The second uncle sighed, walked up to me and said meaningfully: "It's been arranged, and tomorrow I will send a car to leave here and send Shanwa to study in the school in the city, and I will be responsible for the tuition and daily consumption." ”

After listening to the words of the second uncle, the stone in my heart was put down, although Shanwa had to experience life and death at a young age, and he would have to go to a strange environment to study and live in the future, which was a test for him to adapt in the future, and it was also the only way for us to make up for him.

After all this, before I knew it, it was dark, I and the fat man and Chen Haoyue simply cleaned up and went back to their respective rooms to sleep, this night has been thinking about these things, I have mixed feelings in my heart, simply went outside to smoke a cigarette, back to the house and lay on the bed tossing and turning and unable to sleep.

The next day, I was awakened by the sound of hurried footsteps coming and going outside the house, and I got dressed and went out to see that everyone was busy carrying things outside.

I endured the sleepiness, my eyelids kept blinking, the fat man came from nowhere, came to me and patted my shoulder, squinted my eyes and said, "Did you kid do something bad yesterday, why are you so sleepy today?" ”

I pushed the fat man away, sighed and said, "Fuck your uncle, it's not because of what happened in the past few days, hey, I think about these things at night." ”

At this time, Chen Haoyue stood not far away and beckoned to us, and the fat man and I hurriedly walked over when we saw it.

When I got to the place where the crowd gathered, I patted my head! The fat man next to him was a little surprised, but he quickly understood, it turned out that today was the day when the second uncle sent Shanwa to the city, and a group of us stood outside to see Shanwa off, Shanwa was very honest and obedient, and did not cry and obediently followed the driver into the car.

"Shanwa, take care!"

We shouted in unison, watching the silhouette of the car gradually disappear into the vast mountain road, and everyone also secretly prayed in our hearts that the mountain baby could live happily in the future.

"Why are you still stunned, keep up!"

I stood stupidly in place, and I was taken aback by the sudden voice behind me, I turned around to look, and I didn't know when the second uncle was standing behind me silently.

The three of us followed the second uncle all the way, as well as some drivers and bodyguards, and arrived at a wide place, the second uncle asked us to line up and stand neatly, drank a sip of water to moisten our throats, and said: "The rest of you have packed up your luggage and equipment, and we will set off collectively after eating for a while, this time you may encounter danger on the mountain, I hope you can all obey the command of this little brother." ”

As the second uncle spoke, he pushed the black-clothed brother on the side to the front of the team, and the black-clothed brother nodded with a serious expression.

I raised my eyes and glanced at the guy in black in front of me, it was the person who saved us before, and he cracked the map, but he rarely appeared in front of so many people, and this person's identity was not clear, which really puzzled me.

The second uncle continued: "This entry into the mountain is a secret operation, since I spent money to hire you, you are also to make money, and everyone can understand, so I hope everyone will unite with each other, you just know this matter in your heart, and you must not tell anyone half a word." Later, I will give each of you a military satellite watch in case someone goes missing, and of course so that everyone can keep a safe distance and not lose it while walking. ”

There was a commotion in the crowd, some with their heads held high, ready to take the plunge, while others were timid, looking around and retreating to the back of the group.

The second uncle was silent for a moment, and then continued: "There will definitely be danger when going up the mountain this time, I don't force everyone, everyone who wants to go will stay, and those who don't want to go can automatically quit, I won't blame everyone." ”

Everyone was whispering below, and some people were a little nervous, looking left and right, but they were embarrassed to withdraw in front of so many people.

Then, the second uncle turned his gaze to the black-clothed brother on the side and asked, "Do you have anything else to add?" ”

The little brother in black took a step forward and said, "Brothers, the boss knows that you are not afraid of death, but this time the matter is important, everyone is old, young and young, and if you have a family, don't go." Everyone understands and will not blame. ”

Everyone was discussing in a whisper below, and a few people stood up with a cower and apologized to the second uncle, some said that there was something at home that they couldn't leave, and some said that they were not in good health and were not suitable for going out. The second uncle nodded and asked them to stand aside.

The fat man behind him kicked me maliciously and motioned for me to stand up too. I ignored him, stood up straight with my head held high, and wanted me to quit if I wanted to go to the mountains? Dream!

The second uncle nodded and said, "Then everyone will disperse, go back and prepare for a while, and then go to Candle Dragon Ridge after eating." ”

Seeing that the second uncle finally finished speaking, I went outside to light a cigarette, this time I was really happy to be able to follow the second uncle into the mountains, although I had stayed in the mountain village for a while when I was a child, but most of the time I stayed in the small house in the field of grandpa's bud rice, and played with crickets in the field every day.

One summer vacation, when I had no money in my pocket and was naughty, I followed my grandfather to the mountains to pick ginseng to earn pocket money, and the so-called ginseng picking was to dig ginseng in the mountains.

In the 90s, some pharmacies and purchasing stations began to purchase a large amount of ginseng, and a good quality ginseng could be sold for 20 yuan a tael, don't underestimate the 20 yuan, it was the 90s, and the monthly salary of the production team was only a dozen yuan.

