A mountain--Black Cloud Mountain
The Black Cloud Mountain stretched across the northeast of the Dafeng Country, stretching for thousands of miles, forming a half-moon shape that surrounded the Yun and Mu Prefectures. The west and north were other countries, the east and southeast were the sea, and the southwest was connected to the mainland by a pass known as the Crane Cry Pass.
The Crane Cry Pass was a natural barrier, with the head resting on the cliff and the feet stepping on the surging river. It was the entrance to the Central Plains where the ancestors of the Zhao family unified the Central Plains, and also the first gate to guard the Central Plains. Even though it had been peaceful for hundreds of years, the Crane Cry Pass was still heavily guarded.
Legend has it that when the migrating birds return to the south or pass by this place, they will cry out loudly, so it was called the Crane's Cry Pass. The crane's cry was long and reverberated between the cliff and the river. The crane's cry was loud and sonorous, telling the legend between the temple and the Jianghu.
The interior of the Crane Cry Pass was bustling and decadent, while the exterior was desolate and cold. Therefore, this place was also the threshold for exiles. A winding mountain 'bird path' carved out of the cliff was the only way to enter and exit the Crane Cry Pass.
It was so cold here that water would freeze in October of the first year, and spring plowing would only begin in March of the following year.
This place was poor, the land was barren, the population was not prosperous, and the products were not abundant. For generations, the people asked for food and clothing from the mountains, especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Yang Ping had come here four years ago, when she was less than ten years old. Her injured father, her pregnant mother, and a younger brother had come with her, as well as a master called Cheng Fei who had caught up with her not long after.
In the spring of the following year, his mother gave birth to his little sister. In the summer of the same year, a landslide took his mother's life. After his father painstakingly wrote the military book, he also died of illness in the winter of the following year.
Yang Ping brought her younger siblings to live under Master Cheng Fei's care.
In the past four years, she had hardly cried, including on her parents 'death anniversary. Even though her heart was in so much pain that it felt like it was being torn apart, she rarely cried.
Before her father left, he told her that her son would be happy for the rest of his life.
She wanted a lifetime of happiness.
People said that there were two times in a day when the sky was the darkest. One was after sunset, and the other was before dawn. These two times were when day and night alternated.
However, people were used to lighting up after sunset, but not before dawn.
Yang Ping didn't light the lamp. She fumbled around and boiled a pot of hot water and boiled half a basket of eggs. The small courtyard in front of her was still completely covered in a thick fog. The undulating mountains in the distance were like a group of ferocious beasts that wanted to swallow everything with their bottomless mouths.
The weeds on the mountain path could not be washed away by the dew, but they could not regain their former verdant appearance. They were like messy hair that could not be combed, withered and withered. Her tied trousers were soon soaked. Yang Ping could not care less. She held the bamboo basket on her back with her left hand, and the stick in her right hand knocked on the grass from time to time to speed up her pace.
People in the mountains had to store more things before the frost. Winter in Yunzhou was hard to bear, and King Village was located in the hinterland of Black Cloud Mountain. There were many mountains and few fields here, and the land was barren. Most people lived on the few acres of thin fields at the foot of the mountain and the wild animals that were occasionally hunted in the mountains. Fortunately, they lived on the mountains. Wild vegetables in spring, wild fruits and mountain mushrooms in summer, walnuts, chestnuts and pine nuts in autumn were all food for the villagers, but only winter was long.
Fortunately, the folk customs were simple and honest. Even if there were a few talkative women, they were mostly involved in some trivial chores and did not have any big evil people. Moreover, there was the popularity accumulated by their parents in the first few years. The three siblings were often taken care of by the villagers, and their days were relatively peaceful.
