This morning, a stranger came to Yangshupo. He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, carrying a basket of things on his back, standing under the big poplar tree in Yangshupo Village, looking around with a blank expression on his face.
"Who are you, young man? What are you doing in our village?" An old man carrying a hoe came back from weeding in the fields. When he saw him, he looked at him carefully and found that he looked unfamiliar, so he asked curiously.
"Uncle, my name is Zhang Quan, and I'm here to visit relatives today." said the young man. It was Zhang Quan who was determined to come to Yangshupo to investigate the suspicious points.
The old man became interested and asked: "How can you come to visit your relatives but don't remember where they live?"
Zhang Quan scratched his head, smiled innocently, and said, "I came here with my mother when I was a child. This time my cousin gave birth to a baby, and my mother was busy, so she let me come by myself. I can't remember how I got here."
"There are only two families in the village who have just given birth to babies. Which family are you related to?"
Zhang Quan said: "My cousin's father's surname is Tian, and he is the second child. Everyone calls him Tian Lao Er."
When the old man heard him say the familiar name, he immediately smiled and said, "So this is his family. Come with me, I'll take you there."
Zhang Quan was overjoyed and said hurriedly, "Sir, just show me the way. How dare I ask you to lead the way?"
The old man smiled and said, "If it was someone else's house, I wouldn't take you there either. It just so happens that the Tian family and I are neighbors. Since we're on the same route, why don't we go together?"
Zhang Quan smiled awkwardly and followed the old man into the village obediently.
Along the way, people would ask him questions. At this time, the old man would explain to others. Soon, everyone knew that the relatives of Tian Laoer's wife were visiting.
Zhang Quan was smiling and greeting everyone, but he was secretly shocked. He had never noticed before, but news in the village spread so quickly. No wonder Lord Pei didn't dare to act rashly. In this case, let alone a person entering the village, even a dog could spread the news throughout the village in an instant. In fact, it's not that Zhang Quan didn't remember the way. When he came here a few years ago, he was already quite old. He could remember the mountain roads his father took him through in one go. There was no reason why he couldn't remember the way here. He just wanted everyone to know that there was an outsider in Yangshupo, including the person who might be following him.
They walked slowly, and when they arrived at the Tian family, someone had already told the news to the Tian family. Hearing that it was He Xiaoyun's relatives who came to visit, Tian Laoer hurried out to greet them. As soon as he saw Zhang Quan, he recognized him.
"Quan, you're here? How is your mother these days?" Zhang Quan's appearance has hardly changed since he was a child. Tian Laoer remembers this little nephew who used to be very attached to his wife very clearly.
"Uncle, my mother is fine! I heard that Aunt Xiaoyun gave birth to a baby, so she asked me to come and see my little cousin." Zhang Quan was very happy when he saw the honest man.
"Come in quickly, Xiaoyun knows you're coming and is preparing snacks inside." According to the custom here, when the bride's family comes to visit, a pair of poached eggs must be cooked to entertain them, no matter how old they are, otherwise it would be disrespectful.
"Hey!" Zhang Quan responded, then turned around and thanked the old man who led the way. Tian Lao Er also thanked this old man Wu, then led Zhang Quan inside.
The aunt and niece had not seen each other for a long time, and both of them were very emotional. He Xiaoyun cried for a while, and then began to ask about her natal family. The place where she married was quite far away, and she was always in a hurry when she went back occasionally. In the past two or three years, she had not been back because of the illness of the elderly at home. When she saw her family this time, how could she suppress her longing for them
Zhang Quan told He Xiaoyun everything he knew, no matter how big or small. Although he came for investigation, he was also very concerned about this little aunt. In addition to the old hen and eggs that his mother wanted to bring, he also brought a thin silver bracelet to give to Aunt Xiaoyun's child.
He Xiaoyun appreciated his kindness and asked him to stay for a few more days. Then, without waiting for him to speak, she went to clean up the house, not giving him any chance to refuse. Of course, this was exactly what Zhang Quan wanted, so he made a few excuses and stayed here.
In the first one or two days, Zhang Quan could not go around, so he could only stay at his cousin's house, pretending to ask them about Yangshupo. The Tian family would naturally talk about it, but they usually didn't observe so many things when they went up the mountain, so they talked about what mountain products there were. In the past few days, there were often villagers who came to the Tian family to sit for a while, and they were asking about Zhang Quan's background in their words. Zhang Quan didn't know if there were any ears and eyes of those people here, so he only talked about the unimportant things. Occasionally, he would ask about some things in return, but he didn't get much.
Zhang Quan found that he could not find out anything, so he decided to find another way. He set his sights on Tian Da's son, the boy named Tian Bao, who was twelve years old this year and not much different from him. Boys of this age are very curious and courageous, and they may know some things that adults have not discovered. So, after he showed his bird hunting skills in front of Tian Bao, the boy stuck to him.
Zhang Quan whetted his appetite enough, and then he pretended to say that the village was boring and wanted to go back early. Tian Bao heard this, how could he do that? If Zhang Quan went back, where would he learn the skill of bird hunting? So in order to keep Zhang Quan, Tian Bao racked his brains to take him to places in the village that he thought were fun.
But no matter where he went, Zhang Quan always looked uninterested, and his bird-hunting skills were never shown again.
