Chapter 17: Tracking Down Miao Village

  The train has been running for more than three days, and in a few hours it will arrive at the Qianhu Miao Village in Xijiang. The scenery outside is also changing constantly. Through the window, you can see the continuous mountain peaks towering high, some of which seem to have pierced into the clouds. The sky is azure and clear without any clouds. In the fields, there are laboring farmers, and it seems that you can faintly hear their singing voices...

  "Nie Yu, we're almost there, you should be happy now, we've found the bracelet and can save your little sister. Cheer up and don't think about those unhappy things." Zhao Yuer looked at me, constantly comforting me. I smiled back at her and looked at Zhao Lili opposite us. Maybe she could help me find Luo Hao, but I wasn't familiar with her, how should I bring it up?

  "Right, Nie Yu, on this trip to here, you guys came not only to enjoy the scenery but also to find that person named Luo Hao. I'll help you with that, I can find the address for you upstairs. Don't worry about it. However, I'd like to invite you to my home as a guest. The people of Miao Village are very hospitable. If you don't go, it would be impolite..." Zhao Lili said while glancing at Wu Shi Rong, who kept staring at her from head to toe.

  "Zhao Lili, can your Qingfeng Su Nai dispel the curse on my little sister's body? Since they are both things that can make people sober, will it be useful?" My heart beat a bit faster, as if I had just found the answer I was looking for.

  "I heard you describe your little sister's symptoms, but they are absolutely different. The insect stings in our village can only make people faint for a short time, and it's impossible to last that long, unless..." Zhao Lili stopped talking.

  "What's wrong with you? Can't you speak?" I was getting impatient.

  "Unless it's the Golden Cicada of the Hundred Pests, anyone who is afflicted with this pest will fall into a coma and lose themselves, becoming like a walking corpse. However, in our Miao territory, not all curses are insect-based, they can also be spells, fate, or other things, I don't fully understand either." Zhao Lili said, looking at Zhao Yuer.

  "Sister Zhao, we share the same surname, let's take care of each other from now on!" Yu'er looked at Lili and stretched out her hand, they both smiled spontaneously.

  Before long, the train finally stopped, and we got off one after another. Following Zhao Lili, we soon arrived at the Miao Village. The Western River Thousand Households Miao Village is truly famous for its name. Girls are walking together on the street in groups of several, with large silver hat crowns on their heads, two long pointed corners stretching towards the sky. A silver chain necklace around her neck, a blue skirt with several red stripes all over her body.

  "Miao Village Inn, Nie Yu, let's stay here for today!" Zhao Yuner grabbed my arm.

  As she pointed, I looked up. It was a two-story wooden structure with a brick base and a wooden overhang on the second floor. The first floor seemed to be a granary and various tools, while the second floor was where people lived. On the top of the second floor were neat gray tiles, sloping down at a 45-degree angle along the ridge. The surroundings were very clean, with only green flowers, grass, and trees, without a speck of dust.

  "Zhaoyu'er, let's just stay here today and head to Zhaoliuli's place tomorrow after we've settled in. What do you think, Wushirong?" I also want to go to Zhaoliuli's place to take a look, and if we can find a way to get rid of the evil spirit, that would be great too. But it's already getting dark now, so let's just stay here for tonight and talk about it later.

  "Alright, you're here today, I'll go home and tell my parents that you've arrived, ask them to prepare food and wine, and come find you tomorrow!" After finishing speaking, Zhao Lili took the backpack from Wu Shirong's hand and left.

  After finishing dinner, the night had already deepened. Our room was on the second floor of the hostel, and it seemed that there were also a few tourist families staying across from us. The air in Miao Village at night was particularly fresh, and every breath I took was crisp and clear, making me feel comfortable. To save expenses, the three of us rented a suite, which had two rooms - the larger room was for me and Wu Shi Rong, while the smaller room was for Zhao Yu Er. After washing up, I dragged my tired body into bed and fell asleep immediately.

  "Help! Help, Nie Yu, Wu Shi Rong!" Zhao Yuner shouted desperately for help. I and Wu Shi Rong rushed into her room immediately.

  "It's a snake! A black snake crawled onto my bed, I just touched it and it was cool to the touch, then it slipped under the bed."

  I looked down and saw a big black snake over a meter long coiled on the floor by the head of the bed, I quickly grabbed a wooden stick and knocked it unconscious and took it downstairs. Wu Shi Rong and I checked several times to make sure there were no other snakes in the house, but then we were both stunned by Zhao Yu Er. When she was woken up by the snake, she only wore her underwear and nothing else... Myself and Wu Shi Rong froze for a few seconds before quickly walking out, Zhao Yu Er hastily grabbed a quilt to cover herself, looking both scared and embarrassed...

  "Nie Yu, I'm scared, I don't dare to sleep, can I sleep in your room?" In just a few minutes, Zhao Yuer surprisingly put on her clothes and ran into my and Wu Shihong's room. Wu Shihong saw her coming in and smiled at me, then hurriedly went to Zhao Yuer's room.

  "How can you be so timid? The snake has already been thrown away, hasn't it? I'm so tired that I'm about to die, go to sleep quickly!" I was really too tired and my eyes were almost unable to open. After turning over, I fell asleep. Zhao Yuer slept on Wu Shirong's bed.

