Chapter 126 Cloud Valley
Hidden, too hidden!
If Chen Lie hadn't led them here accurately and told them that the entrance was here.
Unless you stand right in front of it, you can't see the crack from any other angle.
Standing in front of the entrance, you wouldn't think too much. At first glance, it's just a crack between a few rocks. For someone of Chen Lie's stature, he would have to lean sideways to squeeze in. If he went further in, all he could see were rocks.
Yes, visually speaking, there are only rocks further inside. If you don't go in, you won't know that you can turn a corner and go inward. Chen Lie and Chen Dashan hid in the crevice of the rocks that day to avoid the black bear, and only then did they discover that there was a whole new world further inside.
If the adults saw the seclusion and safety, the children were amazed at the mysterious beauty of the peaks reaching into the clouds, and they didn't even bother to look at the entrance.
Shili Village is also in the mountains, but it is completely different from this deep mountain. Since escaping into the inner circle, the mountain scenery here has completely refreshed the children's understanding of the mountains.
Not only are the mountains much higher and more dangerous than outside, but wherever you look, you're greeted by green, the kind of green that can only be achieved in the absence of human presence.
The wind blew past, the mountains were undulating with green waves, leaves rustled, and insects chirped and birds spoke happily. Such scenery was not uncommon on the way deep into the inner circle, but they were nervous at that time, guarding against wild beasts, insects and snakes, and a sudden mountain rain that might come.
But now, this is where they will live in the future.
Listening again, looking again, and smelling the scent of the grass and trees here again, I felt a completely different state of mind, as if I had accidentally entered a secret place, which was extremely novel and rare.
Without exception, the children all looked up at the top of the peak, with amazement on their little faces.
“It’s so high!”
"It's higher than the clouds. Will we reach the sky if we climb up?"
"So beautiful! What does heaven look like? Are there gods living there?"
Chen Ning tugged at his eldest brother: "Brother, have you ever been to the top of a mountain? Have you really reached the sky?"
Sang Luo's eyebrows curved when she heard this, and she smiled fiercely: "I've been up there before, but I didn't know whether I could reach the sky. I'll take you up there later and you can see for yourself."
When they heard that they could go up the mountain, a group of children immediately started chattering excitedly.
The three cousins of the Xu family also looked up. Xu Yin held Old Lady Xu's clothes with one hand, looked up at the peaks and the clouds, and listened to the joyful and lively birdsong in her ears. There was a sense of dreaminess and unreality in the birdsong.
"Grandma, are we there yet? Are we going to live here from now on?"
"Yes, we lived here before peace came outside." Old Mrs. Xu's brows relaxed. Her son was right. It might be very hardy here, but the safety should be no worse than living with the Wang family in Shezhou. In fact, it was easy for refugees to rush into counties, but it was not easy to rush into the mountains and find such a secluded place. She couldn't imagine how Shen Lie and his gang found such a place, and what it should be like inside.
Chen Dashan saw that everyone was looking at the crack in the stone passage, so he smiled and called Chen Lie: "Come on, go and move the stone inside. It's too much effort for me to move that thing."
It turned out that since the first time he discovered this place, Chen Lie had used several large rocks to seal the innermost side of this narrow entrance to prevent wild animals like wolves from entering the valley.
Chen Lie is two years younger than Chen Dashan, but he is incredibly strong. No one knows how he grew so strong. Chen Lie did not come over later, and it was really hard for Chen Dashan to move those stones. However, he also knew that sealing the entrance would ensure the safety of the people who stayed here to guard the food and tidy up the cave. So Shen had to move as well. In short, it was difficult.
Chen Lie laughed when he heard what Chen Dashan said, put down his things and went into the alley first. The stones were placed at the innermost side of the entrance, and it took a long walk to get there. After more than a quarter of an hour, Chen Lie came out again. It was obvious that in addition to the difficulty of moving the stones, the mountain itself was also deep enough.
As soon as Chen Lie came out, he smiled and said, "Okay, put down the baskets and other things. Small bags can be brought in, but large things like quilts that are tied together need to be unrolled into long strips and brought in in batches."
The children could no longer contain their curiosity and excitedly went into the alley first. There was no danger inside, so Shen Lie and Chen Dashan did not stop them and went in one by one. A group of children, big and small, followed behind them and entered the alley with excitement on their faces. Shen Ning and Chen Xiaoya went to pull Xu Yin, but they were a step late and followed at the end.
