Chapter 8 Legend of Longshan
The further you go into the mountains, the quieter and eerier the forest becomes. There is not even the sound of two or three insects, birds or frogs. The cold moonlight shines through the gaps between the sparse leaves, casting the shadows of the branches on the ground. The branches flutter in the wind, and these shadows sway left and right, looking like a group of demons dancing wildly. Ghosts, monsters, and gods will scare superstitious people to death.
However, as an atheist, she is naturally not afraid, but now with her small body like a bean sprout, she is afraid of poisonous insects, snakes and rats. So Yike carried the stolen things on his back and held a hatchet in his hand. He didn't dare light a torch in the mountains. He could only walk into the mountains with the help of the faint moonlight, banging and hammering along the way, hoping to scare away snakes and insects.
After walking for a long time, Yike could no longer walk because there was no light at all inside. Yi Ke had no choice but to climb up a slightly larger tree to rest. He tied himself to the tree trunk with a rope to prevent himself from falling down when he fell asleep. He also smeared herbal juice on his body and the tree trunk to repel insects, snakes, rats and ants.
The next day, just after dawn, the early birds began to sing, "coo, chirp, chirp". The loud and harmonious music spread in the woods and spread out, completely ignoring the bird in the tree.
Once I was awakened by the sounds of birds, I opened my hazy eyes, looked at the leaves above my head, and smelled the fresh air in the mountains, I felt a little happy in my heart. The sound of birds singing here means that we walked a long way last night and are now far away from Hanjiagou Village. Because there are almost no birds in the mountains and forests near the villages, even if one or two occasionally fly out, they will be eaten by hungry people.
Yike untied the rope that tied himself, then quickly slid down the tree and cleared away the traces left last night. She put on her bag and walked quickly towards the cave where she was staying the night before, cleaning up all traces of her passage as she walked.
The cleaning method is very simple. Just fluff up the dead branches and leaves that have been trampled down. After all, ordinary villagers do not have such strong detection capabilities.
Back in the cave, Yike put down his backpack and collapsed to the ground, exhausted, not wanting to care about his rumbling stomach.
"Alas! This body is too weak." Yike sighed. Although the original body worked for long days, its lack of nutrition could not withstand such long-distance travel.
After resting for a while, maybe to catch his breath, he got up, lit a fire, took out the hidden duck eggs, and fetched water from the puddle in the swamp.
Yike rebuilt the stone stove with stones, placed the iron pot on it, and poured water into the pot. Yike put a handful of coarse rice and a duck egg in the pot and started to light the fire. It’s fast to boil water in an iron pot, and the water boils quickly. After the rice porridge was cooked, she added some purslane and a little salt, and a pot of wild vegetable porridge was ready. Although there is no oil, Yi Ke can taste the flavor of delicacies from land and sea.
After eating, Yike looked at the bag and grinned foolishly. Yike couldn't help but think proudly: Yang Huaihua would be so angry if she found out so many things were missing this morning!
She folded her sister Han Guihua's two sets of clothes and wrapped them with a piece of bark. These were the clothes she would wear in the next few years, and if they were damaged they would be gone. The bark could protect the clothes from being scratched.
Yike decided in his mind that these two sets of clothes would be worn as inner clothes, and the outer clothes would be made of tree bark or grass vines. It would be best if there were animal furs. Leather jackets and leather pants would be quite fashionable, Yike thought secretly. In short, the clothes inside must be soft, and the clothes outside can be casual. There will always be a way out when the time comes. We will talk about these later.
Yike put the kitchen knife, hoe, coarse rice and other food together, tied them tightly with vines, and put the hatchet out separately. This was the main weapon to deal with wild beasts.
She also wanted to find out where there were chili peppers and turn them into chili powder. If there were any large animals, she would sprinkle the chili powder on their heads to buy herself time to escape. With her small body, she is not brave enough to challenge the wild beast.
Although this cave is far away from Hanjiagou outside, some bold hunters will come in and it will be easily discovered. So this is not a permanent place to live, she still needs to think about where to settle down.
One could try hard to recall the memories of her original body and see if there were any caves or other places further in that were suitable for her to live in for a long time and would not be easily discovered. She thought about it for a long time but couldn't remember. After all, her original body was too small and usually only dared to move around the outskirts of the mountain. She could only walk to this cave because she couldn't find food outside, so she had to risk coming in. But as she thought about it, she remembered some legends.
The mountains here are rolling and towering. According to the old man, there are at least ten mountains connected here. The mountain in the middle towers into the clouds. It is shrouded in mist all year round, and it seems like there is a dragon flying and roaring in the mist. The old people said that the fog was the dragon's breath, and anyone who touched it would die. Therefore, even the most powerful hunter in the village did not dare to go to that mountain.
