Cultivation of Immortals Begins with Drilling Wood To Make Fire

The sky is clear, white clouds are blooming, and the wind is blowing the waves below, and the water peaks are smashed on the gravel shore one after another.

This is Juhai, the largest body of water in the Western Regions.

Because the area is large enough, there are even high tides and low tides here, and the residents living on the east and west sides of the sea feel the opposite of the high tide and low tide periods-because the water in the sea has a fixed number, when the tide rises in the west, the tide ebbs in the east, and the tide in the east When the tide is high, the tide is low in the west.

There are not only rocky areas on the shore, but also tidal flats and reed marshes.

All kinds of waterfowl and migratory birds are all over the shore, and when they fly, they will cover the sky and the sun. They live here, reproduce, or just settle here. There are many kinds of them, and Fang Chang can see more than a hundred kinds just by casually scanning a waterfowl habitat.

In addition, there are a large number of amphibious and small mammals, drilling here and there, together with the fish jumping out of the water, avoiding the capture of raptors. And in the process, prey on each other, or look for some grass roots, grass seeds, duckweed and algae.

"Hey, it's really wide enough to deserve to be called Juhai."

Standing on the shore, Fang Chang said to Sang Ziping who was next to him. The latter also took two steps forward and stood side by side with him. Looking at the vast water surface, he didn't reply. Instead, after feeling the vastness of the world, he walked out for a long time. Take a breath.

Fang Chang continued: "I've been to the east coast once before, and from this angle, there's not much difference."

Juhai has a vast area, and you can’t see the opposite side from here, and there is still wind because the water absorbs heat and the air sinks, blowing from Juhai to the outside, bringing a humid atmosphere. Listening to the sound of the waves, it feels not too different from the sea in the east, barely worthy of the name.

Next, Fang Chang and Sang Ziping changed directions, left the main road, and walked along the seaside of Juhai.

There is no road where they are walking, because the salinity of Juhai varies from place to place, and there are few fresh water areas, which is not conducive for pedestrians to replenish. Therefore, the direction of the road winding away is more along the river. Similarly, the human settlements on the coast are also scattered, only distributed in fresh water areas.

This sea of ​​thousands of miles is formed by the confluence of surrounding rivers.

There are many majestic mountains around the Western Regions, stretching for thousands of miles. Those thick snow and ice are constantly melting, creating the rivers that cross the desert, and the oases dotted around the Western Regions. No. Pearl.

They did not run at full speed, and after two days and nights, and nearly a day later, they saw people.

There is a wide river that flows into Juhai. On both sides of the confluence are soft mud flats, and outside are houses and farmland.

Rice is grown here.

Relying on the cobweb-like canals, the farmland is well irrigated. This is one of the sources of rice eaten in the Western Regions. Such a scene is a bit like being in the south of the Yangtze River. In the middle of the sea, there are even boats with fishing nets and rods hanging on them. The fishermen are singing songs, and it seems that they have harvested a lot.

the time has come

In the other direction, there is the long river under the setting sun. The combination has a strange beauty.

"Go ahead and check the situation." Sang Ziping said.

Together, the two walked slowly towards the settlement not far away, where cooking smoke was rising, and the returned fishermen were fastening the cables to the wooden stakes on the shore, and then carrying the fish in the cabin. Go home and let the housewives cook.

Without trying to hide it, Fang Chang and Sang Ziping walked to the shore, and the people quickly noticed these two strangers. "Where do the guests come from?" Someone asked aloud.

Fang Chang said with a smile: "We came from afar and are going to go to the depths of Juhai. I wonder if this boat is for sale?" Then he took out some money from his rucksack and indicated that he would use it to buy a boat.

The few fishing boats are relatively simple, but made of wooden planks, with a transparent shed as the cabin.

They have no sails or oars, and they use long boats. Because the Western Regions do not produce bamboo, it is too troublesome to transport them from Shu, so the boats of these boats are made of wood and made flat.

Hearing Fang Chang's question, the owner of the pointed boat shook his head and said:

"The guest is joking. We rely on it to catch fish on weekdays, so we can add some soup to our family. How can we sell it to others so easily?"

Fang Chang had no choice but to double the coins he took out.

"Then the guest can take it." After the price was enough, the owner of the boat suddenly became very cheerful. He even told Fang Chang and the two of the boat's characteristics and things to pay attention to when punting, and put the boat in the boat. Several jugs of fresh water and two bags of dry food were given to them.

The companions of the captain next to him were very envious when they saw that he had obtained this benefit.

Sang Ziping volunteered, picked up the boat, and tapped it gently on the shore, and the boat, like a wild beast, sailed lightly towards the center of Juhai in the setting sun.

Fang Chang was dressed in white and sat cross-legged on the bow of the boat, while Sang Ziping stood at the stern supporting Changhao.

The fishermen on the shore just watched and watched the two people who had just bought a boat drift away on the water, and then went home without mentioning it.

When the people on the shore could not be seen, Sang Ziping took the long Artemisia out of the water and hung it up, and then got into the cabin.

"Let's take a turn around Juhai first, you may come across clues."

"Well, we are very close to our goal."

Fang Chang laughed and said, he also got into the cabin from the bow, was taking out the torch, lit the oil lamp on the small table inside, and then covered the gauze cover to prevent it from being blown out by the wind.

Sang Ziping also came over, sat down across from the small table, and watched as Fang Chang took off the green cloth package behind his back, and took out several porcelain plates, two wine glasses, two pairs of wooden chopsticks, and some salt-baked peanuts and fennel Beans, and donkey meat wrapped in a large piece of straw paper.

Putting the peanuts and beans on the plate, Fang Chang took out the small jade knife from the leather sheath, quickly sliced ​​the donkey meat, and neatly stacked them on the plate.

Then he took down the gourd at his waist, poured it evenly for himself and Sangzi, and held up the cup as a gesture.

A thin mist formed on the surface of the water, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse in the sky, and the lights in the slowly moving fishing boat were like beans.

The two practitioners were in the boat, and they didn't need sails or bracing, and the boat was still moving in the direction they chose.

Fortunately, few fishermen came out at night, and no one saw them, otherwise they would have been terrified by this strange appearance.

The water in most parts of Juhai is not too deep, and there are islands protruding, and there are mixed aquatic plants and corals that cannot be named, which is very weird. Where the river flows into, there are often reed marshes, woods, farmland and villages.

After seven or eight days on the boat, I finally discovered something different around me.

Fang Chang put away the fishing rod, regardless of the bait on it, put it in the cabin, stood up and looked into the distance. Then, he turned his head to Sang Ziping who was fishing at the stern of the boat and said with a smile:

"Found them."