"Gentlemen, this is the Rabbit Path."
Du Yu and the old man looked in the direction the villager pointed, but that was no "path." It was clearly a "crack."
A tiny fissure ran between the mountain walls. It clearly led outside, but the opening was far too small. Even a slightly larger rabbit could not squeeze through, let alone a person.
"Uncle, looks like I made a mistake. We still can't get out."
Du Yu knew the only tool they had available was the carrying pole beside the old man, but trying to chisel through the rock and carve out a passage with it would be a real-life version of "the foolish old man moving the mountains."
Before Du Yu could say anything, the old man spoke again. "All right, friend, I got it. You can go."
The villager nodded and said, "In that case, I'll go look for that 'water monster.' I look forward to your next visit."
Watching the villager walk away, Du Yu turned and asked, "Uncle, do you have a way to 'split the mountain'?"
The old man smiled and replied, "Ah, each generation really is worse than the last. Breaking rocks is just everyday knowledge. Don't the elders in your family teach you that anymore?"
"Everyday knowledge..." Du Yu gave a wry smile. The old man would never believe him even if he explained. Where Du Yu came from, everyday knowledge meant computers, smartphones, driver's licenses, Chinese, math, and English, along with moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and practical education. Whose elders taught children how to "break rocks with their bare hands" these days?
As the times advanced, this no longer counted as "common knowledge." It counted as a "special skill."
The old man searched around, found two black stones, gathered plenty of dry grass and