Chapter 245 In the Forest
Standing in the mountains and listening to the sound of horses, the distance between the two places seemed very close, but there was no road in the mountains. Sui Yu and his servants rode camels around the jungle, walking from morning to afternoon, and were still in the mountains.
"Master, have we taken a long detour?" Xiao Chunhong asked, "Are we going to have to rest in this woods tonight?"
"We should be almost there, the tree has become shorter." Sui Yu picked up the horizontal branches and ducked over to get through.
Zhang Shun made a "hush" sound, and a black rabbit squatted under a rotten tree not far away, seemingly gnawing on mushrooms. He pulled the bowstring, and a feather arrow flew out quickly.
With a "clang" sound, the rabbit fell to the ground. It took a few steps dragging the arrow with it, and then fell on the tree roots and lay motionless.
"I'll pick it up." Zhang Shun jumped off the camel and walked over quickly.
Xiao Chunhong suddenly gasped. She wanted to call Zhang Shun, but was afraid of disturbing the snake hanging on the tree trunk. Just as she was about to draw her bow, she saw an arrow shot out from the front left.
Zhang Shun was so frightened that he stopped in his tracks. Before he could turn around to see who had shot an arrow at him from behind, he saw a black snake the same color as the rotten wood twisted and falling from the tree. The arrowhead pierced the snake's body. It was still struggling, raising its head and spitting out its tongue. Its long tail was twisting on the dead branches and rotten leaves. The rustling sound of the branches and leaves rubbing against each other made his scalp numb. His hot sweat suddenly turned cold, and he got goose bumps all over.
"Kill it." Xiao Chunhong reminded loudly, "Come back to your senses."
Zhang Shun dug out a stick from under the dead branches and rotten leaves. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black snake with half of its body upright, dragging a feather arrow towards him. He swung the stick hard and the black snake hit a tree trunk beside him and fell down again.
"This snake is really lucky, it's still moving." Gan Da said, "I'll get a knife."
"No need." Zhang Shun stopped him. He strode over, stepped on the place where the arrow hit the snake's body, and poked the snake's head with the notch of the wooden stick in his hand.
Seeing this, Sui Yu put down his bow and arrow and put the feather arrow back into the quiver.
There are many snakes in the mountains. To prevent snake bites, the caravans would wrap straw ropes around their legs and arms before entering the mountains, and wear straw hats or conical hats on their heads. Zhang Shun did the same, so he was not afraid of snake tails wrapping around his legs.
The snake was killed and its tail, which was wrapped around his leg, fell off. Zhang Shun poked the snake's head with a stick and walked under the tree to pick up the fat rabbit.
"Master, there are a lot of mushrooms growing under this rotten tree. Should we pick them all?" Zhang Shun asked. "If rabbits can eat them, they must be non-toxic."
"Okay, look at what kind of mushroom the rabbit is gnawing on and pick only that kind," Sui Yu instructed.
"They're all the same kind of mushrooms. Oh, no, there's also wood ear mushrooms on the rotten wood. Should we pick some of those too? Dry them in the sun..."
"Pick, pick, pick, dry them and bring them back to the cub." Sui Yu became excited. She jumped off the camel and said, "I'll pick them."
Gan Da, Gan Er and Xiao Chunhong all laughed, and the three of them got off the camels, planning to take a walk around to see if there were any other good things.
There were quite a few wood ear mushrooms growing on the rotten wood, and the ear clusters were large and thick. Sui Yu picked them all and stuffed his pockets full.
"Master, the sun is about to set," Zhang Shun said, "Let's go."
"Wait." Sui Yu kicked the rotten wood. Seeing that the rotten wood was tilted, she kicked it again, and the rotten wood half a person's height stood up from the soil.
She carried the rotten wood away.
Xiao Chunhong and the other four servants looked at each other in bewilderment.
It was getting dark quickly in the mountains, and Sui Yu didn't dare to delay any longer. She led her people in the direction of Gan Dazhi, intending to find an open space to rest for the night. It was not suitable to walk in the forest at night.
"Master, look, is there a wooden house over there?" Gan Erzhi said.
It was indeed a wooden house, a very simple little wooden house, probably a place for hunters in the mountains to rest overnight. There were dry firewood and bowls and chopsticks stored inside.
The five masters and servants decided to spend the night in the wooden house. Gan Da and Gan Er took the rabbit and snake to find water, Xiao Chunhong and Sui Yu made a fire outside the house, and Zhang Shun took the axe to chop branches. They had burned the hunter's firewood tonight and had to make up for it.
The fire was lit, and Gan Da and Gan Er also came back. Gan Da carried a jar of water, and Gan Er carried a skinned rabbit and a cleaned snake.
Sui Yu used a bowl to scoop water to wash the mushrooms. The wild mushrooms had a strong flavor and thick crowns. She washed half and kept the other half. She stuffed the clean ones into the rabbit's stomach and planned to dry the rest with the fungus and ask the caravan to take them back to Xiaozai and Liangge'er.
