Chapter 89: The Meeting Point

Indeed, people were coming, and there was an acquaintance mixed in with them. It was the old man we met in the town who stopped us from going up the mountain. I didn’t expect that he would escort us all the way to the Snow Mountain Range.

In addition to the old man, there were four other people: three middle-aged men who looked to be in their 50s, and another old man who also looked very old.

These people were relatively taciturn, and after removing their more obvious Hmong clothing, they were dressed in Han clothing and looked like ordinary people.

When they arrived, the old man saw me and my master at a glance, and his expression didn’t change much. I guess he had already been told… He still held the pipe, and his words were also straightforward: “Let’s go.”

My master and I didn’t say much, we just picked up our luggage and followed the old man… while the other men casually formed a protective circle around me.

Is this the so-called protective stance? I think it should be.

The old man seemed to be very familiar with the roads here, and after walking for about an hour in the wilderness, we came to a small road that looked like a country road.

Here, we could also see sparse houses and fields… During these days of travel, most of the time we were in places where people rarely went, so when we suddenly saw the appearance of the secular world, we felt a sense of familiarity and excitement.

Where there is people, there is a road… In fact, we didn’t walk on this country road for long, about half an hour, and we came to a road that was obviously a township road, and on the road was a seemingly ordinary, somewhat dirty off-road vehicle.

This was not the SUV that my master and I had parked in the small town. After getting in, I realized that the interior of this car was much more comfortable and luxurious than we had imagined.

When the car started, it was also top-notch in terms of power. This car was not at all as ordinary as it appeared.

“You are lucky. This car is not for ordinary people. It is for the village elders to go to the secular world. It costs a lot of money.” The men were silent, but after getting into the car, the old man who was a little familiar with me and my master said something.

When he said this, the master handed over the tobacco leaves just in time.

The journey was even more peaceful and smooth than we had imagined. I was in a daze when the car drove into the highland no-man’s-land.

But in fact, that’s exactly what happened. Almost everything happened along the way, and in words it would be difficult to describe it.

If there is anything worth mentioning, it is that because of the connection with the tobacco leaves, the master and the old man got along well, and we also heard some things about the eighteen ancestral villages from the old man.

For example, how did their town suddenly appear? It was because of the problem of “resources.” After all, the seclusion and development over the years has made the strength of the 18 Zushu villages stronger and stronger, and there are more and more people… and the “resources” of the village are limited, so a group of people were separated and entered the secular world.

The criterion for separation is naturally based on the mysterious bloodline of the Ancestor Wushu…

However, the reason is not entirely because of this. The old man vaguely mentioned that the Eighteen Ancestral Villages also seemed to want to deliberately cultivate a little secular power. As for why, the old man didn’t say.

He just told us that more and more people from the eighteen villages would come down the mountain one after another… At that time, they would be scattered in various places, and the previous town would serve as the general “stronghold” of the eighteen villages in the secular world. In short, this is a “grand” blueprint. After all, the eighteen villages are still conservative and don’t want to develop too fast in the secular world.

Is that so? I just took it as an interesting story to hear. After all, the Miao people of the Wuji family are still very far away from me. The biggest connection between us is because of Qiangzi.

However, there was one thing that the old man said that made me curious. He said that he had lived most of his life and sometimes felt that good things were not necessarily good things, and that even the greatest good things might turn out to be bad things.

At the time, this sentence came out of nowhere, and the master asked why he had such a feeling.

The old man muttered, “In this era, everything is alive. One or two things are good, but too many things are terrifying.”

This remark was inexplicable… neither my master nor I understood it, and he seemed to realize that he had said something wrong, so he quickly changed the subject and said that it was all the same, that he thought it wasn’t a bad thing to develop worldly power now, and that we would see what happened.

In this way, there are really many interesting things in this world. All kinds of things are coming to life in this era… How can I not think of the poor and strange soul I saw before, and the shadow of the demon behind Qiangzi?

