Three days later, I, together with five others, got on a long-distance bus bound for Linyi, Shandong. This time, my third uncle brought along three people, two of whom I had seen before. They were all honest people and had a good chat. The third one was the lad I saw downstairs of my third uncle's house carrying a sword box. I didn't know what kind of relationship he had with my third uncle, but he also came along. However, this lad was particularly annoying. He was like a taciturn person. He didn't let out a single fart all the way, just stared straight at the sky as if worried that the sky would fall. At first, I also talked to him a few words, but later simply got lazy to pay attention to him, and didn't even know his name until now. The car was speeding on the highway, and the journey was long. We passed the time by sleeping, and was in a daze the whole way. After twelve hours of bumpy ride, we arrived in Linyi. Linyi is where the ancient state of Lu used to be. It is located in the hilly area and is to the south of Mount Tai. My third uncle compared all the topographies within the scope of the ancient state of Lu and Qi, and set the main target in the Mount Meng of Yimeng Mountains on both Linyi. Due to the lack of information, we also didn't know whether that place was within the territory of the ancient state of Lu or Qi at that time, so we could only take one step at a time. Mount Meng was formerly known as Dongmeng and Dongshan. It stands majestically within the territory of Pingyi County, Shandong Province. It is located in the northwest of Linyi, Shandong, and is a branch of the Taixi Mountains range, spanning the four counties of Pingyi, Mengyin, Feixian, and Yinan, running from northwest to southeast, with a length of over seventy kilometers. Several places have relatively well-developed tourism, and after comparing with the tourist maps we bought, we found that they did not match the map in our hands. The place we were looking for might be deeper inside the mountains. I found several local mountain guide tour guides and asked them about the ancient place names marked on the map, but there were no results. That area has experienced many wars for a long time, and many villages were burned to the ground by the Japanese devils during the resistance against Japan, and it is very difficult to explore. The five of us were at a loss and wandered around several scenic spots for a few circles, then decided to go into the mountains first. We got on the local local bus, and sat all the way to a place 40 kilometers west of Guazimiao, and then changed to a local dirt motorcycle to go further along the small road, and finally took a bullock cart to the local dirt road around the turntable. When we got off the bullock cart, we found that apart from the endless hills in front and back, we could not see any modern things. We thought we had arrived, so we all jumped off the bullock cart. At this time, a dog ran over. My third uncle was happy to see that and joked with the old man who was driving the ox, "Sir, will we ride this dog for the next leg? I'm afraid this dog won't be able to make it!" "How could we ride a dog?" The old man laughed: "This dog is used to send messages. This last leg, there is no vehicle at all. We have to take a boat, and the dog will bring the boat over." As he spoke, he drove the ox cart down an incline, and we hurriedly followed down. Here, the hills are different from those in the south. The altitude is high, and because there has been no human activity for years, the shrubs are very dense, and the ground is covered with a thick layer of corrosive soil, and the mud is black. When you step down, sometimes it can reach up to your knee. We cut several branches to use as crutches, and walked carefully while exploring the road. After descending into the valley, a emerald green mountain stream appeared in front of us, which was about five or six boat widths wide, and the bottom of the water could not be seen, and it was unknown how deep it was. Apart from the flat mountain rock where we were standing, the rest of the places on both sides of the stream were tall cliffs with the tops covered with branches and leaves, and the thick shade blocked most of the sun, making the surrounding temperature drop several degrees again. My third uncle leaned against the back of the ox cart and asked the old man, "Does this dog know how to swim too?" "It swims very well, it swims very well." The old man sat on the cart and knocked on the dog's head with a smoking pipe: "Donkey egg, go and take a swim and show us." The dog really had a lot of spirit, "woof" and jumped into the river, splashed around and swam a lap. When it came up, it shook its fur, and then lay down and stuck out its tongue. We all laughed, and the old man looked at the sky and said to us, "It's still too early now. The boatman definitely hasn't started work yet. Let's take a break and have a smoke." I looked at my watch: "It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and he hasn't started work yet. What kind of work schedule does your boatman have?" "We only have one boatman here. He is the most powerful one. He starts work whenever he wants. Sometimes he doesn't start work for a whole day, which can drive people crazy." The old man smiled: "There's nothing we can do. Within a ten-mile radius, there is only his one family as a boat owner. He can do whatever he wants. The village chief can't do anything about him." "Then why don't you hold a representative assembly and fire him and replace him with a capable person?" My third uncle asked him. "We also thought about that. You are outsiders and don't know. The mountain god here only gives face to him. No one else can go into that cave and will definitely not be able to come out. Only he can lead the way and pass through. I don't know how to put it." "Ah, ahead of this, there still has to go through a cave?" My third uncle was surprised and immediately took out the map to take a look. It seemed to suddenly realize: "It really is a river cave. Why, does this cave still eat people?" The old man chuckled: "That's a saying from the previous generations. I can't remember clearly either. I heard from my family that it was said that there were snake spirits in the cave and they had set up hidden stakes in the water to prevent the boats from going in.." Later one day, suddenly, a person emerged from that cave rowing a small boat and appeared on the edge of the village, saying that he was a peddler from outside. The people in the village didn't believe it and said that he was a snake spirit transformed, and wanted to kill him. Fortunately, at that time, there were several wives from the neighboring village in the township. When they heard this person's accent from Xiangxi, they recognized him and said that he really was a peddler and went to the neighboring village every year. The cosmetics he brought in were all imported from other places.