Chapter 6 Chapter 3 Grassland Monster

After much consideration, I decided to go back to Aunt Song first, and then ask the monkey carefully when I have a chance.If you don't tell the truth, I will withdraw and let this grandson make trouble here by himself! After returning, Monkey and the others had already returned to the tent and were sitting there drinking butter tea.Aunt Song also brought me a bowl and asked where I had been.I perfunctorily passed by, looking for an opportunity to ask the monkey alone, where he was going next. Aunt Song quickly told me that it is the rainy season and it may rain heavily at any time.The rainy season in the Ruoergai Grassland lasts for a month, and sometimes it rains heavily and doesn’t stop for a week.In the grassland, the water and bubbles form a swamp. Once you step into it, you will sink into the swamp, and you can't even make a bubble.She told us to stay here for a while until the rainy season is over.

Aunt Song had obviously told Monkey what she said. I looked at Monkey, he was unmoved, and insisted on leaving, and he was going to leave soon. Aunt Song couldn't keep it, so she gave us a bag of dried meat and a sheepskin bag of buttered tea, saying that drinking more buttered tea could relieve altitude sickness.She yelled and asked Dorje to put us in a bullock cart and take us off. After thinking about it, she decided to take us off in person. The bullock cart drove along the winding path to the depths of the grassland. The wooden wheels rolled over the grass, which was covered with green grass juice, and the air was filled with the fragrance of green grass.

Walking through the half-person-high grass, you can see scattered flowers on the grass, some are pink, some are purple, and some are bright red. The most conspicuous ones are the endless rapeseed flowers. The path extends all the way to the foot of the mountain, and the rapeseed flowers at the foot of the mountain are in bloom, covering about a hundred acres.Looking around, golden yellow is everywhere, like a lake intertwined with flowers. After the heavy rain, the blue sky is like washing, and the mottled flowers on the grassland are gently swaying in the wind.The bullock cart drove across the grassland and the sea of ​​flowers.Gradually the ruts became shallower and shallower, and finally they were completely invisible. The ox cart was completely submerged in a boundless sea of ​​flowers.

There is a small hill ahead, and the bullock cart cannot go up it.Monkey and I got out of the car, took the package, and said goodbye to Aunt Song.However, Aunt Song stared straight at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, as if she recalled what happened back then, and she had no intention of leaving. It was not good for me and the monkey to leave immediately, and waited for her there for a while.She came back to her senses, sighed, and then gave us directions: "Go straight from here, until you reach the end, there is a snow mountain hidden in the clouds. Behind the snow mountain is a canyon, and between the canyon and the canyon is you. The place to go. As long as you walk in the direction of the snow-capped mountains, you will definitely not get lost. Be careful along the way, and if you can't, come back quickly."

I don't know why, Aunt Song's words were a little sad, revealing a faint sadness. In order to dilute this feeling, I quickly changed the subject and praised: "I didn't expect the scenery of the grassland to be so beautiful, and these flowers are as vast as the lake!" But the monkey frowned, and said in an unsightly way: "The Red Army's 25,000-mile long march, over the snow-capped mountains, and across the grass—is this what the grass is talking about?" Aunt Song squinted at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, shifted her gaze, and said slowly: "Thirty years ago, the Red Army fell into desperation here, and more than 10,000 people stayed here forever." She looked at it seriously. Looking at the flower lake in front of me, I picked up a handful of petals, crushed them in the palm of my hand, scattered them on the ground, and said: "Rest in peace, warrior!"

The monkey and I were also moved by her serious expression. Looking at the endless prairie, we took off our hats and said silently to the prairie, "Rest in peace, warrior!" Before leaving, the monkey asked her: "What is there in this grassland, and why did the Red Army suffer a catastrophe here?" Aunt Song didn't answer this question directly, but instead asked us what we think.I said, according to the book, when the Red Army crossed the grassland, not only lacked clothing and food, but also happened to catch up with the rainy season, the grassland was muddy, and there were swamps everywhere, and people would sink into it if they accidentally stepped on the wrong place, so the casualties were serious. .

