Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 453: King's Platform

Meng Lanxin naturally didn't want to leave Qu Shaoyang in the mountains, so early the next morning, they sent people back to the Qu family compound.

Let Qu Fu lead a few loyal and capable men in the family, bring enough tools for clearing the mountain, and come up together.

After Qu Fu led his men to arrive, Qu Shaoyang led Meng Lanxin and the guards, together with the family's long-term workers, to form a group of thugs in the Qu family compound.

Led by Qu Shaoyang, he led his men into the mountains to look for the Shenwangtai of his dreams.

As Qu Shaoyang walked, he recalled every detail of his dream and every forest he saw in his dream.

But everywhere seems vague, hazy and unclear.

Qu Shaoyang's past experience of going into the mountains told him that the old man with white beard might be the ginseng king.

What the old man said about climbing up the Ginseng King Platform and inviting the Ginseng King to come out must be the secret of releasing the mountain this time.

Shenwangtai should be a place name. As long as you find Shenwangtai, you will definitely find the Ginseng King.

Qu Shaoyang asked the two old men whether there were any particularly dangerous places nearby.

The two old men recalled carefully and said that apart from the Diaowolazi not far away, there seemed to be only the end of the Black Fern Valley left.

The terrain over there is quite dangerous and most people don't go there.

Qu Shaoyang and his party first went to the vicinity of Diaowolazi and wandered around for two days without much gain. Afterwards, they headed to Heijucaigou.

The Black Fern Valley is about fifty miles southeast of the two old men's residence.

This is a valley with lush trees and steep cliffs on both sides.

Because of its steepness and complex terrain, even hunters, herbalists and ginseng diggers rarely visit this place.

There is a mountain at the end of the valley. On the mountain, there are dense ancient trees with twisted branches, and under the trees there are strange rocks. The mountain is steep and towering into the clouds.

It is said that only birds of prey such as mountain eagles can settle on the top of the mountain, so some people call this place Eagle Mountain.

The Eagle Mountain is hundreds of miles in radius, with ancient trees blocking out the sun and many fallen trees lying horizontally and vertically on the ground, covered with patches of green moss.

When people enter it, it is dark and difficult to tell the direction.

The empty mountain was silent, with only the woodbird pecking at the dead wood with its iron beak from time to time, making a "dong dong dong" sound.

Walking in such a forest, if you suddenly hear the sound of woodpeckers, the timid people will feel their hearts pounding and their legs going weak.

Among the guys who came with Qu Fu, many of them had been on the mountain before, and they were all very experienced guys.

As they walked, everyone was muttering to themselves, how could ginseng grow in a place like this where even weeds can't grow well?

But Qu Shaoyang didn't care about that and insisted on bringing his men to attack this area of ​​forest.

In this way, Qu Shaoyang and his men searched for ten days in the jungle of Eagle Mountain in the Black Fern Valley area, using sticks and carts like combing hair, but found nothing.

The people who followed Qu Shaoyang were all confused and almost distracted.

Everyone didn't understand why their master didn't stay in the county town and do so many errands, but instead took them into the mountains.

These people were confused, but dared not say or ask anything.

As for Qu Shaoyang, he was afraid that the news would leak out, so he didn't tell anyone except Meng Lanxin about the dream.

But he firmly believed in the dream, and the words of the white-bearded old man kept appearing in his head. He went up to the King of Ginseng's platform and asked the King of Ginseng to come out.

Qu Shaoyang was determined in his heart and naturally refused to back down easily, so he continued to wander around in the mountains with his gang.

In a blink of an eye, they had lived in the mountains for half a month. Seeing that they did not have much food left, they began to feel a little scared.

That day, everyone lined up three times and spent half a day, but still didn't see a single hair of the mallet.

"Fourth brother, we have been in the mountains for half a month, and our eyes are still not open. Why don't we go back?

There are so many things going on at home. The ginseng trees in the garden are about to be harvested, and my parents are so worried at home."

It was difficult for others to say anything, but Qu Fu had to speak. So while taking a break from working, Qu Fu came up to Qu Shaoyang and spoke.

Qu Shaoyang took out his pipe, filled it with cigarettes, lit it, and took two puffs.

He doesn't smoke normally, he only smokes when he goes into the mountains.

"The big guys won't show up easily. They will only appear when their wills are worn down to the point of being discouraged.

Let's hold on for another two days. If there is still no movement, we can go back."

When everyone heard this, they didn't know what to say. After all, they were all members of the Qu family. If they served someone else, they had to obey him. They had to listen to whatever Qu Shaoyang said.

Just when everyone was frustrated but couldn't say anything, suddenly someone shouted from a distance, "Bangchui."

