The morning in Yucheng was as usual. Most of the people who got up early were locals, with deep features and lush beards. They wore local loose robes and tied their heads with cloth. The aroma of baked buns and naan came from unknown alleys.
The tinkling sound of forging iron constitutes the excitement of this exotic town.
The Taoist priest had already packed up and left the city.
It was still a Taoist priest wearing an old Taoist robe, holding a bamboo stick and carrying a maroon horse loaded with luggage. The girl behind him turned into a cat in the deserted alley, turning her head to look around as she walked.
It didn't take long for him to leave the city gate.
There were camel caravans leaving the city all the way, and there were also camel caravans coming from afar, but they got up early and started on their way. The camels on both sides were growing in length, and the world was filled with the sound of tinkling.
This is probably an echo of the Silk Road.
The Taoist stopped and looked back.
The city walls of Jade City are khaki, and the buildings on the top of the city are also khaki, as if they have been weathered by wind and sand, and are old and yellow. From the outside, it is difficult to tell that it has gathered hundreds of years of prosperity on the Silk Road.
It's really only been a few hundred years now.
Most likely it will be less than a thousand years.
It’s just that I don’t know how many years there will be in the future.
I don’t know if I will ever see this city again, or whether it will still look like this after many years.
"..."
Song You shook his head, retracted his gaze, and looked forward.
There is a high mountain just outside the city, like a wall. There is a gap in the gable. The road under your feet leads to the gap, and from there you climb over the mountain. The weather is so good that you can see the head all the way, and the distance is blurred in your sight.
It seems to be very short when compressed, but it makes the road appear to be extremely steep, as if it goes straight to the sky.
The camel caravan became smaller and smaller as it traveled on the road.
"Let's go." The Taoist raised his bamboo stick and said, "Sanhua Empress still has a few days to catch the mice here. After a few hundred miles, I don't know if there will be any more."
"It's a rabbit."
"Okay, okay."
"You can eat it too."
"I don't want to eat the rabbit here."
"And there's fruit!"
"Fruits don't matter." The Taoist said as he walked, "There are fruits on the mountains here, and there are fruits on the mountains ahead. It is autumn now."
"Yes..."
The cat took small steps, turned to stare at him and said.
Swallows flapped their wings and flew across the sky.
After climbing over the mountain in front of us, there are continuous green mountains again. The trees are clustered on the mountain. The cattle and sheep are like small black spots on the mountain. The camel team leads the Taoist's direction.
The grassland is full of small holes, where rabbits and mice live.
Sanhua Empress did not change her original intention. Whenever the Taoist stopped to rest, if she was close to the grassland, she would definitely catch mice. If there were wild fruit trees nearby, and the swallows would come to tell her, even on the top of the mountain, she would still carry her robe and hum.
He ran over and picked enough for a Taoist to eat for at least a day or two before returning. If there was a stream, he would go fishing, and if there was a forest, he would go hunting.
Every evening when I choose a camping spot, I take Swallow to chop firewood, specifically picking larch trees that are rich in oil, and chop them with my decapitation sword. The trees will break with a single swing.
At the turn of sunset, the land in the Western Region was dark, and the sunset turned the sky into blood. A group of camels walked in the silhouette of the dusk. Behind them, there was a Taoist, a bay-red horse, and another one that raised its paws but stopped.
The figure of the cat turned his head and looked into the distance.
The morning is cool, and the green hills are a bit more beautiful. Thousands of horses are galloping on the hillside like a torrent, and the Taoist party is also walking on the ridge of the green hills.
When you walk there and open your mind, the heaven and earth seem to be echoing a majestic song.
Cats make this process gentle again.
We walked like this for about ten days.
Ten days later, Song You and his bay-red horse gradually climbed to a pass on the Tianshan Mountains.
The locals cross the Tianshan Mountains from here.
At this time, some places below the mountain have begun to turn yellow, and it has snowed on the top of the mountain. I don’t know if it is snow all year round, but it has been covered with a thick layer now. Empress Sanhua felt that it was too cold, so she huddled in her robe and hung it.
On the horse's back, it kept swaying as the horse moved.
Until you reach the top of the pass.
Song You looked into the distance and immediately saw the Tianshan Mountains behind the so-called Tianshan Mountains.
At this time, we are standing at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains. There are numerous snow-capped peaks on the left and right. They are endless, like a line and a wall, dividing most of the Western Region into two halves. There are few clouds today, and through the heavy obstructions, through the gaps in the thin clouds,
Looking over, you can see that the land below is slightly yellowish in color and is a rolling grassland. At the end of the grassland, there is a snow-capped mountain higher than the Tianshan Mountains.
The snow-capped mountains tower into the clouds and sit on the green and yellow grassland. The lower half is mostly made of dark, almost black stones, while the upper half is mainly snow-white. They are far away, but they are still huge in sight.
As if she sensed that the horse was not leaving, there was a movement in the robe, revealing traces of the cat twisting its chrysalis inside. Her little plum blossom feet were highlighted several times on the gray-white cloth. It was unknown whether this little thing was originally inside.
