The next day is the first day of the Lunar New Year. The custom of the provincial capital is to get up early to worship the ancestors. The same is true of the three Gu brothers.

There is no such custom in Niutouao Village. However, follow the locals. Shen Yun kept the rules, and when they finished worshipping their ancestors, they came out of the house, first to greet the New Year, and then to resign.

During the Chinese New Year, the three Gu brothers did not stay any longer and personally sent him to the gate.

"Three seniors, please stay. Shen Yun clenched his fists and wanted to leave.

"Brother Shen, wait a minute. Gu Da took out a big red purse from his arms and stuffed it into his hand with a grin, "Great luck, Wishing you prosperity." ”

Shen Yun was slightly stunned.

Gu Er explained on the side, "It's not something of value. It's a brother's homemade contact charm. Seeing that Shen Yun was confused, he said again, "Our brothers have sworn before that they will not accept work that violates morality in their lives. It's just that the rivers and lakes are sinister, and our brothers are not sages, so it is inevitable that there will be times when we are overlooked. Therefore, we set a rule for ourselves that once we take on a work that is against morality, we will do one thing for the sufferer as compensation. ”

I see. Shen Yun pushed the purse back and said with a smile: "The three seniors have already helped me a lot, and there is no need to compensate." ”

Gu Da didn't answer: "Rules are rules, Brother Shen should not be polite." ”

Gu San specially reminded: "Brother Shen, the contact letter is only valid for half a year. Half a year has passed, and it burns out automatically. We also treated Brother Shen as giving up compensation. Oh, and also, beyond a hundred miles radius of the provincial capital, the contact letter will also be invalid. Brother Shen, don't waste it in vain. ”

Their attitude was very sincere, and Shen Yun couldn't shirk it again, so he had to accept the purse. Still, in his heart, he didn't find it useful to hold this contact token. Because in the next half a year, he must be learning art in the martial arts hall, what can he do to trouble the three brothers of the Gu family? Nine times out of ten, this contact charm will turn into ashes by itself.

After leaving the Gu family, Shen Yun went straight back to the martial arts hall. Without him, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the streets were deserted, and there was no one to see for half a day. He walked alone on the streets, like a wandering ghost, boring and boring, it was better to go back to the medicine valley to tinker with his medicine field.

I didn't want to, I ran into Su Laosan and them at the gate of the mountain.

"Why did the gentleman come back?"

They were all dressed in short suits, carrying bows and arrows, and carrying bags on their backs, as if they were going out to hunt.

Shen Yun casually made up a sentence: "It's boring at home, so I came back." ”

When Su Laosan heard this, he invited with a smile: "We are going to go to Yuhu Mountain to play for a few days." Do you have any free time, sir?"

Others also chattered with each other: "It's all met, so let's go." ”

"There is a hot spring in Yuhu Mountain. On such a day, go and take a soak, how comfortable it is!"

"It's rare for the martial arts hall to take such a few days off, so Mr. will go with us to relax. ”

Soak in the hot springs! Shen Yun is so big, he has never seen what a hot spring looks like. He had only seen relevant records in the Codex of Taishi Zu. According to Taishizu, soaking in the hot springs in the cold winter wax moon is very enjoyable. He was very impressed. Thinking about it again, the medicine field was entrusted to Brother Yuan, and it would be okay to return to the medicine valley, so he responded with a mouthful.

The clothes and dry food for washing are ready-made, and there is no need to go back to the medicine valley to get them. So, he didn't even enter the mountain gate, and directly joined Su Laosan and them and went to Yuhu Mountain.

"Sir, don't worry, I promise you that you will not regret this trip. Yuhu Mountain is fun. Su Laosan said with a smile.

As it turned out, this statement was true.

Yuhu Mountain is north of the provincial capital, about more than 100 miles away. On their feet, they had to walk for two days. In the afternoon of the next day, the group arrived at the foot of Yuhu Mountain.

Su Laosan had obviously been here, and he took them over a small hill and came to a dense forest. The group followed him around the forest for half an hour, and suddenly heard the sound of "bubbling" water in front of them.

"Is it a hot spring?" Shen Yun couldn't help but blurt out.

Su Laosan praised: "Mr. is a good ear! It is a hot spring, and there is still about half a mile away." ”

After walking through the dense forest for about a cup of tea, a red boulder appeared in front of him to block the way.

Su Laosan stood in front of the boulder: "It's here." ”

At this time, the sound of "bubbling" water seemed to be at the feet, however, everyone looked around, but could not find the water source.

"Third master, where is the hot spring? Why not?" everyone asked in unison.

"Don't worry. Su Laosan smiled and waved, "Follow me." ”

So they followed him around the back of the boulder.

Suddenly, it was as if a world had changed. The mist is steaming, like a fairyland.

Shen Yun looked closely, and it turned out that the back of the boulder was a small stone pool that was almost circular. It's like a super big hot water pot. Above the water, there are three places with pearl-like bubbles. The sound of "gurgling" came from these three places.

"This is the hot spring. Su Laosan pointed to the surface of the water and explained, "You see, those three places are constantly blistering out. They are springs. The water temperature is highest around the spring. Throw the raw eggs down, and they will be cooked in less than a moment or three. The farther away from the spring, the lower the water temperature. After everyone gets into the water, try not to get burned. ”

However, you can't soak in the hot springs right away after just such a long journey. One side of the pond is a huge rock, and the other three sides are surrounded by a sandy and gravel field several zhang wide, which is just right for camping. So, the group set up a tent first. And because Su Laosan said that it is easy to be thirsty when soaking in hot springs, they set up firewood and boiled a large pot of hot water, ready to drink it when they were about to soak in the hot spring.