It was not someone else, it was Meng Lanxin.

It turned out that she had taken advantage of the break to go to the bathroom far away, and when she was walking back, she suddenly saw a ginseng.

"What grade of leaves?" Qu Shaoyang asked immediately after hearing that.

"Erjiazi." Erjiazi is a ginseng that has just grown two branches. Because its shape is a bit like a key, it is also called the mountain-opening key.

Generally speaking, if you come across Erjiazi, there is a high chance that there is a large shipment of goods nearby.

Qu Shaoyang hurried over and took a look. It was indeed a ginseng tree of 200 years old, so it should not be that old. There were two red ginseng seeds hanging on the thin stem.

Meeting the second Jiazi year is a good omen, and everyone congratulated and wished the couple a happy marriage.

Qu Shaoyang carefully looked at the Miao Erjiazi in front of him, and then looked at the surrounding environment. If there are small ones, there must be big ones. There should be some big ones nearby.

So Qu Shaoyang commanded everyone to pull the cart up the mountain.

Everyone was now excited, so they stood one by one, with only a rope-pulling stick's distance between them, and pulled the cart up the mountain.

After searching about forty or fifty feet up the mountain, we came across a relatively flat slope with tall red pine trees and broad-leaved trees growing on it.

Suddenly, someone shouted "Bangchui", and everyone here hurriedly took the mountain and ran over.

I saw more than a dozen ginseng plants scattered in the grass not far ahead.

These ginsengs are not big, there are three-flowered, two-jiazi, and lamp-shaped ones. Although they are all small, they grow well and are very strong.

"The sticks are connected into pieces, and the ginseng king is standing on his head. The big cargo must be on the top of the mountain." When Qu Shaoyang saw the scene in front of him, he had a clue in his mind. The dream must be accurate.

So, Qu Shaoyang led everyone to the top of the mountain. It was fine at the beginning, but as the slope became steeper, everyone could only use their hands and feet to climb up.

When everyone climbed to the top of the mountain with great effort, they found that there was nothing but vigorous ancient trees and rugged rocks covered with moss on the top of the mountain, and there was not a single blade of grass.

Ginseng grows here? Everyone looked at the scene in front of them, and they were a little skeptical, but they didn't dare to say it out loud.

This is the highest peak, so the strong mountain wind blew, and the people standing on the top of the mountain were swaying in the wind. Everyone was very disappointed and frustrated.

The mountains are high, the winds are strong, the soil is thin, and there is no wormwood to protect the ground. Ginseng will definitely not grow in this place.

Anyone who has been to a mountain knows that ginseng is delicate and prefers to grow on shady slopes. The trees that cover it must include pine, oak, birch, elm and other miscellaneous trees.

Moreover, the soil must be black loam with a high humus content, and it must be moist without waterlogging, nor dry.

Ginseng does not like strong winds, but it also does not grow in places where there is no wind.

Ginseng prefers shady slopes, but it won’t grow well without daily sunlight.

The sunlight must leak through the gaps between the leaves; too strong light won’t do.

It was obvious that the top of this mountain did not meet any of the conditions for ginseng to grow, which meant that their work over the past half month had been in vain.

"Fourth brother, let's go back. Even though I have never been to the mountain many times, I know that there is no way there is a club in this place."

Qu Fu had no choice but to persuade Qu Shaoyang.

"No, no, there is no big stuff on the mountain, so where did the seeds of the dozen or so small mallet seedlings growing on the hillside below come from?
Without ginseng growing at high places, it would be impossible for so many ginseng seeds to be scattered.

There must be some big stuff nearby, don't give up, keep lining up your positions around here, and remember to leave no inch of land untouched."

Qu Shaoyang was very persistent. No matter what others said, he was determined to find the Ginseng King Platform in his dream and find the Ginseng King.

The crowd circled the top of Old Eagle Mountain three more times. Suddenly, Meng Lanxin shouted, "Shaoyang, look, what is that?"

Qu Shaoyang looked in the direction Meng Lanxin pointed, and saw a large platform under a cliff about sixty or seventy feet high at the foot of the steep mountain.

A hazy white cloud was lingering above the platform, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, floating in the air.

A gust of wind blew by, dispelling the thick fog and vaguely revealing the platform below.

On that platform, there actually grew an ancient lime tree with a lush crown that looked like a huge crown.

There are no other big trees around the lime tree, only some sparse bushes, and under the bushes is green grass.

A light white mist was lingering, like a thin white gauze, through which a burning torch could be vaguely seen.

No, that was not a torch, it was a cluster of bright red as a torch.

When Qu Shaoyang saw the red color at the bottom of the cliff, his hands were shaking with excitement, and he fell to his knees on the top of the mountain.

