Chapter 114 "Peach Blossom Spring"
Sang Luo was busy in the kitchen when she heard some noises. When she came out of the courtyard with an oil lamp, Chen Lie had already come up the mountain. It was too dark at night and at a distance, Sang Luo could not see clearly. She was not sure, so she raised the oil lamp and asked, "Chen Lie?"
"It's me."
Sang Luo relaxed completely, and then she was delighted. She took a few steps to meet him outside the courtyard. She looked Chen Lie up and down, and saw nothing wrong. Then she smiled and said, "I'm glad you came back safely."
It was faster than she expected, but these ten days, especially the last few days, were indeed a bit torturous. Every family had stored a lot of food, and everyone was a little nervous, especially since they lived in a remote house with their own courtyard, so the other families had been worrying about them a lot these days.
"I just ran into Uncle Shi and his friends at the foot of the mountain. They have heard about the refugees. Don't worry, everything will be arranged. Dashan and I have found a place to stay. Uncle Zhou and his friends will come over soon to discuss the rest of the matter."
When Sang Luo heard that they had found a place to stay, her eyes lit up. There was no better news than this. She couldn't help but ask, "What kind of place is it?"
Before Chen Lie could say anything, Chen An and Shen Ning, who heard the noise, ran out, shouted "Brother" one after the other, and rushed towards Chen Lie with cheers.
Shen Lie quickly freed up a hand to stop the man: "Don't come over, I'm dirty."
After thirteen days of hiding in the deep mountains and forests, and even crawling and climbing trees along the way, he looked so miserable. Chen Lie felt that if it wasn't so cold, he would have smelled bad.
Shen An and Shen Ning stopped their forward rush. It was also Shen Lie's move that allowed Sang Luo to see the huge bundle of things he was holding in his other hand. She moved the oil lamp closer to take a closer look: "What is this?"
Before she finished asking the question, the light shone on that place. Sang Luo was so scared that she took two steps back and let out a scream.
Chen Lie didn't even have time to hide, and hurriedly said, "Don't be afraid, it's just leather."
How could Sang Luo not be afraid? She could recognize it as a black bear at a glance because the skin was connected to the skin of the bear's head.
She looked at Chen Lie in shock: "Did you run into a blind bear?"
As he spoke, he held up the oil lamp and shone it up and down on Chen Lie: "Are you not hurt?"
Perhaps because of Sang Luo's reaction, Chen Lie couldn't help himself and raised his lips: "No, thanks to waiting for a few days this time and bringing the medicine, Dashan and I were able to handle it alone along the way. But it was also because of being chased by this black bear that we found a good place."
His eyes were bright and full of joy: "It's a little far, but it's safe."
Sang Luo looked outside and said, "Let's go in and talk. Put the food down first. Have you had dinner yet?"
You got home so late, you must have rushed all the way.
Chen Lie nodded: "I was afraid it would be hard to travel in the dark, so I didn't eat dinner. There is some dried meat in the backpack."
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Then let's go to the kitchen and talk. I'll make you a bowl of dumpling soup."
As she spoke, she walked into the yard, protecting the oil lamp. Shen Lie followed her one step away, while Shen An and Shen Ning deliberately stayed behind her, trying to use the flickering light of the oil lamp to see what the black bear skin was.
But it was so dark at night that they couldn't make out anything. It was not until they entered the yard and saw the light from the main house coming on that the brother and sister saw it. They exclaimed and took a step back.
Shen Lie: “…”
He was a little embarrassed, knowing that this was not a good idea, but only by peeling the skin in this way could he get a good price.
The weapons were hidden under the bed, and the backpack was placed against the wall at the entrance to the main house. The large bundle of leather was placed on top of the backpack. Sang Luo and Shen Ning went to light a fire and cook, while Chen An got warm water for his elder brother to wash his hands and face first.
After all the hassle, before Shen Lie and his family had time to say anything more, Zhou Cunzheng, Old Man Lu, Lu Erlang, Old Man Chen, Chen Youtian, Chen Dashan, and Shi Dalang arrived.
