Just after six o’clock the next morning, Master Duan knocked on my door. I vaguely remembered the strange face in the window last night. I looked at the window and thought I was probably dizzy.
I knocked on the door and found that Master Duan was ready to go. I wanted him to wait for a while so that I could freshen up. However, his attitude was very firm and he insisted that I go with him at once. Although I felt uncomfortable in my heart, after all, it was my first time to go out to work for my father. I didn’t want to go back and let his old man laugh at me, so I simply cleaned up and hurried off.
It’s still the old Santana. This time I took the co-pilot and asked, "Master Duan, where are we going this time?"
"Going to the mountains" Master Duan said simply that there seems to be no luxury to chat with me. I’m not a bitch. Seeing people’s attitude is cold, I won’t say much about taking out my mobile phone by car seat while listening to music and eating bread bought from the shop owner.
The car is heading southwest to see the sample. At about ten o’clock, the car has reached a very remote mountain area. I don’t know what the mountain is here. Master Duan didn’t answer. He knew that there was no asphalt paved asphalt road here, but all the roads were dirt roads. There was a dense forest path ahead, and the car could get in.
When the master stopped at this time, I saw a middle-aged man with a strong figure on the edge of the mountain forest, wearing a short white jacket and dark blue coarse trousers. It seemed that he was dressed up by ethnic minorities. The master pointed to the man and said to me, "He is a Miao called Da Zhao Miao Tiger, which means you can just follow him."
I was angry with the car with seven points of doubt and three points of anger, thinking, why not throw it here for me? It’s said that the minority villagers in southern Yunnan are tough, and I’m really afraid to look at that man’s kind and the surrounding people.
Master Duan seemed to see my mind and said, "Don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with following him. I’ll pick you up here then."
I nodded and didn’t want master Duan to see that I was timid, so I drove straight to the front of Da Zhao, who was wearing Park Su Miao.
As soon as I came to him, he nodded at Master Duan, who understood and hitchhiked away.
"Are you Fan Peixi?" I immediately recognized Nada’s voice when he spoke. Isn’t that the speaker at my door last night? I will never hear the thick nasal voice wrong. I nodded and he continued, "Come with me."
So I followed the Miao people into Nalin Nakakoji, where there was still a way to walk. When I walked, I found that my feet were already walking on weeds. If it hadn’t been for this, I would have been lost here. Before I heard my father say that there were many poor mountains and forests in southern Xinjiang, and no guide dared to break into the mountains alone, which was different from killing myself. I didn’t believe that I had a deep feeling today. Looking around, the scenery seemed to be the same forever. Moreover, when I started walking, I always looked up to see the sun, but the shadows were mottled, so I could accurately distinguish it.
Probably because I lacked exercise and didn’t walk far, I was already exhausted and panting, but Da Zhao didn’t stop at all. He said simply, "There is still a long way to go. I can’t rest now or I won’t get to the village before dark."
"Before dark?" As soon as I heard this, I almost didn’t sit down. I was planning to go for a day, but I couldn’t help it. If I don’t keep pace with Da Zhao, I will probably get lost in this mountain forest soon.
We walked all the way for three hours, and we had a rest in a stream.
As the sun approached sunset, I finally vaguely heard someone’s voice, so I asked Da Zhao, "Is it coming soon?"
Da Zhao nodded and walked on, but as I walked, my heart became suspicious. This Amana actually lives in such a remote place. Although I also know that there are little-known villages in mountainous areas of many southern provinces, I admired their life before they lived a paradise, but now I think about where they don’t want to be connected with the outside world. This winding mountain road is really blocking external communication.
My father said that he had come here to inspect this, which I believe, but he said that he was hijacked by a gang of robbers. I don’t believe it a bit. If there can be a gang of robbers in the deep mountains and forests, these robbers will probably have to drink the northwest wind every day. I think there are also villagers here who play the game of "This road is mine" in this backcountry. I wonder if my father was hijacked by these villagers in the past and then saved by the so-called wizard Atuna?
I was thinking about it when suddenly a small village with two mountains and a narrow plain appeared in front of me. I glanced at my watch. It was almost four o’clock, and I thought at dinner time that there was always no meal here.
Fortunately, Da Zhao said to me as he walked, "I’ll take you to my house to eat something first, and then I’ll see the wizard when you’re full."
As soon as I was happy, I said that he had finally arrived at Ayuna. I always wanted to ask him about Ayuna, but he always said nothing, which made me unable to find an opportunity. I just pretended to ask casually, "Big witch?" Is that aunt na a witch? "
As soon as the words fell, Da Zhao suddenly stopped and looked back and gave me a bad look. I knew that I offended him and hurriedly changed my mind. "Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to disrespect her old man’s house. I don’t understand your customs here. I’m afraid I’ll see her old man’s house later and say something wrong. Please give me more advice."
Da Zhao turned his head and said, "Amana is indeed a wizard, but it is by no means the kind of deception that you Han people understand."
I nodded my head and continued to ask, "So, Dawu Aina has a high position in your village?"
"high"
"Then your villagers also respect her old man’s house very much, right?"
"That’s nature."
"Then you all respect her children."
"What are you talking about?" Da Zhao was angry again, saying, "Auntie Na has never been married, so how can she have children!"
