"Iron kettle—"

From time to time, there were people shouting in the crowd with torches, apparently looking for the man named Iron Kettlehead.

As the torch-carrying crowd approached, they spotted the squad members walking towards the village, one of whom was a middle-aged man wearing a fur hat and a pair of rabbit fur earrings on his ears, and asked alarmedly, "Who are you?" Why did you come to our Black Wind Mouth Rock Flat? ”

Several young men accompanying the middle-aged man pointed their spears at the squad members.

"We are passing through here, no, the snow is strong and the wind is strong, I want to take shelter in your village." Li Ruzhu said loudly.

"Do you see a middle-aged man on the road?" The man in the fur hat asked.

"We found a frozen man in the woods we were walking through, I wonder if it was the person you were looking for?" Li Ruzhu replied.

Hearing Li Ruzhu's words, Shi Tianji carefully placed the person on his shoulder on the snow in front of the man in the fur hat.

Someone on the other side immediately raised the torch in his hand to the frozen man's face on the ground.

"Third brother, iron kettle, wake up!" Under the light of the torches, the man in the fur hat saw the face of the man lying on the ground, and immediately shouted loudly to the man who was lying down.

"Iron kettle, isn't this the guide that the team members are looking for?" Hearing the man in the fur hat shouting to the man on the ground, Luo Shiyin's heart tightened, and he couldn't help but look at the man lying on the snow.

"He still has a trace of breath, everyone hurry up and save him." Li Ruzhu said to the other crowd.

"Who the hell are you? Was my third brother harmed like this by you? Say it quickly, or I'll kill you! The man in the fur hat stood up and was very emotional. Several young men behind him rushed forward and pressed their spears against the chests of the squad members.

"Don't get me wrong, when we found him, he was frozen in the snow. When we saw that he was still alive, we carried him and walked towards the village, hoping that he would be rescued sooner. Think about it, if we hurt him, why did we carry him to the village? Luo Shiyin said loudly.

"Second brother, don't get excited. The brother has a point. Don't waste time, hurry up and carry the third brother back to rescue, otherwise, it will be too late. At this time, a thin man with a mustache walked out of the crowd on the other side, and after this person finished speaking to the man in the fur hat, he walked up to the members of the squad and continued: "Thank you for saving my third brother, it's getting late, please come with us into the village." ”

The man in the fur hat did not dare to slack off, leaned over and picked up the frozen man on the ground, and walked quickly towards the village.

"Several, please." The thin man turned around last and made a respectful gesture of please to the team.

Luo Shiyin led the team members to follow each other and walked towards the village.

Walking on the thick snow, walking about half a kilometer, a naturally formed single-arch stone bridge appeared in front of it, and below the huge stone arch was a bottomless abyss. The bridge deck is about three meters wide and can be passed by two or three people.

In order to ensure that the unfamiliar team passed through the bridge safely, the thin man specially called two torchbearers from the front and asked them to lead the way for the team members.

After crossing the stone arch bridge, several tall and stout square stone pillars appeared in front of you, and the stone pillars have been somewhat weathered due to the wind erosion of the years.

Between the stone pillars, there is a path of stone steps. Walking up the stone steps, through a circular arch between two of the tall stone pillars, a magnificent abandoned castle emerges in front of it, which, although covered in snow, can still be seen in the partially exposed ruins.

The whole castle is distributed in a circle, and the several huge stone pillars in front of the arch just passed should be the load-bearing pillars of the stone wall in front of the entire castle, and the walls connected between them seem to have collapsed and damaged with the passage of time, leaving only these stone pillars to vaguely show the existence of his predecessors.

The interior of the castle is full of ruined walls of varying heights, and they look more and more desolate and dilapidated under the cover of snow.

After nearly twenty minutes of walking through the ruins of a labyrinthine castle, we finally came to a row of cave-like stone houses behind the labyrinth.

Judging from the faint light emitted from the stone houses, these stone houses should be the residences of the villagers.

"it, make the bed quickly, the third brother is frozen outside." Before anyone could enter the door, the man in the fur hat shouted loudly into the illuminated door in front of him.

An answer came from inside the door, and then the small wooden door was opened, revealing the dirty face of a middle-aged Korean woman.