Sang Luo looked at Old Lady Chen and the others with a smile and said, "Let's go in and take a look."
Several people had wanted to go in for a long time. After hearing what Sang Luo said, they put down their things, picked up the small bag, and followed the children into the crevice. Old Mrs. Xu also hurriedly followed with her grandchildren.
Finally, there are people like Zhou Cunzheng and Shi Dalang.
The alley was very long. When Sang Luo had walked most of the way, she heard Hu Zi and Er Niu and others in front of her screaming, and Chen Xiaoya, Shen Ning, Xu Yin and others walking behind her asked anxiously what was going on.
What happened? Before she could finish asking, Chen Xiaoya started to scream, "We live in Yungu!!!"
When Sang Luo walked out of the alley, her vision suddenly widened. When she looked up, she finally understood what it meant to live in the Cloud Valley. The long and narrow valley was flanked by high peaks and cliffs that could not be seen from the top. The vegetation between the cliffs was dark green and light green, and the top was completely covered by clouds and mist. From this perspective, wasn't it like living in the Cloud Valley?
The nine days of anxiety and fear that she had felt while crossing mountains and ridges were all soothed at this moment. Sang Luo narrowed her eyes and smiled. Qia Chenlie also came in. She smiled and said, "If the cave you found was located higher, it would be a paradise."
It’s so fairy-like.
And she also understood what Chen Lie had said to her before, that she could not go down the mountain from this side of the canyon. In a martial arts drama, this would be the bottom of a thousand-foot cliff where a master hides in the world. Just look at the cliff. If there were not many trees growing between the cliffs, it would really look like it was carved by a knife and an axe, and it was tilted inwards. Who could come down from here? Standing on the edge of the cliff, you have to worry about not accidentally falling down and being smashed to pieces.
Seeing that she liked it here, Chen Lie raised the corners of his lips unconsciously: "It's like this in the morning, with a lot of clouds and fog. When the sun is bright, it will disperse and the sun can shine down. It's also very beautiful."
He also reminded everyone: "Be careful with your steps, and use the branches in your hands to hit the grass before crossing."
The vegetation here is too dense. Although he and Chen Dashan have checked it out for a day, and Chen Dashan has led the grain carriers to come here several times, the big wild animals are easy to spot, but the insects and snakes hidden among the grass are difficult to find.
Everyone knew that they had been very cautious along the way. Chen Lie was afraid that once he reached his destination, he would relax and become less careful, which would be bad if he got into trouble.
After he said this, the group of excited children calmed down a little, and regained their vigilance, but they still couldn't hide the smiles on their faces. Even Chen Ershan, who was usually taciturn, asked, "Brother, Brother Lie, where do we live?"
Before Chen Dashan and Shen Lie could speak, someone in the distance shouted, "Dashan, Ershan! Mother!"
Everyone looked and saw Qin Fangniang and Gan running towards them quickly along the side of the mountain.
When they got closer and saw that everyone was fine, they both breathed a sigh of relief. They saw a few people from the Xu family too. Because they were strangers, Qin Fangniang and Gan were stunned. Sang Luo introduced them to them. When they heard that they were Manager Xu's family, Qin Fangniang and Gan both laughed and greeted Mrs. Xu enthusiastically, saying that Manager Xu had taken good care of them in the past.
After a few pleasantries, he also greeted Zhou Cunzheng and his wife, then asked why everyone had come. He felt a little nervous, fearing that things outside had become chaotic.
Hearing Zhou Cunzheng say that they were going to recruit soldiers and collect taxes again, they both sighed and were glad that they had almost finished transporting all the grain.
He led everyone into the canyon and asked Chen Dashan, "Where are your father and grandfather? Are they staying over there to guard the food?"
Chen Dashan nodded, thought for a moment and decided to tell him about the danger he encountered on the return trip. He said, "Dad was also slightly injured, but luckily he had some gold medicine and he is fine now. I was afraid that the journey would be too tiring and would be bad for his injuries, so I asked a group of people to guard the food so that they can have a rest."
When Qin Fangniang heard that the man was injured, she was a little worried, but then she heard that he was fine after taking medicine, so she felt better.
The road was dangerous and they encountered wild beasts on their way here. Fortunately, everyone was good at archery and had the recipe at home. Chen Lie and his wife also spent a lot of money to buy herbs to make the arrow poison. Otherwise, how could the old, weak, women and children like them make it through the mountains and forests safely?
