Author: Feng Jianguo
There is a phoenix valley in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, everyone is very familiar, located in the south of the ancient salt pond, known as the back garden of the Yuncheng people, the scenery is very beautiful, everyone often goes to climb.
Near the Mid-Autumn Festival, a few of us met to climb the Phoenix Valley, headed by Huang Pingding, who used to be an old policeman, because I was a few months older, I called him Brother Huang. Brother Huang is a native of Xiyao Village, Phoenix Valley, who has been in and out of the Phoenix Valley since he was a child, so he climbed up like a flat ground in front of his own door, which made me very envious.
Brother Huang told us that phoenix valley is a general term, in fact, there are five forks, and on weekdays, everyone climbs three forks, which is relatively flat. Especially after being artificially excavated to make steps, it has lost the wild nature of the mountain and is much easier to climb.
Brother Huang didn't like such a mountain, saying that it was basically a sightseeing tour and had no energy. He said he was born to like to walk roads that no one had climbed, which was exciting and challenging. I agreed with him, so we chose to go up from the second fork, which people don't often walk on weekdays.
The rocks on both sides of the two turnouts are towering, the trees cover the sky, and from time to time there are eagles circling overhead, giving people a feeling of madness. There is no knee in the grass under the feet, the flowing water is hidden underneath, and only the remnants of the caves left by the pirates in the depths of the mountain know that there are still rare people here.
Entering the mountain, Brother Huang changed his previous unsmiling expression and seemed to have returned to his childhood. He led the way in front with a wooden stick in his hand, while playing with the wild grass under his feet, he told the story of encountering a flower python, and compared it with his hand, saying that it was as thick as an arm and more than two meters long. The nerves of the group of people were so tight that they forgot the fatigue of climbing the mountain.
Climbing a mountain requires courage and perseverance, but also patience, especially when climbing to the top of the mountain. On weekdays, people sit and talk about it, and they all know that they will be at the top of the mountain and see the beauty of the mountains, but they rarely can immerse themselves in the scene and appreciate the hardships of reaching the top of the mountain. You should know that sometimes the distance of one step away often makes people daunted, resulting in lack of merit and defeat.
The mountain is getting steeper and steeper, full of thorns and bushes, and there is no way to climb at all, relying on hand and foot pedaling, the most primitive crawling function of human beings. Wait until you climb to the top of the peak, look at the canyon you have just climbed behind you, and the salt pool with silver waves in the distance, only to realize that after the dangerous peak is trampled under your feet, there will be such a heroic burst. So everyone carried the mood of the victor, roared a few words of Pu drama and popped up, causing Qiangu to call, Wanshan to respond, and the heavens and the earth were suddenly integrated.
The scenery at the top of the mountain is really good, the blue sky is far-reaching, the white clouds are leisurely, the sun is warm and warm, and there are a few wisps of fresh wind, it is easy to think of the hermits in the mountains in the old days. Just when everyone was still breathless and relishing the feat just now, Brother Huang had filled the teapot with clear spring water, selected an empty place, and built a simple seven-star stove with stones. After a while, the pot on the top of the mountain overflowed, and the aroma of tea quickly spread, and the fragrance was difficult to find in the tea room.
The interest of the climber is completely in the entertainment of the soul, several people sit on the ground, the cake is filled with beef, green pepper salt, tasting qingquan old tea, even if the snow night stove boils tea, the rain pavilion listens to the lin, how can there be such a scene and be happy? All the troubles in the weekdays, at this time, there is no trace of it. I think the life of the gods in the past was probably nothing more than that.
Speaking of immortals, I think of the Eight Immortals, have they ever come to the Phoenix Valley? There is no research, but I think that at least Lu Dongbin and Zhang Guolao may have come, because they are both Yuncheng people.
Climbed, happy, tired, everyone casually lay on the hillside, letting the sun lazily shine on them. Brother Huang brought a Walkman and played excerpts from The Pu Opera Empress Wu Junying's masterpiece "Su Sanqi Solution". Worthy of being called "Junying Cavity", the bite word is fresh and accurate, the singing voice is lingering and gentle, it sounds pleasant and beautiful, and after a while it is a sound sleep.
The sunset is sloping, the blue sky is far-reaching, and there are a few wisps of white clouds floating by, just like the scarf wrapped around the mountain, so that people feel that they can touch it at hand. The feeling of dreaming is really good, thousands of mountains and valleys are embraced into the void, and time has quietly dissolved into the embrace of the mountains. When you wake up, it's time to go down the mountain.
We walked down the five forks, and the sheep intestine trail under our feet extended forward, curving and curving, and the light was visible, like a ribbon. The light mist drifted, the sunlight became softer, and the hillside was scattered with sheep returning home, making it feel like home. Picking up a stick in my hand, whether it is along the mountain or a ditch, my heart is also much more solid, and I have no hardship and fear of going up the mountain.
Walking deep into the mountain hollow, the babbling brook flows under your feet, like a serenade sound. Ripe persimmons, hanging on the old branches stretching out to the sky, like flames, like lanterns, make the lonely and empty world full of enthusiasm and passion in an instant. There are several broken walls and ruins at the foot of the mountain, telling people that this place was originally an ancient human site, and the years will bring everything, only the mountain range is an eternal memory.
The sun gradually lay on the top of the mountain, like a freshly baked jade plate, and the sunset filled the sky. A few of us who were over sixty years old, some of us were playing by the stream, some were sitting on the stone mounds to take a nap, and the oldest brother had climbed the persimmon tree and rode on the fork like a child. The returning birds and finches chirped, as if looking for a conversation with humans, laughing and talking, and had long forgotten the approaching dusk.
(Picture from the Internet, invasion and deletion)