Chapter 196

Daqing Niang's unstoppable crying echoed in their ears, causing everyone's eyes to turn red. In addition to the clan members who stayed at the foot of the mountain, there were also relatives and friends who were not around, and I wondered if they had escaped this disaster.

More people bowed their heads and cried.

Just as they stood in front of the cave and felt sad, a cow, a donkey and several mules who were resting under the bamboo rafts made noises, and their hooves were still kicking the ground restlessly.

Before Wen Zheng opened his mouth to remind them, the clan leader noticed something was wrong and asked everyone to return to their respective caves and be careful.

Animals are more sensitive than humans. When the mountain torrents broke out last night, these animals were a little restless, and the villagers only thought it was caused by the heavy rain.

Now I think the animals noticed the mountain torrents, and the commotion at this time is probably because they noticed the danger.

No matter how uncomfortable the heart is, no matter how difficult the future is, people always want to survive.

As soon as the clan leader reminded them, the villagers quickly protected the elderly and children and hid in the cave. Daqing's mother endured the pain in her feet and climbed up, pulling her little son back to the cave.

The young and strong held farm tools to block the entrance.

If everyone hides inside, they will not be able to see the situation outside, which will be more dangerous. Standing outside, holding their breath, not daring to miss any movement, directly facing the eyes that are approaching.

It is a group of wild boars.

Why are there so many wild boars on this mountain? They have to confront their village.

The mountain behind their village is lush with trees and weeds. Although there are no kings of beasts like tigers, there are ferocious wild boars.

In previous years, wild boars would come down the mountain to ravage the land and harm people during famine, and they needed to ask the county magistrate for help. Because of this, no one except Yang Liehu went up the mountain.

Having seen Yang the hunter hunting wild boars, and having learned to catch prey at the foot of the mountain, and having killed one together when moving things up the mountain, they thought they would no longer be afraid of wild boars, but when they faced a group of wild boars, they found that the feeling was completely different.

The five wild boars had fierce eyes, perhaps because they knew that they had killed their own kind, and were shocked by yesterday's flood, so they were very aggressive at this time.

The hands of the young and strong men standing at the entrance of the cave were trembling a little. The wild boars had thick skin and flesh, and it was difficult for people to win. Not only was the opponent's attack power strong, but also because the weapons in their hands could not break the defense of the wild boars.

They could defeat one of them, but it did not mean that they could kill the whole group.

No matter how scared they were in their hearts, no one retreated. Behind them were their living relatives, and if they did not fight the wild boars, where could they hide even if they wanted to?

They could only fight to the death.

The wild boars may have felt threatened. After a few roars, several of them rushed forward at the same time. The huge weight and the high speed would bring great impact.

Facing the attack of wild boars, some people gritted their teeth and moved forward, while others could not help but take a few steps back. However, they had just started to move when they saw several wild boars being killed one after another.

Two wild boars were hit by stones falling from the sky. No matter how strong their heads were, they could not withstand the blow. Their heads were deflated on the spot and they were motionless.

One wild boar was shot in the eye by an arrow, and its painful howl made people's ears ache. It was shot in the mouth again, and the crazy wild boar was attracted by the arrow and all its hatred was led to the side.

The remaining two wild boars did not encounter any attacks. Their front legs stepped on the trap, and their heavy weight broke the branches on top, and their front legs fell into the pit.

"Human power cannot fight against natural disasters. Can't we kill a few wild boars? Think about our parents, wives and children behind us. We have no way to retreat." The patriarch's hoarse voice sounded.

"Ahhh!"

One person rushed up, and more people followed closely behind. The two trapped wild boars were attacked from all directions before they came out of the trap.

The villagers all knew that wild boars had thick skin and flesh, and they all knew that they should attack the weak spots, such as the eyes and nose. When the wild boars howled in pain, they would put a kitchen knife into their mouths.

There were so many people that they didn't even spare the thick skin. They attacked with sticks all over the place, venting all their helplessness in the face of natural disasters, the sadness of the departure of relatives and friends, and the panic about the future, and concentrating all their strength on their hands.

There was also a young man who squeezed to the back and simply stabbed the wild boar in the back. The scream was extremely painful, and the people who saw it trembled all over. As a result, someone else learned it and hit another pig with a stick.

After the chaos, the four wild boars fell to the ground and stopped only after the chief called out. They remembered that there was another wild boar that was led away. When they took the weapon to look for it, it had been killed by Yang Hunter and Wen Zheng.

