Chapter 7: The Mysterious Village of Coco

  All he saw was the big beard pointing to a nearby mountain and saying, "How convenient, Keke Mu lives nearby. If you want to go, I'll take you there now. If it's any later, the road will be bad in the dark, and if you're not careful, the car will drive off the cliff!"

  Professor Zhou didn't expect Keke Mu to live nearby and excitedly said: "Then, let's set off immediately!"

  "Is their village called Keke Village?" Liu Yi asked while getting on the bus.

  The big-bearded man exclaimed: "You outsiders know a lot, you even know the name of Keke Village!" Although he found it strange, he didn't continue to ask questions.

  Everyone got on the bus, except for Muffled Gourd, who stood in front of the bus with a Mongolian curved knife in his hand, silently staring at the entrance of Death Valley.

  The big bearded man got off the car, shouted a few sentences to him, which should be Tibetan, Liu Yi didn't quite understand, but it was probably something like "Let's go, let's set off!"

  Only to see the Mute Gourd turn around, pull out a Mongolian curved knife, swing it in front of his chest twice, and then say a long passage with righteous indignation before stopping and staring at Big Beard.

  The big-bearded man's expression turned serious, he thought for a few seconds, then nodded his head.

  The gloomy calabash saw him nod, the corner of his mouth curved, revealing a row of big white teeth, smiled slightly, and then his expression became sorrowful, wrapped in the late wind and red glow, with an inexplicable sense of vicissitude.

  He only nodded at the big beard, turned around and ran quickly towards the entrance of the Death Valley, his right hand holding a Mongolian curved knife close to the ground, drawing a "sand line" on the ground.

  As he sped up, the dust smoke grew thicker and thicker, gradually wrapping him up completely. Looking back, he was like a knight running in ancient times.

  The big beard stood there for a long time, until the yellow sand and dust covered the body of the dumb gourd, before turning back to the car, sitting in the driver's seat.

  He explained to the crowd: "The black-faced driver is called Little Black. Don't look at his rough and weathered face, he looks like he's over 40, but he's actually just over 30. One of the two members who died at the protection station was his fiancée, so he went to Death Valley for revenge!"

  Everyone who heard what Big Beard said had a worried expression, although they hadn't known each other for long, but each person had a feeling as if they had met in their past life, this is what is called fate.

  The big beard smiled at them: "Although the Death Valley is dangerous, that refers to going deep into it twenty kilometers later. I estimate that Ma Jiajun and his gang wouldn't dare run so far either. Muffled gourd Xiaohei suspects there's their nest there, so it should be in the safe zone of Death Valley. Don't worry everyone, he has enough self-defense skills!"

  Everyone felt a little relieved after hearing this, and the car restarted, heading towards that mountain not far away.

  On the road, Big Beard told everyone about Cacao Village and the Koka Tree.

  There are many villages in this world that have been forgotten by people, you can't even find their names on the map, but they do exist, not only now, but also in the future. These ancient villages are isolated from the world, without roads or electricity, living a primitive life of slash-and-burn agriculture, and Kekou Village is one of them.

  Big Beard told Liu Yi that there were only a dozen or so villagers in Keke Village, and every half year they would send one person out of the village to purchase oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. It was during this time that Kekemu encountered poachers on the road while he was out purchasing goods. This guy actually fought with the heavily armed poachers with just a dagger, suffered serious injuries, and was rescued by Big Beard.

  After he recovered from his injuries, Big Beard sent Korkwood back to the village, and only then did he learn that there was actually a place called Cacao Village in the world.

  The village's architectural style is very rustic, using local wood, with four thick tree trunks supporting a square wooden house, with a wooden staircase that can go up and down. They stand there like a quadruped animal. The wooden door on the right side of the wooden ladder opens and closes, and when it opens, it's like an animal's mouth.

  The village has only ten households, their houses surround a circular shape, and in the middle is a huge altar, on which there is a building like a fort.

  Kekemu was the village shaman, deeply loved by the villagers. So when the villagers learned that Big Beard had saved Kekemu, they warmly entertained Big Beard.

  They surrounded the altar, lit bonfires, smeared their faces with animal blood and danced an unknown dance. During the dance, they continuously roasted whole chickens and ducks over the bonfire. After the dance, the chickens and ducks were fragrant and well-cooked. They then sang unknown mountain songs to thank heaven and earth for providing them with food.

  All this was new to the Big Beard, and that night before going to sleep, Kirkwood came into the Big Beard's room, knelt down on the ground and begged the Big Beard to accept him, hoping to join the team guarding the takin.

  He told the big beard that the Tibetan antelope is a sacred animal of our clan, and he has been living in seclusion for so many years, unexpectedly not knowing that the Tibetan antelope has suffered such slaughter and destruction by humans. He wants to go protect these animals on the verge of extinction. He said this is his mission, and he cannot shirk it.

