After leaving Yingshan Village, we also learned the name of the horse riding leader, Zhao Zhiye.
Zhao Zhiye is a typical Northeastern man, in his forties, wearing an ordinary blue coarse cloth jacket, but he is still clean and tidy.
He wears a pair of loose gray coarse trousers on his lower body and a pair of yellow rubber shoes on his feet.
There was an old schoolbag slung over his shoulder. It looked like it contained some dry food.
The sun shone obliquely on him, dyeing his hair flaxen.
Zhao Zhiye is a bit taciturn and doesn't talk much, with the simplicity of a mountain villager.
They took us one step ahead and led us on horseback from Yingshan Village into the forest area, and followed the mountain path of the forest workers.
After walking for nearly four hours, in front of us is the "Agyesi" Lake, which means Girl Lake in Korean.
The entire lake is like a bright mirror without any ripples, and Changbai Mountain is reflected in the entire lake.
In order to make Zhao Zhiye think that we were really tourists, we stopped at the lake and then continued our journey.
The section we first entered was in the lower part of the mountain range, and as we went further in, the slope became steeper and steeper.
In the end, the five of us found ourselves riding horses on a hillside that was sloping at almost 60 degrees.
The trees here are all straight, but the ground is slanted, making every step upwards very dangerous.
Zhao Zhiye told us that after walking up for a while, we will enter a large section of muddy road.
"Brother Feng, many of the Changbai Mountains are primitive jungles. Is there anything interesting to see?"
I looked at Zhao Zhiye and said with a smile: "Brother Zhao, we are just taking risks."
"Just take us to a section of road near the snow, and then wait for us there."
Zhao Zhiye showed a silly smile: "Brother Feng, I really don't understand why you city people like these."
“After going up the mountain along this section, it will be very dangerous once you enter the snow-covered mountain area.”
"And you didn't bring any cold-proof clothes. Can you go to the snow-capped mountains like this?"
While he was talking, the horses had already entered the muddy road that Zhao Zhiye mentioned.
The horses' hooves stepped on the muddy water, making the ground appear slippery, and the water was trampled everywhere.
"Brother Zhao, we all brought warm clothes so we can climb to the top."
Zhao Zhiye smiled and did not continue. He was only responsible for leading the way.
We walked up the mountain for more than an hour, and when we were nearly halfway up the mountain, it started to snow.
The temperature suddenly began to drop sharply. Few Southerners can adapt to such sudden changes in weather.
Lei Zi and I both grew up in the north and have no feeling at all about this change in temperature.
As for Qin Yujie and my third uncle, both of them are masters, and they have no trouble at all.
The lone wolf has become accustomed to this situation and continues to ride the horse without changing his expression.
Only Zhao Zhiye felt a little unnatural. He didn't wear much, and it suddenly started to snow.
It was indeed something he didn't expect. His body was shaking unconsciously while riding on the horse.
Following him, I could see clearly and turned around to give Qin Yujie a subtle signal.
Qin Yujie was confused. I pointed at Zhao Zhiye who was riding in front of me. Qin Yujie understood instantly.
He took out a piece of thick outdoor clothing from his eight-treasure bag and threw it to me.
I rode a horse quickly and ran forward a few steps, catching up with Zhao Zhiye in front of me, and handed him the clothes in my hand.
"Brother Zhao, we have extra clothes here. Let me give you this one."
Zhao Zhiye didn't expect that I would give him the clothes, and he was a little embarrassed.
"Brother Feng, why are you so embarrassed? I'm not cold."
I laughed when I saw Zhao Zhiye's red ears.
He said sincerely: "Brother Zhao, put it on, we still have outdoor clothes."
Zhao Zhiye looked at the five of us. Everyone was in high spirits and not afraid of the cold at all.
He asked in surprise: "Brother Feng, you are so amazing. You can still be so calm when the temperature drops."
"Even my hands and face didn't start to turn red due to the cooler temperature."
I just smiled casually and didn't explain anything, so I said no more.
Zhao Zhiye took the clothes I gave him and put them on, and they soon stopped shaking.
Climbing further up, we will cross the snow line, and we finally see the snow on the mountain.
It was sparse at first, but as you went up it became thicker and there were fewer and fewer trees.
There were gradually more and more stones of all kinds, and Lei Zi said there might be traces of construction work here.
By afternoon, everything around us was white, and the snow on the ground was so thick that there was no way to go.
It all depends on Zhao Zhiye leading the horse to clear the way. At this time, a strong wind suddenly blew.
Zhao Zhiye looked up at Xiangshan Mountain, looked at the clouds, and asked us, how about we stop here today.
It seems that there may be strong winds today. Just enjoy the view of the snow-capped mountains for a while. Going up any higher will be dangerous.
"Brother Feng, we can't travel in this kind of weather. It's too dangerous."
Zhao Zhiye finally asked me for my opinion, and he really didn’t recommend continuing on the road.
I looked towards the top of the mountain for a while, looking at the snow-capped mountains, and had no choice but to nod.
"Brother Zhao, let's camp on the spot. You can go back and just send it here."
"You can take Ma and leave. I will give you another sum of money and you will pick us up in ten days."
After finishing speaking, I reached into the inner pocket of my outdoor clothes, took out two thousand yuan and handed it to him.
"This? Brother Feng, this is too much. You all gave me a lot of money."
Zhao Zhiye quickly declined, not intending to accept the two thousand yuan, and waved his hands repeatedly.
I directly forced the money to Zhao Zhiye and said, "Brother Zhao, take it, you have to bring a horse to pick us up."
"You go down the mountain now, ten days, remember, we will definitely appear here in ten days."
No one said anything, and I was the only one communicating with Zhao Zhiye.
Seeing that I had made up my mind, Zhao Zhiye had no choice but to nod: "Okay, I'll be there in ten days."
After finishing speaking, a group of us dismounted, and Zhao Zhiye drove all the horses down the mountain.
After walking out for more than ten meters, he looked back at us and then completely descended the mountain.
"Brother Feng, shall we continue on our way? Without Zhao Zhiye to lead the way, we have to find our own way."
Qin Yujie approached me and asked, while looking up towards the top of the mountain.
After distributing cold-proof clothing to everyone, it was already half past two in the afternoon.
Prepare to continue climbing in one breath and try to reach the top of the mountain before the sun sets.
After Zhao Zhiye left, we continued to climb up along the vaguely visible road.
After walking out for half an hour, we stopped. The place we are staying now is on the ridge of a low mountain.
Looking into the distance from here, you can see the virgin forest we walked through when we came here.
I looked around, then pointed to a large depression and said: "In ancient times, when building tombs, they usually used local materials."
"Look at this large forest in the distance. It's obviously more ridiculous than the one next to it."
"People must have cut them down nearly a hundred years ago, otherwise the trees in the forest would not be like this."
"And although we had a hard time along the way, there were no particularly difficult obstacles."
"There must have been major ancient projects near here, and the entire mountain was repaired."
"Now it seems that we are heading in the right direction. We have to keep going up and climb to the top of the snow mountain."
But Qin Yujie asked: "Brother Feng, that person just said the crater, not which one it was."
"There are more than a dozen peaks in this mountain range, and they all go up from here. How do we find them?"
I didn't answer her immediately, but looked around and followed the general trend of the mountains and rivers.
"The dragon veins of mountains and rivers, and the trend of the dragon's head must have strange phenomena. Let's take a walk and take a look, and we will definitely find something."
"If you follow the earth's veins, you won't be afraid to find a dragon's lair built in the crater."
