Chapter 4 third chapter

The sky was high and the clouds were light, and there was no wind at all. Shu Jie was lazily sleeping on the bamboo raft floating along the water, but was woken up by a noise, and squinted his eyes to look up.A group of macaques were jumping from the top of a tall locust tree to the other side of the river, and they happened to jump over his head one by one.Some of the macaques jumped far, and threw themselves on the tree, squeaking triumphantly; those who jumped closer and fell into the grass, squeaked when they fell. Shujie's ears were filled with various creaking sounds.He was so annoyed that he turned over to ignore it, and suddenly thought that if a monkey shit in the air, it would fall on his head, so he lazily stretched out his hand into the water and swiped a few times, the bamboo raft turned in the water After half a circle, around a cluster of aquatic plants, slowly wandering downstream.

Suddenly there was a terrified scream, followed by a plop, and the monkeys on both sides of the bank screamed even louder.Shu Jie frowned, looked up into the water, it turned out that a little monkey jumped too short and fell directly into the water. The little monkey screamed in fright and desperately hit the water with all four limbs, but it was so small that it could only barely stick its head above the water and could not swim at all.The monkeys on both sides of the strait clamored together, but none of them dared to come down to save it, seeing it gradually sinking. The little monkey was only half a foot away from Shu Jie's hand in the water. Shu Jie looked around, picked up a branch floating in the water, threw it in front of it, clapped vigorously, and said loudly: "Oh, yes. ! Swim hard! Hurry up, we're about to go ashore soon! Okay!"

The little monkey turned around and grabbed the branch with all its strength, but it was exhausted. After struggling several times, it couldn't climb the branch, and it still sank slowly.Many of the monkeys on the shore have stopped shouting and stared blankly at the water gradually covering their chins, mouths, and noses... Shu Jie lay on the bamboo raft, and said to the little monkey: "Do you know what it means to be born with a life that cannot be changed... I don't understand? It means that although you have a life, you can't control it, you can only follow the flow..."

Suddenly there was a crash, the water parted abruptly, someone came out of the water, grabbed the little monkey by the neck, threw it back, and threw it into Shu Jie's arms.Shu Jie hurriedly clapped his hands, drove the monkey away, and shouted: "Go away, don't stain my clothes! Oh, you are so foolish, I am telling it the way of life." The latter words were addressed to the girl who was climbing onto the bamboo raft.The girl's upper body was bare, only a raccoon skin was wrapped around her waist, a small basket was tied, a necklace of animal teeth was wrapped around her left arm, and a bow was carried on her back.Her skin was the color of lustrous copper, her eyes were amber, and her wet black hair hung down her shoulders and pressed against her protruding breasts.With a dagger in her mouth and a dark object in one hand, she boarded the bamboo raft, stuffed the object into the basket first, combed her hair with both hands, and tied it behind her head with a rope, revealing a A delicate face.

Shu Jie grabbed the tail of the frightened half-dead monkey, carried it around in the air twice, let it go, and threw it into the grass on the bank.The monkeys yelled one after another, climbed up the tree and flew away.Shujie stretched out his hand to wash in the water slowly, and said, "Hey, little girl, when did you know the meaning of etiquette? People who don't wear clothes are the most indecent." When the girl heard this, she puffed her chest up, took out a dagger and inserted it into the bamboo raft, and said, "Really? I don't know. When the girls in our clan dive into the water, they don't wear clothes. Only You guys only go to the evening ceremony all day long, it’s so annoying.”

Shu Jie spread his hands together: "Tsk tsk, what about the so-called barbarian country, what can you do?" The girl gave him a white look, and suddenly two blushes rose on her face. She lowered her head to tidy up her little basket, and said in a low voice, "You are finally here. I guessed that you would come here for boating. This year... a little late God." Shu Jie smiled and said: "You are one year older, Yin...ah, I should call you Shi Yin. I have already heard about your getting married. Congratulations." There was a little wind, and the bamboo raft was fluttering, going down the water all the way, turning two bends, and entering a canyon.There are dense reeds on both sides, and then there are bamboo forests stretching for tens of miles.After the bamboo forest, there is a steep cliff like a knife and an axe.This is the most precipitous section of the Grub Valley, more than ten miles long, and the narrowest point between the two mountains is only ten feet, forming a line of sky.The stream also became turbulent, and the rocks on the bank were intertwined like canine teeth, and there were hidden reefs in the water, which made the bamboo raft sway from time to time and make a chaotic sound.

