Qingya Village

Black Flower Herb was bound by a red thread, its leaves swaying in the wind.

I quickly understood. It had to be the jade corpse, Zhu Xian'er, who had helped me catch Black Flower Herb.

Because I had said that I entered Chiyou Valley to pick Black Flower Herb. After she left the valley, she must have run into Black Flower Herb and caught it for me in passing.

Other than her, I couldn't think of anyone else.

I hurried forward and grabbed Black Flower Herb in one hand. Its body shook nonstop. Its roots were very long, hanging from the tree, so long they dragged all the way to the ground.

"Brother Kunlun, break off ten leaves, then take a section of root. After that, just throw Black Flower Herb on the ground," Ma Erlei said.

I immediately broke off the leaves, took a section of root, untied the red thread, and threw Black Flower Herb onto the ground. After landing, Black Flower Herb lay flat on the ground without moving. Then, all of a sudden, its roots burrowed into the soil, and in the blink of an eye it had fled far away.

Now that I had obtained Black Flower Herb, this trip to gather herbs could be considered perfectly completed. Ma Erlei and I headed out of Chiyou Valley. The Black Centipedes, venomous scorpions, and poisonous spiders had become a pot of boiling porridge. Without Wu Daochao's control, they had regained their freedom.

"Brother Kunlun, Wu Daochao looked pretty scary, but I think there was something wrong with his brain, and something wrong with his eyes too," Ma Erlei said solemnly.

I asked, "What was wrong with them?"

"He actually said Xiaodao was his martial niece. He saw Xiaodao as a girl. Tell me, doesn't that mean there's something wrong with his eyes and his head?" Ma Erlei said with absolute certainty.

I froze for a moment and forced back a laugh. "Maybe after someone dies once and turns into a zombie, their judgment isn't that strong anymore. Besides, the cave was dim. It's normal that he couldn't see clearly."

Ma Erlei really was a simple child.

By the time we walked out of Chiyou Valley, it was already noon. The paper figure carrying the great Gu master's soul had not followed us out, and who knew where it had run off to. As for the Blood Infant, there was even less trace of it.

Maybe it had fallen into Wu Daochao's hands.

Ma Erlei and I were unbearably hungry and thirsty, and our bodies were even more exhausted. To cross several mountains and take the rugged mountain paths back to Camellia Village was almost impossible.

"Erlei, are there any Miao stockades nearby? Let's borrow lodging for the night, eat something, get a few clay pots for decocting medicine, and help Xiaodao detoxify and heal as soon as possible," I asked Ma Erlei.

Ma Erlei looked around and said, "Five li to the northeast is Qingya Village's territory. Qingya Village and Camellia Village are on good terms. We can go there to rest."

Ma Erlei and I immediately decided to go to Qingya Village and ask to stay for the night. Although it was only five li of mountain road, it took several hours to walk. Luckily, we encountered several springs along the way and drank our fill of clear water, so we weren't thirsty.

We walked until the sun set in the afternoon before finally reaching the area near Qingya Village. Ma Erlei pointed at a small mountain before us and said, "Qingya Village is up on that mountain. There's a small path leading up. Like Camellia Village, Qingya Village is a Miao stockade. The Gu insect that guards Qingya Village is the Seven-Colored Gu, and it isn't easy to provoke either. We all need to be careful and not violate any of their taboos."

I nodded, thinking that compared to the Seven-Colored Gu raised by Wu Daochao, I wondered which of Qingya Village's Seven-Colored Gu was more formidable.

After resting at the foot of the mountain for more than ten minutes, Ma Erlei carried Xiao Yudao on his back again. We had just reached the base of the mountain when two burly men wearing Miao clothing, Miao sabers hanging at their waists, jumped out. One of them barked sharply, "Who goes there?"

Ma Erlei quickly said, "Uncles, we're from Camellia Village. The three of us entered the mountains together to gather herbs, and this brother of mine was bitten by a venomous snake and fainted. It's too late to return to Camellia Village tonight, so we'd like to borrow lodging in Qingya Village for one night. Please make things convenient for us."

The burly man shouted, "The Five Poison Sacred Insects nourish divine Gu."

Ma Erlei immediately answered, "Emperor Chiyou's soul shines over the Miao Borderlands."

The first line meant that the Five Poison Sacred Insects were venomous snakes, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, and toads, and that Miao people often used the Five Poison insects to raise Gu. The second line meant that everyone was descended from Chiyou, and that the continuation of the Miao people's bloodline was protected by Emperor Chiyou's soul.

After Ma Erlei replied, the two Miao men's attitudes immediately improved.

One of the burly men said, "Since we are all Miao, we naturally ought to look after one another. Go up this path yourselves. We still have to stand guard here."

Ma Erlei thanked them again and again, and he and I followed the mountain path upward. In the dense woods on either side, many leaves had fallen.

After roughly fifteen minutes, we finally reached Qingya Village.

As we went up, Ma Erlei told me some taboos, and also said Qingya Village was a stockade of raw Miao who had little contact with Han people. To avoid unnecessary trouble, for the time being, I was to be called Ma Kunlun.

Once we reached the mountaintop, the view suddenly opened wide. Qingya Village sat on the cliff, overlooking the scenery in every direction. The landscape was extremely beautiful, and the name "Green Cliff" was very fitting. The buildings throughout the stockade were arranged in scattered but orderly fashion, and had great character.

We waited for a moment at the entrance of the stockade.

Ma Erlei called out a few words in Miao.

