watch the news.

Several daughters-in-law who usually play with Xizi also came to chat with Xizi, but she ignored them. Now everyone realizes that there is something wrong with handwriting.

The village chief, with white hair and beard, came up on crutches. Seeing this photo of Xizi, he called Xizi's father and asked him to go to town and ask Du Qian, an imperial doctor.

Du Qian has read several medical books since he was a child, but he is neither good at reading, listening and asking questions, nor has he made secret pills. Why do you call him an imperial doctor? It is because what he is best at on weekdays is the diagnosis of "pathogenic factors" (referring to intractable diseases, epilepsy, etc. ).

Father learned calligraphy and rode a donkey to the town to invite Dr. Du, but the result was empty. He has gone on a trip with the Taoist priest, and has not been at home recently.

Xi Zi combed her hair blankly. At this time, a small vendor pushing a cart came from a distance and shouted as he walked: "Matches press big twists! Long fruit (peanut) pear crisp trumpet! Steel needle embroidery thread red rope! Jelly bean paste wow (toy made of clay)! "

Seeing many people under the big tree at the head of the village, vendors came forward to solicit business.

When Xi Zi saw the vendor, his cold expression disappeared. Suddenly his face lit up and he stood up and walked towards him. The peddler thought it was business, so he took all the colored threads and headbands that the girls liked out of the box. Unexpectedly, Xi Zi immediately embraced him. Not only was the vendor taken aback, but even the villagers who were watching were really shocked. On weekdays, Xizi refused to say a word to this person. She is a peaceful and conscientious girl. What happened? She not only dresses strangely, but also behaves inappropriately.

The peddler tried to break free. I didn't expect to learn calligraphy so badly, so I pulled the vendor and said, "Brother, can we get married?" ! "Everyone went up to him one by one, and it took a lot of effort to hold the calligraphy. The peddler pushed up the car and ran away, rolling and crawling. He didn't notice the scattered candied beans, which attracted a group of children to compete.

So helpless was the trainee mother, so she sat on the ground and cried, "What happened to her daughter?" ! How can I live! "

The patriarch was well informed, and when he saw this appearance, he knew it was eight or nine points. He called an elderly Yin Qing aunt in the village to whisper a few words and turned to leave. Aunt Yin Qing suddenly realized that she quickly sent all the men present, helped her mother with her handwriting, called several strong daughters-in-law, and coaxed her handwriting home.

Aunt Yin Qing said, "Girl, your father has gone to the city to find your husband's family. Can you find a white, tall and handsome one? "

Daughter: "Good! All right! Be handsome! Tall! "

Aunt Yin Qing added, "To learn Chinese characters, you must go home first. When the young man comes to see you sitting in the street, people will laugh! "

Xi Zi said mechanically, "I'm going home! I'm going home! "

After being coaxed home, Aunt Yin Qing said to Xizi Niang, "Xizi got anthomaniac. In his later years, he said that a girl was hard to treat and stayed here to keep her mind. Look at her father's choice. My daughter is old, has no husband's family, and her heart is very bitter, so she can't say it. Isn't it sick? "

Xizi Niang wiped her tears: "It's all that old woman. It's a waste of time to pick her up! "

Aunt Yin Qing told the mother who studied calligraphy to lock the door and not let her go out again. If she meets the bad guys, it will ruin the girl's life.

Unexpectedly, after the door was locked, Xi Zi could not run out, but she moved the ladder to the roof. When she saw a young man coming from a distance, she shouted excitedly. At first she shouted whether to marry someone. Later, she became seriously ill and shouted, "I want to sleep with you!" "

There is a rumor in the village that Xizi was refused to get married by her father, and he was fascinated by men. Some people also say that as long as he marries someone, Yin and Yang are harmonious and secure.

The father who studied calligraphy only had an only daughter, and her daughter was very beautiful. She wanted to find a husband's family, and it was better to be a son-in-law. His father's illness made all his hopes go up in smoke. He was so anxious that he couldn't find a good son-in-law at this time. Anyone can accept calligraphy.

A month later, Dr. Du came back, and his father heard about it and rushed to town to invite him.

When I first saw Xi Zi, Du Shenfu knew it. Joy's eyes were wandering, her cheeks were red, and her expression was blank, as if she had been entangled in something. Doctor Du asked his mother, where did Xi Zi go before he got sick?

In retrospect, Xizi Niang went to the wild peach forest in the back hill.

