Li Haoyang and the three of them walked several tens of feet further up the mountain, but there was still no trace of any beast along the way.
Li Haoyang suddenly stopped, turned around and said to Ling Yun and Mengyao: "Do you feel that the road under your feet is any different from the previous one?" Ling Yun lowered his head and touched it, then stood up and took out his fire seal. , blew it, held it in front of him, and looked around. Now they could see it clearly. What they were stepping on was a row of broken stone steps.
Ling Yun put away the fire certificate and said: "Brother Yang, it seems that the legend is indeed true. The stone steps below must have been built by that gang. It seems that there must be a house in the mountains ahead. Let's go! Let's go up and have a look!" Li Haoyang nodded, turned around and continued walking along the stone steps towards the top of the mountain.
Before, there were just some broken stone steps lying in random directions on the hillside. The higher you go up, the more complete and orderly these stone steps become.
After walking upward for less than a quarter of an hour, a stone gate about one foot high appeared in front of them. The three of them reached out and touched the stone door, but it was so dark that they couldn't see the details.
They crossed the stone gate and continued walking forward, getting more and more excited as they walked, as if they had discovered some great treasure. At this time, they were close to the top of the mountain. The steps were higher and the surrounding trees did not completely block the sky because they were below the slopes on both sides. With the only ray of light left before nightfall, we could vaguely see an open space on the mountainside in front of us. Li Haoyang took the lead and ran forward quickly, Laifu followed him wagging his tail. Seeing this, Ling Yun also pulled Mengyao and walked forward quickly.
Not long after, Li Haoyang arrived at the top of the mountain, and Ling Yun and Mengyao also caught up. I saw Li Haoyang standing there and looking around.
What appeared in front of a few people was a house that had almost completely collapsed, with only some ruins remaining. Some parts of the outer courtyard wall have been preserved completely, and the original appearance of this building can still be seen. The place where the three of them were standing was the entrance hall of this building. The ground was covered with small trees, thorn bushes and weeds. Behind them, there was a dense forest, which completely blocked this place, making it impossible to see it from a distance. Li Haoyang pushed aside the weeds and walked towards a gap in the wall directly in front of him, where a door should have been. Ling Yun also followed carefully. Mengyao grabbed Ling Yun's arm tightly with both hands and looked around nervously.
The three of them crossed the wall, and there was solid ground under their feet, like stone paving. Further inside, there was also an open space, covered with shrubs and weeds just like the outside. They had rocks under their feet, so the weeds were much sparser. The position in front of them should be the front yard of this building.
Li Haoyang put down the deer on his shoulder and called Ling Yun and Mengyao to come closer to him. He said to Ling Yun: "There are too many weeds inside. Although it is autumn now, there is no guarantee that we will not encounter venomous snakes. We'd better be careful. I think the ground here is relatively solid and there are stone walls on both sides to cover it. You guys keep the ground here I'll go outside to pick up some dry firewood and come back. Let's just spend the night here!" Ling Yun and Mengyao nodded and said "Okay." Li Haoyang turned around and walked in the direction he came from, taking Laifu into the night.
Ling Yun bent down and pushed aside a small patch of weeds, then placed his belongings and the two pheasants on the ground. Then, he said to Mengyao: "Mengyao, come, let's clean up this place together."
Mengyao pointed around and asked, "Brother Ling Yun, are you saying we will stay here tonight?"
"Don't be afraid. Brother Yang will bring back some dry firewood later. Let's light a fire here. It will keep you warm and prevent wild beasts from approaching!" Ling Yun said as he took the hare from Mengyao's hand and helped her to remove it. The bamboo tube hanging from his waist was placed on the ground together with other things.
Mengyao felt a little relieved after hearing what Ling Yun said. She nodded and followed Ling Yun to start cleaning up the weeds, gravel and broken tiles on the ground.
It didn't take long for them to clear a five-foot-square space, enough for the three of them to sit around and rest together. At this time Li Haoyang also came back with Laifu. He held a pile of branches of different thicknesses and threw them into the clearing cleared by Ling Yun and Mengyao. Then, he picked up a few stones from the side, squatted on the ground and played with them, surrounding the stones in a circle, breaking the branches into small sections, and stacking them among the stones. Ling Yun and Mengyao also squatted on the ground to help.
