Chapter 53
"Erlang Jun?"
The guard roared, and finally couldn't help but pushed Shen Erlang.
Shen Erlang stumbled and fell out of the black fog, falling to the ground, his body covered in mud. Before he could recover from his fear, the guards looked at the surrounding environment and were terrified.
"Look, over there, is there also miasma floating out?"
“There’s one on this side, too.”
Shen Erlangjun climbed up from the slippery ground, took a breath of water vapor, and coughed a few times.
"Are you okay?"
"Erlangjun, we have to leave this forest quickly!"
"Okay, okay, let's go!" Shen Erlang no longer had the composure he had before. Supported by two guards, he stumbled and fled hurriedly towards the outskirts of the shallow forest.
By the time they could vaguely see Xiaxi Village in the woods, the rain had intensified again.
It was almost dusk, and they quickened their pace in the rain, left the forest, and went straight to the home of Village Chief Wu.
Because of the continuous heavy rain, few people in the village went out and stayed at home. The craftsmen who were building the Shen family's house also stopped working temporarily. Mr. Shen and his family were all at the home of Village Chief Wu.
For fear of the occurrence of ignorant situations like Gu Erniang, Village Chief Wu immediately told Mr. Shen and his family early this morning about the strategies and methods for avoiding miasma after the rain.
Hearing that the most miasma came out from the island forest after the rain, Mr. Shen and Shen Dalang were both stunned.
"Is there really miasma in the island forest?"
"Of course there are. Everyone in Xiaxi Village knows that the Dayu Forest is the miasma forest. I have to tell every newcomer to Xiaxi Village the truth, just to save their lives," said Village Chief Wu. "For example, the last newcomer to our village, Mrs. Gu, didn't take it seriously. She was careless and almost lost her life. It was only because I called her away in time that she was saved from the miasma. If you don't believe me, you can ask her later if she's right."
"But she..."
Didn’t she, Gu Er Niang, dare to enter the miasma forest?
His Erlang also brought people to follow him!
Mr. Shen and Shen Dalang saw that everyone in Village Chief Wu's family had a serious expression on their faces, and they were whispering about waiting for the rain to stop to observe the movement of the miasma. People from other villages also came to inquire about how to resettle the people and households after the rain stopped and the miasma drifted away. They were shocked to realize that the miasma story did not seem to be false.
They will be harmed by the miasma in the village. Wouldn’t Erlang, who is in the miasma forest, lose his life?
Mr. Shen and Shen Dalang could no longer sit still.
Village Chief Wu thought they were scared and tried to comfort them, "Don't worry, we are very experienced in dealing with miasma. When the time comes, we will definitely take you to a safe place."
"No, Village Chief Wu, we are not worried about ourselves, yes... yes..."
"It's my brother. We are worried about our own Wei."
"Your Awei? Are you talking about your Erlangjun?" asked Village Chief Wu.
Mr. Shen and Uncle Shen nodded.
"Didn't your Erlangjun go to the county town? The county town is far away from the miasma forest and can't bring any harm there." Village chief Wu explained.
"No!" Mr. Shen regretted it so much that his intestines turned green.
He didn't expect that Shen Er went to Dayu Lin and didn't return on the same day. Their family was staying at the home of Village Chief Wu. Village Chief Wu knew who was missing at a glance, so when she asked about Shen Er's whereabouts, Mr. Shen lied and said that he had gone to the county town to buy things.
Who would have thought that this rain would cause such an accident?
"No?" Village Chief Wu was surprised.
Mr. Shen and Mr. Shen exchanged understanding glances with each other, and finally decided that Shen Er would not return all night, probably spending the night in Dayu Forest.
"It's raining today. They're in the island forest. Will they be okay?"
When he heard that Shen Erlang had entered Dayu Forest, Village Chief Wu's face changed: "Didn't I tell you that Dayu Forest is a miasma forest and you can't enter or leave casually? How dare you let Shen Erlang take people into the forest?"
"My Erlang was also curious. He saw others go in, so he followed them in."
"Is there anyone else going in?" Village Chief Wu was surprised.
Mr. Shen and Shen Dalang nodded.
"Who went in?" asked Village Chief Wu.
"Gu Erniang!"
"With two hunters." Shen Dalang added.
