In the weeds of the rocks by the river, Shi Lang and the woman found the horse that had fallen. The rocks had already punctured the horse's body, and the red blood was lying down into the river along the gaps between the rocks.

Looking at the mount that had died tragically, the woman's eyes flashed with tears, and she walked over and gently stroked the neck of her beloved ride, unwilling to leave for a long time.

"Girl's day mourning, don't grieve too much." Looking at the woman's sad appearance, Shi Lang stood aside and comforted.

"This is a birthday present from a good sister of mine when I was eighteen years old, and it has been with me for many years, and I didn't expect to die here today." The woman choked up.

"yes, it's a lifesaver for me, too. Let's bury it here. ”

Hearing Shi Lang's words, the woman stopped crying, untied a pair of bag-like bags from her horse, and then stepped out of the rocks with her feet and placed the bags on a flat ground.

"This place is full of rocks, and it is impossible to bury it. Let's get some branches to cover it and bury it. The woman said, taking a knife from her bag.

"Thanks to the fact that the girl carries a knife with her, it is much more convenient."

"Childe actually doesn't know that walking in this big mountain, the locals generally carry all kinds of knives with them, one can defend themselves, and the other is that when they encounter overgrown weeds and have no road, they can use it to cut grass and open the way."

While the two were talking, they came to a few podocarpus trees. Shi Lang took the knife from the woman's hand, pinned it to his waist and climbed up the tree.

"Childe, be careful, stay safe." The woman looked up at Shi Lang, who had already climbed the tree, and shouted.

"No problem, girl, walk back, don't let the branches hit you." Shi Lang reminded loudly, and only when he saw that the woman had retreated to a safe distance did he start cutting down the branches.

Shi Lang climbed on several podocarpus trees in a row to cut down branches. By the time he jumped from the last tree, the ground was full of podocarpus pine branches.

"It should be enough." Shi Lang, who jumped to the ground, said to the woman.

"Then trouble the prince and me to carry these branches together, and bury my horse under these green podocarpus pine branches."

"Okay."

The two gently covered the horses lying on the rocks with the branches they had cut from the trees.

"Drew, thank you for all these years. Rest in peace! Looking at the green tombs piled high in the rubble, the woman folded her hands and prayed silently for Aiqi.

"It's getting dark, let's find a place to live." Seeing that the woman had finished praying, Shi Lang glanced at the sky and said to the woman.

"It's hard to find a place to live under this cliff. Besides, even if you find it, even if you don't get eaten by fierce beasts on this summer night, you will be bitten to death by insects and mosquitoes. The woman glanced at her surroundings and said to Shi Lang.

"Then we should be able to get out if we go along the river." Shi Lang said as he looked at the slowly flowing river in front of him.

"It seems that Childe rarely walks in the mountains on such southern summer nights. In fact, at night, the banks of the river are extremely dangerous places, and many large beasts tend to come to the shore at night to hunt for water. Therefore, the most taboo thing for the locals is to walk along the river in this situation. ”

"So what to do?"

"The only way to get out safely is to make a raft and go down the river."

"Where can I find a raft?"

"We take local materials and make them ourselves."

The woman, who seemed to be very experienced in dealing with the difficulties in front of her, led Shi Lang to some tall neem trees.

"The hard, aromatic wood of this neem tree repels insects and mosquitoes, and its trunk is easy to work with and highly resistant to decay, making it an excellent material for rafts. We can use its bark to tie a few trunks to make a simple raft. The woman pointed to the neem tree and said to Shi Lang.

"Then let me do it." Hearing the woman's words, Shi Lang suddenly became interested, and he snatched the knife from the woman's hand and prepared to go to cut down the tree. Cutting trees in the mountains and making rafts, this is the first time in Shi Lang's life.

Shi Lang came to the thickest neem tree, picked up his knife and prepared to cut it.

"Stop, stop! Don't cut it yet. This stout neem tree has a heavier trunk and is not suitable for making rafts. Childe should try to find some thinner neem trees as well. ”

Ever since seeing his lover die tragically, the woman was depressed, and Shi Lang wanted to find an opportunity to liven up the atmosphere and help the woman get out of her pain. Now that the opportunity has come, Shi Lang exaggeratedly hugged the neem tree in front of him, kissed it heavily on the tree, and then said to the trunk with remorse: "Brother Da Shu, I'm sorry." If it hadn't been for a young lady to stop it in time, I would have hurt you. I'm sorry. I was wrong! ”

Seeing Shi Lang's funny appearance, the woman smiled, her face that had been solemn because she had lost her love to ride was much soothed, and she walked under the three smaller neem trees and said to Shi Lang, "These three." It is enough to make a raft from them. ”

Shi Lang walked to the three neem trees selected by the woman, chose a good position, and cut down the three trees one after another with a knife.

