Chapter 10: Heaven Never Closes All Roads

  Just then, a sound passed over their heads, Yang Bo suddenly raised his head, and an unknown small bird was flying forward!

  "Little bird?"

  "Sparrow?"

  Yang Bo and Tie Niu exchanged a glance, and suddenly an infinite hope surged up in both of their hearts!

  These days, Iron Cow has been working hard to find any food that can be eaten, but unfortunately, every time it ends in disappointment. Not to mention mice, not even a single beetle has been found here.

  But now there is a bird here!

  The two of them gazed anxiously after the little bird as it flew towards the back of the mountain, and suddenly a thing called hope surged up in their hearts, even the strong feeling of hunger was forgotten.

  "Brother, we'll definitely find something to eat up ahead!" Tie Niu bent down and put Yang Bo, who could no longer hold on by himself, on his own back.

  Yang Bo didn't say a word and patted Tie Niu's shoulder to encourage him.

  "Years later, Tie Niu told others about the predicament Yang Bo faced: 'Just when my brother and I thought all hope was lost, fortunately this unknown sparrow guided us. At the time, I thought it was a divine intervention, but my brother didn't think so...'"

  The story became more and more bizarre as it was passed down, until it finally became this version: Just when Yang Bo and Tie Niu were on their last breaths and had no way out, suddenly a loud clap of thunder split open several cracks in the sky, and faintly, the sound of celestial music could be heard! Next, a flock of colorful birds swarmed in, lifted up Yang Bo and Tie Niu's bodies, and flew them to a table laden with chicken, duck, fish, and other delicacies, thus saving Yang Bo and Tie Niu from their predicament...

  When this news spread and reached Yang Bo and Tie Niu's ears, the two men looked at each other for a long time, speechless...

  After bypassing several earth mounds, sparse greenery began to appear in front of him, and Tie Niu let out a whoop and quickened his pace.

  Even if we can't find anything else to eat, these wild grasses will do for now. As soon as we turned around the foot of the mountain, the scenery in front of us suddenly became clear and bright. A dense thicket of thorns and trees was woven together on the high slope, making it difficult to take a step forward. This mountainous area is very large, extending all the way to several steep peaks behind, and as far as the eye can see, there is an unspeakable stillness and desolation. Some tall trees rise from the low thorny bushes, blocking out most of the scorching sunlight, which made the two hungry and thirsty people feel a little more comfortable.

  Tie Niu cleared a small area and helped Yang Bo sit down under a tree. Yang Bo touched the wound on his back, gritted his teeth and let out a loud cry. A bird of unknown species on top of his head was startled and flew away flapping its wings.

  "What's that thing?" Yang Bo pointed at the low shrub behind him with a few green fruits and asked, Tie Niu looked up for a long time, then picked up several fallen fruits from the ground and put them in his mouth to taste.

  "It should be the Firethorn fruit" Tieniu quickly spat out the fruit in his mouth "Firethorn fruit, also known as Rescue Rations, we call it Water Tea Fruit back home. Ah, ptooey, it's really astringent..."

  Yang Bo was very disappointed: "Can we eat it after all?"

  "It's not ripe yet, it'll turn red after autumn. Now it's too sour and astringent to eat." Tie Niu shook his head, "Why don't you rest here for a while, brother? I'll go find some edible ones."

  Yang Bo nodded, sat under the cool tree, and a wave of fatigue came over him. He had just closed his eyes when he dozed off, dreaming that he went to a Cantonese roast goose restaurant, and by the time Iron Bull returned, Yang Bo's saliva was flowing all over the ground.

  Iron Cow carried some pulled-down tree vines, with all kinds of wild fruits on them, unfortunately most of which were green and unripe.

  "This is snake grape, that one is called crow rice fruit" Tie Niu carefully picked a few strings of snake grapes from the vine and handed them over.

  Yang Bo didn't have time for politeness, and endured the sourness of the wild fruit as he devoured it in big mouthfuls.

  "Sour, my teeth are almost falling out!" Yang Bo muttered to himself as he ate, wishing he could go back to his dream and continue eating roast goose.

