Maybe it was because he had been sleeping for too long. When he was awakened by a violent cough, Ouyang Xuan didn't know where he was for a moment, and his whole body felt weak and weak. He twisted his neck and looked around, and found himself lying on a low wooden bed in a dark little shack. The sunlight filtered through the walls made of bamboo, forming several beams of light of varying thicknesses that shone on the pitted mud floor. The roof is made of dense reeds, and the faint sound of gurgling river water can be heard. He struggled to get up, but a feeling of dizziness hit him immediately, so he had to close his eyes and continue to lie on the bed. Memories slowly begin to awaken. He slowly remembered the hike he took during the May Day holiday, and how he fell into the Manjing River on a cliff in the heavy wind and rain, and was then washed away by the rapids...
Ouyang Xuan is 25 years old. He graduated from a second-rate university in Chengdu three years ago. Because his chemical engineering major is a "sinkhole" major that has difficulty finding jobs, he was repeatedly frustrated in his job search during the graduation season and could not find an ideal job at all. It also ended his desire to stay in a big city. At the request of his parents, he passed the public service examination in his hometown of Chongzhou City and became a librarian in the library. Chongzhou City is a suburban county of Chengdu City, only fifty kilometers away from the main urban area, which is not too far. The salary of a librarian is not high, but it is free and consistent with his interest in reading. Therefore, although Ouyang Xuan was unwilling to accept it, he slowly accepted this ordinary life. He usually reads books when he has nothing to do, and he especially likes to read history and military books. It's just that he comes from an ordinary family and has a typical face of a passerby. As an affordable man who is neither tall nor handsome, he is introverted and shy, so he still has no girlfriend. In his own words, "The person I like has a name and a wife, but the person who likes me is miserable." However, as a laid-back person, I read books during working hours and go hiking in the wild during holidays, so I live a comfortable life.
The most beautiful April day in the world. This time it was the May Day holiday, which was the most beautiful season in the plains of western Sichuan. Ouyang Xuan invited a group of hiking friends from the mountain and wilderness group to go hiking in the mountains of Jiezi Ancient Town. Jiezi Ancient Town is close to the famous Qingcheng Mountain. Due to its convenient transportation and close proximity to mountains and rivers, it has become a popular spot for off-roading and hiking around Chengdu in recent years. Because Ouyang Xuan is a senior travel enthusiast and a native of Chongzhou, he is recommended by the group members as the leader of the group. He is responsible for walking at the front of the group, guiding the navigation, and clearing the thorns on the road.
The Jiulong Back Mountain for this hike is located in the Longmen Mountains in the transition zone from the Chengdu Plain to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is about 2,000 meters above sea level. Although it is not high, the mountain is steep. The first half of the journey went smoothly, but trouble occurred on the way back. Just when Ouyang Xuan led the team to climb over the top of Yaozi Rock, the sky suddenly darkened. The mountainous area around Jiezi Ancient Town is located in the famous West China Rain Screen Zone. The weather often changes at a moment's notice. The sky can be bright and sunny one minute, but can be covered with dark clouds in the blink of an eye. He leaned on the ground with the hiking pole in his hand, panted heavily and looked up at the gloomy sky, frowning involuntarily. As senior hiking friends Ouyang Xuan often encounters bad weather and even blizzards and storms while hiking, they also brought enough rainproof equipment this time. It was just different from the usual weather changes. Today, he saw a strange blue-purple color in the dark clouds that came over, which made him feel a little uneasy. He shouted to his companions to hurry up, and he still walked at the front of the team to lead the way.
Not long after, the mountain wind accompanied by sporadic raindrops began to blow, and in an instant, accompanied by lightning and thunder, a heavy rain came as expected. The bad weather made the rugged road even more dangerous. "It's easy to go up the mountain but hard to go down the mountain", not to mention that the wilderness trail from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain seems to be hanging on the mountain. Next to the trail is a cliff more than ten meters high, and under the cliff is the surging Wenjing River. Although this road is dangerous on weekdays, it is not too difficult for Ouyang Xuan. However, the rain today was so heavy that he had to be careful and immersed in finding the way. When he reached the last corner, Ouyang Xuan was shaken by a huge thunder that made his ears ring. He couldn't help but raise his head and saw a spherical lightning as big as a room floating slowly in front of him. The air was filled with lightning in an instant. There was a strange smell, and the scenery in his field of vision became colorful, blurry and distorted. In a daze of fear, he missed his footing, lost his footing, and fell off the cliff, straight into the rushing water. The last memory left in his mind was the screams of his teammates.
