Aspirations

Chapter 5
It was almost noon, the sun was shining on the earth, the mountains in the distance were like daisies and water and smoke, looking around, there was still a vast expanse, with no end in sight.

Xia Xiang put on a tent with his hands, and stood on the top of a mountain. In his sight, he could only see the waves and peaks of the mountains, layer upon layer, endless mountains stretching to the horizon.

He had been walking in the mountains all day and night, but he had brought enough dry food and water. Xia Xiang was just a little tired and had no worries about his life.What only worried him was that he still couldn't remember the path at the beginning, and he went around, but he couldn't get out of the maze-like mountain.

Does it have to be trapped to death in the mountains?
Xia Xiang didn't bring much dry food with him, so he traveled in a hurry. His mother only prepared enough for two days. In other words, if he couldn't get out of the mountains in one day, he would starve to death in the mountains and become a lonely ghost.

Xia Xiang knew in his heart that he could not die before leaving the school. If he went to Beijing to take the exam before, one was for his fame, the other was to serve the court, and the third was to serve the people of Li. Now he has another heavy responsibility - for the sake of Xia and Xia. .

Xia Lai Xia Qu's life and death are uncertain, although he couldn't bear it, but he was powerless.The life that had been peaceful for more than ten years was disrupted by one dynasty, and in one day he faced the life and death of Li Dingshan and the death of his two brothers Xia Lai and Xia Qu. It's a bit unacceptable.

Xia Xiang had no father since he was a child, and grew up with his mother. In spite of his tenacity, he has an indomitable spirit of perseverance, never admit defeat or compromise.In addition, when I was a child, I was naughty and active. I went up the mountain, down the river, climbed the mountain and the trees. I was lively and active, and I developed a strong body.Now trapped in the mountains, if it was someone else, maybe it was already hopeless.He never had the idea of ​​giving up, and was still trying to find a way out with memory.

"It's noon now, the sun is in the south, my back is to the sun, and I should be heading north all the way. Lingshou County is in the northeast of the village, yes, I am heading northeast, and there is still a road under my feet, why I still don't see it. People?"

"Last time, I remembered walking with the old sheep-herding man Xia Laozhong. After walking for about three hours, I left the mountain ridge. I saw the official road. What kind of evil did I do today? The ghost hit the wall?"

"Xia Xiang, what nonsense are you talking about? You are reading the book of sages and sages, how can you be so weird? Hugh is so gibberish, not to mention the blue sky and the bright sun, where can there be ghosts?"

Xia Xiang was talking to himself alone, his voice drifted in the empty mountains, and when the wind blew it, it dissipated in a blink of an eye.It's also because he is too lonely, and he feels like there is no life between heaven and earth when he doesn't speak.

"Let me think about where something went wrong. There is no deviation in the direction. Then there is no doubt that the problem lies in the cliff where Xia Lai and Xia Qu went missing last night. Could it be that the branch road on the cliff made people deviate from the original mountain? The situation fluctuates. From one mountain to another, it may be only a few dozen steps away, but starting from different mountains, the direction is the same, and the distance will be farther and farther. The so-called difference is a thousand miles. It must be .”

After thinking about this section, Xia Xiang stood under a locust tree, thought about it, and made a bold decision - to return to the original road.

Success or failure is in this one action, no, life and death are in this one action, Xia Xiang gritted his teeth, fought hard, put it to death and then lived, there is no way out.He knitted a hat from a branch and put it on his head. His clothes were tattered, and the package on his back was covered in scars. If anyone saw him in a state of embarrassment at the moment, his face would change with fright, thinking he was some kind of savage.

After spending more than half a day, Xia Xiang finally returned to the cliff.Before it got dark, he turned around the cliff for half an hour, and finally found the problem - there was a very hidden fork in the road, one was facing the northeast and the other was facing the northwest.Not to mention that it was night, even during the day, if you were not careful, you would go down the road in the northeast direction.

Xia Xiang sat heavily on the ground and rolled in the grass, then turned over and jumped up, laughing: "Understood, understood, haha, haste is not enough, when it's time to detour, you must It is not necessarily a bad thing to go around the distance and seek the distance..."

In the middle of the night, when Xia Xiang was so tired that he was almost collapsed, he dragged his heavy legs and walked slowly to the bottom of a towering tree with the thickness of two people. "Brother Shu, it's great to see you. It's the first time I've found out that you are so stalwart, tall and straight, so outstanding."

