The sun is nearly noon, the sun shines on the earth, the distant mountains are like daidai near the water and smoke, looking around, still vast, there is no end in sight.

Xia Xiang put his hand on the canopy, stood on the top of a mountain, and within his sight, he saw the mountain waves, the peaks and waves, layer upon layer, and the endless mountains stretched to the horizon.

After walking in the mountains for a day and a night, fortunately he brought enough dry food and water, Xia Xiang was just a little tired and did not have to worry about his life. It's just that what worries him is that he still can't remember the original path, and he can't get out of the labyrinthine mountain by going around and around.

Do you have to be trapped in the mountains?

Xia Xiang didn't have much dry food with him, so he traveled in a hurry, and his mother only prepared two days' allowance, in other words, if he couldn't get out of the mountains within a day, he would starve to death in the mountains and become a lonely ghost.

can't die before leaving the school, Xia Xiang understands in his heart that if he went to Beijing to take the exam before, one is for fame, the second is to serve the court, and the third is for the people of Limin, and now he has another heavy responsibility - for Xia to come and go.

Xia Laixia's life and death are uncertain, although he can't bear it, but he can't return to the sky. The life that has been quiet for more than ten years has been disrupted for a while, and facing the birth and separation of Li Dingshan and the death of Xia Laixia and Xia Xiang's two brothers in one day, it is really a little difficult to accept Xia Xiang's life experience when he is less than 20 years old.

Xia Xiang has been fatherless since he was a child, grew up with his mother, has a tenacious temperament, and has an indomitable spirit of striving for progress, never admitting defeat or compromising. In addition, when I was a child, I was naughty and active, going up and down the mountain, down the river, climbing the mountain and trees, being lively and active, and practicing a strong body. Now trapped in the mountains, someone else may have been desperate. But he never had the idea of giving up, and he was still trying to find a way out with his memory.

"It's noon, the sun is south, and I'm facing away from the sun, so I should be heading north. Lingshou County is in the northeast of the village, yes, I am heading northeast, and there is still a road under my feet, why is there still no people? ”

"Last time, I remember walking with the old man Xia Laozhong, who was herding sheep, walked out of the mountain beam for about three hours, and saw the official road, what evil did I commit today, and it seems that I am still spinning in place after walking for a day? Could it be that you encountered the legendary ghost hitting the wall? ”

"Xia Xiang, what nonsense are you talking about? You read the books of the sages, how can you blame the gods? Hugh is talking nonsense, not to mention the blue sky and white day, where are the ghosts? ”

Xia Xiang was talking to himself, his voice drifting in the empty mountains, blown by the wind, and dissipated in a blink of an eye. It's also that he is too lonely, and he feels like there is no life between heaven and earth if he doesn't speak, and it's just to keep himself from being too bored, and to talk to relieve ridicule.

"If I think about what went wrong, and there is no deviation in the direction, then there is no doubt that the problem is the place where Xia Lai and Xia went missing last night, could it be that the misdirection of the cliff makes people deviate from the original mountain? The mountain is undulating, from one mountain to another, it may be dozens of steps away, but starting from different mountains, the direction is the same, and it will go farther and farther. Definitely. ”

After figuring out this section, Xia Xiang stood still under a locust tree, thought about it, and made a bold decision - to return the same way.

Success or failure in one fell swoop, no, life and death in one fell swoop, Xia Xiang gritted his teeth, fought hard, put him to death and then lived, there is no endless road. He made a hat out of branches and put it on his head, his clothes were tattered, and the package behind him was also scarred, and anyone who saw him in embarrassment at this moment would be frightened and change his face, thinking that he was some kind of savage.

After spending more than half a day, Xia Xiang finally returned to the cliff. Before it was dark, he turned around the cliff for half an hour, and finally found the problem—there was a very hidden fork in the road, one to the northeast and the other to the northwest. Not to mention that it was night, even during the day, if you are not careful, you will walk down the path in the northeast direction.

Xia Xiang sat heavily on the ground, rolled in the grass, then turned over and jumped up, laughing: "Understood, understood, haha, if you want to hurry, you can't reach it, when it's time to go around the distance, you must go around the distance, and it's not necessarily a bad thing to go far......"

In the middle of the night, when Xia Xiang was so tired that he almost collapsed, he dragged his heavy legs and walked slowly to the bottom of a towering tree with the thickness of two people, he hugged the big tree and cried with joy: "Finally the right way, Brother Shu, it's great to see you." It's the first time I've found out that you're so majestic, so upright, so outstanding. ”

Last time and Xia Laozhong also passed by this tree, there is a downhill path dozens of steps ahead, after going down the mountain, it is the official road that leads directly to Lingshou County.

