The mountain at the feet of the two people is the remnant of Leiyin Mountain, the highest mountain in the west of Wanzhou. The villagers named it "Qiu Qiu". It got this bad name because there is a vast swamp around the foot of the mountain. Every year, except for a short period from the beginning of winter to the beginning of spring, the swamp is shrouded in poisonous miasma smoke for most of the year, making it impossible for humans and animals to come out alive.
Not only that, the villagers are convinced that there is a god living on the top of Yuqiu Hill. Jiang Yan once heard from the witch woman that it was this god who drove away the bandits who followed the villagers and accepted him with her. The first batch of refugees who fled here stayed, and the village was able to take root in the mountains, completely cutting off contact with the outside world, and living a life without competition from the world.
However, according to the legend of the villagers, this god does not like too many mortals living around the hill, and it will only appear after the sun goes down. Therefore, if an outsider wants to enter the village, one of the villagers needs to climb up the mountain at midnight. Go to the top of the mountain, offer tributes to him and worship him sincerely. Only after he is recommended can you agree. Otherwise, he will bring a bloody disaster to the village.
When Ning Yue heard this, she looked up and down at the companions in front of her, and shook her head in disbelief: "I think this mountain god who doesn't know whether he is a human or a ghost is not a good thing. Isn't that old witch trying to scare you? ?And since you are going up the mountain to worship God, why don’t you bring any tributes with you?"
Hearing what the girl said, Jiang Yan's expression became solemn:
"I don't think the things done by the gods are quite strange - the tributes are usually collected together by the villagers. If they don't give them, I won't have any. What's more, when Uncle You took me to the village not long ago, he also I have never heard of anyone going to the gods to make a recommendation for me..."
"In that case, why did the old woman agree to let you stay in the village?"
"When we came to the village, it was at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Brother Cui happened to be seriously ill. The village was in a state of decline, almost to the point of eating grass roots and chewing tree bark. Uncle You didn't even think about it at the time. So he distributed all the prey he caught along the way to others and asked to stay. Seeing that they were helpless, the villagers had no choice but to agree."
The girl opened her mouth in surprise: "So, Uncle You felt from the very beginning that the so-called god mentioned by the villagers was simply nonsense?"
Jiang Yan nodded hesitantly, then shook his head:
"I would rather believe that something exists than something that doesn't exist. Ever since I settled down, Uncle You taught me how to shoot and use a sword every day, and he kept telling me not to go up to the hill easily. So three days ago, he went up the mountain to hunt alone. After I didn’t come back, I was very worried..."
Maybe it was because the yearning for Uncle You was too strong, or maybe it was because the grievances that had been suppressed in his heart these days finally had someone to talk to, but the seemingly independent and strong young man suddenly choked up.
Ning Yue didn't know how to comfort the other person, so she could only listen to him continue to speak quietly.
"Uncle You once told me that the only thing a person can trust in this world is his own heart and hands. In order to trace his whereabouts in the past few days, I almost walked through the nearby woods, but still found nothing, so I The day before yesterday, I ventured deep into the swamp under the hill and unexpectedly found a broken bow."
"Could it be said that the bow you are holding now is -"
The girl looked at the horned bow in Jiang Yan's hand as if she suddenly realized something, and then looked into his eyes.
The black-eyed boy nodded and said:
"That's right. So I repaired the broken bow and vowed to find Uncle You. The strange thing is that the witch woman once specifically asked where the broken bow was found, and said that Uncle You
Perhaps it was because of protecting me that I offended the gods on the top of the hill, so I disappeared suddenly, so that I would not waste my efforts."
"Shameless! After all, he is the benefactor who once saved the lives of the entire village. You must never listen to her nonsense!"
"Of course I won't believe it, but as long as everyone in the village believes the witch woman's words, no one will agree to help me go up the mountain to find the person. That's why I think I can climb the hill in person tonight
Go up to the top and have a look - if there is really a god there, I will ask him to help me find Uncle You. And if there is no god on the top of the mountain, then the villagers will have no reason to continue to make things difficult for us."
Jiang Yan seemed to have already made up his mind, and then raised his finger to point in the direction of the village:
"That's what happened. Yue'er, you just promised me that you would go back to the village after hearing this. Can you go back now?"
"No, what you said makes me even more worried. I will accompany you up the mountain today. One more person will go with you. If you encounter any accidents on the mountain, you can have more help. Besides, which ear do you have?
I heard someone just promised you to go back after listening? I nodded just to ask you to speak quickly, so you did it all."
However, Ning Yue refused to look back at all. She took the lead in lifting up the hem of her skirt and continued climbing towards the top of the mountain. Seeing that Jiang Yan couldn't defeat him, she had no choice but to muster up her energy and follow behind, but she put the hand in her hand.