Li Haoyang said while fiddling with it: "I think this Juelong Ridge is very strange. Generations of ancestors in our town have said that beasts are rampant in this place. No one has set foot here for hundreds of years. Now that we are here, we can't see a single beast." . Just now I went to the hillside to pick up these fallen branches. Not to mention wild animals, I didn't even see a mouse. It wasn't just me, Laifu followed me all the way and was very quiet, without any uneasiness." Ling Yun said: "Brother Yang, could it be that we went wrong? This is not Juelong Ridge at all?" Li Haoyang said: "Impossible. You and I are familiar with the terrain around Jinji Ridge. The Jinji Ridge Mountains extend east-west and surround Niu Shi Ao are all small hills, only there is a high mountain in the north, which is Juelong Ridge."
Ling Yun was about to speak when Mengyao suddenly said: "Oh, my two good brothers, don't worry about whether this is Juelong Ridge or not. Thank God for not encountering wild beasts. Brother Ling Yun, use your fire stick quickly. Light these firewood, it's so dark here, you can't see anything clearly!" After that, he muttered: "It's best not to be Juelong Ridge, I don't want to be eaten by wild beasts!"
Seeing that Mengyao was a little nervous, Li Haoyang smiled and teased her: "Mei Yao, are you scared? You can't blame Brother Yang for this. I didn't drag you to come with us. You have to follow me." Come on!" When Mengyao heard that they might have entered Juelong Ridge by mistake, she was so scared that she almost cried. After being teased like this by Li Haoyang, tears began to well up in her eyes.
Ling Yun ignited the branches placed on the ground, and by the light of the fire, he saw that Mengyao's face was wrong, and hurriedly comforted: "Mengyao, don't listen to Brother Yang, he is scaring you. Besides, with me and Brother Yang here, even if this is... Where wild beasts are rampant, Brother Yang and I will protect you. You don’t know that although Brother Yang is not like Uncle Ming, who once killed a tiger on his own, with his ridiculously strong body, he is more powerful than Uncle Ming. Uncle Ming is also brave, and he also captured a female wild boar with his bare hands." After saying this, Ling Yun couldn't help laughing. Mengyao felt much lighter when she saw Ling Yun smiling so happily. She asked curiously: " Brother Ling Yun, tell me, what are you trying to do to catch a sow with your bare hands?" Li Haoyang stood up helplessly, shook his head and said to Ling Yun: "Ling Yun, don't mention this." After saying that, he took off a dagger from his waist and picked it up. He picked up the hare on the ground and started skinning it. Ling Yun suppressed his laughter and said to Li Haoyang: "I'm sorry, Brother Yang, I can't help it." After saying that, he burst out laughing again. Mengyao urged: "Brother Ling Yun , stop laughing, tell me quickly."
Ling Yun held it in for a long time, and finally suppressed his laughter, and began to tell Mengyao the story of Li Haoyang capturing the sow boar with his bare hands.
It was almost a year ago when they were hunting in Jinji Ridge and saw a wild boar leading a group of young wild boars looking for food at the foot of a hillside. They thought that the old sow was not easy to deal with. The two of them carefully followed the group of wild boars. After finding the wild den, they went back to get a few animal traps. Early the next morning, they arrived near the location where the wild boars were found and set up traps on the path that the wild boars must pass. The two men hid behind a nearby boulder, waiting for the wild boar to strike. Sure enough, after waiting for about half an hour, the mother wild boar took her piglets out to look for food. The young wild boars walked excitedly in front, and the female wild boar followed behind. When they entered the trap set by the two of them, two little wild boars stepped on the trap and their legs were immediately clamped. They screamed in pain and rolled around trying to escape from the trap, but their legs could not. The bones have been broken by the strong bite force of the trap, and no matter how hard they struggle, it will be to no avail. When the other wild boars heard the tragic cry, they squealed and fled back. The female wild boar was no exception. She was frightened by this sudden turn of events. She turned around and was about to run back. Suddenly she stood still and looked at the two young wild boars caught in the trap from a distance. , and watched for more than a quarter of an hour. In the end, reason prevailed over emotion, and the other wild boars left in droves.