This time, he had promised Aunt Wang next door that he would let her Brother Zhu Zi accompany him, but Yang Ping still secretly ran out 25 minutes earlier than the agreed time. In this season, which family in the mountains did not race against time to bring things home? Even a bundle of firewood and a small pile of adobe could help the family reduce the torture of the cold winter. Zhu Zi was honest. No matter how many things he brought out for a day, he would never take anything to his house. Moreover, he had made up his mind to walk into the deep mountains. He was afraid that he would not be able to return without two or three days.
When the sky turned white, Yang Ping climbed up the nearest Gua Peak. The mountain was flat and the vegetation was dense. There were often small things like pheasants and rabbits. It was a place where the villagers often came to chop wood and hunt. Yang Ping found a flat rock and sat down to rest. She took out the cooked eggs she brought from the bamboo basket and looked at the small mountain village at the foot of the mountain that had just woken up from a dream. The mountain village was like a baby in the arms of a mother. The feng shui was excellent. At this moment, the younger siblings at home should have woken up and should have seen the note she left.
With the warm water, Yang Ping ate half a biscuit and two eggs. After smearing realgar powder on many parts of her body, she looked at the enchanting and mysterious Old Bear Ridge that was smeared with yellow and green on the other side of the col. After calculating the things she had prepared, she set off again.
The elders in the village often said that there was a blind bear on the Old Bear Ridge. Its claws were like iron hammers that could slap people's brains out in a short time. The younger generation in the village did not dare to come. Yang Ping was also timid but more curious. She thought for a long time and made poison, took knockout powder, and brought flying knives and two daggers.
Looking at the mountain would kill a horse. The Old Bear Ridge was clearly right in front of them, but after two hours, Yang Ping had not been able to cross the valley. It was said that the valley was located between two mountain peaks. The valley was densely covered with rocks, but there were few corners. It was obvious that it had been washed by running water for a long time. It was only revealed when there was little rain in the past three or two years. It was no wonder that few people came to the Old Bear Ridge. In the years when the water was abundant, this valley alone was an insurmountable natural moat.
In the canyon, the grass grew to the height of a person. The rocks soaked in the mountain torrents were covered with moss. They were slippery and greasy when stepped on. Sometimes, they were even crushed into black mud. Yang Ping did not dare to be careless. She could only hug the grass while carefully stepping on the gravel and slowly walking to the opposite side.
At this moment, in the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain, a young man in green clothes and green pants was holding a book in one hand and a baby girl with a bun in the other. The baby girl's tender skin was weak and white. She pointed at a word on the book with her thin finger and shouted in surprise,"Big brother, big brother, I know this word, read 'De,' big sister taught me before!”。
" Yi 'er is really amazing. You're chanting' Virtue', the virtue of accumulating good deeds, the virtue of a gentleman's virtue." The young man's voice had a calmness and vicissitudes that exceeded his peers. His dark eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the Black Cloud Mountain that stretched for thousands of miles, and a pile of fire was ignited on the other side of the mountain. His tightly pursed lips outlined his young and firm chin. He only came back to his senses when his little sister poked him twice with her soft fingers.
"Brother, do you miss sister too? When is my sister coming back? Sister Lian said that there are big cats in the mountains. Are you afraid? Let's go pick up sister!" The little girl jumped off her brother's knees and ran out of the door. Just like every time she went to the foot of the mountain to pick up her sister who came back from the mountain, her sister would carry the wildflowers or wild fruits that she longed to see in her basket.
The young man's eyes turned bitter. He took two steps forward and put his arm around his little sister's shoulder." Yi 'er, don't panic. I'll be back a little later this time. I'll bring you to Aunt Wang's house to play with Sister Yulian…"
The young man wanted to entrust his sister to Sister Yulian and then go up the mountain to look for his sister. Even if he couldn't find her, he wanted to wait at the foot of the mountain.
As the siblings were arguing, someone knocked on the courtyard door. The pig iron nose knocked on the thick elm door, making a dull "bang" sound. A typical village woman's loud voice came through the crack in the door." Little Fei, Little Yi, open the door..."