The rabbits and snakes were skewered on branches and roasted over the fire. The five masters and servants had some free time, so they sat by the fire to rest.
"When I'm freed from slavery, I'll become a hunter in the mountains inside the Great Wall." Gan Da suddenly had an idea. "I'm good at martial arts and archery, so I won't starve to death in the mountains. This mountain is so rich. There are endless trees to cut down, endless birds to catch, countless pheasants and rabbits, and lots of wild vegetables."
"Okay, when you're freed from slavery, you can settle down in the mountains. We'll visit you whenever we pass by." Sui Yu didn't judge whether this kind of life was worth it. She added, "We have a lot of people. You should build more cabins, dig up more wild vegetables, dry them, and prepare more dried chicken and meat so you can entertain us."
"Okay, okay." Ambassador Gan nodded vigorously. "I'll build ten wooden houses, and you can all come and visit."
"You might as well build a guesthouse in the mountains," said Xiao Chunhong.
"Yes." Zhang Shun nodded. "You can build a guesthouse. Our caravan will stop by to take care of your business. We can bring you anything you need."
Gan Daben said it casually, but after being urged by a few people, he took it seriously. This idea made him feel itchy and even eating meat had no taste.
There was no salt and the rabbit meat was not marinated. It tasted a bit fishy after being roasted and the meat was a bit tough. However, the mushrooms stewed in the rabbit's belly were delicious, with a strong mushroom flavor and juicy taste.
There was a hare, a snake, and a handful of mushrooms. The five masters and servants shared the food and then went into the wooden house to sleep.
They slept all night sitting on a bundle of firewood and leaning against the wall. At dawn, the fog in the forest dissipated, and the five masters and servants followed the sound again.
At noon, five camels came out of the forest. At the end of the jungle was a vast grassland. Sui Yu stood on the camel's back and looked around. She looked again and again and barely recognized the direction.
"It should be that direction, let's go that way." Sui Yu said.
"Wait, let me turn the fungus over. The sun is strong here, it will be almost dry after drying it for a whole afternoon." Xiao Chunhong said.
She and Gan Ertong pulled off a coat, on which were spread wood ears, mushrooms, and five beautiful leaves.
"You guys wait here, I'll go over and take a look." Sui Yu said, "It's been a few years, I can't quite remember the route I took back then. I'll go to that high slope and take a look."
"Master, I'll accompany you." Zhang Shun drove the camel to follow.
The camel ran up the raised slope, and Sui Yu saw a government office standing in the southeast from a distance. She breathed a sigh of relief, still remembering that she had passed by an government office and walked north for most of the day. She closed her eyes to recall the scene and route at that time, opened her eyes, jumped off the camel, and turned her body to determine the direction.
Zhang Shun looked at her for a while, then looked away.
"That's over there." Sui Yu determined the direction and said to himself, "It should be not far from here. It took another half a day to walk into the mountains."
"Master, are the people living over there officials? It seems like someone is coming." Zhang Shun said.
Sui Yu got on the camel. Sure enough, someone came from Pastor Yuan's side. She didn't have time to think about it and said, "They are far away. Let's ignore them and look for them first."
"Okay, how do I find it?"
"I don't know if the grave mound is still there. Look for stones. I put a big stone on top of the grave." After saying this, Sui Yu drove the camel in the direction she remembered.
Zhang Shun blew a whistle, and the three people waiting by the woods followed him.
The eight-man team riding over from the southeast sped up.
The grassland was too large, and it was spring, when the grass was lush and the birds were singing. The grass on the ground covered the camels' hooves and even touched their knees. Stones or low hills were hidden in it, making it difficult to find their tracks.
Sui Yu drove the camel in a big circle, but still couldn't determine the exact location. Zhang Shun and Gan Da and Gan Er kicked around on the ground to look for it. When they saw a low raised hill, they pried it with machetes. Under the hill was soft soil, and no stones were found.
"Who are you? What are you doing?" The horse-raising officer arrived.
Zhang Shun, Gan Da and Gan Er stood up, Xiao Chunhong and Sui Yule stopped their camels, and the five of them waited patiently for the officials to approach.
"I threw away the knife and the bow and arrow."
The machetes and bows and arrows were thrown on the ground, and the officers rode their horses closer. They peeked at the dug soil on the ground, then looked at Sui Yu and Xiao Chunhong, wondering why there were women there.
"Where are you from? What do you do?" asked a black-faced officer.
"We're from Dunhuang County, a caravan bound for Chang'an." Sui Yu pulled out the household registration he had prepared long ago, handed it over, and continued, "I'm a member of Captain Zhao's family in the Dunhuang County army. I was once a convicted slave. On my way to exile, I encountered a pack of wolves while walking here. My father was killed by them, and we buried him here. Now they want to move his grave, and I'm here to look for it."