Although it was interesting to hear, I had a hunch that these things had nothing to do with me, and that my destiny had always been connected to Kunlun… And if there were other things in this world that were different under the heavens, then naturally there would be other people to take on the responsibilities that should be theirs.

The no-man’s land is vast, but walking here, there is an inexplicable feeling of freedom… There is no restraint or constraint, but occasionally, when you look up at the sky, there is a lonely feeling that makes your heart cold.

The last time I came here was because of the Great Market, and I could always see occasional cultivators coming… In the later stages, the cultivators even gathered so densely that it didn’t even feel like a no-man’s land.

This time I came here, but it wasn’t the year of the big market, so the feeling of loneliness and helplessness was even deeper.

The car was driving through the no-man’s land. The middle-aged man driving the car seemed to know exactly where to go. He always made me feel that he was driving with a purpose. At this time, the old man started talking to my master again.

“We’re almost there. After this, I don’t know if I’ll be able to smoke your tobacco leaves again in my lifetime.”

“We’re almost there? This Snow Mountain sect is very mysterious. I thought it would take time to find their contact point…” Master was puzzled, but he laughed and comforted the old man, saying that he would tell the old man where to buy the tobacco leaves and what kind of goods to buy at the time.

The old man was also happy to hear this, and casually said to my master, “In the current circle of cultivators, there are no completely hidden beings with great power… The Snow Mountain lineage is most non-controversial, but it is still necessary to give some face to some of the great powers in the circle of cultivators, such as giving a secret point of contact… Our ancestors, the eighteen villages, naturally also know where such a point of contact is. This time, we will leave as soon as we arrive, and you can wait for Darong there with peace of mind.”

“So that’s how it is.” My master mumbled, then fell into deep thought.

In fact, I believe that at this time, the master and I were thinking the same thing, that is, we had finally reached our destination and began to worry about the group of masters and their entourage… After all, that was our real main force. Did they also arrive here safely? Did anything go wrong along the way? The years of my escape with the master can be said to have completely severed contact with them.

During this silent contemplation, the car had already stopped at the foot of a long stretch of snow-capped mountains. We were still being protected by those Hmong people, and then we began to get out of the car and walk… After climbing a short stretch of snow-capped mountains, we arrived at the so-called pick-up point at the foot of a mountain in a mountain crevice.

I never dreamed that the pick-up point would be hidden in such a place, and that it would be in a naturally formed cave at the foot of a snow-capped mountain.

My master and I were led into the cave, where the temperature was slightly more comfortable… Although the entire cave was simply furnished, it had basic necessities, and there were some food and water in the corner… Perhaps the reception point was also a temporary place to stay.

There were two people in the cave, dressed in thick white hemp clothes, which is typical of the Miao people. After the Miao people proved that they were from the 18th Ancestral Village, they simply negotiated a few words and then let me and my master stay.

“You can eat and drink in the cave every day. If you get bored, you can also take a walk around here, but it’s best not to go too far. The no-man’s land is full of dangers… We are only responsible for reception here, but we do not provide protection.” As the old man said, after bringing us here, these Miao people left decisively.

The two of us were left alone with the receptionist, and one of them said this to us.

Just reception, no protection? Yes, this is the attitude of the Snow Mountain clan all along… I am also used to this tone. In fact, according to their reputation, no one wants to cause trouble in their territory. I and my master are safe here, at least I think so.

So, we settled down in this reception point without a care. The two men didn’t care about us either. They usually hid in the two artificially carved stone chambers in this cave to cultivate themselves, as if they were saying that my master and I could stay here as long as we liked.

Moreover, they were unusually taciturn. My master and I tried several times to strike up a conversation and ask if my uncles had arrived at the Snow Mountain Sect, but to no avail.

Because they simply wouldn’t respond!

In this inexplicable state of coexistence, my master and I stayed in this cave, this so-called reception point, for three days.