Chapter 513 The ignited beacon

Chapter 513 The ignited beacon

Hai Dongqing climbed up a locust tree several times. Before the birds singing on the branches could react, he had already climbed to the crown of the tree, leaned out from among the leaves, and looked into the distance.

"Hai Dongqing, what did you see?" Yin Xiu asked under the tree.

"Mountains, besides mountains, are still mountains."

"Nonsense! We are in the mountains right now. What else can we see besides mountains? I'm asking you, is there anything special?"

"No, except for the mountains, they all look exactly the same. Even the ups and downs are almost the same, as if they are reflected in a mirror." Hai Dongqing replied.

"When did you speak in such a literary and artistic way?"

Yin Xiu scratched his head helplessly, "What about the direction? Is it the right direction?"

Upon hearing this, Hai Dongqing took out the compass from the pocket behind his back and calibrated the direction.

"Yes, just like Liu Banxian said, we have been walking eastward."

"Not the east side."

Liu Banxian corrected: "It's a little bit one or two degrees east, but it's not yet in the southeast area."

"Got it."

Hai Dongqing jumped down from the tree and dusted himself off.

Originally, he looked very pale, as if he was going to die in a few days.

Perhaps it was due to "reflection" or other reasons, but his expression was much better than yesterday, and he was not as haggard as before.

Although he felt strange, Hai Dongqing seemed to have recovered a lot, and Ma Xiaoyu no longer struggled.

Handing the compass back to Liu Banxian, Hai Dongqing said seriously: "The direction is correct, it's right in front of us, probably over a few more hills."

"How many more hills do we have to cross?"

Liu Banxian wiped the sweat from his forehead.

In the past few days, he had climbed all the mountains he had never climbed in half his life. He only felt pain in his back and legs every day, because the bumps up and down seemed to be some kind of precursor to rheumatism.

"Why don't you find someone to take care of you?" Haidong looked at him.

When Liu Banxian heard what he said, he seemed to have such thoughts.

He first looked at Ren Qi, but was glared at by Ren Qi with a cold expression.

Then he looked at Yin Xiu. Yin Xiu had walked to Ma Xiaoyu at some point, and he seemed to want to help her walk for a while.

[Fuck on the street, there is no humanity in people of the opposite sex. 】

But when he took a closer look, Ma Xiaoyu was not injured or sick. She was windy when walking, and she didn't look like she needed help.

So, he could only sigh and turn to look at Hai Dongqing.

This young man is even thinner than me. If I ask him to carry it, doesn't it mean I have to ask Hai Dongqing to explain it here directly?

"It's not that far, the mountains are very fast." Yin Xiu comforted him.

"Do you think I'm scared, uncle?"

Liu Banxian puffed up his chest unconvinced, "Not to mention how many there are, even climbing to the top of Baiyun Peak twice and then coming back down is very easy, without even a drop of sweat."

"Okay!"

Yin Xiu gave a thumbs up, "We young people should learn from seniors like you."

"You still have a lot to learn." Liu Banxian said.

"Okay, are you done?"

Ma Xiaoyu urged: "If we don't leave quickly, the sun will set, and then we will have to find a place to stay in a hurry."

As the season changes, the days in Changbai Mountain have indeed shortened visibly.

"It sounds like you can reach the other side of the mountain if you walk now."

Hai Dongqing muttered, picked up the machete and started to clear the way ahead.

Since his return, the task of pioneering the path has fallen on him again.

He led the way, and everyone else followed him with confidence, crossing unknown and dark ravines and avoiding hidden pits.

When the sun was about to set, the group crossed the forest and settled on a flat hilltop.

They placed the bonfire at the base of a prominent rock wall so that no one would see the fire.

Also because the bottom of the rock wall can avoid the cold night wind and gather the heat of the fire, it has become the best place to camp.

By this time, after putting down the extra items and burdens, without the help of the porters, everyone no longer had the materials and conditions for camping.

Therefore, everyone only carries two blankets with them, one is spread on the ground, and the other is wrapped around the body, close to the fire, sleeping on the ground, using the heat of the fire to resist the cold.

At this moment, except for Ren Qi, who had been keeping vigil for the first half of the night, everyone else was wrapped in blankets and lying down.

In fact, Ren Qi was standing guard a little further away, and he was still wearing a blanket.

