Life and death crisis
The mountains nurture plants, animals, and humans; they treat all things equally.
Li Guolan's eyelids had been twitching ever since she woke up, and she stuck the cornbread to the inside of the pot.
"Hiss~~" Li Guolan gently blew on the burn on her hand, her unease growing.
Li Guojian got up, picked up a steamed bun and put it in his mouth, "Big sister's cooking is still the best. It's so good to eat this so early in the morning."
Li Guolan turned to the side to check her basket, and said casually, "I still feel uneasy. Why don't you two go another day?" Li Guojian said disdainfully, "Big sister, you're just a coward. I've gone into the mountains twice by myself, both times deep in the mountains, and I didn't get into any trouble. I even earned more than 100 yuan."
The eldest sister opened her mouth and closed it again, then turned and went into the house to see if Li Guorong was ready.
Seeing his elder sister's expression, Li Guorong knew what she wanted to say, and quickly said, "Elder sister, Dad is still waiting for the medical expenses, so don't overthink it. Besides, the place we're going back to isn't that deep."
Li Guolan could only lower her head, not wanting her younger sister to see her worry. "You must be careful." The continuous mountain range lay like a giant dragon on this land, and white mist swallowed the backs of Li Guorong and Li Guojian.
Several people followed the two men furtively, occasionally touching the markings on the trees. The rugged and strange mountain path did not cause them to lose track of them.
Li Guorong complained from ahead, "Hurry up, why are you always touching the tree trunks?" Li Guojian chuckled and replied, "I'm just afraid of getting lost." Li Guorong suddenly turned around and said, "I feel like someone is following me."
Li Guojian looked a little guilty. "You must have misheard. How could anyone be following us?" He then quickly pushed his younger sister forward.
The woods to the east were already quiet, but now they became even more silent. Two trees, one tall and sturdy and the other short and thin, which resembled human figures, stood motionless, and a small bird perched on the branch of the shorter tree.
Suddenly, the tall man waved his arm, startling the bird so much that its feathers flew everywhere. He whispered, "Go around it." The short man suddenly teased, "That girl is quite feisty; she'd be a good match for your son." The tall man didn't say anything. A feisty woman could certainly support the family, but what if she bullied his son?
The shorter man didn't even need to look to know what the taller man was thinking. "Women, once they have a child, they become more obedient," the taller man said in a low voice. "Hurry up and get into the mountains, the sun is about to rise."
The stream flows gently, singing a joyful song. The perennial shade makes this place damp and slightly cool. Beautiful little red fruits grow on the ground, and underneath are emerald-shaped umbrella leaves.
Li Guorong's eyes lit up. This was it. She pulled her second brother to take out a small rake from the basket and dug it up from the side and roots. Soon she dug out a root. She held it in her hand and examined it carefully. The root was about the thickness of a baby's fist. She carefully counted the stem marks. There were 7. This was probably a top-quality one.
Li Guojian urged, "Hurry up and dig!"
Li Guorong quickly turned the small rake in his hand, digging out one plump wild Panax notoginseng after another.
Li Guojian kept looking back the way he came. He had promised to help and each person would get 10 yuan for their earnings. Where were these people? Were they still asleep?
On the west side of the mountain, Li Guojian's cronies parted the bushes, hoping to find the Li siblings, but there was no one there; they had clearly lost them.
The eldest brother, Wang Qiang, complained, "I should have just shamelessly followed him."
The fourth brother, Qian Mancang, sighed, "How about we search in the mountains?"
The second brother, Sun Zhigang, remained silent, his eyes fixed on the bamboo forest.
The eldest brother asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
Following the second brother's gaze, the fourth brother saw a mother panda in the forest gently touching her cub with the tip of her nose. The cub made unhappy noises. The cub was like a cloud in the sky and new cotton on the ground, warm and fluffy.
When the three of them saw the panda, they remembered Li Guojian's promise to make money together, and a somewhat foolish smile appeared on their faces.
