C62 Dragon Boat Ceremony

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the rain had stopped. The sky was cloudless, and after a full day of washing, the fresh air filled every corner of the earth. In the distance, there were still many tourists arriving in an endless stream. Everyone wanted to grab a good place to watch the annual Dragon Boat Competition, and it was said that this year's Dragon Boat Meet would be even more exciting than the previous years. In the middle of the river, dozens of colorful banners and ribbons were flying along the dragon boat. The competitors on the boat were all ready, waiting for the person presiding over the competition to give the order.

Not far from the river, there was a large field with a tall platform built in the middle. A few middle-aged men with rich appearances and wearing festive attire were sitting on the platform, smiling as they sipped their tea. The crowd was in an uproar. Everyone's faces were brimming with the joyous atmosphere of a festival. Shao Jian and the rest were squeezed in the crowd.

then said impatiently to the few of them: "Why hasn't the competition started yet? "I'm so tired." When they heard this, they couldn't help but laugh.

Yang Zongbao said: "Miss Wu Die, you don't have to be so anxious. Every year, the Dragon Boat Festival will be like this." He glanced at the people on the platform and continued, "The annual celebration will be hosted by them."

Zhang Wudie asked: "Do you come here every year?" Yang Zongbao nodded.

Zhang Wudie looked at the few people on the stage, and saw that they were still sitting there drinking tea and chatting, as if everything that happened here had nothing to do with them. She could not help but complain: "Did they forget the time, how about we go and inform them?"

Yang Zongbao shook his head and smiled: "Those people are the big figures of this area, none of them can be provoked, among them are the county magistrate, the rest are the famous families and nobles here."

Zhang Wudie nodded and turned her head to the side as she replied in a low voice, "So what if it's the county magistrate? Is it that great? I'm going to kill your prestige today. " After saying that, she chuckled a few times.

Because there were too many people, Shao Jian and the rest did not hear what she said, but the young lad standing by her side heard something, he raised his head and looked at Zhang Wudie in shock and asked: "Big Sister Wu Die, who do you want to kill? "Kang is so scared."

Hearing that, Zhang Wudie immediately said: "Why would Big Sister Wu Die kill people, I heard wrong, right?"

Kang shook his head and replied, "I did not hear wrongly, Big Sister Wu Die is dishonest." As he spoke, he took two steps back, as if he was really afraid of Zhang Wudie, and then said: "If Big Sister Wu Die wants to kill someone, I'll speak with Big Brother Shao Jian, Big Brother Ji Ming, and Big Brother Zong Bao." With that, she tugged on the corner of Shao Jian's clothes.

Shao Jian lowered his head and asked: "Kang, what's wrong?" Yang Zongbao and Zhang Jiming turned to look at him.

"I just heard Big Sister Wu Die say that she wanted to kill someone. It's so scary." The three of them were shocked, and looked at Zhang Wudie.

Zhang Wudie hurriedly explained, "Don't listen to what Kang has to say, how could I kill someone, do you guys think so?" After saying that, she giggled at the three of them.

Hearing that, Shao Jian shook his head helplessly: "The two of you, stop messing around." Then, he looked at Yang Zongbao and asked: "Zong Bao, why is Third Young Master not here yet? Was there something that was delayed on the way? "

Yang Zongbao also thought that it was strange. When he met Yue Yang yesterday, he clearly said that he would rush over immediately afterwards. Then, he turned to Shao Jian and said: "Let's wait and see. Maybe we'll be there soon."

One of them should be the County Magistrate of this county. He waved his hand towards the crowd, and the crowd instantly quieted down. It seems that this County Magistrate has quite the prestige in this region.

Seeing that everyone had quietened down, the magistrate smiled at the crowd below, and then said in a loud and clear voice: "First, we must thank everyone for coming from all over the country to attend this year's Dragon Boat Festival. This year's Dragon Boat Festival is the same as the previous years, but the scene will be even more exciting than before." He slowed down before continuing, "Alright, let us announce the start of this year's Dragon Boat Festival." Just as he finished speaking, countless cannons shot out from both sides of Miluo River, blossoming into beautiful flowers one after another in the air. Immediately after, a group of priests wearing ceremonial attire and wearing ghost masks, with feathers on their heads, walked into the field with strange steps. They danced around in a circle, constantly chanting words that no one could understand.

