Chapter 3: The valley catches the big snake and knows Huang Sheng

One old and one young, walking on the mountain path, not in a hurry, not slowly, come spontaneously.

The road ahead stretched into the canyon, and I faintly felt a cool breeze blowing. Chuan Tao moved the small burden on his shoulders and kept up with Wu Lao's footsteps.

Wu Lao turned his head to look at the mountain scenery on both sides as he walked, not panting or sweating, which was better than a leisurely stroll. Entering the valley, in addition to the cliffs on both sides of the knife and axe, it is a line of blue sky overhead. The roaring river roared at his feet, and the valley wind was cold and damp. Chuantao's heart was a little nervous. Looking at the master's unhurried steps, Chuantao's trust and dependence on the master came from spontaneously. In front of a huge flat stone, the master looked back at Chuantao, who was following very closely, and smiled: "Do you feel the tension of walking alone?" Chuan Tao responded: "It's lively and safe at home, and I have never had such an eerie feeling." Wu Lao touched his goatee: "This is in the daytime, and the feeling of coldness is there, and it is not gloomy." If it's night, you can think about it, walking alone on this road, it feels eerie. Chuantao nodded. I thought to myself, if a tiger or a wolf squatted on the road, I am afraid that you will be too scared to go, master.

He didn't go far, Wu Lao stopped his steps, and stared straight ahead with his eyes. Chuan Tao followed Wu Lao's gaze and looked over, oh my mother, on the road not far ahead, a bowl-thick black giant snake twisted its body, raised its triangular head high, and crawled slowly along the road. Chuantao's scalp was tingling, and goosebumps broke out all over his body instantly, this was the first time he had seen such a big snake.

Wu Lao motioned to Chuantao to stand here with his hand, then tightened the belt of his trousers, the cat bent down, and suddenly rushed out, grabbed the snake's tail with both hands, flung it back quickly, and then dragged it back and ran back. Chuantao was stunned, which one is this singing master! I never thought that if a big ink snake was pulled by the master by the tail and flicked and pulled, it lay straight on the ground and did not move. Chuan Tao never dreamed that his master would have been so brave and resolute, and he would move so fast.

Wu Lao stopped calmly, how could he still see the signs of rushing past just now? tore off a Qingteng hanging from the cliff, tied a slipknot, and stepped forward to lasso the snake's head. Then he asked Chuantao to open the way in front, and he himself followed behind and led the corpse of the big snake to continue to hurry.

Finally, the canyon was almost finished, and in front of it was a huge wooden bridge. The two of them hugged the thick pine wood, seven side by side, on which stood many pillars like a house, covered with green tiles, on both sides were well-made railings, and the bridge deck was laid with thick planks, and two rows of wooden benches were made along the bridge. When Chuantao stepped on the bridge, Wu Lao stopped and shouted, "You just sit on the bridge and rest, I'll skin the snake and come over." "Chuantao is afraid of snakes, and this thing always gives people a feeling of numbness. Since the master ordered to rest here, it is in line with Chuantao's intentions.

Chuantao had heard of the house bridge, but it was the first time he actually walked on this house bridge. So I walked to the railing and looked under the bridge, the bridge was very high, and the whole river under the bridge could be seen clearly. The river is narrow and lined with cliffs on both sides. The river was turbulent, washing the rocks on both sides, and the stones were smooth and wet. The cold and wet wind in the river kept swaying the small trees that grew obliquely from the cracks in the stones. Chuantao walked to the bridge again, and the bluestone paved road stretched up the hill and disappeared into the green trees and grass. On the edge of the bridge, there is a natural stone house, there is a large area of a house, although there are no lights and candles in it, but there are many stone benches and stone tables, it seems that the bridge was specially built when the bridge was built, and there is a pile of firewood ashes burned by passers-by next to it.

Chuantao walked around the stone house and felt that it was still clean. Just as he was about to return to the bridge, Wu Lao came over, holding a string of fresh snake meat cut into a foot long, and said to Chuantao with a smile: "Today's lunch is here, let's go to the stone house and watch the master cook fragrant snake meat for you." ”

Wu Lao casually picked up a bundle of dead branches around, placed them in the place where the fire had been burned, and lit firewood. Then he sprinkled some salt and unknown condiments on the snake meat, and roasted it on a fire with a wet stick. Chuantao only smelled a strong fragrance coming to his nose, and the clear water in his mouth was bubbling out. While roasting snake meat, Wu Lao told Chuantao: "As a herb man, it is a necessary skill to survive in the wild, and it is difficult to collect some medicinal materials, maybe you can't find a little in three or five days; It may also be that the trip was delayed due to an unexpected event and had to eat overnight in the wild; If you don't have enough dry food, you have to get mushrooms and wild vegetables to satisfy your hunger. Herbal medicine Langzhong and the mountain and water have an inexhaustible fate, go up the mountain to catch animals, go down the river to catch fish, boil, stew and fry to be able to adapt to the situation, with the encounter. ”

Elder Wu handed a piece of roasted snake meat to Chuantao. Chuantao took a bite, and suddenly felt that his mouth was full of fragrance, so he devoured it. Wu Lao himself also picked up a piece of snake meat, and found a small gourd in the baggage, and became happy with a mouthful of snake meat and wine.

Just as the master and apprentice were busy eating, a young couple came up from the bridge, the child in the man's arms was crying violently, and the woman followed closely by the man and looked at the child's face, looking very panicked.

