Traveling to the middle of Zhangzhou, the terrain begins to change compared to the past.
The terrain near the south becomes visually very majestic, with large height differences superimposed like steps carved by stonework. Looking from a distance from the flat ground, you can see a sudden broken wall rising up from the miasma-filled swamp. The rocks protruding out one after another are covered with vines and shrubs. The green intervals reveal the rugged gray-white mountain like a knife. , there are carved stone pillars left over from ancient times at the foot of the mountain.
A long and narrow walkway was carved out of the highest cliff. Under the clear sky, a line of birds flew far away. They were as small as scattered gravel on the blue background cloth, making the surrounding cliffs even more majestic.
Walking up to this point, the waterway has become a viable option. The duckweed-strewn swamp under the huge cliffs is now deep enough for boating. However, only the most adventurous would choose to travel by boat.
The swamp waters covered by the mountains show a frightening ink black color. The duckweed and lotus flowers that grow vigorously cover most of the place with the sunlight shining from the central gap at noon. This place is always there after the midsummer rain. The sound of frogs was heard, but only their sound could be heard but their shadow could not be seen.
From time to time, a huge half-meter-wide lotus leaf swayed violently when it was touched by something unknown under the water. When you look at it, you can only see the huge dorsal fins cutting through the water and quickly disappearing into it, leaving only faint ripples to continue swinging.
Only the most daring among Japanese merchants would choose to travel by water. When passing by, they would often carry a bag of polished rice and scatter it into the water in an orderly manner as the boat progressed.
Uninformed Lamanite scholars once heard about this sophistication and thought it was a culturally related sacrificial ceremony. Based on a few misunderstandings, they spread the theory that "the best harvest of the year is presented to the water god to pray for good weather in the coming year." But in fact, according to records in Kazuto's ancient books, this is actually a way to scare away the dragon.
There is a dragon in the abyss, and the "abyss" in Heren's language refers to the bottomless waters. The legendary dragon in Crescent Continent does not like to live in volcanoes and snowy mountains like Rigal, but swims in the water - this makes the Lamanites even more convinced that it is a snake rather than a beast. Some Lamanites believe that the dragon in Kazuto's legend is some kind of giant water-dwelling snake, and that the legend of attacking people was deified after being passed down for a long time - but in short -
The practice of throwing rice comes from an ancient Kazuto legend, because the dragon's body is covered with scales, and if maggots grow under the scales, it will be painful but there is nothing you can do. Therefore, if white rice that is very similar to maggots is sprinkled into the water, the dragon will be afraid and will not attack the ship.
We don't know how useful this taken-for-granted approach is, but it is clear that even with this "incredibly reliable" guarantee, most people would still prefer to walk overland on the roads dug out at both ends of the cliff.
Walking all the way from the lowlands to the top of the cliff, only after you actually set foot did you realize that after thousands of years of polishing, this place is much wider than it looked from below. There is still no big problem if five or six carriages run in parallel. There are guardrails near the cliff, but because the road is too long, the lowest-cost wooden pillars and symbolic barriers made of thick hemp ropes are used.
This kind of guardrail can only make people realize that this is the boundary of the cliff and cannot really prevent falling off the cliff. Not to mention that it has been in disrepair for a long time and the hemp ropes in some places have become dry and brittle, as if they would fall off with a gentle breeze. Will break.
If you fall from here, even if you don't take into account the various moving black shadows in the abyss, just the drop of tens of meters directly hitting the water is enough to make people faint and drown. Therefore, most of the pedestrians stayed as far away as possible. Only a few, like the young martial arts disciples in colorful uniforms that the pedestrians saw when they came over, would pointlessly show off their martial prowess by standing very close and loudly. I yell for fear that others won’t see me.
In the Moon Country, which has been at peace for a long time, besides drinking and fighting, doing stupid things like this is probably the biggest cause of death for young samurai.
When a group of more than one hundred and nearly two hundred people passed by, one of the young warriors who was showing off their bravery was so startled that he almost fell. If his companions hadn't stretched out their hands to pull him, his life would have been lost like this. .
Someone among Ryunosuke's ronin glanced at him. I don't know if he felt his face was dull or something, but this young man was actually angry as if he wanted to take out his anger here. Fortunately, my partner caught me.
But even so, he did not stop yelling. His remarks were roughly the same as those young samurai scolded Narumi, Yajiro and others when Henry and his party came to Zhangzhou. They were all scolding them for wearing armor and weapons in what age. , obviously it is the norm for today's Kazuto samurai to only travel in colorful clothes.
Yajiro, Narumi and others looked at the young samurai who could only show off their rhetoric with some dark and complicated expressions. Their arms exposed from the sleeves of their wide uniforms were slender and white, making people wonder whether they could still wield it. Use the knife. There were even servants carrying large and small bags and paper umbrellas nearby, presumably because they were worried that the too harsh summer sun would damage the samurai's noble skin.
Ryunosuke and his party were obviously used to this kind of life. They ignored him and just continued walking forward.
Taking the path on the cliff, away from the ground, and without the miasma, the mind was clearer, and the whole team seemed to be walking much faster. But they were only halfway there when they should turn left and head east. Because if they continue to advance like this, it will be Pingshan County's sphere of influence, and the group of people will have to take a detour from now on and can no longer take the national highway.
Half of the journey had already taken most of the day. Just as the sun was setting and the moment of encountering the devil arrived, Ryunosuke and others who were planning to go to the mountain were blocked by an old medicine man with white hair.
"Master samurai, it's better to wait until daytime to hit the road. There are quite a few human-faced birds on this mountain."
