After a night's rest in Black Mountain Village, a few strong villagers were already waiting outside Ang Lee's tent at dawn. They obeyed the old man's order and waited for Ang Lee and his group. They were ready to lead Ang Lee and his group into the depths of Black Mountain. This was agreed upon yesterday, so they naturally did not dare to go back on their word.
Ang Lee had already woken up relatively early, but he was very satisfied to see that these villagers had woken up even earlier than Ang Lee.
"Have you all eaten breakfast?"
Ang Lee asked.
"Yes."
Several villagers answered nervously.
There were a total of six villagers. One was a middle-aged man, and the other five were young men. They were all relatively strong. The middle-aged man was the leader mainly because the five young men were too young. He was worried that they would not be able to complete the task well, so he let the middle-aged man lead the way. This way, when they met with explanations, the middle-aged man could be in charge.
Li An wouldn't let the villagers wait for too long. After a simple breakfast, he set off with everyone. Because the roads in the mountains were very bad, everyone dismounted and walked after a short distance. The roads in the mountains were so bad that horses couldn't pass at all. They could only enter the inner part of Black Mountain by walking.
There were a total of six villagers, and Ang Lee and his guards had a total of thirty people, so there was a total of thirty-six people. Because they would be delayed for at least a day, in addition to weapons, they also brought a lot of food and water, and a lot of things to light a fire. Naturally, there was no need to bring fuel. Black Mountain was full of black pine trees, and every black pine tree was good fuel. The pine resin secreted by the black pine trees was very flammable and could be directly ignited with open fire.
Because the villagers entering the mountain were all young people, the mountain roads were not specially maintained. Every section was very difficult to walk on. People with weak legs couldn't walk on such a road at all. These mountain roads were either uphill or downhill. There were very few flat roads. Walking on such a road was very tiring. Fortunately, there were no old people accompanying them. Everyone was young and strong. The middle-aged people were only in their forties. They were very energetic and didn't show signs of physical exhaustion.
When they first entered the mountain, other than the dense black pine trees, there were no traces of prey, not even small prey. After walking for an hour and entering a small valley, they saw some small prey. They were mainly wild rabbits, pheasants, birds, and mice. They were not very valuable and were not easy to catch.
This valley was not big, and there were many tree stumps inside. They were all black pine tree stumps. Obviously, the black pine trees in this valley were all cut down by the villagers of Black Mountain Village, leaving only tree stumps. After cutting down the black pine trees, this valley seemed a little empty. However, in a few decades, this valley would be filled with black pine trees. At present, there were already many pine trees that were half the height of a person slowly growing. When these black pine saplings grew up, this valley would be filled with black pine trees again.
According to the leader of the villagers, the reason why they cut down all the black pine trees in this valley was to prevent a terrible fire. The black pine forest in the Black Mountain was too big. If a fire happened, the consequences would be unimaginable. Even their existence would not be spared.
After cutting down some of the black pine forest, the forest could be divided into several sections. If a fire happened in one section, the other section could still exist. This way, the entire forest would not be burned down because of a fire. This was the experience of the ancestors of Black Mountain Village. It was said that their ancestors had experienced the great fire in the Black Mountain Village. That fire burned down more than half of the black pine forest in the Black Mountain Village. If it was not for the sudden rainstorm, there would not be any black pine forest in the Black Mountain Village, and their ancestors could only move.
The villagers of Black Mountain Village placed great importance on the construction of the fire protection zone in the Black Mountain Village. When they gathered wood, they would deliberately gather along a line. This way, they could separate the black pine forest on both sides and reduce the probability of the black pine forest being burned down by the fire.
After passing through one valley, Ang Lee's group entered another valley. The second valley was much bigger than the first, so naturally, there were more prey inside. However, because there were too many weeds in the valley, most of the prey were hidden. They could only see a portion that was startled.