Aunt Song sneered: "My Red Army sent troops to the north, fought south and north, what kind of environment have I never experienced? In just seven days on the grassland, can the Red Army kill tens of thousands of people?" What's going on, why did the Red Army suffer so many casualties. Aunt Song looked around vigilantly, and then said in a barely audible voice, "I suspect there are ghosts here!" Her expression was very serious, as if she was afraid of being overheard by something. The word "ghost" came out suddenly, which startled me.But when you think about the blue sky and the sun shining brightly on your head, talking about ghosts at this time is indeed ridiculous.I laughed awkwardly there a few times, trying to cover up my panic just now.

But Aunt Song and the monkey didn't laugh. They looked at the rolling snow-capped mountains at the end of the meadow seriously. I laughed a few times myself, feeling bored, and asked her embarrassingly, "What's going on?" Aunt Song hesitated for a moment, then seemed to have finally made up her mind, passed through the sea of ​​flowers, and walked straight towards the hillside.She walked farther and farther, and her body was almost submerged in the tall grass of a person.The monkey and I didn't know what she was going to do, so we had to follow her closely. After walking for a while, she gestured for us to stop.

We followed and found her looking gravely at a meadow on a hillside. I took a closer look and found that the grass was also covered with dense bushes, no different from other grass.Aunt Song asked us, "Look, what's different here?" I didn't see anything, but the monkey said, "It seems that the grass here is a little withered, and it's shorter than other places." I took a look, and the grass was indeed a little withered, and compared with other grasses, it was slightly yellow.But what's the problem? Aunt Song told us to back off, and poked the turf vigorously with a stick.The turf collapsed, revealing a huge deep hole.

I was taken aback, and I leaned over to see that there was a big hole more than two meters deep below, and the hole was about three meters wide.The strange thing is that there are many bamboo sticks stuck on the bottom of the hole, with the pointed ends facing upwards, like sharp knives standing upside down.There are many strange patterns painted with cinnabar on the smooth cave wall, like some mysterious pattern. I was surprised and said, "Why are there traps here?" But the monkey stared at the spikes in the trap without speaking. Aunt Song said seriously, "This is not a trap."

