Xiao Zongqing looked at him speechless all the way in frustration. No matter what he said, he didn't pay any attention to his businessman. For the first time, he felt that he was at a loss. After Shang Jun sent the little girl home, he walked all the way to the back mountain. Knowing that he was very good at Qinggong, he was afraid that he would disappear in another flash. Xiao Zongqing had to walk in front of Shang Jun, almost walking backwards. It's a pity. No matter what he said along the way, there was no response.
Unable to stand Shang Jun's indifference, Xiao Zongqing whispered: "Shang Jun, you can say something." Even scolding him is better than turning a blind eye to him.
silence.
"Shangjun!"
Taking out the two cloth towels in his arms, Shang Jun shoved one of them into Xiao Zongqing's hand and said, "Put the face towel on." Why didn't he see it before, this kid was so arrogant and never stopped on the way , He wanted to think about the well water, but he was dizzy because of the quarrel.
"Oh." Xiao Zongqing happily took the cloth towel and put it on his face like Shang Jun. Shang Jun was finally willing to talk to him.
Bypassing Xiao Zongqing, who had been blocking the front, Shang Jun approached the well at the back of the village to check. There were green grass beside the well, and when he stroked the wall of the well, it was a little cool. You can feel the moisture of the water. Xiao Zongqing stood beside Shang Jun, watching him look so seriously, guessing: "Do you suspect that there is something wrong with the well water?"
Shang Jun nodded lightly, Xiao Zongqing put the wooden barrel next to the well into the well, and poured half a bucket of water. Through the bright moonlight, you can see that the water is very clear, except that it is very cool, there is nothing special about it . Putting down the bucket, Xiao Zongqing said, "There seems to be no problem with the well water."
There is really nothing unusual, Shang Jun frowned slightly, but did not give up, "Go to the other two wells and have a look."
The two checked the well in the center of the village. The water in the well was a little less, and the others were the same as the previous well.
There has been no abnormal discovery, Shang Jun is a little disappointed, but if it can be proved that it is not the villagers' drinking water problem, it is very fortunate. There is the last well, although I think it should be the same as the other two wells, but Shang Jun still decided to go. take a look.
The well at the entrance of the village is not actually in the village. It is close to the mountain forest and was dug for the convenience of the farmers or hunters who went up to the mountains to collect firewood to drink water. After walking for a stick of incense, they finally saw a well at the foot of the far mountain, which was smaller than the two wells above. Walking on the moonlight, the two approached. When they were two or three feet away from the well, Shang Jun discovered Unusually, a faint rot-like stench filled the air. Xiao Zongqing also felt something was wrong and asked, "Shang Jun, do you smell anything?"
Shang Jun replied softly: "The smell of stinky rancidity." Xiao Zongqing was about to go to the wellhead to check, but Shang Jun pulled his sleeve and advised: "Don't get too close." If this is the source of the epidemic infection, It would be too dangerous to let San'er go there. Shang Jun lowered his eyebrows and thought about how to get rid of this stubborn boy. Xiao Zongqing suddenly pointed to the ground next to the well and said, "Look, Shang Jun."
Shang Jun squinted his eyes and saw that the ground beside the well was particularly wet and soft, and there were very few wild grasses on the ground. It stands to reason that few people passed by here, and the grass and trees should grow more lush and lush, but now it seems that this is not the case at all. It seems that the vegetation in this entire mountain forest has no life.
Xiao Zongqing walked to the foot of the mountain and shouted to Shang Jun, "Let's go up and have a look." He always felt that something was wrong with this mountain forest.
Shang Jun walked to the well and looked down. It was pitch black, but he could feel that there was water in the well. The stench is indeed coming from this well, but the stench is not very obvious, and it still smells like dirt. It was too dark to see the situation in the well at all. After thinking about it, Shang Jun left the well and followed Xiao Zongqing to the mountains.
The moonlight was originally quite bright, but when it entered the woods, it was covered by the leaves and could only be seen through the mottled moon marks. All I could hear was the rustling of the wind blowing through the woods, and the silence was gloomy. The two walked back and forth, Xiao Zongqing turned his head, under the dim light, Shang Jun's white shirt was particularly conspicuous, and the night wind blew the hem of his clothes, raising bursts of microwaves.
