Chen Mo was the first to step forward and respectfully asked the old lady: "Grandma, what's wrong?"
The old lady's hair was tied behind her head, with a wooden hairpin that looked like it had been polished from Millet's bloodvine inserted into the bun.
She looked at Chen Mo and didn't speak. Instead, she pulled out the wooden hairpin from her hair, held it in her hand, and said, "Wait here for the boat to arrive."
The three of us were a little surprised. Is there anyone still doing ferry business deep in Shennongjia?
And even if there are people doing this kind of business, this place in the deep mountains and old forests should be sparsely populated, and there should be no business.
The old lady stood in front of the waterfall with a serious face and piety, holding the red and black wooden hairpin in her hand, clasping her hands together, and muttering something unknown in her mouth.
The water vapor from the waterfall wet the old lady's loose blue silk clothes, and the wet clothes clung to her body, further revealing the frailty of her body.
I don't understand how such a thin old lady, who must be in her early sixties, can walk on the mountain road for such a long time without blushing or out of breath, and looking calm and collected.
We have seen the old lady's indifference, and we don't know what uncertain dangers there are in the deep mountains and forests, so when she was praying, Chen Mo was the first to follow the old lady, clasping his hands and closing his eyes.
Zhou Lan and I saw this and followed suit.
About ten minutes passed. If the water vapor from the waterfall hadn't been hitting my clothes and the wet clothes clinging to my body made me feel particularly uncomfortable, I would have almost fallen asleep.
Suddenly, a "Let's go" sound came into my ears.
I hurriedly opened my eyes, and sure enough, a raft had stopped in front of us.
At the head of the raft's bed, there is a small basket made of bamboo.
The old lady threw the wooden hairpin in her hand into the basket and bowed reverently towards the bamboo raft three times.
Her series of operations gave me the illusion that there was really a boatman on the bamboo raft.
"Let's go, but I want to make it clear to you first. After getting on the bamboo raft, you must keep your eyes closed the whole time. No matter what noise you hear on the boat, you cannot open your eyes. Otherwise, you will never get out of this waterfall.
." The old lady said, handing the black cloth shoes hidden in her sleeves to Chen Mo, and then said: "Put them away for me, don't get them wet."
The three of us were a little confused, looked at each other, and then said in unison: "Okay."
"Get on the boat." The old lady stood on the edge of the bamboo raft, almost half of her body was submerged in the water. She supported the bamboo raft to keep it balanced, and then said to us.
Chen Mo, Zhou Lan and I boarded the bamboo raft one after another, and then sat in the middle of the bamboo raft, leaving an innermost seat for the old lady.
But after the old lady saw us getting on the boat, she dived straight into the water. Then, the bamboo raft started to float and went upstream.
"Ah, could it be that grandma was pushing the boat for us under the water?" I looked at Chen Mo and asked doubtfully.
"Close your eyes and don't talk," Chen Mo's eyes were already closed tightly. When he heard my question, he scolded me softly.
Only then did I realize that Zhou Lan also had his eyes closed.
At this time, I hurriedly closed my eyes.
After coming here for a short while, I felt a strong stream of water falling down all over my face.
They must be passing the waterfall.
I thought so in my mind.
The impact of the waterfall water was so powerful that it whipped my face until it hurt.
I kept wiping the water off my face with my hands, and it seemed like water droplets were pouring into my nose, which made me sore from choking.
Fortunately, it didn't take long to pass under the waterfall, so the pain of being whipped was bearable.
After walking out of the waterfall, I suddenly felt that the temperature around me seemed to have dropped a lot.
It may also be the feeling on the skin caused by the cold wind blowing on the clothes soaked by the waterfall.
Although I didn't open my eyes and didn't know what the surrounding environment was like, I could still feel that the surroundings were eerie.
Slowly, I seemed to feel that there were some tiny sounds around me.
The bamboo raft looks like it is traveling on a lively river.
"Hey, business is good today!"
There are sounds of greetings from neighbors...
"Dad, I don't dare anymore. I will never steal money again!"
It was the sound of a father beating and scolding his son...
"How many times have I told you that you shouldn't cast the net there, but you just don't listen. It's fine now. It's just a few small fish. Let me see how you pay for your mother's medical expenses!"
It's the sound of a couple quarreling...
…
Could it be that we have reached a ghost town?
The old lady once brought out a blue skull in a ghost town and said that the star disk was probably located in this place.
But now we are required not to open our eyes. In this case, even if the astrolabe is right in front of our eyes, we will not know it at all.
However, I didn't dare to go against the old lady's wishes. According to her words, if I opened my eyes, I would never be able to get out.
Just as I was muttering in my mind, a familiar voice came.
"Cang'er?"
That was my father's voice, with a tone of urgency, uncertainty, and surprise.
It's father. Is father here too?
"Cang'er!"
He shouted again, in a tone of surprise that he finally recognized me.
At this moment, I couldn't hold it in any longer and opened my eyes suddenly.
The moment I opened my eyes and the faint light from the river shone into my eyes, I saw the lively scene on the water.
The two neighbors, the father and son, and the couple were all around him.
There was also my father who passed by with a look of surprise and love on his face.
"Dad," I shouted eagerly as I watched my father disappear slowly.
Suddenly, the bamboo raft that was moving slowly stopped.
The scenery around me also disappeared in an instant.
"What are you doing?"
The old lady also came out of the water and yelled at me angrily.
Then, we climbed onto the bamboo raft.
Chen Mo and Zhou Lan heard the sound and opened their eyes.
It was dark all around, but we could still tell that we should be in an inland river in the Shennongjia Mountains.
"Grandma, Zhou Cang, what happened?"
I saw Zhou Lan looking at me eagerly, and he must have heard me calling my father, but before he could speak, Chen Mo asked him first.
"Xiao Cang, were you calling dad just now? Have you seen dad?" Zhou Lan asked excitedly.
"You didn't abide by the rules of the ghost town and watched things you shouldn't have. It's impossible for the people in the ghost town to let us go now. We're just waiting to become sacrifices in the ghost town." The old lady said with a thick accent.
Said in Mandarin, you can still see that he is very angry.
"Zhou Cang, what's going on? Why did you open your eyes all of a sudden?" When Chen Mo saw the old lady saying this, he immediately guessed what happened and turned to me and asked.
"I'm sorry, I heard my father calling me, twice, so I couldn't help but open my eyes." I lowered my head, feeling embarrassed that my impulsiveness had hurt my teammates just now.
"Xiao Cang, have you really seen your father? Where is your father?" Zhou Lan ignored them and asked excitedly, grabbing my arm.
"Well, I saw it, but I only saw it the moment I opened my eyes, and then he disappeared." I said.
"Great, my father is not dead yet, Xiao Cang, our father is still alive, still alive." Zhou Lan looked a little too happy.
"Huh," the old lady sitting at the end of the bamboo raft snorted coldly after listening to the conversation between us two brothers, "It's all because of you people that these disasters happened."
"Grandma, what do you mean by this?" When Zhou Lan heard what the old lady said, he immediately became a little unhappy and asked with a long face.
"Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking in your crooked intestines. Let me tell you, the reason why the ghost town has been able to exist for thousands of years is to deal with you guys who spy on the astrolabe. If it weren't for Guyu today, I wouldn't be here.
I will bring you in, but even if I have no choice but to break the rules of the ghost town because of Guyu, I will still be punished." The old lady seemed to be telling us, as if she was talking to herself.
It turns out that the little girl who was imprisoned and controlled by Andrew was called Guyu, such a nice name.