I don't understand: "ah, it's not a trap, what is it?" She lowered her voice, looked at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and said in a low tone: "In the grassland, there has always been a legend among the shepherds. It is said that there is a huge swamp giant living in this grassland. Beast, it will come out to devour cattle, sheep, and even people on a foggy night. On a thunderstorm afternoon, the sky was as cloudy as late at night. Some herdsmen drove thousands of sheep back, and they encountered a large area on the grass Thick fog. The fog is as thick as milk, and the rain can't get in. What's even more strange is that the dense fog doesn't cover the sky and cover the sky, but only a large piece, moving forward slowly. The herdsmen find it strange, and through lightning Look, I found a huge black shadow hidden in the thick fog, showing its teeth and claws there, like a giant beast eager to try. "The herdsman was so frightened that his face turned pale. He whistled and shook off his horsewhip, trying to drive the flock back. But at that time, the heavy rain poured down, and the sound of whistle and horsewhip was completely drowned out by lightning one after another. The thousands of sheep Under the leadership of the head sheep, they galloped left and right on the grassland, some fell into the swamp, and some were washed into the river. In the end, the head sheep did not know what happened, but raised its head and howled, and rushed into the piece of cotton In the white mist. The shepherds were on fire, but the rain turned the grassland into a swamp. I couldn't figure out where was the ground and where was the swamp, so I had to carefully drive the horses forward step by step. I saw thousands of sheep breaking into the thick In the fog, I didn’t know what happened, so I heard bleating, and then gradually disappeared. When the shepherd drove the horses there, the thick fog had gradually dispersed, and slowly disappeared on the grassland. But not a single one of the thousands of sheep was seen." I was surprised and said: "My God, thousands of sheep are gone like this?" Aunt Song nodded and said solemnly: "Don't talk about sheep, the herdsman lost his soul and searched for a long time on the spot, but he didn't even find a single bone. The thousands of sheep back then were all from the production team, and all of them were lost at once. It was a huge accident at the time that the herdsmen disappeared. The production team where the herdsman was working felt very strange when they heard about it, and immediately reported it to the local garrison. The garrison sent a whole regiment to spread the net on the grass After searching like this, I couldn't find a single sheep bone, let alone the astonishingly large monster. It's as if... as if... those thousands of sheep disappeared into the thick fog at once... " The monkey said, "Even if a group of water monsters the size of a truck come along, they won't be able to eat up these thousands of sheep! From this point of view, they seem to have disappeared." Aunt Song said: "I don't know whether it was eaten by something or disappeared. The story of the monster hidden on the grassland has been passed down in Tibet for a long time. In the long poems of rap poets hundreds of years ago , there is a story about this huge monster. The Tibetans here believe that there is a group of monsters on the grassland, which can eat thousands of sheep in one go, and don’t even spit out a single bone.” I was surprised: "How could there be such a monster in the world?" Aunt Song said: "When I first heard this story, I also thought about it in the same way. The thing I encountered back then was indeed hidden in a white mist as thick as cotton. But the one I encountered was, at best, It’s bigger than a horse, and it’s impossible to be that big, let alone eat thousands of sheep in one go.” She said with some hesitation, “But I always think that there is absolutely no animal in this world that can swallow sheep in one go.” A monster with thousands of sheep..." I asked her, "Then how do you think the sheep disappeared?" Aunt Song hesitated and said, "I'm wondering if they fell into the swamp in the grassland. Because the swamp sometimes collapses on a large scale, it is possible to swallow the whole flock of sheep." Monkey nodded: "This is indeed possible." I said, "Didn't the production team consider this issue?" Aunt Song said: "The first thing the production team considered was this problem. They dug up the grassland where the flocks disappeared, and found that there was solid land under the grass and no swamps. In this way, the Tibetans' rumors about monsters were reversed. I believe it even more. The production team sent people to investigate for a long time, but they couldn't find out the reason, and then the matter stopped." At this time, a strange cry suddenly came from the depths of the grassland, which startled several waterfowls to fly up. Aunt Song raised her head in fear and looked at the vast grassland around her.The grassland was foggy, a few eagles were flying low, and the surroundings looked depressed and tense. I whispered, "This trap should be used to catch it." Aunt Song shook her head: "If there is such a monster, it will be impossible to catch it. This is the amulet that the shepherd asked the lama to carve on the grass to prevent the monster from coming to the place where people live." The monkey kicked, and a piece of light yellow jade was exposed on the grass.This is not a natural stone, with a hole in the middle and thin sides, it looks like a large jade copper coin.This jade looks like an ancient coin, but this grassland is inaccessible, how can there be coins? I said, "Is there an ancient tomb underground, and the coins were washed out of the ancient tomb?" I say this with some grounds.Grandpa once said that there is an ancient tomb of the Xia Dynasty near Kaifeng.When the Yellow River changed its course, the river washed away the ancient tombs and palaces, and a lot of these strange stones carved with patterns washed out from the Yellow River beach.Some say it is an antique, others say it is a striped stone.At that time, the local villagers didn't understand, so they used those jade flakes to waste water.Not to mention, that thing is heavy and thin, and it can hit more than a dozen waters at a time!Later, some people went to the provincial capital to