Zhang left first. It was dimly lit and the cliffs on the other side of the Yellow River could be vaguely seen. Chang Yu and the others squatted behind a big rock by the river and observed for a long time that nothing was wrong. Then they quickly ran to the river. Wang Fuchen picked up a stone and started to
He smashed the ice to see if he could stand someone, but heard a crashing sound. It turned out that Qing Yi raised his hand and hit it with a palm, making a hole in the water. Everyone looked at each other with exaggerated expressions. Qing Yi reached out and fished out a piece of ice. Chang Yu looked at it.
This thickness is barely enough for a person to stand on, but the ice on the riverside is generally thicker than in the middle of the river, so there is no guarantee that it can hold up in the middle.
"The ice here is a little thinner than elsewhere," Wu Mushan said in a low voice, and Wang Fuchen hummed: "The river here is curved and the water flow is fast, so it is normal for the ice layer to be thin..."
"Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the thieves did not set up a hidden sentry here." Kuang Ren said and looked into the distance: "The water flow is fast and the ice layer is thin and the cliffs are steep. No normal person would bother to cross the river from here... But since Zhang and the others left first
"We can pass, we can also pass, I will take the lead." He said and walked towards the river.
"If the ice cracks, just crawl flat on the ice." Chang Yu warned him. The water flow under the ice was very fast, and if you fell in, you would probably survive. Kuang Ren grunted and walked more than ten steps to pick up his bow and arrow.
Shoot into the air.
"What is this?" Wu Mushan frowned and scratched his head. Wang Fuchen opened his mouth to explain to him before he came up. The sharp arrow fell from the sky and penetrated into the ice. Kuang Ren frowned and waved behind him, and everyone slowly followed.
This section of the river was nearly fifty meters wide. Everyone crossed the river carefully and without any danger. It was already dawn and they could clearly see that the cliffs on this side of the river were really steep and almost straight up and down. It was so difficult for a bird to fly.
, Wang Fuchen cursed in a low voice, Wu Mushan said nothing and untied the package from his shoulder, took out the white cloth and distributed it to everyone.
It snowed a few days ago. The white mountains and black waters are covered with white cloth to camouflage, making it difficult for thieves to detect their whereabouts.
Everyone ran quickly from the river bank to the cliff and was out of breath. Chang Yu and Qing Yi leaned against the mountain to catch their breath, while the rest of the people looked around for a path up the mountain.
"Are you tired?" Chang Yu asked Qing Yi.
"I'm not tired, I'm just out of breath from running so fast." Qing Yi smiled and asked, "Wouldn't it be easier if we walked along the river bank?"
Chang Yu couldn't help but laugh: "If we can walk along the river bank, then why do we have to go around so far to cross the river?" Qing Yi was startled, then blushed and scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Are you scared?" Chang Yu turned around and looked towards the cliff. Qing Yi shook his head: "There's nothing to be afraid of. If we really encounter a thief, we can always run away if we can't defeat him."
Chang Yu smiled: "I'm planning to run away before I hit you. This is not a good idea."
"If the shopkeeper doesn't run away, I won't run away," Qing Yi chuckled, "The thieves here seem to be very fierce."
"So you are more fierce than him." Chang Yu took out a cloth bag from his arms, unwrapped it, tore off a piece of dried meat and handed it to Qing Yi.
Qing Yi waved his hand: "Taoists are not allowed to eat meat." Chang Yu was stunned: "Taoists have a prohibition on alcohol and meat?"
Qing Yi nodded: "Of course there is."
"But Li Muxian never quits. Could it be that he is really a fake Taoist priest? You know Li Muxian, right..." Chang Yu was a little confused. He knew that Buddhism abstained from alcohol and meat, but Taoism has a long history with alcohol and meat.
You can also see some allusions, such as the Eight Drunken Immortals and so on...
"I heard they talked about Taoist Master Li, who looks like Lu Ancestral Temple, but although he doesn't abstain from alcohol and meat, he may not be a fake Taoist..." Chang Yu was even more confused when Qing Yi said this, so Qing Yi patiently explained to him the Taoist divisions within the system.
There are two branches in the north and south, Zhengyi in the south and Quanzhen in the north. Taoist priests of Zhengyi sect can live in Taoist temples and practice at home. Of course, they can also travel around the world, drink wine, eat meat and marry wives. They are scattered Taoist priests.
However, the Quanzhen Religion belongs to the Taoist monks who must practice in Taoist temples and are not allowed to eat meat or drink alcohol. The Five Precepts of the First Truth in Quanzhen Taoism’s "Precepts of the First Truth" clearly stipulate that no killing is allowed and no meat or wine is allowed... and the punishment for violating the five precepts is also clarified.
, "The Leader of the Chongyang Emperor's Punishment List" stipulates that "anyone who commits one of the four crimes of drinking, sex, wealth, energy, eating meat, will be punished"
So it turned out that this was the case. After listening to Qing Yi's popular science, Chang Yu suddenly realized, but he smiled and said: "Since you have broken the precept, break it to the end."
"I, when did I break the precept?" Qing Yi was a little panicked.
"Killing, isn't your first rule not to kill?" Chang Yu smiled.