Zhang Wudie frowned: "What are all these people reciting? Why does it sound so bad? "

Yang Zongbao laughed and said, "This is something that I have to do every year before the Dragon Boat Competition, for the sake of transcending the dead souls of the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan. According to the common folk here, every year when it comes to the night of the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, Qu Yuan's dead soul would wander around the Miluo River, and wouldn't even let out waves of sorrowful and indignant sighs.

Hearing that, not only Zhang Wudie was shocked, even Shao Jian and Zhang Jiming revealed expressions of shock. Zhang Wudie asked: "Will Qu Yuan's soul really appear by this river?"

Yang Zongbao laughed and said: "I also heard it from the common folk here, it seems like it's only a legend, it's impossible for something like this to happen."

Just as they were chatting, a familiar figure appeared in front of Shao Jian and the rest, they all called out: "Third Young Master."

The one who came was the 'Monk Feng' Su San Xiao, he smiled at the people, and when he saw that Zhang Jiming was there, he could not help but ask: "You also went down the mountain to adventure in the Jianghu?"

Zhang Jiming laughed and said: "It has already been some time since you came down the mountain, why did you only come now? Didn't Zong Bao say that you would be here soon? "

Su San Xiao suddenly remembered something after he said that, and said to the others: "Yesterday, after Zong Bao left, I arrived here quickly. Originally, I could have been here early, but I did not expect that I would meet the experts of Green Forest League, so I came late."

Upon hearing that, the few of them exclaimed, "What? You met an expert from the Green Forest League? "

Su San Xiao saw that the few of them did not believe him, so he immediately said: "That's right, we met their experts, but we did not fight face to face with them, we have been following behind them, but did not expect that after passing through a dense forest, we would suddenly lose sight of them, so I think that they should be heading towards the direction of the Dragon Boat Meet."

Zhang Jiming said: "If that's the case, it would be terrible, before we know the origins of that group of mysterious black clothed men yesterday, the Green Forest League is here to join in the fun, why did they bring in so many evil expert s and organizations this year? Is there some secret behind it? "

Hearing him speak, the Su San Xiao said in shock, "What? Yesterday, there were also mysterious experts that appeared here? "

Yang Zongbao nodded his head and thought for a while: "I agree with Ji Ming. It seems that there is some kind of secret behind the Dragon Tooth this time, which is why the evil person came here one by one."

Shao Jian nodded his head: "I agree with your point of view too, looks like another great battle is going to happen today. If the situation changes later, we should act accordingly." He looked at Zhang Wudie and said: "Wu Die, if anyone comes out with evil expert to cause trouble later, you can take care of this matter."

Zhang Wudie replied softly. "We're fine, be careful." After saying that, she smiled sweetly at Shao Jian, who also smiled at her.

It was said that after Qu Yuan died, in order to protect his corpse from being eaten by the fishes and prawns, the citizens of this region had thrown the dumplings into the Miluo River. Over time, throwing the dumplings into the Miluo River had gradually become a custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. The people by the river all focused their eyes on the dragon boats in the river, waiting for the competition to begin. They wanted to see what would happen during the dragon boats competition. On top of the dragon boat, the competitors were bare-chested. On the stern of the boat, there was a small drum. A young man was holding a drum stick, standing in front of the small drum with a solemn expression. Everyone was ready for the match.

Yang Zongbao said to Zhang Wudie: "The competition is about to begin.

Hearing his words, Zhang Wudie heaved a sigh of relief. "There are so many lousy rules to a Dragon Boat Festival competition.

It was almost noon, the sun was shining brightly overhead, and the weather in Lunar New Year's May was not too hot, but in the crowded crowd, those slightly fatter men were already sweating profusely, frowning and complaining nonstop.

