Wuyuan Youshan Village | A Thousand Windows Leak Moonlight to Devour the Dragon's Spine, a River of Floating Lanterns Locks the Merchant's Soul

At the moment the Hundred-Section Bench Dragon charged into the narrow alley, its scales scraped against the horse-head walls, sending sparks flying like rain! 🔥 Pressed against the door, I watched the dragon's spine brush past my nose, tiles shattering at my feet. The guide roared, "This intangible heritage requires signing a life-and-death waiver!" Looking up, moonlight streamed through a thousand carved windows like silver arrows pinning the writhing dragon—the so-called "Devouring the Dragon's Spine" was actually a bloodthirsty dance between the dragon and the ancient houses. --- 🐉 Dragon Devours Huizhou Eaves: A Life-and-Death Pact Amid Torches On the night of the Bench Dragon Festival, Youshan transforms into a battlefield: ▶️ A 108-section dragon body is carried on the shoulders of strong men sprinting wildly, each bench section holding three torches, flames whipping like golden lashes against the walls during sharp turns; ▶️ The "Eave-Scraping" stunt: The dragon head deliberately scrapes against ancestral hall tiles, sparks cascading like waterfalls into the crowd, the searing heat mixing with gunpowder smoke that chokes the throat; ▶️ The most insane is the "Dragon Under the Crotch"! Spectators lie on the ground as the dragon team leaps over them, torches just ten centimeters from their faces—**the life-and-death waiver reads: "If sparks enter your eyes, blind yourself." --- 💧 Lanterns Lock the Merchant's Soul: Silver Dreams in the Waterway As the fire dragon vanishes into the night, floating lanterns begin salvaging history**: 🛶 The "Merchant's Soul Waterway" lantern ceremony: - Receive tung oil lanterns engraved with names of Qing Dynasty merchant ships ("Longxing Hao," "Wang's Porcelain"); - Crouch on the stone steps of boat houses to release lanterns into the stream, suddenly seeing reflections transform into green-robed merchants flickering on the water, abacuses glinting in the ripples; 📜 Ruins of the Water Accountant's Office: Feel the contracts under glass bricks: "In the third year of Guangxu, 300 loads of Jingdezhen porcelain blanks were purchased on credit..." The words dissolve into water ripples. The guide shines a lantern on the wall: "Look! The 'lock' in 'Lanterns Lock the Merchant's Soul'—it's the debt of love 18 generations of Huizhou merchants owe their homeland!" --- 📌 Life-Risking Guide (Every Word a Blood Pact) ⏰ Soul-Stealing Schedule ▷ 19:00 Secure a spot: Cheng Ancestral Hall "Eave-Scraping Dragon Viewing Platform" (front-row seats come with burn ointment) ▷ 21:30 Lantern Release: The "Heartbreak Jetty" at the boat house is the most spiritual (lantern extinguished = merchant soul rejects it) 🚶 Death-Defying Route ✅ Dragon Festival Line: Sign waiver → Receive fireproof scarf → Eave-Scraping Platform → Dragon Under the Crotch experience (+50 yuan insurance) ✅ Merchant Soul Line: Boat house lantern release → Floating Lantern Accountant's Office → Underwater Contract Corridor → Inkstone Pool Academy merchant code transcription 🚗 Transportation Ordeal ▶️ From Wuyuan Station, take the "Youshan Suicide Minibus" (15 yuan | Only departs at 17:30! Latecomers sleep in the wild) ▶️ Drive to "Youshan Village Suicide Slope" (Z-shaped cliff road | Oncoming traffic requires reversing 500 meters) 🍜 Lifesaving Code Words ‖ "Dragon Blood Soup": Duck blood vermicelli + gunpowder chili (shout "More dragon scales!" for free fried tiles) ‖ Floating Lantern Pastry: Tung oil lantern shape (flowing Huizhou ink filling | 10 yuan) 🏠 Sleep in the Accountant's Office ‖ Boat House "Sunken Silver Cabin": Floor windows reveal underwater porcelain shards (hear abacus sounds at night | 200 yuan) ‖ Ancestral Hall Side Rooms: Once held Huizhou merchant coffins (60 yuan incl. breakfast | Ghostly warning) --- ❤️ Tear-Jerking Moment A 15-year-old boy in the dragon team was suddenly hit by a tile, blood staining the dragon scales as he kept running. The elder stopped the team, cauterizing the wound with a torch: "In Youshan, a dragon isn't grown until its blood burns dry!" The boy smeared blood on the dragon's eyes and danced again, his wound scabbing like dragon scales in the firelight—**what fell that night wasn’t tiles, but the boy’s shed skin. > 🌌 Post-Village Easter Egg > _Inkstone Pool Academy merchant code rubbings (free). As I rubbed the character for "honesty," floating lanterns suddenly formed a path of light pointing to the village entrance. Following it, I saw the boy washing his bloodstained clothes by the stream, his back’s dragon-scale scars glowing gold in the lantern light—what the merchant soul locked away was actually a newborn dragon shedding its scales._