Inside the bonsai world.
Lujiazhuang Village, fifty miles away from Kaoshan Village.
Although this place is not far from Kaoshan Village, it is no longer considered the boundary of Shanyang County, but belongs to Lin County and Fengmu County of Shanyang County.
As you can tell from the name, this county has a lot of woodland and a lot of wood, so this name can be passed down.
But at this time in Lujiazhuang Village, due to long-term drought, the sky here is blue without any embellishment. Except for the huge sun, not even a cloud can be seen.
The temperature of the ground rose sharply, presenting a wave-like distorted vision.
There have been no raindrops for a long time. The land here has long dried up. The fertile fields of the past are thousands of miles away. When you look closer, you can see that there are cracks everywhere, like dry lips.
Although a rainfall a few days ago brought some hope to everyone, the continuous high temperature that followed immediately made people feel miserable. The farmer's seedlings that were finally replanted showed no signs of survival. All withered.
The vegetation in the nearby forest is even more scorched, and the leaves are struggling to hold up. The few people left in the village are too lazy to go out, and the surrounding scene is desolate.
Early in the morning that day, people who got up early went out and prepared to throw away the night fragrance from last night, but they were suddenly shocked by the scene in front of them.
There is a mass of darkness in the distance. This...is this a dark cloud?
God’s eyes are open!
It’s going to rain!
Before the excitement could fully digest the news, another villager with a good view not far away shouted.
"No! Locusts, so many locusts! It's a plague of locusts! The plague of locusts is coming!"
Some villagers who had not reacted took a closer look and were even more stunned.
The large group of things in the distance that were originally mistaken for dark clouds are moving.
The overwhelming and dense locusts instantly shocked everyone who saw them. They were like a dark cloud, sweeping in quickly and violently.
At that moment, time seemed to have frozen, and the villagers watched helplessly as this "dark cloud" got closer and closer.
Many people were dumbly at a loss, their hearts beating faster, and an unprecedented sense of fear welled up in their hearts.
The "rustling" sound made by the locusts is like countless little devils whispering in the ears, which makes people shudder.
People can even feel their greedy appetite and ruthless destruction of all green life.
"Locusts! Locust plague! The locust plague is coming!"
More and more people shouted, resounding throughout the world.
People’s shouts made more villagers wake up from their sleep.
Then they saw an unforgettable scene.
Locusts were like dark clouds, covering the sky and approaching the village in groups. These little devils migrated at an alarming speed. Wherever they passed, the already fragile vegetation was even eaten. There is not much left, only bare branches and devastation.
The "rustling" sound of gnawing, mixed with the whistling of the wind, constitutes a heart-stopping natural tragedy.
The villagers stood there helplessly, looking at the land around them that they once had hope for and now being ravaged by locusts, their eyes full of despair.
Their faces were full of anxiety and helplessness. They were holding various tools in their hands, but they were powerless. They could only watch the little green left around them being eaten away.
The entire Lujiazhuang Village was shrouded in haze by this unstoppable army of locusts.
There is a kind of depression and uneasiness in the air, as if even time has become heavy.
The locusts continued to move forward along the forest. After the locusts swept away the various trees that were already suffering from thirst, the trees became even more wilted, with no branches and leaves left. The whole forest was filled with a sense of smell. There is an air of dullness and despair.
The forest floor is also covered with a thick layer of locust corpses and excrement, and a disgusting stench fills the air. This scene is like a nightmare of nature, which is unbearable to look at.
Under this premise, the whole forest became chaotic.
Every tree, every grass and thorn, under the special copper teeth of the locusts, only the bare branches are left swaying helplessly in the hot sun.
……
Kaoshan Village.
Li Wufu and others packed up their bags and tools, and were preparing to enter the mountains again with the tamed wolves.
Suddenly, in the sky, a bird the size of a pigeon hovered for a while and slowly landed.
Seeing this, Li Wufu closed his hands, covered his mouth, and blew hard. At the same time, his fingers kept shaking. There were some delicate gaps between the fingers and the fingers, making the sound from his mouth resemble a kind of sound. The chirping of birds is normal.