As soon as the dough dumplings were put into the pot, Sang Luo asked Chen Ning to watch over them while she went out to greet the guests. It was very cold and it was not good to stand in the yard. The kitchen was making dried bean curd, so she invited everyone into the main house.
Four benches were given to the elders, and the younger ones all stood.
As soon as Zhou Cunzheng and his companions entered the house, they saw a large bundle of animal skins by the door. When they recognized the black bear skins, they took a deep breath. He looked at Chen Lie and asked, "Can I take a look?"
Shen Lie nodded.
Zhou Cunzheng went over to look through it, and several people came over. There were bear skins and wolf skins. Judging from the thickness of the bundle of fur, there were obviously several wolf skins.
"You encountered a blind bear and a pack of wolves? How many of them were there?"
Chen Lie said, "Eight wolves. I have three wolf skins and one black bear skin here. The other five wolf skins are on the other side of the mountain."
This time, not to mention Zhou Cunzheng, even Shi Dalang and Lu Erlang who had returned from crossing the mountains and ridges together were frightened. This time, Chen Lie and Chen Dashan were the only ones going into the mountains.
Lu Erlang swallowed and asked, "How did you deal with it?"
Everything was safe and sound, no one was hurt, and not a single wolf escaped.
Chen Lie looked at Chen Dashan and said with a smile, "I have to thank Grandma Chen for this. Grandma's family was a hunter. Her ancestors had a recipe. If you put some of it on the arrows of the arrows, the wild animals will fall down after being shot for a few steps and will not survive. When we encountered the wolf pack, Dashan and I both climbed up a tree. The wolves surrounded the tree, so we escaped with no danger."
Chen Dashan said hurriedly, "Alie and his wife paid for the medicine and made a lot of it. When we go into the mountains later, those who are good at archery will be given a small bottle to carry for self-defense. But this thing is very poisonous. It is not an exaggeration to say that it kills instantly when it comes into contact with blood. You must be careful when using it."
He actually gave him a portion of it when he sold pheasants while hunting, but Chen Lie only took a little bit as a token of appreciation and didn't take any more, asking him to prepare food, salt and medicinal herbs at home first.
When everyone in the room heard about this good stuff, they were all overjoyed. The thing they fear most when hiding in the mountains is poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts.
Everyone has been practicing archery a lot in the past half month, especially the young people. Those who are good at it have quietly replaced their bows and arrows. With these things on hand, it will be much safer when going into the mountains.
Then they asked about the shelter that Chen Lie and Chen Dashan had found. Even though Zhou Cunzheng was only half of their own people now, the two did not hide too much and told him the general situation.
It turned out that the place the two were looking for was a journey of five and a half days if Chen Lie and Chen Dashan traveled all the way from Shili Village. The place was quite secluded, with a way in front and a way out behind. They found the place by accident when they were chased by a blind bear that suddenly appeared. The gap in the mountain was very narrow, only enough for one person to pass through. The bear couldn't get through at all, and was stuck in the narrow rock wall and was killed by Chen Lie with an arrow.
The two men were not in a hurry to deal with the black bear after killing it. They were originally looking for a shelter. Now that they found such a cliff, they would naturally explore inside. This exploration almost passed through a mountain along the cliff, and they found a cave inside.
"Going deeper into the cliff, there is an open area surrounded by several connected cliffs and high peaks. It's not very big, about 30% of our Shili Village, but it's lush with vegetation and has water sources, which are spring water that seeps out of the mountain. It's not a big waterway, but there are many caves or cave-like places between the cliffs that can be used as shelter."
Just by listening to Chen Lie's description, Sang Luo already had the words "Peach Blossom Spring" in her mind. Well, a more difficult version of "Peach Blossom Spring".
Zhou Cunzheng and Chen Laohan, the elders, were already getting excited: "Have you climbed over the peaks nearby? Can you get down?"
Chen Dashan nodded. "Alie and I went our separate ways. Normally, we can only climb to the top of the mountain. Below are steep cliffs and we can't go down. We can only return the same way. So, except for the passage we entered, we can't climb down from the surrounding peaks. And because the mountain is high enough and there are many trees, we can only see trees when we look down from above. People probably can't see clearly."
