The rivers and lakes are full of vests

With the southwestern map given by Wen Moyao, the next journey will be a lot easier. Fu Peibai clicked on the map, which is located in the southwestern hinterland of Huanggu Miao Village. This is their next destination.

On October [-]th, Fu Peibai and his party, who had been traveling for several days, finally arrived at the ancient Miao Village where they were alone.

To the north is the direction Sang Yunshi is going.

Going south was the direction Shi Qi wanted to rush to.

For more than a month, the four of them have experienced a lot of hardships and troubles on the road, and some friendship has developed to some extent. Even Lu Qingwan has lost her perverse appearance, and told Sang Yunshi to take care of herself with some awkwardness.

Fu Peibai handed the seventeen's luggage to the other party, feeling a little bored. She couldn't say anything to say goodbye, so she could only ask again: "There is a passing inn after a dozen miles to the south, where you can rest. After a while, and then follow the southeast path for more than 20 miles to the small village you mentioned, and you should be able to reach it before dark."

Seventeen took the package, smiled lightly and said, "Got it."

Seeing that Fu Peibai seemed to have nothing to say, she said again: "Then I'm leaving?"

Fu Peibai gave a low hum.

Shi Qi immediately turned around and walked towards the path that branched off to the south.

"and many more!"

Fu Peibai still spoke hastily, and he took a step forward.

The woman in white stopped and looked back, "What's wrong?"

The boy's voice was a little tense, "No...what, go, take care all the way."

"Okay, so are you."

Shi Qi's figure finally disappeared at the end of the path in the distance.

Fu Peibai looked away, feeling a little indescribably depressed, and after sending Sang Yunshi away, she and Lu Qingwan led the horse into the huge and ancient Miao villages.

Outside the gate of the village stood an ancient stone tablet, and the characters engraved on it were probably in ancient Miao language, which Fu Peibai and Lu Qingwan did not understand.

The whole Miao village is built on the mountain, half at the foot of the mountain and half stretching to the mountainside. Some are fighting against hoeing in the fields, and some are sitting on the ridge of the field and singing loudly. The singing is high-pitched and melodious. From time to time, other people sing in unison.

What you see, men, women, old and young, are self-sufficient and enjoying themselves, in this chaotic world, it is like a paradise, far from the image of the Gu Domain that is rumored in the rivers and lakes.

Sure enough, the rumors are not to be believed. Fu Peibai led the horse into the Miao Village, and people looked at them from time to time on the road. There was no hostility in their eyes, just out of curiosity.

"Grandma, may I ask where you can stay in the village?" Fu Peibai stopped, bent over and asked an old woman who was sitting on the short side of the street.

The old woman opened her mouth and spit out a series of words that Fu Peibai could not understand.

Fu Peibai scratched his head, and could only continue forward. Several people were stopped on the road, but the other party could only speak Miao language and could not communicate at all.

Lu Qingwan began to get impatient, "Has anyone here never gone out in their entire life? How come there is no one who can speak the Central Plains dialect."

"They live here without being disturbed by wars and turmoil, and they are at ease. This small world is already complete, so why go out." After Fu Peibai finished speaking, he stopped the young Miao village boy who was passing by, and slowed down his speech: "Brother , can you speak Central Plains dialect?"

The young man was wearing a sleeveless gown, barefoot, carrying a pole on his shoulders, and tied two fat river fish with straw ropes at one end. He was obviously returning from fishing. Looking at the two outsiders, he suddenly said excitedly : "Tired...are you from the Central Plains?"

Although the man's tone of voice was strange and vague, he was indeed speaking the Central Plains dialect.

Fu Peibai was pleasantly surprised: "Yes, we are from the Central Plains, can you speak the Central Plains dialect?"

The young man scratched his dark cheeks, showing a bit of shyness, "Yes, a little bit."

"Great, little brother, where can you stay here? We can give you money."

The young man waved his hand, "You guys play with me, the cloth costs money."

The guy's crappy Central Plains dialect really made people laugh, Lu Qingwan couldn't hold back, and burst out laughing, "Your accent is so funny, hahaha."

The young man stood there in a daze, staring at Lu Qingwan's wanton smiling face, his originally dark face suddenly turned red, he smiled a little embarrassedly, "Wo only learned a little from Aji."

Seeing that Fu Peibai and the others were puzzled, he took the initiative to explain: "Aji is the father's Yishi, and he is also the patriarch here. I will take you to meet him."

Fu Peibai nodded and followed the man towards the mountainside.

When climbing to a higher place, Fu Peibai saw ghost masters and witches with strange symbols and totems painted on their faces. As far as she knew, such people usually had a high status in the tribe and were deeply respected by the tribe. The village has also formed the same strict hierarchy as the Central Plains. The higher the residence, the more noble the status.

When they reached the top of the Miao village group, there were no other stilted buildings, only one stilted building standing on an open flat land.

The eaves are upturned, and there are corridors on three sides, with wooden railings hanging out. The patterns of swastikas are carved on the railings.

This huge stilted building and its extraordinary decorations all showed the lofty status of the owner of the building. Fu Peibai began to be a little curious, wondering what the head of the clan who governed thousands of people looked like.

The young man took their horses to the bottom floor of the stilted building and tied them up, then led them up to the second floor, and finally stopped in front of a house, raised his hand and knocked on the door.

