It was dawn, and I stretched. Shen Bing also opened her eyes. She frowned and looked at me for a long time before she remembered what happened last night. Looking at the teeth marks on her fingers from the snake bites, she asked me in horror how she detoxified. I told her about the help from Taoist Xuan Zhen, and Shen Bing struggled to get up from the ground, anxious to go back to find Miao Fengyi.
She was already weak, and now she was even weaker, so of course she had to be carried by her buddy when she walked. My poor child, who hadn't slept for two days, had to be carried up the mountain. I felt like crying but couldn't. We walked back along the original route, stopping and starting for a few miles on the mountain road, until noon when we finally found the talisman ashes on the ground.
Miao Fengyi was lying naked in the dry grass, eyes closed and unconscious. Although she was covered in mud, her graceful figure could not be concealed. I couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"What are you looking at? Go find her clothes." Shen Bing glared at me.
I stuck out my tongue, ran back to the cave, picked up Miao Fengyi's clothes, went back into the cave to get her belongings, and then ran back. Shen Bing asked me to turn around, and after helping Miao Fengyi put on her clothes, she called me over, burned two cleansing talismans, mixed them in a lunch box with mineral water, and fed them to Miao Fengyi.
Half an hour later, Miao Fengyi woke up. Her face was very pale, without a trace of blood. This time, being possessed by the Fox-Faced Lady had caused great damage to her body. I'm afraid she would have to drink the cleansing talisman for several days in a row to completely drive away the evil spirit. After she woke up, she had no memory of what happened last night, but when she saw me, her face turned red and she turned her head away. She didn't completely forget. She threw herself on me naked at that time, so she should still have that memory. I pretended not to notice and asked Shen Bing to feed her something, then I stood up and slowly walked back to the direction of Guiming Mountain.
I supported the two girls and walked all the way to Guiming Mountain. Although we walked slowly, we took the right path. Before dark, we entered Shiyuan Village. After entering the village, Miao Fengyi told us that her mother died when she was young, and her father had been seriously ill since last year. She had been relying on her to dig grass roots to exchange for money to treat her father. Every time she went out, her aunt helped take care of her. Finally, she specifically told us not to tell her father what happened last night when we returned home, so as not to scare her father.
This village is similar to the one we saw in Xiangxi, with all the stilt houses and a strong Miao village atmosphere. The village is nestled in the mountains and beside the water, with wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, and looks like a beautiful landscape painting under the setting sun.
Walking on the village street, I asked Miao Fengyi where the cripple surnamed Gu lived. She pointed to the only small shop in the village in the southwest direction. Now we have to send the weak Miao Fengyi home first and find the jade refiner later. Anyway, we are already at the end of the field and there is no rush. So I followed Miao Fengyi into a stilt house. In the dim room, there was an oil lamp, dim as a bean.
An old man was lying on a bamboo bed with a white cloth wrapped around his head, covered with a clean quilt. It was different when there was a daughter at home. Everything was very clean, giving people a warm feeling. The old man was stunned when he saw a stranger coming. Miao Fengyi walked over and whispered a few words in his ear, and the old man nodded and asked her to take us to the guest room to rest.
The so-called guest room is on the third floor, but it is actually on the second floor. In addition to the room for storing food and sundries, there is another empty room. Miao Fengyi told us that because there are often businessmen who collect dragon tooth grass, whoever stays in the house can usually sell it for a good price. Therefore, this empty room is specially prepared for guests who collect grass roots. She helped us spread clean bedding on the bed, and took Shen Bing downstairs. The two of them stayed in one room, leaving me upstairs.
The two girls cooked dinner and were too tired to continue. But Miao Fengyi gritted her teeth and insisted not to let her father see the problem. After feeding her father, she and Shen Bing hurried back to the room to sleep. I looked at the watch. It was only a little after eight o'clock in the evening. It was not too late, so I sneaked out.
Since the village has no electricity, many houses are dark at night. In addition, the winter is cold, and there is no one on the street. I followed the direction pointed by Miao Fengyi and walked to the southwest. After turning a dirt slope, I suddenly saw a black shadow appear in front of me. I vaguely saw that the figure was very slender, like a woman, and a strange feeling surged in my heart. To be cautious, I crouched and sneaked along the hillside, quietly following the woman.
We arrived at a stilt house not far ahead. There were two white paper lanterns hanging on it. Candles were lit inside the door, making it very bright inside and outside. Seeing the white lanterns, I had a bad feeling. At this moment, the woman was already standing under the light. I could see her back clearly. She was wearing a black leather jacket and her hair was draped over her shoulders. She didn't look like a Miao. She must be a foreign guest.
My heart moved. This figure looks so familiar. I thought to myself, hiding in a dark corner.
"I'm looking for Gu Qinglin." The woman said loudly while standing outside the stilt house.
It turned out to be her!
Who is she? It's Gu Xiaoning!
Don't say you didn't expect it, even I was surprised. Gu Xiaoning was far away in Liaoning, thousands of miles away from Sichuan. Why did she come here? She even specifically asked for Gu Qinglin, obviously knowing his background. I couldn't help but frown and touch my nose to think about what was going on.
A cold female voice came from the door: "He's dead! What do you want with him?"
My heart skipped a beat. Shit, dead? Looking at the white lantern hanging at the door, he must be dead. How could I be so unlucky? I finally found the whereabouts of the jade refiner, but he was gone. I felt that this was strange. I had just arrived in Bazhong, and the antique shop owner died suddenly, and the jade refiner died right after. Wasn't this meant for me
"How did he die?" Gu Xiaoning asked in surprise.
"He died of illness." I guess the woman who spoke was Gu Qinglin's wife, but I couldn't hear any sadness in her tone.
"When did he die? Where is the body?" Gu Xiaoning asked.
"He died last night, and his body is in the coffin in the house!"
Gu Xiaoning walked up the stairs and said, "Gu Qinglin and I are cousins. You are my sister-in-law, right?"
"I am his woman, but I didn't know he had a sister." The woman said as she appeared at the door, dressed in white. The light shone on her face, allowing me to clearly see that she had a very beautiful face. She was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, and had a good temperament. She looked like a woman from the city.
But this woman's face was as cold as frost, and she looked as if she was keeping people at a distance.
"You don't know, but I have told you now. I was asked by the elders of the Gu family to go to Brother Qinglin to get something. The elders said that even if he died, he would still have this thing on him, so they asked me to take it and give it to him." Gu Xiaoning was completely different from her gentle personality when she was in the Northeast. She walked up with an aggressive aura.
"I don't care who you are or who asks you to do something, you are not allowed to touch my late husband. Please go away and don't force me to do it!" Gu Qinglin's wife narrowed her eyes, revealing two murderous auras.
"I heard about you when I came here. You are a lowly woman who sells her body. You were bought by the owner of the antique shop and married to my cousin..."
Just as he said this, Gu Xiaoning groaned in pain, and squatted on the steps, holding her stomach.