Chapter 167 Meeting and embracing
Li Siyu was a little excited, as if she had found something she had lost for a long time.
When she saw the weed forest, all her uneasiness, all her nervousness, all her caution, all her worries disappeared in an instant.
She didn't have to worry about what she would do if she couldn't find Zhang Hao before dark.
She didn't have to worry about what she would do if something unexpected happened to Zhang Hao while he was searching for her.
She didn't even have to think about the dire consequences if she got lost again.
Now, she doesn't need to worry about any of these things. She just needs to think carefully about how she should explain all these things to Zhang Hao after meeting Zhang Hao.
She didn't stay there for too long. She raised her head and stepped forward, all the way to the end of the road without any intention of stopping until she stood in front of the weed forest.
Raising her hand to open a gap that could be walked through the tall weeds in front of her, she stepped into the weed forest.
"Woof~"
At this time.
A dog barking suddenly sounded in her ears.
Li Siyu immediately stopped. She suppressed her desire to turn around, and had no intention of turning around at all. She stood straight on the spot and did not move forward.
Then, she calmed down, kept her head down, and walked forward, never going anywhere else.
"Woof!"
The barking of the dog became clearer and closer.
Li Siyu subconsciously wanted to turn her head and look for the direction from which the sound came, but she still held back.
The reason is very simple. She was attracted by the voice that seemed to be Zhang Hao's last time, and then she walked into the weed forest in a daze. Then she lost her way and walked to a strange place. She had no idea what was in front of her. Where did it appear, and then came to the fork in the road, and finally got the guidance from Mr. Gushu, and then returned here.
Now that things have happened, she doesn't want to make the same mistake again.
This time, I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Gushu, who has no bad intentions. Who can guarantee that I will meet such a good Mr. Gushu next time?
If she encounters a mountain spirit monster with malicious intentions, she may not be able to leave tonight, and she may stay on the mountain in the future. She is no longer willing to take this risk, and would rather ignore the seemingly small Bai's cry.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
The barking of the dog became more and more obvious and clear, as if it was appearing in my ears.
Li Siyu pursed her lips tightly and threw away all the thoughts in her mind, temporarily not thinking about those things.
She continued walking forward without looking back.
"Woof woof woof!"
At this time, the dog barked again, and there seemed to be footsteps. The footsteps were a little light, not too heavy, but extremely clear.
Li Siyu hurriedly raised her head and couldn't help but look around. There was neither Xiaobai nor Zhang Hao around.
That means there is no way to prove that the sound you just heard is not necessarily real. It may be exactly the same as the one you heard before, and it may also be a sound that makes you lose your way again.
This time I must not be fooled again, so I will continue to move forward until I pass through this weed forest. As long as I pass through this weed forest and see Xiaobai and Zhang Hao, then it will be real. To be able to believe it.
Otherwise, all sounds will be regarded as auditory hallucinations.
With this thought, Li Siyu continued to walk forward.
"Woof woof woof! Ouch~"
"Woof woof woof~"
Then, the barking of the dog became clearer and closer, and Li Siyu felt that the barking of the dog was nearby, as if it was in a certain direction of his own, maybe not even three meters away.
But she still resisted not looking for the barking dog, let alone paying attention to it.
until.
She suddenly felt something in the weed forest on the right, running towards her very fast, as if she was attracted by something.
Her face immediately showed a look of horror, and she stared over there with breathless concentration.
After experiencing so many weird things in the mountains, her nerves have already been tense. Now if there is any disturbance, she will increase her vigilance, for fear that something bad may happen.
In fact, the idea of running away just came to her mind.
But just when she was about to lift her steps and run forward quickly.
"Woof woof woof!"
A petite black figure suddenly jumped out from the weed forest, and with the cheerful barking of a dog, he rushed directly to Li Siyu's feet.
Li Siyu was immediately stunned on the spot. She lowered her head and looked at Xiaobai, who was wagging his tail at her feet and sticking out his tongue, his face full of happiness. She was stunned for a moment.
Xiaobai... This is Xiaobai!
"Woof woof woof!" Xiaobai shouted at her several times, as if he was afraid that she would not recognize him.
