The night was miserable, and Mo walked through the fir forest in a panic, unable to distinguish the direction at all, so he could only move forward along a forest path. I don't know how long I walked, but the sound of gurgling water sounded in my ears, and in the faint moonlight, a stream blocked the way.

This is probably Shennong Creek, I heard the master of Miao Hall say that going up along the stream is the way to Shennongjia, and you will go down the river to the official ferry wharf.

Mo Yan squatted at the water's edge, scooped up water and washed his face, and then sat on a piece of bluestone to rest.

Whether to go to the official ferry wharf, take a boat back to Yunnan tomorrow morning, or go back to Shennongjia by tracing the river, he looked at the stars in the night sky, and couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he waited until dawn.

A wave of tiredness hit, so he lay down on the big bluestone and fell asleep.

The dawn of the east, "Hey, hey, hey, hey......" A high-pitched and rich trumpet sound came from far and near, and Mo Yan woke up suddenly. In the stream, seven or eight men with ** on their shoulders are dragging a wooden boat in the shape of a "pea horn" and trekking with difficulty.

"A rope is nine feet three, and the father and son are tied to their shoulders from generation to generation. Stepping through the rocks and no one asked, who knew that the slender man was cold in his heart, hey, "The slender man led by Mo Jian found Mo Yan, stopped the song, and shouted in his mouth, "Hey, little baby, why are you staying here alone, where is your home?"

Mo Yan rubbed his eyes, looked at these naked men, and asked in surprise, "Uncle, why don't you wear clothes?"

The slender man was about forty years old, with bronzed skin and strong muscles, and when he heard this, he laughed and said, "We are slender men, of course we are shirtless, it seems that your baby is not a local." ”

Mo Yan saw that the slender man had a kind and bold face, so he replied: "I came into the mountains to collect medicine, where are you going?"

"Go to the town along the river to make deliveries. ”

Mo Yan looked towards the ship, and there were some jars of oil, salt, sauce and vinegar and bags of grain in the cabin.

"How far is Shennongjia?" asked Mo Yu.

"More than 100 miles, after crossing along the river, along the stream all the way to the north, you will reach the southern slope of Shennongjia, you little baby can not go. The slender man kindly admonished, and then pulled up the rope again, shouting "Hey, yo......" and walked forward in the stream with difficulty.

Looking at the sturdy backs of the slender men, Mo Yan seemed to increase his confidence, so he took off his shoes and put his baggage, rolled up his trouser legs and jumped into the stream, and followed them.

For thousands of years, the slender men of Shennongxi have been pulling fibers with their bodies, because of the turbulent water, the wet homespun clothes are close to the body, which not only hinders the movement of the limbs, but also easily scratches the skin.

Before Mo Yan had walked far, his clothes were already soaked, so he had no choice but to take off his clothes and pants like slender men and follow behind naked.

The clear stream splashed on his body, cool and refreshing, and Mo Yan felt very comfortable.

"Hey, you have to cross the river......" A woman's long voice came from a distance.

Mo Yan looked over, and there were two aunts and sisters-in-law on the shore carrying bamboo baskets, waving to the slender men frequently.

The two young slender men put down the rope and walked to the shore, each carrying one person to cross the stream, and behaved in a down-to-earth and innocent manner, just like the simple and natural nature of this landscape, which surprised Mo Yan.

"Look, there's a little slender man in the back. The sister-in-law giggled.

Mo Mian's face flushed, and he subconsciously turned his back, causing a hearty laugh from the slender men.

The middle-aged slender man from before came over and asked, "Little baby, do you really want to go to Shennongjia to collect medicine?"

Mo Yan nodded.

"Come on the boat and take you to the river. The slender man stretched out his strong arms and lifted Mo Ji up and put him on the boat.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey......" Xiajiang sounded again.

Yanhedu is a small town with a population of less than 1,000 people, and the people are simple, and the middle-aged slender man Gao Boss is a local.

At dusk, the ship anchored on the shore, the slender men put on their clothes and trousers, and some merchants came to unload the goods. After the counting, everyone went to the tavern to drink, and Boss Gao took Mo Yan back to his house.

