It's not bright yet, and the mountains are filled with gray mist.
The convoy was packed up. The snake carcass was pushed into the valley next to it. The blood stains were roughly covered with soil, but the smell of blood still lingered. Five warm jade carts led the way, two baggage carts followed, and twelve horses lined up in a long line. There was a soft sound of the guards' scabbards rubbing against their leather armor. No one spoke, only heavy breathing mixed with the sound of horse hooves trampling on the stone.
Yang Scarface led the way, pushing aside the vines to reveal the crack in the mountain.
The gap is extremely narrow, only one car can pass through. The stone walls on both sides are slippery and covered with thick dark green moss. Looking up, the rock walls are shrinking inward, leaving a line of gray and white light. The wind passes through the gap, making a low moan.
"Follow closely." Yang Scarface turned around, the scars on his face dimmed in the morning light, "One by one, don't fall behind."
The convoy slowly moved into the crevices of the mountain.
Qin Tiexin walked last. He was tall and tall, and his shoulders almost brushed the rock wall when he entered the gap. The stone surface was cold and the moss was wet and greasy. The gravel under his feet was as jagged as a fist, and the horse would slip from time to time when he stepped on it. He stretched out his hand to hold the rear rail of the baggage car - the car was struggling to squeeze through the narrow place, and the wheel hub rubbed against the rock wall, making a harsh squeaking sound.
After walking for about half a quarter of an hour, the gap gradually widened and turned into a small intestine trail.
The trail was dug close to the mountainside and was no more than ten feet wide. There was a steep rock wall on the left and a deep valley on the right. The mist at the bottom of the valley was rolling and there was no bottom. Weathered gravel was scattered on the road. When horses stepped on it, the gravel rolled down the edge of the cliff with a crashing sound. After a long time, there was a very faint sound of falling to the bottom.
"Slow down!" Yang Scarface yelled, "Keep to the left!"
The convoy clung to the rock wall and moved slowly.
The Nuanyu cart is good, with a light body and narrow wheels. The baggage cart is heavy, loaded with boxes and cages, and the wheels are stuck in the gravel. It requires two horses to pull in front and two people to push behind to move forward.
Qin Tiexin pushed behind the last baggage truck. He pressed his hands against the crossbar at the rear of the truck, lowered his back, and pushed his feet on the ground. The truck slowly moved forward, its wheels running over rocks and the body bumping. The other two guards pushing the truck were panting and sweating on their foreheads.
"This road... is so damn difficult to walk on," the thin guard gasped.
"Stop talking nonsense and push." The older man said in a muffled voice.
After walking for a while, the slope gradually became steeper.
The road winds upwards in a zigzag shape. The turns are extremely dangerous, and the outer cliffs are unobstructed, with only sparse shrubs. The horse refuses to go here and must be pulled and shouted at.
When the first Nuanyu cart turned a corner, its outer wheels rolled over a few pieces of gravel, and it crashed down into the deep valley. The driver's face turned pale, and he held on to the reins tightly, and the cart barely scraped against the edge of the cliff as it turned.
The head of the Feng family who followed behind him was sitting on a horse, holding the saddle tightly with his hands, his knuckles turning white. Feng Ming had already dismounted, and was leading the horse behind his father, his legs trembling slightly.
By noon, we had only traveled seven or eight miles.
The sun was in the sky, the fog had dissipated, and the deep valley was still hazy. Everyone found a slightly wider platform to rest. The platform was only three feet square, and the convoy was crowded together, leaving no room for the horses to turn their heads.
Unload the dry food and share it. Cold water for hard cakes. No one starts a fire - the platform is narrow for fear of sparks igniting the goods on the car.
Qin Tiexin sat on the stone on the edge of the cliff, ate five pancakes and drank half a bag of water. He glanced at the convoy. The guards were sitting or leaning on each other, eating silently, with a tired look on their faces. Yang Scarface squatted on the edge of the platform, staring at the direction he came from, his hand always pressed on the handle of the knife.
Patriarch Feng and Feng Ming were sitting next to a box of goods. Feng Ming complained softly about his sore legs, but Patriarch Feng glared at him and silenced him.
