Ding Qi and others walked along the ravine, and they heard the sound of water not far away. This was a stream naturally formed between the two mountains. The stream was winding and wider, and gradually it was possible to sail. The hillsides on both sides were steep, so everyone tried to walk in a relatively gentle area with high places.

After walking about two miles, Ding Qi suddenly stopped and stamped his feet and said, "There is obviously a foundation below, and there is a ruin around it covered by vegetation. Is there a village here?"

Yang Chengong explained: "I can't see clearly at night, but I should still find traces during the day. This is indeed an ancient village site. I don't know how many years ago it was left, so no one has lived there. In the past, there were actually many villages in the Wuling Mountains, and later they were moved out one after another, especially in recent decades, they have been moved by government organizations."

Ding Qi: "This site is obviously not a ruin in recent decades, and it may have been around for hundreds of years."

Yang Chengong: "Although the scenery here is beautiful, it was poor in ancient times, and the living conditions were very harsh. In the war years, some people might move to the mountains to avoid disasters. During the Taiping period, there were better places outside, so they basically moved out again. This should be an abandoned ancient village."

Tian Zhongluo smiled and said, "This place is not far from the No. 5 Valley, and the straight line is only one kilometer, but it is obviously more suitable for living. At least the terrain is much smoother, so you can open more terraces to grow grain. I guess there was a village here in ancient times, and later moved to the No. 5 Valley. Until now, it has been transformed into a homestay and resort by Boss Chen."

Yang Chengong also smiled and said, "It's very likely!"

He walked about two kilometers along the direction of the stream. This was not a flat road outside. It was already very far and deep when walking two kilometers in this mountainous area. The road was difficult to walk in the dark. Ding Qi deliberately slowed down to take care of others. It took almost an hour and a half to reach the end of the stream.

The streams in the mountains often cannot find where they come from. The source may be just a spring, or when it rains, it converges from the rock gap to somewhere to form a pond. Ding Qi stopped again and said, "Take a flashlight around, are these peach trees?"

As the strong flashlight swept around, everyone found that they were in a wild peach forest. Ma Xiao exclaimed: "Wow, there are fruits!" She picked a peach. Ding Qi reminded: "The one you picked has an insect on it!"

Looking closely with the strong flashlight, the peach was indeed wormy, and there was still mucus hanging near the pedicle. Ma Xiao threw the peach away, and Yang Chengong looked at Ding Qi in surprise and said, "Chairman Ding has such strong senses!"

Tian Zhongluo beat him up and said, "Or why would it be Chairman Ding!"

Ding Qi bent down and picked up a peach pit from the ground. This is a peach pit, not big, oval, and has a thick shell. This kind of thing can be seen in the cultural and entertainment market. Some people like to play with this kind of peach pit bunch. Everyone found some intact and mature peaches and tasted them, which tasted sweet and sour.

Tian Zhongluo: "This is a pure natural green and pollution-free wild variety, it is quite delicious."

How did Ma Xiao tell the truth: "Why do I feel that the peaches sold in the fruit shop outside are not as delicious as they are?"

Ding Qi explained: "Who says that wild varieties must have a better taste? The varieties in the orchard have been artificially cultivated for thousands of years, and they are to choose plants that are more suitable for human taste to breed. There is not enough wild peach juice, it is very astringent, but the peach itself has more wild game."

Ma Xiao: "This piece is not a thousand-year-old peach forest, right?"

Ding Qi shook his head and said, "You see, these trees are not similar, at most, they are more than ten to decades."

Ma Xiao: "Since it is a wild peach forest, why are there no thousand-year-old ancient trees left?"

Ding Qi: "There is a saying that peaches have no ancient trees. If artificial management is properly managed, the growth of peach trees is the best in the age of ten years, but it rarely grows for more than a few decades. Peach trees of four or fifty years are rare, let alone a hundred years of peach trees. As for wild peaches, the age is shorter and basically cannot grow too big."

Ding Qi's hometown is in the mountainous area of ​​Jingyang County, and there is also a Taoyuan in the mountain village. He knows the particularity of some peach trees. There is a lot of peach trees. If you use a knife to mark a branch, a lot of translucent juice will overflow. Many insects like to eat it and are very likely to attract diseases and pests. The life cycle of peach trees is usually only a few decades, and the plants will age and die due to various reasons.

No matter how well-planted peach trees are maintained, they are difficult to grow for more than a few decades. The highest fruit yield is more than ten years old, and then the fruits are gradually reduced. Whether it is artificially planted or wild peach trees in the mountains, forty or fifty years is the growth limit, and there has been almost no peach trees that have been seen for more than a hundred years, so there is a saying that peaches have no ancient trees.

There are many ancient trees that have grown for thousands of years, either have strong resistance to pests and diseases, or they grow in extreme environments with few pests and diseases, such as pine, cypress, ginkgo, dragon blood trees, alpine azaleas, etc., while peach trees are obviously not listed here.

Although this peach forest is not old, it may have existed since ancient times. Trees have been dying, but the fallen peach pits have sprouted and grown again, and are still today.

