The wind roared furiously and clouds covered the sky. Amidst the lingering clouds, isolated peaks are looming. The mountain peaks are as steep as a knife, like an inverted long sword pointing straight into the sky. On top of Duya, the highest point among them, sharp-billed black crows about half the size of a man flapped their wings, flew up and down on the broken rocks, and suddenly let out a scream and pecked the bones on the ground several times. , pulled off the remaining bits of meat and swallowed it in one gulp.
Tens of meters below the cliff, the cliff wall caved in, with a huge boulder protruding from the bottom, the bottom of which was deeply embedded in the mountain. The person is on top of a huge boulder, and the stone wall behind him is so high and menacing, like a skyscraper pressing down on him, as if it will collapse at any time. On the top of the mountain, the dense woods are like a huge black blanket buckled on the cliff. Clusters of unknown wild flowers pop out of the black and green from the rock wall. On the boulder, there were several thick iron piles driven diagonally, and several climbing ropes hung from the piles. Several figures were climbing down along the long ropes.
woo woo woo woo.......
A whirlwind blew up for no apparent reason under the cliff, and the wind passed through the mountain, making waves of whimpering ghostly noises. The rope was blown left and right, and the people hanging below were like big pendulums.
After finally stabilizing his figure, one of them suddenly let go of his hand and let his body fall into the churning sea of clouds. Like a piece of gravel thrown from the rolling Yellow River, he disappeared in an instant.
Immediately afterwards, the remaining people also imitated that man's behavior, loosened their grip on the climbing rope, and fell into the rolling clouds like cannonballs, not even a fog was revealed.
Under the sea of clouds, several figures stood on a cliff.
Rumble...
On the cliff, a stone door slowly opened, and an old man with blood on his shoulder stumbled out. The old man covered his shoulder with his right hand, and a large piece of his clothes was torn off.
"Mr. Li!"
Seeing the old man coming out, one of them hurriedly stepped forward and stretched out his hand to support Mr. Li's arm.
"Ahem..." Mr. Li coughed a few times with great effort, and his face became a little pale.
"Oh, I can't accept it anymore..."
"There is no other way. Apart from my father, you are the only one in the Chen family who is qualified to go in." The person supporting Mr. Li was none other than Chen Tao's father, Chen Hongwen.
"Mr. Li, it didn't make things difficult for you, right?" Uncle Chen Hongshan helped Mr. Li stop the bleeding on his shoulder and carefully bandaged Mr. Li's wound.
"It's okay." Mr. Li waved his hand, "Exchange one thing for another, I got the thing, Tao Yaozi finally doesn't have to be a blind man for the rest of his life."
"Will this thing work? My father was exposed to this before..." Chen Hongshan said worriedly.
"After all, it belongs to them. The leader is just an ordinary person. It is his good fortune that he did not become blind, but Taotao is different." Mr. Li held a white jade vial, "After so many years, if the Chen family can have another burial Spirit Guard, then our mission will be completed."
Uncle Long took the white jade bottle from Mr. Li's hand, his voice trembling.
"If the master hadn't left too hastily, we wouldn't be in this situation today. Today, the Chen family is under attack everywhere. With this, at least there will be 10% more hope!"
"I always feel that dad was harmed by those damn gangs!" Third uncle Chen Hongyi gritted his teeth and kicked a piece of gravel away, not hiding the anger and murderous intent in his heart.
"Third brother, our father's death was strange. We will never let this matter go!" Fourth uncle Chen Hongzhou said, "The most urgent task is to cure Taotao's eyes first. We will settle the rest slowly!"
...
Somewhere in the ancient city, the Chen family courtyard.
Chen Tao was lying crookedly on his father's wicker chair, making a pot of tea in a decent manner, with a big cattail leaf fan on his head.
"Little boss, my wife is calling you to eat!" The voice of the waiter Yong Ge came from the front shop.
"I know, you eat first!"
Chen Tao removed the cattail leaf fan, sat up from the wicker chair in confusion, and waved his hands in front of his eyes a few times.
It is already the third day since we returned from Heizigou.
In these days, Chen Tao's eyes have not improved at all, nor have he become completely blind. He still cannot see anything clearly. When the mother saw her precious son in such a state, she was so distressed that she burst into tears and tried her best to cook delicious food for Chen Tao every day.