It turns out that the dog barking from the beginning was Xiaobai’s barking...
She thought that the strange voice appeared again. She never dared to look for the voice. She always regarded the voice as an auditory hallucination. Now it was not until she saw Xiao Bai's appearance that she dared to confirm that what she heard before , and what we see now are all true.
Then, she heard some commotion in the weed forest nearby. Many weeds were being pushed around, making a "swishing" sound.
Li Siyu was a little wary, but when he saw Xiaobai still wagging his tail and barking in the direction of the sound, he roughly guessed who was coming.
She didn't say anything, she just knelt down and gently touched Xiao Bai.
Because she still remembered Zhang Hao once said that you should not call your name in the mountains. Once you call your name, it will attract bad things.
She might have been called away by something bad just now, but she didn't want anything bad to happen again at this time.
After a while, the "rustling" got closer and closer, and soon came to the front.
Li Siyu stood up slowly and looked at Zhang Hao in front of her. Tears were already welling up in her eyes, but her red lips were pressed tightly together, as if she didn't want the tears to flow down.
She is not a particularly strong woman. Before, it was just because she had no choice but to survive, so she acted particularly capable and strong.
But this time she was lost in the mountains, and she found that she was also afraid, that she would never see Zhang Hao, Xiaobai, or return to that home again.
However, now that she finally saw Zhang Hao and she was finally back, this was the best thing. All the bad things that might happen would make it impossible to find them again. She had thought a lot for such a long time, and even thought that she might never see Zhang Hao or Xiaobai again.
But now, none of this will come true.
Li Siyu stepped forward without warning, opened her arms, and hugged Zhang Hao forcefully, tears falling in her eyes at this moment.
"I thought, I thought I would never see you again..." Li Siyu said in her heart, but she still didn't have the courage to say these words herself.
Zhang Hao was a little stunned, but after hesitating for a few seconds, he hugged her with his arms: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here, I'm not afraid."
With just this sentence, Li Siyu couldn't control her tears. She nodded and said 'hmm' with a heavy nasal voice.
Zhang Hao breathed a sigh of relief: "It's okay. Come on, I'll take you out of this weed forest first. It's not a good place to talk."
"Woof woof!" Xiaobai yelled twice, then took the initiative to ask for help, rushed into the weed forest, and kept shouting to guide Zhang Hao and Li Siyu.
Zhang Hao supported Li Siyu, while Li Siyu held on to Zhang Hao tightly, and the two of them quickly walked through the weed forest.
It didn't take long for the two of them to pass through the weed forest in front of them and return to the wild fruit forest.
The mountain god deer was still staying here. After seeing Zhang Hao and Li Siyu come back, he stopped looking forward to it, and he breathed a long sigh of relief like a human being.
Back to the wild fruit forest.
The sky has darkened, and it is gradually getting darker in the woods, with less and less light.
Zhang Hao and Li Siyu were sitting on the floor. He looked at Li Siyu and said, "It's okay. It's okay now."
"Yeah." Li Siyu responded softly. Then, she thought for a moment, raised her head and explained: "I didn't mean to get lost. I heard someone calling me, and then I walked towards the weeds uncontrollably. Lin walked away, and when I opened my eyes, I found that I had gone far away, and I didn’t even know where I was..."
Zhang Hao frowned, but immediately relaxed and asked thoughtfully: "Then how did you walk back?"
Li Siyu thought for a while and then said: "At first, I walked back along the way I came. But when I reached the end, I encountered a fork in the road, which divided into two roads, left and right. Just when I was hesitant, I was ready to While I stayed there, waiting for you to find me, I heard an old tree speak. "
"Did the ancient tree speak?" Zhang Hao was stunned and moved his mouth a few times.
Li Siyu nodded heavily: "I was surprised when I first heard it. I didn't expect that ancient tree could really talk."
"And then, that ancient tree called you Lord Mountain Walker."
Zhang Hao muttered the words "Lord Mountain Walker", thought for a moment, raised his head, looked at Li Siyu seriously, and asked: "Did that ancient tree chat with you? It was a bit nagging, but I finally tell you which way to go.”
"Then, you followed the path He told you and ended up here?"