But to Fu Peibai's surprise, the Miao guy still greeted the room in a substandard Central Plains dialect.

"Aji, I'm back, and here are two ghost guests from the Central Plains."

The corners of Fu Peibai's mouth twitched, she thought, this little brother must be talking about a distinguished guest.

There was a quick response from the room. It was a deep male voice. Although there were only two short words, it was a very standard Central Plains dialect.

"Come in."

The man pushed open the door, bent sideways and made a gesture of invitation, "You two ghost guests, please come in."

Fu Peibai pursed his lips, a little wanting to laugh, and finally held back, and raised his legs and walked into the room.

After entering the house, you will see a huge animal bone hanging on the wall. You can't tell what kind of animal bone it is. There are some complicated Miao language and totems carved on it, which looks quite mysterious.

Turning around again, Fu Peibai saw the middle-aged man in the room. The man was tall, wearing a navy blue and black double-breasted short jacket, standing with his back to them and his hands behind his back.

Fu Peibai didn't know how to salute according to the customs of the Miao people, so he could only follow the etiquette and customs of the Central Plains and perform the clasped fist salute.

"My servant, Fu Peibai, met the patriarch."

Although Lu Qingwan was reluctant, but in other people's territory, she also understood that it is better to follow the etiquette and rules, so she also bowed and said: "Little girl Lu Qingwan, I have met the patriarch."

The man turned around slowly, revealing Fang Zheng's serious face, and he had the aura of a person who often occupies a high position without anger and self-prestige.

He glanced at the two of them and asked, "You two have worked so hard to travel thousands of miles to my Huanggu Miao Village, what are you doing?"

"I came here with Miss Lu to find objects and people. I want to settle down in Guizhai temporarily, and I beg the patriarch to agree."

The man raised his eyebrows, "What and who are you looking for?"

"Ling Xiaohua, Zhongli Cao, and Duan Wushou."

The man squinted his eyes, stared at Fu Peibai, and said after a while: "The Morong Miasma Valley collapsed due to the heavy rain last year and was buried under the water. There are no Ling Xiaohua in the world anymore."

Fu Peibai's eyes widened, "Why... yes, there is no one left?"

The man sneered, "Yes, there is, I'm afraid you don't have the life to take it."

Without waiting for Fu Peibai to ask, he continued: "After the heavy rain last year, the valley that was originally full of miasma was completely covered by miasma, and ordinary people could not enter at all. You may not know the benefits and harms of this miasma. If you get it on your body, It will corrode the flesh within a short while, and if it is accidentally inhaled into the lungs, the flesh and blood will be corroded from the inside to the outside in less than a stick of incense, and the whole person will be turned into a pile of white bones."

Lu Qingwan's face turned pale, "Why is it so scary..."

"So you two should go back home as soon as possible, it's not worth your life for a herb."

Just when the man thought that the two of them were going to give up and leave, he heard the boy firmly say: "I want to try."

The man frowned, "Aren't you afraid of death?"

Fu Peibai raised his chin slightly, with a fearless expression, "Not afraid."

The man smiled, the gloom between his brows melted away, and he smiled heartily, "You brat who doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth."

The Miao guy leaned over to Fu Peibai and whispered, "Don't be afraid, Aji is yours. Miasma Valley is not so scary. We have herbs to deal with Miasma. Be careful, you won't get hurt when you enter the song."

Fu Peibai whispered, "Thank you."

The man laughed enough, and walked towards Fu Peibai with scrutiny in his eyes, "You're not big, you're not small, if you insist on going, I'll do as you please."

"Thank you patriarch."

"My surname is Sima, and the single name is Tuo. You can call me Uncle Tuo."

Fu Peibai was slightly startled, Sima Fu's surname was a Central Plains surname that has been passed down for a long time.

"I dare to ask, is the senior from the Central Plains?"

Sima Tuo squinted his eyes, and his gaze was a bit misty, as if recalling some old memories.

"Yes, I'm from the Central Plains. My hometown is a water town. When the flowers fall, the city is full of peach blossoms. It's so beautiful..."

How could a person from the Central Plains come to the Southwest Gu Region and become the patriarch of the Miao nationality as a foreigner?

Fu Peibai was full of confusion, but even if she was curious, it was his private matter, and it was inconvenient for her to ask more questions.

Sima Tuo waved his hand, "Okay, He Gu, go clean the two rooms and come out to accommodate these two guests."

"As for Duan Wushou you mentioned, I don't know him well, but in this Miao village, apart from you and me, there is an old man from the Central Plains, who lives in the stilted building next to the entrance of the village. , you can ask him, but this person lives in seclusion, does not socialize with others, and has a very strange temperament."

It's good to have a clue. After Fu Peibai thanked Sima Tuo with his hands clasped, he left the room with Lu Qingwan and the Miao man called He Gu.

"You two ghost guests, you can take a stroll in Women's village first, and Wo will clean the room for you."

Fu Peibai smiled and said, "Brother Hegu, you can just call me by my name, and you can just call her Miss Lu."

With a simple and honest face, He Gu nodded again and again, "Okay, okay."

"Then let's get familiar with the village first, and I will trouble you here, little brother."

He Gu showed his white teeth in a smile, touched the back of his head, glanced at Lu Qingwan secretly and said, "It's okay."