Chapter 27 Farewell to Bi He
Zheng Qiu discussed with his family about going to Yunzong. Although his parents were a little bit reluctant, they agreed with him to go.
Hearing that Zheng Qiu was going to the Dazong sect, the shopkeeper specially invited another guest at the Zuishan Tower. Before leaving, the shopkeeper also gave away a lot of dry food. I hope he can come back to see him if he has a chance in the future.
The eldest brother took out the money he had accumulated for a long time, and asked the blacksmith to give Zheng Qiu a machete, so that he could use it to open the way and defend himself.
Leaving Bihe Town from the west, Zheng Qiu and the others walked along the gravel road to the mountains. As they got farther and farther away from town, the road got narrower and the trees denser. After about an hour, the road came to an end, leaving only dense bushes and weeds ahead.
The master took off the machete tied around his waist and walked to the front to open the way, while Zheng Qiu followed closely behind pushing the wheelchair. After walking forward like this for a while, the surroundings have been completely blocked by dense trees, and the top of the head is also full of green branches and leaves.
Zheng Qiu looked left and right, all around looked the same, he was a little worried: "Master, where are we now? Are we going to get lost?"
The master took out a map from his clothes, spread it out and carefully identified it: "According to what Orion said, there is a stream going in this direction. As long as you follow the stream upstream, you will be right."
Zheng Qiu leaned over to look at the map in the master's hand. On the map, some mountain peaks were drawn with charcoal, and there were a few arrows crookedly marked on it.
Zheng Qiu found that the direction written on the map was not the same as the senior brother of Qianyunzong said. He was a little puzzled: "Master, does this road go to the southwest? But the people of Qianyunzong said that day, go first. Two mountains to the west, and three mountains to the south."
The master patted him on the back and explained: "My dear apprentice, I asked Orion, we can take a shortcut and go directly to the southwest, which can save one-third of the time. Hey, don't worry, Orion has been hunting in this area for half his life. Make sure there are no beasts here."
Zheng Qiu felt relieved, and followed the master for a while, when suddenly, he heard the sound of rushing and rushing from ahead.
"Master, the sound of water is the sound of water!"
The master stopped cutting the bushes and listened carefully with his ears up. It was really the sound of water. He raised his machete, quickly opened a path, and accelerated his pace.
Click, as the last cluster of bushes was cut down, a clear stream appeared in front of their eyes. The creek is less than a foot wide and very shallow. You can see the round stones at the bottom of the stream when you look down. But the stream is fast-moving, and the raised stream stones are constantly splashing water, playing endless tunes.
Yunyou, who hadn't spoken on the road, suddenly said, "Zheng Qiu, Master Zheng, take a break. You've been walking all morning."
The master looked up at the sun, and the sky above the creek was not blocked by branches and leaves: "Alright, let's eat something first, rest and then go."
The master cut down some thatch and shrubs and spread them under the tree trunks. Zheng Qiu went to fetch water from the stream, while Yunyou untied the luggage hanging from the wheelchair, took out the scones and broke them into small pieces.
Sitting on the ground, Zheng Qiu stuffed a piece of cake into his mouth, raised his hand to take off the thin-necked porcelain bottle around his neck, pulled out the grass inside, and grabbed the kettle to change the water in the bottle.
When the master saw it, he asked, "Hey, apprentice, are you still wearing this grass?"
Zheng Qiu pushed the cake he bit into his mouth, and replied vaguely: "Well, I'm wearing it, well, this grass is still growing. I need to change to a bigger bottle soon."
The master smiled: "I don't know what use this thing will be when it grows up."
After eating, the three of them packed their luggage and continued on their way. The road by the creek has few shrubs and weeds, and the speed of driving is faster than that in the woods. But there were many small stones by the stream, and the wheelchair was pushed over them violently.
This was a pain for Yunyou, she firmly grasped the armrests of the wheelchair with both hands, supported her body, and tried her best to reduce the vibration from under the wheelchair. The master dug out a piece of square cloth from the luggage, wrapped it with thatch and placed it on the wheelchair seat, which made Yunyou feel better.
