Early in the morning, the surroundings were still noisy with the chirping of birds. However, it was completely different from the sounds at night. The chirping of birds in the morning was very crisp and made people feel very comfortable. At night, they heard the howling of wolves and the mournful cries of night owls. The difference was not ordinary.
"Two orioles are singing in the green willows, and a group of egrets are flying in the sky. The sound of orioles is really nice, much better than the howling of wolves and night owls last night."
Ang Lee said.
The sound of orioles was very crisp and comfortable. There were traces of orioles in many areas of the Tang dynasty, and the sound of orioles was very easy to distinguish. For people who knew and had seen orioles, they could immediately distinguish them as long as they heard the sound of orioles.
As a medium-sized bird, the yellow oriole's head was relatively large, and its mouth was relatively long and thick. Of course, the yellow oriole's mouth was not a real mouth, but a beak. It was about as long as its head. The tip of its wings was long, and its tail was short and round. Its tarsus was short and weak. Its body feathers were bright and beautiful. Most of them were a combination of yellow, red, and black. The female and young birds had more stripes.
Orioles liked to rest on tall trees, eating insects and berries as their staple food. Their chirping was very loud and pleasant. They would weave bowl-shaped nests between the horizontal branches and lay three to five eggs, which were mainly incubated by the female. The incubation period was about half a month, and the fledging period was about the same. They were distributed in areas with relatively warm and slightly hot temperatures.
As a resident bird, the oriole did not migrate. It would always stay in one place and go out to look for food all year round. In winter, when it was difficult to find food in nature, the oriole would approach human settlements to find some food that could satisfy its hunger. This was because the oriole ate insects, and many insects were abominable pests to humans. Therefore, the farmers liked the oriole very much. As long as they were not hungry, they would not hunt the oriole.
Of course, the farmers here referred to the farmers who grew food, not the farmers who grew fruit trees. This was because other than eating pests, the orioles also liked to eat berries. Not only did they eat wild berries, but they would also not let go of human orchards. Therefore, the farmers who grew fruit trees did not like the orioles. They would place scarecrows in the orchards to scare the orioles. There were also some who were more extreme. They would place nets on the fruit trees. Once the orioles fell into the net, it would be difficult for them to break free.
When it came to eating insects, the oriole was a beneficial bird. However, when it came to eating fruit from orchards, the oriole was not a beneficial bird. However, since ancient times, most of the people planted crops. There were very few fruit farmers. The people hated pests. As for the oriole eating fruit from orchards, it was not often encountered. If there was a lack of food, people would starve to death. However, if there was a lack of fruit, it was not a big problem. An empire could collapse because of a lack of food, but there would not be a big disadvantage because of a lack of fruit. Therefore, in general, the oriole could be regarded as a beneficial bird.
.......... but where........... There didn't seem to be any willow trees in this sinkhole! Egrets don't have them either! "
Chen Long said.
This guy was sometimes a little brainless. Ang Lee was reciting a poem, and this guy actually thought that Ang Lee saw willows and egrets. This was either stupid or stupid. Therefore, it was sometimes awkward to chat with uncultured people.
"There are no willows and egrets! I'm reciting a poem! "
Ang Lee said snappily.
"Oh, so Assistant Minister Li is reciting a poem! Haha! I thought there were willows and egrets nearby. "
Chen Long smiled awkwardly.
Breakfast was being prepared. A portion of the soldiers and the people of the Zhan tribe had already gone to the vicinity to hunt and gather. According to Li An's request, they did not casually hunt prey, especially large prey such as deer, which were relatively rare. They completely gave up on hunting. After all, there was only so much prey in the sinkhole. If they hunted in large batches, it would lead to the extinction of many species of prey in the sinkhole. If they really went extinct, the loss would be too great. The people of the Zhan tribe would no longer be able to hunt these prey in the future. Wouldn't that be a great loss?
These guys went out at dawn. As long as they smelled the aroma of meat, they would definitely return. Not long after the aroma of meat emerged, the people who went out returned to the vicinity of the camp.