Excited, Xia Xiang jumped up and climbed the tree with his hands and feet. In the distance, under the moonlight, in the mountains, is a sparkling river, which is the Hutuo River that flows through the west of Zhongshan Village and leads to the east to Lingshou County.

"Great." Xia Xiang cheered, too excited, almost fell from the tree, he laughed, grabbed a thick branch with both hands, swung it hard, and floated forward several feet away like a bird, and as soon as his hand was released, the person fell to the ground.

As soon as he landed, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong, as if in the twilight of the mountains and forests, above the uninhabited wilderness, there was a pair of peeping eyes in the depths of darkness. Xia Xiang was also glad that in addition to fatigue and hunger and thirst, he did not encounter tigers, wolves and poisonous insects along the way—there are almost no poisonous snakes and poisonous insects in the northern mountains—but when he saw that he was about to escape, he unfortunately encountered a tiger?

The reason why the road in the east of the village is inaccessible is that it is rugged and difficult to travel, and second, it is common to see tigers and wolves. Over the past decades, no less than a dozen villagers have been bitten to death by tigers and wolves in Zhongshan Village. Although it is not much, it also makes the villagers talk about it. In recent years, there have been fewer incidents of tigers and wolves hurting people, but Xia Xiang remembers this incident. It's just that at that time, I was in a hurry to do the right thing, and I couldn't take care of it much.

The aura of danger came from a few feet behind him.

Xia Xiang reached out and grabbed a stone from the ground, turned around and hid behind the tree, if it was really a tiger wolf, he could still go up the tree to dodge.

"I planted this mountain, I opened this tree, if you want to ......"

Xia Xiangcai stood firm, and the sound of an urn sounded a few feet away, and with a rustling sound, a black figure appeared in his sight.

"Who?" Xia Xiang was surprised, and when he looked closely, a black figure more than a foot tall was standing under the big tree. He was dressed in black, with a mace in his left hand and a giant axe in his right hand, a beard on his face, it was dark, and he couldn't see his appearance clearly, only from his height and burly body type, it could be seen that the other party was a strong man with strong strength.

Not only is he much taller than Xia Xiang, but his body size is more than doubled. The current station, like a small mountain, is set off by the gloomy and dark environment around it, which has the effect of surrendering without a fight.

Not to mention, Xia Xiang was really scared when he first saw him. Just because the other party's people are tall and big, he is already invincible without using his hands. I didn't meet a tiger wolf, but I met a robber. His first thought was that if he had to choose between a wolf and the robber in front of him, he would rather choose a wolf.

Thinking about it again, no, the opening remarks of the robbers just now seemed to be a bit problematic, Xia Xiang thought about it for a while, and almost laughed, I planted this mountain, I opened this tree, and I planted it, but on the contrary, it should be that I planted this mountain and this tree. This robber is too unserious and careless in doing things.

"I planted this mountain, I opened this tree, if you want to ......" The black shadow raised the mace in his left hand and scratched his head, "You, what are the next two sentences?" I forgot. ”

A strong man who is more than a foot tall, holding a mace in his hand like a wooden stick, used to scratch his head, is really funny.

Xia Xiang's panic subsided a little, and he boldly took a step forward: "Who are you?" Collecting firewood, releasing animals, farming, studying, and doing business, there are so many good livelihoods that you don't do, why do you want to be robbers? ”

"Why so much nonsense? I'm asking you, 'I planted this mountain, I planted this tree, I opened it'? The strong man shook the giant axe in his hand, and the blade of the giant axe shone in the moonlight, "Say it quickly, don't say that Lao Tzu chopped you with an axe." ”

"Okay, okay, I said, I said. I say one word, you learn one sentence. Xia Xiang smiled secretly, a lot of confidence in his heart, and no longer panicked, "I opened this mountain, and I planted this tree." If you want to cross this road, leave the money to buy the road. ”

The strong man tilted his head and thought about it, and scratched his head with an axe: "I planted this mountain, and I opened this tree." If you want to cross this road, leave a load of firewood. ”

"Wrong, wrong." Xia Xiang wanted to laugh again, he seriously corrected the strong man, "It's 'I opened this mountain', it's not 'I planted this mountain', how can the mountain be planted?" ”