The sky began to darken, and the ground under my feet lifted a little bit, and it was now going uphill. And the creek found at noon,
Then it becomes narrower and narrower, and finally becomes a spring in the crevice of the stone. Although Orion had promised that there were no beasts here, just in case, the master decided to go to the top of the mountain and spend the night in the upwind place.
However, pushing a wheelchair up a mountain is not an easy task. Zheng Qiu leaned on the back of the chair, kicking his feet backwards, panting for breath. The master carried all the luggage on his back, trying to reduce the weight for Zheng Qiu as much as possible. Yunyou rolled up her sleeves, her two slender arms tried to push the wheel, and she could share some of it.
Pushing a wheelchair to climb a mountain can't stop, you have to go up in one breath, if Zheng Qiu lets go, the wheelchair will slide back down the mountain.
After tossing for more than half an hour, the ground could no longer be seen in front of them, and the three of them finally climbed to the top of the mountain.
Zheng Qiu found a flat place, leaned the wheelchair against the tree, and lay down on the ground with his hands and feet stretched apart. He panted for a while, turned his head to look to the side, and found that the master had piled the luggage on the ground, leaned against the tree trunk and stuck out his tongue.
"Master, huh...we still need to, huh, huh... we still need to light a fire. Hahh...it's getting dark."
The master nodded, opened his mouth but couldn't speak, just gasping for breath.
After a long time, Zheng Qiu regained some strength, found firewood and started a fire with the master.
After grabbing the water bottle, he straightened his neck and poured two mouthfuls. Zheng Qiu wiped his mouth and said, "Master, this can't work. It's too tiring to walk over mountains. Is there a road on flat ground?"
The master took out the map again and approached the fire to study it.
"The road on the flat ground..." The master swiped his finger back and forth on the map, "It is also possible to go around from below, but this road has many turns and turns. Orion has not mentioned some places, so I don't know if it is safe or not."
Zheng Qiu swallowed: "Forget it, forget it, I don't want to be eaten by wild animals, I'd better go over the mountain." After that, he ran to the luggage pile, dug out the food, and heated it by the fire.
"Sister Yunyou, the pancakes are ready, here are yours!" Zheng Qiu walked to the wheelchair and handed over the pancakes. Yunyou lowered her head, as if she was thinking about something, she didn't realize it until Zheng Qiu handed the cake to her.
"Thank you." Yunyou said in a low voice, took the cake with both hands, and quickly took it back.
Zheng Qiu froze for a moment, just now with the reflection of the fire, he vaguely saw a cut on Yunyou's right hand.
"Sister Yunyou, your hand?"
"What hand, Zheng Qiu, go and eat quickly, don't be hungry."
Zheng Qiu felt something was wrong, Yunyou tucked her hands into her sleeves, her eyes wandered, and she kept avoiding him. Zheng Qiu didn't leave, he pursed his lips and thought for a while, then suddenly grabbed Yunyou's right hand. Yunyou couldn't react in time, Zheng Qiu grabbed her hand before she could withdraw her hand.
Zheng Qiu noticed that Yunyou was clenched tightly, and persuaded: "Sister Yunyou, did you really get hurt? Don't do that, tell me if you hurt, why did you hide it from us?"
Yunyou still refused to open her fists: "Zheng Qiu, let go of your hands, what do you look like!"
Zheng Qiu pursed his lips, and broke Yunyou's fist abruptly without saying a word.
"Zheng Qiu! Let go! Zheng..."
There was a deep gash in the middle of the palm, and it kept oozing red. Zheng Qiu was so angry that he stomped on the ground twice: "Sister Yunyou, how could you do this? You were injured, and you didn't even mention a word!"
"Zheng Qiu, I..."
"Hmph, do you think I can't take you to Qian Yunzong? Do you think I can't take care of you? Do you look down on me, Zheng Qiu?"
"Zheng Qiu, I, I didn't... I'm sorry..."
Seeing Yunyou admitting his mistake, Zheng Qiu stuck out his tongue and made a grimace: "Put your hands away, I'll get a cloth to bandage you."
He ran in the direction of the luggage pile, and halfway he didn't forget to turn his head and stare fiercely, "Don't pull your hands back!"