"Captain Yang." The head of the Feng family stood up and walked over, "At this speed, how many days will it take to get out of the mountain?"
Yang Scarface did not look back. "Three days on the original road, this road... I can't say for sure."
"You're not sure?" Master Feng's voice was a little higher, "You said you knew this way at the beginning!"
"I know." Yang Scarface turned around with a twitch on his face, "But that was twenty years ago. At that time, I was traveling alone and lightly packed. Now I am towing so many trucks -" He glanced at the two heavy baggage trucks, "Can it be the same?"
The head of the Feng family pursed his lips and did not answer.
After resting for a quarter of an hour, Yang Scarface stood up and said, "Let's go."
The second half of the road is more dangerous.
Several rock walls collapsed and rubble piled up like mountains, requiring manual labor to clear the passage. The guards worked hard for half an hour with knife scabbards to dig out and move by hand, before they managed to dig out a narrow ditch. When the vehicle passed by, its wheels got stuck in the stone crevices and had to be pushed and pulled back and forth several times.
Qin Tiexin was always working hard. He was so strong that he could hold up three or four guards while moving the stone. There was a large stone hundreds of kilograms stuck in the road, and the two guards could not push it. He walked over, bent down, hugged his arms, and exerted force on his back - the stone lifted off the ground and was thrown into the deep valley. His movements were steady and his breathing was steady.
Several guards looked stunned.
"Brother Qin... you have so much strength." The thin guard muttered.
The elder patted him on the shoulder. "Look less and work more."
In the afternoon, we encountered a section of road that collapsed.
There is a section about three feet long, and the outer roadbed has completely collapsed, leaving only a ridge that is barely a foot wide on the inner side. Below the ridge is a steep slope with rugged rocks, and further down is a deep valley.
The motorcade stopped.
Yang Scarface dismounted and walked to the cave-in to check. The soil ridge was slippery and covered with moss, and the horse's hoofs might slip if it stepped on it. He squatted down, pressed the soil with his hand, and shook his head.
"I can't make it." He stood up and wiped the dirt off his hands, "The baggage train is too heavy and it can't stand this hurdle."
The head of the Feng family caught up. "What should we do?"
"Abandon the cart." Yang Scarface said simply, "The baggage cart can't pass. Move the important supplies out, use horses to carry them, and push the carts down the cliff."
The air became quiet.
The face of the Feng family leader changed. "Abandon the car? You mean abandon the car?"
"Otherwise?" Yang Scarface pointed at the ridge, "You let this big guy go up? Even the carts and horses will have to roll down!"
"No!" Master Feng's voice suddenly rose, "You can't abandon the car! There are... all important things in the car!"
"What's more important than life?" Yang Scarface took a step closer, his face flushed, "Boss Feng, you've seen this road too. If we delay it any longer, we won't be able to reach the next accommodation before dark, and everyone will be trapped on the mountainside! If it winds, rains, or something else comes at night - can you afford it?"
Master Feng's lips trembled. "I... I'll add more money! You guys think of a way, the car must go through!"
Yang Scarface stared at him, his eyes gradually becoming colder. "Boss Feng, I have been a escort for twenty years. I have seen people who cherish money, but I have never seen people who are so desperate for their lives." He paused and said, "Tell me, what is in those two baggage trucks?"
The head of the Feng family dodges his eyes. "Just... just some food and tents..."
"Food camp?" Yang Scarface sneered, "The jade cart is in front, and the valuables are all there. The baggage cart is loaded with supplies and miscellaneous items. Just throw them away. Why are you anxious?"
"I..." Cold sweat broke out on the forehead of the Feng family leader, "In any case, we can't give up! The car is there and the people are there!"
When he shouted the last four words, he was stunned.
Yang Scarface stopped talking, just looked at him deeply, turned and walked away.
On the side, Qin Tiexin listened quietly. He stood against the rock wall, folding his hands on his chest, and moved his eyes from the panicked face of the Feng family to the two baggage trucks. The trucks were covered tightly with oilcloth, and the ropes were tied neatly, so there was nothing special about them.
But he remembered that when the snake attacked before, the head of the Feng family immediately hid behind the baggage truck instead of the safer Nuanyu truck.
