Chapter 72 Meeting the people again

Looking at the drum at the end of the stairs, Master said, “That is the drum for welcoming guests. It is covered with mysterious witchcraft. When the drum is struck here, the other drum for welcoming guests in the village will also vibrate, and the people in the village will naturally come to the welcoming square to meet us.”

“Haha, aren’t you afraid of picking the wrong person?” I said casually, but I was still impressed by the magic of witchcraft. Could this be the “high technology” of that era, almost as good as the communication technology of today? Taoism actually also has this kind of magical method of communication, but the specific details have been lost.

“You won’t get the wrong person. Guests who aren’t from this village won’t know how to walk the Broken Soul Ladder. And the way to walk the Broken Soul Ladder changes every twenty years… Do you think you’ll get the wrong person? And it’s the same as Taoism, which emphasizes a law of fate. If someone coincidentally really walks the Broken Soul Ladder, this village will recognize it and come to pick it up. If someone breaks the broken soul ladder, they will naturally have a way to know and respond… It can be said that the broken soul ladder is the first defense of this village.

I can understand this kind of sentiment. Master is actually lamenting that although this village is hidden, it has a good heritage and has various foundations that are equivalent to sects. My old Li lineage is thin, and even the descendants of Wu Tian, who are “disdainful,” have their own organizations. Although they are not all descendants of the old Wu lineage, they have now been sidelined and their power has been reduced, but they were once among the top forces when they were at their peak.

As for our Li clan… in the end, I used to have this fantasy too. If our Li clan could develop and become a sect, and then live a secluded life of cultivation, wouldn’t that be great?

But the reason why it is called a fantasy is that it cannot become a reality. Our old Li lineage is destined to have a “hard-working” life. Even if the family is prosperous, it may also be this fate, right?

For a moment, my master and I were both silent… Originally, I wanted to ask my master how he knew so much about Qiangzi. After all, when Qiangzi told me that he was spotted by a great sorcerer in the department and then went to learn the arts, it had nothing to do with my master, but because I was thinking about the affairs of my own lineage, my thoughts were heavy, and I was not in the mood to ask.

We were silent for a while, then we took turns going to sleep. This was a habit we had developed during our years of fleeing in the mountains.

I had been unconscious for a long time, so I let Master sleep first. I guessed that it would be dawn before we could see the people from the so-called village come to pick us up. But I didn’t expect that after I had been on guard for more than two hours, I heard the sound of hooves coming from the deep mountains.

My first reaction was naturally nervous. After all, the years in the mountains and the two of us being chased by people were not an exaggeration to say that we were “dogs of the dead”… But when I thought of what Master had told me about the guest drum on the broken soul ladder, my mind relaxed a little. I guessed that someone from the mysterious village had come.

However, riding a horse in the mountains is a new experience.

Thinking about this, I woke up my master… My master rubbed his sleepy eyes and said to me, somewhat confused: “You were unconscious for a few hours, and we waited for a few more hours… it wasn’t a short time. However, this time it came faster than the previous times, so I’m afraid there’s something wrong.”

Of course there is something. The town below is making so much noise, how can the mountain village just sit by and do nothing?

But now the sound of hooves is getting louder and louder. If the people who come are really from the hidden village, it’s not good for us to talk like this… We can’t give people such an impression the first time we meet, so I just buried this sentence in my heart.

A few minutes later, under the light of the stars, my master and I saw several figures approaching on horseback. We had lit a fire, so they must have seen us early on and rode straight towards us.

The horses may have been traveling on mountain roads for a long time, so they were not slow. After a minute or so… a group of four people came to where my master and I were standing.

At this point, my heart also let go. The people who came were typical Miao men in terms of their clothing, and they showed no hostility towards us. As soon as they stopped, they dismounted one after another, which was a gesture of respect. If they had talked to us directly on the horse, it would have been somewhat condescending.

“But you sounded the guest drum?” After dismounting, the leader smiled at us and began to ask in a somewhat stilted Chinese. Compared to Han people, Miao people are so direct that Miao women dare to love and hate. Perhaps in their view, meaningless small talk is unnecessary, as long as they show their friendship.