Many Miao people and Dong People could speak Chinese, but after entering a raw Miao stockade, speaking Miao was more convenient. The Miao lived deep in the mountains, often dealing with poisonous insects and fierce beasts. During times of war, bandits in the mountains appeared one after another, and Miao stockades suffered deeply from them, so they still maintained a very high vigilance toward outsiders.

After a while, a middle-aged man walked out of the stockade. He held a smoking pipe, wore black hemp clothes, had a black headscarf tied around his head, and was draped in a waist-length black cloak embroidered with all kinds of colorful patterns.

The middle-aged man was not tall, but he was extremely sturdy. His eyes were bright and full of spirit. Speaking Miao with a very heavy accent, he said, "I am Ma Shi of Qingya Village. Whose children are you from Camellia Village?"

It seemed the people of Qingya Village were also surnamed Ma.

Ma Erlei set Xiao Yudao down and said respectfully, "My name is Ma Erlei. She is Ma Xiaodao, and this elder brother is Ma Kunlun... Ma Huoxin of Camellia Village is Xiaodao's father, and also the master of the two of us."

The middle-aged Ma Shi swept his gaze over the three of us, and his eyes finally stopped on me. He asked doubtfully, "You're called Ma Kunlun? That name doesn't sound like the name of a Miao child."

I stammered, "It was Master... who gave it to me... I don't know... the reason either."

When I was in school, some of my classmates were children from Miao stockades. I could understand Miao, but I was not very fluent when speaking it.

Ma Erlei quickly said, "Uncle Ma Shi, the three of us were bitten by poisonous insects, and we haven't eaten for a long time. Please give us some food, and also give me two clay pots for decocting medicine. After we return to Camellia Village, we'll send gifts of thanks."

Ma Shi said, "Fine. When the time comes, have Ma Huoxin send over two zombies that can work." He then shouted twice, and two capable-looking women came out.

Ma Shi glanced at us again and said, "If you need medicinal ingredients, tell me. Once you reach the place where you'll rest, don't wander around at will. If you're injured by the stockade's Gu insects, I won't be responsible for treating you."

Ma Erlei hurriedly cupped his hands and thanked him.

Ma Shi's gaze was still fixed on me as he asked, "Are you mute? Why aren't you saying thank you?"

I quickly said, "Uncle, I... can't speak clearly, and I'm not fluent. I speak very poorly. Thank you..."

Only then did Ma Shi finally look away. "I'll say it again. Something major has happened in Qingya Village recently. I'll give you a place to rest. Once your injuries are better, leave quickly, and don't run around." After he finished speaking, he left.

Two capable women led us toward the west side of the stockade. We passed along a flagstone path and saw a tall building in the distance, built with the best materials, the most magnificent structure in all of Qingya Village.

It should have been Qingya Village's ancestral hall, a place to worship their ancestors and spirits. Along the way, we could still see stone statues—some were eight-armed idols, some were human-headed centipedes, and there were even double-faced scorpion statues, all placed casually by the roadside.

Shamanic customs flourished throughout Qingya Village, and they revered Gu arts greatly, even more than Camellia Village did. Ma Erlei followed behind the women, his mouth shut tight, not saying a single word.

The two women brought us to a separate stilted building with a stone foundation and a house built of wooden planks. After opening the door, they also brought over two clay pots for decocting medicine, a small stove for brewing it, firewood for cooking, and plenty of clean water, rice, cured meat, and greens.

After delivering everything, the two women said nothing at all and walked straight away.

Only then did I ask Ma Erlei, "Erlei, that Ma Shi knows Uncle Ma Huoxin. Why didn't he come forward to examine Xiaodao's injury and help offer an idea or two? And the food they sent over is all unprocessed?"

Ma Erlei lowered his voice and said, "He's afraid of causing a dispute. If he gets involved and Xiaodao dies in Qingya Village, it's bound to affect the friendship between the two villages. As for providing ingredients and letting us prepare them ourselves, that's to prove they won't put Gu in the food."

I thought it over carefully and reached a conclusion: the two villages were on good terms, but when it involved treating injuries and Gu insects, there was an unspoken rule in place. They could not cross the line, and they could not interfere.

I asked again, "Why is that?"

Ma Erlei thought for a while, then said, "Because before, between the various Miao villages, there were blood feuds and Gu-poisoning incidents. People used Gu insects to fight over wealth, to kill people and wipe out entire villages. Things like that still happened from time to time in my grandfather's generation. Although such things are rare now, everyone is still very vigilant about this, in case it causes unnecessary disputes."

I nodded as if I understood something and said, "You wash the clay pots clean first, then wash the herbs we gathered and lay them out. I'll prepare the medicine. I'll be in charge of cooking. After we finish eating, we'll brew the medicine. After we eat, we'll also make a pot of rice porridge."

I lit a fire and cooked. The stilted building had a cooking stove and kitchen utensils. I rinsed the rice and set it to cook, sliced the cured meat thin, and washed the greens clean. Once the stove fire was burning, I fried the cured meat first. When the oil seeped out, the aroma of meat spread. I poured in the greens. The fragrance of meat and greens wrapped together, luring out every roundworm in my belly.

Ma Erlei and I had walked mountain roads all day on empty stomachs and were starving. Ma Erlei wolfed down his food and shouted, "Brother Kunlun, your cooking is amazing."

I also ate a large bowl of rice.

Night fell, and the two medicine stoves were lit.

I sorted the various herbs we had gathered by type. First, I prepared the herbs to counteract the snake venom for Xiao Yudao, tossed them into a clay pot, added water, and set them to decoct. Then I threw thirteen kinds of herbs, including the Black Flower Herb, into the other clay pot.