"Master Qin." Yang Scarface walked to him and lowered his voice, "What do you think?"
Qin Tiexin was silent for a moment. "Try it first."
"Try?"
"Clear the road and reinforce the ridge." Qin Tiexin said, "I will help."
Yang Scarface looked at him for a long time, then nodded. "Okay."
The guards began to clean up the landslide rubble, and cut some tree trunks as thick as a bowl from the hillside, cut off the branches and leaves, spread them on the ridge, and tied them with hemp ropes. Qin Tiexin brought big rocks and pressed them on both sides of the trunks.
After working hard for an hour, I managed to pave a narrow path.
"Pass one at a time." Yang Scarface directed, "The Nuanyu chariot goes first. The horses are unloaded and people pull over."
The first Nuanyu car passed smoothly - it was light and had narrow wheels. It moved carefully against the tree trunks. Although it was shaking, it was finally safe.
The second and third cars also passed.
On the fourth car, something went wrong.
The driver was a young coachman with little experience. When the car reached a ridge, the outside wheel ran over the edge of a log, the log rolled, and the car body tilted suddenly!
"Hold on!" Yang Scarface shouted.
The driver tried his best to pull on the reins, but the cart was out of balance. The outer wheels were hanging in the air, and the whole cart slid toward the edge of the cliff! The cargo on the cart was tilted, and the boxes and cages collided with each other.
"Ah--" the coachman screamed.
Several guards rushed to pull the car, but the slide was too violent, and both the people and the car were dragged towards the edge of the cliff!
In the flash of lightning, a burly figure rushed out.
Qin Tiexin stepped to the side of the car in two steps, grabbed the shaft of the car with his left hand, and stepped on the ground with his right foot. His back suddenly exerted force! His entire right arm muscles flexed, his sleeves tightened, and gravel exploded under his feet--
The sliding car came to a sudden stop.
The wheel hangs on the edge of the cliff, half an inch away is the void.
The coachman sat slumped on the ground, his face pale. The guards held on to the rope tightly, not daring to let go.
Qin Tiexin exhale in a steady voice. "Pull."
Everyone came to their senses and pulled together. The car was slowly pulled back to the road.
Shocked.
At this moment, the head of the Feng family rushed over. His face turned pale. He was not directed at the coachman or the guard, but directly towards the baggage truck! He rushed to the car, hurriedly opened a corner of the oilcloth, put his hand in and groped around, touched a specific box, pressed it hard, and leaned against the box to listen - as if to confirm something.
For a moment, he breathed a long sigh of relief and leaned against the car as if exhausted.
This series of actions all fell into the eyes of Qin Tiexin.
Qin Tiexin loosened his grip on the shaft of the cart. He looked at the Feng family leader calmly, then glanced at the baggage cart, and finally turned to the rolling mist in the deep valley.
Yang Scarface walked to him and handed over the water bag.
Qin Tiexin took it and took a sip.
"You saw it." Yang Scarface's voice was very low, almost squeezed out from between his teeth, "There is a ghost in that car."
Qin Tiexin did not answer.
He just looked at the head of the Feng family - the businessman had regained some composure at this moment and was directing people to re-tie the oilcloth, his movements were too careful.
"Keep walking." Yang Scarface turned around and raised his voice, "Cheer up, everyone! We must get to our accommodation before dark!"
The convoy started moving again.
But the atmosphere is different.
The guards pushed the cart and led the horse in silence, occasionally glancing at the baggage cart and then quickly moving away. The head of the Feng family rode beside the cart, never leaving. Feng Ming followed his father, peeking at Qin Tiexin from time to time, with complicated eyes.
Qin Tiexin is still at the end.
His steps were steady and his breathing was even, as if he was not the one holding the overturned vehicle with one hand just now. Only he knew that he had used five points of force in that move.
The mountain wind swept over the cliff, and among the whimpers, he heard the whispers of the two guards in front of him.
"... that box, Boss Feng seems to be taking it seriously."
"Definitely unusual..."
"Say less and get to work."
The voice gradually became lower and dissipated in the wind.
Qin Tiexin raised his eyes.
The path ahead winds upward and disappears into the gray mountains.