As he walked, Dili introduced He Qi and the two of them: "We have lived on the grasslands in the north of the mountain for generations, and few of us can walk through the stone forest alone. We basically rely on horses to find the way. The horses we raise are raised by old people.
After riding the horse four or five times, you will probably know the route. It will take about a day and a half to two days to pass through this stone forest. When you go out tomorrow, you must be especially careful about the falling rocks on the mountain. The closer you get to the outer stone forest, it has been eroded by strong winds for many years.
, big rocks would fall down from time to time, and even the entire stone pillar would collapse."
"Okay, then you can find the direction of the snow cap in the west. If you keep going south, you can't find a way out?" Qi Zhou asked.
"It's unlikely, because you can't see far in the stone forest. If you climb all the way to the top of a relatively high rock mountain to explore the way, you may have to walk for a month or two, but who can bring so much water and food? Besides,
Not every high mountain can be climbed, and even if you can, it will be exhausting!" Di Li said.
He Qizhou saw that some rocks were small and large at the bottom, like giant bamboo shoots inserted upside down. It was indeed extremely difficult to climb, and he couldn't help but worry about the return journey.
After everyone walked through the mountains and forests for a long time, Dili chose a relatively open place to camp. They came well prepared and had relatively complete preparations. They even prepared a small tent for Qi Xu and Qi Xu. He Qizhou was naturally very happy.
Seeing that there were so many people, Xu Mu was a little unhappy, so he offered to take turns staying on night watch with Dili and the others.
Dili thought they were just two people but still couldn't trust them. He had attended a Han school and knew that Han people had many thoughts on their minds, so he didn't pay much attention to them.
He Qizhou and Xu Mu slept for half the night alone. Not long after leaving camp the next day, the horse team arrived at a stone crevice that was only a few feet wide. He Qizhou and Xu Mu at the front suddenly felt strong winds here.
The wind was so strong that people could not open their eyes. Di Li said on the side: "This is the most difficult place to walk. There are strong winds all year round, and there is a steep slope up and down when passing through this stone gap. As soon as you get out of the stone gap, you will be close to the sloping door."
.”
"What evil? I think this place is quite evil." He Qizhou joked.
Dili smiled slightly and said: "The leaning door is our entrance to the mountain. You will know it once you have seen it. Only one horse can pass through the stone gap in front. Just be careful of falling rocks on your head. Let's go.
.”
At Xu Mu, He Qizhou followed Dili up the slope leading to the stone gap. When they entered the stone gap, the mountain wind became stronger, and fine sand and gravel flew up from time to time. He Qizhou saw that the stone gap was more than ten feet high, and the higher it went, the higher it got.
It is narrow, with only a few light-transmitting holes at the top. It is very dark inside the stone gap. Fortunately, you can see a ray of light in front of it. It is estimated to be about ten feet long.
Walking in this cramped space, I couldn't help but feel secretly nervous. If the rocks on both sides collapsed, not even gods would be able to save the people and horses in the gap. After walking six or seven feet, the gap gradually widened, and the wind weakened.
It turns out that the northern opening of the stone gap is shaped like a trumpet, which is why the wind at the south entrance is so strong.
He Qizhou was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly something fell from the side of the stone wall. With the strong wind, it was thrown towards Xu Mu. Xu Mu screamed "snake——" and at the critical moment, it rolled.
He jumped off his horse and just missed the long object.
He Qizhou was also startled, and hurriedly drew his sword and jumped to Xu Mu's side. Xu Mu stood up and hid behind Qi Zhou, still in shock, grabbing Qi Zhou's shoulders and saying, "It's a giant python!" He Qizhou grew up in the mountains.
Naturally, I have seen many snakes while walking, but they are no more than the thickness of my wrist at most. The snake-like thing on the stone wall seems to be as thick as a calf, which is really scary. When I look closely, I can't help but laugh. It turns out that it is just a gray-white snake slough.
The strong wind blew through it, and the snake's skin swelled. There was no danger, so he turned around and said to Xu Mu seriously:
"This snake is definitely not a common thing. Just a shed layer of skin can scare the famous Xu Mu into this state. We'd better be careful."
"Screw you, I feel sick when I see snakes!" Xu Mu pushed Qi Zhou away. She also saw clearly the snake slough that was swinging in the wind. Most of it was still hooked in the stone wall. The one that fell down was about ten feet long.
.
He Qizhou was about to chop off the half-dead snake with his sword, but unexpectedly Dili turned around and shouted: "Brother, stop it!"
Qi Zhou took back his long sword as he was told, but saw Dili and other Keji tribesmen who had entered the rock gap dismounting their horses one after another, throwing themselves on the ground in front of the snake slough, muttering something, and not knowing what they were muttering.
He and Xu stuck to the stone wall on the other side and waited for about half a cup of tea before they saw Dili stepping on the horse and gently peeling off the snake's slough. The length of the snake's slough was still far longer than that of He and Xu.
In human imagination, it is close to four feet. Looking at the thickest part of the snake, it is indeed larger than an ordinary person's calf.
Dili and other Keji people were all overjoyed after receiving the snake slough. Dili introduced them to them: "This is a gift from the mountain god! Thank you for the good luck you have brought to us!"
