Luo Yin finally arrived at a small town and stayed at the only inn in the town.

Just as Luo Yin was sitting in the lobby enjoying his meal, the sound of two people talking at the table next to him came into his ears.

"Lao Zhang, I see that you have been in the mountains for several months before the snow, I'm afraid you have a lot of gains, right?" asked the man sitting on the left.

The middle-aged man known as Lao Zhang said with a bitter face: "What is the harvest, what is the harvest, I don't know what is going on with this ghost weather this year, but it actually snowed heavily in advance." ”

As he spoke, he sighed and said, "Hey, Lao Liu, you said that although it snows heavily every year in the Hengduan Mountain area, it only started to fall in November, who knew that this year it started in October in advance, and it fell so big, I didn't pick a few plants this time......

Lao Liu said: "Yes, I have been collecting medicine in this mountain for more than 30 years, and I have never seen such a heavy snowfall, it has been raining for almost a month, right?"

Lao Zhang replied: "It's been almost a month. This year's weather was particularly eerie, coming earlier and colder than usual winters. I don't know what this god thinks, this heavy snow covers the mountains, how can we medicine farmers live. ”

Lao Liu said: "Hey, this Hengduan Mountain Range stretches for thousands of miles, and it is the largest production area of medicinal materials in the western part of Chu State. If we don't go into the mountains to try our luck, if we can pick more herbs, we will definitely be able to sell them for a lot more money next year. ”

Lao Zhang immediately shook his head and said: "Don't think about it, look at the mountains that were still lush with trees and herbs a month ago, but now they have completely become snow-capped mountains, and now you go into the mountains to collect medicine, how many lives do you have? Let's go, let's go, don't dream, go back and have a good night's rest, and go home tomorrow." ”

After the two finished speaking, they left the lobby and walked to the backyard.

When Luo Yin was eating, he also left an ear to listen to their conversation, so as to understand the situation here. Hearing the words of the snow-capped mountains, I thought of the towering snow-capped mountains I saw when I came, and I couldn't help but feel a little anxious, and I didn't know if there were any other roads that could be bypassed.

Thinking about it, he beckoned the guy at the inn, and when he came to him, he asked him, "This little brother, I don't know if the Hengduan Mountain Range in the east can still be entered now?"

The guy smiled and said, "This guest officer looks like a scholar, not like a medicine farmer who collects medicine, why do you want to go into the mountains now?"

Luo Yin replied: "I have an appointment with someone to go to Lingshan County in the east. ”

The guy listened to Luo Yin's words, and he didn't hurry to answer, and poured a glass of wine for Luo Yin before saying: "I see, then I still advise the guest officer to wait until the spring of next year before leaving, after this Hengduan Mountain is closed, it can't be easily entered, otherwise it will be easy to get in and it will be difficult to come out." ”

Luo Yinqi said: "Why?"

The guy said with a smile: "The guest officer doesn't know, this Hengduan Mountain Range is the largest mountain range in the western part of our Chu State, stretching for thousands of miles from north to south and hundreds of miles from east to west. The east of Hengduan Mountain is a warm and prosperous place, densely populated, like spring all year round, and the west of Hengduan Mountain is a bitter cold land, sparsely populated, full of lofty mountains and mountains, and the whole place is a barren land with no three feet flat. ”

"Guest officer, do you think that this Hengduan Mountain Range spans hundreds of miles from east to west, and once you go in, can you go out in this winter? Once you go in and can't get out, you can only freeze to death and starve to death in the mountains. ”

Luo Yin thought about it and felt reasonable, in such a vast snowy mountain, if you can't go in, you won't go in, so let's ask first, if there are any other roads to the east. "Are there any other roads that can go around the Hengduan Mountains to the east?"

The man said: "This mountain range stretches thousands of miles from north to south, extends to the north of Great Chu, and goes south to the hinterland of the Southern Wilderness. ”

Luo Yin thanked this guy and felt that he was in big trouble. If what this guy says is true, then there are only three ways to go.

The first is to walk thousands of miles around the Hengduan Mountains, the second is to wait for the next spring in this town and wait for the snow to melt before going on the road, and the third is to climb the entire mountain range in winter, despite the danger of heavy snow closing the mountain.

After thinking about the first choice, I quickly made a cross in my heart. It is impossible for him to choose to detour, because he is very short of time, and he must walk to Qingyang Mountain within three years, and it is impossible to waste time in vain to walk thousands of miles of unjust roads.

And the second is the same reason, it is only November, and there are at least two or three months left to leave spring, and it is simply unacceptable to waste two or three months of waiting in vain.

Then the only option left in front of you now is the third one, which is to venture over the snowy mountains.

But there are many dangers in this snowy mountain, cold, lack of food, avalanches, wild beasts, etc., any one of them can leave themselves in the snowy mountains forever. Once inside, be prepared never to get out!

