The weather is getting colder and colder, and after a few snowfalls, the area around Changbai Mountain has become white. According to the direction pointed by Xiang Tianxiao, the group of three investigated for more than a month. After crossing dozens of mountain peaks and visiting more than a dozen large and small villages, I have no clue, and the hardships and disappointments are no longer expressed.

Xiaoxiao, who used to be cheerful and active, became haggard and taciturn. In fact, for more than ten years, she and her family had long acquiesced that Lantian Ye had fallen, but the sudden news still made her a little apprehensive. On the one hand, I was excited about the clues, and on the other hand, I was worried that my grandfather had been poisoned.

On the other hand, Changqing Zhenren is in a good mood every day, he is curious about everything he sees, and he often pulls Xiaoxiao to tease her to talk, even if he is angry by Xiaoxiao who is in a bad mood, he is not angry, as if he is happy as long as he leaves Longhu Mountain and leaves his senior brother's nose.

On this day, they finally found a place similar to the terrain described by Xiang Tianxiao, which was a small hill, and there was a waterhole not far behind the mountain, probably because it was connected to the earthly river, so it did not freeze.

Yun and the others carefully inspected the hill and found that there were indeed traces of artificial excavation. Judging from the location of the collapse of the mountain, it should also be hollow in the middle. But there is no way to verify it now, because millions of catties of dirt and rocks have completely buried the clues. They tried to dig and found that it was simply not within the reach of human beings. And judging by the moss and trees growing on the rocks, it has been abandoned for a long time. I don't know if it was the relationship between the earthquake and the landslide, or if it was deliberately done to cover up the evidence. Although he knew that the result was roughly the same, Xiaoxiao was still very depressed.

At this moment, they met an old man who was digging ginseng in the vicinity, fortunately this old man was still a local, and he still remembered the situation vividly.

"How can you not remember? When such a big project was made, there were no less than 500 coolies alone, and it took about half a year to build. ”

"Who did it?"

"I heard that it is a place where the sect cultivates, but I don't think it maybe, most of them are some roosters and dog thieves!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Those people are fierce! Fix this big cave and don't let the locals get close. It was guarded from morning till night. Our neighbor Lao Li's three boys once chased a rabbit to the side of the cave entrance, and were caught by the guards and broke their arms. Lao Li and the villagers came to theorize, and dozens of people poured out, each with knives and guns, so terrifying!"

"Later, there was nothing to be done, this day the emperor was far away, and there was no place to report to the official. They came out with a leader, and casually threw two taels of silver, and that's it. ”

By the way, the leader was dressed as a scholar, and there was a junior in our village who went out to see the world, saying that the scholar was a southerner, probably with an accent from the Jiangnan area. The rest of the thugs were all northerners. ”

"I don't know if anyone remembers? A few years ago, the village was hit by a plague, and now I don't know how many people are still alive and where. I also lived in other villages, and I haven't heard from my old neighbors for a long time. But if you want to investigate, you may be able to get some clues, the labor that built this place back then did not use the locals, I heard that it was recruited from the county more than 300 miles away, if you go there to inquire, maybe there are still people who remember this. ”

After thanking the old man, Xiao Xiao stood at the foot of the hill and stared at it for a long time. Yun and Changqing didn't know how to comfort her, so they could only accompany her silently.

It was already dark, and Yun Yun said: "Let's stay overnight and go to the county seat tomorrow to investigate, although it is a little slim, it is better than no news at all!"

Xiaoxiao just nodded slowly. So Yun started his big house building business, and when it comes to survival in the wild, Yun can be said to have a lot of experience. Passing through the village a few days ago, I had the foresight to buy snow shovels from the villagers and large sheets of hides from the hunters. At this time, it was the depths of winter, and the snow in the north was thick in some places. Yun first dug a thick layer of snow in the leeward part of the bottom of the mountain, dug a large hole three feet square, and then patted all sides with a shovel, and then spread animal skins on the ground. A deep pit was dug in the middle of the ground, and the dead branches were lit, and finally a whole bear skin was hung in the mouth of the hole to block the cold wind. So a warm nest was made in an hour.

Changqing watched with interest, pointing and pointing from time to time. In fact, this Taoist master has no experience in survival in the wild, if he is left alone in the barren mountains and mountains, most likely he will find a cave to drive the bear away and squat there by himself.

After tidying up the dwelling, Yun went out to catch two pheasants. It's funny to say that pheasants in winter are the fattest but also the stupidest, and if you follow the footprints and find them and jump out to scare them, they will stick their heads in the snow, and they won't see you, and they think you can't see them either. So as long as you go over and catch it, it's done.