One of the officers still remembered the wolf pack's night attack on prisoners a few years ago. He looked at Sui Yu, then reached out to take the household registration and looked at it carefully. There was no problem with his identity.
"Has your camel passed customs?" he asked.
"We left the border in the spring of last year and came back in August. We stayed in Dunhuang for a winter and came back in the spring. Until now, all the camels have never been sick, and we have not come into contact with sick horses or camels on the road." Sui Yu explained.
The eight officials looked at each other. The official holding the household registration threw the bamboo slips to Sui Yu and said, "Hurry up. I'll give you half a day. You must leave before dark."
"Thank you, brother." Sui Yu thanked him excitedly.
Zhang Shun, Gan Da and Gan Er picked up machetes and continued to search on the grass. Sui Yu and Xiao Chunhong also jumped off the camel.
"Why did you marry a captain?" the dark-faced official asked with interest. "How did you become a merchant again? Was your slavery abolished?"
"My man went to the battlefield to earn military merits, and used these merits to free me from slavery." Sui Yu explained.
"Oh?" The officer was even more surprised. He stared at Sui Yu intently. She was wearing a tattered straw hat, with straw wrapped around her legs and arms. Her clothes were dirty and torn by branches. From her appearance, it was difficult for him to tell that she was a peerless beauty.
Sui Yu dodged the question and joked, "When I married him, he was still a nobody, tending crops in the fields every day. He got promoted after marrying me. His parents thought I was a blessing for him, so they forced him to use his military merits to free me from slavery."
That makes sense.
"Master, there are stones underneath." Xiao Chunhong shouted.
Sui Yu's heart trembled, and she was actually a little nervous.
She walked over and said, "Dig it."
The five men worked together to dig the soil at a fast speed. In less than a cup of tea, the stones under the soil were exposed, and the cracks between the stones were full of grass roots, like human hair.
Zhang Shun looked at Sui Yu. Although the person below was her father, this was also digging a grave, and he was scared.
"We're leaving first." The officer had no interest in looking at the dead bones and instructed, "Dig them up and leave. Don't linger on the grassland."
"You go first, I'll stay here and guard." The officer who had been silent all this time spoke up. He was worried and wanted to make sure that everyone had left the grassland.
Six of the eight officers left, and the remaining two rode their horses to patrol along the border between the woods and the grassland.
The stone was pried open and the three male servants worked together to lift it up. Sui Yu felt something was wrong. The stone she buried at that time didn't seem to be this big.
Continuing to dig down, rubble appeared underneath. Sui Yu was now certain that he had dug in the wrong place. This was not the place to bury Sui Hu.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried horse hooves was heard in the distance. The faces of the two patrolling officers changed. They hurriedly urged their horses over and ran up the hill. They just saw the post soldiers on military horses running towards the Pastor's Garden, and then they heard the horn to change horses.
"Let those people leave quickly." said one of the officers.
Another official rushed towards Sui Yu, his expression changed, and he sternly drove them away: "You can't stay here any longer, leave now."
"What's going on?" Zhang Shun was puzzled. "It's still early in the evening."
"Stop talking nonsense and get out of here." The officer raised his whip and said, "If you keep talking nonsense, you won't be able to leave."
"Let's go." Sui Yu immediately ordered, "Let's go now."
The five masters and servants packed up their belongings, mounted their camels and quickly left the pasture. The officers followed them and only turned back after they had entered the woods.
The postman carrying the urgent military report changed horses and galloped over. After climbing over the hill, he headed east along the river.
"What happened? Is there chaos outside the pass again?" The officer guarding the high slope broke out in a cold sweat.
Gan Dashou, who was perched on a tree, had a clear view of the situation. He watched the post soldiers run off. He got down from the tree and said to Sui Yu, "They are post soldiers. They should be coming from the west. Master, should we still go to the pasture? Or should we wait until dark?"
Sui Yu thought about the attitudes of the two officers and the hurried sound of horse hooves. She couldn't help but worry that there might be another war outside the pass. Last year, the Huns harassed the Cheshi and looted the merchant caravans. Would they invade this year?
Her mind was in a mess.
"Hurry up." Two officers came over for patrol. Seeing that the few people had not left, they drove them away, saying, "You're digging in the wrong place. The soil underneath doesn't look like anyone has been buried there. It seems your father doesn't want to go with you."
"Don't come over here again. If our boss finds you, none of you will be able to escape."
Sui Yu nodded and said, "We'll leave now. Thank you all for your leniency today."
Before dark, the five masters and servants moved into the small cabin where they had stayed when they first came in. They rested for one night and found the caravan that had been waiting for them for three days the next afternoon.
"Have you found your father's grave?" Song Xian asked.
"No, the old man doesn't want to go with me. He probably doesn't want to leave the pass. He won't give me any instructions." Sui Yu shook his head, "Ignore him for now. Let's go. There's no time to waste."
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