After listening to Ding Qi's introduction, Ma Xiao praised: "Teacher Ding is really knowledgeable!" On this occasion, her name changed from Alliance Leader Ding to Teacher Ding. Yang Chengong laughed but said nothing after hearing this, as if he had another opinion but did not speak.

While talking and laughing, he walked out of this peach forest, and a rock wall in front of him blocked the way. Yang Chengong smiled and said, "It's almost here. You need to drill a cave. It's a bit narrow. Be careful not to touch your head."

There was no hole? I didn't find anything when I swept the flashlight through it. But Ding Qi had already "saw" the portal of the outside world. As Yang Chengong pointed, a hole appeared on the stone wall. Since it was night, it was so dark that it couldn't see anything clearly. He took a flashlight and walked in first.

The cave was indeed very narrow, barely allowing only one person to pass through. From time to time, I had to pay attention to lower my head. After walking about dozens of steps, the space suddenly became clear and they came out of the hole at the other end.

Under the quiet moonlight is a valley, and a very flat path ahead is a very flat path, which should be rammed with cooked soil without weeds. In the distant center of the valley is a forest with sparse and tall trees, and there seems to be a village under the tree.

Two young men were already running forward with flashlights. Yang Chengong explained embarrassedly: "I didn't expect you to come in tonight. I didn't make any preparations here in advance, I just cleaned up a little."

Ding Qi: "We just take a look and confirm the existence of the outer world of Changcheng Blessing Land, so there is no need for Yang Fuzhu to make any preparations."

At this time, Ma Xiao asked in confusion: "Master Yang Fu, why do I feel like the description in "The Book of Peach Blossoms"?"

After she said this, Ding Qi suddenly came to his senses and said in surprise: "Yes, is this blessed land the legendary Peach Blossom Land?" The text in "The Peach Blossom Land" immediately appeared in Ding Qi's mind-

During the Taiyuan period of Jin Dynasty, people in Wuling fished for their careers. They walked by the stream and forgot the distance of the road. Suddenly, they met a peach blossom forest, with hundreds of steps between the shore, without miscellaneous trees, fresh grass, and colorful fallen flowers. The fisherman was very strange, and moved forward again, trying to penetrate the forest. After the forest had the source of water, they found a mountain with a small mouth, as if there was light. Then they left the boat and entered through the mouth. At first, they were extremely narrow, and they were able to understand people. After walking for dozens of steps, they suddenly became enlightened...

The description of this passage is very similar to their experience at this moment, but they came after dark. While walking along the high slope next to the river, they passed by the ruins of an ancient village. The Wuling fisherman recorded by Tao Yuanming is entirely possible that he was a villager there in ancient times.

Yang Chengong sighed and said, "Don't talk about you, I have always been suspicious, but unfortunately I can't find anyone to ask. And that's just a literary work and there is no way to verify it."

Ding Qi: "Where is your master? Where is the previous blessed master who rides on the blessed land?"

Yang Chengong: "To be honest, Alliance Leader Ding said that my master is a retired cadre in the district. He didn't know why he liked me, taught me to practice secret techniques and brought me here... He also suspected that this place was what Tao Yuanming mentioned, but he couldn't find anyone to ask."

Ma Xiao: "Has no one lived here for a long time?"

Yang Chengong: "The ruins of the village are still there, but they may have been abandoned for eight hundred years, and there is no one. You can go over and take a closer look and you will find out."

The mountain is slightly far away from the left and right sides, the land on both sides of the road is flat and there are traces of ditches, which have been clearly reclaimed by artificially, but now weeds and trees have grown. A river bypasses the village in front, and there are several lakes formed by water bays on the valley plain. They walked through a stone bridge and entered the village.

In the center of the stone arch bridge deck, a square stone is embedded with two regular script engravings - Changcheng.

Ding Qi and Shi Buquan have been together for a long time, and they have some appreciation for their identities. They can identify that this should be in the Ou style. Ouyang Xun was from the Tang Dynasty, so the age of this stone carving can only be after the Tang Dynasty or after the Tang Dynasty. Tao Yuanming was from the Jin Dynasty, far before the Tang Dynasty. This shows that for a long time after Tao Yuanming wrote "The Book of Peach Blossom Spring", people lived here.

These two characters are carved on the stone slab in the middle of the bridge deck. This is a road for people to walk on. The handwriting will be smoothed over time and it is difficult to identify. But now the wear of these two characters is very small, which means that few people walk on the bridge soon after the stone is left.

There is a tall ancient tree at the bridgehead. The breast diameter of the main trunk is more than one meter, and the crown is opened to completely cover the bridge deck. It is obvious that someone has cleaned the bridge deck, otherwise the fallen leaves would have accumulated very thickly, and it is impossible to see the carvings of stone slabs. There are dozens of trees like this in the village, scattered in front of and behind the house.

This is an abandoned village, with broken tiles and broken walls everywhere. The roofs of most houses have long disappeared, but the outline is still clear. When I first entered the village, there is a complete courtyard with a grass-rooted brick wall. The wall is obviously made of the intact bricks in the ruins of the village. There are yards in front and back, and there is a well in the front yard.

