Chapter 52
When Chen Erlang thought of this, he became uneasy and turned around to look for his father and brother.
"Are you seeing right?"
"Did they really enter Dayu Forest?"
Mr. Shen and Shen Dalang didn't quite believe it.
Village Chief Wu had repeatedly warned them about the dangers of the miasma forest, and it didn't seem like he was lying to them. However, if Village Chief Wu and Gu Er Niang had sternly warned them not to enter or leave Dayu Forest at will, yet Gu Er Niang and the people of Xiaxi Village sneaked into the forest casually, the contradiction between their words and actions would certainly arouse suspicion.
"Father, you're right. When we went to look at the house that day, I remembered what Gu Erniang looked like. It was definitely her," Chen Erlang assured. "I think the other two hunters are from this village too. We haven't met them all yet, so we don't know which family they belong to. But it's easy. We can just go ask around in the village later."
"But, this Dayu forest is a miasma forest. The nearby villagers all say so. There is no reason for Village Chief Wu to lie to us, right?" Mr. Shen hesitated.
"Father, let's see for ourselves whether Village Chief Wu lied to us or not." Shen Erlang took the opportunity to say, "Father, can you let me go into the woods and take a look?"
"No, it's too dangerous." Mr. Shen shook his head immediately.
What if the miasma is true? What should we do?
"Dad, don't worry, I will act carefully." Shen Erlang, "Since they have just entered the forest and haven't gone far, I can still follow them and see what secrets are in the forest that cannot be known to our Shen family."
Mr. Shen still hesitated.
"Father, I won't go in alone. I'll bring two guards with me, okay?" Shen Erlang said, "Also, if I see anything wrong, we'll retreat from the forest immediately."
Shen Erlang said, "Father, brother, after all, we are new residents in Xiaxi Village. We must not be deceived just because we are new here. Otherwise, how can our Shen family survive here in the future?"
What Shen Erlang said seemed to make some sense. Master Shen and Shen Dalang quickly discussed it and nodded in agreement.
Shen Erlang immediately ran into the mountains with two guards.
Gu Ran, who had no idea that two groups of people were following him, had already gone up Xiaxi. As usual, he first checked the three traps one by one to see if there was anything he could find.
After setting these three traps, Gu Ran usually went into the forest once every two or three days. He would go to the county town to sell herbal grass jelly and close his stall early to come back to check.
As for the prey caught in the trap, except for the skins and the wild animals that Manager Zheng had asked for in advance, all the rest were stored in space grid No. 8 as reserve food.
Today's trip yielded a good harvest, including three hares and a pheasant.
When Gu Ran was happily collecting the prey in front, the two people from the Hefeng Fur Shop who were following her from a distance also noticed her actions. They felt envious when they saw her taking the prey out of the traps.
They say that this Dayu Forest is a miasma forest, but isn't it obviously fine?
No wonder Gu Er Niang came to their Hefeng a few days ago to sell so many furs. Others were afraid of the harm of miasma and dared not come in, but she was the only one who could come and go freely. Didn’t it mean that all the wild delicacies in this forest belonged to her alone?
no.
How could we allow Gu Er Niang to take such a great thing all by herself?
After they have figured out the terrain of the miasma forest and learned where Gu Erniang was picking red mushrooms, they will have to make arrangements to hunt here in the future.
Gu Ran was completely unaware that his every move was being watched by the people following him. He followed the same path he took when he first entered the miasma forest and walked straight into the depths of the forest.
On the way, we came across some newly grown wild vegetables and fruits and picked them up as well.
Many of the fruits and vegetables stored in the compartment of space No. 8 were collected and stored by Gu Ran when he entered the forest.
Wild vegetables include commonly seen dandelions, purslane, grass heads, etc.
There were even more fruits, like raspberries, blackberries, wild strawberries, etc., but unfortunately they were all small fruits. Even the big fruits found in the mountains and forests, such as wild pears, wild apricots, wild loquats, etc., did not taste very good because they were wild, so Gu Ran picked some to make sour sauce and left the other fruits alone.