Wu Lao got up and asked, "The couple on the bridge, dare to ask if the child is sick?" ”

The man with the child in his arms turned around and saw Wu Lao who was questioning in the stone house, although he didn't know it, he still replied: "The child has only been a few months, and he has been crying for two days. Wu Lao walked over, looked at the child's dark face, and uncovered the small square that wrapped the child, and looked at the child's protruding navel, and said to the man: "I can cure this disease, I don't know if you can let me try it with confidence?" ”

When you are in trouble, you suddenly encounter a savior, how can you refuse. The man immediately said: "If the old gentleman can save the child, his mother and I should be grateful!" ”

Wu Lao helped the man to sit on the bench of the roof bridge, took out a small porcelain bottle from the baggage, poured some medicinal powder in the palm of his hand, spit and spit to make the medicinal powder into a thin paste, lifted the corner of the quilt wrapped around the child with one hand, and pasted the medicine on the child's navel with the other. He said, "You can get a piece of cloth and gently stick this medicine on your navel, and sit here for a while to see if the child is better?" The woman took out a handkerchief from her bosom and covered the child's navel.

After a while, the child's crying gradually stopped, and he fell asleep later.

The couple knew that they had met a master, and they were grateful to Wu Lao, and said: "My house is not far ahead, please Mr. I must go to the cold house to stay, and thank us!" Wu Lao was originally a Fang Langzhong, and naturally saved people to the end, so he nodded and agreed.

Chuantao still followed behind Wu Lao and walked with the couple towards his house.

Three tiled houses with cattle sheds next to them. A few plum trees in front of the door are full of ripe fruit. This is the couple's little home.

Chuan Tao and the master were led to the hall to take a seat. The couple put the children away and went to pick a blue plum, and the master and apprentice ate it with relish.

The woman went to prepare the dishes in the kitchen. The male host accompanied Wu Lao to narrate: "My name is Huang Xianyun, and after getting married, I split up and live here alone, and my life is not bad." I don't know the old gentleman's surname? Why haven't I seen you in this neighborhood? ”

Wu Lao said: "I am not a local, but my apprentice is Hao Chuantao, the eldest son of Hao's family slope fifty miles away from the river. It's normal that you don't know me, and you can go to him if you have a minor illness or disaster in the future. My surname is Wu, and I won't live here forever. ”

Huang Xianyun has no regrets: "Wu Lao is a master in medicine, and it is a great fortune for us and other grass people to be fortunate to meet once, and I dare not expect to be blessed by you for a lifetime, I can only wish you eternal physical and mental health and youth." ”

Wu Lao didn't say much kind words. This trip with Chuantao is really another plan, and I must try to repay the kindness of Chuantao's family.

There is nothing to do, and Chuantao has also nourished his spirit. The child was very active, and couldn't help but wander around the Huang family's house. There are animals in the livestock shed, which is naturally the most fun place. Chuantao took a closer look, and the pigs in the pig pen were sleeping heavily, thinking: It's really boring, just eat and sleep, no wonder there is so much meat. So, looking for other livestock, pushed open the wooden door next to it, and stepped in, this is a very spacious shack, what I didn't expect is that what I saw was not livestock, but a wooden man who was polished very smooth, the wooden man's head only had a few uneven and uneven features, and there were some potholes on the body except for the limbs, but the size was the same as that of a real person, and every inch of the body was bare, as if it was wiping every day. Of course, Chuantao didn't understand what this was, so he had to leave the room and go to the master to chat boringly.

Wu Lao heard Chuantao talk about the wooden man that was very smooth, and became interested. He said to Chuantao: "This person will be useful to you in the future, and when you start a family, you can associate with him." According to the old man's guess, this must be a person who practices martial arts, no matter how big or small his ability is, he is different from ordinary people after all. Judging by the situation, he is not a treacherous villain, he is quite decent, and there should be no problem in taking care of the home. Chuan Tao only knew that the martial arts practitioners had great strength and were good at fighting, and he didn't know that there were other uses, so he didn't say anything.

After accepting the Huang family's hospitality, Wu Lao took Chuantao to pull some flowers and plants on the edge of the field early in the morning, kneaded them into a thin paste, and put them in a bowl, and told Huang Xianyun: "Three times a day, give the child a full navel." After two days, there must be some itching in the navel, don't let the child scratch himself. After three days, your child will be in good condition. Huang Xianyun responded in his mouth, took the bowl containing the medicine, and carefully found a quiet place to put it away.

When Huang Xianyun came out again, Wu Lao said goodbye: "We are leaving, you give the child medicine on time according to the method I said." If there is a fate in this life, we will see each other again. ”

Huang Xianyun hurriedly said: "Isn't it that my family is not well entertained? Why is the gentleman in such a hurry to leave? ”

Wu Lao said: "I'm going to take my apprentice to a far away place, your child is fine, we won't bother anymore." ”

"Since Mr. Wu insists on resigning, it is inconvenient for me to stay. Please sir wait a moment. Huang Xianyun walked into the back room quickly, took a handful of silver yuan, and asked his daughter-in-law to carry a bag of dry food and two catties of self-brewed liquor, and handed it to Wu Lao. Mr. Wu was not coquettish, he took the silver yuan into his arms, put the dry food and wine into the package, and waved goodbye.

Huang Xianyun clenched his fists: "There will be a period later." ”

On the way, Wu Lao told Chuantao about the pathology, medication, dosage and other knowledge of treating children, and Chuantao kept it in mind. While walking and talking, Chuantao didn't feel that the road was hard, and he had unconsciously entered the pass of Baiyu Village.