"Impossible." Village Chief Wu shook his head repeatedly. "There are no hunters in our village. Besides, how could Gu Erniang, a mere woman, dare to venture into this miasma forest alone?"
"We couldn't believe a mere woman would venture into the miasma forest alone, so our Erlang followed us in to see what was going on!" Master Shen regretted. "Tell me, Village Chief Wu, is this miasma forest really that dangerous?"
"It's dangerous! That's where the miasma originates. How could it not be dangerous?" Village Chief Wu was both angry and worried. "In our Xiaxi Village, no, no one in this area dares to go to this miasma forest casually. Even if they go, they have to wait until winter when the miasma is least. Only then can they venture outside the shallow forest. Now it's midsummer, the season with the most miasma. Who would dare to go in there without caring about their life?"
"Then, what should we do?" Mr. Shen was anxious.
"What else can we do now?" Village Chief Wu was also at his wit's end. "Wait until the rain stops and see if the people can come back. If they can't come back..."
"So? Didn't the important person come back?"
"I'm afraid it's very dangerous!"
Mr. Shen and Shen Dalang's hearts sank immediately. They were worried all day, hoping that the rain would stop, but also afraid that it would stop.
As the day passed, the rain didn't stop. I was so anxious and restless that I felt extremely tormented.
As it was getting dark, they heard someone outside shouting, "It's Mr. Chen Erlang!" and hurried out. When they saw the three people, who were soaking wet as if they had been fished out of the water, the father and son finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Awei, you're finally back, are you okay?"
"Dad, brother, I'm fine!"
Shen Erlang and the other two said that nothing was wrong, but they were scolded by Village Chief Wu. That night, Shen Erlang developed a high fever.
After learning from the two guards that they saw miasma in the woods and that Shen Erlang had accidentally entered it, the faces of Mr. Shen's family changed, and Village Chief Wu's face was also as gloomy as ink.
In their Xiaxi Village, it has been a long time since anyone has been killed by miasma.
Unexpectedly, once the Shen family arrived, an exception would be made.
Human life was at stake, so Village Chief Wu did not dare to delay. He drove the donkey cart in the rain and took Shen Er and the two guards who had entered the forest to Donglin Township.
Xiaxi Village is small and there is no doctor in the village. It is also too far to go to the county town, so we can only go to Donglin Township to find a doctor.
On the second day after Village Chief Wu took Shen Er to Donglin Township, the rain stopped and clusters of miasma rose from Dayu Forest and drifted towards Xiaxi Village.
Mr. Shen and his family finally saw the miasma with their own eyes and were convinced that Dayu Forest was indeed a miasma forest. They were shocked and horrified.
"Hurry, look at the wind direction, this miasma is going to drift towards Old Tang's house."
"Tell the villagers near Old Tang's house to leave quickly!"
On the ridges of the fields, villagers ran around to tell each other and avoid the place where the miasma was drifting. Mr. Shen watched all this scene, then looked at the house that had not yet been built, and then thought about the fact that Shen Er was still unconscious in the old doctor's house. He suddenly regretted moving to Xiaxi Village.
The Shen family moved here to avoid their enemies.
When I was at the county government office, I originally just wanted to find a sparsely populated village to hide my identity, but who would have thought that Xiaxi Village seemed to be sparsely populated and rarely visited, but it had such a dangerous existence as miasma?
Whether or not this vengeance could be avoided was another matter, but if his Erlang died from inhaling miasma not long after arriving, then he...
The feeling Mr. Shen felt in his heart was more bitter than coptis chinensis.
On the second day after the rain stopped, Gu Ran in the Dayu Forest rearmed himself and set off again.
In the forest a day after the rain, the ground is still wet because of the shade of the trees. The moisture brought by the water vapor will not dissipate for several days, and the rain has bred more insects, flies and mosquitoes.
Even though Gu Ran wore two layers of masks and had a double bundle of mugwort burning in his hand, it did not reduce the buzzing of insects in the jungle as he walked along.
Walking in the muddy forest, the air was hot, humid and sticky, and her body was also sticky. This feeling made her extremely uncomfortable. Until she walked into the trap she had set and saw the yellow muntjac inside, which was also covered in sticky mud, Gu Ran's mood finally improved.
