Chapter 36

The old man led Cheng Yunqi into the village.

Through their conversation, Cheng Yunqi learned that the old man's name was Sang Munai and that he was the village chief. Cheng Yunqi addressed him as Master Munai, and Master Munai responded with a happy smile, not bothering to explain to Cheng Yunqi that "Nai" was actually his surname.

Looking at the densely packed Miao village, Cheng Yunqi realized that he had been wandering in the mountains at the tri-regional border and, instead of reaching the Southern Wilderness first, had entered the Miao Borderlands.

This village was called Lixi Village, and the small stream in front was called Lixi Stream.

Lixi Village stretched from north to south, with rows of houses spread across the eastern hillside. The village was enclosed by a fence made of thorny wood, with wooden spikes up to three inches long. The village gate was in the middle of the western fence.

Master Munai led Cheng Yunqi to the innermost part of the southern side of the village and pointed to the house at the very top. "Guest, you may stay in that one."

Cheng Yunqi looked; that house was at the highest point in the southeast corner of the village. Although it was not very convenient to reach, it was nothing to him.

He nodded and bowed to the old man. "Many thanks to Master Munai and the village for taking me in."

Master Munai waved his hand and added, "Since Lord Red-Crest said you are a guest who can bring light, then your coming to the village is a blessing for us."

The old man pointed to the house again and said with a grin, "This house was once occupied by a Daoist priest."

"Oh?"

Cheng Yunqi asked, "Have other traveling Daoists been here before?"

The old man nodded. "Yes, but that was back when the village was first built. The ancestors said that without that Daoist priest, the village would have been gone long ago. Since then, it has been many years since a Daoist priest passed through the village. By the way, the ancestors said that the Daoist back then was also very young—he looked like a child, perhaps even younger than you, guest. Haha."

Afterward, Master Munai muttered a few words to the Miao people gathered around, and they soon dispersed.

Master Munai then led Cheng Yunqi up the steps and wooden ladders toward that house.

Master Munai's hair was white, but his body was still very sturdy. He climbed the steps and ladders all the way from the bottom of the village to the highest point without even catching his breath.

The two climbed a ladder from the roof of the house below to reach the place where Cheng Yunqi would stay for the night. The house had been vacant for a long time and had accumulated quite a bit of dust; the "beauty's leaning" railing outside was already covered in a layer of gray. Pushing the door open, a cloud of dust rose up, making Master Munai sneeze repeatedly.

Though the house was small, it was fully equipped. Cheng Yunqi was quite satisfied; he could just clean it up a little later.

Just then, two Miao aunties entered, one carrying a rag and a bucket, the other holding bedding. Cheng Yunqi hurriedly thanked them and went to take the items, but the two aunties would not let him, speaking urgently.

Master Munai stopped Cheng Yunqi with a smile. "You are a guest; of course, we should be the ones to clean."

As he spoke, Master Munai led Cheng Yunqi outside and looked down at the village from above.

"Where does the guest come from?"

"Master Munai, just call me Yunqi. I come from Yu Zhang."

Seeing a look of confusion in the old chief's eyes, Cheng Yunqi explained, "It is to the east of Zhizhou."

"That is far indeed!"

The old chief said.

Cheng Yunqi smiled and nodded.

"And where are you heading?"

Cheng Yunqi still smiled and shook his head. "Nowhere in particular, just wandering around."

"Oh, I see, that is what they call 'wandering in the clouds'!" Cheng Yunqi nodded repeatedly.

"Then, Daoist Yun, having traveled all this way, have you ever seen such a large Miao village?"

Cheng Yunqi smiled and shook his head, not bothering to explain to the old chief that "Yun" was not his surname, nor was "wandering" used that way. As for a village this large, of course he had not seen one, as he had never even seen a Miao village before this!

The old chief nodded with a look of "that makes sense."

"In the Great Green Mountains, there are fourteen streams along the Hong River, and each has a village. Lixi Village now has fifty-seven households and two hundred and twelve people; it is the second-largest of the fourteen villages. When I first became chief, the village only had one hundred and fifty-three people."

The old chief said happily, deep wrinkles piling up on his dark face.

Cheng Yunqi naturally knew what to say at this moment; when an old man meets an outsider, he will naturally want to talk about his life's achievements.

"Master Munai governs the village well and has the merit of increasing the population. These years must have been very hard for you."

Hearing these scholarly words, the old chief first nodded with a smile, then seemed to feel it was not quite right and shook his head.

Cheng Yunqi asked with a smile, "Master Munai, as I walked here, I saw that every household in the village has this picture pasted on their door. What is it for?"

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Cheng Yunqi pointed to the colorful picture on the wooden door.

The colors on the picture on the door of the house where Cheng Yunqi was staying had faded, and the pattern was somewhat blurred, but one could still make out the shape of a rooster. Along the way, he had seen that every occupied house had this picture pasted on the door. However, their pictures were clearly newly painted, depicting a large rooster with a red crest and golden claws, biting a large centipede in its mouth, with each of its two claws stepping on a poisonous insect.

"This is the 'Lord Red-Crest House-Protecting Picture.' Lord Red-Crest can overcome evil spirits and devour poisonous insects. Pasting Lord Red-Crest on the door can prevent soul loss and repel poisonous insects."

Cheng Yunqi was thoughtful. The problem was that although the "Lord Red-Crest House-Protecting Picture" on the house he was staying in was old and worn, he could still feel a trace of pure Yang magical essence remaining on it. However, the new pictures the villagers had painted were purely hand-drawn, devoid of any spiritual intent.

"And who is this Lord Red-Crest?"

Cheng Yunqi was very curious about this. After entering the village, he discovered that every household raised chickens, especially roosters—there were many of them, small, strong, and old. They were on roofs, on the ground, and on railings, everywhere. These roosters were not afraid of people and strutted about as if they were generals on patrol, as if they were the true masters of the village.

However, Cheng Yunqi did not seem to see that large rooster from earlier; he did not know where it had gone.

The old chief hesitated for a moment, but remembering Lord Red-Crest's long cry earlier, and seeing Cheng Yunqi dressed as a Daoist, he thought about it and explained: "If you want to understand this clearly, it is a long story..."

Cheng Yunqi used his sleeve to wipe the dust off the "beauty's leaning" railing and invited the old chief to sit down and talk.

"The Great Green Mountains nurture the Miao people, but they also nurture poisonous snakes and all kinds of insects. It is rainy and foggy in the mountains; sometimes when the fog rises, it does not disperse for two or three months. At other times, black fog rises, making it impossible to distinguish day from night, so the mountains also nurture ghosts and monsters."

"Ghosts and monsters?"

Cheng Yunqi asked.

The old chief nodded. "All kinds of ghosts and monsters. In the water, there are water monkeys; in the mountains, there are mountain demons. Water monkeys drag people into the water, and mountain demons drag people into the trees. They all love to eat people, eating them until not even the bones are left. In the forest, there are fox spirits; fox spirits can turn into the likeness of humans, tricking people into remote places to kill them. There are also fog monsters and wailing ghosts. When fog monsters stir up fog, people cannot walk out, and their souls will melt into the fog. When wailing ghosts cry, they will hook people's souls away. Sometimes it rains for months, and during these times, the dead buried in the ground will come back to life. The resurrected dead remember nothing and kill any living thing they see, drinking their blood."

The old chief said calmly.

Two chapters released at once, this is the first.

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(End of chapter)