Hearing the sound made by Li Wufu, the bird in the sky suddenly swooped down, spread its broad wings, and formed a larger gliding surface. It used aerodynamic principles to achieve stability with minimal energy consumption. decline.
When it is about to land, the bird's head tilts forward slightly, its wings are slightly folded, and its tail swings slightly to maintain balance. The legs will gradually extend forward, catching the bird quickly and steadily. Li Wufu stretched out his hand and stood on it.
Li Wufu gently ordered to the young man beside him: "Quick, pour some water out of your water bag!" As he spoke, Li Wufu stretched out his other hand and closed it slightly to signal the young man. Pour the water into the middle of his palm. Without saying a word, the young man untied the water bag and poured some water into the palm of Li Wufu's hand. Li Wufu then moved the palm containing some water to the front of the bird's little head, moved his mouth slightly, and made a "chirp, chirp, chirp" sound. sound.
The little bird's eyes rolled slightly, and then he lowered his head and slowly pecked at the palm of Li Wufu's hand, sucking in the few water sources on it.
Li Wufu glanced at Feiniao's legs. A small tube in the shape of a wheat straw was tied to Feiniao's legs, and the top was sealed with obvious candle oil.
Li Wufu skillfully touched the feathers on the bird's neck, and the bird gently raised its wings, allowing Li Wufu's hands to more easily grasp the wheat straw on its talons.
Then, Li Wufu took down the wheat straw and lightly licked it with his fingernails. The candle oil at the top was removed, revealing a small roll of paper inside.
Li Wufu hurriedly knocked gently on the wheat straw, and the paper roll inside was taken out.
Then, Li Wufu was dumbfounded and shouted to Li Qingjiang, who was reading with some children not far away: "Qingjiang boy, come and help me find out what the words on this are about. I can't even recognize these words." "
As a cultural person in the village, Li Qingjiang took on the role of teacher without hesitation during this period with the encouragement of Grandpa Shan Shen.
Logically speaking, this position is still very respected, but under the dual inspiration of Li Wufu, an elder and the "head of the meat supply team", Li Wufu is now the most respected in the village After all, a small group of people are soft-spoken, and Li Qingjiang is no exception.
After hearing Li Wufu's greeting, Li Qingjiang did not refuse and trotted over.
"What's the matter, Uncle Wufu, where did the words come from!"
Li Wufu handed over the small note in his hand and said, "This should be a message from the county. The bird, most likely due to the heat and thirst, has lost its sense of direction! Please help me find out what’s written on it. If it’s important, we have to find a way to help spread it out!”
Li Qingjiang slowly shook his head and said: "No, this is not our messenger bird from Shanyang County, it should be from Fengmu County. Fengmu County has suffered a very serious locust disaster. , reporting to the Qingmu Mansion Office!"
"What? Locusts!" Li Wufu's eyes widened. As a person who deals with animals, he knows the horror of locust plagues. .
Li Qingjiang nodded and said: "Yes. And judging from the situation mentioned above, the locust plague has spread to many places and is currently flying towards a village called Lujiazhuang. Uncle Wufu, Lujiazhuang Where is the village? It sounds familiar to me!"
Li Wufu's eyes widened when he heard this, and he said in shock: "What? Lujiazhuang Village? Our mountain village is less than fifty miles away, and including the mountain road we migrated, it is only more than fifty miles away. With such a short distance, those locusts might still come to us! ”
Li Qingjiang glanced at the signature on the note and said, "The time on this letter is in the morning. Maybe by now, the locust plague has passed through Lujiazhuang Village!"
Li Wufu was anxious. Said: "Oh no, no! The locust plague is a troublesome thing. If this thing comes to us, wouldn't all our hard work and work these days be in vain!"
Li Qingjiang's expression He nodded solemnly and said: "Yes, those farmers' seedlings planted in the reclaimed wasteland in the village are probably going to suffer. It will be good if only one out of ten can be left alive!"