When the smell of roasted pheasants permeated the small cave, Xiaoxiao seemed to be a little happier, and was in the mood to talk to Changqing, so the night was deep in this noisy and laughing. Branches were added to the fire, and listening to the wind outside and the howl of wolves in the distance, the clouds seemed to return to the familiar Daqing Mountain.

Early the next morning, Yun went out early to prepare breakfast. And Xiaoxiao and Changqing Lao Dao are still dreaming. Xiaoxiao, who was asleep, suddenly felt an itch in her chest, and opened her eyes in a daze but screamed in fright. I saw a small white animal arching on her chest. Hearing the movement, the clouds rushed in, and Changqing Zhenren also woke up. When he saw the little beast clearly, he couldn't help but exclaim: "What a big mouse!"

The little beast seemed to have a spiritual understanding, bared its teeth at the Changqing real person dissatisfied, waved its little paws and continued to arch in front of the little chest, and finally found a comfortable place, yawned, closed its eyes, and fell asleep. Little was fascinated by its cute appearance and was full of little stars, and carefully stroked it. And it seemed to enjoy it and rolled over, with its four paws facing the sky, revealing its pink belly for Xiao Xiao to continue to tickle it.

Changqing sighed: "Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, this mouse has become a refinement!"

Yun recognized it and said that it should be a ferret, which would be distributed in the mountains of the north. They are snow-white and blend in with the outside environment, making them difficult to spot. This little thing seems harmless, but it is actually a small beast of prey, when hungry it will burrow to hunt small animals such as rabbits, and also eat snakes and earthworms, and when it is very hungry, it will attack poultry. But it's the first time I've seen a snow-white one like this one, and its eyes are red. But it seems to be able to understand human speech, and it should be domesticated by others. As for why he appeared here, it is unknown that he still has such a good impression of Xiaoxiao.

The little one was so happy that he said that it didn't matter where it came from! The ferret opened its eyes dimly, wagged its tail to show satisfaction, and then rolled over and fell asleep again.

Since then, Xiaoxiao has a new baby, and it hurts a lot. Never let Changqing touch it, and I'm not even happy to hug it in the clouds. The ferret is also close to Xiaoxiao, usually lying in her arms, jumping up and down on Xiaoxiao's shoulders when she is in a good mood, and when she is tired of playing, she will go back to Xiaoxiao's arms or simply use her tail to wrap her little neck, and then she will sleep with her tail hanging on Xiaoxiao's neck, and she will inadvertently think it is an animal skin scarf.

But it is bitter to the clouds, and serving this little thing is like serving the ancestors. The rabbit eats pheasants if they don't like to eat, and the pheasants don't like to eat wild boars, and even once asked him if he could get a wild bear or something, which shocked the clouds for a long time. This little thing can't be eaten by a bear until I'm old! Anyway, seeing Xiaoxiao change the haze of the past, no matter how tired the clouds are, they are happy. The only thing that is not happy is the old Dao of Evergreen, that Xiaobai seems to be inherently wrong with him, or it may be that his mouse insulted Xiaobai's noble bloodline, anyway, when he sees the real person of Changqing, he grins his teeth, and Lao Dao is not used to it, the same blowing beard and staring, so I often see this person and a beast staring at the stiff eyes. And at this time, it is often Changqing who loses the battle, because Xiaoxiao is always on Xiaobai's side.

It is true that there are more than three hundred miles from the old site of the prison to the county seat mentioned by the old senator, but it is a straight-line distance, and there are at least six mountain ranges in between, each of which is reaching into the clouds. In winter, the mountain roads are the most difficult to navigate, and it is easy to get lost in the white expanse. What's even worse is that in some places, the snow is loose and can easily cause avalanches, and no matter how high the martial arts are, under the power of nature, they seem so small. After witnessing an avalanche with their own eyes, Changqing and Xiaoxiao put away their fun, and cautiously followed the footsteps of the clouds and did not dare to breathe through those dangerous areas. In addition, the weather in the mountains in winter is changeable, and the sky is clear in the morning, but in the afternoon it is cloudy and the cold wind is howling. Fortunately, the cloud is experienced and well prepared, and there are no major mistakes. It's just that these hundreds of miles of mountain roads have made them walk for more than half a month.

On this day, the group of three finally walked out of the mountains and came to the outside of the county. It is said to be a county seat, but it is actually a larger town. The low walls were made of earth, and many places were in disrepair and dilapidation. When you enter the city gate, you are faced with old mud houses, and there is only one main street in the whole city, which is very lively at this time. In winter, a large number of furs and mountain goods are produced in the mountains of the north, and the mountain people will gather to sell them, and this city is a distribution center for collecting and trading mountain treasures. The three of them finally found a clean inn to live in and went out to visit, but they didn't go far to find that they were being targeted!