A violent coughing sound came again, interrupting Ouyang Xuan's memories. He turned his head and looked around, and the cough came from an old man in tattered clothes and gray hair in the corner of the shack. Seeing him wake up, the old man brought an earthenware bowl and handed it to him, "Drink." The old man spoke with a strange accent, which was unclear but understandable. Looking at the thick soup mixed with soybeans and sorghum rice, he felt his intestines rumbling at this moment, so he tried to sit up and drank directly to the bottom of the bowl in one breath, and then reluctantly returned the bowl to the old man.
"How are you feeling now, elder?" the old man asked.
"Thank you, uncle!" After finishing the soup, Ouyang Xuan felt that his strength had returned. "Where am I? What is this place?"
"Elder, this is Jiangqu Township, Yongkang County," the old man replied.
"Yongkang County? How come I haven't heard of it? How far is it from Jiezi Ancient Town?" Ouyang Xuan scratched his head. As a senior travel companion, he is very familiar with the local geography. What does the People's Republic of China have in Sichuan and Chengdu in Yongkang? County? However, he seemed to have seen somewhere that Jiezi Town was indeed the seat of Yongkang County during the Southern Song Dynasty. Thinking of this, he thought that this man was really funny, and he could be serious even when he was joking.
"Jiezi Ancient Town?" The old man's wrinkled face was full of confusion.
"Yongkang County only existed in the Southern Song Dynasty, now hahaha...".
"Elder, this is Yongkang County, Chongqing Prefecture of the Great Song Dynasty. I will not lie in front of monks," the old man said firmly.
After a series of gestures, Ouyang Xuan learned that the old man's name was Wang Da. This was Yongkang County, Chongqing Prefecture, Chengdu Prefecture Road during the Baoyou period of the Song Dynasty. The Baoyou era name was obtained by Wang Da from passers-by when he was carrying a bamboo raft to ferry people. I don’t know exactly how many years Baoyou was. Wang Da, as a country man, didn’t know very well. However, it was learned from Wang Dada’s mouth that the Tatars had entered the Kouchuan Gorge four times many times since he was young, burning, killing, looting, and massacres. The current Shu land is full of ruins, with ten houses and nine empty houses, and the land is barren. , it is no longer the land of abundance that "promotes one and benefits two".
"There are only about a hundred or so people left in Jiangqu Township now," Wang Da said with a sad face. Although he saw that Wang Dazhong was honest and didn't look like he was lying, Ouyang Xuan didn't believe him. He just thought he was old and confused and talking nonsense.
"Does the government not care about you? Why don't you go to Yongkang County and Chongqing City?" Ouyang Xuan didn't believe it. After all, in China in the 21st century, all kinds of deceptions emerged in endlessly, and his colleagues and friends encountered many scammers.
"Only officials and soldiers live in the city and the fortress, and there are a few commoners who are strong and healthy. Old and weak useless people like me are not allowed to enter," Wang Da lamented.
According to Wang Da's account, Tatar reconnaissance cavalry still appear and plunder the countryside from time to time. The villagers who were not killed either went down the river to seek refuge in Jiading Prefecture, Chongqing Prefecture and other places, or hid in the mountains. Wang Da A family of nine was also killed by the Tatars, leaving him alone. Because he was too old to run around and had nowhere else to go, he stayed in the local area to make a living by growing some food and occasionally catching fish. The tattered linen clothes on his body and the long hair tied up randomly also supported his rhetoric, which made him eke out a living. Ouyang Xuan couldn't help but feel panicked.
In Wang Da's account, he was fishing on a raft on the river outside his house two days ago. He saw a person lying vaguely on the river beach in the distance, so he went to check it out. Because he was still breathing after checking, he carried the unconscious Ouyang Xuan back home. It has been two days and one night now. Wang Da's words made Ouyang Xuan more and more panicked. He couldn't help but put his hands on his head and kept rubbing his hair. His fingers touched the extremely short hair, which made his skin tingle slightly. He now understood why Wang Da kept calling him "elder". It was this short hair, strange clothes and strange luggage that caused Wang Da to misunderstand. Because there is a famous Huacheng Temple in the mountains thirty miles upstream of the river. Even during the war, traveling monks still visited here from time to time. Wang Da mistakenly thought he was a wandering monk who fell into the water.