In the end, my eyes were not healed, but the wounds on my body were almost healed.
The most puzzling thing for him was that since that night, he had not had a good night's sleep and had nightmares all night long. As soon as he closed his eyes, the ghost of that dead old man Qianshu Hongde came out of nowhere and chirped to Chen Tao in his dream.
Most of the dreams were fragments of strange and weird scenes, and Chen Tao was like a puppet on strings, at the mercy of others. Sometimes it's in a cave, sometimes under an ancient tree, sometimes on Qian Shu Hongde's coffin board.
Although the dreams are scary, they are all derivative changes from Chen Tao's experience in Heizigou.
But just now, a place he had never been to or seen appeared in his dream.
It was a vast sea of sand, and the setting sun was like fire, coating every grain of sand under your feet with a layer of gold. On the golden sand, there stood a beautiful silhouette. Chen Tao ran tirelessly towards the sand dune, trying hard to see her clearly, but he could not climb the dune no matter what.
The woman in the dream didn't say a word, but a name echoed repeatedly in Chen Tao's mind.
Tatunaan...
"Tatunaan..., doesn't it sound like a personal name?" Chen Tao rubbed his face and recalled the woman in his dream. Unfortunately, he could not see what she looked like. .
"Little boss, let's go."
Brother Yong came over from the front hall, held Chen Tao's arm, and took him to the kitchen.
Chen Tao's family are all Shanxi people. Shanxi people love to eat pasta, especially people in the ancient city. There are many ways to make pasta, and there are as many as 108 kinds of traditional pasta snacks in the local area. That steaming bowl of noodles is the soul of the people in the ancient city.
The kind of noodles made by Chen Tao's mother is called Chadou by the locals. It is a unique noodle that can only be made with special tools.
This kind of tool is a thin piece of steel nailed to a wooden shelf, with neat little holes punched out on top of the thin piece. When making dough, press the kneaded dough on the steel plate and rub it back and forth. The dough will cut along the small holes and turn into small dough lumps. The holes in the steel sheets are different in size and shape, and the pasta produced is also different.
Chen Tao likes this kind of short noodles the most. When he eats it, he slurps up the soup and water in one gulp. Not to mention how fragrant it is. When northerners eat noodles, there are two words: bold! The food is so refreshing.
"Eat more. Mom will serve it to you when you're done."
This bowl of noodles was indeed delicious to Chen Tao. I stayed in Suzhou with Uncle Long for more than half a year. Southerners don’t eat noodles, so they eat rice or noodles every day. Although there are some noodle shops, the taste is far different. What Chen Tao wants most every day is to have a bowl of authentic Shanxi noodles.
Halfway through the meal, I heard a commotion outside, followed by a commotion in the front hall.
"Brother Yong, what's going on outside?"
"It seems like the boss and the others are back."
"Dad is back?" Chen Tao said with joy on his face.
On the day he returned from Heizigou, Uncle Long left the ancient city with his father. Without saying a word, he disappeared without a trace. There was no news at all for several days.
Throwing down the bowls and chopsticks, Ayong helped Chen Tao to the yard, when he met Mr. Li and others coming in from the outside.
"Taozi?" Mr. Li saw Chen Tao standing in the middle of the yard, pushed away Chen Hongwen who was supporting him, and walked quickly to Chen Tao.
"Well, it's not too late, come here and lie down!"
"Lie down? Grandpa Li, what do you mean?" Chen Tao couldn't see clearly the appearance of the person in front of him, but he recognized Mr. Li from his voice.
"Gou Yazi, don't ask so many questions, Yilong, give me the medicine!"
Mr. Li couldn't help but drag Chen Tao to the recliner. He didn't care about the wounds on his body and reached out to take the jade bottle from Uncle Long.
"It might hurt a little, please bear with it."
"No, Mr. Li, what are you doing?" Chen Tao sat up, raised his arms and touched randomly in front of him, but his hand was suddenly held by someone.
"Taotao, don't be afraid. If you succeed, you will be able to see it."
"Old...Dad?"
"Yes, Taotao, sit down quickly, we are helping you treat your eyes!"
"Uncle Long? Why are you all here? What is going on?"
"Third and fourth, please press it, this thing is quite strong!" the uncle ordered.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Tao was pushed back to the wicker chair.
"Be patient, you'll be fine soon!"
