We started to climb up along an almost deserted path at the foot of the mountain.
The native Xiaoyu naturally came to the front.
"Go this way," she still doesn't know the real purpose of our coming here.
Huang Li and I followed her. The further we walked, the less traces of human activities there were.
Huang Li stopped from time to time.
Sometimes he squats down, digs up an inconspicuous grass with a small hoe, shakes off the soil from the roots, and after examining it carefully, puts it into the specimen bag behind his back.
“This is Polygonatum japonica,” she said to me and Xiaoyu, pointing to a plant with whorled leaves.
"The year is not enough, let it grow longer."
I hold the machete and have been helping them clear the way.
The silence here is different from that in the city. It may be broken by some dangerous movement at any moment.
· Xiaoyu reminded me: "This area is not bad. Most of the large beasts live in deeper mountains. However, there are a lot of snakes."
· As if to confirm her words, not far away, a gray-brown snake quickly slid into the grass from a stone not far in front of us.
I was about to chop the snake to death, but Xiao Yu just glanced at it lightly: "Cauliflower snake, it's not poisonous."
As the altitude gradually increased, the road became more and more difficult to walk.
In some places, you need to use ropes to climb up slippery rock walls, and in other places, you have to step on dead wood that has fallen on the stream.
Every time like this, I always go over first, make sure it is stable, and then reach out to pick them up one by one.
During a break, Huang Li discovered another rare medicinal plant.
Xiaoyu looked at Huang Li's back and said softly: "Teacher Huang knows so much."
At this moment, from the corner of my eye, I saw the branches of a tree swaying unnaturally behind me.
As an almost instinctive reaction, I stepped in front of Xiao Yu. At the same time, the hunting knife was already half an inch out of its sheath, my body was slightly arched, and I was staring in that direction.
Humbling behind the trees, a pheasant flew out with fluttering wings, cooing and disappearing into the depths of the forest.
I breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, just in time to meet Xiao Yu’s somewhat astonished eyes.
Huang Li's voice broke the brief silence, and she came over with the freshly dug herbs.
Keep walking, at this speed, you should be able to reach the first destination before dark. Xiao Yu seemed to have suddenly come to his senses, stood up quickly, put on his backpack again, his face regained his composure, and once again walked ahead to lead the way.
I clenched the machete in my hand and continued to follow.
The sun began to turn westward, and the light in the forest dimmed significantly.
We walked along a hidden stream for about half an hour, and the light rain finally stopped at a relatively open river beach.
"Let's go here. The terrain is high, close to water sources, and the ground is flat and dry."
I immediately put down my equipment and began to evaluate the camp according to the instinct of a bodyguard.
Behind it is a solid rock wall, which reduces the number of directions to defend.
The view ahead is wide, and the sound of the stream can not only cover up some of our movements, but also interfere with the judgment of potential beasts.
The most important thing is that it avoids flash flood channels and slopes where rocks may fall.
We will divide the work immediately. Xiao Yu is responsible for cleaning up the gravel and broken branches on the ground.
I took out the tent components from my backpack and spliced the tent poles together.
We will adjust accordingly. The tent was quickly set up, a dark green double tent that blended well into the environment.
After checking the equipment, I said with some embarrassment: "Teacher Huang, there is only one tent, and we have to squeeze in for three nights."
Huang Li picked up some firewood and came back: "It's okay."
Her answer was too straightforward, which made the atmosphere subtle.
Lin Xiaoyu’s hand that was packing her backpack paused for a moment and said nothing, seeming to acquiesce.
Supper was very simple. It was fast food. It was not delicious, but it was filling.
I finished eating quickly, got up and added a few thick logs to the fire to ensure that it would burn longer.
"I will keep vigil in the second half of the night, you guys have a good rest." I sat back down.
I finished the last biscuit and said with a little regret: "That cauliflower snake during the day was a pity. If I hadn't been in a hurry and caught it and roasted it, I could have had another meal tonight."
Lin Xiaoyu was stirring the fire with a twig, and said, "Thank you for thinking about it."
"Snake meat is delicate, and it doesn't taste bad after roasting. It can also replenish your physical strength." I feel that in the wild, you eat whatever you encounter, and where does it come from?
At this time, Huang Li had quietly finished her share of food.
Then he took out several plant samples wrapped in oil paper from the specimen bag he carried with him, and opened them one by one to inspect them.
She fiddled with a plant with small lavender flowers: "This day's harvest is not small. The herbal varieties in Shuangyang Mountain are so rich, many of which are hard to see outside."
"Like this one, it has a miraculous effect on bruises and injuries, and it is old enough."
I half-jokingly asked: "Teacher Huang, do you have any herbs that can help enlarge breasts?"
"I don't need that thing." She rolled her eyes at me angrily.
Huang Li chuckled softly and picked out an herb with heart-shaped leaves from the pile of herbs: "This is seven-leaf red ginseng, which is indeed effective in regulating qi and blood."
"However, the effect on those that have fully developed may be limited."
I touched my nose and said, "Teacher Huang, I was just joking."
Lin Xiaoyu’s body proportions are quite good, but naturally she is not as hot as Su Yan and Wang Qiuya.
"You really don't make people worry!" Huang Li put away the samples collected today and walked into the tent.
I came to Shuangyang Mountain this time with only one purpose, which was to find Cynomorium cynomorium and eliminate the side effects on my body.
It's just that Huang Li said before that it is difficult to find Cynomorium cynomorium in Shuangyang Mountain.