Chapter Seventy-Three: Maple Township
The conversation with Qiuhua, Chunquan didn't pay much attention to it. He took his two children to the pond to catch fish.
When the other children in the village saw it, they also followed, and Chunquan was like a child king, taking everyone to fish by the water.
The water was biting in winter, and he didn't let the children go into the water, and he pulled his trousers and stuck them inside. He had a good technique, and in a short time he was able to touch the fish. The children screamed again and again.
With the experience of Liuxi Village, Shumin and the others were very smooth in Xiushui Township, stayed for two days and then continued on the road, and then they went to Anyang Township, Xiahe Township, and Zilu Township, and each township stayed for almost two or three days. These townships are not far away, about half a day's journey or so, but the next township they go to is relatively remote, and they need to cross the mountains and mountains for two days.
Maple Township is famous for its overgrown maple trees, and it is said that the scenery is particularly beautiful in autumn, and Maple Township is also famous for its maple sugar, which has been the main source of income for Maple Township before.
However, Fengshu Township is different from other townships, and the villages there are scattered in a mountain range called Tiandu Peak, and the mountain roads are extremely rugged.
Shumin abandoned his horse on foot, climbing mountains and mountains to reach it.
Fortunately, Fengshu Township had already received the letter, and sent someone to guide the way early, otherwise in the huge mountain range, there was a tall canopy overhead, and it was really sky and sun, and it was difficult to distinguish the direction, and Shumin and the others were likely to not even find the road and get lost in the mountains.
"How did you choose to be in this mountain? How inconvenient!" Da Li asked the new guide, Uncle He.
He Bo smiled and said, "It is rumored that our ancestors fled here, and at that time, there was a shortage of soldiers outside, so they hid in the mountains. We've been like this for generations, and we're used to it. ”
"Then you haven't thought about moving out again?" Da Li continued.
"I don't move, I have taken root. Besides, it's good in the mountains, you people from other towns don't understand!" He Bo laughed.
Da Li pursed his lips and thought: What is good in the mountains, if you want to go to the town to catch a market, you have to walk for two or three days.
He Bo knew what she was thinking, and he didn't argue, and happily led the way in front.
After walking for a long time, there was no rest for a moment, and Shumin's women had already staggered, and even Shude felt that his legs and feet were swollen and heavy.
Although the big and small Li families are all peasant women, and they don't work in the fields on weekdays, but there are two concepts in the flat land and climbing mountains and mountains, not to mention Shumin, her foundation is not as good as the big and small Li families.
"There's a spring in front of us, let's go somewhere to rest, and eat some dry food by the way, and we must rush to the Shili Pavilion before dark, where there is a pavilion for passers-by to spend the night. ”
He Bo is familiar with the road, he has walked this road all his life, and there are a few bends and streams that are clear.
"I can finally rest. As soon as they heard that they could rest, they finally found the spring.
"It's such a sweet spring water, Shumin, you can taste it. Xiao Li scooped the water with his hands, and said to Shumin after tasting it.
"It's really sweet. Shumin also exclaimed.
"Of course, this is drilled out of the ground, and it will not be exhausted all year round, and it has the effect of curing diseases!" said He Bo triumphantly.
As soon as they heard that it could cure diseases, both Li and Shude Cheng Sheng couldn't wait to take a few sips. They don't know if it can cure the disease, but the spring water is sweet, and the people's hearts and spleens and fatigue seem to be swept away.
After a short rest by the water's edge, Shumin continued to move. Although the speed was not fast, I finally arrived at the pavilion before dark.
This pavilion is not the kind of pavilion that is ventilated on all sides, but a pavilion similar to a temple with walls open on three sides.
The pavilion is at least a hundred years old and is full of traces of tinkering. Shu Min brushed those traces with his hand, and thought to himself: Who repaired these places to make such a wild pavilion stand for a hundred years?
"These are patched up before passers-by leave. Something has to be done to spend the night here. I saw Shumin's doubts.
"yes, that's nice. As he spoke, he plucked a few weeds that had seeped into the wall.
He Bo looked at her, touched his beard and smiled, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
The group made a fire, ate dry food, chatted for a while, and then found a place to sleep. After a long day of walking, everyone was tired.
At night, a wolf howl suddenly came out, and more than a dozen wild wolves came out of nowhere.
"Oh my God, how can there be a wolf!" the big and small Li clan trembled with fright and hid behind Shumin. Shumin was also very scared, the wolves were very scary at night, and even the tigers had to take a detour when they saw them.
Shude and Cheng Sheng immediately pulled out the big knife of the yamen, and He Bo picked up a piece of wood that was still burning, and put several women behind him.
"It is estimated that the weather is too cold, and these wild wolves have come to the temple to take shelter. He said.
