Prose

Waiting for the window of the season, I made a reservation for a small ferry ticket. On a bright morning, I rushed to the ferry in late autumn alone and boarded a passenger ship heading south in search of scenery.

I heard that this scenery, hidden in a large mountain to the south, has become quite prosperous in recent years, with an endless stream of people coming here. The mountain is located in Fangqian Town, Gu'an County, in the heart of Zhejiang, bordering Taizhou City and roughly behind the Dapan Mountains.

I have been there too in the early years. There are some small ancient villages hidden in the mountains, as if they have been forgotten by the world. Although it does not have a history of a thousand years, the village is at least hundreds of years old. The mountains there are sparsely populated, the mountain roads are rugged, and there are no roads to travel.

The two villages are obviously very close to each other, but it would take several hours for Ke Zheng to connect them. The villagers basically make a living by cutting and selling bamboo and wood. Their life is not as poor as one might imagine.

That was a story many, many years ago. But now that I think about it, it is still vivid in my mind, and I am still filled with emotion. I stopped in a village called Shijiazhuang, made an appointment with a guide, and followed the untravelled mountain road down to the valley bottom to explore.

The so-called road is actually a temporary path. It is steep and slippery and can only be passed sideways by one person. It was probably dug in the past few days. The soil is fresh and has the breath of a mountain.

The years have given this mountain a new look, with green mountains, lush forests, gurgling creeks, and green waters. Being in it, the dusty pores instantly opened their small mouths, greedily breathing in the air full of negative oxygen ions.

This is the warm air of a mountain. It is filtered by the forest and moistened by the green. It is fresh, cool, sweet, fragrant and soft. It welcomes all directions with a smile. Visitors.

This is another magical air. It generously walks out of the mountains and into the prosperity and into thousands of households.

The guide told me that after decades of ecological protection, this mountain has transformed into a cornucopia of mountain people today. The mountain is rich in trees and precious wild animals and plants, such as the resurrection grass.

Resurrection grass is the fairy grass that the legendary White Snake sacrificed her life to steal to save Xu Xian? As soon as they hear the name that can bring the dead back to life, people in the world are both sighing and awe-inspiring.

I searched all the way and finally caught a glimpse of the fairy grass blossoming on the steep cliff.

Resurrection plant is also called Selaginella and Nine-Death Resurrection Plant. Precisely because it can come back to life, it is respected by the world. It likes to grow on moist and dark rocks. When there is water, the branches and leaves will spread out and become green and pleasant. , without water, they will curl up in a ball as if dead. But it miraculously thrives and is passed down from generation to generation by virtue of its ability to survive if there is water and "die" if there is no water.

The ancient mountains hold up the blue sky, the green trees cover the autumn sun, the gentle wind cannot rustle the branches and leaves, the tinkling of the spring water adds a bit of silence, and the green moss surrounds the grass on the cliff. , strips of dry footworms squirmed silently around the feet in black and white.

It was really difficult to go down the mountain. Under the guidance of the guide, I slipped into the valley in embarrassment.

I saw a small stream flowing slowly through the valley, with the Jishan Mountains on both sides clearly reflected in the water. This was a small stream coming from the deepest part of the mountains, because I was thirsty for the vast sea. For days, I have been trekking through these vast mountains without stopping.

It is the source of Shifeng River, Lingjiang River and Jiaojiang River. Now it flows in front of me. It passes through Tiantai County, enters Linhai City and joins Yongan River. It is called Lingjiang River and then merges with Yongning River. After the rivers merge, they are called Jiaojiang River and finally reach the East China Sea.

This is the Tianxian Valley Natural Beauty Area. Her small family has been like jade in the mountains for centuries, and now its mysterious veil has been unveiled to the world.

A group of outdoor sports enthusiasts came and followed my footsteps to the valley. There were more than thirty of them, old and young, men and women, and they were all fully armed.

Perhaps meeting him unexpectedly in this inaccessible mountain is a kind of fate in itself. Although we are strangers to each other, the same hobbies have brought us closer to each other.

Everyone dispersed like this

Sitting on the rocks by the water and chatting with each other, they took a short rest, replenished some dry food and water, and headed towards the high mountains and dense forests on the other side.

This time, they have to challenge a steep mountain road of 17 or 18 kilometers, and the previous road has long been lost in the jungle of time.

After bidding farewell to them, I traced my origins. The valley is rugged with rocks, large and small, in various shapes. Water is the carrier, carrying the stones from very far or high places.

Water is the sculptor, polishing the stones into pieces of moist and delicate art treasures, displayed in front of nature.

The guide pointed to these stones and proudly said to me that they are treasures of the mountains and the wealth of the mountain people. Because of them, they attract many tourists who love mountains and rivers to come here. The outside world begins to understand everything in the mountains.

Many people have tried to buy these stones at high prices, but they have all been politely declined.

Just when I felt that there was no way out, the stream suddenly made a 90-degree turn, and there was another village with dark trees and bright flowers. What came into view was an empty field and an old stone house.

The bottom here is very different from other places. The lava flowing into the valley hundreds of millions of years ago has revealed this section of reddish but smooth and flat creek bed.

My sudden appearance broke the old tranquility of this flat creek. Groupers one after another hid in panic.

Maybe these little creatures who have lived in seclusion deep in the mountains for generations are still not accustomed to the footsteps of strangers, and they still cannot accept the footsteps of outsiders. Once the habit becomes natural, practice slowly. I said to myself.

On the bank of the stream, wild flowers bloom quietly, and patches of dandelions hold up white pom-poms, waiting for you to release them.

Inside the simple fence, seven or eight roosters were foraging for food in the soybean fields, but they ignored me, an uninvited guest from afar, and didn't even bother to raise their heads. It makes people a little speechless.

Strange footsteps startled the mottled stone house, which silently told me about its past. I have not met the owner of this stone house, but I can imagine that there must be a few elderly people living there.

Under the eaves, an adult greyhound was curled up there, expressionless and aimless. An adult white goat stood in the sheep pen opposite the greyhound, with a rope around its neck. After seeing me, it retracted its head from the fence in horror, and died cautiously without even blinking. Targeted me. Perhaps sheep and dogs have never forgotten their original aspirations, and they both shoulder the mission of looking after homes and nursing homes.

After passing through the stone corridor with N kinds of "Shou" engraved on both sides neatly and orderly, I saw a thick century-old incense frame full of life and green. Several familiar buildings in Liao Liao looked at me with simplicity and joy.

Haike Tongling Center I am a person who gets pregnant easily, and everything in front of me recreated that distant and vigorous era.

The Great Hall of the People on the shore is as big as six houses. It has gray brick and black stone walls, dark tiles, and a wooden structure. It is a place where meetings, criticisms, performances, and movie screenings were held in my memory. At that place, there is still a slogan with red characters on a white background on the side wall facing the water: "Education must serve the Communist class government and must be combined with industrial labor." The words with "*" in it are exactly The outdoor air conditioner unit on the second floor is covered and I don’t know how many people can read it completely. On the top of the front gate of the Great Hall is the large red characters "Great Hall of the People", and the rectangular wooden frame below is decorated with six characters "Tourist Reception Center".