Where are you going, you son of a bitch? said the man in the hat
Inman didn’t swallow pickles with his two gulps, stuffed leftover cheese bread into a rice bag, and picked his nails. The man turned to his side. The blacksmith took a sickle and walked to the top of the slope. The house was still tied with a thick leather apron. They were not big enough to force Inman. Even the blacksmith seemed to be not suitable for his own business in all aspects. It seems that a few idlers were probably drunk and too much, because they seemed to rely on the number of people to get Inman without a sickle.
Inman reached behind and waited for him to take the gun out of the luggage roll, but the horse beat him up. Inman didn’t even show hand-to-hand combat with his luggage on his back.
Inman beat and retreated. He was most afraid of being pushed to the ground by the other side and retreated all the way back to the store wall.
The blacksmith fell backwards, waved his sickle like a firewood fire, and cut that vicious force as he hugged his head. Obviously, he wanted to split Inman in half with a knife, and his shoulder strap was back to a big chamber, but for one thing, he was too clumsy to move, and for another, the guy in his hand was really not suitable for chopping the sickle, which missed the target by a foot. The blacksmith plunged into the soil without the tip of his knife.
Inman made a sudden snatch and took the knife to his hand, and the sickle was really sent to the field. Inman swept the ground like a crop, closing it sharply and taking their ankles straight, forcing several people to dodge backwards again and again for fear of losing their feet. He had a natural feeling of picking up the sickle again, although when the labor mowed the grass differently, he had to work hard to see the knife. Even in this difficult situation, Inman picked up the sickle and it was still a good way to hold the knife. It made him feel that it was something that he could do with parallel effects.
The long blade forced the three of them to jump around and hide, but soon they got together again and came back to Inman. Inman waved a knife to cut the blacksmith’s tibia, but cut it off on the foundation stone. A string of white Martian bits jumped off and a knife was left in his hand, holding the handle to continue the struggle, even though it was not symmetrical, not only too long, but also uneven in weight and with an awkward arc.
But even this one thing was enough. In the end, they were beaten to their knees and fell to their knees in the street dust. The statue was like praying that Roman Catholic Inman would not stop beating until they all lay motionless on the ground.
Inman just left the sickle handle in a ragweed across the road. The blacksmith rolled over and raised his hand vigorously, and took a small caliber revolver from the apron, aiming at Inman trembling.
Inman scolded an asshole and stretched out his hand to stroke the small weapon from the other side. He pushed the barrel against his eyes and pulled the trigger continuously. Such a fool was so stubborn that he was near the end of his tether that he couldn’t bear it. However, the firebomb was affected by the tide or something, and the chamber didn’t even turn four times. Inman just swung his gun, beat the blacksmith over and threw it on the roof and left.
When he came outside the village, he turned around and went into the Woods to pick out the places where there were no roads, and got rid of the tracking. For an afternoon, he only walked westward through pine trees and stumbled through the bushes. He also stopped from time to time to listen to see if anyone was following him. When he heard people talking in the distance, but if the sound was likely to be suspicious, it would be like people whispering by the river at night, but he couldn’t hear the dog. Inman thought that even if the sound was really made by those people in the village, he would be in no danger. Besides, it was almost dark and the sun was covered by pine branches. Inman
Inman walked all the way forward, thinking of swimming and teaching him a spell called the curse of death. The words in the spell kept coming up in his mind to swim and speak Cherokee, so it was not safe to teach it to Inman. But Inman thought that all languages were effective, and he kept chanting at the other world while walking forward, just like some people were afraid or hoping to say the same prayer endlessly, which was deeply branded into their minds. They could be working and chatting with others while still praying without being affected. Inman remembered the spell.
Listen, your road will lead to the dark night, you will be lonely, you will be a dog in heat, you will hold shit in your hand, you will bark like a dog when you go to the dark night alone, and shit will stick to you, and your black intestines will drip outside. When you walk, they will sway at your feet, and your fate will be bleak, and your soul will wither and dissipate, and it will never reappear. That’s your way to the dark night.
Inman walked a few miles chanting incantations like this, but he felt that all the curses turned around and fell on him. After a spell tone, it reminded him of Monroe’s sermon. Monroe’s practice was very abstruse. Monroe did not extract a sentence from the Bible, but quoted Emerson’s words and repeated them four times during the sermon. Inman felt that there were some similarities between this passage and swimming incantations, although on the whole, he worded it later. He remembered this passage.
The kind of religion that shows me that the emperor is in my heart suddenly increases my spiritual strength, and the kind that tells me that the emperor is outside me is a tumor and a wart on the tree. I am no longer bound to be annihilated by a premature arrival, and my strength hovers over my head, and I will shrink forever.
Inman thought it was the best sermon he had ever heard, and he met Ida for the first time on the same day.
