Solstice Secrets

The temporary action team obviously lacked tacit understanding, and the speed of progress was much slower than Ling Dongzhi's expectation.

There was no way to do this. Professor Kong himself was a frail scholar, and the children under his command were also of mediocre physical strength.At the beginning, they were chattering happily like a spring outing, but then no one cared about talking anymore, especially in the last two or three hours, when more than half of the luggage was carried on Ling Dongzhi's back.The children were shy at first, but later they were panting like cows, and they couldn't care less about being polite.

The route designed by Professor Kong is to go southeast after leaving the village, and enter the forest area at a distance of two kilometers.There is the first stop of their research team, and they will stay for about two hours to do some statistics.Then head north, into the deep mountains, and it is expected to arrive at a place called Mopanling around [-]:[-] pm. Professor Kong has been there before, and according to him, there is a deserted mountain temple, which can be used as a temporary place to stay overnight.The research team stayed for about two days, and returned early in the morning on the third day.The guide is Lao Zhao, an old acquaintance in the village.

Ling Dongzhi is a person who often goes out, has more outdoor survival experience than this group of children who have never been out of school, and has more complete things.To stay overnight in the wild, food, water, heating and even medicines must be prepared.There is also a field survival knife with a cowhide sheath in the boot shaft of Lingdong Solstice.This is a good thing he bought in exchange for thousands of dollars in the trade market in Zangbian one year, and it is a military product that was smuggled in.

There is no man who doesn't like cold weapons.When I first got it, Ling Dongzhi was excited for several days, and slept under the pillow at night, imagining himself as a top secret agent on the run.Later, I found that there were not many places where I needed to use a knife, except for chopping branches when there was no way, and I opened the hare and pheasant a few times.But with such a thing hidden by his side when going out, he at least feels at ease.

Ling Dongzhi was very curious about the mountain temple that Professor Kong mentioned.There are no people in this mountain except Shiliu Village, and the person who can leave a temple deep in the mountain may be related to those who abandoned him.It's a pity that Lao Zhao doesn't know exactly when the ruined temple was built. He only remembers going to offer incense with adults when he was a child, and he also said that wandering monks once lived there. As for why it gradually fell into disrepair , he doesn't know anymore.

Even so, there will be some clues left, Ling Dongzhi thought to himself.Pretending you don't know anything isn't an option after all.Can he still deceive himself and others for a lifetime?He searched around, and if he really didn't have a clue, he could go back to Binhai to live his little life with all his heart.

Thinking of Binhai, Ling Dongzhi thought of the incident that he had temporarily left behind.I don't know what happened to Zhuang Zhou, and his parents don't know what kind of people they are, whether they might be persuaded by him.Or he was completely cleaned up by that fierce and unreasonable brother...

In the woods not far away, there seemed to be something running quickly, making a soft rustling sound.

Ling Dongzhi instantly became alert.At this time, the sun has begun to slowly set towards the western mountain, and the jungle and rocks in the distance slowly blur into a chaotic mass in the oncoming night, and it is difficult to distinguish the specific outline with the naked eye. .Ling Dongzhi couldn't be sure whether he really heard something, or just his illusion.

The possibility that there are other people in this mountain makes Ling Dongzhi nervous and has a secret hope in his heart.

Suspicion gave birth to dark ghosts, and Ling Dongzhi felt hairs on his back, as if a pair of eyes were staring at them deep in the dense forest.This feeling that there is no real evidence, but it makes people feel uneasy, still lingers after they walked into the dilapidated mountain temple.

Taking advantage of the time when Professor Kong led the students to light the fire, Ling Dongzhi took Lao Zhao to search carefully inside and outside the temple. Except for the rat paw prints leading to the back mountain, he did not see any living creatures. trace.

But Ling Dongzhi didn't feel at ease.He felt that the feeling of being watched in the dark became more and more clear as the night fell.

After walking the mountain road all day, more than half of the people started to stagger around after having a simple dinner.The male citizens in the temporary team were divided into four groups spontaneously in pairs to watch the night in turn, and each group kept watch for two hours.Ling Dongzhi felt uneasy, so he let others sleep first.

He was in a group with a boy wearing glasses. He was tall, but he looked thin and weak.This kid was probably a student cadre, and when it came to the night watch, he volunteered to lead the class and let the other kids rest first.Ling Dongzhi really likes a responsible child like him, waiting for everyone else to sleep.Let him keep watch by the fire, and walk around the courtyard of the small temple with a wooden stick.

This temple can be seen to be old, the walls are built quite high, the white walls and blue tiles are already mottled, and the weeds grow tall in the cracks between the blue bricks and the floor.The place where they stayed was the main hall of the temple. Along the passages on both sides of the main hall, there was the backyard of the temple. There were a few ancient trees in the courtyard and a row of abandoned meditation rooms around.Just now when he and Lao Zhao came over to inspect, they checked one by one.There is also a small door in the corner of the courtyard leading to the back mountain. Ling Dongzhi asked Lao Zhao to lean on the wall to look at it. There is a piece of land outside the door. Although it is already deserted, it can be seen that it should be the food that the monks opened back then. land.The small door was also locked. Although it was corroded, it was not easy to open from the outside.