How did you know this news? It is said that the ancestors of some villagers had gone in there before. There were five of them in total and they were the best hunters at that time. They went to that mountain to hunt with weapons and hunting dogs because there was a lot of prey there, and they had already hunted all the prey outside the mountain.
There were five of them who entered the mountain, but only one of them came out. Moreover, this person was covered with wounds and his entire body was stained with blood. This man escaped by relying on his willpower. When he saw his relatives, he only had time to vaguely say the word "dragon" before he died.
At that time, people speculated that there might be a dragon in the mountain and they were all killed by the dragon. Others suspected that there must be many ferocious beasts around and they died because they were outnumbered. If it really is a dragon, then no one will be able to escape. The main thing is that the person's words were not very clear and people were just guessing.
Later, due to hunger, some people risked their lives to go in and hunt, but in the end, no one came out alive. From then on, no one went into the mountain to hunt, even if people were starving to death. Over time, the mountain became almost a forbidden area. Therefore, the ancestors restricted the descendants from entering the mountain in the forest and truly made the mountain a forbidden area. After countless generations of ancestors warned people not to enter, and through various retellings and imaginations, it became a legend that there were dragons and immortals living in the mountains, and that mortals were not allowed to go in and disturb them, otherwise they would be swallowed by the dragons. The mountain was then named Longshan by the villagers.
But I don’t believe there are any dragons. It could be an animal like a dinosaur, and a small one at that. But there are definitely blind bears, tigers, leopards and wolves. The big forest belongs to these beasts, and they are the masters of the forest. Although the big forest is dangerous, it is also a place rich in resources.
Such a good place should be the best refuge to go to.
After careful consideration, Yike finally decided to live in Longshan. Although what the older generation said is scary, there is a saying that "the more dangerous the place, the safer it is." She believed that with the knowledge she learned in her previous life and the kung fu taught by her master, she would be able to overcome danger and live a stable and happy life. Besides, the world outside is becoming more and more chaotic. As a little girl, she might be drowned without even a wave. It is better for her to stay in the mountains.
"I need to make some preparations. The journey into the forest is not easy. Food, drinks, and precautions against wild animals must all be prepared first." Yi Ke muttered to himself as he planned what he was going to do.
"Tree bark, vines, bamboo tubes..." Yi Ke muttered to himself as he picked up the hatchet and went out of the cave to look for suitable materials nearby.
The first thing she found was bamboo, but unfortunately they were all very small, probably only as thick as an arm, with only one or two slightly larger ones. She chopped down the bamboo, took the two thickest bamboo tubes to make a kettle, and used a slightly smaller one to hold the medicine juice. She also chopped down a branch, shaved it smooth, and made three stoppers, which she plugged into the mouths of the bamboo tubes with wood.
Then they found some resilient vines and used them to weave a basket. They put kitchen knives, hoes, bowls, clothes, sheets and other things into the basket, as well as herbs and wild vegetables.
Finally, after walking a long way, I found the useful bark. It was a very thick tree and she peeled off several large chunks of the bark. These barks can be tied around the body and used as armor.
Yike also crushed the snake and insect repellent herbs and put them in a small bamboo tube so that it would be convenient to apply on the road. She also made a spear out of hard wood. In the forest, she needed not only a machete but also a long weapon to fight against wild beasts. The spear can be used as a weapon, as well as a tool to knock on trees and weeds to scare away poisonous insects, snakes and rats. It can also be used as a walking stick in places where the terrain is difficult to walk.
Yike made pancakes with all the remaining coarse grains. In order to make more, he also mixed some purslane grass into the pancakes. Although the taste was not very good, it was fine as long as it could fill his stomach. She also cooked the fresh mushrooms and fungus she picked and wrapped them in leaves. They would last for at least a few days, but this was all she could prepare for now.
At night, Yike sneaked into the swamp and secretly spread the net he had made with vines during the day over the duck nest. Sure enough, he caught two ducks in the nest.
These two ducks were very fat. When I opened their stomachs, I saw a lot of eggs. If I didn't want to continue walking into the mountains, I really didn't want to kill the ducks so soon. I would at least wait until they laid all the eggs before eating the duck meat.
Yike roasted the duck meat and wrapped it in large leaves. These would be food for the journey. When walking in the mountains, you cannot always find food.
When he went to bed at night, Yike had a beautiful dream. In the dream, Yike came to Longshan and found a valley. There were flowers everywhere, chickens and ducks, and a handsome young man. The young man in the dream seemed to call Yike his wife. Yike was holding two cute children and picking flowers in the bushes...
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