This was the first time her trap had captured a large mountain beast.
Yellow muntjac meat is delicious.
Looking at the marks dug by the yellow muntjac in the pit, it seemed that the pit fell in because of slipping during the rain. Gu Ran slightly changed his mind about the trouble caused by the typhoon rain.
This yellow muntjac was estimated to be more than fifty kilograms. Gu Ran put the whole yellow muntjac into space grid No. 8 and would deal with it slowly after returning to the cottage.
Then continue to set up this earth pit trap and do a good job of camouflage, planning to go into the mountains from time to time to harvest in the future.
In fact, if possible, it would be best to build a hunter's cabin nearby, so that every time you go into the mountains, you can rest on the spot for the night after collecting the prey.
However, firstly, Gu Ran was alone, and it was a bit difficult for her to build the hut by herself. Secondly, she already had a workshop where she could stay overnight, so she didn't have to cause herself so much trouble.
After setting up the trap, Gu Ran continued along the same route as last time.
Because of the rain, she wasted a lot of time during the three days she spent in the mountains, so she went straight to the basswood forest to pick red mushrooms.
As expected, rain is the best medicine to nourish all things. In the basswood forest, bright red mushrooms poke their heads out, like gorgeous flowers embroidered on silk.
Gu Ran happily picked the red mushrooms one by one, and even put the good ones into the No. 8 space compartment at the beginning.
After picking the red mushrooms, the sky darkened, so we spent the night in the basswood forest and set out again the next day with full energy.
As we walked around the swamp, even through the heavy masks, we could smell the rain falling into the muddy swamp after the rain, mixed with the stinking odor of decaying objects inside. In the distance, we could also see a layer of black fog floating on the surface of the swamp.
Gu Ran immediately realized that it might be miasma, and quickly ran away to avoid it.
Then he picked a lot of freshly grown tender mugwort plants in the mugwort field and put them in a bamboo basket. When he passed through the sparse woods, he did not forget to pick a full bamboo basket of fairy grass and put it into the No. 8 space compartment.
Of course, on the way back, I did not forget to go around to the bamboo forest. As usual, I caught two bamboo rats and put them in a bamboo basket to reserve food for myself.
Seeing that they were about to walk out of the forest outside Dayu Forest, Gu Ran felt relieved. However, when she stepped out of the forest and walked towards her home with the bamboo basket on her back, her expression was stunned.
She saw Village Chief Wu and some villagers standing outside her house. She didn't know what they were talking about at first, but when they saw her walk out of the woods, they all stopped talking and turned their eyes to her, some with shock, some with doubt, and some with fear.
Especially Village Chief Wu, his gaze staring at him was as sharp as a knife.
Last time, Village Chief Wu thought that this new household had escaped. This time, why did he lead so many people to wait for him?
At this time, Gu Ran naturally didn't know that a village as small as Xiaxi had caused an uproar because of her trip into the mountains.
After Shen Erlang was sent to the old doctor in Donglin Township, it was confirmed that he had been infected with miasma. The miasma was difficult to clear and he remains unconscious. Even the two guards who followed him into Dayu Forest showed initial symptoms of being infected by the miasma. Fortunately, they were discovered in time and the miasma attack was suppressed after taking medicine.
Having once again witnessed the severity of the miasma, even after hearing that someone else had died in Dayu Forest, Village Chief Wu and others did not dare to send anyone into the forest to recover the bodies, for fear that victims like Chen Erlang would appear again after entering the forest.
It was also because of this that Village Chief Wu and others thought that Gu Erniang, whom Shen Erlang had seen with his own eyes, had not returned for many days after entering the forest. She must have been poisoned to death by the malaria in the Dayu Forest just like them.
When they came here that day, they were discussing how to deal with the house and land left by Gu Er Niang. Unexpectedly, Gu Er Niang herself emerged from the Dayu Forest.
Looks like he's safe and sound?
"Gu Erniang! Did you really enter the miasma forest?"
Seeing Gu Ran emerging from the island forest, everyone couldn't hide their shock and surprise.
Just a few days ago, I heard that the new Erlang of the Shen family became ill after inhaling miasma in the woods. According to them, a man from another village was attacked and killed by a group of ferocious wild boars in the woods. How could this weak and lonely Gu Erniang be fine?