“Yes, we are the ones who beat the guest drum.” The master walked up to me and, after performing a Taoist ritual, answered very directly.

“Then please tell us your names. After all, we are the Miao people of Leishan, and we don’t have many friends, but we will definitely remember them. If you tell us your names, we can treat you as friends and entertain you…” Although the leader had the straightforwardness of the Miao people, he was still a bit smooth-talking when he spoke. These few words were polite, and on the surface, he was trying to entertain his friends, but in fact, he was full of caution.

This is completely different from what the master just said… Didn’t he say that once you climb the ladder of death, you will be greeted by guests? But on second thought, this may have something to do with the events in the town. Maybe those strange old men in the town have been waiting for me and the master for a long time, or maybe they think that I and the master are unreliable and have used a special way to notify the people in the village?

I was guessing wildly, but my master didn’t show any emotion on his face. When he was asked a question, he answered directly: “Old man Jiang Lichun, this is my apprentice Chen Chengyi.”

“Jiang Lichun? Chen Chengyi? Do you have any proof?” As soon as he heard my name and that of my master, the Miao man’s face immediately became solemn and serious, and he asked with a worried tone.

“We can’t prove it, but if the Da Xing Da Wu from your village were here, he would recognize me at first glance.” My master replied calmly.

“Daxing Da Wu? You know his name? By the way, if you know the name of Daxing Da Wu, you must be Master Jiang Dao. Ah Maodou is very rude.” As soon as the Miao man named Ah Maodou heard my master mention the name of the Daxing Da Wu, his attitude immediately became respectful, and he bowed to my master, and the several Miao people behind him quickly followed suit.

Many people must be thinking, is a name really that important? In my opinion, if a village is based on witchcraft, it is indeed a big deal for outsiders to know the real name.

Thinking about this, my mind is a little absent-minded, and my thoughts drift back many years ago, to the half year of lingering with Ru Xue… the hillside we loved the most, the lazy sun… I slept on Ru Xue’s lap, and she looked into the distance with her chin in her hand, a quiet look… We chatted casually, and she told me about some Miao things.

She mentioned that because of the existence of a terrible curse in the inheritance of witchcraft, if someone easily knew the real name, they would be afraid of being cursed. Therefore, in the Miao villages where witchcraft is inherited, it is taboo to tell the real name to strangers outside the village, even if the other person is a Miao.

Xue’s words were naturally deeply engraved in my mind. Now that I think about it again, these words are fine.

It’s just that the sunlight that year, the smell of the grass, the smell of her hair, the warmth of our embrace… all come flooding back to me, as if it had been a hundred years, ten thousand years, so long that when I don’t touch her, I almost forget that we were once so close, so brazenly in love, and so close together.

I almost forgot that I was still in love with a woman… Is it that many times, it’s not forgetting someone, it’s not not loving someone? Is it that time has sealed the feelings? The reason is simply a sentence, you can’t pick it up anymore, you can’t touch it anymore, what if it’s not sealed? You can’t live every second in pain, if you’re alone, you’ll subconsciously protect yourself!

I was in a daze, because it was only sealed, and when I touched it, the scent of love still filled my heart… and my soul began to ache, so much so that I suddenly had difficulty breathing. I couldn’t help but lean over and grab my master’s shoulder.

And my consciousness began to blur again… Countless scenes flashed before my eyes… green mountains, clear waters, waterfalls, deep pools, rivers… countless scenes all saw the figure of a woman, with bright eyes and a smile that made her eyes squint, like a crescent moon…

“Hey, Stone, can you stop making me talk to myself all the time?”

“Hey, Stone, can you say a little more than just ‘hmm’ and ‘ah’ when you answer me?”

“Hey, Stone, can you not be so stingy? When I ask you something, you always make me guess. I have to guess. I want to know if I can ask you?”

“Hey, Stone… I’m Wei Chaoyu. Remember, I’m Wei Chaoyu…”

“Wei Chaoyu…” This name echoed in my head, and even though the pain in my soul made me want to scream, I couldn’t help but repeat the name.

Who is she? The pain made me sweat and I suddenly fell to my knees.