The roads are not easy to walk on these days. There are ruins everywhere. If you are not careful, you may step on empty air and fall into a pit created by a bomb. If you are lucky, you may even find half a human body in the pit.
Besides, it was night time, and even the brightest moonlight was just so-so. The key point was that she didn't dare to walk under the moon, as it was too easy for her to be caught by someone who got up at night.
So she found a long branch to use as a crutch, and walked in the dark corners. Like the blind man, she swept the ground in front of her with her crutch as she moved forward.
Perhaps because he was feeling guilty, he walked very fast. His posture was like the Qin Emperor sweeping across the world. No matter if it was a person or an animal, they would have to hide two meters away.
In this way, she walked into the mountains before dawn.
This mountain was not the one where she usually picked mushrooms and dug wild vegetables, but a big mountain twenty kilometers east of her home. It was the kind of mountain that was rolling and stretched as far as the eye could see. It was completely different from the small mountain next to her home.
Normally, the locals in this mountain usually look for food on the outskirts and don't dare to go inside, because there have been many cases of wolves eating people and snakes biting people in the past, and there was even one incident that was said to be caused by a blind bear.
Although most of these things happened a long time ago, so long ago that Liang Shengdi's father was probably not even born yet, these rumors were enough to frighten everyone around. Unless they really couldn't survive, no one dared to go into the mountains.
This was also Liang Shengdi's first time to this mountain. She had to say that the interior of this deep forest was completely different from those mountains that were almost trampled bare.
The further she went in, the fewer people there were, and the trees grew taller and taller, so tall that they blocked out the sky, and she could feel the chilly wind even in broad daylight; the branches were longer than her life, and the trunks were covered with green moss. There was a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground, and when she stepped on it, she felt like she was stepping into a pile of mud.
The mountains are extremely quiet. The only sounds in my ears are the sound of my feet stepping on dead leaves, the chirping of various insects, and my own heartbeat. Anyone with poor mental quality would be frightened and depressed.
Fortunately, Liang Shengdi has always had a strong psychological quality. Even when she suddenly saw a emerald green snake hanging on a tree, she could continue to move forward without changing her expression.
Anyway, the snake wouldn't attack her unless she stepped on it and made it jump out.
Besides, shouldn't snakes hibernate at this time of year? Could that snake be a traitor?
Liang Shengdi ultimately didn't dare venture into the mountains, partly because it was too dangerous and partly because it was too cold. She was wearing a ragged cotton-padded jacket, and now, to stay warm, she threw on her thin quilt, which barely supported her continued movement.
If you really go in, you will be frozen into a popsicle before being eaten by bears or wolves.
She just walked eastward along the innermost circle of human traces, hoping to find a cave to sit down before noon. She was hungry and wanted to roast two sweet potatoes to eat.
As she walked, she actually found a cave. There was a small lake not far away. Liang Shengdi rushed over and drank two sips of water. Then she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and cursed.
"Damn it, I forgot to bring a water bag with me." If I had filled it with some water at that time, I wouldn't be so thirsty now.
She didn't have the courage to go down and fish in this kind of water. She just drank water quickly, otherwise if there was a big fish below and dragged her down, she would be finished.
However, after cursing her mother, Liang Shengdi seemed to regain her momentum and became much bolder than before.
After drinking the water, she returned to the cave she had just seen. As soon as she stepped in, she felt something hard under her feet. She pushed aside the weeds that blocked her view and took a look.
Oh, a human hand bone... No, it should be a whole human skeleton, but it is not very complete, fragmented, and there are teeth marks from being bitten by wild animals.
Liang Shengdi watched silently for a while, then put the sweet potato bag aside, picked up a small hoe, dug a hole on the spot, and helped pick up the remaining bones and bury them in the hole.
When I buried it, I still kept talking.
"...I don't know where you came from, or what bad things you've done out there... No, these days, only those who do bad things can thrive out there! So you must be a good person... I'll bury you today, and I hope that when I die tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, someone will help bury me too..."
After filling the hole, Liang Shengdi sat on the ground and rested for a while. After traveling all night and all morning, her stomach was already empty. Now she was digging the hole and filling it with soil, and she suddenly felt a little dizzy.
She sat there, not knowing what she was thinking about. She turned around and looked at the land on top of the three stones. She opened and closed her mouth awkwardly for a long time before she said,
"...Ah...It suddenly occurred to me that you might also be eaten by ants underground?...Sorry, there really aren't any coffins here..."
"Forget it. You're already dead anyway, so you shouldn't be able to feel it. If I die in the future, I can just bury me like this. I don't mind."
Mainly because she was too tired and didn't want to dig it out again.
After talking to Gutou, she turned around and rummaged through the sweet potato bag. She also put a fire starter in it because she thought that the firewood in the mountains would be wet in winter, and it would be a bit difficult to make fire by drilling wood together.
There were still quite a few scattered branches in the cave, some wet, some dry. I wonder if they were picked up by the owner of the bones. Liang Shengdi bowed to the three stones again.
"If it's you, thank you. I'll use it first... If it's not you... please help me find out whose it is down there, and then thank me for it... After all, I helped you pick up the bones..."
After some effort, the fire was finally lit. Although the wet smoke was a bit thick, it was enough for roasting sweet potatoes.
Liang Shengdi sat by the fire wrapped in a thin quilt, watching the sweet potatoes whose skin gradually softened and whose color darkened, and swallowed.
She actually wanted to tell herself whether she should plan her future, such as where she would go, how far she had walked, and when she would leave.
What to do when the sweet potatoes are gone? What to do with the hundred or so copper coins in her bag? Should she find a job? Where to live? If she were to go out like that alone, would she be kidnapped by a beggar? Or even sold into a brothel?
The future is confusing and there are many problems, but the fragrance of sweet potatoes is getting stronger and stronger.
“It’s so hot!… Whoosh! Whoosh!… It’s so hot! Ah… It smells so good!”
So, why think so much? No matter how much she thought, no matter how well she planned, she couldn't escape the possibility that a bomb would fall from the sky and blow her to pieces as soon as she left the mountain.
It’s better to enjoy the present moment.
Why don’t you wait until I finish eating the sweet potatoes before going out? At least I can die with a full stomach.
Liang Shengdi thought so.
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