The severe cold brought by the night wind in Changbai Mountain has begun to attack everyone indiscriminately.

"Brother, you hunters are really working hard. You can only sleep wrapped in two blankets in the cold weather."

Liu Banxian sighed and squirmed a few times in the direction of Hai Dongqing.

Hai Dongqing suddenly frowned and moved aside in disgust. Just as he was about to get closer to Ma Xiaoyu, he found that Yin Xiu had stood between them at some point.

Helpless, Hai Dongqing could only sit up and glance at Liu Banxian.

"Wrapped in two blankets? Where does such a great blessing come from? We hunters generally rarely spend the night in the mountains, especially deep in the mountains.

Either he spent one night in some cabin, or he simply wrapped himself in an animal skin and watched the fire for a while, his face numb from the cold, that was all. ”

"Isn't it just like us now?" Liu Banxian said.

"How is it the same?"

Hai Dongqing touched the blanket in his hand.

This blanket is woven by machine, using the roughest and cheapest fabric, and is sold very cheaply in the market.

However, in the past, he had little chance of owning such a blanket.

He hunted many wild animals, including deer, roe deer, occasionally wild boars, and even tigers. However, Hai Dongqing was not able to keep a single piece of skin from those wild beasts. He sold them all in exchange for money to fill his stomach.

He is called the "Old Hunter" because he has been hunting for a long time and has hunted a lot of prey, but in the end he is still poor. Every autumn and winter, he has to work hard on the dock without stopping for a day. .

However, despite the hard life, Hai Dongqing was not like other hunters. In the end, he failed to tame the mountains and forests. Instead, his back was bent by the heavy mountains, and his appearance became gloomy.

From beginning to end, Haidongqing was just the same person, fighting against the mountains and forests, but also embracing the mountains and forests. He valued money but didn't care about it that much.

He is the hunter in Changbai Mountain who spends the most nights in the mountains. He often spends long nights wearing only a broken animal skin and looking at the firelight.

"Log cabin? Is there such a thing in the mountains?"

Ma Xiaoyu couldn't help but be curious. The water vapor spurted out of her mouth flew onto Yin Xiu's face, blurring his vision. "Just like those who explore in the desert, they will leave some of their supplies somewhere for use by those who come after them when they return."

Yin Xiu explained: "This is an unwritten agreement to help each other. There is no rule about who must do it or how to do it. It is just that many people will abide by it."

"Almost."

Hai Dongqing nodded, "Those wooden houses are actually more like sheds, but they are covered on all sides. They are equipped with firewood, stoves, salt, and sometimes even a little dry food.

When hunters encounter urgent or difficult problems and are desperate, they will go to these wooden houses and spend a day and a half of the night there.

Because they received help from these wooden houses, they would be willing to put some things in them in the future in the hope of helping others. This is the inheritance of the Changbai Mountain hunters. ”

"This is really an amazing thing."

Yin Xiu sighed and pushed a little closer to Ma Xiaoyu. However, Ma Xiaoyu also sat up at some point, causing Yin Xiu to bump into her lap with her face.

"What's wrong? Do you have any emotions?" Yin Xiu asked confused.

"Isn't that a sentiment? I just want to ask, is that the Orion's hut?"

Ma Xiaoyu pointed to the mountains in the distance.

At this moment, they were under the rock wall, and most of the sky and field of vision were blocked by the rock wall. The direction Ma Xiaoyu pointed was sticking out from the gap in the rock wall.

Yin Xiu raised her head and looked in the direction of her finger, her eyes widening involuntarily.

I saw a little light suddenly appearing among the dark mountains, which looked like stars.

However, the stars are hanging high in the sky and have not fallen into the mortal world.

In this case, it can only be fire, a burning fire.

"Is that a hunter's cabin?" Ma Xiaoyu asked again.

"In my opinion, the hunter's cabin is on fire." Yin Xiu murmured.

Hai Dongqing frowned, "It doesn't matter what you two said, that thing is not a hunter's house, but I also..."

"It's a beacon tower."

Ren Qi had already walked over, ignoring the surprises of several people, and squatted by the bonfire, stretching out his hands to keep warm.

"Beacon Tower?"

Liu Banxian was stunned, "Isn't that thing only found near the city? There are also border fortresses, one after another."

"This is the border."

Ren Qi looked outside, "And they are also one after another."