This was so unbelievable that they could hardly believe it.
But the person was standing right in front of them, and they had no choice but to believe him.
"Yes, I saw that the weather was good, so I went into Dayu Forest to take a look." Gu Ran took off the mask that covered half of his face and nodded.
She had been in the woods many times and knew that her deeds would be discovered by the villagers sooner or later. Now that she had been noticed, she admitted it openly.
"But, but everyone who went into the woods like you has met with misfortune!"
Someone who went into the woods like her?
Is there anyone else in Xiaxi Village who dares to enter the Lantau Forest like her?
"Who is it?" Gu Ran asked lightly, not realizing the seriousness of the situation. He then fished out the key to the front door of his small house. Then he remembered something: "Village Chief Wu, are you all here to see me? Is there something wrong?"
Of course, Village Chief Wu would not say that they mistakenly thought that Gu Er Niang was dead, so they came to see what was left in the house that could be divided. A few villagers chuckled and turned away.
"As long as you're okay, Gu Erniang, we're relieved."
"That's right, let's come over and take a look at the situation!"
"Let's go!"
All the villagers left, except Village Chief Wu, who followed Gu Ran into the cottage.
As the head of a village, she is naturally responsible for every villager. She has the obligation to dissuade and stop Gu Erniang from ignoring the warning and entering the miasma forest without permission.
It was from Village Chief Wu that Gu Ran learned that so many things had happened after he entered the forest this time.
"The Shen family's guards said that there were two other people from other villages who followed you into the forest. Are they people you know?"
"impossible."
She was the only exile sent to Xiaxi Village. She didn't even know anyone from other villages, so how could it be someone she knew?
However, the ones who would follow her into the mountains and not dare to reveal their whereabouts, and seemed to have ill intentions towards her, Gu Ran counted on his fingers and found that they were only the bandits whom he had offended after teaching Shan Yi a lesson during his exile. But, those bandits had been exiled to further south, so they couldn't be here to seek revenge, right?
If she is in this situation, shouldn't she try to make a living first to survive?
If it weren't for these bandits, who would have followed her into the mountains without fear of danger? Could it be that she went to the fur shop to sell leather and mountain products, and attracted someone's attention, so they also wanted to take the opportunity to follow her into the mountains to make a fortune as hunters from other villages?
Or is it Manager Zheng?
He had just recently paid a deposit to himself and urged him to go into the mountains to pick red mushrooms for her. Could it be that Shopkeeper Zheng was tempted by profit and wanted to send people into the mountains to find out where the red mushrooms grew so that he could pick them himself in the future?
Although Gu Ran guessed the truth, she had no evidence and had not seen the person following her with her own eyes, so she was not sure, but she was scared to death.
After she entered the forest, she took advantage of the fact that there was no one in the forest and casually placed the mountain items into space grid No. 8, and then casually entered the workshop.
If she were following behind them, she wondered if they would have noticed her strange behavior.
"Those two were also poisoned by the miasma?"
"Shen Erlang said that one of them is still in the woods, and the other was killed by a herd of wild boars."
Gu Ran put down the bamboo basket on his back and remembered the vague calls he heard when he encountered a group of wild boars a few days ago. At that time, he thought it was an illusion, but now he thinks it might be the boars following his tail.
Since one person is dead and the other is missing, and has not come out after so many days, it is estimated that he is in great danger. Gu Ran couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Whatever they saw while following behind, they probably couldn't tell it.
"Mrs. Gu, didn't I tell you that this Dayu Forest is a miasma forest and you can't just go in casually? What if something goes wrong?"
"Village Chief Wu, I'm back safe and sound, aren't I?" Gu Ran insisted after hearing Village Chief Wu trying to persuade him not to go into the woods again. "Since you already know everything, I might as well tell you. I've been into the woods many times and nothing has happened. Don't worry about me," he said.
"Just because nothing happens right now doesn't mean nothing will happen. Do you think I was just saying the miasma is poisonous? Look at Shen Erlang, he's still in a coma. The old doctor said he narrowly escaped death. It all depends on whether he's lucky enough to survive. He even went into the mountains with two guards. What if you were also caught in the miasma in the woods and no one picked you up? It would be worse than the person who was killed by the wild boar. You'd die without a burial."