He and Xia Laozhong also passed by this tree last time, and there is a small road going down the mountain a few dozen steps ahead. After going down the mountain, it is the official road leading directly to Lingshou County.

Excited, Xia Xiang jumped up and climbed the tree with both hands and feet.In the distance, under the moonlight, among the mountains, is a sparkling river, which is the Hutuo River that flows through Zhongshan Village West all the way to the east to Lingshou County.

"That's great." Xia Xiang cheered and was so excited that he almost fell from the tree. He laughed, grabbed a thick branch with both hands, swung it hard, and floated forward like a bird several meters away. As soon as the hand was released, the man fell to the ground.

As soon as I landed, I suddenly noticed something was wrong, as if in the twilight forest, above the desolate wilderness, there were a pair of peeping eyes in the dark depths.Xia Xiangcai was also fortunate that in addition to fatigue and hunger, he did not encounter tiger and wolf poisonous insects along the way - there are almost no poisonous snakes and poisonous insects in the northern mountains - unthinkable, when he saw that he was about to escape from life, he was very Had the unfortunate encounter with a tiger?

The reason why the road in the east of the village is inaccessible is that it is rugged and difficult to navigate, and that tigers and wolves are common.For decades, no less than a dozen villagers in Zhongshan Village were bitten to death by tigers and wolves.Although it is not much, it also makes the villagers talk about it.In recent years, there have been fewer incidents of tigers and wolves hurting people, but Xia Xiang still remembers it.It's just that things were urgent and they couldn't take care of much.

Dangerous aura came from a few meters behind him.

Xia Xiang reached out and grabbed a stone from the ground. One turned and hid behind the tree. If it was a tiger or wolf, he could climb up the tree to avoid it.

"I planted this mountain and planted this tree. If you want to..."

Before Xia Xiang stood firm, a muffled sound sounded a few feet away, and with a rustling sound, a strong black figure appeared in his sight.

"Who is it?" Xia Xiang was quite surprised. Upon closer inspection, a black figure more than ten feet tall was standing under the tree.He was dressed in black, with a mace in his left hand, a giant axe in his right hand, and a beard on his face.

Not only is he much taller than Xia Xiang, but his body size is also more than double.The previous stop, like a hill, has the effect of defeating the enemy without fighting, under the backdrop of the gloomy and dark surroundings.

Not to mention, Xia Xiang was really frightened when he first saw it.Just because the opponent's people are tall and big, he has already stood in an invincible position without doing anything.I did not encounter tigers and wolves, but encountered robbers.His first thought was that if he had to choose between a wolf and the robber in front of him, he would rather choose the wolf.

Another thought, no, there seems to be something wrong with the robber's opening statement just now, Xia Xiang thought for a while, and almost laughed, I planted this mountain, and I planted this tree. Plant it right.This robber is too careless and careless in doing things.

"I planted this mountain and opened this tree. If you want to..." Heiying raised the mace in his left hand and scratched his head, "You, what are the last two sentences? I forgot."

A strong man with a height of more than ten feet, holding a mace in his hand like a wooden stick, scratching his head, it is really funny.

Xia Xiang's sense of panic subsided a little, and he took a bold step forward: "Who are you? Picking firewood, releasing animals, farming, reading, doing business, there are so many good jobs that you don't do, why are you a robber?"

"Why so much nonsense? I'm asking you, 'I planted this mountain and I opened this tree,' what's behind the words?" The strong man shook the giant axe in his hand, and the blade of the giant axe shone coldly in the moonlight, "Quickly Say, let’s not say that Lao Tzu slashed you with an axe.”

"Okay, okay, I'll say it, I'll say it. I'll say a word, you learn it." Xia Xiang smiled secretly, and he felt a lot more confident and no longer panicked, "I opened this mountain, and I planted this tree. Cross this road and leave behind to buy road money."

The strong man tilted his head for a while and scratched his head with an axe: "I planted this mountain and opened this tree. If you want to cross this road, leave a load of firewood."

"It's wrong, it's wrong again." Xia Xiang wanted to laugh again, and he seriously corrected the strong man, "It's 'I drive this mountain', not 'I plant this mountain', how can a mountain be planted?"

