Chapter 356: Discovering the Way Out of the Mountains and Waters 4
"Okay, but this bamboo raft is too wide and may not be able to pass through this crack. Let's make it smaller, with two people sitting on one raft. I'll take Yi Ke and you can go alone, and the two of them can go together, how about that?" Li Youcai said.
"Well, the water flow here is already very fast. What if the water flow outside the crack is even faster, and there is a whirlpool or reef on the other side? We won't be able to control the bamboo raft at that time. How about we go over from the mountain and see?" Du Zhicang expressed a different opinion.
After discussion, it was finally decided that Du Qingcang would take Chen Dawang to go over the mountain first to take a look. If there were no dangerous waters such as reefs or whirlpools outside, they would light some dry grass on fire and throw it into the water, and Li Youcai, Yike and Hu Xiangle would take a bamboo raft over.
Du Qingcang and Chen Dawang climbed up the hillside. The slope leading to the top of the mountain was sloping, with some trees and weeds, so it was not steep. The two soon disappeared in the bushes.
Yike said, "Uncle Li, Brother Xiangdong will watch the crack first. You and I will take a rest first. You will take over later, and I will take over last. Let's take turns watching the crack, okay?"
Li Youcai said, "Okay, that's settled. Xiang Le, be careful."
Hu Xiangdong nodded and looked towards the crack carefully.
Yike, Hu Xiangdong and Li Youcai took turns staring at it for a long time, but they didn't see any divine fire falling from the crack.
The mountain is quite high. If you look up at the top of the mountain, your hat will surely slide off from behind.
There is a crack in the middle of the mountain, which is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Looking up, the crack seems to be only as wide as a palm, but at the bottom it is small enough to accommodate a small boat for two people lying side by side. The stone walls on both sides are smooth without even a blade of grass. From one end to the other, there is only about a hundred meters of water distance. Although the water distance is not long, the water flow is quite turbulent.
You can see the end of the crack at a glance, and there are no protruding rocks in the middle to block it. If godfather throws the burning dry grass down, it should not be invisible, unless the top of the mountain is all rocks and there is no grass.
Yike thought to himself, "Why didn't I think of this? If I had known, I would have asked my godfather to prepare some hay. Oh, what should I do now?"
After thinking about it, Yi Ke finally said out loud what he was thinking.
Li Youcai shook his head and denied it. "Look, the slope near the top of the mountain is covered with trees and weeds. Even if there is no grass on the top of the mountain, they will go to the mountainside to find grass. If they didn't pass on the message, it must not be the grass. There must be a whirlpool over there. We can't just go there. Wait, they will come back."
Sure enough, after about three hours, Du Qingcang and Chen Dawang came back.
As soon as everyone saw two people coming out of the bushes on the hillside, they immediately stood up and ran over.
Yike ran to Du Qingcang and helped him walk back. When they reached the resting place, Du Qingcang and Chen Dawang sat down on the ground, took the water bottle handed over by Yike, and took a few big gulps.
"Oh, I'm almost exhausted." Chen Dawang said, panting.
Du Qingcang was a little better, but he still immediately told what he had observed. He said, "There is a big river on the other side, and we can't see the other side. The good news is that there are no whirlpools, no reefs, and the current is not fast. We can take a boat to go there, and then we can walk along the river bank and we will always be able to see people."
"Then why did you come back? Just go down the mountain over there and wait for us. Why go through such a detour?" said Li Youcai.
"I want to, but I can't go down the mountain. The other side is not like this side, which has a slope. The rock wall over there is straight, and there is not even a tree. There is no way to go down." Du Qingcang explained the reason for returning.
"Is that so? Then let's take a bamboo raft." Li Youcai immediately asked Hu Xiangdong to pack up. "Since the current is not fast, we should go out with two bamboo rafts. If we remove one bamboo, one bamboo raft can still carry three people. You two take a rest and eat some dry food, and the three of us will go get the bamboo raft."
Soon, the bamboo raft was tied up again and put into the water.
"Let's go. Try to find a village before dark, otherwise we'll have to sleep outdoors in such a cold day. It'll be tough," said Li Youcai.
"Why don't we go back and come back tomorrow? We don't have a letter of introduction, and we can't stay overnight in the village," Yi Ke advised.
"Who said there is no letter of introduction?" Du Qingcang took out the letter of introduction with the official seal of Taoyuan Village and showed it to everyone.
Hu Xiangdong and Chen Dawang asked in unison: "Isn't this fake?"
Yike burst out laughing, and Hu Xiangdong and Chen Dawang glared at each other embarrassedly, as if they were blaming the other for asking the same question.
Yi Ke laughed and answered the two people's questions for his godfather Du Qingcang: "This official seal is red and clear, how can it be fake? Nothing else is as real as this, right? Godfather, you really live up to the saying of being shrewd and calculating."
"What are you talking about? This is what Brother Haoran said about preparing for a rainy day. Who knew it would actually come in handy?" Du Qingcang said happily. He then scolded Chen Dawang and Hu Xiangdong, "You two stinky boys, who told you it was fake? This official seal was carved by a carving master hired by your brother Ziyi. It's genuine. You have no taste and can't tell the difference."
Chen Dawang whispered, "Isn't our village fake? Where is the Taoyuan Village?"
Du Qingcang slapped Chen Dawang on the forehead and cursed, "You are just a blockhead - you don't understand. You didn't have it before, but now you do. There is such a big stone outside the gate, and there are three big words engraved on the stone. Could it be fake?"
Chen Dawang touched his forehead which was hurt by the hit and laughed foolishly. He kept saying, "I understand, I understand. Hehe!"
Hu Xiangdong glanced at Du Qingcang secretly and asked Chen Dawang in a low voice, "What do you understand?"
Chen Dawang just laughed, put on his backpack and boarded the bamboo raft.
Hu Xiangdong stared blankly at Chen Dawang who had left, touched his head, and walked towards the bamboo raft with an awkward smile.
"There was no road on the mountain, but when more people walked on it, a road was formed." Yi Ke said, shaking his head beside Hu Xiangdong.
Hu Xiangdong was stunned for a moment, then he slapped his forehead and said loudly: "I understand now. There was no Taoyuan Village before, but from the day it was named, there was Taoyuan Village. How could it be false? I'm so stupid that I didn't even figure this out."
Hu Xiangdong, who called himself a fool, was so focused on talking that he forgot about his feet and nearly stepped into the water. It was only with the help of Yike that he avoided getting his shoes wet.
They only brought two pairs of shoes with them, and one pair had already been soaked by the dew in the morning. If this pair got wet, they would have no replacement shoes and their feet would be left cold.
The bamboo raft passed through the crack smoothly and reached the end - a wide river.
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