When Wen Zheng came out of the woods, there was no blood on his body except for the mud and water. Yang Hunter was stained with a lot of blood. No one asked questions, and they subconsciously thought that it was mainly up to Yang Hunter to solve the problem.

Interrupted by the attack of the wild boar, all the negative emotions in my heart were vented, the sadness had passed, and I hurried to clean up the battlefield.

The wild boar was pulled to the open space next to it, and Yang the hunter's machete was used to chop off its head.

Pigs are one of the animals and are often used for sacrifices, but ordinary people cannot afford to buy them. In the past, even if they were caught, they would sell them.

This time, they encountered a great disaster and killed another wild boar, so they took out the head to worship their ancestors and dead tribesmen.

The young and strong man who attacked the wild boar had used up most of his strength, and the woman hiding in the cave came out to take over the job of dealing with the wild boar, peeling off the pig skin, cutting the relatively fresh meat inside into long strips, and putting them in the cave to dry.

The boar's internal organs were not left behind, so the man who had recovered some strength carried it and buried it farther away. There was no way to deal with the blood flowing out of the wild boar, so he could only bury it with soil as much as possible.

When digging the soil, someone mentioned the traps that the wild boar encountered. The patriarch took the initiative to explain that he had people set them up, and the weight of people would not trigger them, just to prevent the wild boar from attacking.

"Do you have any objections?" asked the patriarch.

"No, no, it's still you who have foresight. Let's make up these traps now."

There are also skills in setting traps. The patriarch looked at Wen Zheng, who came out to direct everyone to restore the traps and explained the skills of setting these traps.

The pits dug in the ground were placed on top with wooden sticks, and the weight of people would not collapse. They were specially used to deal with wild boars. The fallen stones were tied to the trees in advance and tied tightly with ropes. They would only be fired when they were cut with a knife.

After several traps for wild boars were restored, Wen Zheng took advantage of everyone's interest to explain to them the other traps that were made, targeting weasels and snakes, which had not been discovered.

The villagers were busy until the afternoon before they could rest. If the pork was not to be rotten, it needed to be processed. However, the stench of blood on the body made people want to wash it clean.

The elder looked at the sky and saw that there would be a heavy rain later, so there was no rush to wash it. He asked them to finish processing the pork first.

In such hot and humid weather, if you want the meat not to rot, even if you use a lot of salt to pickle it, it will not work. It needs to be completely dried and then well preserved.

"The wood is all wet. Once it is burned, it will all be black smoke, and the meat will be burned."

"Why don't we eat as much as we can this meal."

"I have a way." Wen Zheng touched his chin and became the focus of everyone's attention.

The men did not stop for a moment. A group of people chose a place where Wen Zheng was sheltered from the wind and rain. Following Wen Zheng's command, they dug the dry soil in the cave and built an earthen kiln. The rest of the people went to pick up the wood that fell on the mountain.

The woman continued to process the pork, leaving the ones to be eaten today, and cut the remaining pork into thin strips that were easy to cook, wrapped them with leaves first, and then covered them with soil.

This is the way to make beggar chicken, first cooking this batch of pork to keep it fresh.

The earthen kiln was built, and the beggar pork strips were buried underneath. Wet branches were put in and ignited, and black smoke came out from inside.

"Will this really work?"

"If nothing unexpected happens." Wen Zheng said.

There are not many problems with the built earthen kiln. When using the earthen kiln to burn wood to make charcoal, wet wood must be selected, otherwise it will be directly burned dry by the fire and it will be difficult to form charcoal.

The heat from burning charcoal can also dry the pork strips. Even if the moisture inside cannot be completely evaporated, after the charcoal is burned, the charcoal can be used to bake the jerky, and at the same time, the clothes can be dried to keep the cave dry.

The plan is very good, it depends on whether the final result can achieve the goal.

While waiting for the burning time, fill the stomach that is tired for nearly a day and hungry.

At that time, everyone knew how to cook, but most people couldn't afford an iron pot. The village chief and Wen Erye had an iron pot at home, and they brought it to the mountain. The rest of the people still used pottery to cook.

The dry firewood brought up the mountain was ignited, and the wild boar meat in the iron pot gave off an attractive aroma. The broth in the pottery pot hanging on the fire kept boiling. The grain cakes brought to the mountain were not spoiled yet, so they were directly roasted on the fire.

The rice in the pot was cooking, and the rain outside began to fall again. Those who were dirty ran directly into the rain to wash.

There was not much pollution in ancient times, and the rainwater was clean. Some people collected water for later use. Wen Zheng saw it and talked to the grandfather. He asked everyone to boil the borrowed rainwater before drinking it.