"I will plant it if I want, but I won't open it if I don't want to. I want you to take care of it?" The strong man waved the mace in his hand a few times, "I planted this mountain, and I planted this tree. Your fortune."

Xia Xiang was no longer afraid at this time, and said with a smile: "I opened this mountain, and I planted this tree. If you want to cross this road, stay and buy road money. If you dare to say nothing, go forward and grab your head. Die in In the deserted suburbs, Guanzai does not care to bury it. Send it to Wangxiangtai, and you will never come back."

"Why is it getting longer again? What's wrong? I just learned four sentences by heart, and now it's ten sentences, so I can't let people live?" Come over, "Dare to play with Lao Tzu? Lao Tzu hacked you!"

Xia Xiang did not panic, instead of retreating, he stepped forward.The strong man was more than two heads taller than him. In front of the strong man, he was like a seven- or eight-year-old child.I saw him marching forward bravely, without any fear, when he saw that he was in close contact with the strong man, he suddenly bent over and kicked the strong man's right leg.

Xia Xiang's right leg kicked on the strong man's right leg, just like a human leg kicked an elephant's leg, like a clam and a mayfly shaking a tree.Anyone who sees it will feel that Xia Xiang's move will not only be useless, but will also end badly.

However, a stunned scene happened - Xia Xiang's right leg kicked in, the strong man was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that he was successfully attacked by Xia Xiang, and then he opened his mouth in horror and let out a pathetic cry. Shouting: "It's impossible!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his right leg as thick as a big tree was broken by Xia Xiang's light kick like a chopstick. He suddenly lost his balance and grabbed his hands, but it didn't help, and then he fell to the ground. With a thud, it sounded like thunder.

Xia Xiang succeeded in one hit, jumped up, clapped both hands, laughed, flew forward, picked up the mace and the axe of the strong man, and with a light touch, the mace and the axe were torn apart.He didn't stop, and he kicked the strong man's left leg again. What was extremely terrifying was that Xia Xiang actually kicked half of the strong man's left leg.

"You, you, who the hell are you?" The strong man rolled on the ground, screamed, ripped off his clothes, and jumped up from the ground, "How did you see that? My disguise? It's impossible!"

After the strong man stood up again, his height was almost the same as that of Xia Xiang, no, he was slightly shorter.The clothes on his body are gone, and the person has lost more than three laps in size, and his body shape is far less tall than before.

Looking at it again, he was also eighteen or nineteen years old, similar to Xia Xiang's age.

Xia Xiang threw the mace and axe in his hands to the ground, stepped on it with one foot, and laughed: "You stepped on stilts and wore large clothes, so you wanted to pretend to be a fighter? If you were three points shorter, maybe one size up. You can really deceive me, but unfortunately your performance is too exaggerated, and drawing a tiger is not an anti-dog. Your biggest mistake is the mace and axe made of paper. How can anyone scratch their head with a mace and an axe? Are you a fool? Also, you are so tall and heavy, you walk silently, you are not a tiger, you have pads on your claws..."

The majesty of the strong man before was completely gone, and he wanted to cry without tears: "I fell down when I debuted for the first time. How can I be a robber in the future? How can I live if I don't become a robber? I can't read or farm except for robbery. A dead end."

No, it's your first debut?Instead, Xia Xiang was embarrassed, thinking that you don't even know how to rob Dao, you are really cute and stupid, so he stepped forward and bowed his hands: "It turns out that my dear brother is the first time to rob Dao, I was abrupt, it shouldn't be like this, My dear brother, please forgive me."

As soon as Xia Xiang was polite, the strong man was overwhelmed, and clasped his fists to return the salute: "Xia Xiaowu, Lingshou Xiaoguo Douren. His family was poor and his parents died when he was a child, so he had to live in his brother's and sister-in-law's house to make ends meet. It started well. After a long time, my brother thought that my sister-in-law was annoying, and because I was only allowed to live in a firewood house, which was unbearable, so I had to go out to make a living. I just didn't have any skills, I couldn't grow fields, couldn't catch firewood, couldn't kill people, couldn't set fire, so I had to come. Be a robber. But I don't dare to hurt people. After thinking about it, I came up with a way to pretend to be a ghost. I waited here for three days and three nights, and I finally waited for a person. I'm really ashamed of being defeated."

(End of this chapter)