This place was still considered the periphery of the Black Mountain Village. It was still far from the core of the Black Mountain Village. According to the villagers, in the core of the Black Mountain Village, there was a very scary tiger, the king of all beasts. Therefore, no one in the village dared to go to the core of the Black Mountain Village. They believed that they did not have the means to fight against the tiger. If they rashly went to the core of the Black Mountain Village, it would be an act of seeking death. Even if there were a dozen hunters in a team, they would not dare to provoke the king of all beasts. God knows if there was only one tiger. If there was a group of tigers, they would be in trouble. Of course, there were even more terrifying wolf packs in the depths of the mountain. Although wolves were not as strong as tigers, they had the advantage in numbers. The threat of a pack of wolves to the hunters was not any weaker than a few tigers. If the hunters met a pack of wolves in the mountains, then it would be very dangerous.
The villagers of Black Mountain Village had once encountered a pack of thirty adult wolves in a valley near the core area. At that time, there were only a dozen hunters. Facing the wolf pack that was several times their number, they fought and retreated. When they returned to Black Mountain Village, there were only five people left. More than half of the villagers were bitten to death. From then on, they never dared to go near the core area of Black Mountain Village. It was said that wolves were very territorial. These villagers were mercilessly besieged because they had intruded into the territory of the wolves.
Of course, at that time, these villagers also killed a lot of adult wolves. The loss ratio of the hunters to the wolves was one to two. The hunters died seven or eight, while the wolves lost at least fifteen adult wolves. It could be said that the losses were heavy. At this point, the villagers of the Black Mountain Village and the wolves seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding. The wolves generally did not appear in the periphery of the Black Mountain Village, and the hunters of the Black Mountain Village would not enter the core of the Black Mountain Village. They had formed a de facto well water and river water, and had been peaceful for hundreds of years.
Hearing that Ang Lee wanted to go to the core, the villagers who led the way were very nervous. If they did not agree to Ang Lee's words, they really did not dare. But the people in their village had long reached a tacit understanding with the wolves. If they rashly led into the core, once they angered the wolves, the wolves might retaliate against their villagers. This was not a joke.
"The wolves and tigers in the core are very scary. Let's not go. If we angered them …"
The middle-aged villager who led the way suggested with a nervous face.
Ang Lee knew that the villager was worried and said, "You don't have to worry. In the future, a road will be built here. The entire Black Mountain will be split from the middle, and the valley in the core will also be part of the road. Even a supply station will be built there. Therefore, the valley in the core must be visited. As for the wolves and tigers, they are just stupid creatures. With us here, eliminating all the wolves will not be a problem. You don't have to worry."
Now, Ang Lee had twenty-nine guards by his side. Dealing with mere wild beasts was not a problem at all. As for the wild beasts protecting the people of Black Mountain Village, Ang Lee did not have so many concerns. At least, before the thousand soldiers left, Black Mountain Village was still safe. No wolf would dare to cause trouble under the eyes of the thousand soldiers. This was simply courting death.
The middle-aged villager was very helpless. Before they left, the old man had already warned him to follow Ang Lee's wishes. He could not disobey Ang Lee. After all, the thousand soldiers were at the entrance of the village. If they wanted to destroy this small village, it would be very easy. Moreover, this place was very remote. Even if the entire village was destroyed, outsiders would not know about it. Therefore, the old man naturally did not dare to disobey Ang Lee. He also warned the middle-aged villager to serve Ang Lee well and not to make Ang Lee unhappy.
"Alright! However, the core area is really dangerous. We must not be careless. "
The middle-aged villager said as he led the way in front. The group followed the rugged mountain path and approached the core area of Black Mountain step by step.
Along the way, Ang Lee did not idle. Every time he rested, he would ask the soldiers to draw a map so that they could analyze it carefully when they returned and find the best route to build the road.
The terrain of Black Mountain was very chaotic. There were many valleys, ravines, and streams. The size of the valleys was completely irregular. It was very difficult to build a road in such a terrain. However, no matter how difficult it was, Ang Lee wanted to build the road. This was the century-long plan of the Tang Empire. It must be completed. Only when this railway was built could the Tang Empire have better control over the Indian Sea.
