249 Shuangfeng Mountain is inaccessible
In the afternoon of the second day, everyone checked into the inn. Although this was not a county town, or even a town, there were several inns.
Ping An asked and found out that Shuangfeng Mountain was only ten miles ahead. The road would suddenly become much narrower, and there would be mountain roads for dozens of miles, so there was no place to stay.
People passing by here usually stay for one night and then pass through the long mountain area in one go.
The shopkeeper said that two days ago, a group of yamen runners also stayed here with many doctors. Because the leader of the yamen runners had a high fever, they rested for one more day and only reluctantly set off yesterday morning.
Ping An said to Sun Sicheng, "So, their group is only one day ahead of us. If we can hurry along the way, maybe we can still catch up."
Sun Sicheng said, "What are more than a hundred people doing together? They are so noisy, how can we have peace and quiet together? Wanli, have a good dinner. I will take Ping An upstairs first."
He Jin said, "My Lord, it's still early. I'll take a few people to the nearby mountains to see if we can get anything?"
Sun Sicheng waved his hand and said, "It's up to you. Remember, don't rely on your ability to go deep into the mountains. It will be dark in more than an hour."
Ping An heard this and said, "Master, I'll follow Uncle He and have some fun. I've had a good rest these days and I'm not tired today."
"Okay, remember to come back in an hour, otherwise the master will punish you."
"Okay."
A quarter of an hour later, He Jin and Ping An took ten people out, including Xiao Wu, Lin Feng, Er Qiang, Tong Lin and Fang Wu. Everyone brought a bow and arrow, and a knife. The shopkeeper was an acquaintance of Ming Wanli, and gave them two backpacks.
He Jin had been here more than once and knew that the inn was only two or three miles away from the nearest shallow mountain. They all knew light work and could get into the mountain quickly.
Ping An followed closely beside He Jin, and soon the twelve people reached the foot of the mountain. At this time, the sun was still high in the western sky. Although it was still very hot, it was obviously much cooler than the inn.
"Master Ping An, we used to come here to hunt when we passed by. There are many small animals in the mountains here, but I don't know what's going on now."
"Uncle He, I think this mountain is not small. It's best if we don't spread out too much. After all, it's already afternoon."
He Jin nodded: "Of course, just stay with me and don't go far away."
The ten people who followed him pointed at the mountain and made some plans. Finally, he took Ping'an and a few others, Xiaowu took Erqiang and others, and decided to meet here in an hour.
Counting the days, today is June 18th. If it is a normal year, there will be a lot of wild fruits on the mountain. Ping An took Lin Feng and Tong Lin to climb a long section of the mountain. They saw many peach trees, but there were only a few sparse fruits hanging on them, and they were small and sour.
A lot of medicinal herbs were found. Ping'an went there mainly for collecting herbs, and hunting was secondary. Medicine was the most valuable thing these days.
He Jin quickly shot two rabbits, Tong Linye shot a pheasant, and Lin Feng helped the young master carry the backpack and followed to collect some herbs, and was determined not to stray more than ten feet from Ping'an.
When we reached halfway up the mountain, our backpack was already filled with medicinal herbs. We had learned a lot about medicine making from Master Qin. Of course, it was not like when we were collecting and selling herbs. Good and expensive medicines were good, but many not-so-valuable medicines were sometimes the most commonly used.
Ping An stood on a large rock, and the breeze blew gently, sweeping away all his fatigue.
"Hey, Lin Feng, look, what is that?"
Lin Feng looked carefully and could see a very long road from here. In the middle of the road not long after entering the mountain, there was obviously something black blocking the way.
"Master Ping An, if I'm not mistaken, it's not something blocking the road. It could be a big rock rolling down, or a landslide. If it's a landslide, it's better. If it's a big rock, it's still a problem whether it can be pried open."
Raymond Lam has talked a lot more in the past two years and has become more cheerful.
Ping An saw that his analysis was good, so he hurriedly called He Jin over, "Uncle He, I just saw it accidentally. I was afraid that I couldn't see it clearly by myself, so I asked Lin Feng to check it out and confirmed that the road was blocked."
He Jin saw that it was not good and it was indeed the case.
"Master Ping An, I'll call everyone down the mountain and take a few people to have a look. It's just after entering the mountain trail and not too far away. It's very fast on horseback."
Ping An certainly has no objection.
When Sun Sicheng heard this, he frowned. Ming Wanli hurried to ask the shopkeeper, who said he had not heard of this and that more than a hundred people had left from his place early yesterday morning.
"Manager Ming, we didn't hear any noise here, maybe we are quite far away. Those people who left here yesterday didn't look back, so they must have taken a small path.
The path is on the left side, just wide enough for a carriage to pass through. There is a village over there, but we don't go there very often. It seems that the village is very small, with not many households."
Ming Wanli frowned. This was somewhat unsafe, but they also brought hoes and other things with them, so they decided to take the main road as much as possible.
"Boss, we haven't walked the small path, but how far is the Shangguan Road?"
"I heard that there are dozens of miles of such small roads. You have a car, so you should be able to reach the main road in one day. I have only heard about it, but I have never walked on it."
Ming Wanli immediately asked Sun Sicheng for instructions, and he would take He Jin and a few others on horseback to take a look. If it was a landslide, they would borrow some hoes from the inn and dig out a passage. But if it was a big rock, they might really have to take a small path.
The Great Zhou had homemade explosives, but they were not very effective. Even so, they were still in the hands of the government, and they did not have explosives to blast open the passage.
Soon, Ming Wanli, He Jin and a few others rode away on horseback.
Ping'an and Qingshi and a few others were packing up medicinal herbs. A large backpack was quite a lot and they couldn't waste them. Erqiang, Fang Wu and Xiaohu were happily slaughtering prey. More than a dozen people killed several rabbits and pheasants, enough for a good meal in the evening.
They don’t care whether it’s right or wrong, and it’s not something they have to worry about. It’s just a pity that they didn’t hit the big guy.
Ming Wanli, He Jin and their men arrived at the place very quickly, and several people couldn't help but gasp.
There was a large rock blocking the middle of the road, and the rest was just dirt.
"Wanli, there is no heavy rain, how could there be a landslide? Could there really be bandits on the trail?"
Ming Wanli certainly thought of this problem as well.
"This slope is quite steep, and there is a possibility of landslide, but what you said makes sense. Xiao Wu, come with me to abandon the horse and go take a look. He Jin, you take Da Zhuang and lead the horse to hide in the small woods and wait for us."
He Jin nodded. Although he and Wan Li were of similar age and came to the eldest master at the same time, He Jin was willing to listen to him in everything.
Ming Wanli and Xiao Wu soon disappeared. He Jin and Da Zhuang also took their horses and hid in the hills. One must always be on guard against others.
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