When Li Haoyang saw the wild boar walking away, he excitedly ran over to prepare to harvest the prey. Ling Yun was about to follow, but suddenly found that the sow appeared on the hillside again. He was about to remind him, but it was already too late. Li Haoyang arrived at the little wild boar in a blink of an eye. Just as he was about to reach out and catch them, the female wild boar rushed over with a roar. Fortunately, Li Haoyang reacted quickly and was agile and dodged on one side. The female wild boar missed the target, turned around and pounced again. This time Li Haoyang stepped on the trap holding the young wild boar. His feet stumbled and he was unable to stand. The female wild boar pounced on him. On the body. Fortunately, Li Haoyang was tall and strong, but fortunately the wild boar was not too big, otherwise Li Haoyang might have been handed over to it.
This female wild boar must have weighed at least two to three hundred pounds. Li Haoyang was thrown to the ground by it, and he quickly grabbed the wild boar's forelimbs. Then, he rolled and rode her under him. The wild boar is a ferocious beast after all. It kicked its limbs wildly, and Li Haoyang saw that his entire body was pressed against the pig's head, with his face touching his face. The long pig's nose kept digging into Li Haoyang's face. Li Haoyang held on tight and refused to let go. Even so, after all, there was a gap in strength between them. After a stalemate for a while, Li Haoyang became unable to hold on and almost broke free from it. Li Haoyang shouted: "Come and help me!" Ling Yun saw that the situation was not good, and before Li Haoyang could finish his words, he had already rushed forward, took out a dagger from his waist, and stabbed the wild boar seven or eight times in the heart. The wild boar was in pain and kicked its limbs even more crazily. Maybe the dagger was too short to penetrate the wild boar's heart. Ling Yun quickly slashed the wild boar's neck with the dagger several times. A large stream of blood spurted out, and the wild boar lover rolled over. Upon seeing this, Li Haoyang quickly stood up and rolled away from the wild boar. The wild boar rolled on the ground. It tried to stand up several times but to no avail. It took a few steps and fell down again. After struggling for more than a quarter of an hour, he finally fell to the ground due to excessive blood loss and lack of strength. He kicked weakly with his limbs and stopped moving.
Ling Yun looked at Li Haoyang and burst into laughter. Li Haoyang didn't know why and looked at Ling Yun with a blank expression and asked: "Ling Yun, why are you laughing?" Ling Yun sat on the ground, holding his stomach and laughed for a moment, pointing at Li Haoyang His face said: "Brother Yang, you were fucked by a pig, hahahaha!" After saying that, he burst out laughing again. Li Haoyang touched his face. It was covered with sticky liquid and had a fishy smell. He hurriedly pulled some weeds on the roadside and wiped the mucus off his face. Then the two began to clean up the three wild boars on the ground.
When Mengyao heard Ling Yun say that Li Haoyang was fucked by a pig, she laughed so much that she fell forward and backward. While they were talking and laughing, Li Haoyang had already taken care of the two pheasants and a hare. He casually folded a few raw branches, wrapped the pieces of meat with branches, gave each of Ling Yun and Mengyao a skewer, and grilled them on the fire. The other pieces of meat were piled randomly on the peeled fur. Li Haoyang was busy and had no time to talk to them. Now he was roasting meat. When he had time, he said to Ling Yun: "Ling Yun, you have been talking about that matter for a year. Is it interesting?" Ling Yun smiled and said: " Brother Yang, I'm sorry, I can't help but think about the way that sow makes love to you!" After saying that, he covered his mouth and laughed again. Mengyao also followed suit and said, "Brother Haoyang, I didn't expect you to have such a "love affair". Brother Lingyun killed your little sweetheart, aren't you going to settle the score with him?" After hearing this, Li Haoyang pretended to Angry, he glared at Ling Yun and said, "Did you hear that? You and I have unequal hatred!" Ling Yun smiled and said, "Brother Yang, that's not what you said when you ate meat." After saying that, he stopped. I couldn't help but smile. Li Haoyang didn't want to talk to him anymore, so he turned to Mengyao and said, "My good sister, if you continue to follow that boy Ling Yun and amuse my brother and me with this matter, I will spend the night in another treasure hunting place tonight, and we can settle down ourselves." Hearing what he said, Mengyao hurriedly moved her body, approached Li Haoyang, and begged for mercy: "No, brother Haoyang, can't I just stop laughing? Then... tell me something else interesting." Okay?" Ling Yun stood up, raised the barbecue in his hand, smelled it, and said, "Yes, Brother Yang, tell us more about your other "little lovers."" Li Haoyang also stood up, raised his With the meat skewers in his hand, he pretended to hit Ling Yun. Ling Yun chuckled and "begged for mercy" and said, "Oh, oh, oh, brother Yang, don't be angry, don't be angry, it doesn't matter if you hurt me, but if you lose the meat, you'll be fine." I’m going to be hungry.”
