Chapter 2: Five Stars in a Row
The camera pans to a young man standing on the mountain peak, searching for something with difficulty. His name is Jiang Feng, and he is from Wolong Village at the foot of the mountain. He is a university student village official in Wolong Village. With his bronze-colored skin, smooth face, and sharp facial features, he exudes a cool and handsome aura; his deep, dark eyes sparkle with an enchanting charm; his thick eyebrows, high nose, and perfect lip shape all showcase his determination and courage. Wearing simple camouflage attire, he looks even more majestic and imposing, radiating boundless youthfulness and vitality.
First, let me introduce the origin of the story - Wolong Village. As mentioned earlier, Wolong Village is a relatively impoverished village in Jixiang Town, Lishui County, Huazhong City, S Province. Although it is poor, it cannot be denied that Wolong Village is absolutely a place with excellent feng shui. The surrounding mountains are surrounded by peaks, and the Dragon Peak stands tall on the east side, just like a giant dragon lying down. On top of the Dragon Peak, there is a magnificent waterfall, which flows down to form the Happy River that has nourished generations of Wolong Village. The village faces south, with lush green trees and terraced fields surrounding it. It's not an exaggeration to call it a paradise on earth.
Longfeng didn't know how many billions of years it had taken to form, with towering peaks and deep valleys, ancient trees reaching for the sky, strange flowers and rare herbs everywhere, as well as all sorts of bizarre animals. It was no exaggeration to say that it was a living specimen of biology. Many plants and animals on Ginger Peak were unknown even by name. Ginger Peak wore a thick camouflage uniform and carried a large canvas bag, searching through the mountains. Every plant on the mountain brought him deep shock. Based on his knowledge, he knew that every plant and animal here had research value, and perhaps the results of the study would cause a great stir.
In Jiang Feng's memory, he remembered eating a kind of fruit similar to lychee when he was young. The taste had always lingered in his mind. What was even more strange was that the villagers of Wulong Village had passed down through generations that this fruit could cure all diseases. He didn't know if it was true or not, but after eating one, he basically hadn't gotten sick again. He asked the elderly people in the village, and many of them remembered eating this fruit when they were young, but no one could recall its name. This fruit only grew on Longfeng Mountain, but as for the exact location, everyone had different opinions, and it was unknown where it was.
He was looking for this kind of fruit, if he could find it and transplant it successfully. It would definitely bring great benefits to Wolong Village and change the current situation of high yield but low efficiency in Wolong Village. So after consulting with his parents, he started an endless search.
Jiang Feng went upstream along the Happy River, observing the plants along the way and recording the living environment of various plants that had appeared. These past few days have been very rewarding, as he has discovered many unknown plants and made specimens out of them. Although he still doesn't know what uses these species have, he believes that in the future he will definitely be able to research it. Every day, when hungry he would eat some dry rations, and when thirsty he would go to the Happy River to fetch water; his days were lonely but very fulfilling.
Finally, the diligent person was not disappointed. Under the steep cliff called Wangxian Cliff at the south foot of Longfeng Mountain, Jiang Feng found the long-awaited plant. The plant was lush and green, with a hint of spiritual energy visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, the plant grew on the cliff, which was extremely steep, and there were many mosses growing along the edge of the cliff, making it very slippery to touch, causing him to frown.
Deep in the treasure mountain, how can he return empty-handed? Moreover, this is not his character. Jiang Feng carefully observed the terrain of the cliff and found that there were some rattans around. The people of Wodragon Village all knew that these rattans had tough skin and were used to make things like baskets and hampers. He cut a few segments with his machete and tested them, finding they were still very sturdy. Then he chose the longest one, tied one end to a small tree at the edge of the cliff and the other end to his waist, grabbed the rattan and slowly climbed down. When he reached the nearest plant, he saw that it was about two feet tall with a lush green crown and some small fruits had already grown. Jiang Feng's heart was filled with joy as he slowly moved towards his target along the cliff wall.
Jiang Feng carefully dug up the surrounding soil with a small shovel, then pulled out the roots and put them in his bag. After finishing this, he let out a long sigh and looked down, but was suddenly dizzy, as below him was only a vast expanse of white fog that seemed to have no bottom. At this time, Jiang Feng also felt that his physical strength was somewhat insufficient, so he grabbed the tree vines and climbed up, climbing several meters before the vines suddenly broke under the weight, sending Jiang Feng tumbling down towards the cliff floor. A loud "crack" sound echoed through the air as many birds took flight in all directions, and then everything fell silent.
