Because people entering the mountains wear enhanced snake-repelling packs, reptiles generally avoid them from a distance upon smelling the snake.
All that could be heard along the way was the cracking sound of people stepping on broken branches; no one spoke, they just quietly followed along.
They have now arrived at a place they have never been before. It is a mountainous area connected by subsequent tectonic movements. As far as the eye can see, there are only continuous mountains on all sides, and no flat land in sight.
"Brother, could this area be connected to the tea plantation in Hujia Village?" Wu Yong broke the silence, quickly catching up with Si Cheng and asking.
“It can’t be ruled out. Although we didn’t go in that direction, this area is all mountains. Before I came, I asked some of the old people in the village, and they said that there used to be several villages around here, but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of villages around here.” Si Cheng and Yun Qi had been feeling fortunate that Pinghe Village was not within the range of this tectonic movement, otherwise everyone would have disappeared like Hujia Village, and their rebirth would have been meaningless.
"Should we continue forward?" Wu Yong didn't want to back down, but he was imagining how far it was from here, and they hadn't encountered any animals for two or three days. The further they went, the more exhausted they felt.
"Let's go, we'll figure out this area sooner or later. Since we'll be living here permanently, we definitely need to know this place inside and out."
Si Cheng really felt it was necessary to familiarize himself with the surrounding mountains. Once the drought ended, the vegetation in the forests would grow wildly, and it wouldn't be as easy to move around as it is now. Taking advantage of this trip deep into the mountains, he and Yun Qi brought paper and pen and marked out the general terrain and danger points along the way.
Yunqi even asked Hou Yunyang, who had come with him into the mountains, to draw some terrain maps during their rest time. Before coming to Pinghe Village with his brother Monkey, Hou Yunyang had been studying art, but he had not yet graduated. However, he had some drawing skills.
"If we continue like this, how many more days will it take us to get back?"
"What's wrong? Is something wrong at home?" Si Cheng was a little surprised to hear him ask this, as Wu Yong was usually very enthusiastic about going out.
"It wasn't until right after I set off that my mother told me to go back early to help prepare for the wedding, because she heard from my second grandfather and the others that my eldest brother and his family would be back in the next few days." Wu Yong felt there was nothing to hide, so he told Si Cheng what had happened.
"Don't worry, the wedding will definitely take place when we get back. Besides, your older brother and the others will definitely handle it themselves when they return." Si Cheng didn't think that the village would have the mind to hold a wedding when they were all in the deep mountains.
“That’s true. We’ve prepared everything we need, and I heard that my older brother has also prepared some things, so it should be about the same.” Wu Yong also felt that his mother was worrying too much. These days, there are only a few procedures for getting married. If all else fails, she can ask around among the neighbors.
"But aren't there too many bachelors in our village? You haven't seen a single one you like in all this time?" Si Cheng teased Wu Yong.
"We'll discuss my marriage after my brother settles his marriage plans. Besides, I think being single is pretty good right now. It'll be more prudent to talk about it after we've built up our community better." Wu Yong genuinely didn't want to find a partner so soon.
"Then you'd better hurry, or all the good girls will be taken by someone else." Si Cheng showed him that this time the women's army had come.
Wu Yong knew that the girls in the village were all very nice, but he really wasn't in the mood to look for one yet. Besides, his older brother was coming back soon, and the family house needed to be expanded. Moreover, he didn't know if his future sister-in-law would be easy to get along with, or if they would be able to live together in the future. These were all issues he had already started to consider.
Si Cheng only mentioned it casually; he had no intention of acting as a go-between.
Perhaps because of their conversation, the atmosphere in the group relaxed, and people began to talk quietly in twos and threes.
"Did you hear anything?" Si Cheng felt a slight vibration in his eardrums, but he knew his hearing was better than others, so he asked Wu Yong next to him, unsure.
"No, there was no other sound except for everyone chatting." Wu Yong genuinely couldn't hear anything else.
Si Cheng raised his hand to signal everyone to stop, as he wanted to examine it more closely.
This time, he lay directly on the ground, pressing his ear against the ground, trying to feel the vibrations.
After listening to it once, he took out his binoculars from his bag and looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.
"Brother, did you find anything?"
"I'm not entirely sure yet, but it sounded a bit like a tiger's roar." Si Cheng's own sense of crisis was already evident; he felt the hairs on his body stand on end. This was the first time he had felt danger since the earthquake.
This feeling is something you don't experience when facing a pack of hyenas or wolves. If you've ever been to a zoo and heard the low growl of a tiger, you might understand that chilling feeling.
"A tiger?" A gasp came from behind. It felt so exciting, like they were facing the king of the forest right away.
"Everyone, retreat back the way we came, preferably back to our original camp." Si Cheng really wasn't confident about facing a tiger, after all, he had only seen them in zoos and textbooks, and had never actually faced one in reality.
This time, everyone quickly changed direction, with Yunqi leading the way and Sicheng bringing up the rear.
Perhaps they were just unlucky, but less than ten minutes after they started walking, many animals along the way started running in their direction, and they didn't even try to avoid them, just charging straight ahead.
This unusual behavior made everyone even more nervous, and they quickly ran towards their predetermined destination.
Although their previous camp did not have caves, it was located in a crevice between two mountains. As long as they guarded the entrances at both ends, they would be safe. Now, that was their most urgently needed destination.
"Don't look back, keep moving forward as fast as you can." Si Cheng saw a goat flash past him and urged him onward.
Yunqi led the team forward at top speed. Although she was worried about Sicheng behind the team, she didn't have time to look back and kept rushing forward.
However, it's impossible for two human legs to outrun four animal legs. Many animals overtook them and continued running. This rare race between humans and animals didn't excite anyone. At this moment, they just wanted to run to the safest place as quickly as possible.
"Roar!" The tiger's roar that shook the mountains and forests was now clearly heard by everyone. Now everyone understood the meaning of "the tiger's roar scatters all beasts in the forest," and they sped up even more.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com