It was not enough to rely on the Maritime Silk Road. There were only sporadic strongholds on the sea, and their control over the route was relatively weak. This was especially true for the Indian Sea, which was too far away from the Tang Empire. It was not easy to firmly control this place. However, when the Tang Empire's railway was connected to the Indian Sea, this situation would completely change. The Tang Empire would firmly control the Indian Sea, and the Indian Sea would completely become the sphere of influence of the Tang Empire. Ang Lee even had the thought of annexing the Pyu. After all, the Pyu was only a small country. The Tang Empire was fully capable of annexing the Pyu. As for the reason to do so, it was easy to find a reason.
Of course, this was only Ang Lee's idea. The people in the imperial court might not agree. They did not seem to have much interest in the Pyu, a barren land in the heart of the Tang Empire. After all, their interests had not yet extended to the Pyu. If there were no interests, they would naturally not be willing to contribute.
Soon, Ang Lee and his party entered a very large valley. This valley was thousands of acres in size. It was a prairie with only a few scattered black pine trees. Herds of prey lived on this prairie. There was a herd of nearly a hundred gazelles and dozens of large water buffaloes. Of course, there were more prey. With so many herbivores, it was natural that a large number of carnivores could be raised.
There were definitely carnivores in this valley. This guess was definitely not wrong. However, carnivores generally hid. If they suddenly appeared, these herbivores would immediately flee. Only by hiding and approaching slowly could they succeed in hunting. Only by hiding and approaching slowly could they succeed in hunting.
As Ang Lee and his party had just entered the valley, their bodies were covered by the tall grass. Therefore, the herbivores in the valley did not act strangely. They were still eating the young grass peacefully, looking very relaxed.
"There are so many prey here, much more than outside."
A villager of Black Mountain Village could not help but say.
It was his first time entering this big valley. He did not expect there to be so many prey in here. This made him very excited.
The middle-aged villager rolled his eyes and whispered, "Don't talk nonsense. Have you forgotten the ancestral teachings? This is the territory of the Beast King. We can't touch the prey here. Otherwise, we will anger the Beast King."
Clearly, the middle-aged villager was very afraid of the Beast King. It seemed that the Beast King was a very terrifying thing. He could not tell whether this Beast King was a tiger or a wolf king. Logically speaking, tigers were much stronger than wolves. The Beast King of Black Mountain should be a tiger. However, their ancestors had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the wolves. This was why they had a tacit understanding. Therefore, the Wolf King should be the Beast King. These questions had always been controversial. As a junior, he could not figure it out. In short, he kept the depths of Black Mountain a secret. If not for Ang Lee's strong request to enter the core area of Black Mountain, he would never have entered.
"Woo woo woo …"
Soon, the howls of the wolves came from the valley. It seemed that the wolves had started to hunt. Ang Lee asked everyone to hide well and not let the wolves find them. This time, Ang Lee's goal was to explore the terrain in preparation for the construction of the railway. It was best to avoid conflict with the wild beasts.
When the howls of the wolves sounded, a group of herbivores who were eating grass immediately fled in all directions. They desperately fled into the surrounding forest, intending to use the terrain of the forest to escape the wolves' encirclement. Among them, a group of more than ten gazelles rushed in the direction of Ang Lee's group. They obviously did not know that there was a group of people here and just crashed into them.
"Assistant Minister Li, this group of gazelles suddenly rushed over. Should we attack? These gazelles must be delicious. "
Chen Long asked with a smile.
Ang Lee smiled and said indifferently, "Do as you see fit! Don't ask me. "
This was equivalent to a tacit consent. Thus, Chen Long naturally would not be polite. He immediately prepared to hunt the gazelles with his soldiers.
Soon, the gazelles bumped into Ang Lee's group. After a burst of crossbow sounds, these gazelles were all hunted down. Not a single one was left. The soldiers did it very cleanly, which stunned several villagers of Heishan Village. They were all good hunters, but they believed that there was a huge gap between them and these soldiers of the Tang dynasty. This was a blow to their self-confidence.
After the flock of sheep was killed, a few wolves appeared in front of him. Naturally, Chen Long would not let them go. He killed all of them, not leaving a single one behind. Although the wolf meat was not delicious, the wolf skin could be sold for money.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