If you want to eat apricots and plums, you still have to go to the market or the county town to buy them.
It is the time when lychees are on the market and they are fresh. Gu Ran bought some in the county town before. She plans to sell the red mushrooms to Manager Zheng in the county town after receiving them this time, and then spend money to buy more and put them in the space compartment for storage.
While thinking, Gu Ran saw a short plant among the weeds. The plant was full of small purple-black fruits. They were the common mountain twisters she saw. She immediately walked over and picked them one by one.
She still remembers that when she first ate the mountain twister, she didn't know that it had another unique name called myrtle. When she saw the myrtle flowers, she thought they were fashionable and beautiful and thought they were alien species. Later, she learned that the myrtle was actually introduced from China, and the fruit of such a beautiful flower was the mountain twister she was talking about.
This small fruit tastes like other wild fruits, sour and sweet, but it is not suitable to be eaten too much. Gu Ran saved these wild fruits and ate them slowly by himself, and also brought some back to Xiaolan, the wife of Village Chief Wu, as a snack.
After picking the ripe mountain bamboo shoots, Gu Ran passed the bamboo forest and began to walk into the deep forest area.
The Hefenghang clerk, who was following far behind, looked at the unripe green fruits on the myrtle tree when he passed by it, and continued to follow. Seeing Gu Ran walking deeper and deeper into the woods, he couldn't help but feel hesitant.
These two guys in the fur shop often dealt with hunters from all over the place. They had heard of the difference between the outer forest and the inner forest. As they were locals, they naturally knew about the miasma in the island forest.
No matter how envious and jealous I was just now, we were only on the outskirts of the miasma forest. The risk was low, and as long as I was brave, the benefits were within my control. But what about going into the deep forest?
Not to mention the miasma, the deeper the forest, the greater the chance of encountering large beasts, and naturally the more dangerous it is.
According to what the hunters they had met in the fur shop had said, no one had dared to venture into the deep mountains and forests of Dayu.
"This Second Lady Gu is truly bold. She dared to enter the old forest alone? Is she trying to save her life?"
"Russula, it's for the russula," another said. "Russula doesn't grow easily in shallow woods. It can only grow in old forests and deep mountains. Otherwise, why is russula so rare and so expensive?"
"Then, do you still want to follow?"
"Follow her. She's a woman and she's not afraid of us, so why should we, two men, be afraid?" said another waiter, with an expression that said he couldn't afford to be scared and had to keep walking.
After the two guys walked away, Shen Erlang and the two guards who were following behind them also emerged from the bushes.
"What did they just say?" Shen Erlang asked the guard.
"It's too far away, I couldn't hear clearly."
"Erlang Jun, he seems hesitant about whether to continue following." One of the experienced guards speculated, "The road ahead is probably deep in the mountains and old forests. It's even more dangerous than the road we've been on. Erlang Jun, should we continue to follow?"
"Follow." Shen Erlang nodded and stroked his chin: "I can see that these two at the back don't look like hunters."
Firstly, they had no intention of hunting or gathering when they entered the forest. Secondly, the two of them had been following Gu Er Niang from a distance all the way. Wherever Gu Er Niang went, they followed her. It was obvious that they were following her.
Who are they?
They were said to be Gu Er Niang's enemies, but that didn't seem so, as they had no ill intentions at all. They were said to be Gu Er Niang's acquaintances, but their behavior was suspicious, and they were hiding all the way, not daring to let Gu Er Niang find them.
This is really strange.
Shen Erlang became interested and of course would not turn back halfway, so he continued to follow into the jungle with two guards.
Gu Erniang stopped again, in the bamboo forest.
I picked a lot of bamboo fungi here last time. It’s a rare trip to the mountains, so naturally I have to pick some to take back.
Seeing Gu Ran busy again in the bamboo forest, the Hefeng guy who saw her picking bamboo fungus felt aggrieved again.
