After drinking this wine, words naturally increased, and Old Wang was also half-understanding of the actions organized in the previous few times. He took the opportunity to ask Shi Tou about it.

  It's unclear whether it was because of too much wine or Old Wang pretending to be foolish, he narrowed his eyes and asked: "Old man, how did you guess that we're from Beijing just by looking at us?"

  He was drunk, but Shi Tou didn't drink much and was still sober. Peeling the potatoes in his hand, the old man said: "There are only a few households in our village, and it's rare for outsiders to visit. The families that do have relatives coming and going all know each other. Besides, at this time of year, no one would climb up the mountain." After saying that, the old man took a sip of wine, smacked his lips, and continued: "In previous years, there were also several groups of people like you who came up the mountain, they all stayed with me, went out during the day and returned at night. Sometimes they would leave for many days without saying goodbye. But I'm not one to pry, and besides, they treated me well, giving me enough money each time. Now that I look at your clothes and appearance, you seem to be from the same group. This old man may be advanced in years, but he's not foolish."

  Old Wang patiently asked: "Old man, do you know where they are going?"

  The old man put down the bowl, slowly peeled off the potato skin, stuffed one into his mouth, and then said: "Lao Han never inquires about them, they didn't say anything either. You city folks have strange ideas, Lao Han can't understand it."

  Old Wang saw that there was nothing useful to ask, so he could only smile awkwardly, clinked his bowl with Shi Tou's, and then smiled and pulled out a stack of money from his pocket and put it on the table: "Old master, we want to stay here for a few days, please take good care of us."

  The old man didn't go to get the money, instead he said with a hint of nostalgia: "Ah, don't be gone for good again, I spent this money and my heart isn't at ease."

  As soon as the words were spoken, the faces of several people present changed instantly. Old Wang wanted to ask, but was stopped by Cha Wenbin with a glance. He smiled and stood up, saying: "Uncle Shi Tou, I also came to ask you something. Just now when we climbed the mountain, we saw an ice cave and almost fell down. You have lived on this mountain for most of your life and are a hunter, do you know what that cave is used for?"

  Don't look at his age, but his teeth are still good. After throwing a piece of meat into his mouth and chewing it slowly, he said: "Since the young man asked, the old man won't hide it either. The ice cellar, the old man has also seen it."

  "Oh, then let's hear what the old man has to say?" Cha Wenbin asked with a continued smile.

  "That place is not to be gone, in my childhood, the ancestors left a message that the land is haunted by ghosts, and if it's not good, you'll lose your life inexplicably. This is also one of our village's forbidden places. When Old Han was young, he wasn't afraid of heaven or earth, with a brave heart, he dared to spend the night in the tomb." As he said this, Shi Tou's eyes began to brighten up, and after taking another sip of wine, he continued:

  "When I was 21 years old, I had just married my wife. At that time, there were bandits causing trouble, but our mountain village was relatively quiet and peaceful, with mountains and land to cultivate, so food was not a problem. My wife had just arrived at the door, and one evening I took up my hunting rifle and went out to hunt for a rabbit. It was quite coincidental that it was on the same mountain ridge where you came from, and from far away, I saw a white rabbit, and under the bright moonlight of summer, it was only about 50 meters away from me. I fired one shot, and the beast took off running."

  It's not an old man bragging, this old man's marksmanship is indeed one hundred percent accurate. I chased after it and took a look, and sure enough, there was a puddle of blood on the ground. Following the trail of blood, I arrived at the ice cave you mentioned. Within ten or so meters from that place, I remembered my ancestors' teachings and didn't want to chase anymore. But this white roe deer, it's really the first time I've seen one, got excited and ran over, just less than a meter away from the ice cave, that beast was struggling on the ground with its hind legs crippled, looking like it wanted to get into the cave.

  That cave was a natural refrigerator, outside it was hot in the summer, but around that place it was cool and refreshing. In the early morning, I could still see ice flowers at the entrance of the cave. I was afraid it would run away again, so I shot it in the head once more, and it fell down immediately. The rabbit was very fat, its body was pure white without any miscellaneous hair. I carried this thing back home. That night, I skinned it and cut the meat into pieces to cook in a pot.

  At that time, my wife was pregnant, and I took the first bowl of cooked soup to her. It smelled so good that even I drooled. My wife picked up the big bowl and finished it in a few mouthfuls, shouting that she wanted more. I went to scoop another bowl, and this woman finished it again in just a few mouthfuls, still wanting more.

  Although we were poor at home, this wild taste was also available to eat every three days or two heads. Why did my wife eat it all tonight? I thought she was pregnant and had a bad mouth, so I went to serve another bowl. My wife drank the soup with her mouth overflowing, but still wanted to eat. At that time, I thought, is this thing so delicious?