"Thank you, mountain god. Old Eagle Mountain is now open and the King's Terrace has appeared." As he said this, he kowtowed three times.

When Meng Lanxin, Qu Fu and others saw this, they also knelt down and kowtowed, muttering something.

The mountain wind was howling on the top of Eagle Mountain. Qu Shaoyang knelt on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the misty platform below.

In a moment, the clouds and fog dissipated, and the scenery under the cliff was fully revealed.

With Qu Shaoyang's eyesight, he could clearly see that there was a ginseng underneath, and the red color was the ginseng seeds and red hammer.

"Stupid." Qu Shaoyang shouted.

Everyone couldn't hide their excitement and congratulated in unison, "Quick pawn, quick pawn, what's the deal?"

"Ginseng King." Qu Shaoyang shouted loudly.

The cheers of the crowd shook the valley, drowning out the whistling wind and also alarming the two ferocious beasts guarding the Ginseng King under the cliff.

On the left is a leopard slightly smaller than a tiger, and on the right is a giant snake thicker than a bowl, the Baishan Green Python.

The leopard roared three times at Qu Shaoyang and his group on the top of the mountain, while the White Mountain Green Python stood up its body, which was more than a person tall, turned its head and spit out its tongue, looking towards the top of the mountain.

Qu Shaoyang and others had heard of the saying that spiritual beasts guarded ginseng before. The older generation also said that the largest ginseng king was protected by dragons and tigers.

But those are just legends, and most people have never seen them. Unexpectedly, today everyone’s eyes were really opened.

The clouded leopard is similar to a tiger. Doesn’t it and the Baishan Green Python form a situation where the dragon and the tiger protect each other?
This is enough to prove that the legend is true, and that ginseng must be the king of ginseng.

"Don't move, don't shoot randomly, and don't hurt the guarding spirit beast."

Qu Shaoyang was afraid that these guys would be reckless and hurt the leopard and python below, so he quickly warned everyone.

Afterwards, Qu Shaoyang picked up the gun and fired three shots into the air. These three shots were only to scare away the leopard and python below, but not to hurt them.

"Old Five, you take Shunzi and the others to guard the mountain. Remember, stand back to back and in four directions. Don't allow anyone to approach this mountain.

There are cliffs on three sides of this place, and only one side is passable. Once it is occupied by others, it will be useless even if I carry out the ginseng.

So you must hold on here and never let down your guard." Qu Shaoyang immediately arranged for his men to take charge.

Shunzi and others are Qu Shaoyang's guards. They have been in the Qu family for many years and are loyal to the Qu family. They only obey Qu Shaoyang's orders.

Letting Qu Fu lead them to be responsible for guarding up there is also a way to prevent each other from getting hurt.

Since ancient times, money has moved people's hearts, and even brothers may not be reliable, so it is better to be cautious.

"Lanxin, take the guys at home and come down with me." Qu Shaoyang stood next to Meng Lanxin and quietly handed her the revolver from behind.

Meng Lanxin had a gun on her, so this one was given to her to ensure the safety of both of them.

Meng Lanxin can shoot with both hands. If the guys following her make any unusual movements, Meng Lanxin can shoot directly.

"Everyone gathered up the tobacco they had with them and gave it to Lao Zhang and the others.

Check if the rope we brought is long enough. If not, Lao Wu, you guys can take off your leg straps and let us use them.

Also, Lao Zhang, when you guys follow me down, bring your guns and load them." Qu Shaoyang began to give orders and arranged everything.

I brought the tobacco with me to deal with the White Mountain Green Python below.

There is no snake that is not afraid of dry tobacco, so they want to use dry tobacco to drive away the Baishan Green Python.

The top of the mountain is about sixty or seventy meters away from the platform. If you jump down like this, you will definitely fall to death, so you have to use a rope to go down.

Everyone wears leg straps when going into the mountains, and if the rope is not long enough, it has to be connected with the leg straps.

But Qu Shaoyang and his men could not untie their leg straps as there were many dangers below and they had to keep their legs and feet agile, so they asked Qu Fu and his men to untie their leg straps.

As for loading the gun, it is naturally to deal with dangers that may arise at any time.

Especially the leopard, it is agile and fast, with strong attack power, so you must be prepared in advance.

In this way, everyone followed Qu Shaoyang's instructions, connected the ropes together, tied one end to a big tree on the edge of the cliff, and hung the other end down the cliff.

The two gunners slid down the rope first, then stood guard with their guns in hand, followed by the family servants, then Meng Lanxin, and finally the commander-in-chief Qu Shaoyang.

(End of this chapter)