"Is this a road?" At Huang Xiao's words, Jiang Liuli swiftly lashed out with her sword several times, clearing away the brambles, bushes, and weeds for nearly a hundred feet ahead.
"It really is a road. These stones couldn't have arranged themselves naturally. Someone must have laid them. Ah, there are stone slabs over there too! This was definitely made by human hands. Look, there are even traces of polishing on them," Zhangsun Youyue said in delighted surprise.
Only a small patch had been exposed before, making it hard to tell, but now that they had cleared a hundred-foot stretch, they could see a mountain path paved with stones and slabs.
"Zhangsun Youyue, what are you so happy about?" Jiang Liuli said. "What's there to celebrate? Even if it is a road, who knows how long it's been abandoned? Whether those people are even alive is another question."
"That's true." This time, Zhangsun Youyue did not bicker with Jiang Liuli.
"Let's follow this road. Perhaps we can find some traces left by those who came before us," Huang Xiao said.
So Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue took turns clearing the way. In places, the road had become indistinct with age, and they had to search back and forth several times before finally finding the right direction.
A day passed just like that. That night, the three found a somewhat open spot at random and rested for a while.
The next day, they continued clearing their way forward.
After they passed through a dense thicket, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a valley ahead. It was not large, appearing to span only a few dozen li.
There would ordinarily have been nothing remarkable about such a valley; places like this were common deep in the mountains.
What stirred their excitement, however,