After Luo Yin weighed the pros and cons of several options, he still couldn't make a choice, so he had to shake his head and put these behind him for the time being. Now it's better to go back to your room and rest for the night, and wait until tomorrow to worry about it, maybe there will be a better way tomorrow.

Divide the rest of the food and drink by two, go back to the room and fall asleep.

I slept until noon the next day, and then I went downstairs to eat a few things and then walked into the town. He was going to ask the rest of the town about the situation, and he couldn't just listen to the innkeepers.

An hour later, Luo Yin returned to the room with a gloomy face, the words of the people in the town were not much different from what the innkeeper said, and he had to choose one of the three options.

I sat quietly in the room for a long time, weighing the pros and cons repeatedly as I thought about going. Finally, before dinner began in the afternoon, he slapped the table and made up his mind.

It's already November, and it's been one year and three months since he said goodbye to Shen Mo and set foot on the road of seeking immortals, and he only has one year and nine months left. In the remaining twenty-one months, he must cross most of the territory of Chu from west to east.

Time is already very tight, and I can't afford to waste myself on detours and waiting.

After making up his mind, he began to prepare, and went to a shop in the town to look for items that might be used in the mountains.

The town was a frequented gathering place for herb pickers, and there was everything you could possibly need in the mountains.

Luo Yin went to a ready-to-wear store in the town, intending to buy another set of clothes that could keep out the cold. Although the cotton clothes on his body are thick, he feels unbearable cold only when he travels at the bottom of the mountain, and if he reaches the towering snow-capped mountains, he is afraid that it will be difficult to withstand the severe cold.

When I entered the shop, I saw only two people inside, a middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper who was staring intently at the situation in the store, and a man who looked short with thief eyebrows and mouse eyes.

Seeing Luo Yin come in, the shopkeeper walked out from behind the counter and accosted Luo Yin. And the short man with thief eyebrows and rat eyes also turned around, glanced at Luo Yin, and then turned back to continue looking at his clothes.

After walking around the shop, I found that most of the shops sold some simple winter clothes at this time, which did not help me much for my trip to the snowy mountains. Then he asked the middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, do you have better warm clothes in your store?"

The shopkeeper looked at Luo Yin and said, "Most of the winter clothes are in the store, and the guest officer doesn't see them?"

Luo Yin said: "I plan to go into the mountains, so these clothes don't have much effect, and I need some light ones that can keep out the cold." ”

Hearing this, the shopkeeper looked at Luo Yin's appearance and the clothes on his body, thought for a while and said, "I still have a few sets of leather in this store, but the price is not cheap." ”

As soon as Luo Yin heard that there was a leather, he was excited in his heart, if he could buy the leather, it would be much stronger than the cold resistance of the cotton clothes, and hurriedly said: "If there is one, take it out and take a look, if the price is right, I will buy it." ”

The shopkeeper answered, turned around and entered the inner room, and after a while, he took out three beautifully packaged boxes, opened them and put them in front of Luo Yin.

Luo Yin took out the contents of the first box, shook it open, and saw that it was a coat made of fine leather, the leather was soft and smooth when touched, and the inside was lined with white fluff.

I opened the other two boxes, a pair of tall leather boots and a leather hat.

Looking at these three skins, Luo Yin liked them a lot, but he was afraid that the price was not cheap, so he asked, "I don't know how to sell these three pieces?"

Seeing Luo Yin's expression, the shopkeeper said: "These three skins were all taken from an adult brown bear, and they are all high-quality leather goods. I only have this set in this shop, if you want it, take it for fifteen taels of silver. ”

Fifteen taels, Luo Yin's eyes turned white when he heard the price, and he scolded directly in his heart: "You robbed!" Thinking about it, he also bid in his mouth: "Eight taels of silver, if you sell it, I will ask for it all." ”

"You have also seen it, this skin color and this workmanship are rare good goods in Chuxi, and fifteen taels of silver are not expensive. When the shopkeeper saw him bidding, he knew that there was a door, and he opened his mouth and praised him.

The two of them bargained back and forth, and finally set the price at twelve taels and five pieces of silver. Luo Yin took off the back basket distressedly, took out twelve taels of silver from it and handed it to the shopkeeper.

But he didn't notice that there was a pair of eyes behind him secretly staring at him, watching him take the money from the basket.

After buying the leather goods, Luo Yin went to other shops and bought some ropes, ice sleds and other items. After spending more than an hour, I finally had all the items I needed.

The next step is to take the plunge and hope that I will be able to get out of this mountain range alive.

Luo Yin returned to the inn with a large bag of things from the purchase, put the things back in the room and went downstairs to eat, planning to rest early after eating, and set off for the mountain early tomorrow morning.

It's just that he didn't realize that when he was shopping aggressively, those eyes kept staring at him, and followed him all the way back to the inn.

Seeing Luo Yin enter the room, the short man with some thief eyebrows turned around and entered another room.