Now even Shi Dalang and Lu Erlang showed joy on their faces, which meant that as long as the entrance was hidden well, they could live a normal life in the valley without having to be too cautious.
They originally had alternative places to take refuge, but after hearing this, they both felt that this trip was totally worth it!
Sang Luo asked Chen Lie: "Besides the way you came in, are there any other ways?"
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan looked at each other and nodded. Chen Lie said, "It really is there, but it's easy to find the passage from the inside, but it's hard to find it from the outside."
"What do you mean?"
Chen Lie looked a little strange, and said, "It's a very deep cave. At the deepest part, there is a hole that tilts upwards. That's the exit. Going up from that hole will lead you to the outside of the mountain, but... that exit looks more like a larger rabbit hole from the outside."
When a normal person sees a hole like that outside, they would either guess it is a rabbit hole or a snake hole. After all, no one would have the courage to dig it out, let alone put their feet in.
In fact, Chen Lie even suspected that the hole might have been dug by a rabbit or something else. After digging it through, he discovered a new world and was stunned.
Otherwise, the cave doesn't look like it was dug by humans. Who would have dug an exit that is not much bigger than a rabbit hole?
Sang Luo was happy: "This is a good exit. If there is only one entrance, I'm worried that someone will find out and kill me one day. It's better to have a way out."
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan also laughed. Chen Dashan said, "We thought so too. We will temporarily fill up the small exit from the inside, but if we want to leave someday, we can always knock it open and leave from there."
Old Man Chen had heard his grandson's general description of the situation in the valley at home. Now he knew more details. He smiled and said, "This is good. There is a cave with water, an entrance and an exit. We can go in and out. It is deep in the mountains, far away from people and hidden enough. If the two passages are blocked and hidden well, not to mention people, even big beasts can't get in. It's perfect for our family to hide and avoid disaster."
Everyone had a smile on their face, which showed that they saw hope.
Lu Erlang looked at everyone and asked, "What should we do next? There are refugees in the county now. Should we transport food as planned, or should we flee as well?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Cunzheng shook his head.
He looked at the main room of the Shen family's eldest house. Apart from two beds and a table, the room was so crowded that even people had to stand close to each other because it was filled with bamboo racks filled with grain.
"We have a limited number of people, and every family has stored a lot of food. It would take at least six or seven trips to transport all this food, so we can't leave yet. We have to buy time to transport the food. Besides... the court is still here. If we all leave, once the country is in chaos, our land and houses, and the family business we have built over the years, will have nothing to do with us."
From now on, all of our descendants can only hide in the mountains as refugees. They cannot enter the city, cannot see people, and can only live in the mountains and forests, or be recruited by the government and start all over again.
The Chen family members who have really worked hard from scratch have a deep understanding of this point. It is easy to abandon one's home and career, but it is extremely difficult to build up a family business.
Old Man Chen also nodded: "Let's transport the grain first. It won't be too late to consider this issue after all the grain is transported. I've also been to the county gate these days. The refugees are temporarily gathered at the gate. There are rich families there who are giving away clothes and porridge. It's not a time for chaos yet. We just need to be careful and be prepared. We can't act rashly now."
There is a consensus among everyone on this point. It is not easy to be a refugee. Moreover, as Zhou Cunzheng and Old Man Chen said, it would take at least six or seven trips to transport all the food. Someone has to be at home to keep things stable first.
The next thing to discuss is the transportation of grain.
To Sang Luo's surprise, the first thing that Old Man Chen proposed to discuss was how to transport the grain from her family.
Old Man Chen's original words were: "As everyone knows, these days, A'Luo lives too far away with Xiao'an and Aning. It's fine in peacetime, but in recent situations, no one can rest assured. Instead of every family sending someone to keep watch at night, I think A'lie has already risked his life to go through the road, and spent a lot of money to prepare arrow poison for us. Later, we can share their food. If we carry three bags of our own, we can help A'lie's family take one bag away. Let A'lie stay in the village. First, our family is safe, and we don't need to keep watch. If we really need to transport food to the mountains, we can't spare anyone to help keep watch. Second, for the defense of the village, wouldn't we feel more at ease with A'lie?"