Inman learned a lot after going to church. In the few weeks when Ida first arrived in Lengshan, Inman heard her name before waiting to meet her. Her father and daughter were like a pair of counterparts, and their integration would be too slow, which soon became a source of many family entertainment along the riverside road. For everyone, sitting on the porch watching Ida Monroe drive by in a carriage or watching Ida walk along the road to enjoy the scenery was just like watching a play, and she caused no less discussion than the pier street theater performing a new play. People agreed that she was beautiful. However, every Charlestown style, costume or new hairstyle has become the target of ridicule. When I see her holding a flower fishing bell and willow branches and admiring the color of petals or touching the tip of the leaves of Manluo, some people will seriously say that there is something wrong with her brain, while others will smile brightly and think that she is really so stupid that she even wants to eat Manluo. It is said that she takes notes and pencils everywhere she goes, staring at something, a bird or a bush weed. The sunset mountain seems to be rubbing on paper.
On such a Sunday morning, Inman dressed up in a new black shirt, white tie and black hat, and sent it to the church to see Adafang with his own eyes. When the weather of blackberries turned cold and spring was chilly, a cold rain continued for three days, but in the morning, the sun didn’t disperse the clouds. The ridge was dark and drooping, and the same lead plate didn’t change at all. Inman arrived at the church very late and sat on the back bench, singing hymns. I don’t know who. Smoke rose from around the stove cover to the ceiling, and then tiled along the ceiling to miniature the gray sky outside.
Inman can look for Ida from the back of the head in rows, but it’s not difficult because her black hair is coiled in her head and she has a thick and complicated braid. This hairstyle has never been seen before in the mountains. The white neck of the bun is faintly raised, and two muscles support her head. They form a dark pit, and they make their way into the braid. In the process of singing hymns, Inman’s eyes stay there all the time. Before he sees Ida’s face, he can’t help but stretch out two fingertips to press the mysterious place.
Monroe explained that he had just sung a hymn to lead him to preach. The words of the hymn seemed to show a warm desire, hoping that one day people would be immersed in an ocean full of love. But Monroe said that they would get love from all things one day by deceiving others. That was a misunderstanding of the hymn, which really meant to make people love all things. This was of course a more difficult thing, and it was also surprising and dissatisfied from the reaction of the congregation.
The rest of the sermon is still an old topic. Monroe came to Lengshan to give a sermon every Wednesday and Sunday, all of which revolved around the same theme. What is the biggest puzzle in his mind? On the surface, it is absurd and meaningless. He explained this problem from various angles for several weeks. Fang Zhi explained it from ancient times to the present, but it implied enlightenment in the world. Monroe racked his brains to make the problem clear, but it was always futile. After a few weeks, the crowd complained that they were dissatisfied. Death is far from Monroe’s cutting Monroe. In many people’s eyes, death is not a tragedy, but rather a beautiful thing. Some people discuss that he can explain the stories in the Bible in a colorful way like the old priest who has passed away. Then his mood may be more peaceful than that of David, a young Moses throwing stones in a straw box.
Monroe refused this suggestion and told a certain leader that it wasn’t his fate. His words flew all over the parish. People generally thought that he was a priest, thus degrading the congregation to the status of uncivilized savages. Many of them had donated money to support priests to be true barbarians. In their imagination, savages were born with different shades of skin and lived in extremely remote and wild areas. It is absolutely impossible to compare them. It is really difficult to make people not mind Monroe’s words.
In order to quell the anger of the congregation, Monroe explained what life is when he preached on the same day. He said that everyone, male or female, has his own life, and it doesn’t make any difference in meaning. That’s all, while other Monroe workers just think about what life is and die. He wants to continue to think about it and explain it, and he will be patient and persistent until the end. He really talks about it, and Inman sat in the church with his eyes fixed on Ada’s neck during the sermon that afternoon. He listened to Emerson’s words that the wart of the tumor tree will shrink forever.
After the sermon, the men and women went to the church separately. The horses were covered with mud all the time. The wheels of the horses fell asleep in the mud and reached the spokes. They were awakened. A chestnut mare shook her belly and slapped the dirty carpet. The church cemetery was full of mud, wet leaves and clothes, and the horses smelled. The men lined up to shake hands, and then they all went around the wet cemetery to see if the rain really stopped or took a temporary breath. Some older people whispered that Monroe preached strangely and stayed away from the scriptures, and she didn’t want others to be stubborn.
Unmarried men gather in a circle, and their boots and trousers are covered with mud. Their conversation is more suitable for Saturday night than for sacred Sunday afternoon. Everyone glances at Ida at the cemetery from time to time. She looks so different and beautiful, but it is extremely different. Everyone else is wearing woolen clothes to keep out the cold. Ida is wearing a milky linen skirt with lace at the neckline and cuffs. It seems that what she chooses is mainly based on the month rather than the weather.
Ada put her arms around her chest, and some elderly women went over to talk to her. Then there was a moment of silence and hesitation on both sides, and then they left Inman. She noticed that whenever people came towards her, Ada stepped back until she was blocked by a tombstone of an independent war veteran.
I’ll tell her my name. Will she meet me? A guy from Dillard’s family asked him to come to church.
I’m not sure Inman said
You don’t know how to pursue her. Look at me, Hob Mars mythology said to Dillard.
Mars mythology is not tall, shoulder width and thick vest pocket bulging with a pocket watch silver chain hanging down to the waistband and a scroll pattern pendant.
Dillard said that you can do anything.
No, it’s true, Mars mythology replied