  "Let's eat something first, and then try to catch some sparrows when we get there. Even if it's just some bird eggs, that'll be fine." Tie Niu said with a smile as he ate, revealing his black teeth.

  "What's the hold up?" Yang Bo tossed the remaining few black rice balls in his hand far away, under these circumstances, whoever could let him have a big meal and make him willing to risk his life would be fine.

  The mountain road ahead became even more rugged, and at this rate, they would soon enter the depths of the mountains. In Yang Bo's memory, Henan was a vast plain, so it was likely that they had already left the borders of Henan.

  After crossing several small hills, a rugged high mountain stretching for tens of miles stood in front of them. The only comforting thing was that the mountain looked lush and green, with dense vegetation. Yang Bo, who would later become fond of watching survival shows like "Deserted Island", wasn't too afraid of entering the dense forest, but to be on the safe side, he instructed Tie Niu to break off two short sticks for self-defense.

  Here, the mountains are steep and the people are rare. As they walked along, there were many more living things, and birds often flew by, making the two even more excited. In order to cross this high mountain, Iron Bull collected many things such as grass seeds and insects, made sufficient preparations before setting out, and Yang Bo even tasted roasted grasshoppers for the first time in his life, and the taste was really good!

  After walking a few more miles, the two of them suddenly heard the sound of gurgling water.

  Yang Bo cheered and threw away the crutch in his hand, running forward. Where there is water, there is food, this is Bell's famous saying for survival in the wilderness!

  The two of them followed the sound of running water for a long time before they realized that they had already reached the foot of the mountain. The scenery in front of them suddenly changed, and among the tall rocks, a small waterfall cascaded down, forming a small pool at the foot of the mountain. Before Yang Bo could take a closer look, Tie Niu, who was following behind, shouted "There's a stone chicken! Big brother, big brother!"

  Yang Bo suddenly looked up at the sky and burst out laughing...

  The most difficult moment has passed anyway!

  Iron Bull plunged into the water, his target being those fat but somewhat stupid stone chickens. In the sparkling waves, there were also some silver-scaled fish. The two hungry men worked together to catch a few large stone frogs and over ten small fish about an inch long. They strung them on branches they had broken off and roasted them over the fire. As they gazed at the food dripping with oil, their stomachs growled like drums, and who knows how much saliva they swallowed.

  Before long, a fragrance wafted over, and Iron Bull couldn't bear it any longer. Without even worrying about burning his hands, he grabbed a branch and started devouring the food. Yang Bo's speed wasn't slow either. Although the stone chicken and small fish were slightly charred, the two of them almost swallowed their tongues.

  The stone chicken is sweet and delicious, the small fish is crispy, the iron cow with a mouthful of black teeth is smiling at Yang Bo, while not forgetting to put his greasy fingers in his mouth to savor, as if still recalling the taste of the meat.

  Yang Bo fell to the ground with satisfaction, his eyes welling up with tears, and the feeling of being full was just too wonderful!

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  The afterglow of the sunset had begun to emerge in the clouds, and Yang Bo felt it was necessary to find a place to settle down first. Who knew what kind of wild beasts would appear at night in these mountains? The two of them cleared away the surrounding thickets, opening up a patch of empty land.

  The sky gradually darkened, Yang Bo and Tie Niu soaked in the water pool for a long time. A layer of dead leeches floated on the surface of the water, occasionally with a few small fish being choked by the black water, flipping their white bellies and floating up.

  Yang Bo hung the tattered clothes on the tree branches to dry, and the two men sat naked by the bonfire. "Tie Niu, help me clean up the festering wound," Yang Bo said, pointing to the wound on his back. In this era of scarce medical resources, even a small infected wound could have serious consequences.

  After Tie Niu finished cleaning up, Yang Bo found a big fish bone, peeled off some tree bark and twisted it into a thread to hand over to Tie Niu "Come on, let's sew it up!"

  "Why don't I go find some more herbs?" Tie Niu was clearly hesitant, and being asked to do this made him somewhat embarrassed.

  "Come on, brother can hold on" Yang Bo shook his head in pain, the wound on his back was a bit deep, and it was difficult to heal by himself.

  Although Yang Bo found a branch to bite on, soon after, a miserable cry came from the vicinity of Shi Tan...