Xiao Zongqing coughed lightly and asked casually: "Shangjun, you said just now, who is the person you want to protect? Are you married?" This question has been making him uneasy since just now. . Shang Jun is nearly 20 years old, and it is normal to marry a wife, but Xiao Zongqing does not know why he is so nervous.
Shang Jun replied lightly: "My sister."
"Oh." Xiao Zongqing felt relieved when he heard Shang Jun say it was his younger sister. As for why he was relieved, he explained that women were too troublesome. If Shang Jun had a wife, they would like to drink well. Not anymore.
Xiao Zongqing smirked to himself, and Shang Jun looked at the earth slope more than several meters in front of him and said, "San'er, you are waiting for me below." I don't know what's going on up there. The reason why this Huqiu Village got its name Tiger Hill, because over the years, tigers have often appeared here and hurt people. Saner doesn't know martial arts, so it's better not to go up.
It's a pity that Shang Jun's kindness was exchanged for Xiao Zongqing's low roar, "I can still go up this slope." Does he think he is a weakling without the power of his hands? In order to show that he could do it, Xiao Zongqing suddenly rushed towards the slope, grabbed the branches and weeds on the slope and climbed up.
Looking at Xiao Zongqing struggling to climb up with a headache, Shang Jun stood at the foot of the slope and persuaded: "It was the rainy season some time ago, and the rocks may be unstable. You should wait for me below."
Ignoring Shang Jun's persuasion, Xiao Zongqing roared unsteadily while climbing hard, "I said I can." He would not let Shang Jun look down on him. Unexpectedly, his voice only fell, because the stone under his feet collapsed and one was unstable. He stepped on the air and his body quickly fell down.
Shang Jun said in surprise: "Be careful."
Fortunately, Xiao Zongqing grabbed the short branch on the slope and did not fall off, but was hanging on the middle of the mountain, unable to go up and down, but he stubbornly kept silent and struggled there.
Looking at the young man who was struggling to hang in the air and still refused to admit defeat, Shang Jun shook his head helplessly, lightly stepped on the rocks around him, took advantage of his strength to go straight up the slope, grabbed Xiao Zongqing's shoulders, and pulled him up the slope.
Just standing on the slope, Shang Jun asked, "How are you?" However, the faint smell of blood reminded Shang Jun that San'er was still injured. He grabbed his hand to examine it, the palm of his hand was mutilated by the branches and sharp grass, and the sticky blood glowed a dark red light under the moon. Shang Jun tore off the hem of his clothes and wanted to help him bandage. Xiao Zongqing broke free from Shang Jun's hand, put his hand behind his back, and shouted awkwardly: "No need to bandage a little scratch, I'm not that weak." He was annoyed at himself. It's useless. If he knew that he was so embarrassed today, he practiced martial arts with his elder brother when he was a child.
"Don't be brave, now it's different than usual, a small wound is very likely to get sick." Regardless of his roar, Shang Jun grabbed his hand and wrapped the wound around him layer by layer. Xiao Zongqing struggled twice. , and finally turned his head away in embarrassment.
Helping him tie up the wound, Shang Jun sighed: "Go on." Why does it feel like he has another younger brother, and he is still a disobedient younger brother.
The trees on the slope were denser, the moonlight could not pass through the cascading shades, the surroundings were pitch black, and the cool wind was blowing from nowhere, and it felt like the wetness was sticking to the body. The mountains and forests at night should be the most active time for many animals, but despite Shang Jun's excellent hearing, he still could not hear any sound, and it was dead silent.
Shang Jun took out the fire book in his arms and gently ignited it. Even if it was only a faint light, it was enough to illuminate the road ahead in this dense forest where you can't see your fingers.
The two walked side by side and only walked for less than half an hour. A familiar smell of rancidity drifted faintly in the wind. Xiao Zongqing asked in a low voice, "Shang Jun, have you smelled it?"
"Yeah." It was the smell of the well, but it was more intense and pungent. Shang Jun suddenly had a bad feeling and stopped.
Xiao Zongqing was puzzled, "what's the matter?"
Shang Jun shook his head, did not express his unease, and replied: "It's okay, see if there are dead branches next to you, light two torches and continue walking."
"Okay." Xiao Zongqing groped to find a few dead branches and handed them to Shang Jun. Shang Jun found some dead leaves to ignite the branches, lighting up the surrounding dense forest for a while.