  With doubt, I went to the kitchen and scooped a bowl, taking one sip, the flavor was too fresh, so fresh that I couldn't help myself, after finishing one bowl, immediately the second bowl, then the third bowl, until I couldn't eat anymore. At some point, my wife had already arrived in the kitchen, directly inserting her entire head into the pot to drink."

  At this point, Shi Tou began to sob, and Cha Wenbin heard that something was wrong. Who would eat like this? He asked: "Old man, don't be in a hurry, speak slowly."

  "Later on, it was just the two of us competing to drink, and the pot was full of soup. We drank until it was all gone, and the next day when I woke up, she had already left, having been suffocated to death by the food, while I managed to survive with a small life and have been barely surviving until now."

  Few people have ever heard of such a thing, and upon hearing it, they break out in cold sweats. Can it really be that someone died from eating too much of that raccoon dog meat? Chao Zi asked: "Old master, is the raccoon dog meat really that delicious?"

  "Look at that dish of meat on the table," said Shi Tou, "this is exactly the raccoon dog's meat. Although it tastes good, no one would eat it to death like we did. Later, the old folks in the village all said that the raccoon dog had become a spirit and we were possessed by evil spirits, being punished for my unauthorized entry into the forbidden land."

  After a few people comforted each other, they drank some more wine. The warm charcoal fire made everyone feel dizzy and sleepy. This village didn't have electricity either. After eating and drinking their fill, it was only natural that they would rest. They had all been tired for the whole day anyway.

  Shitou Ye might have been overcome with sadness as he reminisced about the past, and he lay down on his own kang and started snoring loudly. Cha Wenbin and the others had lit a fire in the adjacent room and were sleeping with their clothes on. The several big men squeezed onto one kang, not feeling cold at all, while the wind outside was still howling loudly. Heng Roulian, Zhuo Xiong, and Chao Zi all fell into a deep sleep, leaving only Cha Wenbin propping up his head with his hand, thinking about what had happened during the day.

  "Wen Bin, can't sleep?" Old Wang asked in a low voice.

  "Haven't you slept either? What's on your mind?" Cha Wenbin asked back.

  Old Wang got up, walked quietly to the door, put his ear against it and listened carefully before returning to the bed and saying to Cha Wenbin: "What do you think of this old man?"

  Zha Wenbin knew that Old Wang was being cautious, but this time he seemed especially cautious, even a bit over the top: "A pretty good old fellow, can't see any problems with him for now, according to the information you should have the most complete data, why are you still asking me?"

  Old Wang snorted: "Alright, you think I didn't notice? All night you haven't drunk a single mouthful of wine, and secretly spat it all out under the table."

  Cha Wenbin turned sideways and muttered: "I've had too much to drink, I'm going to sleep first." After that, he completely ignored Old Wang.

  Facing Cha Wenbin's buttocks, Old Wang let out a sigh and could only give up. He turned over and soon began to snore.

  That night, Cha Wenbin did not sleep all night.

  At dawn, when the rooster in the yard let out a loud crow, Chao Zi and Zhuo Xiong woke up one after another, yawning and complaining that last night's wine was really potent. But Cha Wenbin said: "You two go out first, I'll sleep for a while longer, remember not to take half a step out of this yard in the morning."

  Chaozi was about to say something, but was stopped by Old Wang. The four of them went out the door first, and Shi Tou Die had already prepared hot water outside. After washing up, Lao Ye Zi brought out steaming white mantou buns, and after eating breakfast, they came to the courtyard. Chaozi sighed that the mountain air is really good.

  This morning, they were all basking in the sun in the yard, except for Shi Tou's father who went out once to see if the traps had caught any prey and nothing else happened.

  When Wen Bin got up at noon, a burst of bright laughter was coming from outside the door. It turned out that Shi Tou had caught a wild boar and they were helping to deal with it, preparing to have a meal of braised wild boar for lunch.

  Zha Wenbin smiled awkwardly: "Old master's craftsmanship is great, we're in luck again."

  Just as they were talking, Old Stone pulled out a sharp knife and made a quick slash in the belly of the wild boar that had already lost its hair, opening it up. The old man inserted the knife into the cutting board and said: "If you can't sleep well in these mountains, little brother, you'd better head down the mountain sooner rather than later."

  This remark might have been taken as a joke by others, but Zhang Wenbin felt that there was more to it. However, he replied with an unchanged expression: "As long as the old master doesn't mind being disturbed, I'd be happy to stay for a while."

  read3;