Chapter 54: Troubles in the Mountains
Xia Xiaoman was very sure that there was more than one person on the mountain.
After the bearded man appeared, Xia Xiaoman looked around carefully.
For those who grew up in mountain villages, they can almost see the strangeness of the mountains and forests at a glance.
In the reflection of the sunlight, Xia Xiaoman saw several thin transparent fishing lines, which are tools often used by hunters to capture prey alive. In other words, there were many traps set behind the man.
If they force their way up the mountain, they are likely to be attacked.
In addition to the traps, she found that many branches that were broken by the strong convection and half hung on the trees were cut down. In addition, a lot of wild vegetables on the roadside were picked, and the tough thorns nearby were cleared.
From all these phenomena, it can be seen that there are more people staying on the mountain than the one in front of us.
Of course, the most important thing was that she saw the man holding a fishing line in his hand.
She didn't know what was connected to the other end of the fishing line, but she knew that if Xiao Zheyu continued to move forward, it might be dangerous.
After Xia Xiaoman explained the reason for leaving, he added: "The mountains and forests are the villagers' home ground. There is no need for us to fight against those villagers just for a momentary anger. It's not like this is the only mountain with water sources."
Xiao Zheyu was still a little unhappy. "That's too overbearing! A village occupies a hill. If that's the case, then we also find a hill to live in and set up various traps. Doesn't this hill belong to us?"
Ye Xiaojie shattered his fantasy with one sentence, "There are snakes in the mountains. If you are not afraid of being bitten to death by a snake while sleeping, you can choose to live in the mountains."
Xiao Zheyu: “…”
Forget it! Being a mountain king is not as good as you think.
After resting for a while, the few of them headed towards another mountain. After more than an hour, they found a small stream covered with weeds.
Xiao Zheyu's wish to swim was dashed as the small stream could not accommodate his 1.85-meter height.
I filled my tank with water and went home. When I passed the mountain, I could hear bursts of wailing and screaming from a long distance away.
"Sister, did you bring the telescope? Let me see it." Xiao Zheyu's gossiping heart was burning.
Xia Xiaoman took down the telescope hanging on the side of the backpack and handed it to him, "Be careful, don't break it."
There were only five telescopes found in the outdoor goods store. She gave one to Sun Qing and Zhou Qiuyang respectively. She only had three in her hand, and if one was broken, there would be one less.
Xiao Zheyu didn't have time to pay attention to her. He picked up the telescope and looked around the mountain for where the scream came from. He sincerely hoped that it was the bearded man screaming.
However, contrary to expectations, the scream did not come from that man, but from another group of people.
Through the telescope, he saw three people hanging on the tree, one of them had his hands hanging down, probably strangled to death, and the other two were still struggling hard, frantically pulling at the ropes around their necks.
Under the tree, a dozen people were fighting. One group was holding axes, sickles, and hoes, while the other group had even worse weapons, only branches, sticks, and short kitchen knives and fruit knives.
There is no doubt that the party with inferior weapons was crushed. The villagers on the mountain beat the other group without any chance of fighting back. The screams of agony echoed in the mountain.
When Xiao Zheyu saw this scene, he was so scared that cold sweat broke out on his back.
If Xia Xiaoman had not forced him to leave before, he might have been one of the people hung on the tree.
Not wanting to watch any more, he threw the telescope to Su Ran.
Su Ran was sweating profusely as he watched. "Why are there so many people coming to the mountain? They are not bringing weapons with them. Aren't they courting death?"
Zhou Qiuyang pursed his lips and said, "If we can think of going to the mountains to find water, then other people can think of it too. It's normal for someone to come to the mountains, and it's abnormal if no one comes."
Su Ran shook his head. "It's too horrible. I thought the flood had receded and there wouldn't be any more life-and-death fights like this. I didn't expect it to turn out like this just for a source of water."
When Xia Xiaoman heard this, something suddenly flashed through her mind. She looked up at the dazzling sun, then at the muddy ground in the distance that was cracked by the sun, and felt a little uneasy.
This kind of uneasy feeling appeared when the flood backflow occurred.
Seeing that she was uneasy, Ye Xiaojie asked, "What's wrong? Did you get a heat stroke?"
Xia Xiaoman shook her head, "No. Do you think the temperature is too high these days?"
"It's okay! Isn't the temperature in Fucheng always this high in summer?" She has been studying here for more than two years and has become accustomed to the weather in Fucheng.
Xia Xiaoman pursed her lips, feeling that something was not right with the weather, but she couldn't tell what was wrong.
"Stop looking and go back! Be careful that the villagers on the mountain may mistake you two for those people."
Sun Qing's voice brought Xia Xiaoman back to his senses, and the group quickened their pace to leave this place of trouble.
…
It was around three o'clock in the afternoon when we returned to the community. Everyone was so tired that they didn't even want to talk. They just went back to their rooms and fell asleep.
Carrying dozens of kilograms of water and walking for more than three hours under the scorching sun, anyone would be exhausted.
But compared to digging sludge, it is better to carry water back from the mountains.
They can bring back water for the next three or four days with one trip, but digging mud for a whole day can only exchange for one day's food and water. And the degree of hard work is not necessarily easier than going out to carry water.
I slept until around eight o'clock in the evening, and someone knocked on the door from room 1503 next door. Half an hour later, we went to Wen Jianfeng's house for a dinner.
After hiking for three hours carrying dozens of kilograms of water, Wen Jianfeng guessed that they would not be able to even lift their arms after waking up, so he considerately prepared dinner for everyone.
In the hot summer, it is still very hot even at eight or nine o'clock in the evening.
Wen Jianfeng made a more appetizing tomato pasta, using tomato sauce instead of tomatoes. Paired with a small dish of pickled bamboo shoots he made, dinner was ready.
Xia Xiaoman really couldn't lift her arms, and her shoulders hurt when she touched them. She sat against the wall like a big shot, and instructed Lingling to roll up the noodles with chopsticks and put them in her mouth.
Lingling loves this feeding game very much. After feeding Xia Xiaoman, she held the plate to feed Xiao Zheyu. He was the loudest in the audience, and he kept groaning for a long time after taking a mouthful of rice. Lingling felt sorry for him and took the initiative to feed him.
Sun Qing finished her dinner with a grin on her face, leaning against the wall and panting, "No, no, it's too labor-intensive to carry water like this. Let's think about whether there is any way to easily carry the water over."
Su Ran proposed an idea, "The best way is to transfer water from the south to the north. The initial work is hard, but in the later stage, you can easily achieve water freedom at home."
"South-to-North Water Diversion? How does it work?" Sun Qing asked.
"Use bamboo as a water pipe and connect it to the stream where we draw water today..."
Before he could finish his words, Xiao Zheyu kicked him on the thigh, "Get lost! You're still talking about the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, why don't you go to heaven?"
Su Ran smiled and dodged, "Just a joke, you are such a boring person, you can't even take a joke."
After that, he said seriously, "Okay, I won't make trouble with you anymore. I know there is a shared bicycle parking spot nearby. We can go there and try to dig out a shared bicycle."
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