When the sun turns west, the evening breeze rises, and the temperature on the gravel floor suddenly becomes colder, this is the best time to soak in the hot springs!

The benefits of Yuhu Mountain are not limited to this one. The forests here are dense, there are no people around, and there are many wild things, so it is a good place for hunting. So, the group set up a temporary campsite by the hot spring, went out hunting during the day, and came back in the evening to soak in the hot spring barbecue and eat.

Su Laosan and others all joked that the fairy-like days were like this. I really want to stay and live like this for the rest of my life.

It's a pity that they still have shops to take care of. No matter how fun it is, they can't get down to business, and on the fifth day of the new year, they must return to prepare for the opening of the new year.

Shen Yun naturally went back with them.

However, plans can never catch up with change.

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, they were about to return to the camp with a full harvest. At this moment, a fat rabbit suddenly appeared from a meadow on the mountainside, and ran up the mountain.

Su Laosan had a whim, and proposed: "Let's compare the strength of our feet and see who can catch this rabbit alive with our bare hands!" glanced at everyone and said with a smile, "I'll give you a silver or two!"

"I'll give you five cents!"

"Twenty big bucks!"

......

The crowd followed.

"Sir, what about you?" someone asked Shen Yun.

"I'll also give a tael of silver. Shen Yun said with a smile.

Su Laosan threw the pheasants and other prey he had hit, as well as the bows and arrows and long swords he was carrying, into the grass beside him, and waved at everyone: "Let's start!"

Before he could finish speaking, he himself had already rushed out first.

Not to be outdone, Shen Yun and the others also unloaded their prey and weapons, showing their magical powers, shouting to chase the rabbit.

The fat rabbit was frightened and ran faster. jumped three times and two times, and got into a pile of thorns.

Shen Yun's speed was not slow, and they caught up with the front and back feet.

"Hey, what is this?"

"It's weird and pretty. ”

The fat rabbit is gone. A pink grass grew among the dry thorn bushes. It was about half a foot tall and came out of the ground like a bull's horn. Very eye-catching. It caught everyone's eyes at once.

Shen Yun was overjoyed, stroked his palms and smiled: "It's called Tianniu Grass, it is a good medicine, and it has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. ”

Longhorn grass is a perennial herb. The older the year, the better its efficacy. There are three main medicines in the Baihua Yulu Pill of Xiangshimen, one of which is at least five years of Tianniu grass.

The age of the longhorn grass is easy to identify: look at the hard leaves at the bottom.

Although the longhorn grass is perennial, it also grows in spring and withers in winter. Each time it dries up, it leaves behind a dark red, fingernail-sized, scale-like leaf that clings tightly to the bottom of the stem. Therefore, to distinguish the age of longhorn grass, you only need to count the hard leaves at the bottom of its stem. The number of sclerophyllas, plus one, is its vintage.

The roots of the plant in front of me are densely packed with eleven dark red hard leaves. That is, it is twelve years old.

Five-year-old longhorn grass is already a fine product. Twelve years, at least Shen Yun saw it for the first time.

Su Laosan was overjoyed when he saw him, but he didn't start collecting the medicine for a long time, and asked curiously: "Since it is a good medicine, why didn't Mr. dig it?"

Shen Yun explained: "The Heavenly Cow Grass is only fully ripe before it dies. At that time, it was crimson all over, like a red-hot soldering iron. After about half an hour, the red color fades and it dies, leaving only the one covered with hard leaves, and it will sprout new stems by the following spring. Now, it's still a little hot, and if you just pick it like this, the efficacy of the medicine will be greatly reduced. ”

I see. Su Laosan nodded: "How long does it take to get ripe?"

"It should be about the same the morning after tomorrow. Shen Yun was truthful.

The crowd looked at each other—tomorrow morning, they were leaving......

Good medicine is hard to come by. It was impossible for Shen Yun to give up this Heavenly Bull Grass. Seeing everyone's reaction, he said, "I'm going to stay and collect medicine." You go back to the martial arts hall first. I know the ......."

Su Laosan waved his hand to interrupt him: "How can you leave Mr. alone in this barren mountain range? According to me, it is just postponed for a day, and it can't be delayed." Tomorrow we will go to bed early and refresh ourselves. More than 100 miles away, rush to the night road, and be able to return to the martial arts hall on the seventh day of the first month, and there is no delay. With that, he looked at the others, "What do you think?"

"It's not that I haven't traveled overnight, no problem. ”

"I want to see it ripe, too. ”

"It's great to have an extra day. ”

Everyone giggled and said they had no opinion.

"I don't need to ......" It's hard to travel at night. Moreover, when they returned, they were about to prepare for the opening, and they didn't have much time to catch up on sleep. Shen Yun didn't want to drag them down.

Su Laosan waved his hand and announced, "Then it's decided." Let's stay one more day and leave on the morning of the sixth day of the new year. On the fifth day of the new year, prepare dry food. Walk faster on the road, eat dry food, and don't stop at noon and night to make a fire to cook, and you should be able to reach the North City Gate before midnight. Then camp under the base of the city walls to catch up on sleep. There were officers and soldiers guarding the city who stood guard for us, and it was very safe. After that, he smiled at Shen Yun and said, "Sir, this is the treatment that only officials and old men have! Moreover, we also saved money for one night's stay in the hotel." ”

"Hahaha......" Everyone was amused by him.

Shen Yun also smiled, his heart was warm, and he hugged his fists and thanked them again and again.