"It's good that peace has come. This valley is still safe."
As they talked, they led everyone to the mountainside. Along the mountainside, Qin Fangniang and Gan Shi cleared a two-foot-wide path. The grass was freshly pulled out, so it was not easy for insects and snakes to hide. The mountain itself had some inward slopes, which meant that even if a path was cleared, the path and the people walking on it could not be seen from the top of the mountain, so it was very safe.
After turning a corner along the path, there is another view, a long and deep valley. Qin Fangniang and the others stayed in a cave on the right side of the mountain after turning the corner. It was a fairly large cave, and the entrance even had a simple wooden wall and door made of logs. When closed, the entire cave could be sealed off to protect against wild animals and snakes.
The wooden door was open at this moment. Qin Fangniang and Gan Shi had just heard the noise in the cave and went out to greet them.
Qin Fangniang said, "This is the first cave in the canyon. It's quite big, so we hid the food we carried here first. We also rested here. If we need to live in the future, we can live in other caves in the canyon. The canyon is quite deep, and there are eight caves of different sizes. It's no problem for each family to choose one. We live close to the inside. The mountain here is thick and high. Even if we make some noise, it won't be heard by people outside. It's much safer."
Sang Luo looked around the cave and saw many simple wooden racks with bags of grain stacked on them. There were also a few empty racks, which should be prepared for the grain that had not yet been delivered to the back.
On the other side, there was some dry grass, three newly woven straw mats, and some prepared skins. I guess they were from hunted wild animals encountered along the way. Just by looking at the number of skins, one could tell that the journey was dangerous. But now it was just right for Qin Fangniang and the others to use as quilts to keep warm at night.
A simple stove was built with earth at the entrance of the cave, and there were pottery pots and basins next to it. This was where people cooked.
There were quite a few empty wooden shelves. Qin Fangniang smiled and said, "There is still some food that has not been delivered, so there are still many empty wooden shelves. Each family can pick one to put their things on, so as to avoid piling them on the ground."
Everyone knows that there should be more than these things. Every time things are carried out of the mountain, it takes several trips to move them back in.
Everyone picked a shelf, put down their own things, and without stopping, turned around and went out to move things.
Everyone was mobilized to carry the food, and it took seven or eight trips like ants moving house to finally get it all in. Of course, the fat baskets couldn't fit in. Chen Lie and Chen Dashan climbed up the mountainside as if they were familiar with the route and found a place to hide. After all the food was transported, they would try to use vines to hang it and see if they could lower it from the top of the cliff.
When all the live chickens and ducks were brought in, Qin Fangniang was really surprised and happy: "There are still chickens and ducks?"
It's good to have chickens and ducks, because that means the children will have chicken and duck eggs to eat in the future.
He took another look and saw that there was no rooster. He felt disappointed again. After all, no matter how thick the mountain was, the sound of the rooster's crowing would inevitably leak out.
Without a rooster, the eggs laid later will not be breeding eggs, and it will be impossible to build a nest. Fortunately, there is a rooster duck, which is a consolation. Since we can't raise too many chickens, it's good to raise many ducks.
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan used the extra fine wood from making door walls and wooden frames to build a simple chicken coop not far from the cave entrance, and stuffed the six chickens and ducks in. Chen Ning cared most about the chickens and ducks, and after seeing that his precious chickens and ducks had settled down, he busied himself looking for wild vegetables to feed them.
By now they were busy and had moved all the things in. Chen Lie had sealed the cave entrance again with large rocks. Once they had some free time, everyone wanted to take a look at the situation in the valley.
Everyone who had been here before laughed, and they understood the urgency of the situation. They were tired from carrying food, so they just took a rest. Shen Lie, Chen Dashan, Qin Fangniang and Gan led the large group of people who had arrived here for the first time to look inside.
The scenery in the canyon is really no worse than that outside. Even though if you look at the ground, you can see weeds everywhere and you have to be careful of snakes and the like, it really does not detract from the beauty of the entire canyon.
Just as Chen Lie once said, the entire canyon is about 30% the size of the Shili Village settlement. It is not very big, but the vegetation is lush and verdant, and it has a wild and mysterious beauty. In the distance, there is a spring pouring down in the mountain stream. It is not a big waterfall, but it is also a scene. Not to mention the water source, it adds a lot of vitality.