With a loud "bang," an explosion occurred behind the rocks on the opposite bank, and the fragrance of bamboo in the air was replaced by the strong smell of gunpowder.
A bullet struck the mother panda in the eye. With her last bit of strength, she tried to push the cub away, but another shot rang out and accurately struck the mother panda's other good eye. Her robust body collapsed to the ground.
The red panda made "mmm" sounds, trying to lick the blood off its mother.
Two figures, one tall and one short, appeared behind the rock. The taller one grabbed the panda cub, which struggled fiercely but was still put into a small dog cage.
The eldest, second, and fourth brothers covered each other's mouths. This was poaching, and they needed to call the police immediately. The three of them quietly made their way down the mountain.
A gust of wind swept past behind him, and with a thud, the second brother fell to the ground with his eyes wide open, a sharp pain shooting through his heart. He silently shouted, "Run!"
The eldest brother was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he stumbled and fell to the ground, begging for mercy: "I didn't see anything, please let me go, I have an 80-year-old mother at home and a son crying for food. Give me a way out."
The short guy walked past the eldest without even glancing at him, and went straight after the fourth.
The leader's face relaxed, and he breathed heavily. He had been spared. A cold glint flashed before his eyes, and he felt a chill on his neck. He covered his neck with his hand, and blood gushed out. He looked up, and the man's tall head blocked the sun. Blood dripped from the tip of the knife; it was his blood.
Li Guorong looked up and asked, "Second Brother, did you hear anything? It sounded like gunshots."
Li Guojian was busy putting Sanqi into the cage with his head down, and had no time to listen to anything else. He comforted her, saying, "There are gunshots everywhere. Now no one dares to hunt openly."
Heavy breathing echoed from the forest. Li Guorong gripped his machete tightly, and Li Guojian stood up, staring intently in the direction of the sound.
Qian Mancang dashed out of the forest like a cheetah. Li Guojian asked casually, "You guys finally arrived. Why are you the only one here? They're still sleeping. What a bunch of lazybones."
Upon hearing this, Qian Mancang couldn't tell whether it was tears or sweat welling up in his eyes. "Run! The poachers have killed someone!"
Li Guorong was taken aback at first, then pulled her second brother and rushed down the mountain. But Li Guojian shook off his little sister's hand and laughed, "You guys don't want to help, but you want to take advantage of the situation."
After saying that, Li Guojian slowly picked up his basket and carried it on his back. Li Guorong shouted, "Forget about the herbs, let's run!"
Qian Mancang was her first love. Although he hung out with her second brother, he was smart and didn't brag.
Turning around, Li Guorong saw that Qian Mancang had disappeared. Unable to persuade his second brother, he had no choice but to run down the hill himself, calling for the villagers to come over and shouting, "Second brother, hide well!"
Li Guojian didn't believe that poachers would dare to kill people openly; killing someone would get you shot.
Just then, a short, wiry man appeared and asked with a smile, "Young man, have you seen another young man who is about 160 cm tall and as thin as a monkey? He stole my things."
Li Guojian's expression changed slightly. Although they had nothing to do, they never stole anything. He looked up with a smile and replied, "I haven't seen you, brother. You probably went up the mountain."
The short man said warmly, "I understand."
A flash of cold light, and a long knife pierced Li Guojian's heart. In disbelief, he looked down at the blade in his chest and shouted with his last strength, "Run!"
The birds in the mountains were startled and took flight. Li Guorong's heart pounded. Her second brother's cries echoed through the forest. Could it be...? Tears welled up in her eyes. No, she had to go down the mountain and get the villagers to save her second brother.
The shadows of the trees in the mountains were indistinct. Near the edge of the mountains, someone was waving at the crossroads. From afar, Li Guorong gripped her machete tightly and called out, "Who's there?"