  At this time, I vaguely heard the noise on the school playground again, and my mind suddenly cleared up. That female ghost must have come. Sure enough, in a moment, I was unable to move my whole body again, opened my eyes, and Anling Xin was sitting at the head of my bed again.

  "Husband, you must be careful in this Miao village full of poisonous insects. There may not be what you want here, let's go back!" Anling's green long skirt and enchanting figure appeared before my eyes, but this time she seemed to have furrowed her brow, making her beauty even more striking. I finally saw her expression.

  "Go back? We've come all this way, what's the point of going back now? Besides, who exactly are you, a female ghost? Do you want me to be your substitute or curse me? Did you harm my little sister?" My string of questions made Anling shake her head.

  "Husband, take care of yourself. Remember, when you're in danger, focus all your attention on me and I'll come to help you..." A wisp of white smoke floated past Anling's heart and vanished into thin air.

  "Ah! Help, how did I end up back in my own room again!" It was Zhao Yu'er's voice. I opened my eyes to find that it was already very bright outside.

  I opened my eyes to find Wu Shi Rong back in my room again, while Zhao Yu Er was still in the original room. It's really inexplicable, all three of us were awake but no one could figure out what was going on. Only I knew in my heart that except for that female ghost, it seemed like no one else could do this kind of thing. Could she really be my wife?

  The three of us ate breakfast in a daze, yesterday's events were really too bizarre. Zhao Yuer and Wu Shirong sat there stupidly, not saying a word.

  "Wu Shi Rong quickly bring that postal receipt, let's take a look at Luo Hao's address, we'll go find him now!" As soon as I said this, it startled both of them.

  "It says here that the delivery address is Izumo Village, and the recipient is Luo Hao. There's a small inn in Izumo Village where we can go now!" Wu Shi Rong said, and we went down from the second floor of the inn together.

  The Qianhu Miao Village is very special, it's called Qianhu Miao Village because each village is divided according to the family's power, different families through continuous reproduction gradually formed their own territory, so every Miao village has a different name, this Yunchuan Village is one of them. There are many Miao villages here, where should we go? Just as I was worried, Zhao Lili came to find us.

  "Don't worry, I'm here. The Izumo Village you mentioned is just behind our village, I'll take you there now." Zhao Lili changed into their hometown's ethnic costume, and the three of us looked her up and down, her face turned red from being stared at.

  "What? Don't you recognize me? This outfit is the traditional dress of this place, how do I look?" Zhao Lili said, spinning around in a circle.

  "You look great, but your clothes are not as beautiful as your heart. You're so enthusiastic about helping us, and once we find Luo Hao, we'll definitely treat you to a meal." The three of us followed Zhao Lili towards Chuyun Village.

  Arriving at Yuntai Village, Zhao Lili found the inn and asked the owner if there was a person named Luo Hao registered in the guestbook. The owner confirmed that someone with that name had indeed stayed there, but he hadn't returned to sleep for several nights, and his belongings were still in the room.

  "What to do? Nie Yu? Are we going to wait here, according to the rules of Miao Village, it's not allowed to casually enter the guest house for inspection. If he suddenly comes back, we can directly go up and ask him."

  "Alright, let's wait here. If he comes back, we'll go up and trap him in the house." After discussing it over, we sat down at the tea hall on the first floor of the inn to drink tea while waiting for that damned Luo Hao.

  Around six o'clock in the evening, a man came back from outside. He was wearing a sun hat, glasses, and an outdated tracksuit, with a big leather boot on his feet, looking like he had just crawled out of the mountains. He glanced at us four people and went straight upstairs to get some toiletries after stopping by the counter. As soon as he walked away, Zhao Yuer hurried over to the counter with Zhao Lili to ask questions.

  "Hello Ah Po, is that person Luo Hao?" Zhao Lili asked in the local dialect, but I didn't understand a single word.

  "Is that so? Are you his friends or is there something else?" The old woman looked to be around eighty years old, with a hunched back and stooped shoulders but her eyes were very spirited.

  "Yes, he is our friend and we have something to ask him. Grandma, we will go up now, you don't need to show us the way, just tell us his door number." After that, the four of us went upstairs to the second floor.

  The second floor of the Yunzhai Inn is very large, with an area of several hundred square meters, similar to the spaciousness of a luxury hotel in a coastal city. However, all the buildings are made of wood structure. Before long, we arrived at Luo Hao's room door, and I gently pushed the door, which was tightly locked.

  "Don't move, watch me!" Zhao Lili said, taking out a small cloth doll. The doll was made of stitched fabric with a white paper on top, and she wrote Luo Hao's name on the paper.

  "What's this for?" we three asked her in unison.

  "This is called a Yansheng wooden puppet. As long as you write the name of the person you hate on it, you can control them. If you want to make them suffer, use a silver needle to pierce them, and they will listen to your words!" Zhao Lili said, I was a bit surprised. In the past, when I learned from my second uncle, it was about driving away ghosts and the Nine Heavenly God Strategy had controlling techniques for ghosts, monsters, and demons, but this Yansheng wooden puppet that can be used against living people has filled in the gap of my magical abilities. I must learn well from Zhao Lili."