"Jinding Mountain has arrived!"
"Jinding Mountain has arrived!"
The group of people almost cried with joy. The mutual wariness they had been wary of for many days was dispelled at this moment. They stood on the boat, staring at the top of the mountain, passing on their joy to each other.
At this time, the flood reached halfway up Jinding Mountain. They rowed quickly, abandoned the boat and landed on the shore. When their feet landed on the ground again, the hope of survival came to their faces.
The village can be saved, they can be saved!
After taking a few steps, Lin Hu stopped everyone with his arms crossed, "Wait, there is someone!"
Everyone is alert, someone means danger. People in the same village may let a horse go if there is enough 'food', but when they meet an outsider, that is not necessarily the case.
Several people groped over carefully and saw two men climbing up the mountain, kowtowing step by step. This is the usual way to pray to the mountain god in Jinding Mountain.
The problem is, it's raining heavily now and floods are raging. If you go up the mountain this way, you may not be able to climb it in ten days.
A few people exchanged words in low voices. Lin Hu took a man to ask. Before they could say anything, the two men kowtowed and took the initiative: "You are also here to pray to the mountain god?"
Lin Hu nodded, "Yes, the village has been blocked by a flash flood, and everyone can't get out. We are specially asked to ask the mountain god to protect us."
The outsider sighed, "Several villages and towns around us were all flooded. The people in the village were okay and ran to the mountains to survive, but the people in the town had no place to run and they all drowned."
Several people were frightened, and secretly felt lucky that Rongshu Village was located halfway up the mountain. It was on high ground and was usually remote and rarely visited by people. In this heavy rain, the barren location gave them a little more hope of survival than others.
After some conversation, they learned that before them, someone had already run up the mountain, but they could not find the mountain temple. The top of the mountain was empty and there was nothing.
Everyone guessed that they had to go up the mountain, kowtowing step by step, as usual, in order to move the mountain god with sincerity and pray for his blessing.
The group of people were anxious and kowtowed step by step. How long would it take to get to the top of the mountain? At that time, let alone the people in the village, few of them would survive.
Looking at the glow on the top of the mountain, and then looking at the mountain path, in addition to the two men, there were several people kowtowing and walking forward in the distance.
Lin Hu was silent for a while, then knelt down and bowed in the cold rain. Where they were, the floodwater had spread up to his ankles. When he bowed, the turbid muddy water covered his mouth and nose.
But now, they have no way out. Their only hope is to go up the mountain and pray for the mountain god's blessing.
Lin Wenxuan was a scholar and a teenager. His physical strength could not be compared with others, and he was soon left far behind.
Whether it was because he was too slow or because the rain was too strong, every one of his heads was in the water, his mouth and nose were submerged in mud and water time and time again, and there was a chill all over his limbs.
Gradually, he felt that his body was not as stiff as his own, and his consciousness seemed to float out of his body. From a high position, he watched his body kneel down, kowtow, and stand up like a puppet, repeating it mechanically over and over again.
"Wenxuan... Wenxuan..."
The call seemed to come from the distant sky. Hazy, Lin Wenxuan shook his head and finally regained consciousness.
Lin Hu's face enlarged in front of him. He was suddenly startled and subconsciously wanted to break away.
Unfortunately, in front of Lin Hu, his strength was no different than that of a kitten. Not only did he not break free, he almost didn't even have the strength to move.
"Hu, Uncle Huzi." He stammered, feeling uneasy in his heart.
Although he is weak and not as fierce and powerful as Fan Bei, who can fight back, he does not want to become someone else's food.
He wants to live.
"time to eat."
Hearing this, Lin Wenxuan breathed a sigh of relief. He escaped another disaster and could live for a few more days.
After taking the barbecue, he subconsciously searched for Fan Bei and soon found him beside a big tree in the distance.
He was sitting against a tree, eating barbecue with an indifferent expression. There was a deep cut on his face, which was washed white by the rain.
Did Fan Bei kill another adult?
Scanning his eyes, Lin Wenxuan soon discovered that several people in the village were alive, and the two strangers who had talked to them before were nowhere to be found.
In the following days, Lin Wenxuan was in a daze, feeling that he had been kowtowing and moving forward, but the distance from the top of the mountain seemed to have not changed. The glow was there, not far or near, like a mirage mentioned in the book, visible but forever Can't get there.
And the number of people around him decreased one after another.
One day, Fan Bei's vicious roar sounded in his ears, from blur to clarity, pulling him out of his hazy state.
He stood up and saw two clay figures struggling in front of him, punching, kicking, elbowing, and kneeling...
It was Fan Bei and Lin Hu.
It turns out that there are only three of them left, so it should be his turn next.
Lin Wenxuan stood up and walked up, no longer kowtowing. After he was far away from the waterline, he sat down against a tree trunk, and the fear in his heart suddenly disappeared.
There is no difference between the people who are still alive now and the demons in hell. It doesn't seem to matter if they die like this.
It has been raining for so long. How many people are still alive in the world? How many people have become food for others?
He survived by eating others, so naturally he should accept being eaten by others.
While he was thinking wildly, the battle above was over. Although Fan Bei was brave and ruthless, he was still young and in poor physical condition. Lin Hu clamped his neck tightly with his legs and strangled him to death.
His wide-open eyes were full of reluctance, and he would not close them until he died.
Time passed. I don’t know how long it had passed. Lin Wenxuan just climbed up numbly. When he felt hungry again, a heavy breathing sound came from above his head.
He looked up, Lin Hu was standing in front of him holding a dagger.
Lin Wenxuan smiled weakly, with a look of relief on his face: "Uncle Huzi, I'm afraid of pain, please move faster."
Lin Hu nodded, swung the dagger, and stopped when the dagger was an inch away from Lin Wenxuan's chest. He thought of the young man knocking on doors and delivering rice in the rain, but the dagger could not penetrate.
Before, they had not thought about attacking Lin Wenxuan. He was weak and had little strength. To a strong man like them, he was just meat on the chopping board and could easily kill him.
But every time they looked at him, they would think of the figure knocking on doors from door to door in the rain. Therefore, everyone tacitly ignored him and fought with each other.
Lin Wenxuan closed his eyes, and there was a muffled sound, the familiar sound of a knife entering flesh, and hot blood splashed on his face, so hot and scorching.
But he didn't feel any pain.
He opened his eyes, and there was a dagger stuck in Lin Hu's heart, and blood was pouring out.
"Uncle Huzi, you..." Lin Wenxuan was stunned, and his mind went blank.
Lin Hu looked at him quietly, his former kindness reappearing on his face, "Live well."