At the foot of the hill there are two thatched huts, a small vegetable garden in front of the house, and an old black dog lying on the threshold. There are three members of the old Gao family, the child's name is Shan'er, and he has been paralyzed in the hospital bed since he was a child, which is a heart disease that the couple has been entangled with for many years.

"This baby's name is Mo Remnant, from Yunnan, and he wants to go to Shennongjia to collect medicine. Boss Gao told her mother-in-law.

"That's not good, a few years ago, there were medicine pickers who went up the mountain together, but only one person came back, and he was scared crazy, it's really pitiful. The woman said.

"Mo Remnant, I heard it, adults can't come back when they go together, not to mention that you are a baby, and you will be sent back if you go into the water and drain it tomorrow. Boss Gao comforted.

"Were they captured by the mountain ghosts?" asked Mo Yan.

Boss Gao smiled when he heard this: "It's just a legend that there are mountain ghosts, but no one has seen it with their own eyes, maybe everyone who has seen it has been eaten." ”

During the meal, the mother-in-law talked about a group of medicine pickers from Yichang Mansion in Xiajiang in the past two days, who lived in the only Fulai Inn in the town, and they were all armed with swords, bows and crossbows and other weapons.

Mo Yan thought for a while and said, "I can go and accompany them, as long as I don't go into the deep mountains and old forests, I can just pick some medicine on the side." ”

This group of medicine pickers has a blade on their bodies, and Mo Yan is much safer to follow his peers after all, Boss Gao pondered.

At night, Mo Yan and Shan'er slept in the same bed. The boy was skinny and had deep-set eye sockets, which was pitiful.

"It's so nice outside," said Shan'er to Mo Yan, for as long as he could remember, he could only look through the window at the unchanging peaks in the distance, and for many years, only when his father and mother carried him out, could he see the village, the stream, and the "pea boat" outside, and "Daddy and Uncle Slender were bare-assed." With that, he giggled.

In the next room, the mother-in-law couldn't help but cry when she heard her son's laughter.

"Alas, it's been a long time since Shan'er has been so happy. She said.

"Yes, it would be nice if Mo Yan were our children, and Shan'er also has a companion. Boss Gao sighed.

Early in the morning, Mo Yan quietly got up and got out of bed, trying not to wake up the mountains around him.

"Are you leaving?" Shan'er's eyes widened, and there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Yes, I'm going to Shennongjia to collect medicine. Mo Yan had already made up his mind in his heart.

The boy smiled faintly and said nothing, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

After breakfast, Boss Gao saw that Mo Yan insisted on leaving, so he took a basket and a medicine hoe from home, took him to the Fulai Inn, and found the group of medicine pickers who went down the river, they had already prepared their bags and were about to leave.

"No, I can't. The leader hung a long sword at his waist, and before he could finish listening, he flatly refused.

Boss Gao explained that he only needed to send the child to the edge of Shennongjia and pick some herbs casually, so that they could reluctantly agree.

Boss Gao had to rush to put the water in the morning, and before leaving, he told Mo Yan not to enter the uninhabited primeval forest, and to come back and live in his house as soon as possible after collecting the medicine.

A group of more than 10 medicine pickers went north along Shennong Creek and entered the reckless mountains.

Mo Yan walked at the back of the team, although the mountain road is steep and rugged, but he grew up at the foot of Cangshan Mountain since he was a child, and often went up the mountain to collect medicine when he was an apprentice, and his body and bones are much stronger than those of children of the same age. Later, in "Muhammad's Ventriloquism", he learned the retrograde abdominal breathing method, and the breath was long, and it was much easier to climb the mountains and mountains.

"Little brother, it's not easy for you to come out to collect medicine at such a young age. The old man next to Mo Yan was about fifty years old, and he took the initiative to talk to him.

"Uncle, what kind of medicine are you here to collect?" Mo Yan asked.

