Xiangxi is located in the northwest of Hunan Province, mainly in the Yuanjiang River Basin, most of them are lofty mountains, during which the road is rugged, the Wuling Mountains wind from west to east, the northeast of the Wuling Mountains on the eastern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, riding the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the west, adjacent to the western Hubei Mountains in the north, and the Xuefeng Mountain in the southeast.

Liu Tian drove his car on a road no more than two meters wide in the mountains and forests. By about eleven o'clock in the morning, the road came to an end. We got out of the car and there was a high mountain in front of us, and a narrow path of stone steps went straight to the top like a ladder. There is a small stream at the foot of the mountain, the water of which is babbling and crystal clear. And all around, except for the mountain is the stone, there is not a single house.

Wu Lele said to Liu Tian: "Don't say it, your Yin Yang Sword is hidden on this mountain. Liu Tian said lightly: "No, on the other side of the mountain!" As he spoke, he walked towards the mountain. Wu Lele shook his head and sighed helplessly: "You really took great pains to hide this Yin Yang Knife!" ”

We climbed a stone path that winds its way up the mountain, winding endlessly, as if reaching the sky.

It took us an hour to complete this stone path, and as far as the eye could see, there was a sea of forests, so endless that we could not see the edge, and as far as the eye could see, there were all forests, not a single village or earthy field.

"Climb a few hills ahead and you'll be there." Liu Tian said.

After walking forward for a while, I entered a wooded field, and a one-meter-wide path passed through the trees, and there was grass on the road from time to time, accompanied by horses' hoof prints, like a ribbon hidden in the forest in front of me.

Suddenly, there was a rooster announcing the dawn from the foot of the mountain, and Liu Tian said. Wu Lele and I were already excited, but when we heard what he said, our spirits came again.

Cautiously walked down the mountain, there was a sheep intestine path, along the small intestine we went all the way down, walking and walking until the sky was dawn.

Soon we reached the foot of the hill, and saw that there were several houses, but they were all old-fashioned mud houses with green tiles, but the houses were closed, and several of them had collapsed, and it was clear that they had not been inhabited for a long time.

Liu Tian said: "The Yin-Yang Knife is in this village, but you can't get it at night. Wu Lele asked why he had to stay at night, and Liu Tian said as he walked: "You will naturally know when you arrive." ”

Finally, we came to a more "grandiose" house, and saw that it was a wooden house, very wide, carved beams and painted buildings, intriguing, quite ancient.

Strangely, there were two mats on the flat ground in front of the house, and on the mats were quilts, apparently someone had slept here last night.

Why don't they go into their rooms and sleep, but sleep out in the open?

At this moment, there was a coughing sound from the other side of the house, the voice was hoarse, like an old man, and from that side came a wisp of cooking smoke, and we walked slowly towards that side, and turned a corner, and saw two old men sitting in the open space in front of us, about sixty or seventy years old, with white hair, and a weathered face, but they seemed quite energetic, and they were cooking there.

Hearing my footsteps, they all turned their heads, and when they saw me, they were all stunned, and I hurriedly greeted them with a smile, while the two old men spoke their local dialect, and I didn't understand it for a long time. Liu Tian communicated with them in the local dialect, and they were very enthusiastic, beckoning us to sit down and saying that they were going to make dinner for us to eat.

I wondered why they slept outside at night, and I wanted to ask a few times, but because I had just arrived here, I was afraid that it would be too abrupt, so I had to stuff this curiosity into my heart.

Liu Tian quickly mingled with the two old men, helped to light the fire and pick vegetables, and chatted with them very happily, I thought I didn't understand anyway, so I walked around, and saw that this place was at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by mountains, the peaks and peaks were undulating, very majestic, and there was a small stream at the foot of the mountain, the stream was clear and calm, and it flowed slowly and forward.

It's a great place.

After eating, we sat under a big tree and chatted.

The two old men are Tujia people, both in their seventies, and have lived in this deep mountain for generations. By their grandchildren's generation, young people could no longer get used to living in houses deep in the mountains, and those who had a little ability went to the town to buy houses or build new ones, and many never returned.

And the sons and grandsons of these two old people also bought a new house in the town outside the mountains with the relocation team, they want to take the two old people to live in the town, don't live in the mountains anymore, after all, it is too remote here, it will take two days to go back and forth, in case something happens, who knows, it is not good, if the two old people die, I am afraid that the corpses will stink and no one will know.

But the two old men were accustomed to this deep mountain, according to their words, the mountains are good, the water is good, the air is good, and they are also used to this, even if they die, they will die in the old house.

The surrounding families moved away one by one, and in the end, only the two old men were left.

The old people live here very peacefully, although they are old, but the body is still very strong, they farm their own fields, eat their own vegetables, and the old people will put traps, sometimes if they are lucky, they can also eat some game, and the life is very moist and happy.

Moreover, their house is the best house in the area, it is a wooden house, spacious, bright, comfortable, and there are hanging corner towers, and there are fewer such houses in the whole world now.

