Grandpa Mountain God?
Hearing the words of a fellow villager, our group of people only laughed.
The people Chief Liu had gathered this time were not simple. They were either retired special forces soldiers or Daoist priests with profound cultivation like Zhao Yongkun. No one would believe that the Grandpa Mountain God that these villagers were talking about was some kind of god.
Tang Mingyang smiled and gave the fellow villager a cigarette. Then, he asked, "Brother, the Grandpa Mountain God you're talking about, could it be the Shennongjia barbarians that people have been talking about?"
Tang Mingyang's words were not steady and sounded like he was making fun of them. The young villager's son angrily glared at Tang Mingyang, but the villager didn't seem to care. He continued to blabber, "What barbarians? I've never seen them before. Grandpa Mountain God isn't a human, he's a god. You guys look like you have a lot of people, but if you dare to offend Grandpa Mountain God, I'm afraid you won't even have enough to eat."
When he said that, Tang Mingyang became even happier. He looked pleasantly surprised. "Are you talking about a tiger?"
Looking at his expression, his eyes were shining. He was probably thinking about entering the mountain to catch a tiger and eat its penis.
This time, the good-tempered villager finally pulled a long face. "Why don't you guys listen to me?
We villagers don't know much, but we wouldn't think that a tiger is Grandpa Mountain God.
Don't think that I'm kidding you. In the early days, when there were bandits, a team of a hundred people, each carrying a gun, entered Decapitation Gorge and not a single one escaped.
A tiger can't eat so many people. "
The smile on Tang Mingyang's face disappeared. A team of over a hundred armed bandits was not a small fight. It was definitely much stronger than the less than ten retired special forces soldiers in our group. If what the fellow villager said was true, then this "Grandpa Mountain God" that he was talking about really couldn't be underestimated.
Chief Liu was also a little worried. Zhao Yongkun, who was standing not far from him, asked, "Chairman Zhao, what do you think this Grandpa Mountain God they're talking about is?"
Zhao Yongkun waved his hand carelessly and said, "The foolish people in the countryside can even call Yellow Skin Immortal Huang. This Grandpa Mountain God is probably just a wild spirit from the old forest. There's nothing to worry about. If we really meet him, we'll just get rid of him."
While talking, Zhao Yongkun didn't lower his voice. Not only did I hear him, but the father and son also heard him.
The young man with the bandage on his arm said angrily, "Dad, let's go. Why are you talking to them so much? They can't even cross the river. Even if they want to die, Grandpa Mountain God won't accept them."
The old man put his basket back on his back and looked like he was about to leave. However, after taking two steps, he turned around and said in a serious tone, "You city people, listen to my advice. Don't play around by the river. Once it gets dark, go back. Don't talk about the Decapitation Gorge. Just this river is dangerous enough. You won't be able to cross it."
Originally, we found the father and son to ask about crossing the river. The so-called "Grandpa Mountain God" could be treated as a joke, but crossing the river was a matter in front of us. We couldn't joke about it.
Hearing the father and son say that we can't cross the river, Chief Liu couldn't sit still anymore. He quickly walked over and stopped the fellow villager who was about to leave. Without saying anything, he stuffed a stack of money into his hand and politely asked about the dangers of the river.
Money could move the gods. The father and son, who originally had a bad expression on their faces, were now much more amiable. The young man was busy counting the money while the old man said, "You're quite knowledgeable, unlike them who only know how to talk big."
Then, he glanced at Zhao Yongkun. Zhao Yongkun was enraged. However, Chief Liu was asking him questions, so he couldn't do anything. His face turned green.
"The people in our village call this river the Yellow Spring.
Why is it called that?
Because the water is strange. This river isn't very long, only twenty to thirty li long. However, the upper part of the river flows out from the karst cave underground. The lower part flows into the karst cave and flows out from underground. Then, it flows back underground. Isn't this the Yellow Spring in the netherworld? "
Wasn't this just a river formed by underground water flowing outside? Although this situation wasn't common, it was a little far-fetched to say that it was the Yellow Spring.
