Trees grew lush and thick, and wild grasses flourished verdantly. The mountain forest was silent and still, with green hills facing each other across the valley. The stream flowed cool and clear, a ribbon of emerald water winding between the banks.
I walked steadily along the flowing river, following the canyon below. This was, in fact, the same path I had once walked with Qiu Lu, Xu Zirong, and Wen Lingyu, but now, it felt like a lifetime ago. I wondered how they were doing.
I guessed Lu Qi meant that Wan Ying was waiting for me in the forest, but I walked for a long time and didn’t see her. Instead, the longer I walked, the more uncertain I felt. My escape had been too rushed and desperate. My mind was blank at the time; all I knew was to run forward, and I hadn’t brought anything with me. My backpack, containing my notebook and that… camera. But all I had was a thin shirt; I was empty-handed. Without clothes or food, I couldn’t survive in the deep forest.
I couldn’t go back. My only hope was that Wan Ying could bring some supplies for me so I wouldn’t be too destitute.
Just as I was thinking this, a clear call echoed from behind me.
“Li Yuze.”
It was Wan Ying’s voice.
“You’re finally here! Remember to help me check if Shen Jianqing is okay…”
Her words suddenly trailed off.
I happily turned my head but froze the moment I saw the situation. Wan Ying wasn’t alone. Behind her stood two sturdy Miao youths, one of them cradling a wine jar. This formation clearly indicated their intentions were not good.
Yet, at this moment, an eerie calm settled over me. Perhaps after encountering too much deception, I was already prepared. I had simply gambled everything on one last try, but it seemed I had gambled wrong again.
“Li Yuze, I knew it. You didn’t, disappoint me.” Wan Ying smiled sweetly, her expression no different from usual, yet her words inexplicably made cold sweat break out on me.
I composed myself and said, “Wan Ying, are you going to send me off?”
Wan Ying took the wine jar from the person beside her. “Li Yuze, you can, of course, leave, but you’ll, have to, drink the wine first.”
This wine, was it the same kind they gave us at the Huoxing ritual, the one with the Gu insect?
Sure enough, leaving wouldn’t be that easy. If I wanted to stay alive, I absolutely could not drink this wine. Ah Song was a prime example. Although I had drunk it at the Huoxing ritual, the Gu insect hadn’t taken effect because of Shen Jianqing. But there was no guarantee that would happen again now.
They wouldn’t let me just walk out safely and take the secret of their existence with me. I should have realized that long ago.
Seemingly noticing my reluctance and hesitation, Wan Ying tilted her head, her smile deepening. “What, didn’t you, want to, leave? Now, what are you, hesitating, about? Come, drink it, and you’ll, be free.”
I took a step back. “Free like Ah Song?”
“What’s wrong, with that?” Wan Ying said. “Or do you, want to, give up, and go back?”
My foot slipped, the muddy gravel yielding softly beneath me, sending me tumbling straight down. Behind me was a deep gorge and the rapidly flowing river.
Before I could speak, Wan Ying’s face suddenly changed. “You think, you can, go back, and find him?”
I was startled. “You deliberately lured me out?”
Wan Ying raised an eyebrow, her beautiful face now filled with triumph. “You’re, only just, realizing that?”
“Why?”
“You still, ask me, why?!” Wan Ying retorted sharply. “Because you, outsiders, disrupted, our peaceful lives. Ah Song became, like this. Shen Jianqing, also had, his mind confused! It’s all, because of you!”
I frowned, not daring to step back further. “But even so, if you wanted to deal with me, you didn’t need to trick me into coming out either.”
In the village, she certainly had plenty of ways to deal with me. Yet she chose the most circuitous method. Telling me about Shen Siyuan, sending me herbs, and acting like she cared about me… she really didn’t need to. If she was afraid of Shen Jianqing stopping her, wasn’t when he fell and got injured the best time to act? But Wan Ying precisely did not. The herbs she gave me were confirmed by Shen Jianqing himself to be insect repellent.
Wan Ying said, “You, outsiders are truly, foolish. I spent, a little, effort, and you, obediently, believed me, and followed me.”
As she spoke, she swayed the thick silver ornaments around her neck, making a crisp “clinking” sound.
“Do you, remember, I told you, that in our, Miao village, the best, at Gu-refinement, becomes the leader? Do you know, why I could, accept Shen Siyuan, but cannot, tolerate you?”
Accept Shen Siyuan, but precisely cannot tolerate me? Shen Siyuan was Ah Qing’s husband, and in their eyes, he was also an outsider. But he stayed in the Miao village until his death, and his name could even be embroidered onto a red silk ribbon and tied to the stone arch bridge. Such a ceremony meant he had gained the village’s recognition, proving they weren’t entirely against outsiders joining.