The three of them were having fun while eating barbecue, and soon they were full and full. Li Haoyang placed the remaining meat in a circle on the stones outside the fire, let it dry slowly, and then cleaned up the residue and fur on the ground.
After doing this, Li Haoyang and Ling Yun cleared an open space in the corner. The three of them lay next to the wall and looked at the stars to prepare for sleep. Ling Yun suddenly asked: "Brother Yang, you said that since there are no tigers, leopards, jackals and other beasts in this place, , if we build a hut here, won't we not have to rush back to the hut in Yangxianling for hunting in the future?" Li Haoyang was already tired at this time, and replied listlessly: "Go to sleep first, and we'll talk about other things when we get up in the morning!"
Early the next morning, a dazzling ray of sunlight hit Ling Yun's face. Ling Yun squinted his eyes, blocked the sun with his arms, slowly opened his eyes, and looked on both sides. At this time, Mengyao was still sleeping, but Li Haoyang had disappeared. He hurriedly got up and looked around, only to see Li Haoyang holding a thick branch in his hand, standing motionless facing the direction of the courtyard. Laifu stood beside him and remained silent.
Ling Yun didn't know what happened and shouted hurriedly: "Brother Yang, what's wrong with you? What happened?" Li Haoyang didn't even look back and said, "Ling Yun, come here and take a look!"
Mengyao was also awakened by the sound of their conversation. She rubbed her naked eyes, stood up in confusion, and followed Ling Yun towards Li Haoyang. When they came to Li Haoyang's side, the two looked in the direction of Li Haoyang's eyes, and were immediately shocked and speechless.
The position pointed by Li Haoyang's branch was a half-corrupted skull, a human skull! Since the courtyard is also paved with blue bricks, the weeds are not as dense as outside. Through the gaps in the weeds, you can clearly see that the entire courtyard is covered with bones. Although after hundreds of years of wind and rain erosion, there is no complete bone left, it can still be distinguished that these are human bones.
Then, Ling Yun looked around again, and saw that the wings and corridors on both sides had not completely collapsed. The house in front remained relatively intact and had not collapsed, but most of the tiles on the roof had fallen off. Ling Yun pushed aside thorns and weeds with his hands, walked towards the left side room, and pushed aside some fallen wood and stones. There were also several skeletons there. He glanced at the bones pressed on the ground, turned around and walked to the other side. After poking around in the weeds, he found that just like other places, there were a few bones buried in the mud among the weeds. Then, he immediately turned around and headed towards the main room in the middle.
After hundreds of years of wind and sun, the upper half of the wooden part of the wall has become dilapidated, but the main door still has not fallen down and is supported by the stone wall below. There is a wooden plaque hanging above the door frame. One side of the plaque has fallen off and hangs crookedly above the door. It is impossible to read what is written on it.
Ling Yun stepped forward doubtfully, stretched out his hand and pushed it gently. The door creaked, tilted and fell into the house, and fell to the ground with a snap, stirring up a cloud of dust. Li Haoyang said to Laifu next to him: "Laifu, guard your luggage here and don't run around!" After saying that, he pulled Mengyao and followed him. Laifu shook his tail, returned to the bonfire and lay down. .
Ling Yun fanned the dust in front of him with his hand. When the dust dispersed, what appeared in front of them was a complete white skeleton. A large knife was inserted in the center of the back, and half of the blade had been inserted into the bones. in the owner's body. It can be seen from the posture of this white bone that its owner was lying on the ground, crawling forward hard, with his right hand raised forward. Presumably he (she?) was trying hard to stretch his arm before death, trying to pull away. As he walked out the door, the sword on his back cut off his (her?) last chance of survival.