"So the bamboo fungus she sold to Shopkeeper Zheng was picked in this bamboo forest?"
"I'm afraid that bamboo rat...was also caught in this bamboo forest?"
Bamboo rat skin and meat are both good goods that can be sold at a high price.
Thinking of this, the two guys no longer bothered to stare at Gu Ran. Instead, they quietly groped around in the bamboo forest, hoping to find some traces of bamboo rat activities.
It’s a pity that the two of them are not hunters after all, and they can’t come to any conclusion based on just the few words they have heard.
"We don't know how to do it. When we get back, we can ask experienced hunters to search this area of the mountain."
"That's right. We provided the nest, so we can charge a little for the information. We can even ask for a reward by telling Manager Zheng."
The two of them immediately made a mark around them, then compared their directions after entering the forest, remembering the path along the way. Seeing that Gu Ran in front had picked enough bamboo fungus and continued to move forward, they immediately followed him.
Just as he was about to approach the pond, Gu Ran remembered the last encounter with the snake. Although he wanted to check out the konjac over there, it was still too early for them to mature. So he bypassed the pond and walked towards the east, intending to explore a new area and then cross it to camp on the hill where he had spent the night.
It was just that Gu Ran underestimated the time it would take to cross this jungle that was completely unfamiliar to her.
About two miles after leaving the water pond area, there was a mixed forest. There were many trees in it that she could name, and many that she could not name.
Judging from the characteristics of the leaves, the most common ones should be trees such as Cryptomeria japonica, Chinese fir, and Tsuga chinensis of the Capsicum family.
In addition, there are tree species unique to Fujian, such as Selaginella, Chamaecyparis obtusifolia, Phoebe chinensis, and Phoebe nanmu. Gu Ran even recognized a forest of submerged camphor trees and several sweetgum trees.
There are many trees and many birds and animals among them.
After entering this wooded area, although Gu Ran had a workshop to hide his whereabouts, he still had to be extra careful.
Pay attention to the tracks of animals and the calls of birds. When you find anything unusual, you either retreat or hide in the workshop to avoid a fight with the beasts.
When they were about to encounter a group of wild boars, Gu Ran hid in the workshop and was noticed by two people from the fur shop who were following him.
"That's, what's going on?"
"She... Gu Er Niang, how could she disappear out of thin air?"
The two guys thought they had seen it wrong and even forgot to hide. They stuck their heads out from behind and watched for a while. When they confirmed that Gu Ran had suddenly disappeared in the gloomy woods, they looked at each other in surprise.
"I, just now, didn't I see it wrong?"
"You saw it too?"
The two men nodded to each other, their faces showing a mixture of panic and confusion. "We are not dazzled, are we?"
Is it because he discovered that they were following him, so he used some tricks to deceive them?
Otherwise, how could Gu Er Niang disappear right under our noses?
"It's impossible that we are seeing things. Let's follow closer and see what's going on."
The incident was too unexpected, the two were too shocked, and they were not experienced in tracking people in the forest. At this moment, they completely ignored the unusual commotion in the forest.
They were also quickly approaching the place where Gu Ran had suddenly disappeared. When they saw the herd of wild boars rushing towards them, they finally came to their senses and turned around and ran away in fright.
"It's a wild boar!"
"Run!"
In a panic, the two men separated, one to the east and the other to the west, and the howling wild boars also followed their target and split into two groups to chase after them.
Such a big commotion in the forest alarmed Gu Ran in the workshop, and also alarmed Shen Erlang and the other two who were at the back.
I seemed to hear someone shouting just now. Are there other hunters in this forest?
When Gu Ran stuck his head out of the workshop to observe, he only saw the backs of the wild boars walking away.
Thinking he had misheard, Gu Ran ignored it and hurried out of the workshop. Taking advantage of the opportunity when the wild boars ran away, he left the forest.