I quickly apologised and said, "Don’t get angry with Brother Da Zhao. I’m a teenager from the northeast. I don’t know anything about putting my foot in my mouth. I never disrespect you. Don’t take it amiss."
Da Zhao ignored me and walked on. At this time, we have entered the village, surrounded by typical Miao buildings. Most of them are wooden houses. The people in the village are all dressed up, especially those young Miao women who wear a lot of silverware on their heads. If they are outside the mountain, they must be very eye-catching. But now my sweater and jeans are out of place in this mountain. Those Miao girls can see at a glance that I am an outsider who walks by in twos and threes from time to time. If they look at me and smile at each other, such a place will definitely become a famous tourist attraction.
But now I have time to enjoy these village scenes, so I have fallen into a huge doubt. Just now, Da Zhao’s words showed that my father’s words were different. The first thing to bear the brunt was my father’s so-called savior, that is, the descendants of Auntie. But since this Auntie is admired by the audience here and never married, what about the descendants? This time, I always feel that there is something strange about this so-called descendant entrusted to my father by Ayuna. Since Ayuna is a big witch, she must have food and clothing, especially the Miao nationality. Today, she still attaches great importance to the witch culture. The national wizard is suspected to be equivalent to their spiritual leader. Even if she really has descendants, she doesn’t have to entrust it to my father in the distant horizon. I’m afraid she can just give it to someone in this village, and the other party will take care of it with her heart.
At this time, I have an absurd and very logical guess in my heart-is it possible that something happened between my father and this aunt that made this aunt pregnant and that aunt’s descendants were really my father’s illegitimate children? If that’s the case, then it makes sense that Ana entrusted her descendants to my father.
That is to say
Chapter III Sargam
I couldn’t help being startled when I looked in the mirror. Could this be the "Jie" of Anna just now? After I calmed down, I found that there was no trace of injury on my face. It seems that this face was stained with blood, but on second thought, I felt something was wrong. I clearly remember that when that aunt touched my face, I always felt that the old hand was dry and rough, and there was no feeling of satiny or cold ice. Then how did she draw such a pattern on my face?
Look at the color again-I still think it’s some red dye, but when I found that some places have condensed into brown crusts, I decided that it should be blood, so I don’t know what blood it is. It can’t always be human blood. When I got closer to the mirror, I found that my face was exactly the same as I had guessed before. When I looked closely, it was indeed some kind of image, but it didn’t look like Taoist runes, but it looked more like a bull’s head. Isn’t that the mythical image of Miao people worshiping Chiyou? I have never been a deist since I was a child, and I am also a person who disdains anecdotes about ghosts and gods. I have neither completely denied nor quite agreed with ghosts and gods, and I have generally adhered to Confucius’ so-called "stay at a respectful distance from others" attitude.
I tried to draw water to wash the blood off my face, but I was called to stop him. He said that this was the white witchcraft that the witch Amana had put on me, and that it was my totem to exorcise evil spirits. I said that it would not make me look like this. Da Zhao comforted me and said, "Don’t worry, the totem will disappear the next morning."
I’m skeptical and say, if you don’t wash it, don’t wash it, and watch Da Zhao. If I wash my face runes in front of him, it’s disrespectful to Auntie. When in Rome, I’ll go to bed in a daze.
I woke up the next morning and found that the face rune had disappeared. Although I could vaguely see the pink mark when I was close to the mirror, I had already distinguished the pattern. I was very surprised in my heart. Can the blood still be absorbed by the skin? That’s amazing, isn’t it? It’s probably because of something that Anna added to her blood that this strange phenomenon will appear. After all, people say that it is the great wizard here. If he doesn’t have a unique trick, his position will naturally not be strong, so I’m not too surprised about it.
After breakfast, Da Zhao told me that it was time to hurry, and I had no objection, because I also saw that almost everything I met from the day I came to Yunnan was somewhat inexplicable and funny, and I was often snubbed. I thought that since people didn’t treat me as a guest in good faith, it was even more unnecessary for me to stay here, and it was crowded out everywhere. It was better to go back to Kunming early and have a good time for two days and then go back to the Northeast.
When I left Dazhao’s house, I wanted to go to Ayuna’s room again. First, I went to pick up the Miao girl. Second, I said goodbye to her old man’s house. Unexpectedly, as soon as I went out, I suddenly found that the Miao girl had arrived at Dazhao’s door. It seemed that she had been waiting for a long time. She was dressed like last night, with a horn and a silver crown on her head, and the sun shone brightly. She was holding a cloth bag and I didn’t know what was in it. She was very quiet and nodded slightly when she saw me coming out.
I said to her before, "My name is Fan Peixi and I wear the jade seal."
The girl didn’t answer, she just looked at me.
I was stupefied for a while, remembering last night’s fluent Chinese, I couldn’t help asking Da Zhao, "Hey, can everyone in this village speak Chinese?"
Da Zhao shook his head and said, "Few people can speak Chinese. I learned Chinese because I always came out of the mountains."
As I expected, because I stayed at Dazhao’s house and heard him speak Chinese, and his wife and children both spoke Miao language, I pointed to the Miao girl and asked, "Does she not speak Chinese?"