At this moment, atop the high platform, a bailiff hastily ran up and whispered a few words to a person. After hearing that, the man's face became extremely ugly, as if there was something important, so he forcefully squeezed out a smile. However, all of this did not escape the eyes of the people beside him. Seeing that something was amiss, they hurriedly asked, "Master Zhang, what's wrong?"

The person that was called Zhang Chang was probably the county magistrate, he spoke in a heavy tone: "Just now, a yamen runner found the corpse of a man of the jianghu in the town."

A few of them said in shock, "There are also people from the martial arts world killing each other here?"

The county magistrate said: "This Dragon Boat Festival is different from the past years. Everyone knows about this matter, so this county magistrate sent most of the constables and constables to the Qu Yuan Tomb, which resulted in the killing of man of the jianghu s in the town."

After hearing what he had to say, one of them said, "Are you saying that those man of the jianghu knew about the secrets of Qu Yuan's Tomb since long ago? That is why so many martial artists will be appearing at this year's Dragon Boat Festival. It was for this reason that you decided to transfer all your troops to the Qu Yuan Tomb? "

The magistrate slightly nodded his head, "Since the grand ceremony has already begun, we should be on high alert and be alert of our surroundings." Raising his head, he saw the several people nod their heads before the bailiff reported in a low voice. The bailiff nodded his head again and again. Then, he left the high platform in a hurry. The other people on the platform also waved their hands, calling out their trusted aides and whispering to them. A moment later, they saw the bailiff, who had just left, quickly walking over with a dozen or so people. He quickly split up into several corners and carefully observed the surrounding area while several of his trusted aides and juniors rushed over with their respective disciples and spread out around the area. Seeing this scene, the crowd immediately became restless. Everyone whispered to each other.

The County Magistrate hurriedly gestured for the crowd to quiet down, and then said loudly: "Everyone, no need to panic. This County Magistrate is doing this for your benefit, so don't worry. Everything will go on as usual after this." Just as he was about to announce the start of the match, another constable ran over with a panicked expression. The magistrate felt a sense of unease in his heart, and sure enough, his face changed and his body trembled.

Seeing that, Shao Jian and the others were confused, just what happened? Why were the constables so anxious? At the side, Zhang Wudie was still anxious about the competition so she did not notice the changes in her surroundings. She impatiently shouted: "Are we still competing? We've waited for so long. I'm so tired. " The surrounding people all turned their heads to look at her doubtfully after hearing her words. Zhang Wudie grinned at the crowd.

Yang Zongbao laughed and said: "Maybe something went wrong, didn't you see that there were suddenly so many armed people around?"

Zhang Wudie immediately turned her head to look, and exclaimed: "Aiya, what is going on? You need so many people to protect your horses just to watch a dragon boat competition? " Looking at Shao Jian, Zhang Jiming and Su San Xiao, she hoped to get the answer from them. Unexpectedly, all three of their faces revealed confused expressions, and she could only retract her gaze.

The young man standing amongst them listened to their conversation and pulled Zhang Wudie's hand: "Big Sister Wu Die, shall we go back?"

Zhang Wudie laughed and said: "What, it's only an excuse for you to go back. I think you're afraid, right?"

Kang snorted and said, "I'm not afraid." As he said that, he turned his head and ignored Zhang Wudie.

At this time on the high platform, the county magistrate calmed his mind and said, "This county magistrate will now announce the official start of the Dragon Boat Competition." Everyone heard that the competition had finally begun, and all eyes were focused on the river. Each of the people on the river bank raised a banner high up in the air, and then waved it with all their might, causing the sound of gongs and drums to suddenly ring out. The several dozen dragon boats that were participating in the competition were like arrows that had left their bowstrings, quickly rushing forward.

The onlookers on both sides of the Miluo River waved their hands and cheered for the participants loudly. The gongs and drums, along with the cheers mixed together to form a unique melody that resounded above the entire Miluo River.