Ox-Head Mountain didn"t look very tall, but after entering the mountain, they knew that they only saw the sides of the mountain. To reach the place where the old man was living, they had to climb two mountain peaks, and these two hills were much taller than the side of the mountain ridge they saw earlier.
After crawling for over an hour, Shen Meng and the others were already exhausted. On the other hand, the young man called Shi Hu seemed to be fine. His footsteps were firm and strong without any signs of exhaustion.
Qin Hai did not feel tired. He took down the thermos and handed it to Shen Meng before walking over to Shi Hu. He handed over a bottle of water and said with a smile, "It"s been hard on you. Drink some water."
Because Shi Hu had been studying for a few years, he understood Qin Hai"s Mandarin. He was also able to speak a few words. He patted the kettle on his waist shyly and said, "I have water."
Qin Hai smiled and didn"t insist. He put away the water bottle and said, "Don"t be embarra.s.sed. I"ll have to trouble you to bring us into the mountain today. We should be the ones thanking you!" Then he took out a cigarette case from his pocket and handed one to Shi Hu. "Here, try this."
Even though Shi Hu was young, he was still able to easily smoke. Thus, after declining the offer, he took the cigarette and began to smoke happily.
Sometimes, relationships between men were so simple. After smoking half a cigarette together, Shi Hu was no longer that unfamiliar to Qin Hai. He would answer whatever Qin Hai asked for.
After a while, Qin Hai looked at the mountains in the distance and asked, "Right, are there any other tribes around here?"
"Yes!" Shi Hu pointed to the mountain to the east and said, "After crossing that mountain, there will be a stronghold called Eastern Mountain Stronghold."
Qin Hai looked in the direction that Shi Hu was pointing at. The mountain was not considered high and it was not too far away. It was only two hours away from the Green War Stronghold. If there was a shortcut, it would be closer.
"It doesn"t seem to be too far away. Do you two people from the village have regular interactions with each other?"
"That"s right!"
"Then do you know of a person in their stronghold who is about your height and has a scar on his forehead? He"s a few years older than you, and his physique is also very strong?"
"No!" After Shi Hu said this, his expression froze. He quickly explained, "I don"t go that way often. There are a lot of things I heard from others!" After he finished speaking, a hint of panic flashed through his eyes. He lowered his head in guilt and threw the cigarette b.u.t.t on the ground, then used his foot to extinguish it.
Qin Hai took a good look at Shi Hu"s appearance. It seemed that Elder Shi had already told Shi Hu about this before they came up the mountain. Otherwise, he would not have purposely concealed it from him.
After that, no matter what Qin Hai asked, Shi Hu remained on guard. He either answered inappropriately or simply pretended that he did not understand what Qin Hai was asking. Qin Hai was too lazy to ask any further.
After climbing for another hour, a memorial finally appeared on the hillside. Shi Hu pointed at the memorial and said, "There"s a temple there. My third uncle lives in that temple."
When they were resting, Shi Hu had said that the old man who lived on the mountain was his third uncle. He was in his sixties this year, and it was for this reason that he chose Shi Hu to bring them up the mountain.
Everyone was very surprised to see the memorial archway, including Qin Hai. They didn"t expect to see the memorial archway in this deep mountain. What"s more, there was a temple on top of it.
Excited, they temporarily forgot their fatigue and quickened their steps to continue climbing. Soon, they arrived at the bottom of the stone arch.
The memorial archway was built using limestone that was picked up on the spot at Ox-Head Mountain. It had been through countless years of trials and hardships and was already mottled beyond recognition. It was filled with the vicissitudes of history. However, three words could still be vaguely seen on the memorial archway: "Green Cloud Temple". It seemed to be the name of the temple on the mountain.
Du Meiqi was very interested in the memorial archway, so she took out her SLR camera and shot a series of "ka ka ka" shots at the memorial archway and the surrounding scenery. If it wasn"t for Shen Meng"s urging, who knows how long the photos would have been taken.
Pa.s.sing under the memorial archway, they continued their journey. After climbing up the hill, an old and dilapidated temple appeared in front of Qin Hai and the others.
The temple was not big, looking through a wall about the height of a man, there were only two or three rooms, in the middle, the eaves of the palace had already seriously eroded, the red paint had fallen to the ground and there was not much left, one corner had even collapsed, as if the entire palace was about to collapse at any time.
On the outermost wall, there was a circular arch. Qin Hai and the others were led by Shi Hu through the arch and into the temple. A stone path led directly to the main hall in the middle. At this moment, a faint aroma of sandalwood suddenly wafted over from the main hall in the middle of the hall.
Could it be that apart from Shi Hu"s third granduncle, there was also a monk? Qin Hai and Shen Meng looked at each other with a hint of surprise in their eyes.
Seeing the vicissitudes of life in the temple, Du Meiqi"s eyes lit up once again. She took out her camera and began to click it. Then she ran to the main entrance of the hall and started to take random shots.
"Meiqi, don"t run around!"
Shen Meng hurriedly shouted out. However, just as Du Meiqi was about to step over the temple"s doorstep, she suddenly clutched her stomach and frowned. She then kneeled on the ground, screaming in pain.
"Meiqi!" Shen Meng turned pale with fright and hurriedly ran over.
Qin Hai frowned slightly and said to Miao Qing, "There"s something strange here. Be careful." After saying that, he held Miao Qing"s hand and quickly walked forward.
After a while, Du Meiqi was already sweating profusely from the pain. Shen Meng checked her pulse and looked at her tongue fur, her expression becoming very serious.
After handing Du Meiqi over to Miao Qing, she stood up and shouted, "Senior Shi, we have a request. We do not wish to offend you.
Shi Hu called out to the audience, "Third uncle, I am Shi Hu."
After a while, an old man wearing a black cotton robe came out from behind the Bodhisattva in the middle of the hall. The old man"s back was slightly hunched, his face was thin and cold, and his eyes were cold. When he saw Shi Hu, he quickly walked up and asked, "Hu Zi, who are these people?"
Shi Hu said, "Third uncle, they are all doctors. Yesterday, they treated everyone in the village. Grandfather told me to bring them to see you."
Shen Meng bowed towards the old man, "Greetings, we came up the mountain just to inquire about a matter. We did not intend to offend you."
The old man waved his hands and returned to the Bodhisattva statue. When he reappeared, there was a teacup in his hand. There was half a cup of dark water in it, but he did not know what it was.
"Quickly feed it to her, drink it!"
Shen Meng took the cup and carefully let Du Meiqi drink all the water inside.
Not long after, Du Meiqi suddenly vomited out a pool of yellow water. Surprisingly, there was a small black bug inside, it looked like a fly, but it was different. Not only did it have a hard sh.e.l.l on its back, there was also a long and thin spike on its front end, which made one"s hair stand on end.
Miao Qing was so frightened that his complexion changed. He hurriedly turned around and retreated. Hiding behind Qin Hai, he tightly held onto Qin Hai"s arm. Section error, click on this report (no registration), after reporting the maintenance personnel will correct chapter content within two minutes, please wait patiently, and refresh the page.