Seeing that He and Xu were still confused, Dili explained the whole story. It turned out that there was a big snake in the mountain, which the Keji people called the Silver Dragon. They had always regarded it as the patron saint of the tribe, and they had to offer sacrifices and pray every time they entered the mountain.
The reason why they always go into the mountains in groups of a dozen is because they know that silver dragons will not attack groups of humans.
Like the Keji people, the Silver Dragon only appears in the mountains from June to September every year. It feeds on antelopes, blue sheep, young foals, etc. It may hibernate the rest of the time. It is said that some people have even seen seven or eight feet long.
Big snake.
Because the silver dragon has strong skin and thick flesh, it seems that it will never die, so it has become the object of worship of the Keji people. Dili finally told the two of them that he had studied in the Zhou people's school for several years before he realized that it was nothing more than a dragon.
It's just a big snake, but when it comes to their clan, you must not call it a snake, and you must not show any disrespect to the silver dragon. He and Xu naturally agreed.
In the afternoon, a group of people entered a relatively spacious "road" and finally saw the "slanted door" in front of them. The road was more than ten feet wide and a hundred feet long. On both sides were stone mountains dozens of feet high, and the mountain walls were like knives.
Generally, the gaps between the mountains on both sides lead to nowhere in the mountains, like the entrances to a maze.
The "Slanted Gate" is located at the end of the avenue. It looks like a really evil gate. A stone pillar with a diameter of more than three feet splits from the mountain wall on the right. After falling down, it leans against the mountain on the other side, forming a sloping door frame.
The bottom of the stone pillar is five feet high and is still connected to the right side like a base, while the stone pillar more than twenty feet long above is leaning against the mountain wall more than ten feet high on the left. The huge stone pillar like a page of a book has not collapsed.
Passing below, the stone pillar above seems to collapse at any time.
After walking out of the "Slanted Gate" and looking back, just as Dili said, on the edge of the long stone forest in the north, the stone pillars became looser and looked crumbling. Many collapsed stone pillars turned into hills, and the strong wind blew
As it passed, bursts of smoke and dust were raised.
When everyone climbed up a higher hill, He Qizhou finally saw what real grassland was. Looking as far as the eye could see, the slightly undulating fields were connected to the sky in the distance. Unfortunately, the grassland was not like Anxi Racecourse.
The green and sparse grass is a bit green and yellow, and yellow sand is exposed on the grassless ground, which is more like a large desert covered with grass.
Dili said: "Animals in the mountains will come as far as this pasture to forage. They can find more exits because they know that we will hunt them, so they rarely come out until food is unsustainable. But this year
We have already seen horses coming out twice, but unfortunately we failed to catch them this time. Alas, this grassland looks very big, but in fact there is not much grass, so we can only make a living."
Xu Mu asked: "This should be the western border of the Zhou Dynasty. Does the government allow you to monopolize this pasture?"
Di Li said: "This land is still ours. When the Zhou Dynasty wanted to annex us, many of our Keji tribe fled along the mountains to the Western Regions, leaving only one tribe behind.
Because our tribe was able to trap the Tianju, the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty agreed to let us stay in this grassland, but the condition was that we should pay tribute to five Tianju under the age of five to the court every year, and the livestock we raised could not be transferred to other places in the Zhou Dynasty.
grassland.
So although it’s a bit harder, we can still live the life we’re used to. By the way, they’ll have someone coming to pick up the horses soon. You’re all from the same family. If you find companions, go back as soon as possible. It’ll be good for everyone.”
Xu Mu said: "Okay, thank you very much. Brother Dili, are you the leader of the tribe?"
Di Li said: "I'm not. The leader now is my mother. The one who saw your companions was my brother. He also went into the mountains to trap his horses. This time I came back empty-handed. I hope he has better luck than me."
"We still need to harness two horses within a month? What will happen if we can't harness them?" He Qizhou asked.
Dili smiled bitterly and shook his head: "We must catch it. We will prepare supplies after we go back, and we will go into the mountains soon. It's just that those wild horses experience this kind of thing every year, and now they are smarter than ghosts, and they can run faster than our horses."
, so it becomes increasingly difficult to catch.”
He Qizhou thought to himself that it seemed that he and Xu Mu were extremely lucky. When they went back, they would see if Dahuang could still help "betray" the two "compatriots". Although they ended up being enemies, they still had to help these people no matter what.
The enthusiastic person then said: "How about this? I will ask you to lead the way when we go back. Then I will look for Dahuang and see if I can help you."
Dili's eyes shone and he smiled heartily and said: "Thank you so much, I'm even embarrassed to speak to you."
"By the way, why does Zhou Ting need so many Tianju?" Qi Zhou asked.
"Tianju is the royal family, a symbol of the status of the powerful. It has always been too little, not too much. When they want ponies, they also want to use Tianju to breed with horses on the grassland. However, Tianju has a very high self-esteem and will never
Mating with other horses has been like this for hundreds of years. Because he was worried about being caught, Zhou Ting only asked for five horses a year, and we were not allowed to have Tianju, but I don’t know why he wants so many this year..." Di
Li Wuxin let it slip, and immediately stopped saying anything.