sell cattle and made a lot of money. They also rolled up their dirty sleeves and went shopping in the antique street.He was shocked when he saw many jade bis for sacrifices by the ancients displayed in the glass window, as well as cong, bi, axe, rings and so on.He had seen these things before, and they were the stone flakes they picked up on the Yellow River beach to float in the water!He hurriedly asked the shopkeeper for advice, and almost lost his temper—these unremarkable stones were jade cong from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, jade wares for ancient sacrifices, and representative cultural relics of Liangzhu culture.At that time, a piece of stone that they just dumped could be exchanged for hundreds of big buffaloes! Aunt Song shook her head and said, "Then I don't know. But there used to be a temple here, and this trap was built with Buddhist stones from the temple. It is said that it can subdue devils." I thought of the mysterious little lama I saw just now, and asked her quickly: "Are there any monasteries here, and are there any lamas in the monasteries?" Aunt Song said: "The monasteries here have collapsed long ago, let alone lamas!" I asked curiously: "Don't Tibetans believe in Buddhism very much? Why don't they repair the temple when it collapses, and make it a trap?" Aunt Song's face was a little ugly, and she said lightly: "Then I don't know." The monkey looked up at the snow-capped mountains in front of him, and said, "This stone must have been washed down from the mountain, and came along the river when it rained heavily." I was very surprised that there was something in the ancient tomb on the snow mountain. Could it be that there is an ancient tomb hidden in the snow mountain? Surprised, I looked around and found that there were many small lumpy stones at the roots of the grass, which were black and murky, like waste slag poured out of the furnace after steelmaking.How could there be scrap steel slag here?I picked it up and weighed it. It was heavy, not like a stone.I wiped off the yellow mud on these dross, only to find that these metal particles are yellow and clear.Only then did I suddenly realize that this is not scrap steel slag, but some refined gold ore! Huang Qiye told me that what gold miners mine in nature is called raw gold, which is simply gold ore.The raw gold has to be refined to get the dross before it can be regarded as real gold.There are many ways to do this. Generally, an appropriate amount of mercury is added to the gold ore to stick the gold, and then the mercury is evaporated with charcoal fire; some people dissolve the gold with aqua regia and then purify it. These things in my hand are refined gold ore! Looking from a distance, among the rolling mountains in front, there is a big mountain that is obviously much higher than the mountains, and it is in the shape of an ingot.Huang Qiye said that this kind of steamed bun-like mountain is called "Knocking Gold Mountain", which is a cornucopia, and the bottom is full of gold, and it is the mountain that produces the most gold mines. From this point of view, there is really a golden mountain hidden in the Ruoergai grassland.These abandoned gold ores came from that mountain, but now they are washed here by the rain. I looked at the monkey, he was talking to Aunt Song in a low voice, obviously he was hiding something from me.I threw the gold ore back into the grass, and pretended to be nonchalant looking at the misty mountains and snow-capped mountains in the distance.I'm a little disappointed, I don't know if I made a mistake in coming here this time. After a while, the monkey said loudly: "Aunt Song, let's go first, thank you for sending us off, and I thank you for my mother." After speaking, he bowed and led me away without looking back. After walking for a long time, I turned around and found that Aunt Song was still standing there, staring at us blankly. Seeing that she was still not leaving, I waved to her. Seeing me looking back at her, she didn't wave, but turned and left. I couldn't help asking the monkey: "We don't know each other well here, why don't we stay with her for a few more days and let Dorji take us there?" Looking at the vast grassland in the distance, the monkey said, "Don't you think there is something wrong with Aunt Song?" I said: "No! I think she is very kind to us. She brought us so much food and asked the man in the family to give it to us." But the monkey shook his head and said, "Old Bai, have you ever considered that there is something wrong with what she said?" I was taken aback and said, "What's the problem?" The monkey said: "Aunt Song said that she joined the army because her family was poor and couldn't afford food. Later, she learned Tibetan because she herded sheep with a Tibetan shepherd. Don't you think there is something wrong?" I said, "What's wrong? I didn't learn it from the Tibetans, did I learn it from you monkey?" The monkey said, "You didn't understand what I meant. Think about it, back then, everyone was illiterate, and children from poor families had no chance to study at all. Not to mention the herdsmen in Tibetan areas, many of them could not read. But Listen to what she said just now, she is generous and decent, and the words are accurate. Does this sound like something a shepherdess can say? Also, I don’t see a single Han person here all year round, and Dorji can’t speak Chinese. Her Chinese ability should be early. It degraded. But look, her Chinese is not stuttering at all, as if she is speaking every day!" I was also stunned, thinking about the monkey's words, there is indeed some truth.Not only in terms of language, but I think she has a certain temperament in dealing with people, like a woman from a big family who has seen the world, and she really doesn't look like a child from a poor family, a later shepherdess.When she was asked about her age just now, she was obviously a little flustered.I didn't think of it just now, but now that Monkey has said that, I also think she does have some problems. When Hou Zi talked to Aunt Song just now, he was sincere and seemed to be really grateful to her.But unexpectedly, he had already begun to doubt Aunt Song in his heart.When did monkeys become so aristocratic? I originally wanted to talk to Monkey about the diary, but after thinking about it, I held back. I looked at the back of the monkey. He was walking