Regardless of whether he was too old-sighted to see that Ryunosuke and others were ronin rather than serious samurai before he stopped them, this kind of effortless kindness was quite rare for Ryunosuke and his party. So after thinking about it, he informed Narumi and others who were traveling behind him. When he heard about the so-called human-faced bird, the first thing our Luoan girl thought of was the monster named Harpy that also existed in Rigar.
But after a brief inquiring about the description, people on both sides immediately realized that this kind of bird in Crescent Continent was similar to Rigal's only customs, and the rest were quite different.
The so-called harpies in Rigar are more formally called harpies, and the church classifies them into the demihuman category along with goblins. It refers to the existence of a humanoid race with low intelligence but only barbaric instincts. It is difficult to communicate and understand the existence of civilized races. The human-faced bird in Crescent Continent is a complete bird, and is collectively called an owl by humans - also known as an owl by the Rigar people.
The human-faced bird is a large owl that lives in small groups in mountainous areas, with an average weight of about 30 kilograms. Kazuto thinks that this type of bird is unknown. The main reason is that birds of this size are relatively lazy. Unlike large raptors of about 10 kilograms, which tend to make a living on small and medium-sized birds and small mammals, this extremely large bird is more He likes to choose prey that is slow to move or live directly on carrion.
——In other words, in times of peace, they like to pick on the old, weak, women and children of humans, but in times of war, when there are so many dead bodies, these birds often hover in the sky in groups.
Heavily armed men in their prime are generally not targets of human-faced birds, but after all, they are flying creatures that are difficult to defend against. Moreover, their claws and beaks, which are accustomed to eating dead bodies, contain toxins. Even if they are not killed directly in the attack, those who are scratched and pecked will often suffer from high fever and eventually die of illness.
Today's Kazuto pharmacists and doctors believe that this is just an ordinary large raptor, but its human-like and non-human face and cunning and strange characteristics have still accumulated many legends over thousands of years. Many Japanese people in mountain villages around the world still believe that human-faced birds are monsters rather than natural products, especially in light of the high mortality rate of children in this era. It is said that they will imitate the cry of babies at night, attracting devastated mothers who have lost their children into the mountains and then besiege them. Gnaw.
The old medicine man's suggestion was finally accepted by everyone after a brief consideration. In order to repay this kindness, Narumi and others also invited him to come to their camp to rest temporarily.
Pharmacists who do not have their own medical clinics are very common in the countryside. They usually settle in the mountains relatively far away from the villages where medicinal herbs can grow easily. Fields were opened outside to grow commonly used herbs, and grinders and various tools and materials for making ointments and powders were placed in the house. After the herbs are harvested and processed regularly, they are packed in this large wooden back box with many small grids, and they go around the nearby mountain villages to sell the herbs and exchange them for daily necessities.
This type of person also generally plays a role similar to that of a scholar in the Kazuto countryside. Because serious scholars are difficult to come into contact with, either in academies or in Chinese houses, pharmacists who are equally knowledgeable will be relied upon by people in the countryside to judge some issues.
Elderly people have learned that silence is golden when it comes to many issues. Even if he noticed the uniqueness of Henry and others after arriving, he pretended not to see it at all. He just politely thanked Narumi for the hot tea and sat near their campsite. down.
A team of nearly two hundred people occupied a flat area for camping near the mountain pass. Coincidentally, at the end of dusk, the group of young samurai who had been pretending to be on the edge of the cliff also came over. Their direction seemed to be the same as the group of people.
Five young samurai dressed in rich attire and carrying a wakizashi and four attendants carrying large and small bags passed by the group. These people seemed to be planning to walk on the road before it was completely dark. Someone from Ryunosuke's ronin next to him told the young samurai that the mountain was full of human-faced birds. The attendants turned pale and immediately began to dissuade him. However, the martial arts disciple who was almost frightened and fell off the cliff seemed to be because of this. Instead, he became more competitive and insisted on going up the mountain.
"Let you see the spirit of an authentic warrior!" After saying this, he walked away into the darkness with a puff of his sleeves. Then, after almost a minute, a sentence came from the darkness, "Light the lamp for me now. Can’t you see the road now?”
Behind them, the anxious and angry but helpless followers rummaged through large and small bags, and finally pulled out a paper lantern. When they lit it, they saw the family crest on it, and many people under Ryuunosuke whispered. got up.
There is an open book on top of a circle. In the middle of the circle is written the Japanese character "Xuan", which is the family crest of the Chinese people in Pingshan County. Although there is a slight difference from when Ryuunosuke was in power, it can still be used. See the identity of this group of people.
It's just that this group of young warriors obviously didn't know the reason. The leader who heard the whispers probably thought they were laughing at themselves. Now he gritted his teeth and even spoke with a sense of anger and moved forward. Only one of the young female followers with short hair apologized and bowed to them on behalf of his master, and then quickly followed. Go up.
"What a classic playboy." Our Luoan girl sighed.
This little episode didn't have much impact. Although there were risks on the mountain and this group of people seemed unreliable, it was just a chance encounter after all.
Although these young warriors are young, their average age seems to be seventeen or eighteen years old, which is the age when they should bear the consequences of their actions.
After telling them that there are risks and still insisting on going their own way, there is no need for them to follow up to protect them, because firstly, they have to take risks, and secondly, the other party may not necessarily accept this good intention.
It's one thing to be paid for accepting a commission, but to go ahead and wait for others to look at you coldly without being paid, even a doctorate lady who is as ignorant and sophisticated as us would definitely not be able to say this.
It’s okay to say that the world is cold and people are indifferent, but after all, we are all people struggling to survive, not the immortal heroes in fairy tales who always arrive in time.
"It's hard to persuade a ghost who wants to die." Old Qiao said as he filled a piece of firewood into the bonfire.
All they can do is hope that these young people will not encounter any difficulties.