In the flickering firelight, Xiao Zongqing found that he was less than ten feet away, and there were several wild boars that had been dead for a long time. Only the fur and bones that had not rotted on their bodies were left, and their flesh and blood had turned into dark rotten water, eroding away. The nearby mud smells disgusting. Xiao Zongqing took a closer look, and wherever the firelight reached, he could see many carrion corpses of such beasts.
Looking at Shang Jun, who also frowned, Xiao Zongqing whispered, "This is... what's going on?"
Shang Jun shook his head, looked at the dark forest in front of him, shuddered for no reason, adjusted his breath secretly, and said, "Let's move forward."
The two held torches and groped along the way, accompanied by more and more carrion, the stench almost stunned them, even though they were all wearing face towels, they still felt nauseated. There was a dark shadow in front of him, and Shang Jun raised the torch in his high hand. When they saw what the shadow was, Shang Jun and Xiao Zongqing couldn't help but retreat in shock—
In front, the bodies of hundreds of beasts were piled up in a mountain. Some of them could no longer be recognized as animals. Some could still be discerned. Zongqing's hair rose up. The soil at the bottom of the corpse mountain has long been soaked and muddy with rotting flesh, and along the slope, it flows down with the blood-stained soil wisps.
Xiao Zongqing secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked, "How come there are so many animal corpses concentrated on these hills." Even killing each other shouldn't be like this, is it still so concentrated
Shang Jun looked at the peaks behind Shi Mountain, and could vaguely see a large firelight and tents. He had just discovered that the fur of some animals had been stripped, and Shang Jun replied in a deep voice: "Cross this mountain, below It is the garrison sent by the imperial court at Linfengguan, and these may be related to them."
"Did the dead animals bring the disease?" Just standing on this muddy soil made him feel uncomfortable all over.
Shang Jun sighed lightly: "It should be."
Xiao Zongqing was puzzled, "Then why didn't the garrison close to them contract the disease first, but the villagers in Huqiu several dozen miles away from the disease first?"
Shang Jun raised his sleeves slightly, and saw that the sleeves were slightly raised towards the foot of the mountain, Shang Jun replied: "The surrounding mountains are in a ring shape, the wind is convection, and the wind will only blow in the direction of Huqiu Village, but so It’s far away, and I can’t smell it anymore. It was the rainy season a while ago, and the rain water with the rotting blood of animals seeped into the soil, down the mountain, and finally immersed in the well. This is why most of the trees along the way are withered and yellow.” It seems that It is not just the well at the foot of the mountain that is affected by the rotten water.
"Let's get out of here first. The most important thing now is to clean up the carrion as soon as possible." The stench of the attack made Xiao Zongqing feel a little dizzy. There are so many corpses that they can't deal with now.
"Well, let's go." Shang Jun also felt uncomfortable, and the two quickly left. Walking to the front of the soil slope, Shang Jun grabbed the two long branches at his feet and inserted them into the soil. , he must make a mark.
Grabbing Xiao Zongqing's arm, the two jumped down.
When they got out of the jungle, they discovered that red clouds had appeared faintly on the horizon, and the night had passed. In the dense forest, they didn't even notice. When going down the mountain, both of them felt a little heavy and were speechless all the way.
Walking down the mountain, Shang Jun stopped and said: "San'er, you go back to the village, tell Ruan Tingfeng what we saw last night, and let him inform the villagers not to drink well water, three wells, I want Go to the county governor's mansion." Those carrion corpses should be dealt with as soon as possible, but they are on the slopes and dense forests, and ordinary people cannot go up, so they must find people with martial arts skills. Even if he gathered all the guards and secret men of Misty Mountain Villa, there were only dozens of them, and he couldn't bury so many carrion in a short time. He had to ask the government for help.
Xiao Zongqing looked at the bright sky and persuaded: "The genius just dawned, you didn't sleep last night, go back and rest for a while, and then go later."
"I'm not tired, this matter can't be delayed, and your hand, let Ruan Tingfeng take care of your wound." After speaking, Shang Jun immediately turned around and ran off the other road.
"Shangjun." Xiao Zongqing stared blankly at the figure that quickly disappeared in front of him, and couldn't help shaking his head, when did this person have himself in his mind
Looking down at Shang Jun's hastily wrapped hands, Xiao Zongqing walked towards the village in a good mood.