Chapter 372: Stone Road

You can't leave as soon as it gets light. Although it is light at this time, the fog has not completely dissipated.

The gap between day and night is also when animals appear more frequently.

The two waited until after nine in the morning, when the sunlight became somewhat hot and dazzling, then they walked into the woods and parked the car outside the woods.

The vegetation types in this forest are similar to those near the path down the mountain. The tall trees that originally grew in the forest now have moss crawling on their thick branches.

The vegetation coverage rate of the tropical rainforest is terrifying. The trees are covered with moss, and ferns grow on the moss. Each tree becomes a small and independent ecological environment.

There is moss on the tree, and the moss becomes the medium for other plants. The seeds float onto the moss, take root and sprout, and flowers that do not belong to the tree bloom on this tree.

As the two walked forward, they saw countless kinds of plants appearing on the same tree. Some were flowers, some were grasses, some were vines, some were mushrooms, and there was even another tree growing on the tree.

Zhao Yeqing had never been to a real rainforest, and the rainforest scenes he saw on videos were far less shocking than what he felt now in person.

The two originally thought that this side was more primitive than the path down the mountain, but they didn't expect that as they walked, they discovered a stone-paved path.

The path was completely covered with vegetation, and if it weren't for their strange feeling, neither of them would have been able to find it.

"Did anyone come to this forest often before this?"

Mu Xi shoveled away the moss on the stone slab and said, "This side is closest to the tourist area. Maybe it has been partially developed for tourists to check in and take photos."

Looking around carefully, I found that the trees on both sides of the path were indeed quite neat.

The tree crowns and branches had not been trimmed for many years and were definitely not in order, so the two men did not notice it at first glance. However, when they looked closely, they saw that the tree trunks underneath were growing neatly on both sides of the road.

The two of them cleared the path as they went along, and sure enough, not long after they walked, they found a tattered bench under a ferns that was so dense that it was as tall as Zhao Yeqing.

The iron bench has become rusty and cannot be sat on. In a few years when there is no metal left in the house, I will move it away and melt it down.

On the first day of exploring the route, the two knew they couldn't go far, so they parked the car outside the woods and waited until dark before going home.

So when the two of them went out, they took two dogs with them to help guard and explore the way, left two to guard the house, and waited until night to go back to feed the cattle and sheep.

Apart from encountering two snakes along the way, the dog hardly barked at all. The two of them cleared a long stone path, about one kilometer long.

The path is about one meter wide and cars cannot enter. It is also unknown how long the path is in total.

However, since there were already traces of human activity here, following the traces would definitely be the simplest and safest route.

This start was a pleasant surprise for the two, although there were not only various plants but also thick moss on the stone slabs, which would take time to deal with.

But compared with the previous journey back to Meishan over mountains and hills, this is simply kindergarten-level.

It wasn't until the two reached the end of the stone path that the rainforest really began to take its toll on them.

Judging from the altitude of the mountain here, the length of this stone path is less than one-third of the distance down the mountain.

The two looked at the woods without the stone paths. The vegetation became more messy, with tall trees blocking their way. They didn't know if it was because of the heavy rainfall, but many of the trees had grown thick, plank-like roots.

Due to heavy rainfall, the land suffers from severe soil erosion. These plank-like roots exposed on the ground can help support the stable growth of trees.

This kind of situation never happened before near the Meadow Mountains. The plants had to change according to environmental changes.

There are usually no plants growing under tall trees. The weak herbaceous plants cannot compete with the big trees, so the soil is occupied and the sunlight is blocked.

Seeing that it was almost noon, the two found a big tree that required five people to hug, sat on the plank-like roots under the tree, and took out the lunch boxes they had prepared in advance.

Mu Xi discussed with Zhao Yeqing while eating: "Should we go straight down the mountain to explore, or find a new direction?"

After the two came out today, they walked the entire stone path and cleared a two hundred meter road ahead. However, they found that the further down the mountain they went, the denser the vegetation became, making it more difficult to clear the road, so they had to think carefully about the route.

"The further south we go, the more luxuriant the plants grow. Most of the plants that grow in this climate love the sun. Let's go a little west."

The two of them quickly finished their lunch boxes, slightly changed their direction, and continued cleaning toward the west.

By dusk in the afternoon, the two finally saw some hope.

In one afternoon, the two men only cleared more than 100 meters of road because they encountered a large patch of thorny bushes. Even though they were prepared and wore gloves, they were still badly pricked.

The hot and humid weather made the two men sweat all over. In addition, they were afraid of leeches in the woods, so they wrapped themselves tightly, which added to the burden. The hair under the hats was all soaked with sweat and stuck to the skin.

Fortunately, hard work pays off. After clearing the thorns growing on the road, the trees became bigger as we went west, and the vegetation on the ground became less.

"There is less sunlight in the west, and only tall trees can successfully compete for the sunlight here. The bigger the trees, the fewer herbs there are on the ground. This is a short-lived sweet ending to our hardships."

Looking ahead, the space was basically occupied by tall trees. There were fewer herbs on the ground than before, and they were not growing as lushly. The tallest one was only at knee level.

Neither of them cleared the path for this tall, thornless vine. When they came across a slightly larger plant, they used a hatchet or sickle to chop it slightly under their feet, and then picked up the chopped plants and threw them to both sides.

This time the speed is obviously much faster.

By nightfall, the two had walked nearly 1 kilometer forward.

I hurried out of the woods, and when I got home it was almost midnight. I took a quick shower to wash off the sticky sweat stains from the day, and also picked off several leeches clinging to the jacket I was wearing outside.

After taking a shower, Zhao Yeqing felt that all the pores on his body were relaxed. He blew his hair dry and fell asleep on the bed before Mu Xi returned to the room.

After Mu Xi finished taking a shower, he washed their clothes and hung them in the yard before returning to the room.

Zhao Yeqing had already fallen into a deep sleep, his breathing was a little heavy, and he seemed to be very tired.

Mu Xi pursed his lips, tucked the quilt into her, lay down beside her and fell asleep.