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It's just that not many people listen. Even boiling water will consume a lot of firewood.

The young and strong men outside took a bath and washed their clothes. There were also women who went to the corner and wiped the blood stains on their bodies from slaughtering pigs with their feet.

Everyone who came back from taking a bath outside had to drink a few sips of bitter soup. I know it's to prevent disease, but the tongue really suffers.

"Come and give me a bowl of meat soup to calm me down." Someone laughed, staring at the pot of meat soup in front of him, and it was obvious that he was really greedy.

"Medicinal herbs are scarce, so Grandpa took them out to make medicine for you. If you still complain that it's not drinkable, you should be hungry and don't think about the broth."

"Auntie, how dare I complain? I will help Grandpa dig more herbs after the rain stops. I really can't miss out on this broth."

There was laughter in the cave.

As the aroma of meat became stronger, no one had the mind to do anything else. They all held bamboo tubes and bamboo chopsticks and waited. After they were given the broth, they drank a sip and felt comfortable all over.

The rain outside was getting heavier. After Wen Zheng finished eating, he went out to take a look. The earthen kiln was placed under a protruding rock and was still in good condition.

After eating, it was dark. Everyone lay in the cave. Even though they felt a little uncomfortable psychologically, their overly tired bodies urged them to sleep.

With the comfort of pork, the villagers fell asleep one after another.

The next morning, when the villagers woke up and went outside the cave to solve the problem, they saw Wen Zheng pulling Yang the hunter busy in front of the earthen kiln, and hurried over to help.

The closed earthen kiln was opened, and the charcoal that had been burned black was taken out. Wen Zheng was still checking the quality of the charcoal, but the hunter Yang and the villagers next to him were all surprised.

"Dashan, is that charcoal in your hand? Did you pick it up when you went down the mountain?"

Hunter Yang retracted his surprised look and unhappily helped Wen Zheng to refute: "You saw it with your own eyes. We just opened the earthen kiln and took the charcoal out of it."

"So you can burn charcoal!" The villagers were surprised and a little excited.

Wen Zheng was stunned and reviewed the memory of his original body. He shouldn't ignore the details just because his original body had used charcoal before.

Although charcoal was sold in this dynasty, ordinary people didn't know how to burn it. They sold the cut wood to others, or picked up charcoal after the thunder ignited the fire.

Thinking of this, Wen Zheng looked at the crowd that had gathered around after hearing the noise and explained: "I heard someone say it once inadvertently in the county town before, and then I thought about it myself. Yesterday was the first time I tried it, and I didn't expect it to be successful."

The charcoal that was burned was passed around by the villagers as a treasure. They completely forgot the reason for making the earth kiln in the first place. Wen Zheng used a shovel to dig out all the pork strips buried inside.

First, take one out and throw it on the stone. The soil wrapped outside cracked, peeled off the leaves, and the pork strips inside were still warm and fragrant, which attracted the villagers to look over again.

The charcoal was really ignited. Not only did it burn slowly without too much smoke, the villagers cheered directly. Some people stayed to roast the dried meat, and the rest all found a suitable place to build a kiln.

Wen Zheng didn't need to control the dried meat, but he had to say a few words about each earth kiln. He made one yesterday following Wen Zheng's instructions, but few people listened seriously, and there were problems as soon as they made it.

In addition, the charcoal here is not particularly good. Wen Zheng plans to improve the earth kiln again, and it is best to choose a more suitable wood.

The most abundant thing on this mountain is wood. All the earthen kilns built were opened directly to burn charcoal. Everyone was eager to learn this craft.

Wen Zheng and Yang the Hunter, who were willing to pass on their skills to everyone, became superior and were very popular with the villagers.

There were only two exceptions, one was Daqing's mother's family, and the other was Wen Erye's family.

Wen Zheng was basically sure that Daqing was related to the death of the original body, but he did nothing and died.

Wen Erye's behavior was a bit strange. No matter what, they couldn't be separated in a short time. What was going on, there would always be a chance to know in the future.

Burning charcoal, barbecue and hunting made everyone's time on the mountain particularly fulfilling. Two more floods hit the mountain, one in the daytime, and the villagers saw the battle with their own eyes.

After that flood left, the subsequent rains became smaller and smaller, and the sky gradually cleared up. Everyone continued to wait on the mountain for the accumulated water on the mountain to recede.

These people on the mountain should decide where to go next.

In ancient times, after natural disasters, it was rare to wait for the relief grain and money issued by the court, especially since the two waterproofing projects were shoddy, the victims rebelled, the county magistrate fled, and there were so-called nobles interceding, so one could not put hope on the court.

