Chapter 579: Guardians of the Mountain
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“You can take a seat and slowly tell me.” w.a.n.g Yao gave him a cup of tea. “Who died, and what was the cause of the death?”
“Li Zulai, who lived at the east side of the village, died in the place connecting Dongshan and Nanshan,” w.a.n.g Fengming said. “Now, I don’t know what the specific reason is. Maybe he was scared to death. He did have heart disease.”
“Scared?” w.a.n.g Yao was confused.
“The weather has been warm, so some people in the village have been going up the mountain,” w.a.n.g Fengming said. “Several people have seen snakes on Nanshan. One of them is a black and several feet long! Have you seen it on the mountains since you have lived there for a long time?”
Xiao Hei!
“I know the snake,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “In fact, I saved the snake.” w.a.n.g Yao did not want to hide anything from this elder.
“That could be a little troublesome,” w.a.n.g Fengming said.
“What’s wrong, uncle?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“There are people in the village who say that you are raising snakes in Nanshan, and Li Zulai was scared to death by snakes,” w.a.n.g Fengming said.
This was a bit troublesome. According to his statement, the death of Li Zulai was possibly seen as being related to w.a.n.g Yao. If someone was bitten by a dog, the first inclination would be to find the owner and not bite the dog back.
“There might be more than one snake on Nanshan,” w.a.n.g Fengming said.
“More than one?” w.a.n.g Yao asked, “I have only seen one, and it is a black snake.”
w.a.n.g Yao had also discovered that the black snake was very spiritual and understood him. It had become a guardian of Nanshan. Regardless of whether it was day or night, it patrolled the mountain with the dog. But, people were often afraid of snakes, especially a big one.
“Thank you for coming here to let me know,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“Hey, as we are family, no need to say any phatic words.” w.a.n.g Fengming said. w.a.n.g Yao had always been good to him. “If there is nothing else, I will go back.”
“Uncle, has your old house sold?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“It was sold to buy a new house for my son’s marriage. It is good for me and your aunt to live in the village,” w.a.n.g Fengming said.
“It is good.” w.a.n.g Yao walked him to the door. He then returned to the clinic.
In a mountain village, death was a big event. In this small village, w.a.n.g was a main surname. In addition, there were the surnames of Chen and Li. Basically, people with the same surname were somehow related.
Before long, the death of the old man spread.
During lunch, Zhang Xiuying mentioned the matter to w.a.n.g Yao.
“Since he was old and his heart was not good, why did he go on to the mountain to rake and collect gra.s.s?” she asked. “He could have gone anywhere else, so why did he have to go to Nanshan?”
She had heard the gossip, so she wanted to show her son favor. “Xiao Yao, are there really snakes on the mountain?”
“Yes, and there is one very familiar with me.” w.a.n.g Yao smiled. His answer piqued her interest.
“It is familiar with you? How familiar?” she asked.
“I saved the black snake, which is very spiritual,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“It’s really there?” his mother asked.
w.a.n.g Fenghua, who was on the side, did not speak. He just bowed his head and ate. After finis.h.i.+ng the meal, he finally asked, “Does the snake bite people?”
“As long as you don’t hurt it, it won’t bite you,” w.a.n.g Yao said, “It’s the same as San Xian.”
“What if it scares people again?” Zhang Xiuying was worried.
“That is what I want,” w.a.n.g Yao whispered.
“What?” His parents were shocked.
“Dad, Mom, I don’t want outsiders to be close to Nanshan. You also know that there were quite a few secrets on Nanshan, which couldn’t be known by outsiders,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
There were many shocking things on the Nanshan, such as the Spirit gathering battle array, licorice roots in the medicine field, and the strange wonderful feeling of comfort.
“Of course, I don’t want the people to die. This was unexpected,” w.a.n.g Yao said calmly. His parents looked at him with shock and worry. “The dog, goshawk, and black snake are great guardians of the mountain.”
It was silent for a while. Zhang Xiuying looked at her son. w.a.n.g Fenghua lowered his head to smoke.