"Remove the stray branches from the trunk and then peel off the bark of the neem tree to make long strips about three centimeters wide. Cut the trunk into four metre long segments for later use. Okay, let's start bundling the raft next. The most important thing about this bundle is not to tie the longitudinal trunks together to the beams, because in this case, if the bundled tree strips loosen in the water, the whole raft may fall apart. The correct way is to tie the longitudinally arranged wooden strips one by one to the front and back of the two horizontal logs, and then connect them as a whole. The advantage of this is that even if one stick comes loose in the water, it will not affect the other sticks, and the whole raft will not fall apart. ”

Under the guidance of the woman, Shi Lang and the woman cooperated with each other, and soon tied up a raft nearly two meters wide.

"Looks good." Shi Lang looked at the small raft made of neem trunk lying at his feet, and felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart.

"Let's make two oars from the chopped branches, not too long, two or three meters." As she spoke, the woman took two longer branches from the cut branches, and continued, "These two will do." ”

"Okay, leave it to me." Shi Lang took the branches one by one, cut off their ends to make two wooden sticks, and then asked, "Is this okay?" ”

"Flatten one end of them to make an oar, which is good for paddling."

"Thanks to the girl's experience, otherwise I wouldn't have known how to deal with the dilemma in front of me." Shi Lang followed the woman's suggestion and flattened the thicker ends of the two sticks.

"Childe is polite. I just lived in this environment for a long time and knew a little common sense. ”

"So what's next?" Shi Lang finished sharpening the wooden strip and asked.

"Next, we can board the raft and go. This little raft is big enough to hold both of us. Come, let's carry the raft to the shore," looking at the work of the two, the woman's mood was much better than just now.

The two worked together to carry the raft to shore. By the time Shi Lang returned to his place and brought the two oars back to the shore, the woman had already pushed the raft into the water.

"Give me the oars. Childe, you go up first. I'll hold the raft steady for you. The woman took the oars from Shi Lang's hand.

"Isn't this water deep?" Shi Lang looked at the raft in the water, and didn't know how to get up for a while.

Shi Lang grew up in Beijing with his father, and it was the first time in his life that he boarded such a simple raft.

"Don't be afraid, childe. You straddle one leg first, stand firm and then stand on the other leg. Seeing Shi Lang's frightened face, a strong desire to protect suddenly rose in the woman's heart.

Shi Lang stepped onto the raft as the woman instructed, and Shi Lang almost fell into the water due to the physical incoordination caused by fear.

"Okay, that's all. Stand firm. Seeing Shi Lang's somewhat clumsy appearance, the woman couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Childe doesn't seem to have taken this kind of raft, right?" ”

"This is the first time I've boarded such a high-class wooden boat. Somewhat nervous. Shi Lang said self-deprecatingly in order to get out of the predicament.

"No problem, with this first time, you will get used to it later. Stand up, I'm coming up. The woman handed Shi Lang an oar in her hand, then jumped on the raft and stood behind Shi Lang.

The raft shook because of the woman's jump, and Shi Lang panicked again, and his body fell towards the side of the raft.

The woman's eyes were quick, and she grabbed Shi Lang's arm and straightened his body.

It made the girl laugh again. If I had gone down just now, I was afraid that the girl would have fallen into the water with me. Shi Lang said gratefully.

"As long as we both stand firm, there will be no problem, just rest assured. Come, let's go one after the other, one on each side, and the two oars will exert force at the same time. Hey, yes. Paddle like that. Okay, the raft is moving. You stop paddling over there, and I'll paddle the raft into the center of the river as far as I can. Okay, it's time to paddle. The raft has entered the center of the river. ”

Under the guidance of the woman, Shi Lang stood behind the woman, and soon became familiar with the essentials of paddling, and the small raft carried the two of them safely towards the lower reaches of the river.

The creek under the summer night is noisy, like the chirping of frogs; the chirping of mosquitoes; the sound of gurgling water; There are also all kinds of natural sounds made by birds and beasts in the grass and woods on the shore. A variety of sounds make up a summer night symphony.

A pair of cute little turtles were lying on a dead log on the water, and when they saw the arrival of the small raft, they first stretched their necks curiously to look at it, and when the raft approached, they fled into the water in a panic.

As the woman said, from time to time in the grass and low trees on the shore, the sharp and frightening eyes of tigers and leopards and other fierce beasts were found.

The two worked together to keep the raft firmly in the middle of the river.

"Actually, the river is not deep. Don't worry, Childe. ”

"I'm feeling better with the girl here."

"Childe is coming to Zhejiang for the first time?"

"No, I've been here a few times. Actually, my ancestors were also southerners. ”

"Who else is in that son's family?"

"My father died a few years ago. It was just me and my old mother. ”

"The old man is in good health."

"It's ok. Eat fasting and chant Buddha every day, and live a peaceful life. ”

"With the conditions of the son, I'm afraid I have already married a wife. Mrs. Sister-in-law must be a virtuous helper. ”

"You see I'm busy making ends meet all day, so I don't have time to think about marriage. I'm still single. ”

Hearing Shi Lang's words, a trace of fluctuation flashed in the woman's heart, and her paddling hands paused slightly, and then asked, "That son must have a crush on someone, right?" ”

"No, no, no. Ever since my father died, I've been in charge of everything at home. How can there be time and opportunity to meet the lovely person. ”