Why are you sleeping? There is not much movement.
After a few times, she poked her head out. With sleepy eyes, she immediately turned her head and looked around.
"Are we here? It's so cold!"
"No."
The Taoist glanced at her and answered calmly.
"Then why don't you leave?"
"Stop and look at the scenery."
"Well……"
"The mountain is already in front of you."
"How long have you been sleeping for, Sanhua Empress?"
"It's been a while."
"It's been so long..."
The cat scratched in the quilt again, looked down at the snow on the ground, jumped out of the quilt with difficulty, and then fell straight into the snow with a pop.
"Let Empress Sanhua take a look..."
The cat murmured as he got up, raised his head and looked at the mountain in the distance. He walked on the snow, but fell over and almost fell to the ground several times.
"Miss Sanhua, be careful, the snow is soft."
"It's not that the snow is soft, it's because sand got into Sanhua Empress's legs." The calico cat looked serious, but it didn't really care, "If sand gets in, it will become unstable."
"Where did the sand on this mountain come from?"
"It's a lot of little dots in the feet. Sometimes they appear when you wake up. They dangle inside when you walk."
"oh……"
Song You calmly looked away from her: "My legs are numb."
"Can people do it too?"
"Me too."
"Would you do the same?"
"rare."
"Why?"
"Because I sleep more honestly."
"Well……"
The cat shook its head and continued to walk forward stiffly. It didn't stop until it reached the Taoist's feet, looking up and staring at the mountains in the distance without moving.
"Is that the mountain?"
"yes."
"So tall and big."
"yes."
Taoists have already felt its aura.
There was a chill blowing towards my face.
If nothing else, the land hundreds or thousands of miles ahead of the mountains will probably be colder than other areas with similar latitudes and altitudes.
"The ground is so wet!"
"It's naturally cold in the snow." Song You said to her, "Miss Sanhua has no shoes on, so she should go back to her clothes."
"Miss Sanhua, please stop and look at the scenery." Mao'er shook her head. In order to imitate him, she ignored the coldness of the ice and snow under her feet, but she was also relaxed. She turned around and looked around, then found a protruding piece of land on the mountain that was not covered with snow.
He walked up to the stone stiffly, then climbed up with difficulty, "That's good."
"Miss Sanhua is smart."
"It would be great if we had a pair of wings like swallows. We wouldn't have to climb such a mountain so hard. We could fly over it with just one wing and our feet wouldn't get cold."
"Miss Sanhua, are your legs still numb?"
"There are still a lot of little dots, but some are missing." The cat felt it carefully. Although it was uncomfortable, it didn't care, "They will run away after a while."
"I have an idea."
"Meow? What can you do?"
The cat immediately looked up at him, his eyes bright, wanting to learn something more from him.
"Which leg of Sanhua Empress got stuck in the sand?"
"The one at the back, on the right."
"If there is sand in your body, you have to shake it off. If there is sand in your legs, you have to stamp your feet." Song You said to her, raising his right foot to signal, "Like this, raise it high, make sure
Don't have any distracting thoughts or worries in your mind, take a deep breath, and then step on it as hard as you can without them paying attention."
As he spoke, he stepped into the snow.
There was a bang and a footprint was made.
"In this way, those little dots will run away cleanly." Song You said and paused, "Of course, the snow is soft and it won't work. The stones under Sanhua Empress's feet are just right."
"Meow like this?"
The cat raised his right foot.
"peace in the heart."
"No distracting thoughts~"
The cat stared at him with a serious expression.
"Take a deep breath."
"Take a deep breath~"
The cat's abdomen was heaving.
"Step!"
"clatter……"
The calico cat on the stone suddenly opened its eyes wide, and its pupils also dilated. The wonderful feeling at this moment made her feel that her whole leg was full of small dots shaking violently, and it even reached the point where these small dots were about to be shaken out.
They will make many holes in the legs.
"Let's go."
The Taoist looked calm and stepped forward.
"Ding ding ding..."
The bay-red horse looked back at her and stepped to follow her.
The calico cat stood there, staring at the backs of the Taoist and the horse after the dullness in his expression faded. He couldn't help but remain silent. In the silence, he was thoughtful, as if he had really gained something.
He immediately limped after him.
Three days later——
A group of people went from one snow mountain to another. They had looked at this place at the pass of Tianshan Mountain. Now they looked back at Tianshan Mountain at the foot of this mountain. They saw the road they came from and the huge gap between the two mountains. Only then did they realize that they had crossed the mountain in these three days.
What a distance we have passed. We have obviously traveled thousands of mountains and rivers, and the distance is hundreds of thousands of miles, but I actually feel a slight sense of accomplishment.
This mountain is called "Kareela" by the locals, which probably means the god of ice and snow.
Song You could still see its true appearance in the distance, but when he got closer, he could no longer see it at all. He could only feel the biting cold in the mountain, the thick spiritual energy, and the mysterious aura.
…
Golden Jasmine launches a plan to save expired monthly tickets——
It’s the end of another month, and this month’s monthly ticket is about to expire again. If you still have it, please vote for Sanhua Empress!