"Oh, the old man's surname is Fu, and he is a pharmacist from the Huimin Pharmacy in Yichang Mansion, and they are all guards in Yichang Mansion. The old man whispered about the original story, it turned out that the current Qianlong Emperor was suffering from eye disease, and the Yichang prefect ordered someone to hunt the bear bile of the Shennongjia white bear to pay tribute to the court. Because he is an official pharmacist, it is convenient for his peers to concoct fresh gall on the spot.

"Shennongjia White Bear?" Mo Yan was very curious.

"The locals call it 'Bear', which has white fur, a big head and red eyes, which is very rare. Its gallbladder is different from ordinary bear bile, it is golden, extremely bitter and cold, and it takes the liver and gallbladder two meridians, and the eyes are pointed to open the blind to the extreme. The old man explained.

The canyon is getting more and more dangerous, and the cliffs on both sides of the bank are like cutting, and everyone can only climb up. On the opposite hill is a dove tree, and the white flowers on the branches are like white doves with wings ready to fly, which is very beautiful.

At dusk, the party came to the foot of a leeward cliff and set up camp for the night. At this moment, there was a slight "buzzing" sound in my ears, and then it became louder and louder, and a black fog swept into the sky.

"It's not good, it's a miasma, let's make a bonfire. Pharmacist Fu shouted loudly.

The guards hurriedly picked up dry branches to set up a pyre, and lit a bonfire, but it was too late, and the black mist surrounded everyone in an instant.

It was a black mist composed of countless giant spotted mosquitoes, smelling the breath of hot-blooded humans, and swooping down desperately, slashing at their heads and bare skin, and piercing the blood-sucking poison needles mercilessly. The guards didn't care about lighting the fire, and hurriedly slapped it with their palms, "splitting and crackling" into a mess.

Mo Yan was surprised to find that those poisonous mosquitoes actually bypassed him to attack others, what was wrong? While thinking about it, he walked to the pyre and picked up the fire sickle, lit the bonfire, the raging flames rose, the smoke dispersed, the black fog gradually receded, and finally disappeared into the dense forest.

In the firelight, the guards were bitten with countless red envelopes, their faces were swollen and deformed, and their eyes were narrowed into a slit, so that they could not recognize each other. Everyone sat around the fire, not even wanting to eat.

Pharmacist Fu rubbed his swollen face and said in surprise, "Little brother, why are you okay at all?"

Mo scratched his head: "I don't know." ”

"Little brother, please go and collect more dry firewood, there will be a wave of miasma before dawn. Pharmacist Fu said.

Mo Yan picked up a lot of dead branches and piled them up next to the bonfire, enough to burn until dawn. He untied his burden and took out two steamed buns, while gnawing on his heart and still pondering, suddenly his head flashed, remembering what the bell doctor Shi Yuhe said to himself when he was in Xuzhou City, when he wanted to enter the mountain, he must remember to wear Pikan shoulders to ward off poisonous insects and miasma.

I see, no wonder the poisonous mosquitoes don't bite themselves, when I was boiling medicine in Wushan the night before, although I inhaled the incense of Steward Xue, I still remained awake, which may also be the role of this shoulder. He gently rubbed the soft gray fur on his shoulders, what kind of animal skin was this, how could there be such a thing at home.

At dawn, the miasma really hit again, everyone hurriedly added fire and firewood to drive away the spotted mosquitoes, Mo Yan brought a handful of wet weeds to cover the flames, and suddenly the smoke was everywhere, choking people coughing, and the black fog disappeared in an instant.

"Little brother really has you, but this is already the edge of Shennongjia, just pick some herbs here and go home, we have to continue to walk inside." The foreman of the guard came over and said.

"There aren't many herbs here, I want to go into the mountains with you. ”

"How can it be done, there are many poisonous snakes and beasts in it, and it is very dangerous. The foreman shook his head.

Pharmacist Fu answered on the side: "Foreman Dou, although this little brother is not very old, his physical strength is far better than that of the old man, and he is not afraid of mosquitoes by nature, and he is clever, take him with him, he will not become a burden." ”

When Foreman Dou saw Pharmacist Fu say this, he agreed.

;