Supporting the high crown on his head, Shu Jie said, "Hey, Shi Yin, where are you taking me?" Shi Yin said: "Take off the crown, let's see how embarrassed you are." Shu Jie shook his head solemnly and said, "Remove the crown and sit, it's indecent." Shi Yin bent down with a smile: "Li, today I'm considered knowledgeable. Already!" She stood firmly on the bamboo raft with two feet, leaning her body sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right, controlling the bamboo raft to turn left and right in the rushing stream, avoiding dangerous rocks and reefs.Sometimes she squatted suddenly and shouted: "Be careful!" Shu Jie just lay down on the bamboo raft without proper etiquette.Bamboo rafts soared into the air and fell down a waterfall several feet high.Fortunately, the bamboo raft was made of thick bamboo, and every time it plunged heavily into the water, it tenaciously brought the two of them back to the surface.There are also many forks in the stream, and some intersections are blocked by tall aquatic plants. People who don't know the way go down the river without knowing that there is a river beside them.Once, the bamboo raft slid down a slope at high speed, facing a cliff. Before Shu Jie could shout, he sank suddenly and followed the bamboo raft into a dark river under the cliff.

After entering the cave, the eyes were suddenly pitch black, the water from the cave roof hit the two of them drop by drop, and the wind whimpered like ghosts.From time to time, there are small movements in the water, and unknown fish and beasts are lurking in the dark.Shi Yin clenched the dagger tightly, listening intently to the movement, and suddenly said: "Are you afraid of the dark?" After a while, Shu Jie said leisurely: "Don't you know? I like the dark, and the dark also likes me." Ya Yin snorted Said: "Just blow it." After half an hour, the bamboo raft finally got out of the hole safely.It was not until the bamboo raft turned a corner and the rocks blocked the entrance of the cave that Ya Yin put away the dagger, patted her chest and said, "Ah, it was so dangerous just now! There are two thistle scales lurking in the water, I saw their bright eyes It's very dangerous, but fortunately they didn't attack us, otherwise it would be a disaster. I didn't bring any other weapons today."

Shu Jie said: "You didn't see everything. A brain-eating scorpion has been following us since we entered the cave. It crawled along the cracks in the ceiling and attracted three americium lynxes." Ya Yin's face turned pale, and said: "Really? Then...then why didn't you eat us?" Shu Jie smiled and said: "I told them not to move." Ya Yin didn't believe him, and murmured: "No wonder... Mother made three fortune-tellings last night, and they all said it was evil, and told me not to come... It must be That ancient tree has heard my prayer, please bless me."

Shu Jie said: "That's right, all the ancient trees here have become fine, very powerful." The clothes on his body were already wet, and it became more and more difficult to tidy them up.He didn't think it was troublesome, he leaned on the bamboo raft again and again, sat up straight again and again, his expression remained unchanged, he straightened his clothes, and he never lost his manners.Although the bamboo raft was bumpy, he sat with his hands folded.Ya Yin giggled and said: "Your bad temper is still the same!" Shu Jie glanced at her, and said slowly: "You are different?" Ya Yin showed a shy look on his face, and then smiled sweetly at him.