However, just a few days ago, something strange happened in the house.

I'm afraid that many people will think that the house is haunted, but it is not.

Almost suddenly, there were a lot of snakes in the room, and all of them were a kind of black snake, which could not be named, some were big and some were small, the small one was the thickness of a chopstick, and the big one was as big as a wrist, three or four meters long.

The old man lives in this mountain, what kind of beast has he not seen? This snake alone has grown so big, at least twenty or thirty of them have been caught, and they have swallowed snake gall and eaten snake meat, so they are naturally not afraid of snakes.

However, all those snakes were caught in the woods, and this time, all these black snakes came into the house, not one, but several, and the floor, the beams, and even the bed were all snakes, and it became a nest of snakes!

The two old men were so frightened that they fled from the house on the spot, and never dared to enter again.

However, they were reluctant to leave the place, and were thinking about calling their son back to catch snakes, and it happened that we came.

Liu Tian said: "There are so many snakes at the same time, I am afraid that there is a snake nest in that house." ”

The old man said, "The house has been built for hundreds of years, and there has never been a snake, so why is there a snake all of a sudden?" ”

"Could it be artificial?" I said, "There are a lot of people in this area who will play Gu, could it be that someone has put a snake Gu in the house?" ”

Liu Tian thought for a while, nodded and said, "It's possible." Then asked the old man, have they ever offended anyone, and whether anyone here knows how to play snake Gu, the old man claimed that they have never offended anyone, and they have never even quarreled with anyone, and the people in this area, the family lives in harmony, there is no such thing as poisoning each other, and they don't know who will know how to play snake Gu.

"Then how can so many snakes appear for no reason?" Wu Lele asked.

Liu Tian said: "We have to go in and have a look." ”

"Aren't you afraid of snakes?" Wu Lele asked.

Liu Tian said: "Since we are here, let's go and have a look, I hope to do something for the two old people." ”

I said, "We must either leave this matter alone, but we must take care of it thoroughly, and we must drive the snake out of the house and let the old man live in the house, not outside." ”

Liu Tian told the old man about our decision, the two old men hurriedly waved at us, telling us not to go in, they were worried that we would be in danger, I don't know what Liu Tian said to them, and then they finally reluctantly agreed, the old man said a few words to Liu Tian, Liu Tian translated: "The old man told us to prepare some anti-snake medicine." ”

The old man took out some realgar, garlic and gauze, mashed the garlic, grinded the realgar into powder, mixed the two well, wrapped it in gauze, tied into a small ball, and it was advisable not to get out of the water.

After making it, the old man explained to us: "Hang the realgar garlic balls around your waist, and if you want to be safer, make two balls and tie them around the left and right feet and necks respectively, so that no matter where you go, the snake people will retreat." ”

When these are finished, it is already dusk. I picked up the anti-snake ball and put it in front of my nose and smelled it, it had a strong strange smell.

I didn't let Wu Lele in, I only put two snake pills in each bag with Liu Tian and walked cautiously towards the house with a sword each.

The door was closed, and I pushed it with a stick, and with a clang, the wooden door opened with a long hoarse sound. And as the door was pushed open, several black shadows came into the eye sockets, and I saw that the ground was densely covered with black snakes, as if reviewing the army.

I was secretly amazed that it was the first time I had seen so many snakes.

Wu Lele stood outside the door, also saw the snake in the house, and also let out an exclamation.

Liu Tian was not afraid and strode in, and I followed closely.

As soon as we entered the room, all the snakes retreated, and a few black snakes with thick cups stretched their necks and spat apricots at us, as if they were challenging us, fierce and vicious, terrifying and hideous.

"These snakes are not afraid of us." I was surprised.

If it weren't for the anti-snake medicine we have, I'm afraid they would have attacked us.

Liu Tian didn't make a sound, his brows furrowed.

We walked slowly inside, and the snakes slowly retreated, leaving a path, but as soon as we walked away, they came back to us. My scalp tingled, and I blurted out, "These snakes aren't all going to be sperm, are they?" ”

"Chengjing?" Liu Tian was stunned for a moment, and stood in place.

I looked into the house, only to feel that this house is very gray, and the courtyard is deep, I can't see the end inside, I didn't expect that there is such a big house in the deep mountains and old forests, and the ground here is crawling with snakes, look up, the beams are also a black line, needless to say, those are also black snakes.

"Smack!" Suddenly, there was a crisp sound, and all the black snakes fell from the beam, landed in front of us, and immediately stretched their necks and stared at us.

Liu Tian and I didn't dare to go in again, so we had to retreat.

As soon as we arrived outside, Wu Lele asked us how the situation was inside.

"It's all snakes! It's a snake's nest. ”

The two old men came over and said something to us, their faces were very heavy, we couldn't understand, so we had to look at Liu Tian, who translated: "The old man said it was too dangerous, told us to leave it alone." ”