"Get out of the way, is the bed made?" The man in the fur hat yelled at the Zhongnan woman who was blocking the door and rushed into the room. His swift form nearly knocked the middle-aged woman into him.

The woman did not dare to complain, but hurried back to the room in three steps and two steps, and made the bed at the west gable before the man in the fur hat did.

"Third brother, what's wrong?" The middle-aged woman asked timidly.

"The woman asks less. Hurry up and get the quilt. The man in the fur hat said impatiently.

The woman hurried to the cupboard next to the bed, took out a thick quilt from it, and walked over to cover the frozen man who had been placed on the bed.

"Go outside and get some snow!" The man in the fur hat said to the middle-aged woman in a commanding tone as he took off his clothes, shoes and hat for the man on the bed.

The woman stooped down and picked up a wooden basin from the ground and ran outside to fetch snow.

The thin man let the squad members into the house.

After a while, women and old people crowded in from outside the door, and after they entered the door, they all asked anxiously about the condition of the frozen man. It seems that they (she) are the leaders of the owner, and they rushed to greet them after getting the news.

The thin man greeted the team members while patiently answering the inquiries of his neighbors.

The snow was fetched. The man in the fur hat hurriedly exposed the frozen man's legs and feet, and scrubbed them with the snow that had just come from outside. After scrubbing the frozen man's hands and feet to a little warm, he exposed the frozen man's chest again, and then pressed hard with both hands.

With a breath coming out of the frozen man's throat, he finally woke up.

"Third brother, you finally woke up. It scares the hell out of me! The man in the fur hat stopped pressing, took off the fur hat, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. I love Chinese.com

"Third brother, wake up." The thin man walked up to the bed and touched the man's head with his hand.

"Big brother, second brother, where am I?" The man in bed did not seem to be fully awake.

"Isn't this at your second brother's house?" The thin man said.

"Oh, you see I'm all frozen." The man on the bed seemed to understand.

"Third brother, what are you doing?" The man in the fur hat just now asked anxiously.

"I ...... In the afternoon, I wanted to go to see if the noose I had laid in the grove at the mouth of the valley to see if the prey had been trapped, but I could not tell where it was because of the heavy snow, so I ended up trapping myself and being hung in mid-air. I just remember that I struggled and screamed desperately, and slowly, I was frozen unconscious, and I don't know what happened next. The man on the bed slurred his words, as if he had something to hide.

"Third brother, it was these friends who found you in the snow. If it weren't for them, I'm afraid your life would be gone. Don't hurry up and thank them! The thin man said to the man on the bed.

"That'...... Thank you. The man on the bed tried to raise his head and said to the team members in a weak voice.

"You're welcome, it's just a gesture. We're all happy to see your friend wake up. Luo Shiyin said politely.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce to my friends that he is the head of this village in Xiaqiu. This is my second brother Qiu Yunzhong. Lying on the bed is my third brother Qiu Yunxia, and everyone is used to calling him Iron Kettlehead. After the thin man introduced himself, he pointed to the man in the fur hat and the man lying on the bed just now and introduced the team.

"We only occasionally pass by here and see that it is dark, so we have to come to your village to disturb us." Luo Shiyin wanted to find out his intentions to the other party, but when he saw the weak appearance of the iron kettle head lying on the bed, he temporarily dismissed the plan to ask the other party to be a guide.

"You see, I patronized the third brother, but I forgot to entertain your benefactors. I guess you haven't eaten dinner yet. Second brother and daughter-in-law, you and a few other women hurry up and prepare dinner for these friends and the third brother. Qiu Yunshang commanded.

Several women in the house heard the command and hurried to the stove outside to prepare the meal.

"Second brother, help me get out of bed. I want to move my hands and feet. "As the women went out to prepare their meals, the iron kettle head lying on the bed sat up.

Hearing the words of the third brother, Qiu Yunzhong hurriedly walked over, helped the iron kettle head off the bed, and kept nagging: "Third brother, you said that on this snowy day, what kind of prey did you go out to!" If you have three long and two short, how can my eldest brother and I explain to our dead father! In the future, you are not allowed to be so free and casual, let your sister-in-law find a girl for you from the outside to start a family and live a good life, what's wrong? It's better than you wandering around all day! ”

"Okay, second brother, you don't mumble anymore. I know my brother. When I make a lot of money in the future, I promise to marry you a beautiful brother and daughter-in-law. The iron kettle put on his clothes and shoes, and stood on the ground to try it out.