"If something really happens, I don't need anyone to collect my body and bury it. Just let me die." Gu Ran said nonchalantly.
"Mrs. Gu, why do you talk like that?"
"Village Chief, I'm just stating the truth." Gu Ran smiled faintly. "I'm a lonely man. While I can still live, I'll naturally live well. If I really died from the miasma in the forest, it would be a worthy death. There's no need to trouble others to bury me and hold a funeral."
Gu Ran understood his single situation more clearly than anyone else.
Even in her first life, when she was spoiled by her loving parents, she lived alone most of the time.
She basically took care of everything by herself, from studying to improving her painting skills and later looking for a job in Hong Kong. It can be said that she learned to live an independent single life at an early age.
This is also thanks to the education her parents gave her on a daily basis. They said that when she is with them, they hope she will be a good girl who can rely on her parents, but if they are not around, a good girl should also be able to make herself live well.
They just didn't expect that the day they were not around, she would be the first to leave them.
And after being transported to the world of cultivation after a car accident, he had a thorough understanding of tomorrow and death, and no one could predict which would come first. Moreover, after drawing the Qi into his body, he knew that he would only have a short hundred years to spend with his parents in his second life. He also faced the fact that cultivation is a solitary path during his daily practice.
Therefore, she developed an open-minded attitude of accepting things as they come and being at ease with the world without any worries.
I am not afraid of farming alone in my third life.
Village chief Wu fell silent for a moment, watching Gu Ran take out two bamboo rats, a handful of mugwort, and some wild fruits from the bamboo basket. His worries were reduced by half, and his curiosity was increased instead.
Chen Erlang said that he saw Gu Erniang going into the forest by herself, but the three young men who entered the mountains with their guards met with an accident, and another hunter from another village who followed them in was also killed by a wild boar. However, Gu Erniang, who was alone in the mountains, was not only fine after a few days, but also brought back so many mountain treasures.
Could it be that Gu Er Niang dared to do this because she had a secret recipe to deal with miasma?
Village Chief Wu hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Second Lady Gu, since you're not afraid of the miasma in the forest, do you have any way to neutralize it?"
"That means we need to be careful," Gu Ran said. "Also, you should be prepared with the herbs you taught us, like burning mugwort to repel insects and snakes. This will reduce the risk."
Village Chief Wu remembered the cloth she had on her face when she emerged from the miasma forest, as well as her attire at the time, and tried to ask, "Is that all?"
Gu Ran was taking off a medicine bag tied around his waist - the medicine bag was filled with some medicinal tobacco leaves that can repel insects. It can be said that he was wearing such medicine all over his body: a disinfectant mask on his face, burning mugwort on his hands, a medicine bag on his waist, and ropes tied around his hands and feet.
If possible, she also plans to make a pair of gloves.
Of course, there was more to her survival in the miasma forest than just this; her workshop was also the perfect hiding place.
But she wouldn't tell the truth to Village Chief Wu about this, so Gu Ran nodded, "That's all. Also, you need to be sharp-eyed and agile. At the very least, if you encounter a ferocious beast in the mountains, you should be able to detect any abnormalities in advance and avoid them early."
For example, the herd of wild boars. The person who was following her was unable to dodge and got hurt, but she was fine because she realized the danger early and avoided it.
Village Chief Wu was speechless for a moment.
Gu Ran looked at the contents of the bamboo basket, then at Village Chief Wu, and finally, reluctantly, handed a bamboo rat from the basket to her. "Village Chief, don't worry. I've assessed the risks I'll encounter entering the forest, and I wouldn't be so foolish as to do anything that could actually cost me my life. Here, this is a bamboo rat I finally hunted in the mountains. I was lucky enough to catch two. How about I give one to your family as a snack?"
"You risked your life to hunt it, why are you giving it to me?" Village Chief Wu pushed the bamboo rat back.
"It's okay. I've given it to Village Chief Wu this time. Next time I go into the mountains and hunt something, I won't have to give it to him!"
In other words, will she dare to enter the woods again next time?
Village Chief Wu saw that Gu Ran was about to do what she wanted, then thought about what she said, sighed, and dropped the subject.
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