"It's Aunt Wang. I'll open the door!" The little girl flew over like a butterfly and pulled open the door bolt. Her round eyes curved into crescents as she sweetly shouted,"Auntie-"
"Aiyoyo-our Yi 'er is so obedient! Your Sister Lian has spread out a few fried pancakes. Come and eat them while they're hot! Xiao Fei, come too!" Aunt Wang said as she held the little girl's hand and walked to the stone table under the old pear tree in the courtyard.
"Thank you, Auntie. Sister Lian is so nice!”The little girl's sweet voice made a pair of sparrows perched on the pear tree flutter on the branches and fly back to the courtyard wall.
The young man smiled lightly, closed the courtyard door behind him, and quickly took the small basket from Aunt Wang's hands.""Thank you, Aunt. Sister left some food in the stove for us before she left.”
"What does your sister know how to cook? Don't tell me it's boiled eggs again. It's been half a day. How are we going to eat them? Alright, you take Yi 'er to eat first. Auntie will go to the kitchen to boil some hot water. Pingping, this girl, really, she insisted on going. She ran away before dawn. When I look back, I won't scold her…"
Aunt Wang, Brother Zhu Zi's mother, lived in front of their house. Her maiden surname was Ding, and she lived in Ding Jiawa, which was 30 miles away. It was a famous Shi 'ao village that was poor. Aunt Wang was the youngest and had four older brothers. She had been digging vegetables in the mountains and fishing in the river with a group of boys since she was young. She was very capable in taking care of her father and brother. She spoke quickly and crisply and always called Ping. Because her family was poor but she was spoiled by her father and brother, she had a straightforward personality and was warm to others.
Aunt Wang's crisp voice was mixed with the rustling of the pan and the sound of scooping water until it was drowned out by the rhythmic sound of the bellows. The young man washed his sister's hands and arranged for her to sit down at the stone table to eat the fried pancakes. He walked into the kitchen properly and covered the heat in his eyes, asking for a fire.
Aunt Wang didn't stop him. She stood up and gave him the stove. As she scooped out half a ladle of noodles from the urn under the chopping board and mixed it with water, she lowered her voice and asked,"Did your sister say when she was coming back?
"Two days faster, three days slower…"
Aunt Wang's hand paused for a moment before she stirred the noodles fiercely with her chopsticks. The noodles that had been pulled into strands by the chopsticks glowed yellow under the light of the fire. The water in the pot bubbled, just like how the two of them were feeling at the moment.
"This damn girl, why is she so stubborn! Do you think a girl can enter this deep forest? If there was something wrong-Sister Xu-sigh!”，Aunt Wang poured the stirred dough into the pot and stirred it mechanically with a spoon. Her left hand, which had put down the bowl, took the opportunity to wipe her face when the young man lowered his head to look at the fire. She looked up and shouted outside," Yi 'er, eat slowly. The noodle soup is ready."
" Aunt, don't worry. Sister is prepared…" The young man raised his head and mumbled something that even he himself could not believe.
"Alright, alright, go wash your hands too! Eat!" Aunt Wang didn't want to see the young man's predicament. She raised her hand and chased him out. Then, she broke two eggs on the edge of the pot and threw them into the pot. She used her fingers to scrape the egg liquid in the eggshell one by one.
A big bowl of egg soup, a slice of sausage, four pancakes, and a plate of pickled vegetables that Aunt Wang had made herself. The siblings hurriedly finished their lunch. Aunt Wang wiped the little girl's hands clean and said with a smile,"We'll have dinner at Aunt's house. In the afternoon, your Sister Lian and I will go dig the sweet potatoes in the river bank. The sweet potatoes there are sweet and noodle.”
"Ah, okay!" The little girl clapped her hands happily." I also want to dig sweet potatoes. Aunt, Brother, can you bring me there?"”
Aunt Wang wanted to say that her brother had to study at home, but when she saw the little girl's sparkling eyes, she changed her words."Alright, bring Yi 'er along! I'll roast the sweet potatoes in the field for you!”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。