Baipi held on tighter——
After some conversation, he felt more and more that there must be something strange on the top of the hill. The mysterious and mysterious villagers, who were full of hostility to outsiders, also made him feel that it might not be safe for the girl to go back.
So, the two of them climbed up the ridge for about an hour, and finally reached the rugged peak of Qiu Qiu. On the other side of the mountain, there was a cliff that was impossible to climb. After the heavy rain, the sky became clear and quiet.
The bright moon is like a mirror, and there are so many stars. It seems that just by stretching out your hand, you can touch the dark blue curtain that seems to be very close at hand.
"There is nothing here. Humph, that old woman really did lie to all of you!" Ning Yue couldn't help but become angry when she saw this.
Jiang Yan made a silent gesture, then squatted down and twirled a handful of white fluff from a stone crevice beside him:
"Don't speak loudly. There are traces of living things passing by on the mountain!"
Seeing that his expression didn't look like he was joking, Ning Yue immediately stuck out her tongue, squatted aside and stretched her neck curiously, pinching her throat and asked:
"What's this?"
"It seems to be the down that fell off some kind of animal. Now that winter has passed, many birds and animals have begun to molt. Maybe it's what they left behind. But it's too dark now to see clearly. I just saw the high altitude
There seems to be a cave on the edge of the cliff. I'm afraid it's the home of some ferocious beasts, so it's better to be careful. Why don't you wait here, and I'll go take a look inside the cave first. If you encounter danger, run away quickly.
"
"It's a beautiful thought. If we want to go together, we can escape together."
Although Ning Yue kept beating the drum in her heart, she still insisted on advancing and retreating together with the boy. Jiang Yan knew the girl's stubbornness, looked up at the sky that was about to break, and knew that he had no time to continue to struggle, so he could only nod in agreement.
The hole is not very wide, and even a half-year-old child can only enter with a bowed body. It is obviously unable to hide man-eating beasts such as bear bears. However, this is not a wolf den, because the moonlight shining through the entrance of the hole is not very wide. , Jiang Yan clearly saw a layer of dead grass branches on the cave floor. It looked a bit like a bird's nest, but it was several times larger than an ordinary bird's nest.
"Let's go, there's nothing in the cave."
Jiang Yan didn't know whether he should be happy or disappointed, and turned around to leave. But at the moment when his figure was shaking, a "chirp" sound suddenly came from under the withered grass and branches behind him.
The muscles all over his body tightened immediately, and he reached out to touch the knife, but suddenly he heard Ning Yue's laughter ringing outside the cave. When he looked closer at his feet, he saw a knife covered in snow-white body with only a slap. A small pom-pom emerged from the shadows and jumped straight into the girl's arms.
"Oh, this little guy is really cute. Look, look, why is he so clingy to me?" Ning Yue couldn't help but giggle, holding the little pom-pom in her arms and doting on her, "Let me ask you, Is this your nest? Where is your mother?"
It was a very rare white fox. The bunch of white down that Jiang Yan found outside the cave should have fallen from it. The young man once heard Uncle You say that white foxes are quite understanding of human nature, but they have never been I have seen it with my own eyes. Now that I can see it, it is true.
At the moment, this cub, which looks to be only a few months old, is blinking at the red-haired girl with a pair of round black eyes, and keeps making "chirp" sounds in its mouth, as if it is starving.
"This is definitely not the white fox's nest. It seems to have been hiding under the dead grass branches in the nest, as if it was hiding on purpose. You see, there is still blood on its hind paws - let me Go into the cave again and take a closer look!”
Jiang Yan suddenly felt a bad feeling in his heart. As he spoke, he took out the Huozhe from his arms and got back into the hole.
Sure enough, he soon found a large number of bones in the lair. Among them was not only the skeleton of a female fox, but also several groups of mutilated human bones wrapped in rags!
This time, it was Ning Yue's turn to be scared. She held the little white fox tightly in her arms and slowly moved backwards towards the outside of the cave: "These, these people, and those animals, are they going to be killed?" What did you eat?"
But her companion didn't seem to hear her at all, and suddenly knelt down in front of a pile of human bones: "Uncle You, I'm sorry, I'm still a step late!"
"No way, how could this pile of dead bones be Uncle You? You must have admitted your mistake, little Stutterer!"
"There is no way I can admit my mistake. Uncle You was born with an extra little finger on his right hand. This place is so inaccessible that the skeleton in front of you cannot be that of an unrelated person!"
There was incomparable sorrow in Jiang Yan's tone. After hearing what his companion said, Ning Yue immediately turned pale and became speechless, but she did not dare to get close to the corpse to see clearly.
But before the young man finished speaking, a long and harsh cry of "Jie" suddenly came from outside the cave.