Chief Liu obviously understood this. However, as a person in the business world, he naturally wouldn't be so direct with this father and son. Instead, he chuckled and echoed. Then, he asked, "Since it's called the Yellow Spring, I'm afraid that's not the only reason, right?"
"Yeah!"
The old villager nodded. "Of course it's not the only reason. What's even more strange is that we always see dead people in this river … Every first and fifteenth day, there will always be a lot of corpses floating in this river from upstream. They float all the way until they finally enter the karst cave downstream. If this isn't the Yellow Spring, then what is it?"
This time, no one thought that the old villager was talking nonsense. Thinking about the scene of the corpses floating in the river, they felt a little scared.
Moreover, today was the fifteenth day. Could it be that there would be corpses floating in today?
Everyone couldn't help but look back at the river, but they didn't see anything.
Chief Liu asked again, "Why are there so many corpses in the river? Did someone die nearby or something?"
The old villager shook his head. "Who knows? This is deep in the mountains and forests. The villagers live a few miles away from here. Even if someone died, they wouldn't be sent here. The elders in the village all say that this river leads to the underworld. The corpses floating in from upstream are all wandering ghosts rushing to the underworld to be reincarnated."
After listening to him say this, everyone was silent for a while. Finally, Tang Mingyang asked again, "Then, if people swim in this river, will anything happen?"
The old villager waved his hand and said that he didn't know. "The people in our village have seen corpses floating in the river since young. Even if they were crazy, they wouldn't swim in it."
They originally wanted to find a guide, but after asking about the situation, it became even more difficult.
The river wasn't long, but it was dozens of miles long. Moreover, there were mountains on both sides of the river. If we took a detour, we would have to go around the river for dozens of miles. Then, we would have to go to the mountains on both sides. Who knew if there would be other dangers waiting for us in the deep forest?
Seeing our hesitant faces, the young man, who looked around seventeen or eighteen years old, wanted to say something. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, the old villager scolded him and made him shut his mouth.
After scolding his son, the old villager said goodbye to us and hurried to take his son back in the direction they had come from.
As soon as they left, Chief Liu called for us. "We need to discuss what we should do."
After a few minutes, we reached an agreement. "Swim across the river."
The old villager's words sounded strange, but the people in our team didn't believe in it. Or, they believed in it, but they weren't afraid of it. At most, there would be corpses floating in the river. At most, we would be careful not to drink the river water. What else could we do?
I didn't have any objections. We had just set out not long ago, and we couldn't let this river scare us.
After making the decision, Fan Zhichao waved his hand and called a young man surnamed He. He took out two coils of rock-climbing rope and tied them to a big rock by the shore. Then, he tied one rope to Xiao He's waist as a safety rope, while he held the other one in his hand.
After everything was done, Xiao He didn't seem to be stingy. He smiled at us and jumped into the river. He then swam to the other side.
The retired soldiers in the group could swim easily, but the rest of us couldn't. That was why we had to get someone to pull a rope to the other side of the river. That way, those of us who couldn't swim well could hold onto the rope and walk forward safely.
Of course, the most important thing was to find someone to check if there were any dangers lurking in the river.
When Xiao He swam, we watched him nervously. He swam left and right, then plunged into the water for half a minute. Everything was normal. We didn't see anything strange.
We finally calmed down. Xiao He gave us an 'OK' gesture. Then, he pointed at the other side of the river and swam toward the other side.
The river was around forty meters wide. Moreover, the weather was good, so we could see the situation on the other side of the river, let alone Xiao He in the river. We could clearly see each of his movements.
Seeing that Xiao He was only seven or eight meters away from the other side of the river, we all heaved a sigh of relief.
However, right at this moment, Xiao He suddenly sank. The river bubbled twice, then calmed down.
At first, we thought that Xiao He had plunged into the water and was ready to swim to the other side. However, after waiting for a minute, we still didn't see him.
Fan Zhichao's face changed. He hurried to pull the two ropes.