The two young men running in front just now had already entered the yard and started a bonfire. Yang Chengong raised his hand and signaled: "The conditions are simple, let's rest here."

Before they entered the house, they brought tables and benches to sit down in the yard. Ding Qi asked, "Is this yard the residence of the blessed masters who have been traveling to the blessed land?"

Yang Chengong: "Yes, my master lived here when he brought me in."

The blessings of Changcheng are passed down to Yang Chengong, which shows that the inheritance has not been cut off since ancient times, but the residents of the ancient villages had long known where to move, and only the outside world was still passed on. Whether it was Yang Chengong's master or Yang Chengong, they rarely came here in normal times, and the blessing masters of all dynasties only cleaned up such a courtyard to serve as a temporary place to settle down.

Ding Qi asked again: "Although the village is abandoned, the debris left over can be basically judged by the abandoned age, right?"

Yang Chengong: "Yes, my master also has a general judgment. The ancient relics left here were from the Northern Song Dynasty at the latest, which means that the residents here moved out at that time, but there have always been people outside retaining the inheritance of the outside world."

Ding Qi has outlined a rough history in his heart, just like the vague outline of this ancient village. In ancient times, some people lived here for generations, and some people controlled the treasures of the world and inherited this secret realm of heaven and earth. However, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the residents here moved out collectively.

It’s good to live in the outside world, why should we move? Because they have a choice. This is not a place with a good living environment. Communication with the outside world is too difficult, and it is almost impossible to exchange and exchange products. It seems comfortable and peaceful, but in fact it is equivalent to drawing a prison.

Even a self-sufficient farming society has social production. One or several villages cannot produce all kinds of things they need, but they still have to rely on product exchange. The characteristics of the secret realm of heaven and earth determine that it is difficult for them to exchange with the outside world.

Isn’t there such a dilemma in Wuxin Valley now? Fortunately, there have been a group of palm flower envoys throughout the ages, and the blessing land of Changcheng obviously does not even have this condition. If you moved here to avoid war, civilization will degenerate over time and it will be impossible to develop into Qingaotai, because their ethnic group is not large enough and the area here is limited.

Wuling Mountains were very remote in ancient times. If you were to avoid troubled times, you would not have to live here. The No. 5 Valley outside was a place for settlement. After war, the population dropped sharply and a large amount of land was abandoned. The tribesmen here could find a suitable place to live when they went out, and they probably never came back.

Is Chang Chenghua the Blessed Land the Peach Blossom Land mentioned by Tao Yuanming? Perhaps... Seeing that Ding Qi didn't speak for a long time, as if he was thinking, Yang Chengong finally couldn't help but remind him: "Principal Ding, have you noticed what trees are around you?"

Ding Qi came back to his senses and said in shock: "It's actually a peach tree!"

Yang Chengong laughed and said, "There are 28 thousand-year-old peach trees here. When we entered the village, we walked under the tree and were also sitting under the tree at this moment."

They passed by a peach forest outside, and Ding Qi specially introduced to Ma Xiao the importance of "there are no ancient trees" to Ma Xiao. As a result, the facts were very slap in the face. After entering Changcheng, there were actually twenty-eight thousand-year-old peaches in the village. It was not that Ding Qi didn't know him, but that he didn't even expect that when he entered the village, he was attracted by the stone bridge and the buildings in the village, thinking about the history of this place.

There are many plants with leaves that look like peach leaves, and there are many varieties of peach trees, and there are several shapes. It is normal for Ding Qi to not pay attention to it for a while. After Yang Chengong reminded him, he discovered that there are such a large ancient peach trees in the world. Of course, he was shocked. It must be caused by the unique environment here.

Ma Xiao also exclaimed: "Oh my God, there are really thousands of years of ancient peach trees. Didn't Teacher Ding say that there are no ancient peach trees?"

At this time, Ding Qi suddenly stretched out his hand, and an object that fell in the air drew an arc to his palm. Looking at the fire, it was a peach. The peach fell from the tree when it was ripe. If Ding Qi didn't catch it, it might hit Tian Zhongluo's head, which would be a bit like an apple hit Newton back then.

Ma Xiao stood up: "Is this a thousand-year-old ancient peach?"

Yang Chengong smiled and said, "It's the peaches that have been born this year."

Ding Qi was puzzled and said, "Is it still fruitful?"

Yang Chengong: "It blooms every year, but it has rarely bears fruit. There are twenty-eight ancient peach trees here. Maybe which ones will bear fruit in which year, and the total number will not exceed one hundred each year."

Ma Xiao: "Can you eat it?"

Yang Chengong: "Of course I can eat it. The season you come is just right. The ancient peaches are ripe. There are more than 70 pieces this year. I just said that this place is not ready. I originally planned to come in early tomorrow to pick the peaches to serve the guests, but I haven't had time to pick them tonight."

Ding Qi: "Can you pick it now?"

Yang Chengong: "The tree is too tall, and peaches are difficult to pick. It is not convenient to see clearly at night."
Chapter completed!