Li Wufu gently comforted the flying bird in his hand, looked at Li Qingjiang and said: "It's not just that, locusts can eat any leaves. The forest here finally has some color,
I have greeted many people back. Birds and beasts, if this makes the locusts roar, the prey in the forest will definitely be gone, and they will never come back for a while. By then, let alone hunting, the chickens and cows in our village will The sheep have no grass left to eat!”
A person on the side interjected: “Hey! Uncle Wu Fu, since we have chickens, let’s just let the chickens eat those locusts. Nutritious, those chickens won’t be able to lay eggs one after another!”
Li Wufu waved his hand and said: “Okay, you can pull it down, do you know what a locust plague is? It's not that the leaves in a field are contaminated with insects as you think, but the fields are densely covered with locusts. Not to mention our chickens, you are killing all the chickens and ducks in the county or even the entire Qingmu Prefecture. Even if they all gather together, it’s impossible to eat all these locusts in a short time.”
The person who asked the question said in shock: “Huh? There is still this matter, but I heard from my grandfather that when they were young, the village was empty. There was a locust plague inside, and chickens and ducks were used to eliminate a lot of locusts!"
Li Wufu shook his head and said: "That still means that your locust plague is small in scale, with few bugs, and cannot be established on a large scale, so it can be destroyed by chickens and ducks! Chase the food, otherwise, the eyes of those chickens and ducks will be blocked by the dense locusts. Qingjiang boy, you are very knowledgeable, I am right!"
Li Qingjiang! He also nodded and said: "Yes, after locusts swarm and form a locust plague, they fly very fast, and it is difficult for chickens and ducks to catch up. And you didn't notice that when the locust disaster occurred, the original favorite Are all the birds, beasts, and other things that eat insects so invisible?”
Another middle-aged man also nodded and said: "Yes, yes, I have always been curious about these things, why?"
Li Qingjiang explained: "I don't know the specifics, I just feel that it has always been So, maybe the scale of the locusts is too large, and these small-scale birds and beasts are afraid of unknown things! Maybe in their eyes, the black clouds formed by these locust plagues are different from the common locusts that are alone in daily life! "
Li Wufu shook his head and said: "This may be one reason, but the biggest reason is that these locusts should have toxins on them."
The middle-aged man said doubtfully. : "Ah? There is poison? This is impossible. Last year, our family had no food to eat, so we still ate these locusts every now and then. Many people in our village ate like this, and no one in our family was poisoned to death!"< br>
Li Wufu explained again: "I don't know the specific situation, because in the past when I was hunting in the mountains, I often ate locusts to fill my stomach, and sometimes even ate them raw, and it was fine.
But some people's flying eagles ate the locust plague bugs, and they died of diarrhea within two days. Later, I also observed that many eagles died after eating these things. , I guess it's the locusts during the locust plague, which are different from what we usually see."
Li Qingjiang's eyes brightened and he said: "This explanation makes sense, I have to remember it, Uncle Wufu. You can tell me more."
Li Wufu waved his hands and said: "There will be plenty of time later, but I don't have time now. This is about that. I have to talk to the village chief about it quickly!"< br>
Village chief Li Kanshan learned the news quickly, and then frowned and remained silent for a long time.
“No, there is no way we can stop this natural disaster!”
Li Laosan also nodded and said: "Yes, it seems that we still have to trouble Grandpa Mountain God about this matter."
Li Wufu saw that he had nothing to do, so he stood up and said goodbye: "Okay , I'll hurry up and see how the messenger bird is resting. I have to let it continue to send messages to the government office. Maybe the government office can do anything. If it continues to be delayed, don't delay the important matter. Got it!"
Li Kanshan nodded and waved his hand, saying: "Go quickly, even if the government office can't do anything, we must let them know the news early to prepare."
"Also, don't tell the villagers this news for the time being, or it will cause everyone to panic. It will be bad if trouble occurs again." Li Kanshan warned.
Li Wufu nodded and said: "I know! I understand."
Li Kanshan added: "Actually, there is no need to worry too much, we have the protection of Grandpa Mountain God. It must be fine!"
Li Wufu also calmed down after hearing this, nodded quite convinced, and turned around to go out. (End of this chapter)