This is not unprecedented. Someone once encountered it, and people were so scared that they didn't dare to go out in winter. It's just that in recent years, the wolf pack seems to have migrated, and it hasn't appeared for several years. I didn't expect to be bumped into by them tonight.
Led by a large gray wolf with a ring of white fur around his neck, he let out a dull howl to warn the people inside the temple that this was their territory.
"What should I do?" Shude is young in the end, and his psychological quality is poor, and his voice is a little trembling at the moment.
"Be calm, don't act rashly!" Cheng Sheng reminded him. He had worked as a hunter before he caught a pack, and he knew what to do when he encountered a pack of wolves.
"Two sisters-in-law, bring more dry firewood from the back and make the fire bigger. ”
Animals are afraid of fire, thinking of this, he said to the big and small Li with a side face.
The big and small Li dragged their trembling feet and hurriedly added dry wood to the fire, and in a flash, the flames were high and bright.
The flames were imprinted in the green eyes of the wild wolves, and they were both a little frightened and a little unwilling, so the two sides confronted each other.
Inside the pavilion, Shude and Cheng Sheng were carrying big knives to the wolves, while Shumin and the others were sitting around or behind them, looking nervously and fearfully outside the pavilion.
Outside the pavilion, the wolf gradually lost his patience and began to walk back and forth, moaning restlessly.
It seems that the wolves are either attacking or retreating.
Everyone's hearts heard the throat, beads of sweat oozed from their foreheads, and Shude held the big knife in his hand tighter. Shu Min also took out the dagger that Zhongchun had borrowed in his arms. Even Xiao Li touched his hand on a lit stick.
Just when everyone is ready to fight desperately and fight against the water. The head wolf hissed and let out a long roar. The wolves received the order and began to disperse into the jungle.
Shu Min and the others let out a long breath when they saw that the wolves were far away, and they found that their backs were soaked.
Frightened by the wolves, everyone no longer had the mood to sleep, and gathered around the fire to wait for dawn.
The sky is still slightly white, and the morning star has not yet gone down. They packed up their things, fled away from the pavilion, and ran toward the village.
There was still a day to go, but they had to rush for most of the day.
The center of Maple Township is, of course, Maple Village, and the village chief is waiting at the entrance of the village with the people of the village, but he sees Shumin and his party rushing in a hurry, and his face is crimson because of the hurry. When he arrived at the entrance of the village, he saw that everyone took a breath, and the wolf sat on the ground and gasped for breath.
The people in the village didn't know why, and thought they were not used to walking the mountain road. So he hurriedly helped them up and said politely
"The mountain road is rough, but you are fortunate that we have prepared delicious food, please move. ”
"It doesn't matter if it's rough, the key is that there are wolves. Shude gasped and said intermittently.
"It's very rare to have wolves, and there are big tigers! We hunted a tiger a while ago, and we made wine for its bones, so why should the little brother have a drink later?"
"A few distinguished guests are tired, so let them go and rest first. It's still early, and the food is still in the pot!" said another man who looked like a hunter next to him.
"Look at my confusion. Let's go to the room and rest first. Li Zheng hurriedly ordered the people in the village to take them to their lodgings.
Although Maple Village is located in the mountains, it has a large population. They specially cleaned up a yard for Shumin to live alone. Two women were also sent to serve them.
"Come, try this tea, it's made with maple sugar. The woman had already boiled the water, and made tea for them, and the people thanked them, and took up their cups and drank them all. Just like Zhu Bajie eats the fruit of life, he doesn't even taste anything. They were so frightened by the wolves before dawn that they didn't get a drop of water along the way. At this moment, I feel tired, thirsty, and hungry.
The village woman didn't know why, but when she saw that they had finished drinking the tea in one sip, when they liked the tea, she hurriedly made them another cup. After three cups in a row, everyone felt better.
"Oh my mother, I'm finally coming back to my senses, my heart is still pounding. Da Li patted his chest and said.
"Where are we doing a mistake, it's just playing with our lives!" Shude also patted his chest in the appearance of the Great Li Family.
"As a fast catcher, don't you have any consciousness at all?" **** glanced at him and said lightly.
"Hahaha, you're embarrassed to talk about me. Do you dare to say that you are not afraid?" Shude pushed back.
"At least my feet weren't shaking. "**** seems to be on a par with him this time, making fun of him about last night's events. It turned out that when he faced the wolves two days ago, Shude's hand was tightly holding the big knife, and he looked like he was at home, but his feet were trembling, destroying his image of being heroic and invincible.
"Do you want us to go out and have a fight now? Shude was not convinced.
"You've beaten me somewhere. Cheng Sheng said disdainfully
The two of them quarreled, but the fear in everyone's hearts was dispelled a lot, and several women relaxed a lot.
The two village women had heard something from the conversation, and when they heard that they had met a wild wolf in the pavilion at night, the two women immediately had their eyes shining and ran out in a hurry.