When Shen Erlang heard the two men's cries, his guard immediately climbed up the tree and took a look from a high place. His expression changed immediately: "Erlang Jun, it's a wild boar! They were attacked by a wild boar!"
"Quick, climb up the tree!"
Shen Erlang and another guard quickly found a nearby tree and climbed up. They happened to see one of the guards being chased by a group of wild boars and running away from the tree where they were hiding, screaming.
But how could a two-legged beast escape from a four-legged beast? Especially when facing a group of four or five wild boars.
Shen Erlang watched as the man was quickly knocked down by the wild boar. He heard wailing and sounds of pain in the woods, as well as the wild boar's increasingly arrogant howling protests. He couldn't help but swallow his saliva in fear.
Even if there were no miasma, the ferocious beasts in this mountain would be enough to cause trouble to people.
"Should we go save him?"
"Erlang Jun, even if it was just one wild boar, it would be difficult for the two of us to subdue it. Now we are asked to subdue five wild boars that are so beastly and difficult to train. I am afraid that we will not be able to save anyone, but we will lose our lives instead."
"I heard that wild boars tend to move in groups. I wonder if these five are the only ones he encountered. If there are more... Our duty is to protect Erlang Jun. We cannot act rashly."
Chen Erlang felt depressed and could only hold on to the tree trunk, listening to the moans of people not far away gradually becoming lower and lower until they disappeared. After tossing and turning for a while, the group of wild boars also turned around and rushed into the woods.
Shen Erlang and his group waited on the tree for a long time. Seeing that there was no suspicious movement around, they carefully climbed down the tree, turned back and found the attack scene. They saw the person who was knocked to the ground, covered in blood.
One of the guards squatted down, sniffed his breath, and shook his head: "This man is no longer alive."
"What should we do, Erlang-sama?"
Obviously, this man had lost contact with another accomplice due to an encounter with a group of wild boars, and Gu Er Niang, who was walking in front, had also lost her trace and no one knew whether she was dead or alive. It was impossible to follow Gu Er Niang anymore, or he had to continue exploring the environment on his own. As it was getting dark, it was too late to return to the village, and he had to find a place to spend the night.
"We..." Shen Erlang looked at the corpse on the ground for a long time before saying, "Let's find a place to stay for the night and take this corpse with us."
"Erlang Jun?"
"We've seen him. We can't just abandon this man's body and leave him there, right?" Shen Erlang said sympathetically. "Bring him back to the village tomorrow and let Village Chief Wu take a look. He might be able to recognize who he is and let him rest in peace."
The two guards thought for a moment, looked at each other, and agreed.
So one of them carried the corpse on his back, and the other protected Shen Erlang, and they went to find a place to stay in the woods.
When it got dark, Gu Ran had already found a valley in the dense forest to rest and went into the workshop to prepare to spend the night.
With the experience of spending the night in the mountains last time, Gu Ran was more prepared: Workshop No. 8 had already been filled with food boxes filled with the dishes he usually cooked. There was a wide variety of dishes, so he could freely choose whatever he wanted to eat in the prepared food area.
There was also a wooden basin placed under the desk in the outer workshop - used as an ice basin to store ice cubes.
It's hot outside and I feel irritable when I come into the workshop, so it's just right to cool down with some ice.
In addition, pillows and bedding were also provided.
The pillow cover was sewn by Lin Er's wife, and it was filled with dried honeysuckle and lemongrass leaves.
There are many wild honeysuckle flowers around Xiaxi Village. It is said that many families in the village pick them and use them to cook, dry them and make tea, or use them to make pillow cores.
This pillow is soothing and comfortable, and can greatly improve sleep quality.
Because of his excellent sleep quality, Gu Ran slept until dawn. When he was about to continue his journey, he found that it had started raining outside at some point.
Raining is a very common thing. After all, Xiaxi Village is also in Fujian, which is close to the sea. There are many typhoon days in June and July. It’s a pity that the Dasheng Dynasty did not have weather forecasting technology and was unable to notify the typhoon passing in advance.