The hand beckoned even faster. Looking closely, she saw Mancang with his head down, beckoning her over. Only someone as bold as Mancang would wait for her at this time. Feeling reassured, she ran over and whispered, "Mancang, let's hurry down the mountain and call Uncle Village Chief."
Li Guorong looked up and saw Qian Mancang's head hanging at an odd angle over his right shoulder, his lips turned outward, oozing a clear liquid, his eyes wide open, his pupils dilated, as if he had seen something unbelievable.
He's dead!
Li Guorong lost strength in her legs. She opened her mouth to scream, but a gust of wind struck, and everything went black.
Today, the wolf pack on the mountain enjoyed a long-awaited feast. The naked male corpse lay on the ground, its internal organs completely devoured. The wolf pack, now slaughtered, can now breed new pups.
The ground shook, and several wild boars rushed over, chased away the wolves, and began to enjoy their meal.
Groups of different animals came and went, their flesh and bones gnawed away and scattered.
Amidst the jolts, Li Guorong opened her eyes. A faint, fishy stench filled the air. She tried to move her hands and feet, which were bound, and her mouth was gagged. Two tears streamed down her face as she recalled how her fellow villagers in her past life had been tricked into going to another place and spent over 30 years returning home, only to be beaten, imprisoned, and humiliated. She was determined to escape.
If she hadn't been reborn, she would probably be rushing around earning money, eating Ye Fan's cooking, chatting with her daughter, scrolling through her phone, and going to square dancing with her friends in the afternoon. Thinking about her second brother who might have been murdered and her brother Mancang who was dead, she wondered if it would have been better if she hadn't been reborn.
With a sudden stop, the truck came to a smooth halt on the side of the road. The truck was loaded with fresh bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and other dried goods, and had large characters on it proclaiming "a certain commune."
The tall man and the short man got off the bus, exchanged a glance, and the tall man tacitly agreed to stay on the bus while the short man went inside to buy food.
Lin Shaocheng gazed worriedly at the endless mountain range. His furrowed brows made his already slightly close-set eyes appear even closer, giving him an imposing and dignified air.
His younger brother, Li Xiangxi, kept fiddling with his longevity lock and muttered to Lin Shaocheng, "This is too eerie. Five people died while we were gathering herbs on the mountain. The mountain god is angry. Brother, you should probably change your profession."
Lin Shaocheng did not reply, feeling somewhat guilty. If he hadn't told that village girl about the exorbitant price of Panax notoginseng, perhaps they wouldn't have gone into the mountains, and such a tragedy wouldn't have occurred.
The sun was so bright it was blinding; the tall man was drenched in sweat, while the short man hadn't come out yet. He couldn't stand it and went inside for a drink of cold water.
Lin Shaocheng stopped at the back of the truck, interrupting his underling's incessant chatter, and scolded, "You've been talking since we were eating. Didn't you see everyone else looking at us?"
Li Guorong's ears twitched slightly, and her eyes lit up. It was Lin Shaocheng, the one who collected medicinal herbs. She used all her strength to bang on the things around her, making "hmm" sounds.
Li Xiangxi scratched his head in confusion and asked, "Brother, did you hear anything?"
Lin Shaocheng's nose twitched slightly; it smelled blood. His eyes were sharp as he stared at the truck, which was loaded with bamboo shoots and mountain produce. Lin Shaocheng gave his underling a wink.
Li Xiangxi crouched furtively on the hood of his truck, a position that allowed his boss to see his every move and also keep an eye on the entrance to the small restaurant.
Lin Shaocheng lay on the side of the truck, tapping the basket with his hand.
The vibrations of the basket struck Li Guorong's heart like encouraging drumbeats, drawing ever closer.
The basket on her head was banged on, and she slammed her head against it.
Lin Shaocheng's eyes sharpened, and he forcefully lifted the basket.
Sunlight streamed through the basket, and Li Guorong's heart pounded uncontrollably.
With a thud, the frame returned to its original position, and Li Guorong's vision went dark again.
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