The fields that had been flooded, the soil suitable for cultivation on the surface was washed away by the flood, leaving only the deposited mud.

Such fields are not suitable for seeds, and the seeds planted are easy to rot and cannot take root and sprout.

There is no food if the fields cannot be planted, and even if more prey is caught, it is not as good as grains. What's more, places that have been flooded are more likely to develop epidemics and are difficult to treat.

So everyone who encountered the flood had to leave their homes and look for opportunities to survive.

What they had to determine was which direction to look for opportunities.

They had not forgotten the news of the rebellion of refugees in the neighboring prefecture before the flood. The villagers were unwilling to join the ranks of the rebels, so they did not need to consider the route that needed to pass through the neighboring prefecture.

After much discussion, most of the villagers had never left their own prefectures, and had no idea where to go, so they all chose to let the clan leader decide.

In the end, the capital Yongyanfu in the north was chosen.

The earthen kiln they had built was destroyed, the cave they had lived in during this period was hidden behind the vines, and they carried all their belongings on their backs and followed the team down the mountain that watched them live and provided shelter during the flood.

They thought that the days of taking shelter in the mountains would be very difficult, but things always went beyond the villagers' expectations.

The wild boars that should have caused them heavy casualties were all killed, but instead became their food. Because of the rainy and humid environment, the charcoal burned out solved the problem. Not only did they learn the craft, but they also accumulated a pile of charcoal.

It rained from time to time, but because of the presence of the grandfather, they drank a lot of bitter soup, but no one fell ill.

Looking back on the past few days, it was like a dream.

Now that I have left, I can't stop worrying. I can only look at the ox cart leading the way in front and follow closely behind.

A few livestock were as lucky as them to avoid the flood. They ate wild grass and leaves on the mountain every day and continued to carry the load, following them down the mountain.

In addition to the elderly and children who were unable to move, several vehicles also had charcoal made during this period.

Now it was summer, and unless it rained, no one would spend a lot of money to buy charcoal that was more suitable for winter use, but the villagers were unwilling to abandon the charcoal they had worked hard to learn and make, and insisted on taking it with them.

Most people were reluctant to leave, and the clan leader did not object, so he put it on the car with other heavy objects.

After the rain stopped, the sun came. The water on the road evaporated quickly and the soil was gradually drying up, but it would take some time.

After going down the mountain, even if the crowd looked for places with fallen leaves and grass, they would still be easily stained with mud, making it more difficult to move forward. They could only stop from time to time to clean the wheels and soles of their shoes.

When going up the mountain, most villagers wore straw sandals. When going down the mountain, they either stepped on wooden shoes with wooden soles or leather shoes made of wild boar skin and other prey skins.

After they were made, everyone was reluctant to use them. As a result, the grandfather came out and said that wearing straw sandals was easy to get injured, which would not only slow down the speed of moving forward, but also make it easier to get sick. Finally, the patriarch stood up and made a strong request that everyone who needed to walk should wear them on their feet.

The scene on the mountain was reflected in my mind during this time, but when I walked to the foot of the mountain that should have been familiar, I saw unfamiliar things everywhere and it was difficult to find the familiar scenes in my memory.

In particular, a piece of the mountain fell and blocked a piece of the road.

Fortunately, Wen Zheng still remembered the general direction in his mind, and took the villagers around twice and came to the location of the ancestral tomb.

It was difficult to worship, so he could only clean up the area around the ancestral tomb, then kneel down and kowtow. The suppressed pain of leaving home surged up, and many people sat under the tomb and cried.

Wen Zheng sat under the tomb of his original parents, and found that the tree that was set on fire by the thunder was right next to him. He turned back and met the eyes of the patriarch, and probably believed the excuse his parents gave him in his dream.

Many villagers came to see this rare lightning-struck wood, especially the legend that lightning-struck wood could scare away ghosts and break off the black branches.

It was really hard to tell the difference when put together with charcoal.

None of Wen Erye's family dared to approach here. It was probably not because they were afraid of lightning-struck wood, but because they did not dare to see the tombs of his original parents.

"I don't know when I can return home after this trip. Please give me the knife."

The chief picked up the tree that had been struck by lightning but had sprouted some new buds, and carved words on it with the knife.

Written on the tree was the story of the villagers of Fengnan Village who had left their hometown, and took the villagers to say goodbye to their ancestors again. From then on, they set out on the road of leaving their hometown, looking forward to the day when they could come back.

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