"Oh, the harvest is not bad! There are so many harvests. What are all these? Let this official take a good look. "
Ang Lee saw that the soldiers and Zhan people had brought back a lot of prey. There were wild hares, pheasants, and some wild birds. There were also a lot of Fairy Grass and other medicinal herbs. In short, it could be considered a fruitful return.
"Not bad! This hare is fat. It's at least three jin. "
Ang Lee picked up a fat hare and said.
The best prey at the bottom of the sinkhole was probably the hare. The hare's reproductive ability was extremely strong, similar to that of rats. There were also many rats here, but no one was willing to eat rats. Therefore, they were naturally more willing to hunt the hare and leave the rats for the night owls.
"Such a beautiful bird should be an oriole. That's right, it's an oriole."
Ang Lee found a yellow bird and quickly determined the species of this yellow bird. It was an oriole, which was the oriole that Ang Lee had just mentioned. Orioles and orioles were the same type of bird. It was just that the names were different. Of course, because orioles had several branches, some people would think that orioles and orioles were not the same type of bird.
This was just like the chickens raised at home. They were divided into black chickens, grass chickens, meat chickens, and so on. However, they all belonged to the chicken species. Orioles and orioles also had this meaning. From the appearance, orioles also had a few types of slightly different appearances. Among them, orioles that were completely golden in color were called authentic orioles, also known as metal orioles. As for orioles with black feathers, they were called black-naped orioles. Many people also thought of them as orioles, thus distinguishing them from the golden orioles.
To put it simply, the golden orioles were called orioles, and in order to distinguish them, the black-naped orioles were called orioles. In this way, there was a very good distinction and it was not so easy to confuse.
The yellow oriole, also known as the black-naped oriole, had mostly golden feathers on the head and upper and lower body of the male bird. Its lower back was slightly green, greenish-yellow in color. Its waist and tail were covered with lemon yellow feathers. Its forehead and eyes were black at the beginning and extended through the eyes and ears to the back of the pillow. Its two sides were connected to the back of the pillow to form a wide black band around the top of the head. Its pillow was especially wide. Both wings were black. The outer and tip of the wings were yellow, and the inner feathers were mostly black. The smaller wings were black. The primary feathers were black, and the outer feathers were black. The outer feathers of the wings were yellow. The outer feathers of the Fei Yu were black. Except for the first elementary Fei Yu, the outer feathers of the Fei Yu were yellowish-white or yellow. The outer feathers of the secondary Fei Yu were black with wide yellow feathers. The outer feathers of the tertiary Fei Yu were yellow. The tail was black. Except for the pair of tail feathers in the middle, the rest of the tail feathers had wide yellow end spots. The yellow end spots on the outer feathers were larger.
The feathers of the female and male birds were similar, but the female was not as bright as the male. The feathers were darker, and the back was greenish-green. The young birds were similar to the female. The upper body was yellowish-green, the lower body was yellowish-white, and the lower body was yellowish-white. The entire lower body was black with dry lines. The mouth was as long as the head and was thicker. The tip of the mouth was slightly curved downwards. The upper tip of the mouth was slightly notched, and the beak was thin and short. The nostrils were exposed and covered with a membrane. The tips of the wings were long.
The black-naped oriole, like the golden oriole, liked to rest on tall trees. This way, at least the beasts on the ground would not be a threat to them. However, they had to be vigilant against threats from the air. There were many carnivorous birds, and the black-naped oriole was the food of these carnivorous birds. It was normal to find and kill them.
During the breeding period, they liked to hide in the branches and leaves of the tree canopy and sing. Their song was clear and melodious, and they could change their tone and imitate the song of other birds. They sang most frequently in the early morning. Sometimes they sang while flying, which was very pleasant to hear.
"They are all small prey, but there are enough of them. We don't have to worry about lunch."
Chen Long said.
Breakfast was soon ready. Except for Ang Lee, who had a special stove, the others could only eat meat and broth. For them, such a delicious meal was very good. Ang Lee's special stove mainly consisted of fresh vegetables, which were specially sent down from above. There was also a bowl of hot milk, which was produced by the Zhan family's cow.
After eating and drinking, Ang Lee and the others followed the stream and walked upstream step by step. There were no fish or prawns in the stream, only clean cold water.