  The big beard was moved by him, seeing that he was sincere, and let him become his team member. For the past two years, Kerkwood has performed well, repeatedly going deep into danger to fight with poachers in a desperate battle. Two days ago, someone from the village said something to him, and then he left in a hurry and never came back.

  ……

  Professor Zhou was convinced that Keke Mu was a descendant of the ancient Qiang people, but when he heard Big Beard talk about the village's architectural style, he hesitated. If they were Qiang people, their buildings would typically be "towers" rather than wooden houses. So he asked Big Beard: "What does the tower on the village's sacrificial platform look like?"

  "Have you seen the war movie where they tear down the enemy's bunker? Like a little devil's fortress. It has holes and is quite tall!"

  Professor Zhou smiled and said: "Let's study it again when we get to the village, anyway we're almost there!"

  Liu Yi listened to their conversation on the side and also felt curious. According to Da Hu Zi's words, Keke Village should be a descendant of an ancient tribe, and the legend of the crystal sheep head came from Kekemu's mouth, and his father also asked him to find him.

  Maybe they can find some clues in their village, and I'm full of expectations for this trip.

  Not only Liu Yi, but also Malacca and Lin Xueyan were extremely excited in their hearts. Growing up in the steel forest, they yearned for such a pure and unpolluted village. This could be seen from their big heads sticking out of the car window, constantly looking around.

  As they talked, the car had already driven into a mountain road. The mountain road was bumpy and uneven, with towering trees surrounding them, their branches and leaves dense and luxuriant. At this time, the sun had completely set, and endless darkness surged in, the faint moonlight blocked by the towering trees, not a single ray of light could be seen.

  The car's headlights shone on the mountain road ahead, and as it climbed up a steep cliff, Big Beard suddenly became cautious, stretching his neck and silently staring at the road ahead while driving slowly.

  The mountain road winds eighteen turns, the car sticks to the mountain and moves forward. Looking out, outside the window is a dark and bottomless canyon. A large river that may be a tributary of the "Nalengger River" flows rapidly, with waves crashing against the rocks, making an inexplicable sound.

  Traveling in such a place, if you're not careful, you'll fall off the cliff and there's no chance of survival. Fortunately, Big Beard had been here before and was familiar with the road; if it were an outsider coming here, they would definitely be dizzy and disoriented.

  Even so, everyone was still frightened and trembling with fear.

  After driving for a while, the road suddenly opened up, and a "V"-shaped mountain road appeared before everyone's eyes. It was much easier to drive than the "turntable road", but Big Beard was still extremely cautious.

  The road became narrower and narrower, and when it finally reached the end of the "V" shape, the big-bearded man stopped the car in front of a steep slope and said: "We're here, get off!"

  Everyone cheered and jumped off the car, then they were all stunned on the spot.

  What lay before them should be the fractured zone between two mountain peaks, below which a natural valley was formed. Looking far away, tall trees reached the sky, desolate and uninhabited, dark and gloomy, like a quiet monster lurking there, not like a place where people lived.

  The big beard saw that everyone looked confused and pointed to the valley: "Kekou Village is hidden in the forest!"

  Everyone lowered their heads to look, under the faint starlight, at the edge of the forest in the valley below, there was a large river. The water rippled with sparkling stars, rushing happily and rapidly away, without knowing where it was headed.

  The precipice is as sharp as a blade, at an angle of fifteen degrees, smooth and slippery, with no foothold, making it extremely difficult to climb down. Even if one manages to get down the precipice, crossing the wide river that stretches for hundreds of meters below is another problem, but who knows if there are man-eating fish in the water.

  Liu Yi looked into the distance and asked Big Beard: "How many meters is it from here to the bottom of the valley? How do we get down?"

  This is a matter of general concern, and everyone turns their heads to look at the big beard.

  The big-bearded man stroked his beard and chuckled: "It's not that high, only 333 meters, but it's interesting to talk about how to get down..."

  He didn't continue speaking, but instead walked towards the car, took out several backpacks from inside and started rummaging through them.

  He took out some essential items such as a strong flashlight, climbing rope, and first aid kit, gathered them in an army green shoulder bag, then took out some guns and ammunition from the car and distributed them to everyone: "When we go down to the valley and cross the dense forest, we may encounter fierce wild beasts. It's better for everyone to have a weapon in hand for self-defense."

  In this team, except for Da Hu Zi, Malacca and Liu Yi are all familiar with guns, while Professor Zhou Tao and Lin Xueyan probably saw real guns for the first time except on TV.

  "Follow me!" said the big-bearded man, waving his flashlight and walking ahead along the steep mountain path to the right.

  On the way forward, Liu Yi and Malacca separately taught the other two how to open the gun safety, how to shoot, etc. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, a deep ditch appeared in front of Big Beard, and then Big Beard shouted: "Arrived, seeing the equipment on the downhill slope, you will be amazed!"

  Hearing Big Whiskers say this, Liu Yi and others curiously gathered around.