“There will be other people going up the mountain,” Zhang Xiuying whispered.
“San Xian and Xiao Hei patrol the mountain,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “I have arranged something on the mountain.”
He had to let the people in the village fear the mountain. The feeling of fear could quickly spread. People would not go up the mountain if they were fearful.
The death of the old man was an accident, but it also produced unexpected results.
“Hey!” Zhang Xiuying sighed.
“Dad, Mom, you don’t have to worry so much,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“As long as you know what you are doing,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said.
After lunch, w.a.n.g Yao returned to the clinic.
After w.a.n.g Yao left, Zhang Xiuying approached her husband and worriedly said, “It seems our son has changed!”
“He has changed,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said.
“This mountain is for planting crops, grazing, and picking up gra.s.s.” These things that Zhang Xiuying said were indispensable for the villagers.
“The houses in the village are all sold,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said. “Eventually, there will be many people moving out. Besides, half of Dongshan and Xishan are already contracted!”
“There is still a large piece of land at the foot of the mountain,” Zhang Xiuying said.
There was a s.p.a.cious and long s.p.a.ce between Dongshan and Xishan, which was the main cultivated land in the village. The cultivated land on the mountain was mainly concentrated in Dongshan and west of Xishan. Because Nanshan was a bit farther from village, it would take at least one hour for a round trip. Given that it was not convenient to fetch water and no agricultural equipment could be used on it, there was no arable land there expect for grazing.
…
It was after 1 p.m. and Chen Ying and Chen Zhou were still on Xishan.
“Don’t go any further!” Looking at the rocks in front of her, Chen Ying had a bad feeling. The stone blocked the mountain road to the south. “This is artificially arranged.”
“Dr. w.a.n.g?” Chen Zhou asked.
“It must be him. He doesn’t want anyone to move on,” Chen Ying said.
The place where they were was the connection between Xishan and Nanshan. In fact, these mountains were connected with no obvious boundary. What was in front of them was the incomplete rock stone array by w.a.n.g Yao, which last time had almost trapped two people who had mistakenly entered it.
“Should we go back?” Chen Zhou asked.
“Yes,” Chen Ying said.
Somewhere on Xishan, a sheep went up to the mountain with and walked around. It sniffed the ground while walking. Suddenly, it was blocked by a pit that had a strange black and gray soil. In the pit, there was a dry and unknown plant.
The stupid sheep was standing on the edge of the pit. The soil on the edge of the pit was not strong enough, so it collapsed under the sheep’s walking. Dust flew everywhere as the sheep fell into the pit.
The sheep didn’t fall down. It just shook its head a few times and seemed to be thinking about what had just happened. Then, it wanted to get out. It tried jumping a few times but failed. It was strange that a sheep good at mountain activities would not be able to climb up. It was weird no matter how one viewed it.
The sheep also felt strange, so it kept shaking its head. Finally, it climbed up.
…
“Lao w.a.n.g, all you know how to do is drink! The sheep is gone!” a middle-aged woman shouted loudly in the house.
The sheepfold was still there, but the sheep was gone. The door was slightly open.
“d.a.m.n it!” The man rushed out of the inner room, reeking of booze. A sheep was worth more than $100.
At this time, it was already dark.
“That d.a.m.n sheep!” The man snorted as he looked for it in the nearby mountains.
Baa!
He heard the sound of a sheep and following the sound. He found the sheep biting a tree there. He grabbed the ear of the sheep and slapped it twice.
Baa! The sheep looked at him innocently.
“Come back home,” he said.
After dinner, w.a.n.g Yao went up the mountain.
After entering the medicine field, w.a.n.g Yao called the dog. “San Xian, where is Xiao Hei?”
Soon, the black snake appeared in front of him.
“Xiao Hei, are there any other snakes on this mountain?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
Although the black snake had spirituality, it was not a human being. Naturally, it did not really understand w.a.n.g Yao.
“Forget it, go,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
He patted the snake’s head. The black snake left.
“San Xian, in addition to Xiao Hei, are there any other snake on this mountain?” w.a.n.g Yao asked
Woof!