Qing Yi also laughed: "Taoism's ahimsa is very different from Buddhism's..." Just as he was talking, Wu Mushan came running from not far away: "Shopkeeper, find a trail up the mountain."
Chang Yu said "oh" and waved to call everyone in the distance. It was not advisable to stay by the river for a long time, so he went into the mountain first.
This is a gap sandwiched in the cliff. Although it is not as vertical as the cliff, it is also very steep. It is curved like an earthworm. The snow-covered weeds, thorns and rocks inside make it difficult to move forward. Wu Mushan is leading the way with his knife.
, everyone followed and climbed up cautiously.
It took a long time to climb to the top of the cliff. Everyone was scratched in many places. The cliff was overgrown with trees and there was no path underfoot. Everyone walked in with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Kuang Ren reminded him from time to time: "Don't go too deep.
It would be terrible to get lost in the mountains..."
"We don't need to go too deep, we just need to avoid the river bank." Chang Yu said with a smile, but Wang Fuchen said: "It's not as easy as the shopkeeper thinks." He pointed forward and everyone couldn't help but sigh.
It sounds like this is full of barren mountains and ridges, with thorns and rocks blocking the road, oh no, there is no road at all!
"It's really hard to work without harvesting at night." Chen Suole sighed, and everyone nodded. Chang Yu had also done this job before and knew the hardship: "They are the most respectable people."
Everyone was tired and sweating after walking west for a long time. Yes, their faces were blown cold by the mountain wind, and their clothes were soaked. If they stopped at this time, they would catch a cold after a while, so they had to hold on.
The scalp goes on,
Turn and go south.
"Forget it, not even a single shadow of this man can be seen. There is not even a shadow of a bird or beast." Kuang Ren muttered. Chang Yu looked around and saw vast mountains. There was not even a village within ten miles of the white mountains and black waters. It was a barren mountain.
.
After walking up and down for nearly two hours, everyone was exhausted. Their underwear was wet and uncomfortable, and the boots on their feet were wet and freezing. It was miserable. Wu Mushan suggested finding a place to take shelter from the wind.
Make an open fire and grill.
But Kuang Ren was worried that the smoke would reveal his whereabouts. When he was struggling, Wang Fuchen suddenly whispered: "Is that a shed?" Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw what seemed to be a huge rock next to a huge rock twenty or thirty meters away.
The straw shed is just covered in snow and you can't tell unless you look closely.
How could there be a straw hut in this barren mountain? Could it be... Everyone suddenly became nervous. This was most likely a secret sentry set up by the thieves in the mountains, so they quickly found a place to hide their bodies. In fact, they were wearing white cloth. It was difficult to see from a distance.
It's hard to spot if you look carefully.
Kuang Ren took his bow and arrow and hid behind a tree, aiming at the thatched shed. Chang Yu and Qing Yi squatted under a rock and said to Wang Fuchen next to them: "Ma Yao, you go from the east, Wu Mushan, you go from the west..."
"
Wang Fuchen's real surname was Ma, and his nickname was Ma Yaozi. Later, Wang Jinchao's godson adopted the Wang surname, but he still liked to hear others call him Ma Yaozi. Chang Yu's name made him even happier. He nodded and touched Wu Mushan here and there.
After passing by, Qingyi also wanted to follow but Chang Yu pulled him back: "It's not time for you to take action."
Besides, Ma Yaozi and Wu Mushan took the knives and touched them lightly here and there. Kuang Ren raised his bow and took aim, while the rest of the people looked around cautiously. After a while, they arrived in front of the thatched hut. Wang Fuchen quietly
After getting on the big rock, Wu Mushanze crashed directly into it...
No one, empty.
Wu Mushan waved, and everyone rushed to the hut. There was not much space inside, and it was a hut built on rocks with branches and weeds. There were traces of fire inside, as well as some animal bones and hair.
"Is it a hidden stake?" Qing Yi asked in a low voice.
"It's hard to say." Chang Yu shook his head, and Wumu Shanze said: "It's not a hidden pile, this should be a den built by hunters in the mountains."
"How can you see it?" Chang Yu asked.
"Sir, look, the branches used to build the hay shed are at least half a year old." Wu Mushan pointed to the broken branch and said, "Look at there are so many leaves on it. It's either spring or summer. How can there be such a winter branch?"
There are so many leaves, and the bandit army can only set up hidden sentries along the river for a month or two at most... And judging from the traces, no one has been here for at least half a month. It snowed just a few days ago, and there are no footprints around the hut...
…”
Damn it, people are so careless. Everyone was very surprised. Wu Mushan pointed at the stones around the hut: "This is obviously to guard against wild beasts. Look, he dug a hole under this big stone."
The big earthen nest... Hey, there is charcoal in here, hey, we can make a fire to roast our clothes!"
How could such a coincidence and such a good thing happen?
I was just worried about not having a place to make a fire to dry my clothes, so now I brought a shack and charcoal!
Chang Yu believed that his destiny was hard, but he did not believe that his destiny was so good. He always felt that it was too much of a coincidence. Since it was a nest built by hunters, it was not an inaccessible place. There should be villages within a few miles of the surrounding area. Hunters went into the mountains to hunt at night.
He was resting in his den, but he could obviously use local materials to make a fire. Why was there charcoal? Would a hunter be so extravagant?