Because there were broken stones on both sides of the stream, there were no trees or grass. As long as they walked along these stones, they would not encounter any obstacles and could smoothly walk all the way to the upstream of the stream.
The distance of five hundred meters was not far, but because the stream was winding, the actual distance was more than five hundred meters. In addition, there were round stones under their feet, so the road was not so easy to walk on. Therefore, the speed of their progress was naturally greatly affected. It took them a long time to walk such a short distance.
"Assistant Minister Li, I didn't expect there to be a cave in front of us."
After making a big turn, Ang Lee and the others saw a cave, and the water of the stream flowed out from this cave.
The entrance of this cave was not small. Its height was twice as high as a person's height, and its width allowed five people to walk side by side. It was not a small cave.
Only a small cave was found downstream, but a large cave was found upstream. This made Ang Lee somewhat overjoyed. As long as they entered this cave and explored it, they would definitely gain a lot.
"Such a large cave, we must go in and take a look!"
Ang Lee said without hesitation.
However, there was definitely no light in the cave, so before entering, they must prepare a torch. Although Ang Lee had a flashlight, when he came down, he only brought two. Now that there were so many people, he had to prepare more torches.
Some people stayed outside to prepare the torches, while Ang Lee and a small group of people went in first and saw the scene inside.
As soon as they entered the cave, Ang Lee suddenly felt a chill. The temperature in the cave was at least five or six degrees colder than outside, and it would make the body feel obvious. Moreover, according to Ang Lee's prediction, it was likely that the deeper they went, the colder it would be.
"Hey, why are there stone tables, stone stools, stone beds, and there are also words on the cave wall. Let's see what they are."
Chen Long walked in and said.
At the entrance of the cave, there were indeed stone tables and stools. A little further in, there was even a bed made of stone. This was completely man-made and definitely not natural. This was enough to show that this cave was once inhabited by people. The words on the cave wall proved this point even more.
"For life, never to be separated. The latter part can't be seen clearly."
"Zhan Xiong, Lang Hua, what does this mean?"
Ang Lee said.
A Zhan Clan member at the side said, "Zhan Xiong is our Zhan Clan's ancestor, the eldest son of the first clan leader. Lang Hua is the daughter of the Lang Clan, but her status is lowly …"
It turned out that this was a tragic love story. A rich second generation took a fancy to Cinderella, but the parents of the rich second generation did not agree. Therefore, the two of them jumped into the crater and died together. The clan leader was very sad, so he made a rule that no one was allowed to enter the crater to avoid disturbing his son.
This story had been circulating in the Zhan Clan for a long time, but at this moment, the people of the Zhan Clan had already discovered that this story was wrong. This cave was enough to prove that Zhan Xiong and Lang Hua did not die together, but lived quietly in this paradise.
"Sigh, what a tragic love story! Although the two lovers were trapped in the crater for life, they were finally married. "
Ang Lee sighed.
The two of them were clearly living in the crater, but why did the legend of the Zhan Clan say that they jumped into the crater to commit suicide? Perhaps they had quietly entered the crater without being discovered, so people guessed that they might have jumped in, or perhaps someone saw the two of them jumping into the crater. However, the crater at that time was even more dangerous than it was now. Apart from the strong Zhan Xiong, who could go down smoothly, ordinary people could not go down at all. Perhaps Zhan Xiong's father could not dissuade his son, but he could not ignore the clan rules, so he deliberately let them live in seclusion in the crater. These were all guesses. What exactly happened, perhaps only those people from back then knew best. The words on the cave wall were too simple, and could not explain what exactly happened back then.
"Living in this crater for a lifetime, listening to the sounds of birds every day, accompanied by trees and flowers, it would be a happy and harmonious life!"
Ang Lee said.
Chen Long shook his head and said, "Three to five days is fine, but if you are trapped in this crater for a lifetime, you will suffocate to death."
The people outside quickly prepared enough torches. In addition to the lit torches, there were also some spare torches. After all, no one knew how far they could go in this cave. There was nothing wrong with preparing more torches.
"Let's go, let's continue to walk in and see where this cave leads to."
Ang Lee ordered.
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