After a long sleep, when dawn came up again, the morning breeze in southern Sichuan had already made the trees roar.
The autumn harvest has just passed. If we continue to delay, I am afraid that when winter comes, the matter of paving the official road will become more difficult.
After waking up Si Hu, who was still talking in his sleep, and taking five hundred more people and enough dry food, Xu Mu began to follow the river at the foot of the Anling Mountains to explore.
Unable to ride horses, the group could only tread carefully to avoid disturbing the animals.
"Wu Bao, where does this river lead to?"
Hearing Xu Mu's voice, a middle-aged man with a beard walked over cautiously.
"Lord, it should be a stream that leads into the mountains."
Wu Bao was originally an old hunter, and later followed Dou Tong to fight. This time he went into the mountains. As a marching captain, Wu Bao was well versed in the mountains and forests, and was undoubtedly a good choice as a guide.
You know, the Anling Mountains are extremely dangerous because they are inaccessible. In the past, even people like Meng Huo only dared to walk along the mountain path when they climbed the mountain. But even so, we still encountered a pack of mountain wolves.
"Old people say that Anling Mountain has always been dangerous. When I was young, I loved hunting and rarely set foot on Anling Mountain." As Wu Bao said, he raised the road cutter and removed the snakes and insects hiding in the thorn bushes. They dispersed one after another.
"At that time, I heard people say that there is an old god in Anling Mountain. If you meet him, he will give you something. I also gathered six or seven heroes to try to get rich, but I didn't see anything."
Xu Mu did not answer. In his heart, the most important thing was to find a suitable place to dig a hole. Of course, it is the kind of caves hidden in the mountains that can be dug out to serve as tunnels and paved official roads.
If Anling Mountain were all thick rock walls, this thought would have to be given up. If it cannot be drilled through, even if it is left to future generations, it is estimated that it will be a big project. At that time, we can only use a large number of civilians to dig out the mountain steps for two to three years.
"Wu Bao, follow the river and knock on the mountain wall with your knife."
Wu Bao was stunned. Although he didn't understand what Xu Mu wanted to do, he quickly followed it. Everything we passed along the way was filled with the sound of knocking on the mountain.
"My lord, we see the waterfall rushing down. Do we want to go up the mountain?"
"Need not."
The meaning of carving a mountain lies under the foot of the mountain. It is not impossible to dig a tunnel halfway up the mountain, but the cost is too high.
The long procession of more than three hundred people suddenly stopped.
"Wu Bao, let the brothers take a rest and eat some solid food."
Xu Mu raised his head and looked around at the surrounding mountains. To be honest, he didn't have any idea, but he was just trying to do a good thing that benefited the state and the people based on some insights brought by later generations.
"Lord, why did it rain suddenly?"
Xu Mu, who was observing, suddenly felt excited when he heard Wu Bao's words.
"Si Hu, go get the chisel."
Si Hu, who was chewing dry food, hurriedly swallowed the whole bun. He ran to the back with the baggage box and pulled out a chisel.
Xu Mu stared intently. It was not raining, but the stream had actually diverted. This diverted water probably flowed into the mountain and then seeped out along the grass hanging on the rock wall.
"Si Hu, dig this way."
Not only Si Hu, but also people like Wu Bao also finished eating their dry food, then picked up the chisel and started chipping away at the mountain wall with Si Hu.
It's a pity that even at dusk, there was no harvest.
"Brother Mu, are you seeing it wrong?" Si Hu was a little discouraged.
"I must have seen it wrong..." Xu Mu rubbed his head. But he didn't give up, letting Si Hu and Wu Bao continue to dig at the side fifty steps away.
It was getting dark, and I was afraid that the mountain wolves would come around, so I had to hold a torch and leave more than a hundred people to patrol.
Throughout the night, at least three wrong places were chiseled. When it came to the fourth place, as Si Hu kept chattering, the hammer finally hit the chisel and made a small opening as big as a palm.
When Si Hu opened up the gravel, a cool breeze blew out from the small opening.
Xu Mu's face was overjoyed. Although he was not sure whether this hidden cave could be used as a tunnel, there was finally hope anyway.
"Chisel, keep chiseling!"
Wu Bao and others also became motivated again. With a clanging sound, in less than an hour, a hole two people wide was dug out.
"Get the knife." Xu Mu said calmly.
Hidden caves like this are most likely the habitat of tigers and leopards. Moreover, after all, no one has been here, and no one knows what kind of disaster will happen.
Only a hundred people were left to guard outside. The remaining two hundred heroes followed Xu Mu's orders and drew the long swords under their waists.
"Slow down."
Xu Mu took out the fire seal, tried it, and found that the air was still circulating, so he waved his hand and let the two hundred people slowly enter the cave.
This cave, as Xu Mu expected, should be a karst cave, eroded by an underground river.
"Brother Mu, is this weird frozen person? Could it be a mountain ghost?"
Wu Bao and others looked a little unnatural when they heard Si Hu's words.
The ancients worshiped nature, and many people believed in what they heard about mountain ghosts. When the Shu Bridge was first built, heroes like Dou Tong were no exception.
"Si Hu, if you keep talking nonsense, I'll slap you." Xu Mu glared.
Si Hu hurriedly shrank his head, not daring to talk nonsense anymore.
Sighing, he comforted Wu Bao and others. Xu Mucai raised his head seriously and observed the situation in the cave. Why doesn't he have the fantasy of "entering a cave and finding an adventure"? Not to mention martial arts secrets, he is already very satisfied with an iron ore, silver or saltpeter mine.
Unfortunately, nothing happened except the cool breeze and the flow of the underground river.
After walking for about an hour, Wu Bao cautiously spoke.
"Lord, this cave is not big and cannot be accessed from the mountain walls on both sides."
The fewer holes there are, the more laborious it will be to dig.
Xu Mu frowned and visually measured the distance. As Wu Bao said, the cave is not only long and narrow, but also spans a short distance.
"Wu Bao, go out in ten groups and explore to see if there are any hidden caves."
The underground river was still extending, and Xu Mu only felt that there might be other passages in the cave.
…
A few days passed, under the Anling Mountains.
"How many days has it been?" Dou Tong's voice was anxious.
"My lord has been gone for seven days."
"If I had known, if I had known this, I should have stopped him. If anything happens to my lord, I, Dou Tong, will use all my troops to cut down this damn mountain!"
"Does Dou Tong move mountains?" At this time, a familiar voice came over.
Dou Tong looked back and couldn't bear it any longer, so he ran over screaming.
Xu Mu, whose robe was covered with mud and dust, looked at Dou Tong running over and smiled happily. This time, he really made the right bet.
Next, he would choose a place to dig into the mountain and let the civilian workers dig through the mountain walls on both sides as quickly as possible. Of course, this is a big project. Even after searching in the cave for several days, searching every place, and carving a tunnel into the mountain, it was still very difficult.
A serpentine winding tunnel suddenly appeared in Xu Mu's mind. According to his estimate, it would take more than half a year to dig out mountains and lay trestles to penetrate the entire tunnel, using 30,000 civilians.
However, before that, the transportation of materials between the two states, as well as the rush of troops for reinforcements, had to be based on waterways for the time being.
