Traveling through the mountains and farming

Chapter 130 Deeper into the Mountains

Li Chongwu, Li Changli and a group of about ten people quickly returned to the secluded cave.

The first thing Li Chongle did when he saw Li Chongwu and the others return was that he turned around and ran home.

He went there to give a tip-off. He knew that Lin Wan wanted to know the progress of the escort of the bandits.

He also wanted Lin Wan and Li Chongwu to make an appointment to go out and pick wild grapes later.

Lin Wan had just gotten up from her lunch break and came out of her room. Seeing Li Chongle running in, she asked hurriedly, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Sister-in-law, Brother Chongwu and the others are back."

"Really? So how did it go?"

"I don't know yet, sister-in-law, please go ask Brother Chongwu." Li Chongle pulled Lin Wan out.

The two men arrived at the activity area at the entrance of the cave. Li Chongwu and his companions were talking to Uncle Li and his companions about what happened when they were escorting the bandits to the gate of the county town.

As they were talking about all the bandits being shot dead, everyone's faces showed shock.

Lin Wan found a place to sit and listen, and finally heard that the county was closed because the King of Chu was hiding in the county to recuperate.

Someone couldn't help but grumble, "How is this possible? Our county is a remote small town in the south. Why would the King of Chu come here?"

"Yes, I also think it is nonsense."

"Could it be that someone deliberately released false information?"

But Lin Wan felt that it was very likely. The county was under lockdown at this time, and the able-bodied men who came to the door were shot from a distance without even being looked at. There were also rumors that the King of Chu was recuperating in the county. All these indicated that the King of Chu was very likely in the county.

"Unless the King of Chu sends troops to search the mountain, it won't matter to us where he is," said Uncle Li.

Everyone thought it made sense, so they stopped discussing it and went back to do their own things.

Lin Wan was thinking in her heart, if it was really the King of Chu in the county town, it meant that the King of Chu was at the end of his rope, and was forced by the court to hide in a remote small county town in the southernmost part of his jurisdiction. It seemed that his downfall was not far away.

As long as the King of Chu doesn't go crazy and come to the mountains to capture people to go to the battlefield, they probably won't have to wait too long for the war to end and they can resume their peaceful lives.

Lin Wan felt that life was becoming more and more hopeful.

It looks like I can slowly enjoy the quiet time of living in seclusion in the mountains.

Now that she has no worries about food and drink, she can slow down her pace of life, whiten her tanned skin, and take care of her rough hands.

All those homemade facial masks, hand masks, and skin care products of varying quality are gathered together.

Seeing that Li Chongwu was about to leave, Lin Wan stepped forward to stop him and agreed to set out together to pick wild fruits in a quarter of an hour.

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Wan, the two siblings, and Li Chongwu and his wife carried baskets and walked deep into the forest.

Along the way, Lin Wan was in an especially good mood. She looked at the lush trees around her, listened to the clear calls of the birds, and couldn't help but smile and sigh: "Sister Fang, the scenery in this mountain is so beautiful."

Hearing Lin Wan's sigh, Luo Fang felt a little strange. Hasn't the scenery always been like this?

And Lin Wan seemed to be in a good mood today.

Luo Fang couldn't help asking, "Wan'er, what's wrong with you today? Why are you so happy?"

"I'm about to pick my favorite wild grapes, so I'm very happy. I've been waiting for more than ten days." Lin Wan replied with a smile.

"Then don't be too optimistic. Li Chongwu also saw it more than ten days ago. Maybe it has been taken away by someone else." Luo Fang deliberately scared her.

Unexpectedly, her words came true. When Li Chongwu took them to that place, there were only a few wild grapes left on the vines, with only a few small green fruits hanging sparsely.

"Oh, what a bad mouth I have!" Luo Fang slapped his mouth.

"Why don't we look deeper into the mountains? Most people won't go any deeper. There will definitely be something to gain, and maybe we can even hunt some game," Li Chongwu suggested.

With Li Chongwu around, and everyone no longer being ignorant novices who had just entered the mountains, they immediately agreed to continue moving forward and go deeper into the forest together.

Lin Wan touched the bottle of deadly poison hidden on her waist, and followed with confidence, but she repeatedly reminded the two siblings not to walk in front.

She did not miss this opportunity and set up several foot-hanging traps along the way. Now with the two siblings, she didn't need to do anything herself as the two of them could work together skillfully.

After walking for half an hour and picking a lot of wild fruits along the way, Li Chongwu also easily hunted a few rabbits and pheasants.

They didn't see any wild grapes along the way, but not far away, a huge soapberry tree came into their sight.

The soapberry tree was towering into the sky, and its trunk was so thick that it required four or five people to hug it. There was a big hole in the middle of the trunk, but the soapberry tree grew well.

Looking up, the soapberries on the tree are like stars, hanging densely on the branches.

The tender green vines are like silk threads, intertwined with each other, climbing up the trunk, as if covering the soapberry tree with a layer of green gauze.

As the breeze blows, the vines sway gently, contrasting with the soapberries, creating a beautiful and mysterious picture.

Lin Wan felt a little troubled when she saw this. It was not easy to climb up such a tall tree to pick soap beans.

But she was still very happy in her heart. Now she could make shampoo. She walked forward while thinking about it, but Xiaobai bit the corner of her clothes. It kept shaking its head to signal Lin Wan not to go over.

Lin Wan was a little confused and looked down at Xiaobai, "Xiaobai, what's wrong?"

Xiaobai whined and refused to let go.

Li Chongwu also noticed something was wrong. He looked around vigilantly and said, "Don't go over there yet. I'm afraid something is wrong."

He slowly approached the soapberry tree, and when he was seven or eight steps away from it, his pupils suddenly shrank.

I saw a python slowly stretching its head out of the tree hole, its cold eyes revealing a frightening murderous light.

It seemed to have just poked its head out to check the situation, and had no intention of coming out of the tree hole completely. It was just vigilantly observing the movements around it.

Li Chongwu subconsciously took a few steps back, tiptoed back, and when he was about to get close to the crowd, he lowered his voice and said:

"Everyone, be quiet, there's a python in the tree hole!"

After hearing this, Lin Wan subconsciously looked towards the entrance of the tree hole, and there was indeed a python head as big as a bowl. If you didn't look carefully, you would think it was a broken and thick branch of a big tree.

After seeing the snake, her brain went into a state of shock. She was most afraid of snakes, and this time she encountered a giant python.

In her cognition, pythons are very far away from her. The closest she had ever seen one was when her grandfather told her that his younger brother, Lin Wan’s grandfather, had seen a python in the mountains, fell seriously ill after returning, and later died.

Only then did she realize that there were pythons in the deep mountains where her grandmother lived.

There is an old saying that has been circulating in the village: If you encounter a big snake, you will lose a layer of skin even if you don’t die.

The general meaning is that seeing a python will bring bad luck to people.

When Lin Wan thought about this, she didn't quite believe the saying that pythons met with bad luck. She was really afraid of snakes!

Her legs felt weak and she took two steps back. The two siblings knew that the eldest sister-in-law was most afraid of snakes, so they quickly supported her on both sides.

Li Chongwu said softly, "Don't be afraid, don't move. The python shouldn't have discovered us yet. Let's back away slowly and move gently."