The sun passed the mountain ridge and began to move southwest. The shadow of the mountain began to cover the valley, and the wind blowing through the forest brought the water vapor on the pool, giving people a slight coolness.
In the woods east of the pool, the sound of conversations came from far away, accompanied by the rustling of branches and leaves.
To the north, behind a patch of wormwood nearly two meters high, Wang Ping, who was squatting on a stone protruding from the ground, pricked up his ears and listened to the familiar voice, with a look of confusion on his face.
"Who is Gu Laosan with?"
"Brother, you are so lucky to have encountered a black bear and still be able to run away!" One of the slightly rough voices sounded, and the straightforward tone made people feel good about it.
A badger shook his head behind the bushes, secretly sighing that the mountain people were really simple. You don't need to guess, you know, given the personality of someone who forgets the pain once the wound heals, he is definitely bragging to others again.
"Uncle Damuge, when can we get to the foot of the mountain?" Gu Lang's voice sounded, with a somewhat melancholy tone.
The original purpose of entering Daxinganling to broadcast live was to cover up the mistake of someone sleeping in the car last night. But now the equipment is lost, and he doesn't know where he is. He has lost the original purpose. Gu Laosan was smart this time and decided to go down the mountain first and find other ways.
"Oh, down the mountain? Almost there!" The man who spoke earlier didn't seem to be very interested in this topic. He just responded lightly and said nothing else.
Wang Ping heard the slightly chaotic footsteps and could easily tell that there were more than two people on the other side. But for some reason, it was Gu Lang and the man named Damuge who were talking all the time, while the others were silent.
The few of them stopped by the pond, apparently planning to take a rest.
Damuge pointed to the river that extended from the pond in the west and said, "Look, do you see it? Just walk along this river and we will go down the mountain."
"Oh, that's good!" With a clear direction to go down the mountain, Gu Laosan breathed a sigh of relief. Then he walked to the pool and bent down to wash his face. At the same time, he scooped up a handful of water with his hands and drank two sips. Then he sat on the ground with a sigh.
"By the way, Uncle Damuge..." Gu Laosan seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to look at the three people behind him.
The three were talking in low voices when they were suddenly watched by Gu Lang. The expressions of the two young men standing beside Damuge changed instantly. Damuge blocked the two men calmly, looked at Gu Lang with a smile, and asked, "What's wrong, brother?"
Gu Lang didn't notice the expressions of the others, but asked curiously, "Is the slope we just walked down the mountain natural? How could there be such a strange place in this deep mountain forest?"
"Oh, you're talking about that!" Damuge took two steps forward and squatted beside Gu Lang. He took off the kettle on his waist and filled it with water. He said, "That's not natural. It's a logging forest built here when "those people who lived a good life" occupied the Northeast. After they were driven away, the forest here was abandoned. There used to be a few wooden houses under the slope. Ginseng pickers who traveled up and down the mountain sometimes didn't have time to go down the mountain, so they would rest there. But now ginseng picking is not profitable, and slowly they are all gone."
"Oh, no wonder!" Gu Laosan nodded suddenly, and then asked casually, "By the way, uncle, what do you do? I see that the things you are carrying seem to be very heavy, and there is a fishy smell."
The conversation paused for a few seconds, and Damuge seemed to mutter something in a low voice, then smiled and said, "We just came into the mountains to pick some mountain products. Those things are covered with soil, and they have a fishy smell!"
Wang Ping was sticking his butt out, grabbing a handful of wormwood leaves that he had just pulled from in front of him with his trembling little paws, and tremblingly stretched them under his tail. He listened to the conversation at the pond not far away, and always felt that something was wrong.
After fiddling with it for a while, the badger's furry face relaxed. He tried not to look at the indescribable thing behind him, and walked quietly to the edge of the pond with his short legs.
Returning to the elm tree where he had placed his waist bag, Wang Ping quietly picked up the waist bag and hid it in the grass behind the tree. Then he turned around and approached the pool, quietly parted the grass and looked out.
On the east bank of the pond, besides Gu Lao San, there were three other people. They were all wearing camouflage jackets, jeans and hiking shoes, dressed like Northeast cowboys. The leading man was still talking to Gu Lang in a low voice. Behind them, the two young men were concentrating on checking the things in the three backpacks. Their eyes would fall on Gu Lang from time to time, and they seemed a little nervous.
"There seems to be something wrong with these three people..."
Wang Ping gave up the idea of going out and joining Gu Laosan right away and decided to observe for a while. However, at this time, a faint smell of blood came from the air, accompanied by a familiar breath, which made a certain badger subconsciously shrug his nose.
Looking at the three people's backpacks, the badger narrowed his eyes.
"Haha, mountain products? I'm afraid these mountain products can't be seen in public, right?"
I don't know if there is a bug in Gu Laosan's attributes, or it's God's punishment for showing off too much. Anyway, ever since a badger saw him, there has been a special affinity between this guy and poachers.
Wang Ping sighed and slowly retreated from the bushes, slipped behind a tree and put on his backpack, intending to go around behind the few people to observe them. At this moment, a sound of flapping wings came from the tree, and a woodpecker landed on a branch and stared at Wang Ping.
"ki~~ki~~"
Wang Ping: …Why does this bird look familiar
Several people by the pond also heard the sound and looked over.
"Uncle, what kind of bird is this? Its call is so... strange." asked Gu Laosan.
"Oh, this thing is called a woodpecker." Damuge said, and then he turned around and saw someone still staring at him in confusion, so he smiled and explained, "It's also a woodpecker."
"Woodpecker?" Gu Lang's eyes lit up and he said with a smile, "Then I know, it's a beneficial bird! The book says that this kind of bird will help the tree catch insects."
"ciao~#￥%#!" A young man behind Gu Lang suddenly sneered and said something with disdain on his face.
Gu Lang was about to look back in confusion, but Damuge patted his shoulder and laughed, changing the subject: "Little brother, you have been deceived by the books. This kind of bird is not a good bird. It likes to peck the bark and hide things inside. Have you seen those dead trees full of small holes in this forest? They are all caused by it."
"How could this happen?" Gu Lang had a confused look on his face, as if his worldview had been destroyed.
"That's not all!" Damuge laughed, "It also bears grudges! If you provoke it, it will follow you like a ghost and bite you on the head when you're not paying attention!"
At this time, Wang Ping was staring fiercely at the woodpecker above his head.
"I have no grudge against you, why are you staring at me? Do you believe that I will catch you and pluck out all your hair?"
"ki~~ki~~"
A woodpecker called at Wang Ping twice, with its wings puffed up and its beak open, looking as if it was ready to fight at any time.
"Hehe! You... Forget it! I'm busy now, you'd better not mess with me..."
Thinking about Gu Laosan who was still in the dark and chatting with some people who might be bad guys, Wang Ping shook his head and decided to endure it for the time being.
"kiki~~"
He wanted to endure it, but the bird was unwilling to endure it any longer. Seeing the badger under the tree turned its head away, it flapped its wings and swooped down, pecking at the back of Wang Ping's furry head.
Wang Ping turned his little ears and heard the sound of wind behind his head. He became angry.
"Fuck! You don't want to give me face, right?"
Just as the woodpecker approached, a badger turned around, jumped up and hit the woodpecker's wing with its claws.
"ki~!!"
There was a shrill scream and struggle in the grass, feathers flying, and the sound of flapping wings could be heard from far away.
The pond suddenly became quiet.
Damuge squinted his eyes for a while, then turned and told a young man behind him. The young man nodded, put his hand on the knife at his waist, turned around, pushed aside the grass and walked towards Wang Ping's position.