After listening to what Ren Qi said, several people immediately walked outside and looked outside.

In the dark night, just in the direction they were going, more than a dozen hilltops were lit with flames, as if someone had really lit the beacon fire one after another.

In ancient times, beacons were a means of communicating information. Once an enemy attacked, soldiers would immediately go to the beacon tower to light fireworks.

It is said that the flames were so big and the smoke so thick that observation posts dozens of miles away could see it at once, whether it was day or night.

As long as one beacon tower is ignited, other beacon towers within dozens of miles will also be ignited in a very short period of time.

Then the flames coming from the border, representing war and disaster, would quickly start from the starting point, spread throughout the country in less than a day, and finally reach the capital.

It's just that this is the age of telegraphs, trains, and ships.

Even in older times, in the past few hundred years, beacon towers have been replaced by the so-called flying pigeons to deliver messages and express messages thousands of miles away.

"That's a signal and a warning." Ren Qi said.

"Warning?" Yin Xiu asked.

"That's right."

Ren Qi's face, which was so cold that it turned white, finally recovered due to the heat of the campfire.

"I have heard that in Changbai Mountain, before the imperial court was established, there were already beacon towers left by the indigenous people. It is said to be a relic of the Shang Dynasty.

Later, the royal family came here to offer sacrifices and regarded those beacon towers as historical sites and symbols of the mountain gods, so they were restored.

Maybe it doesn't make sense in itself, because it's no longer what it used to be. Yu Jing wants to know the situation of a place, and it's impossible to send signals through beacons.

However, in this mountain at this moment, such fire is quite meaningful. It should be some kind of gathering and alert signal, and also a warning to outsiders. ”

"Has the White Lotus Sect arrived around the palace?" Liu Banxian asked worriedly.

Yin Xiu shook his head, "It should not be the White Lotus Sect, but Prince Gong's troops."

"You mean the imperial army? They lit the beacon tower."

Liu Banxian was stunned for a moment, and then realized that it could only be done by the soldiers and horses of the imperial court.

Because the White Lotus Sect, like Yin Xiu and his group, had "sneaked" into the Changbai Mountains to some extent and committed the capital crime of beheading.

It's just that just becoming a member of the White Lotus Sect is enough to be sentenced to death by the court, not to mention the things they have done, even if they pull out all the nine tribes, it is not enough to kill them.

Yin Xiu and the others were confident that they could outwit them and would never fall into the hands of the imperial court.

Therefore, both of them seem to have forgotten one thing, that is, Changbai Mountain is the territory of the imperial court, the government and the army are the masters, and they are the intruders who have violated the prohibition and crossed the thunder pond.

"In this way, it is as if the owner returned home and lit the lamp to warn us intruders to leave."

Liu Banxian touched his chin, "But how did they find the palace so quickly?"

"Maybe they have undercover agents in the White Lotus Sect."

Ren Qi didn't take it seriously, "This is often the case. There are people from the imperial court in the White Lotus Sect, and there are also spies from the White Lotus Sect in the hands of high officials. There used to be several civil and military officials who reached the third rank, but they were later investigated. Coming out is the Dharma King of the White Lotus Sect.

The larger the organization, the greater the probability and easier it will be for someone to be an informant if there is a traitor. ”

"Fortunately, there are only a few of us."

Liu Banxian nodded thoughtfully, "If there is a traitor among us, it will be difficult."

"Isn't this the time to talk about this?" Yin Xiu said helplessly.

In fact, Yin Xiu originally thought that the White Lotus Sect might have arrived around the palace and opened a huge net waiting for them.

However, they underestimated the speed of action of the army.

That army of at least 5,000 people may not be comparable to them in terms of search capabilities, or as Ren Qi said, "Prince Gong" has the latest situation within the White Lotus Sect at all times, so that he can Move faster than other forces and reach the surroundings of the palace.

At this moment, everyone's sleepiness disappeared, and they were speechless just looking at the beacons declaring their power and strength.

The officers and soldiers looked down with an arrogant and condescending attitude, looking down upon them who had broken in from outside the mountain.

And it seems that weapons and means have been prepared to deal with them.

Hai Dongqing lay back on the ground again, squinting at the beacons on the mountains. Somehow, the beacons connected into a line in his eyes, vaguely like guiding lights.

(End of chapter)