After stumbling and drifting like this for more than an hour, the bamboo raft finally got out of the canyon without any danger, and the water surface gradually became calm again.Looking around, the right bank of the river is a dense forest, full of ancient trees, tens of feet high, covering the sky like a canopy to avoid the sun, with bushes growing under it, it seems that it is an inaccessible place.The cliffs on the left bank of the river meander northward for hundreds of miles, enclosing this piece of forest far away, forming a natural barrier. Shu Jie straightened his clothes, wiped the water on his face, stood up and looked around, and said, "Well, it's an outstanding place. Where is this?" Shi Yin said: "Luocui Valley, the holy place of my family. You are lucky, I will lead the way today, otherwise you will never even think about entering it." Saying this, he jumped into the waist-deep water and pulled the bamboo raft to the shore Lean on. As soon as she approached a reed, there was a humbling sound, and hundreds of wild birds jumped up, screaming beside the two of them, and flew into the sky in a group.A few small animals who were drinking water by the river panicked into the grass.Seeing the wild birds turning around the cliff behind him, Shi Yin waved to Shu Jie, "Come down and walk." The two abandoned the raft and went ashore and walked into the forest.The forest is full of short bushes, and thick vines hang down from the trees, crisscrossing and criss-crossing, which is really difficult.Ya Yin was barefoot, jumping back and forth between the thick tree trunks, and occasionally flew over extremely long distances with the help of vines, she was extremely dexterous, and Shu Jie was not capable of that.He watched Yayin's smooth body jumping in front of him, sighed, broke off a branch, brushed away the bushes in front of him obediently, and walked forward step by step. After walking for a while, the two came to a clearing in the forest. There was an old tree in the middle that was so thick that dozens of people could hug it. Grass and wild flowers.Surrounded by a circle of steep rock walls, there are only two exits in the open space.Shi Yin climbed up the big tree, looked at it for a while, jumped down, took off the bow and threw it to Shu Jie, saying: "Hold it for me!" She took out her dagger and dug a hole in the middle of the open space. Shu Jie looked at the bow carefully, and flicked the bow string with his fingers, the bow string made a clear sound, nodded and said: "That's right, your skill has improved a step further. Apart from the bones and muscles, this bow is not strong enough, so it is already considered a very good bow. "Ya Yin said triumphantly: "I, one day I will be able to make the best bow! You go and wait!" Shu Jie walked under the big tree, sat down on a clean stone, and beat his legs to watch. She is busy. Ya Yin dug for a while, and then found strong branches everywhere, and propped them in the hole, as if making a trap.She dug and filled it hard, and suddenly asked without thinking: "How do you know I'm going to get married?" "Oh." Shu Jie yawned: "Actually, I came here seven days ago. You were not in the village, so you didn't see me. I heard from your grandmother. It is said that the other party is the historian of the Song Dynasty? It is a very good marriage. .Hey—” He tilted his head, and the mud clods thrown by Yayin hit the tree trunk behind him, and the mud and sand scattered all over him.He hurriedly jumped up and patted, shouting: "Hey, I came here in a hurry this time, but I didn't bring a few clothes!" Shi Yin continued to dig a hole with her head buried, and said, "Who said it was a good marriage?" Shu Jie said aggrievedly: "It's not me, it's my grandmother! Speaking of which, Song is a survivor of the former Shang Dynasty, and has a good relationship with your village, and the person who can be a historian is a member of a rich family, isn't it good?" Ya Yin didn't speak, and continued digging and digging, it seemed that sweat flowed into her eyes, she stretched out her hand to wipe it for a long time, and said with a pout: "...I don't like it..." "What?" Shu Jie pricked up his ears, "I can't hear you clearly." Ya Yin muttered: "It's nothing..." She dug out a big hole, sat beside her, and cut branches with a dagger.Shujie was sitting alone bored, looking up at the canopy of the big tree, his neck was sore, he rubbed his shoulders and said, "Hey, there are clouds in the sky. You'd better hurry up what you want to do, I don't think it's going to happen this day." It's going to rain." Yan Yin still ignored him, but his movements were obviously quickened.She cut a few tree nails, leaned over and put them firmly on the bottom of the pit, and inserted some on the wall of the pit, and then used thin branches to build the top of the pit, which was densely covered with grass and leaves.After she was done, she took a few steps back to observe carefully until she was sure that the trap was perfectly hidden, then carefully took out the dark thing that was just stuffed in from the basket, put it on the trap, and sprinkled it on top of it. Some broken leaves. Shu Jie watched from the side, suddenly his face became calm, and he said, "You want to catch the dryad?" Yayin raised her finger near her mouth, telling him to silence.After everything was settled, she threw all the remaining branches into the grass beside her, leaving only one branch stuck in the raccoon fur, ran to Shu Jie, leaned into his ear and whispered: "The agarwood has been put away. The dryad is about to come out, don't make a sound, let's hide." Before Shujie could speak, he took his hand and ran to the edge of the rock wall, pointing to a small cave in the cave and said: "Quick, go in." Shu Jie resisted and said: "Why is such a small hole..." Boss Shiyin pushed him into the hole impatiently, while he took out a small sackcloth from under the raccoon fur at his waist.The bag contained some white powder, which she carefully spilled as she backed away, until she retreated into the hole. Shu Jie whispered: "You want to catch the dryad like this? Do you think it's easy?" Ya Yin said: "That's agarwood that is tens of thousands of years old! In order to get it, I have been diving in the lake for many days." Shu Jie said: "It's a good agarwood, but you lured the tree spirit, and you want to use such a broken trap to catch it? It's really whimsical." Shi Yin shot him a glance, took out the branch tied at his waist, cut it with a dagger, and said: "Didn't