He didn't know how long he had slept, but Jiang Feng woke up in a daze. He opened his eyes to find that the sky was already slightly dark, and the sun had just set not long ago. At this time, a bright moon rose from the edge of the mountain ridge, casting a cold glow, illuminating the two sides of the mountain like precious stones, sparkling with a thousand twinkling stars scattered across the night sky like diamonds, shining with a brilliant silver light, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
Tonight, the moon is bright and the stars are shining. Jiang Feng's mind cleared up, his whole body aching in pain. He knew that a seriously injured person couldn't move immediately, so he temporarily lay on the ground, looking up at the starry sky. The twinkling stars seemed like a woman's tears. As he looked, the entire starry sky seemed to become blurry and gradually turned into a woman's face - a beautiful woman's face with a hint of resentment in her eyes and a faint smile, as if accusing him of something.
He himself began to think wildly again. Jiang Feng suddenly shook his head. He wanted to drive these things out of his mind. After a while, he calmed down and started observing the starry sky again. Suddenly, he found something curious. Five dazzling bright stars were lined up in a row, like a string of shining pearls scattered on the night sky.
"Could it be the Five Stars in a Row? I'm dizzy. Such a peculiar night scene, and yet I've spent it here." Jiang Feng's heart was not pleased. Such an auspicious sign, and he had the good fortune to witness it. The phenomenon of the Five Stars in a Row occurs once every hundred years. Since ancient times, there have been legends about it. Every time the Five Stars in a Row appear, they are accompanied by auspicious events.
The five stars lined up in a row, from an astronomical point of view, are the five planets of gold, wood, water, fire and earth forming a string. Look closely, the brightest one is Venus. The closest to us is Mercury.
Jiang Feng is a university student. Although he majors in genetic engineering, he doesn't believe in auspicious signs. In his view, it's just a basic natural phenomenon. The five stars are planets orbiting the sun under gravity. Due to their different orbits, their orbital periods are also different. After a certain period of time, they will appear on the same straight line at the same time. Therefore, auspicious signs are simply nonsense.
He felt like he had been lying there for a long time. He subconsciously moved his arm and felt a piercing pain, as if it was fractured. Under the starlight, he could vaguely see the surrounding scenery. He found himself lying under a pine tree, with thick pine needles beneath him. He realized that this pine tree had saved him. When he fell, he landed on the pine tree, breaking its branches. Because the branches dissipated his downward momentum, he was lucky to have survived. However, his left arm was fractured, and his clothes were torn into strips. His body also had many abrasions. Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped.
Looking at the injuries all over his body, he couldn't help but curse: "Damn it." He used his right hand to support himself and slowly sat up. He picked up a few dry branches from the surrounding area. Tore off the cloth strips on his body and simply bandaged his left arm. Then struggled to stand up. A sharp pain stimulated him, his face twisted. This won't do. He gritted his teeth, dragging his injured right leg, and began to explore the valley below.
The bottom of the cliff was covered with pine trees, and some unknown tree species. Jiang Feng saw a cave in the mountain and pushed aside the surrounding bushes to enter. It was too dark inside, and he couldn't see anything clearly. He reached into his pocket and fortunately found his lighter still there. He went outside to pick up a piece of pine branch and lit it, then returned to the cave. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like someone had lived in this cave before. There were some simple shelves inside with some simple pots, bowls, ladles, and basins on them. Most of them were made from clay, except for the ladle which was carved from wood. Jiang Feng reached out to touch one of the shelves, but it suddenly collapsed with a creaking sound. Jiang Feng furrowed his brow; it seemed like this cave hadn't been inhabited for a long time, and the shelf had already rotted away.
As long as someone lives, it's okay, which means there is still a way out. He slightly put down his heart and scanned the cave again. He saw some strangely shaped pottery, and under the collapsed shelf, something seemed to be emitting a faint light, like fireflies. He was very curious and walked over slowly, only to see that it was a fist-sized object that felt like stone but wasn't quite. He was shocked, wondering why this thing glowed, could it be a gemstone? But he shook his head again, gemstones aren't this ugly.
He hadn't even gotten a good look at what it was, the torch had already gone out, he shook his head and walked out of the cave, planning to pick up some pine branches to start a fire inside the cave. It was getting late anyway, and for now, there was no way to find a way out, so he could only spend the night in the cave.
Just as he walked out of the cave with the glowing stone, the stone in his hand began to stir and jumped up and down. "Moving Stone" Jiang Feng was surprised and raised his hand to observe it carefully under the moonlight. Suddenly a bright light shot from the sky and shone directly onto the stone in his hand, after being hit, the stone instantly became radiant and the entire cliff bottom lit up, as if it were daytime.
As the light shone in, the stone broke free from his grasp and slowly rose to a height of over one meter above him before coming to a stop. It quietly absorbed the beam of light that had been cast down from the sky, and as time passed, the stone grew brighter and brighter until it was like a small sun.
Today, TV stations everywhere had forecast the five-star alignment phenomenon for today, and many astronomy enthusiasts had been waiting at the best observation spots early on. However, the strange light of the five stars has left many people baffled, something that has never been encountered before. Astronomers from all over the world have put forward their own speculations, with various explanations being offered, but no consensus can be reached, and nobody can convince anyone else.
