The old hunter's words astonished everyone. Could it be that there were people living in Devil's Valley? Who were they?
"These people were also very surprised to see us. When they saw that there were only a few of us, they were no longer afraid."
I asked them who they were and where they came from. They seemed to understand our questions, but we couldn't understand what they said.
Because of the language barrier, we couldn't communicate, but they weren't in a hurry. They found someone from the group to talk to us.
We can still understand what this person is saying, but his accent is a bit unusual.
Through conversation, we learned that they came from the Kingdom of Jindian, from the other side of the valley. This valley was over a hundred miles long, and they had been walking in the valley for two or three days before arriving here.
We were astonished to find that the folk tales were true; the valley was over a hundred miles long, and there was indeed a small kingdom called Jindian on the other side.
I asked them what they were doing here, and the man said they were there to collect corpses. Every year during this season, they would go to the valley to collect corpses.
We don't know what they mean by "picking up corpses," or whether they mean going into the mountains to collect corpses.
He shook his head and explained to us what picking up corpses meant.
It turns out that the other end of Devil Valley is the Kingdom of Golden Dian. Due to the mountain barrier and the sparse population, there was little contact between the Great Northern Dynasty and the Kingdom of Golden Dian.
The Kingdom of Jindian is rich in a plant called Yingguo, which is a valuable medicinal herb and can also be added to tobacco leaves to make tobacco, which is very popular.
In this way, planting iris fruit could bring in a decent income, and the planting area gradually expanded. However, the population of Jindian Kingdom was sparse, and it was impossible to find enough people to cultivate this plant.
Zhao Xian knew that the "oriole fruit" the old hunter mentioned was probably poppy, which could be made into opium. Opium had existed in ancient times, but at that time it was used as medicine and people did not smoke it.
The old hunter continued speaking while puffing on his pipe, the room already filled with smoke.
"About a hundred years ago, the locals of the Golden Kingdom accidentally discovered this valley. Out of curiosity, they began to enter the valley, wanting to take a look."
Upon entering the valley, an unexpected discovery was made: there were a large number of abandoned items, including silver coins.
This important discovery led them to frequently enter the valley, where they found dead bodies, some recently deceased and others who had been dead for several days.
On one occasion, they found several people who had fainted in the valley, breathing weakly. They revived them and took them away from the valley.
After being taken away from the valley, these people received medical treatment. Although they were eventually saved, they became mentally impaired.
The locals then put these people to work in the fields, planting orioles and berries. Although these people were mentally challenged, they had no problem doing farm work.
Since then, the locals have frequently entered the valley in the hope of finding such people to do farm work for them and plant irises.
Over the past century, they have rescued many people from the valley, but most of them became mentally disabled after being saved. Some were so mentally disabled that they couldn't even take care of themselves, couldn't work in the fields, and became useless.
Upon hearing this, everyone had a question and asked:
"Old man, why can the people of Jindian Kingdom enter and leave the valley without any problems?"
"Yes, that person told me so much, and I also had the same question, so I asked them if they encountered any demons when they entered the valley."
This person told us that there was only evil in the valley, not demons. They had a custom of praying before entering an unfamiliar valley.
In the valley, they had rats lead the way. Rats are considered spiritual animals, and to ensure they could detect evil immediately, they put several rats in a cage, held them high, and had them walk at the front of the procession.
Once the rats discover evil, they will immediately be terrified. At this time, the people who enter the valley will light the torches they carry to drive away the evil.
If the rats in the cage eventually die, they must return, because the evil here is too powerful; even the Torch God cannot defeat it and cannot protect them, so they have no choice but to leave.
It was only then that I realized that the evil they were talking about was actually the devil. They put the rats in cages and walked in front of them, holding them high, so that the rats could spot the devil in time, and then light torches to drive it away.
These people also told us that in recent years, their harvest of corpses has become less and less. In the past, they would enter and leave the valley on the same day and never spend the night in the valley.
In order to have a better haul, they went out to collect corpses and wanted to go deeper into the valley. They walked in the valley for three days and unexpectedly came to this place.
It was only then that I told them that this was the Great Northern Dynasty, no longer their Golden Kingdom.
They looked around. Although it was still a valley, the terrain was already very open, which meant they were about to leave the valley.
At this point, these people started to get a little unsettled, so they said goodbye to us and began to return.
Through these people, we basically understood what the Demon Valley was all about, but we still didn't dare to enter the valley when it was hot.
After returning from the old hunter's house, everyone was very excited. According to the old hunter's description, it was highly likely that Li Ru's warhorse was startled and accidentally entered Devil's Valley.
Later, he encountered danger and was discovered by the people of Jindian, who rescued him and took him to Jindian.
If that's the case, Li Ru might still be alive. We could go to the Kingdom of Jindian to search for him and find him.
"I'm going to the Golden Kingdom to find my brother and bring him home," Li Xue said excitedly.
Li Guang nodded and said, "It seems we must risk crossing Devil's Valley to reach the Kingdom of Golden Harvest in order to find Brother Li Ru's whereabouts."
Based on calculations, this season should be the peak time for the appearance of mountain demons, so we must take full precautions.
Li Guang's words made Li Xue worried and she began to hesitate. She was unwilling to let Li Guang and Zhao Xian risk entering Devil's Valley. Perhaps they should wait until winter to go into the valley to search.
Li Xue looked at Zhao Xian, wanting to ask for his opinion.
Seeing Li Xue's expression, Zhao Xian smiled and said:
"It was no easy feat for us to reach the southwestern border this time. This place is only a little over a hundred miles away from the Kingdom of Jindian. It will only take two days to cross this valley and arrive."
If General Li Ru was indeed rescued by the people of Jindian, finding his whereabouts shouldn't be difficult.
“I know all that, but the greatest danger is in Devil’s Valley. There are devils there who can transform in countless ways. We are just mortals, how could we possibly be a match for them?” Li Xue said.
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