There are no peach blossoms in the wild peach forest at this time, and the branches are full of small green peaches. Dr. Du turned around and stopped under an old peach tree, which was as thick as two people folded. The dark brown branches were full of peach gum bumps, which stood out from other peach trees. Doctor Du frowned and told Dad not to ask anything. He hurried home to prepare incense, yellow paper, cinnabar and clear water.

Because just locking the courtyard door can't stop Xi Zi from going to the roof, she has been locked in the house by her father for many days. I paint my eyebrows, my mouth, wear fancy clothes and ask my mother for a man through the window every day.

Du imperial doctor asked his father to open the door, put an incense table in the yard, pointed to the usage of cinnabar spells, read a spell that no one could understand, burned paper symbols, and mixed paper ash with water. Some of them sprinkled a circle in the yard, and some scattered calligraphy all over the house, leaving a small bowl for the calligraphy mother to feed, and then the calligraphy closed the door about the house, and everyone retreated outside the circle.

After a while, I saw the window of the Xi Zi family "giggle", and a wisp of pink light smoke floated out of the window, running around the yard, nowhere to land, and finally crossed the courtyard wall and floated to the back hill. Xi Zi immediately fell to the ground, unconscious.

Doctor Du and Dad followed closely. When I arrived at the wild peach forest, I saw the light smoke hovering over the old peach tree for a while and slowly pouring into the trunk like a stream. Doctor Du quickly asked his father to dig a hole under the tree and bury another spell in the hole. For a time, the old peach tree was covered with green peaches and tender leaves, all of which fell out, bare and ugly.

On the other side of Taoshulin, it will take some time to succeed. Speaking of which, Xi Zi gradually woke up.

"Mom, what happened to our family?" Xi Zi saw a group of people around the house, with a table sweetmeats in the yard, and paper dust spilled in his room.

When Xi Zi Niang saw that she understood, she was both sad and happy. She came to hold her daughter, crying and laughing, but couldn't say a word.

Dr. Du and his father came home and explained the whole story to everyone.

It turns out that ordinary peach trees only lived for a hundred years, but the old peach trees in this ravine have absorbed the essence of heaven and earth for hundreds of years. If it wants to be cultivated in human form, it will take hundreds of years of nature. If it wants to speed up its cultivation, it can use pure yang as an aid. Xizi has been worried about her marriage for a long time and she is eager to get married. It happened that she went to the wild peach grove to pick peaches. This peach demon took advantage of her possessiveness and lured her to find a man to help her practice. However, due to the limited mana of the demon of vegetation itself, it was delayed by the intervention of father and mother.

Doctor Du has been studying with this Taoist priest for a long time. He only watches the master practice on weekdays, and it is the first time to go into battle in person. This doctor Du's ability is still relatively shallow, but he is also lucky to meet a demon of vegetation. If it's a monster of birds and animals, I'm afraid he can't hold it either. He had compassion and could not bear to hurt peach demon's life. He only used a spell to contain it so that it could not do any harm for a hundred years. This alone has greatly hurt the vitality of peach demon, so Guo Ye fell to the ground.

After the robbery, Xi Zi's father also wanted to let go, and found Er Shunzi's matchmaker and agreed to the marriage. Er Shunza is a sincere boy. He is good at writing. Although he did not become a door-to-door son-in-law, because the two villages are not far apart, he has to push a cart to each village to go to the market, and every two or three days he will go to his father-in-law's house to see what work needs to be done. He is also very satisfied with his father who studied calligraphy. Shortly after Xi Zi entered the door, Er Shunza's father and grandmother died one after another. Xizi served her mother-in-law with her lame sister-in-law, and the family was harmonious and beautiful. In a few years, Xi Zi gave birth to several children in succession and became busy. She often sends her children to grandpa's house for her parents to take care of. Parents who study calligraphy are busy taking care of these little guys every day, but it is also a pleasure.

Villagers with good deeds were frightened when they learned that there was peach demon in the back hill, and they hit Reservoir Dogs's heart. A group of people with pickaxes, shovels and hoes dug the old peach tree to the end, only to see blood flowing under the twisted roots. When the villagers saw this, they were terrified out of their wits. They prayed quickly, buried the tree pit with soil and fled in all directions.

The spirit of the tree is not so easy to root. Although the old peach tree fell down, its roots did not die. The next year, a Momo sapling emerged leisurely.