Tian Bao gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Quan, I know a fun place. It depends on whether you dare to go there!"
Zhang Quan glanced at him casually and said, "You always say this, but you brought me to a place like this. Are you reliable?"
Tian Bao was a little angry: "I swear, that place is definitely something you have never seen."
Zhang Quan said: "Well, I'll trust you again. If it's not fun, I'll really go back."
Tian Bao breathed a sigh of relief and made an appointment with him to meet outside the gate after lunch.
When the time came, Zhang Quan followed Tian Bao out and found that he was leading him up the mountain along a path. He couldn't help but feel a little excited. Although no one was missing in Yangshupo, they still wouldn't easily agree to let the young man go up the mountain by himself. Two days ago, Zhang Quan followed his cousin's father up the mountain and was almost tied to Tian Laoer's belt. He would be called back as soon as he walked a few steps away, and he didn't investigate anything.
"Where are you taking me?" Zhang Quan asked suddenly, and the unprepared Tian Bao was so scared that he almost jumped up.
After calming down, Tian Bao said sadly: "Brother Quan, if you scare me like this again, I won't take you with me."
"What kind of place is so mysterious? If you don't take me there, I'll ask my cousin to take me there." Zhang Quan said.
Tian Bao was a little proud: "Second Uncle can't take you. This place was discovered by us kids, and only we kids can go there. Adults can't go there."
Zhang Quan was very curious, and seeing that Tian Bao was deliberately keeping him in suspense and not talking any more, he stopped asking any more questions.
The two kept walking forward, and gradually, the path was covered by weeds. After walking for a while, a mountain wall appeared in front of them, and it seemed that there was no way to go. Tian Bao suddenly smiled triumphantly, and pushed aside a clump of weeds under a certain mountain wall, revealing a cave. This cave looked like the size of an ordinary dog hole. Zhang Quan was now fifteen years old, and his body had not grown as strong as an adult, so he could get in if he wanted.
"Xiaobao, this isn't the fun place you were talking about, is it?" Zhang Quan was extremely depressed. He shouldn't have expected anything from the kid. He actually brought him to crawl through a dog hole.
Tian Bao looked down on him when he saw his expression, and said, "Humph, just follow me in and you'll know. I'll definitely make you convinced!" After that, he bent down, knelt on the ground, and used both hands to quickly get in.
Zhang Quan sighed and had to follow his example and go in.
He was bigger than Tian Bao, so it was not so easy for him to enter at first. He could even feel the pain of abrasions on both sides of his body. However, this minor injury was not worth mentioning to Zhang Quan. The dark environment in front of him was a bit uncomfortable. He crawled behind Tian Bao relying on the sound, and felt that there was no way out.
Fortunately, after climbing for a while, Tian Bao suddenly said, "Brother Quan, we are almost there."
Zhang Quan cheered himself up and quickened his pace to climb forward. Sure enough, after turning the corner, he saw a faint light coming from the front.
"Yan! Yan! Yan!"
As soon as he climbed out of the cave, he heard bursts of sounds in his ears. Zhang Quan felt that the sounds sounded like someone hammering iron, or like the sound of a hoe hitting a stone when hoeing the ground.
But when he looked around, there was nothing but a high cliff. It turned out that the small cave led to a small platform in the middle of the mountain. The platform was about half an acre in size, with a high cliff below and a steep wall above. Opposite it was also a high mountain.
There were traces of fire and stove on the small platform, and Zhang Quan thought: Could this be where the thieves were hiding? But immediately, he overturned his idea, because Tian Bao walked over skillfully and took out a small package hidden among the stones. When he opened it, he found some salt inside.
"I and a few other people found this place, you can't tell anyone else." Tian Bao said, here, it doesn't matter what they do. Every few days, everyone comes here, and sometimes they even bring some food secretly.
"I won't tell anyone else, but, did you hear some noises?" This place was in full view, the only strange thing was the "clacking" sound that came from time to time.
"We are used to this sound. It lasts a long time every time." Tian Bao's eyes suddenly turned and he said, "Some people say that this is the wronged soul dragging the iron chain on the mountain to claim life. Brother Quan, are you afraid?"
"You guys have been listening for so long and nothing happened, why should I be afraid?" Zhang Quan said perfunctorily while listening attentively. Tian Bao pouted, feeling a little bored, and went to the other side to fiddle with the simple stove.
The "clacking" sound seemed to come from the opposite side, but if you listen carefully, it seems to come from the bottom. The sound seemed to be continuous, but suddenly, it would stop. Zhang Quan listened patiently until Tian Bao beside him fell asleep and woke up because of boredom, and he kept this posture.
"Brother Quan, let's go back?" Tian Bao said impatiently.
"Okay, let's go back." Zhang Quan said.
"Then are you leaving?" Tian Bao betrayed the secret he shared with his partner, naturally because of the method of shooting the bird.
Zhang Quan rubbed Tian Bao's head and said, "Don't leave yet, stay for a few more days."
Tian Bao smiled happily, not noticing that Zhang Quan's face was also slightly excited. After listening for so long, he was sure that the sound came from the bottom of the mountain. There must be someone there!
That night, when the secret guards sent by Pei Che met Zhang Quan, they heard this exciting news. He was so happy that he wanted to leave Yangshupo immediately and return to the state capital to tell Pei Che about this.
(End of this chapter)