I prepare a bow for you? Wait, I will give you an arrow right away." Shu Jie said: "So you came up with such an idea! No wonder you are so polite to me today." Shi Yin said: "Otherwise, why did I ask you to come here? Well, don't look wronged, I did that for you Duo Gong, can't you please help me once?" Shujie said seriously: "I'm not complaining. Be careful. Although the tree spirit is dull, it always has the essence of the sun and the moon. If you meet someone with a higher level of practice, it will be bad to curse you!" Yayin said: "I'm not afraid Mile." As she said, she continued to cut the branch into a round shape, and then carefully cut out the arrow point. Shu Jie looked at her quietly, saw that she had been busy for a long time, and her body was covered with sweat, so she couldn't help but reached out and wiped the sweat off her neck and back with his sleeve.Ya Yin's body trembled slightly, but she didn't move away, continuing to do her own thing.Shu Jie said: "You have grown up, Yin... When I saw you for the first time, I was just a little girl learning to speak. In a blink of an eye, you are already sixteen years old, and you have inherited the surname Ya... I I thought you'd never grow up." Shi Yin hummed: "Whoever looks like you has been the same for more than ten years. Are you practicing some kind of fairy art?" Shu Jie smiled and said: "Cultivation of immortals? That thing is very troublesome, I don't have that kind of patience... Who said that?" Shi Yin said: "The adults in the village say so, otherwise why haven't you changed at all? Hmph, I know how to do these mysterious things. If I become an old woman in the future, I will not come to see you, and you are not allowed to come to the village again." Shu Jie laughed loudly, Ya Yin hurriedly turned around and covered his mouth, and said in a low voice, "Don't make trouble! The tree spirit is very vigilant, and it won't come if there is any movement..." She paused, because she suddenly found her naked body leaning against Shu Jie's chest, the heat from his body seemed to burn her.Yayin's heart was beating so fast that she could hardly even breathe, she was stunned for a long time before thinking of retreating.She pushed her hands on Shu Jie's chest, and just as she straightened up, Shu Jie suddenly stretched out her hands, gathered her wide sleeves, and hugged her around the waist. All the blood in Ya Yin's body rushed to her head, and she was in a trance for a while, feeling the warmth from the two big hands supporting her waist, her body softened, and she said in a trembling voice: "You...you..." Just listen to Shu Jie said: "Promise me, little girl." "What... what?" Yayin was trembling all over. "Promise me, don't catch the dryad." Shu Jie let her go, but held her face again, looked deeply into her amber eyes, and said: "The curse of the dryad will hurt you, far away I've seen too much beyond your imagination. Obediently marry to the Song Kingdom." Yayin's fiery and trembling body gradually became stiff and cold.She stared into Shu Jie's eyes for a long time, then said coldly: "I don't." Shu Jie sighed: "What do you want the dryad to do?" Ya Yin shook off his hand, retreated to a dark place in the cave where the sunlight could not reach, and said: "I want to make a bow, and I need a dryad to make the soul of the bow." Shu Jie said: "Each bow has its own soul, why do you need a tree spirit to make it?" Yayin said: "You don't understand...I want to make a good bow." "You already know how to make a good bow." Shujie twirled the bow in his hand twice, squinting his eyes to carefully observe the movement of the bow's ridge: "I have been to Beiming, and together with Zhou's army, I fought with the Yunzhong clan. In combat, the bows of the armored warriors of the Yunzhong tribe are not as good as this bow..." "No!" Yayin interrupted him stubbornly: "I want to be the best bow in the world! This... this is my greatest wish in life. You once promised me that you would help me fulfill my greatest wish, Did you forget?" Shu Jie sighed: "How could I forget... You are only seven years old, and you made an appointment with me... But, is this really your greatest wish? I thought it would be..." "Yes." Yayin said word by word: "This is it." Shu Jie was silent for a while, and said: "Okay. I will give you the Dryad you want, but until you get it, you must stay in this cave, you must not come out, and you must not let the Dryad see you, understand?" Shi Yin leaned in front of Shu Jie, surprised and delighted: "Really? But...but why? I want to see the dryad with my own eyes..." Shu Jie resolutely said: "No! If you don't agree, I will immediately take you back to see the old grandmother, and you will never come here again!" Yain shivered.Since the Xia Dynasty, their village has been making bows and arrows for generations. It is famous all over the world for making bows for shooting the sun for Houyi.Shang Tang raised an army to destroy Xia, and the bow and arrow of their village made great contributions and were given the surname of arrow.Legend has it that their ancestors once followed the Yellow Emperor to conquer the world, and learned the unique skill from the unknown god Qi, who was able to integrate the spirit of the tree into the bow as his soul, so they often created the best bows in the world.They built their village in the remote country of Ba. Firstly, because of making magic bows, they had a lot of grievances and needed to live in seclusion; , and extremely spiritual, it is perfect for making bows.But sometimes, if you meet a dryad who has practiced and attained the Tao, you will be cursed horribly.It is not uncommon for the whole village to suffer disaster because of angering the tree spirit. Therefore, the village has established a family rule long ago, unless you must make a magic bow to enter the forest to catch the tree spirit, and you must go through the village The elders allowed it, otherwise they would be severely punished. Ya Yin couldn't be more clear about this rule, she immediately nodded and said: "Okay, I promise you!" Shu Jie said: "That's good. You just wait in this hole, I'll go outside. Remember, no matter what happens, you are not allowed to look out, and you are not allowed to make any noise until I come to call you! " Yayin hummed, and obediently retreated into the depths of the cave.Shu Jie used his hand as a knife, cut down some bushes and piled them at the entrance of the cave, and then gave her another warning in a low voice, and left with his bow.