Let's put it another way, if you were lucky enough to dig up ten catties of five-grade ginseng that year, that would be 2,000 yuan, and exchange it for the production team's salary of fifteen yuan a month, so how many years would you have to work tirelessly in the production team?

Every year in May and June, it is the season when the ginseng seeds are ripe, and many people will take sick leave for a month or two to dig ginseng.

There are many particulars about digging ginseng, before entering the mountain, you must first worship the mountain god, and you must not speak loudly after entering the mountain, so as not to scare away the ginseng, it is said that ginseng has spirituality, if you find ginseng, you will tie it with a red rope, so that the ginseng can not run.

When I took people to the mountain, I didn't start digging ginseng right away, but first found a place to live, dug a manhole, built a thatched house, and then found a "old man's temple", that is, some dilapidated old houses, what is the use? It is equivalent to a mountain temple, and you must worship the mountain god first.

Put a bottle of soju on the table first and then say some auspicious words, tell the mountain god that we come into the mountain to beg for food, you don't let us go back empty-handed, and when we come back to dig ginseng, we will come to you to set up wine, toast food, and say some auspicious words such as thank you for the reward.

Of course, I also pray that these people will be blessed to enter and exit the mountain safely.

After worshipping the mountain god, the head took everyone into the mountain to dig ginseng. The head is generally an experienced old mountain man, old, legs and feet are not as dexterous as young people, it is not good to enter the mountain alone, young people want to make a fortune, and there is no ability, all expect to carry the head, this group of people perform their duties, if you find ginseng, you must first shout a sentence when you find that person: "Ginseng doll!" The head will answer and ask, "How many leaves?" "Whoever finds ginseng has to answer that it is a few pint leaves.

What's going on with this few pint leaves? Perennial digging ginseng people divide ginseng into several levels, at the beginning of the call "mountain flowers", three years called "palm", another five years to be called "Erjia", and then a few years to be called "lampstand", this can not be stepped on by livestock or something, stepped on three years will not be unearthed, "lampstand" and then change, is the fourth leaf, five leaves, six leaves, this "leaf" refers to the number of leaves on the top of the flower, the experienced old head can be seen at a glance, is about to dig ginseng to what extent, You also know how much money you can make by selling.

After answering the words, he took everyone to surround the ginseng and began to "carry the ginseng", first using the red thread tied with copper coins on the ginseng leaves, "afraid that the doll will run away", and then using a tree stick to support a small shelf, the young man lit a fire on the side, smoked mosquitoes, and began to dig ginseng.

At this time, the people on the side cut off a piece of bark from the nearby tree, in the direction of finding the ginseng, about half a meter long and more than 30 centimeters wide, plus some moss, used to wrap ginseng, it is said that this can retain the rustic atmosphere and nutrients of ginseng, and the white stubble left on the tree is called "omen".

No matter how long it has passed, when someone passes by, take the fire to roast it, and after drying the pine oil, and reveal the mark inside, you can know how long ago, where in this vicinity have you dug up a ginseng of what quality, why did you do it? It is because the seeds of ginseng do not fly far after they are ripe, and if you dig up ginseng in one place, it is more likely that there are still ginseng nearby.

Why leave such a mark on your peers? Can't you dig it yourself? This is what sets Shanren apart from other industries. Dig ginseng, especially those who can do the top level, believe that all things have spirits, be kind, and have a good heart, otherwise you will enter the mountain, so that those mountain spirits and wild monsters, especially the mountain gods, see that you are not a good thing, then you will not only not be able to dig ginseng, but will also suffer retribution.

Therefore, the mountain people, especially the head, pay special attention to character, no matter how much money is needed, they will not bring some unscrupulous people to go up the mountain to dig ginseng, even if there will be no retribution, but after digging the baby, they meet a ruthless person with a black heart, and kill and bury people in the forest, who can know.

But it's strange to say, I don't know why, every year into the mountain will be confused to die a lot of people, many corpses are buried in the ground, for a long time, some parasites and flies maggots gnaw on the corpses of the dead, forming a body with white bones.

It is not surprising if you dig up a white skeleton, what is more terrible is that some corpses will crawl out of the ground, when a person passes by the old forest, the bones of the wind blow, and a pair of hands pats your shoulder behind you at some point, if you dare to look back, you will be able to scare people to death.

Every time I walk alone, I am extra careful, looking behind me from time to time to see if there is anyone, and why there are so many bones underground. How can people walk when they are dead and bones?

I thought about these questions, and asked my grandfather impatiently, and my grandfather flicked his head on my forehead, and instructed: "You can't speculate in the mountains, this will make the mountain god unhappy, the mountain is also alive, if you are good to it, it will give you the game, ginseng, and herbs in the mountain, if you make the mountain god unhappy, maybe you will be targeted by the mountain ghost that day, and you won't be able to come back when you go up the mountain." ”

I was a little curious and asked my grandfather, "Is the mountain the same as a man?" So how does it not have eyes and nose? ”

"In this world, the more people love nature, the more they love life. If one day you die, you will be able to see another world. ”

"Is that the world of the dead? Why can you only see it when you are dead, but not if you are alive? ”