Originally, Gu Ran also wanted to handle it with care.
Isn't it just raining?
She could stay in the workshop anyway, so she could just wait until the rain stopped before leaving.
Then he quickly realized that rainy days were dangerous for Xiaxi Village, because the miasma in the island forest would spread out of the forest after the rain and drift into the village.
Gu Ran's expression changed immediately.
The miasma was produced in the island forest and then drifted into the village after the rain. Now, I am in the miasma forest.
Oh no, the miasma in the island forest is drifting everywhere. Doesn’t that mean that she is in trouble now?
Gu Ran, who had just half of his body sticking out of the workshop, immediately shrank back.
She had never expected that she would be stranded in the Lantau forest on a rainy day during this trip.
This is trouble!
Gu Ran thought that this time he would have to wait for two or three days for the miasma in the forest to completely dissipate. Although he was helpless, there seemed to be no other way except to wait for the rain to pass.
While she could still stay safely in the workshop, Shen Erlang and his group who followed her in were complaining bitterly.
The rain started to fall last night when everyone was sleeping soundly.
The four of them, no, three of them stayed in a cave, barely enough to fit in. When it started to rain, rainwater splashed in from outside the cave, soaking half of the cave.
Originally, Shen Erlang thought that the rain would only last for one or two hours at most and would stop by dawn.
Unexpectedly, when the sky was bright, the rain still showed no sign of stopping and was pouring down heavily.
As the morning passed and the afternoon came, the forest was still shrouded in rain, and Shen Erlang became impatient.
Now the cave was full of water, it was wet, and he had to wade through the water every few steps. His ankles and below were soaked, and all his clothes were soaked.
If the rain continues on a day like this, we won’t be able to leave today.
Could they spend another night in this cave? Definitely not.
Then you have to go back quickly.
Otherwise, if you wait too late, it will be even more difficult to walk on a rainy night.
After making up his mind, Shen Erlang called his two guards to go back to the village in the rain.
"Erlang Jun, it's raining so hard, this guy?"
Shen Erlangjun looked at the corpse and said, "Let's bury him for now. When we get back, let Village Chief Wu handle this matter."
It's raining and the mountain roads are difficult to walk on. We can't add the trouble of carrying a corpse.
The reason for not letting the body be exposed outside was that if it was left exposed in the wild, it would probably be eaten clean by the big beasts in the mountains, and the body would be left without a complete remains.
The three men dug a hole in the rain and buried the body hastily, then walked to the outskirts of the forest relying on their memory.
The overgrown weeds on the ground were very slippery because of the rain, and the soil where no grass grew was muddy, and a deep pit would be dug into a pit if you stepped on it. They had to be careful and walk slowly, taking one deep step and one shallow step.
After stumbling around for a while, the rain subsided and the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
After walking for a while in the fine rain curtain, the originally gloomy sky seemed to be clearing up, and the light in the forest became brighter. With the help of the sunlight, Chen Erlang saw white mist slowly rising around the forest, like fog and smoke, just like a fairyland.
Chen Erlang had never expected to see such a beautiful scene in the forest. His previous annoyance was immediately forgotten. "Who said this forest is scary? After seeing such a beautiful scene, do you still think this island forest is some kind of miasma forest?"
As he spoke, he took a few quick steps and reached out to smooth away the layer of moisture.
"Erlang Jun!"
The two guards following behind him wanted to follow, but hesitated and took a step back.
In the white mist and the fine rain, there was a faint layer of black fog that was steaming and rising. Shen Erlangjun was in it at this time, and soon, half of his body was covered by the mist.
"Erlang Jun, come back soon!"
Shen Erlang looked back at the two guards with panicked expressions and frowned, "Why are you making such a fuss?"
"Miasma, it's miasma!"
"Go away!"
Shen Erlang lowered his head and saw the black fog surrounding him. He was stunned for a moment, and then his body gradually stiffened, and his face instantly turned ashen gray.
Miasma? This black fog, is it miasma?
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