Seeing their ugly faces, Old Man Mo said nonchalantly: "What are you doing here? Old man, let me tell you, this is just the edge of Fengqiu. When you get to the wild forest of Fengqiu, it will be a hard dish."
As they spoke, several people passed through several river bends and came to the water storage lake hidden by the jungle. After crossing into the lake, they could see countless tidal flats extending from the lake. Most of these tidal flats are the water diversion river beaches of the lake. They are tall and Trees rise from the river beach, with lush green algae and flowing water, spreading out into a large water forest.
The living people that Old Man Mo talked about all live on the river beach, using tall trees that have grown over thousands of years to build giant nests across the water. These giant nests are connected to each other, with buildings leaning on each other, and hidden among tall shrubs, which is a spectacular sight.
If you look closely, you will see that these wooden houses on the water mostly use wooden piles driven into the river beach, and then use the wooden pillars to tie together to form a wooden raft floor, and then use bamboo strips and shrubs as the prototype house. There are hemp ropes everywhere fixed to the towering old trees, and the mud tile roof is curved. Like a straw hat, you can see that the yellow mud has been cast into a fence, and a low courtyard wall half waist high has been built.
"Can people actually live in this place?"
Yue Guanchao and the others got off the awning boat and were led into the village by old man Mo. The fences and plank roads were crooked and twisted, like branches of shrubs connecting the courtyards. Yue Guanchao never expected that a village could be built on the swamp. .
"There are few open spaces in the canyon. Even if there are open spaces, villagers will not choose to build houses in the open spaces in order to hide their eyes from others. They will mostly choose to build houses on the water tidal flats. Firstly, they are far away from the forest and can isolate some wild animals. Secondly, the water surface It’s easy to get water, so you don’t have to travel far.”
When Old Man Mo was talking, he took them through the village, and Yue Guanchao and the others were able to see the real living conditions of these people.
All I can say is that it’s really not optimistic!
There is a lot of miasma in the wild forest. Although this place is far away from Fengqiu, there is still miasma spreading around. The river beach is slightly open and the miasma dissipates relatively quickly. Even so, these living people are still weak and stooped, as if they are The faces of tuberculosis ghosts are either sallow or pale, and some people have even developed body and skin lesions, with their faces covered in poisonous sores and pimples, and their hands and feet are numb and trembling, looking like scary ghosts and not human beings.
Although Yue Guanchao and the others had been informed in advance by Old Man Mo about the miserable situation of the people when they arrived, seeing the conditions of these people on the ground was still shocking and made people’s brows jump.
"Now, you believe it."
Old Man Mo continued: "I want to nourish my body Gu entirely for these living people. Although they are not my family or friends, they fled here together. I couldn't bear to watch them die, so I followed You want this secret recipe.”
Wu Mi Feng was proficient in poison medicine. He walked to a child and picked up his arm to feel the pulse. Sure enough, he saw that the breath was weak. This pulse condition was caused by long-term poisoning and accumulation of toxins. He continued to feel the pulses of dozens of people and saw that the pulses of all of them were very different. Well, you know these people are not pretending, but are really chronically poisoned.
"Brother Mo, I understand. I will give these villagers a prescription first, and then I will give them the health-preserving Gu."
Wu Mifeng took out the prescription paper from his backpack, wrote out a prescription with ink, and said while writing: "I know you don't have contact with the outside world. These medicinal materials are already available in the canyon. As long as you prepare a few medicinal materials, follow the instructions By mixing the raw and gram ingredients together, the toxicity can be neutralized and used to treat diseases.”
After saying that, Wu Mi Feng wrote down the health-preserving Gu technique and handed it over to Old Man Mo. He was also afraid that Wu Mi Feng was deliberately deceiving him, so he checked it carefully for a long time, and then used the simple configuration he had learned. Only when the prescription is confirmed to be effective can you trust him completely.
When Old Man Mo saw that the prescription was genuine, he was finally satisfied and said with twinkling eyes: "It's true. Since you are so sincere, old man, I will reciprocate and take you for a while. However, the sun will set soon and walking in the wild forest at night is too dangerous. Wait until tomorrow." As the sun rises, we will set off from the waterway immediately."
Yue Guanchao looked around. Although there was still sunshine at the moment, it was already three or four o'clock in the afternoon, and it was only four hours before the sun set. There was absolutely no way they could cross Fengqiu Wild Mountain and enter the river valley, just like what this crazy old man said. Driving on mountain roads at night is full of dangers. Whether it is for safety reasons or other reasons, it is best to rest in the tribe for the time being.
"Then, what should our people do?"
When Yue Guanchao and the others left, they left all the military guards in the wooden building. If they didn't go back now, they would at least have an explanation for the military guards.
"Don't worry, old man, I'll send them over in a moment. We'll start from here tomorrow, okay?"
At the moment, this was the only way. In the next two hours, Yue Guanchao followed Old Man Mo and sent the military guards to this village. By the time everyone gathered here, it was already dusk and approaching evening.
Under the leadership of Old Man Mo, Yue Guanchao and the others walked along the fence plank road and were led to an idle nest compound in the tribe.