But why, specifically, could they not tolerate me?
In a flash of insight, I suddenly remembered something Shen Jianqing had said a long, long time ago.
“Since I was sixteen, Wan Ying has been pestering me. She’s the leader’s granddaughter, and I… I’m just someone whose parents died… Recently, her pestering has gotten worse, and the leader is also putting pressure on me. I’m really starting to feel suffocated.”
Those were words from a very long time ago. I later thought Shen Jianqing was saying them to gain my sympathy, given how much he had lied to me; I couldn’t trust anything he said anymore.
But at this very moment, that sentence suddenly came back to me. He might not have been lying… this could be the truth. If I understood this point, then many more things clicked into place!
Wan Ying liked Shen Jianqing, or rather, Wan Ying wanted to be… with Shen Jianqing?! So she couldn’t tolerate me because my presence blocked her path; she had no choice but to eliminate me.
This is too absurd, aren’t they cousins?
My suspicious gaze fixed on Wan Ying’s face, then subconsciously shifted to the sturdy Miao youths behind her. They wore plain Miao clothing, not as lavish as Wan Ying’s nor as exquisite as Shen Jianqing’s, with only two rows of embroidery on their collars and sleeves. They didn’t understand Wan Ying’s words but stood dutifully behind her, awaiting her command.
Awaiting Wan Ying’s command… a flash of insight hit me, and I finally understood completely.
“What you guys are after is not Shen Jianqing, but the chieftain position!” I said with a trembling voice.
Wan Ying raised her eyebrows high, her eyes sparkling with surprise, the silver ornaments on her ears glistening dazzlingly in the sunlight.
“You actually, managed to, figure, that out.” This time, Wan Ying’s eyes held genuine amusement. “I think, I suddenly, understand, what Shen Jianqing, likes, about you.”
They could tolerate Shen Siyuan’s existence, even accepting him as part of the village, because Ah Qing possessed extraordinary Gu-refining talent, capable of protecting the village. As the next leader, her father might not have wanted to marry her off to another family. Shen Siyuan’s appearance conveniently solved the old leader’s problem, his daughter could be both the leader and remain his own daughter. So he silently condoned Ah Qing’s mad actions; on the surface, it was a father’s helpless compromise with his headstrong daughter, but in reality, he was pleased with it.
Shen Jianqing, however, was different. He had established his own household from a young age, and he even had his own surname. At this point, the old leader wanted to maintain his position and the position of his descendants, not just through the maternal grandfather’s bloodline, but also by requiring Wan Ying’s involvement. As for the difference between the leader and ordinary villagers, one could tell simply by looking at the clothing distinction between Wan Ying and the Miao youths behind her.
This was utterly absurd and ridiculous. Even in this small, secluded corner of the world, there was still such complex and unpredictable human treachery. I scoffed repeatedly, for this absurd village, for its selfish and pathetic chieftain, for Wan Ying, and for Shen Jianqing.
“What, are you, laughing at?” Wan Ying’s face changed.
I said, “You want Shen Jianqing to believe I left on my own, so even if I go mad, become foolish, or die later, he won’t blame you. Perhaps one day he’ll even compromise with reality and do what suits your plans and wishes.”
“We, had some, misunderstandings, before. But a family, will always, reconcile eventually. We can’t, let you, affect, our relationship again.” As Wan Ying spoke, she motioned for the men behind her to approach. “Stop the, nonsense. Before you, completely, lose your mind, and become, a Gu insect, puppet, I’ve answered, your questions. You, should be, grateful, to me.”
Grateful? She actually said I should be grateful? I should indeed be grateful to her for giving me another “lesson.”
At Wan Ying’s signal, the two Miao youths approached me. One of them uncorked the wine jar, and the scent of wine filled the forest. I eyed them defensively, mentally weighing the probability of me being able to overpower both of them. Looking at their sturdy physiques and heights, almost two heads taller than me, I sadly concluded: there was almost zero hope. I needed to resort to a sneak attack just to handle Shen Jianqing; facing these two head-on, I had no confidence.
As they pressed closer, I kept retreating, getting nearer and nearer to the canyon edge.
“Stop, retreating!” Wan Ying shouted. “Any further, and you’ll, fall. The river, is swift; you’ll, die!”
But to drink this “wine” and end up like Ah Song, or perhaps in an even worse state, how was that any different from dying? I couldn’t tolerate becoming a burden, someone ignorant and needing constant care. If that were my fate, I’d rather die at the very beginning.
With that thought, I made my decision. I had gambled many times before, losing every time. But surely God couldn’t let a gambler lose forever; there had to be a chance, even just one. I set up my mind, I glanced at the rapidly flowing river below my feet, and with a push, I lunged forward, my body plummeting rapidly towards the water in the canyon below!