forward with a heavy head, his steps were firm and heavy. How could I find it strange? Why did he look less and less like the monkey I used to know? Although Aunt Song described the grassland as a horrible place like hell, all we met along the way were green grassland and brilliant rapeseed flowers. We didn't feel that there was anything scary, but it was a rare beauty. After turning over the hill and entering the hinterland of the grassland, the legendary scary grassland finally revealed its true colors. The originally dense aquatic plants gradually thinned out. From a distance, there were stinky water bubbles everywhere on the grass.There is no grass growing in the water bubble, only a few bare reeds or branches standing abruptly there.There is a thick layer of green moss with white foam floating on the surface of the water, and some soaked sheep carcasses are floating in some bubbles. The belly is as big as a drum, and a few flies are buzzing on it, which looks disgusting and irritable. . The monkey and I also became more cautious, leaning on the cane that Duoji had cut for us, and walked forward cautiously while testing.When walking in the swamp, you must have a probing stick in your hand to explore the solid ground or shallow muddy water, otherwise you will easily sink into the bottomless swamp, and you may disappear without even calling for help. . Although the place we walked was a swamp, the rain was mixed with muddy water and it was extremely muddy.Once you step on it, it often sinks to your ankle, and it takes a lot of effort to get it out. As for the shoes, they have long since become mud shoes.I looked at the water with disgusting green moss floating on my feet, and thought I should not wash it, so I just endured it for now. I originally thought that the so-called grassland was like this, but later experience told me that I underestimated the grassland and greatly underestimated the capabilities of the Red Army. Those who have never walked on the grass marsh in person can never imagine the horror of the grass marsh. There are quagmire, traps, and even large swamps everywhere on the grassy swamp.If you don't pay attention, you will be eaten by this piece of grass that eats people without spitting out bones. Mires are generally found in swamps or wet, soft and muddy wilderness areas, especially some black flat land where no grass grows.There are also blue sphagnum moss swamps. These water moss-covered places look like thick carpets, but if you step on them, the carpets will collapse like a trap cover, covering you completely. go in. The monkey walked in front, stopping from time to time, stomping its feet vigorously to see if the ground was trembling, to judge whether there was a quagmire below, and then carefully explored the road with a stick to move forward.Even so, we often encountered some dangerous situations and almost got stuck in the mud several times.I slipped several times on the muddy grass and splashed muddy water all over my body. I tried my best to identify the weeds and shrubs on the ground carefully, and tried to walk along the high ground with trees, or step on the heather.Aunt Song said that trees and heather grow on hard ground, so there is usually no problem. But it must not be taken lightly.I saw a bunch of bright green plants on the road and thought it was okay, but as soon as I stepped on it, my body suddenly sank, and half of my body sank all at once.If it weren't for the monkey's sharp eyesight and quick hands, grabbing me and dragging me out, I'm afraid I will be buried here forever.The monkey said that a cluster of bright green plants suddenly appeared on the swamp, which was more dangerous, indicating that the humidity under the grass was very high, and it might even float directly on the water, and there was a bottomless swamp below. After narrowly escaping from death, I broke out in a cold sweat from fright, profusely sweating profusely, as if I had taken a bath. The monkey looked ahead worriedly, and said that today we must cross this swamp, otherwise we will be in trouble at night.I had no choice but to keep up my spirits and follow the monkey, carefully following his footprints.Fortunately, there was no danger, and we walked a long way. Going on, the grass became more and more difficult to walk, and there were stagnant pools of bubbling water everywhere.When encountering such stagnant pools, we avoid them far away, because the vicinity is most likely to be a swamp. If we step down with one foot, we will sink into our necks before we even have time to shout, and we will be unable to crawl out. I fell a few times on the grass, my face and body were covered with muddy water, I fiddled with it at first, but then I simply ignored it, bent my back, and moved forward step by step.At first I looked forward hopefully to see if I had walked out of this muddy land, but my eyes were full of stagnant water bubbles and half-dead grass, and then I didn’t even look at it, it was like a rotten grass rope, half-dead trailing behind. I was discouraged first, complaining that I don't know when I can get to this ghost place.Damn monkey, if you don't take me to a good place, but come to this place where rabbits don't shit, I'll be miserable for eight lifetimes! But the monkey said lightly, after walking through this section of the road, it is not so difficult to walk on the mountain road. I pulled out my shoes vigorously, and looked up again, and the snow-capped mountain was still standing firmly in front of me.The so-called Wangshan running dead horse is like this on the grassland. Often, places that seem to be very close can only be reached by walking for a long time.As far as the monkey and I are walking, even if we walk for a few days and nights, I am afraid that we will not be able to reach the place. I don't know how far I walked, but I gradually became numb. I pulled my legs up with my hands and pulled them out of the mud with all my strength.I don't know how many times the shoes got stuck in the mud, and how many times they were pulled out. They had already turned into two mud balls, and the original color could not be seen.At this time, the monkey said "here it is", my legs and feet were already numb, and I thought in my mind that I had finally arrived and could finally stop, but my legs and feet were still moving forward due to inertia, and I fell to the ground all of a sudden.