To put it bluntly, some of the men will have to stay behind to defend, and some will transport food into the mountains, leaving Chen Lie to take charge of the defense.
Everyone agreed, and Chen Lie felt that this would make him feel more at ease, so he bowed and said, "Thank you all for your care, uncles and aunts. I will stay in the village and continue to train the children, and keep an eye on the surrounding areas."
The matter was settled, but Zhou Cunzheng felt a little embarrassed. His family had plenty of food and sons, but he said at the time that they would not look at where the shelter was and would give half of the food to Chen Lie and the others to take into the mountains.
When it came time to actually transport the grain, Chen Lie said that it would take five and a half days to travel one way at a fast speed. If the grain was carried on a shoulder, it would take at least six days, and a total of twelve days for the round trip.
His family had so much grain, but he had to rely on others to transport it. His Zhou family was not like Shen Lie, who had to organize evacuation, pay for medicine, and find the place of refuge. Sang Luo had such a special status among the families, so how could he have the nerve to ask others to help transport grain for his family?
But after all, he had been a villager for so many years, so he thought for a moment and came up with an idea, and asked Chen Lie: "Do you have places to rest overnight along the way? Are there any caves or other places where we can store food? If so, we can divide the journey into two parts, the first half and the second half. Each family can mark the food, and some people can carry the first half, while the other group can carry the second half. My eldest, second and third sons can carry the first half, and we can hand over the food to you halfway."
This way they don't have to know where to hide from the disaster, and their family doesn't have to do anything.
When Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu heard this, their eyes lit up: "This is a good idea. In this way, we older ones can join your children in the first half of the journey, and the young and strong ones can follow Dashan for the second half."
Everyone looked at each other and laughed. The four families got together and decided on the spot in the main room of the Shen family who would provide which manpower, and how much grain each family would take away.
"Go home and prepare some dry food and water. Leave before dawn tomorrow. It will be convenient for others to see you. Just say you are going into the mountains with Dashan to learn how to hunt."
After learning hunting outside the mountains for so long, I always have to go into the mountains to practice it. This is a ready-made reason.
Chen Dashan had no time to rest this time, so he had to lead the way. Before leaving, he patted Chen Lie's shoulder and said, "When you go to the county, help my family find buyers for those skins. No matter what the price is, help me sell them. When the time comes, give the money to my grandma. In addition, that medicine is useful. I think we should get some more."
It was originally a private conversation between the two people, but Zhou Cunzheng had sharp ears and heard what was said. He quickly said, "Forget about the money for the arrow poison. We will also pay for the rest. We can't let you pay all the time. I will send it to you tomorrow."
The last sentence was directed at Chen Lie.
The reason why he let the previous one go was because Old Man Chen asked each family to help the Shen family transport grain, and he included this achievement in it, so he couldn't bring it up again.
Shi Dalang and Old Man Lu also expressed their opinions. Business has been bad recently and the two families haven't saved much money, but they should contribute to the money for buying medicine.
Chen Lie looked at Sang Luo, who shook her head and said, "We appreciate your kindness, but we need your help in transporting all the food we have. We will pay for the medicine."
Grandpa Chen was actually speaking on their side. How could defense and carrying grain into the mountains be the same thing? It would be fine if they took turns, but Chen Lie stayed outside because everyone was taking care of their family. Sang Luo at least knew this.
Besides, she was roughly aware of the financial situations of several families, and they had not yet stockpiled the commonly used medicinal materials, so she would not let them spend any more money at this time.
Zhoucun was about to say something else, but Sang Luo smiled and said, "Uncle Zhou, we appreciate your kindness, but we have a lot of food at home, and carrying food into the mountains is not an easy job. The money for the medicine can be regarded as a reward for helping us carry food."
Zhou Cun was looking at Sang Luo, who had a smile on her face but a determined expression, so he could only go to see Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu.
It was still Old Man Chen who made the final decision: "Okay, let's do as Luo says."
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