Chapter 66 empty mountain

The road to the mountain becomes narrower, more desolate and quieter.In the first ten miles or so, there are barely any traces of people.Some people were carrying bamboo or carrying umbrellas and came down the mountain on the winding path, passing us by.Although we don't know each other, there will be no unnecessary courtesy. "Go up?" "Go down?" Or let us speak first: "Go down?" "Go up?" Or say a few more words: "Choose so many?" "Go up so early?" People who don't know each other always ask "go up" or "go down" all the way.

After passing Qianshi Cave, there is no man's land in front, and there is no connection code.Occasionally, a house popped up on the side of the road, but it was empty, leaving a piece of grass in front of the house, vaguely showing the outline of the field ridge and the path.Some of the adobe walls collapsed, some cracked, and the roots of the walls were often covered with moss.A wooden plow abandoned by the owner was stuck in the ground, and now it was covered with wild vines, as if the wooden plow suddenly sprouted and grew leaves, and came alive. It is not difficult to imagine that the bluestone slabs by the stream in front also had the sound of pounding clothes before, and the flash of earrings or bracelets at dusk.On the small stone bridge in front, an old cow brought a calf back before, and there may be quiet butterflies perched on the back of the cow.There must have been windows with warm lights in this quiet place in the mountains and forests.On bright moonlit nights or snowy nights, there must have been the creaking sound of spinning wheels or cradles rolling over mills and weirs.But now there are only dewdrops still dripping, clouds and mist still drifting, and the strong smell of rotten leaves like sauce and wine.Even the sound of our footsteps was too rough and unfamiliar, frightening a flock of big birds to flee in a fright, flying from the broken wall of the ruins to the top of the hill.

Are these birds still the same birds? Where the single-plank bridge broke, we had to find shallow water to wade in.When encountering a section of road blocked by weeds, we had to draw out the hatchet we brought with us and hack all the way through before we could connect to the next section of the road.Fortunately, we did not encounter mountain leeches.The guide who accompanied us told us that in the past, someone used a horse to carry trees, and unfortunately ran into a leech formation here. As a result, a white horse turned into a red horse, and his whole body was bitten bloody by leeches.

It is called "leech ditch". A cloud waterfall poured over, and soon filled the deep valley, so that we were submerged in the cloud lake, with a vast front and back, and nothing could be seen.Knowing that the fellow traveler is close at hand, he only hears his voice but does not see his shape. Not far from the leech ditch, we were able to walk out of the sea of ​​clouds and saw a large terraced field above the clouds.It seems that due to the slope of the mountain, these fields are very small, and they look like densely packed shells or scales from a distance.A bamboo hat or a coir raincoat can cover a mound of fields.Also subject to the slope, most of the slope walls of these terraces are very high, all built with dark gray stones, shaped like a majestic city wall.Pedestrians need to hold their breath and look up before they can see the imaginary city, see the imaginary banners and armors on the city, and even hear the imaginary gongs and war drums.To be honest, I was secretly surprised at the time: The world is so big, why do some unknown people build their homes in this remote mountain?When did they build Stonehenge, Pyramids and the Great Wall in the deep mountains?How many generations of hard work and lives have they spent in this layered stone wall just to win a few handfuls of grain? ...

Every stone has an agreement to keep secret, and it is silent now. Many terraced fields have been abandoned, leaving the fields full of crazy thatch, and a vast expanse of white thatch like snow-covered ground.I know that Qiumao is ruthless, and has swallowed many trails, many footprints, many weathered kingdoms and stories.