Li Siyu nodded blankly: "Yes, that's what happened."
Zhang Hao fell into deep thought, and a vague answer already appeared in his mind.
Li Siyu moved her mouth a few times, and finally blurted out: "You... know that ancient tree?"
Zhang Hao nodded: "I do know this ancient tree."
"Have you ever encountered that ancient tree when walking in the mountains before?" Li Siyu asked in surprise.
Zhang Hao shook his head: "That's not true. I know this ancient tree because I heard a folk story."
"Story?" Li Siyu looked at him curiously.
Zhang Hao didn't mean to show off. After thinking about it, he said: "I have seen a folk story before, which is about a scholar who went to Beijing to catch up with the exam. In order to catch up with the exam, he chose to cross the mountains."
"But when the scholar was staying in the mountains at night, he suddenly heard an old voice. The scholar was startled at that time, thinking that he had encountered bandits who were robbing him. However, after searching, he found that it was the voice next to him. An ancient tree spoke.”
"The ancient tree reminded him not to stay in the mountains. It said that people had died in the mountains recently. It was the time when the Yin Qi was at its strongest. If he stayed in the mountains, he would be easily hurt by evil spirits. Let him hurry up. Go down the mountain quickly and don’t stay in the mountain too much.”
"After thinking about it for a while, the scholar felt that it was very strange for the ancient tree to speak, but he was also afraid that he would be hurt by the evil ghost as the ancient tree said, so he hurried down the mountain. But the scholar just came down the mountain and when he was looking for a restaurant to eat, The incident was accidentally leaked to the local government.”
"Then, the officers and soldiers were provoked. The officers and soldiers grabbed this man and found the so-called ancient tree that could speak in the mountains. Then the officers and soldiers directly split the tree open, only to find that there was a nest inside the tree. Snake.”
Hear the story told by Zhang Hao.
Li Siyu's eyes were bright, but she looked at him with a little fear: "Then what? Are those snakes actually talking?"
Zhang Hao shook his head: "I don't know about this, but it seems that it is not that important whether the snake is talking, because at the end of the story, the fate of those officers and soldiers, and that person was not too good."
Li Siyu looked at him curiously and asked: "What happened to those people... what happened?"
"The civil servant... did not catch up with the exam. He encountered bandits on his way home and died in the mountains. It is said that his death was very tragic."
"Some of those officers and soldiers had hot oil poured on them when they were arresting prisoners. Some died inexplicably in the mountains, some died at home with frightened expressions, and some died in the courtroom with the same state of death. Miserable.”
Zhang Hao was a little sad and said with emotion.
When Li Siyu heard this, he was silent for a moment: "That means they provoked something they shouldn't provoke, so they were punished."
"It should be." Zhang Hao said.
This story was a record he had seen in the "Illustrated Record of Traveling in the Mountains".
And the so-called Juren is also a character in the story, but he discovered the story from the perspective of a senior mountain walker.
The ending of the story is naturally that those people died violent deaths, and there was no good ending.
Zhang Hao also knew that the talking ancient tree was also a kind of mountain treasure, but it was a mountain treasure that could not be captured.
None of the senior mountain walkers, including Zhang Hao, would capture this kind of mountain treasure. This is a mountain treasure that is beneficial and a mountain treasure that likes to help others. If this kind of mountain treasure is captured, it will indeed be Will be punished by God.
However, when the ancient tree spoke, it was unclear whether the snake inside spoke or the ancient tree spoke. Even the records in the "Mountain Travel Notes" are very few and relatively vague. .
If there is a chance next time, I need to thank the ancient tree in person. After all, it was the ancient tree that showed Li Siyu the way.
However, what Zhang Hao is more concerned about now is not this ancient tree, nor is it Li Siyu's return here relying on the guidance of the ancient tree. What he cares more about is the sound that attracted Li Siyu to get lost.
According to Li Siyu, she suddenly heard a calling voice coming from the weed forest, so she uncontrollably went to find the source of the voice.
And he found the long and extremely narrow trace where Li Siyu walked into the weed forest.
Those are the traces of the mountain treasure from last time, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!
(End of chapter)