Chapter 43: Strange

The content on each piece of paper was the same. I didn’t know who had written it in pencil, but it almost made me go crazy. It said, “Your two brothers.”

It didn’t say which two brothers, but in Yunnan, the only ones I could think of as brothers who could be related to the Gu Miao were Su Rou and Qin Huai. Who else could it be?

When I saw this sentence, I couldn’t calm down at all. I have a somewhat self-contained personality, so I don’t have many contacts. Therefore, the people who are important to me are not many. In addition to my family and master, Su Rou and Qin Huai are undoubtedly the most important people to me. I almost didn’t know what to do next. After frantically circling the table twice, I immediately went out.

My sixth sister grabbed me and asked, “What are you going to do after you go out?”

Yes, what am I going to do after I go out? My mind was in a whirl. I wanted to go out and do something completely on instinct. I always felt that if I went out, I would be able to get closer to them. I always felt that if I didn’t do anything, I would go crazy.

But where should I go and what should I do after I go out?

“Chengyi, calm down. As far as I know, the bloodline moth is only found in that village, and only the people in that village have the unique method to drive it. Do you know who sent you the letter?” Sister Liu’s eyes revealed a hint of anxiety. Obviously, she was afraid that I would be unable to stop me from acting impulsively.

But even so, she remained calm and analyzed it for me. Indeed, her words made a lot of sense, like a bucket of ice water splashed on a red-hot charcoal fire, completely calming me down.

However, no matter what, this note left a lingering shadow in my heart. Who can be calm when facing an important person? Who can gamble calmly and be sure that everything will be fine? Concerned, you will be distracted.

Sitting at the table, I was not in a good mood. In my boredom, I took out a cigarette and lit it. Sixth Sister did not mean to scold me, but instead gently took out a box of matches and lit my cigarette for me.

“Chengyi, who are your two brothers? Is one of them a chubby, simple-minded brother named Su Rou, and the other a handsome one who smiles a bit sloppily and is named Qin Huai?” Sixth Sister said softly next to me.

“That’s them. I haven’t seen them for more than two years. They were originally assigned to come to Yunnan to your village. I saw the note and I had a hunch that something had happened to them. I…” I took a puff of smoke and said with some uneasiness.

Sixth sister’s analysis is not entirely unreasonable, but I always feel that the words on the note are not completely unbelievable. I don’t know if I’m just being distracted by my concern, or if my powerful intuition is making a natural judgment. In any case, even if I calm down, it’s still hard for my mind to be at peace.

“If it’s them, then I’m sure the content of this note is false. I know those two young men very well. They’ve been in our village for two years. Although I’m in charge of the village’s external affairs and rarely return to the village, these two young men still often come back to Kunming to play, and they stay with me every time they come. They only came last month! How could something happen to them?” Sister Liu reassured me. She didn’t need to lie to me about these things.

“Mmm,” I nodded, trying to suppress the uneasy feeling, and only asked, “Sixth Sister, when can I go to the village?”

Only when I go to the village and meet Su Rou and Qin Huai will I be completely at ease.

“Oh, this? Since we received the news that you were coming, people from the village have been coming to see me almost every ten days. Last time they were here for six or seven days, right? But their schedules are irregular, sometimes they come early, sometimes they come late. But it won’t be long now, so just wait patiently.”

After talking about this, my sixth sister and I chatted a little more, then went back to our rooms. It seemed that we were both deliberately avoiding a topic, and that was who would use moth-borne messages to notify us of this matter.

I don’t know why my sixth sister is avoiding it. I only know that the reason I avoid talking about it is that I don’t want to cause trouble for others. I don’t understand the relationship between the Gu Miao villages, but I have heard that the girl Ru Yue said that there are sometimes secret trade fairs between the Gu Miao villages. If they know someone from the Devil’s Village, then no matter if it is a friendly, taboo, or mutually hostile relationship, I don’t want anything to happen because of me.

After all, it is already embarrassing enough that I and my two friends have caused trouble for other villages one after another. I am afraid that this great favor is also a favor to my master and uncles. I personally have no way to repay it…

But who would be sending me such a message? That village has set its sights on me. Judging from their methods, they are not “friendly” in their pursuit of me, but rather harbor an inexplicable hostility. Do I know anyone in that village?

I thought about it over and over again, and there was only one person who could be considered not from that village, Gao Ning…! But why would Gao Ning send me a message? I don’t think my relationship with him is good enough to be at that level, and Gao Ning has already infiltrated that devil’s village?

If it wasn’t Gao Ning, then who was it?

One thing after another, like a fog, enveloped me, leaving me deep in it, unable to figure out where I was going! Master, if Master were here… I suddenly felt a little sad when I thought of this, but I cut off this feeling of sadness. It’s been almost three years, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to quit relying on Master.

After thinking about my heart in a messy way, I finally felt a little sleepy in the middle of the night and fell asleep in a daze.

The next morning, as usual, my sixth sister made me breakfast. It was something I had never seen before鈥攄umplings, thinly sliced and boiled in chicken broth, with a little sliced ham and green onion. It looked simple and tempting.

I was curious about this dumpling and looked at it carefully. The dumpling looked like Sichuan rice cake, but it was more chewy. The rich aroma of rice spread in my mouth along with the chicken soup. It was so delicious that I couldn’t stop eating it.

“There are many ways to eat this stuff. You can also stir-fry it or mix it with other ingredients. It’s a Yunnan delicacy, not inferior to Sichuan snacks, right?” Sister Liu asked with a smile.

I couldn’t stop eating it, and could only respond with “mm-hmm.” At the same time, I admired my sixth sister. Why is it that the things she makes, which seem simple, are more delicious than some chefs?

After breakfast, I wanted to wash the dishes, but was firmly stopped by my sister-in-law. She said gently, “I have never liked men. Men do trivial things at home, and women serve them. Outside, men hold up the sky.”

This really made me feel comfortable. In this modern society, I don’t actually have any feudalist ideas, like the gentleman staying away from the kitchen, but which man doesn’t have a little bit of male chauvinism in his heart? Sister Liu is really the best!

Or, perhaps all Miao women are like this! No wonder so many men outside are attracted to the charm of Miao women. Which man wouldn’t want such a woman? Speaking of which, I also remembered a funny story about the Miao people that Ru Yue told me.

She said that the Miao people developed the art of sorcery because the places where they lived were full of poisonous insects and miasma. If they couldn’t be wiped out by these things, then they had to control them. The second reason was that Miao women were coveted by foreign men, and even forcibly taken. In order to protect the women in the village and survive in this beautiful but treacherous landscape, the talented and stunning patriarch of the village invented the art of sorcery.

Yes, such a graceful and passionate Miao girl is worth the effort of men to protect, and also worth the craziness of men outside.

Because Sixth Sister didn’t want me to work, I sat dumbly in the flower shop watching her busy, and I wanted to study Taoism, but I found that my mood was not very calm.

Seeing that I was bored, my sixth sister stopped working for a moment and said to me, “Why don’t you go out for a walk? It’s February now, so go to Cuihu Lake. There will be a surprise.”

Green Lake, surprise? I don’t understand what the surprise is.

Sister Liu smiled mysteriously, but she was unwilling to explain more. Instead, she flipped her hand and brought out the stag beetle from somewhere, and then carefully placed it in my hand, saying, “I always feel that things are not very peaceful around you. Take it with you. If anything goes wrong, come back immediately. Oh, and don’t come back after dinner time, or I’ll worry that something happened to you.”