Zhang Xing stood on the mountain peak for a long time, looking in the direction of the east, which was the direction they came from.

When she returned, it was getting late, but the road had been crossed, and she returned much faster than when she came. Before it was completely dark, she returned to the cave.

She told the stone about her finding Oe. Shi Shi was also very excited, and hurriedly inquired how far it was, whether the river was in a hurry, whether there were boats on the river, and so on.

Zhang Xing shook her head and said, "I didn't see any ships passing by. Shi said, "At this time, it is almost winter, and it is normal for the northwest side to be cold and bitter, and there are few ships coming and going." I'll go with you tomorrow to see it, and I'll see the ship tomorrow." ”

Zhang Xing couldn't help but look at the injured leg of the stone. The stone glared at her, threw the tree aside, moved a few small steps, and showed off, "Xing'er, have you seen it?" I can walk now. ”

Zhang Xing shook his head with a smile and said, "You think that the other side of the river is a flat river, and you can't get there in a year with this way of walking." You'd better stay here, don't get rid of the old injuries, add new ones, and I'll go to see it alone tomorrow. ”

The stone sat down dejectedly, and after a while, his eyes rolled again.

Zhang Xing expected that he probably had some ghost idea in his heart again, so he sat beside him with a smile and said, "Listen to me, the road to the river is really not easy." You take care of your injuries, you get better sooner, and let's leave early. ”

To put it mildly, the stone finally nodded in agreement.

The pace of winter is getting closer and closer, and everything in the mountains and forests is depressed. But the two men in the cave were full of energy. The two began to prepare for the next trip, Zhang Xing almost every day to go to the side of the river, she had seen a good boat, big and small, but they all walked in the middle of the river, as small as ants. She really wanted to say hello loudly to see if the people on the boat responded. But she also knew that the valley was not far from here, and the people on the boat did not hear it, but alarmed the people in the mountain.

Zhang Xing also prepared a lot of food on the road, of course, those fish, meat, etc. must not be able to bring more, there is no shortage in these mountains and forests, they can catch and eat now, and they want to bring dry food that can be stored for a long time. The Li family's ancestral flatbread is baked with flour, which is both hungry and easy to carry, making it the best choice for long journeys.

But Zhang Xing can only eat, not do. But the stone used to spin around in front of his grandmother's stove, and he knew the process all too well. Zhang Xing repeatedly asked. Shishi, the only heir of the Li family, had to cook, mashed it into flour with elm bark, replaced flour, mixed it and pasted it on the stone, and roasted it underneath on a fire. The two tossed around, and they really baked a few dry and hard cakes. It's a little mushy, but it's still accessible.

Dry food is available, salt, flint, pots and pans and other necessities must also be brought.

Zhang Xing thought that when they set off, it should have been very cold, and keeping out the cold was the top priority. She weaved a few straw mats for a break on the road. He also used the fur of a few rabbits to build a shoulder in the shape of a stone. Several pairs of straw sandals were also braided.

When Zhang Xing was busy with these, the stone was not idle, under the unremitting exercise, he recovered quickly, and the injury on his neck began to scab off, and he could already get out of the cave without crutches.

But just as they were actively preparing to return home, danger was quietly approaching.

On this day, Zhang Xing walked back from the river, and when she arrived at the stream, the sun had already set. From the time she went out until now, she had eaten in the morning, and after walking such a long way, she was hungry and tired at this time. Thinking about the rest of the road, it's not far anyway. She squatted down by the stream, took water in her hand, drank a few sips, washed her face, and woke up. When he was about to get up, he noticed a few more marks by the stream.

Zhang Xing was shocked in her heart, and looked down carefully. There are many small animals in this mountain forest, and she used to find traces of them by the stream. But this time the mark was noticeably larger, not the footprints of any animal she had ever seen, but rather the hoof prints of a horse.

After a careful search, she found not only a lot of horseshoe prints, but also a lot of messy human footprints.

Apparently there are horses and people here who have been here.

Zhang Xing's heart suddenly rose to his throat, who else could the horse team appear here? Nine times out of ten, it's the people of the valley. She hurriedly flashed behind a large rock, looked around, the twilight was dull, the empty mountains were lonely, everything in the cycle had not changed from the past, but she clearly smelled the smell of danger coming.

Zhang Xing was anxious, she knew that the group of people and horses in the valley often ran to the mountains and forests, but the place she found was very remote, and these days, no one else had been found in this mountain forest except her. Now that the gang in the valley has come here, I don't know what they are here for?

Also, she found the traces they left, and she didn't know if the other party had paid attention to the traces she left.

The stone was left alone in the cave, and if it was found, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Zhang Xing saw that there was no change in the surroundings, obviously the people and horses who had come here had left, she hurriedly ran back, and after running for a while, she saw a few dim fires in the dark mountain forest in front of her. She retracted her steps, and cold sweat poured out instantly on her body. After hesitating for a while, she quietly walked over.

More than a dozen horses were scattered under a big tree, and the people on the horses had already come down, some were leading the horses to the side, some were standing with torches, and a few were squatting on the ground and didn't know what they were looking at.

Zhang Xing's eyes were sharp, and he recognized two of them at a glance - the Meng Ye in the Lihu Mountain Courtyard and the boy surnamed Jin when he was stealing things in the valley that time.

Meng Ye squatted next to the kid surnamed Jin with a torch. The boy squatted on the ground, holding a handful of dirt in his hands, his brow furrowed slightly, and he didn't know what he was looking at. After looking at it for a while, he stood up, took out a sweat towel from his sleeve, wiped his hands, pointed to the ground, and said, "Dig up here." ”

Zhang Xing felt that her mind exploded all of a sudden, her heart was pounding, and she couldn't wait to escape from here immediately, and she had a little luck in her heart.

As soon as the boy surnamed Jin fell, Meng Ye handed the torch in his hand to the person behind him and said, "Bring a shovel." ”

Someone immediately handed him a shovel. Three or four people dug together, and soon they dug up a pair of wolves that had not completely rotted, and for a time the stench was so bad that everyone covered their mouths and noses.

The kid surnamed Jin also covered his mouth and nose with a sweat towel, squatted down to look, took the shovel next to him, and flipped it over. After reading it, he smiled with his sweat towel and said, "The mouth is good." He turned to Meng Ye and said, "This wolf was bitten off first, and then he was knifed, this wolf skin has been skinned for more than a month, and the one who did it should be a novice, and the four hooves were directly chopped off." Old Meng, this person should still be in this forest. ”

Meng Ye's face was gloomy.

The boy surnamed Jin laughed again, patted Meng Ye on the shoulder, and said, "Old Meng, let's go, those two guys stole a lot of wound medicine from our camp, and I think one of them should be injured." I haven't walked for so long, and it is estimated that the injury is not yet complete, and I can't walk for a while. This mountain forest is not small, and now it is dark, and we don't have enough manpower, so don't toss people who didn't catch it, but beat the grass and startled the snake. Let's go. ”

Meng Ye listened, nodded, beckoned people to lead the horse, and several people got on the horse one after another, and left after a while.

The forest was quiet again, and Zhang Xing came out of the grass, sweating a lot before, which would blow through the cold wind, and she couldn't help but shiver.