The most attractive thing about Lingdong Solstice is the statue of the mountain god standing in the shrine of the main hall. It is the image of an adult man, tall and mighty, with long hair hanging down his back in a bunch.He also carried a very strange crossbow on his back.A tiger and a bear stand on both sides of the main statue, like guards following him.

Due to the passage of time, the painting on the statue is so mottled that no useful details can be seen.But Ling Dongzhi still thinks that he looks like an ordinary mountain dweller, and the clothes on his body also look like the short jacket that ordinary hunters often wear.Except for the docile beasts that follow around, there is no element that can be related to ghosts and gods.

Could this... be his clan?

Ling Dongzhi leaned against the door of the main hall, watching the sturdy mountain god statue in the firelight through the crack of the door, quietly fascinated.My aunt said that except for the merchants who collected mountain goods, few outsiders came to the mountain village, that is to say, no one came to look for him since he was thrown into the village.But judging from their behavior at the beginning, they didn't leave until they saw him being carried into the house, which showed that these people still cared about him.Then what was the reason why no one of them came to look for him?

Are these people... still in this mountain?

Ling Dongzhi lit a cigarette and sat down on the steps.Regarding the issue of life experience, there are still doubts, but more worries.Those two people were wounded when they threw him into the village. Why were they wounded?Besides the blizzard, there was also an earthquake that night. What kind of impact did this natural disaster have on them?

After more than 20 years, and without the slightest clue at hand, Ling Dongzhi felt that the questions in his heart were almost overwhelming him.

The weeds in the corner made a rustling sound.Ling Dongzhi was startled by the sudden sound, and held the dagger out of his boot in his hand.

The dry grass stalks shook, revealing a pair of bright yellow eyes.

Ling Dongzhi's fingers holding the handle of the knife loosened, then tightened again.If there are only voles, there is nothing to be nervous about. If there are groups, it will be a little troublesome.Ling Dongzhi had heard about people being attacked by rats in the wild.Because there is no signal in the mountains, the post-treatment is also a terrible thing.

The little thing in the grass was probably watching him too, where was the motionless cat, its yellow eyes blinking.

Ling Dongzhi's tense nerves slowly relaxed, "Hey, are you the only one coming out to play?"

The little thing in the grass dodged backwards, and after a while poked its head out and trotted a few steps in the direction of the midwinter solstice, like a rolling ball of wool.Ling Dongzhi couldn't help laughing, "You can't even see your fat legs."

The little thing chirped twice, quite unconvinced.

Ling Dongzhi lowered his voice to tease it, "Really, from what I see, it's just a small ball rolling around."

The little thing was so angry that he ignored him, ran two steps towards the other side of the main hall, and pointed his butt at him.Looking at its body shape, Ling Dongzhi felt that it should be a close relative to the rice balls in the village, with similar color and similar body shape.

"Hey, do you know Mi Tuan?" Ling Dongzhi asked it quietly, "That old mouse from Shiliu Village? I'm a neighbor with it."

The little mouse was stunned for a moment, then turned around and looked him up and down suspiciously.

"Really." Ling Dongzhi stretched out his hand and gestured, "It's so big, right? It even came to my house a few days ago."

The little mouse took two steps towards him, "Really?"

"Of course it is true." Ling Dongzhi looked at its small mung bean eyes, "You are younger than it, what is your name?"

The little mouse didn't understand what it meant, but it still understood that it was smaller than the rice ball, and nodded repeatedly, "It's smaller than the rice ball. Well, it's bigger than the rice ball."

Ling Dongzhi laughed again, "You live here? Just you? What are you doing here?"

The little mouse tilted his head and thought for a while, "There is a scent here."

Probably because of the cooking of the noodles just now, let it smell the aroma.Ling Dongzhi touched his pocket, took out a small package of egg yolk pie and threw it over, "Hey, this is for you. It's sweet and delicious."

The little mouse hid back for a while, saw that the thrown object hadn't moved, and leaned over to sniff it curiously.

"Bite the outer bag and you can eat it." Ling Dongzhi didn't know if this mountain mouse had ever eaten bagged food, so he hurriedly gave eating instructions.

The little mouse tore open the outer bag, carefully bit the contents inside, found the taste to be good, lay down there and began to chew.

Ling Dongzhi looked at it with a smile, "May I call you Eggy?"

The little mouse looked up at him, then lowered its head and continued to chew.

"How appropriate is this name," Ling Dongzhi said to himself, "you are round and round, like an egg... no, like a goose egg. And this is egg yolk pie, um, this name is absolutely yours Genus. Eggs? Eggs?"

The little mouse continued to eat its supper without looking up.