This courtyard is the only rammed earth building in the swamp forest. It is about two meters above the water. The square courtyard walls are about 20 meters long. The square houses are mostly built with domes and are surrounded by walls. They are distributed in all directions of the courtyard. The eaves of the house are half a meter long, with walking passages connected in the form of corridors. A person-high yellow mud wall is built on a high platform, with only fences and plank roads left on both sides. It looks completely different from the tiled houses of ordinary people in the tribe. .
"We're here, this is Duitaiyuan for the Gu people. You can just stay here at night."
Old Man Mo took out his key and opened the courtyard doors on the left and right sides. After walking into the courtyard, he could see a flower bed as big as a carriage in the middle, with a cobblestone platform inside.
Duitai is a way for shamans to pray for blessings. It is similar to a prayer pagoda. It is made of pebbles of different sizes mixed with yellow mud. At present, the pebbles in this flower bed range from big to small, as big as a basin and as small as an egg. Look, Colorful colors can be obtained, and the surface may be rough and mottled, or smooth and flat, with no clear standard.
According to the pattern of big ones at the bottom and small ones at the top, it forms a shape similar to a domed pagoda. The yellow mud straw acts as a mixed clay to firmly fix it together. It can be seen that the top of the tower is getting thinner and thinner, with tiny velvet grass showing through the surface. gap.
The status of this kind of platform is equivalent to a simple version of the High Matchmaking Mother Temple. If there is any undecided idea, the shamans can use the stones to continue divination.
"There are a lot of mosquitoes in the swamp at night. If you want to have a good rest, you have to close the doors and windows tightly. If not, you have to close the gauze, burn insect repellent incense, and don't come out if you hear any noise at night. There is nothing else. ”
Song Siyuan listened to what Old Man Mo said and asked curiously: "Old man, there is something in your words. What could be happening here at night?"
Old Man Mo smiled slyly: "Wishen Canyon is an ominous place. It is not far from Fengqiu. Some dirty things come out to cause trouble at night. It is not convenient for the old man to explain some things clearly. You will understand after you experience it yourself at night. , if you say anything bad, you will really attract that dirty thing."
The old man was crazy and spoke in a lucid manner. Song Siyuan carefully studied the meaning of his words. It was probably that there were some mountain spirits and wild monsters nearby, so she had to temporarily suppress her curiosity.
As the evening turned into darkness, the buzzing of insects became more frequent all around. Flying insects were flying low and hovering on the water all the time, and even flew into people's faces. It was not until the houses in the forest lit up the incense of insect repellent that the flying insects disappeared. All the scale insects were driven out, and the surrounding gradually became quiet.
Song Siyuan and the others took advantage of this juncture to put up all the gauze tents in the house and blocked the entrance tightly, thus completely blocking out the hidden dangers of poisonous insects.
After eating and drinking, everyone gradually rested, and lights were lit in various houses. Yue Guanchao and others stood in the house and looked into the distance. The dirty things in the swamp and riverbank began to come closer from the dense forest under the cover of night.
"This is?"
Song Siyuan looked out the window with her telescope. Standing high on the rammed earth courtyard wall, they could easily see countless python-like black loaches swimming in the swamp.
These loaches are bigger than the Dragon King catfish, as thick as a bucket, and as long as a python. Their dark bodies glow with oil under the candlelight. It can be seen that their dorsal and tail fins are almost translucent. They hide their heads and tails in the mud of the river beach, and sometimes float to the surface of the river with splashes of water. Sometimes it burrows into the mud, leaving only eight beards to stir up the mud and prey on insects and fat fish in the water.
“Are these loaches also Dragon King Catfish?”
Song Siyuan looked around and saw that the river beach was almost occupied by loaches, which made her scalp numb.
"It's not the Dragon King Catfish, it's the Fallen Dragon!"
Old Man Mo stood in the yard at some point and suddenly said.
The crazy old man hesitated for a moment and explained: "In the mythology of the ancient wizards, dragons, snakes, eels, loaches, and earthworms are all called dragons, but except for true dragons, the others are all fallen dragons."
Fallen dragons are evil dragons who have made mistakes. As long as they are dragons, they are mostly gods of rivers, lakes and seas, or they can move the clouds and send rain to guard a place.
If a dragon makes a mistake, depending on the seriousness of the mistake, he will first be demoted to a naga snake, and then to an eel. If it is not enough to pay for the sin, he will be demoted to a loach and earthworms, and he will be a companion of mud and filth all day long. Falling dragons often make a big mistake and can only look up to the wind and clouds. If you want to transform into a dragon and return to the dragon clan, you often need a great opportunity. If you can't overcome your nature in your life, you will never be able to escape for the rest of your life.
For this reason, loaches and earthworms are also called earth dragons that drink from the underworld. They are the most filthy and despicable things in the soil of rivers and lakes, and are not tolerated by aquatic tribes.
Old Man Mo's words made everyone curious about these earth dragons.
"Are these earth dragons actually dragons who were relegated to the lower realm?"
Lan Ruling became curious and urged the old man to continue.
"Girl, it's true. Most of the riverbanks in this canyon have things like this that are criticized by the Witch God. They can protect the canyon for the Witch God and atone for their sins. This is not even the biggest, the biggest loach. You can’t see me until tomorrow.”
“There are bigger ones”
Yue Erpao became excited. The catfish was now so big that it had become a sperm. The earth dragon was even bigger, which made everyone curious.
Some people died, but not completely...