"I can plant it if I want to, and if I don't want to open it, I won't open it, I want you to take care of it?" The strong man waved the mace in his hand a few times, "I planted this mountain, and I opened this tree." If you want to go alive, leave your fortune behind. ”

Xia Xiang was no longer afraid at this time, and said with a smile: "I opened this mountain, and I planted this tree." If you want to cross this road, leave the money to buy the road. Dare to say no words, step forward and rub your head. Died in the wilderness, and was buried in a bad place. Sent to Wangxiangtai, never come back. ”

"Why is it getting longer again? What's weird, I just memorized four sentences, and now it's ten sentences, and I don't let people live? The strong man's hands danced wildly, and he screamed strangely, and pounced on Xia Xiang, "Dare to play Lao Tzu?" Lao Tzu hacked you! ”

Xia Xiang was not panicked, he did not retreat, but stepped forward. The strong man was more than two heads taller than him, and in front of the strong man, he was like a child of seven or eight years old. I saw him moving forward bravely, without fear, and when he saw that he was about to meet the strong man's hand-to-hand soldiers, he suddenly bent down sideways and kicked the strong man's right leg.

Xia Xiang's right leg kicked on the right leg of a strong man, like a human leg kicking on an elephant's leg, like a mayfly shaking a tree. Anyone who sees it will feel that Xia Xiang's move will not only be useless, but will also end up miserable.

However, a stunned scene happened - Xia Xiang's right leg was kicked and hit, and the strong man was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that Xia Xiang's sneak attack was successful, and then he opened his mouth wide in horror and let out a mournful cry: "This is impossible!" ”

As soon as the words fell, his right leg, which was as thick as a big tree, was broken by Xia Xiang with a light kick like a chopstick, and he suddenly lost his balance, grabbed his hands randomly, but to no avail, and then fell to the ground, plopping down, and the sound was like thunder.

Xia Xiang struck a blow, jumped up, clapped his hands, laughed, flew forward, picked up the mace and axe of the strong man, and touched it lightly, the mace and axe were torn apart. He didn't stop, and kicked the strong man's left leg again, and what was extremely terrifying was that Xia Xiang actually kicked half of the strong man's left leg.

"You, you, who the hell are you?" The strong man rolled on the ground, screamed, tore off his clothes three times and two times, and jumped up from the ground, "How did you see my disguise?" That's impossible! ”

After the strong man stood again, his height was almost the same as Xia Xiang's, no, he was a little shorter. Without the clothes on his body, the person has also lost more than three laps, and his body is far less tall than before, although he is athletic, that is, the figure of an ordinary person.

Looking at it again, he is eighteen or nineteen years old, which is the same age as Xia Xiang.

Xia Xiang threw the mace and axe in his hand to the ground, stepped on it, and laughed: "You stepped on stilts and wore wide clothes, and you want to pretend to be a wrestler?" If you are three points shorter and one size smaller, you may really be able to hide from me, but unfortunately your performance is too exaggerated, and you can't draw a tiger into an anti-dog. Your biggest mistake is a papier-mâché mace and an axe, where does anyone scratch their head with mace and axe? Is it foolish to be someone else? Also, you are so tall and heavy, you walk silently, and you are not a tiger, and you have meat pads on your paws......"

The majesty of the strong man before was completely gone, and he wanted to cry without tears: "I was planted for the first time I debuted, how can I be a robber again in the future?" How can I live if I am not a robber? I can't study, I can't farm, I only have a dead end. ”

Isn't it, debuting for the first time? Xia Xiang was embarrassed, thinking that in fact, you can't even rob the road, you are really stupid and cute, so he stepped forward and bowed: "It turns out that Brother Ren is robbing the road for the first time, and I am abrupt, it shouldn't be like this, please forgive Brother Ren." ”

Xia Xiangyi was polite, but the strong man was at a loss, and returned the salute with his fists: "In Xia Xiao Wu, Lingshou Xiao Guo Douren's clan." Since he was a child, his family was poor, and his parents died, so he had to live in his brother and sister-in-law's house to survive. At first, it was okay, but after a long time, my brother was annoyed by my sister-in-law, and because I only lived in a firewood house, the dampness was unbearable, so I had to go out to make a living. It's just that he doesn't have any skills, he can't grow fields, he can't get firewood, he can't kill people, he can't set fires, so he has to be a robber. But he didn't dare to hurt people, so after thinking about it, he came up with a way to pretend to be a ghost. I waited here for three days and three nights, and finally waited for a person, but I didn't expect that I would be defeated as soon as I made a move, and I was really ashamed. ”