The sounds of water, birds singing and insects chirping compose the most beautiful music, which seems to cleanse the soul.
Sang Luo had lived in the mountains for several years in her previous life, so she couldn't take her eyes off the scenery of the canyon.
Let alone avoiding disaster for a few years, for someone like her who likes the quietness of the mountains, it is not impossible for her to live in seclusion for the rest of her life. Of course, it's just a thought.
The children exclaimed in amazement. Chen Lie had been paying attention to Sang Luo's expression. Seeing that she obviously liked this place, his eyebrows curved unconsciously. He introduced it in more detail and pointed to a place in the distance: "There is a cave behind the tree over there. It is the second cave from the entrance. Although the peaks beside this canyon are high and the trees are lush, if we build a house, we will still be discovered when looking down from the top of the mountain. So from now on, we will mainly live in caves."
At this point, he asked Chen Dashan and Qin Fangniang, "Have you chosen a cave?"
Qin Fangniang smiled and said, "How can that be possible? Let's wait until you all come together and then we can choose together."
Chen Lie smiled and said, "That's perfect. Now that everyone has arrived, we can choose a cave. We can first live in the large cave where the grain is stored. We can tidy up the chosen cave during the day and think about what furniture to make and how to place it. Once we have transported all the grain, we can slowly start working on it."
As he spoke, he entered the cave.
The cave is just up a little slope. The entrance is more than ten feet wide. Sang Luo estimated that it would be about four meters wide in modern times, the width of a room. After going inside, we found that it is deep, about six or seven meters, and it gets wider as we go deeper. It is not a regular shape, but rather round, and an irregular one with industrial shapes and bumps. There are also many protruding places on the walls and ceiling of the cave, which can be easily bumped if you are not careful. However, these can be repaired later.
Sang Luo estimated that the cave was at least 40 square meters, which was big enough.
I visited several other caves one after another. These caves are separated by a certain distance, and not all of them are at the bottom of the mountain. Two of them are actually halfway up the mountain. No, not quite halfway up the mountain. One is four or five meters above the ground, and the other is seven or eight meters above the ground. To be honest, they are still at the bottom of the mountain.
There are nine caves, except for the one at the entrance of the canyon which is not intended for living, there are eight other caves inside, six of which are at the bottom of each peak and two are slightly higher.
The largest one is seven or eight meters above the ground. Except for people with good skills like Chen Lie and Chen Dashan, most people can't climb up. But I heard from Chen Lie that it is not actually called a cave because it is too big. It goes through almost the entire mountain and looks like a waterway cave. Of course, there is no water now.
Speaking of which, the caves here have no signs of artificial excavation, and seem more like natural formations. Sang Luo thinks it may be related to geological changes. Perhaps it was a waterway thousands of years ago or even longer. Who knows?
Chen Lie whispered to her that the exit that looked like a rabbit hole was deep in the highest cave.
So that cave is not inhabited by humans.
First, they were afraid that the noise would be heard outside the mountain, and second, it was too high and no one could afford to live there.
The preferred ones are actually the six relatively normal caves distributed within the canyon. Among these six caves, except for one which is slightly smaller, about 30 square meters, the rest are quite good. About 40 square meters are normal, and the largest one is nearly 50 square meters.
Families with large populations, such as the Zhou and Lu families, can be accommodated if they squeeze together.
As for the quality of life, okay, let’s not talk about it for now. They are fleeing from disaster, and what else can they ask for if they can have a place like this to shelter from the wind and rain.
Chen Lie asked everyone, "Does anyone have a favorite?"
As a result, the families came to an agreement. Zhou Cunzheng said with a smile, "Your family and the Chen family can choose first. This place was found by you and Dashan. We can choose later."
Mrs. Chen smiled and said, "Alie, you two can choose first. You can choose whatever you like. We will just be your neighbors."
Everyone laughed when they heard this, and let Chen Lie and Sang Luo choose first.
When Chen Lie heard the word "young couple", the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise. He also knew that everyone was sincerely letting them choose first, so he smiled and thanked them, ignoring everyone's jokes and turned his head to look at Sang Luo.
When it comes to choosing the cave to live in in the future, I will naturally listen to Sang Luo.
"A Luo?"
Although he didn't say a word, his eyes showed it clearly. Do you have any favorite?
Shen An and Shen Ning also smiled, and the brother and sister looked at Sang Luo together: "Sister-in-law, you choose, and we will listen to you."
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