"Just that little prey you've been wearing all day? It's not enough for you to buy it! Earn a lot of money, you think big money is so easy to earn! Qiu Yunzhong continued to mumble.

"Alright, second brother. I don't bother with you. I'll go home first, and I'll be back for dinner later. Tell my sister-in-law not to forget to keep me food. After saying this, the iron kettle did not greet the other people in the house, and walked alone through a small door in the gable wall, towards his own house.

The dozen or so families living in this rock flat all belong to one large family, and for the sake of convenience, the dozen or so cave-like houses they live in are all connected by small doors to facilitate the care of each other.

"Just look like you're a hanger, and I'll leave you food! If it weren't for the fact that you were frozen like this today, I would have starved you to death! Qiu Yunzhong looked at the back of the third brother Tie Kettle leaving, and he was angry.

"Okay, second brother, it's not a day or two since the third brother looks like this. Don't get angry, take your time. Qiu Yunshang comforted Qiu Yunzhong.

While everyone was talking, the meal was ready.

The head of the iron kettle seemed to be able to smell the smell of the food from a long distance, and as soon as the meal was served, he walked back from the house on time.

"Oh, the food cooked by my second sister-in-law is so delicious, I can eat two more bowls." After the iron kettle head entered the door, he sat on the stool that had already been set up, picked up the rice bowl and ate, completely ignoring the guests in the house.

"Third brother, don't you see that there are so many guests here? Isn't it rude that the guest hasn't moved the chopsticks yet, but you eat it first? Seeing the third brother's rude behavior, Qiu Yunshang was a little angry.

The iron kettle seemed to be more afraid of his eldest brother, and Qiu Yun's few words that were not salty or light made the iron kettle head immediately put down the dishes and chopsticks, and grinned awkwardly at the team members present to apologize. The few big yellow teeth that were exposed when he grinned made Ye Ruliu, who was sitting opposite the head of the iron kettle, sick to his stomach for a while, and his appetite suddenly weakened a lot.

"It's okay, it's okay, it seems that Brother Iron Kettle is indeed hungry. Hurry up and eat, or the food will be cold. Luo Shiyin hurriedly played a round.

"Come on, come on, everyone, please eat first. There are no good things in this wilderness mountain village, so I hope you will forgive me. Qiu Yunshang warmly greeted the team members.

"Yes, yes, eat more. If it weren't for the help of my friends, my third brother might have ...... Phew, look at my stinky mouth, you should be beaten! Qiu Yunzhong wanted to persuade the team to eat more food, but he thought that his words were a little crooked, so he quickly stopped.

"The two hosts don't have to be polite. They are all cheerful people, and they don't need to be so polite. Li Ruzhu said.

"Okay, everyone eat and drink enough, and have a good rest here tonight." Qiu Yunshang said briskly.

During the whole meal, Luo Shiyin's heart was always thinking about how to ask the iron kettle to be a guide. But this iron kettle head was like a starving ghost, just burying his head in his mouth and pulling food, ignoring everyone present, so Luo Shiyin never found a suitable opportunity to make a request to the other party.

After dinner, Qiu Yunshang asked people to clean up the room and let the team members rest early.

"My lord, how do I think this iron kettle doesn't look like a reliable person, can he be our guide?" Before going to bed, Shi Lang asked Luo Shiyin in a whisper.

"We'll see tomorrow." Luo Shiyin said thoughtfully to Shi Lang.

The snow in the mountains was extremely cold at night, and although the team members were wrapped in thick quilts, they still rushed to get a cool breeze through the dilapidated doors and windows.

The north wind was howling outside the window, and the team members who had been running around for a day still quickly fell asleep.

"Whew-w-"

In the middle of the night, from the top of the mountain peak on the right side of the valley, a long howl of a wild wolf was clearly heard. Immediately after, the wolf howls came and went.

In the bleak moonlight, hundreds of ferocious wolves gathered together, led by a huge male wolf who was blind in his left eye, rushed down the steep hillside towards the rock flat under the cliff.