Chapter 126 A Familiar Feeling

Even if she didn't trust the Li ethnic boy, she absolutely trusted Da Huang.

Yellow-throated martens are naturally alert, and Da Huang has been in the space for so long that it is much smarter than most animals and has an extremely keen sense of danger. However, Da Huang is very calm at the moment, so Qin Suisui is not worried.

Jia Zhenzhen had just asked about Dahuang's origins, and Qin Suisui only claimed that she had met it by chance in the miasma forest during the day. Jia Zhenzhen didn't doubt it, after all, the last time she came to the Wild Forest, the big gibbon was also very friendly to her and Zanzan, so Jia Zhenzhen just felt that she had a lot of luck with animals.

When they stood on the vine bridge and looked down, they felt that the cliff was bottomless. Now, after walking for more than an hour, they still couldn't see the bottom.

The downhill path was already tiring enough to make their legs ache, and they had to climb small hills and wade through streams from time to time. When they passed a grove of plum trees, Qin Suisui was completely exhausted. (The plum trees here are not the same kind of plums we eat or use for making wine!)

She had been running herself ragged trying to escape the miasma forest all day, and was completely exhausted. When she tripped over a tree root as thick as an arm that was entangled on the ground, she simply sat down on her bottom.

Jia Zhenzhen was startled. The forest was pitch black, and the Li ethnic boy wouldn't let them use flashlights, saying it would disturb the creatures in the forest. They could only follow his torch, but the boy walked very fast, leaving them with only a faint light behind.

Jia Zhenzhen groped Qin Suisui's body with both hands, trying to help her up: "Suisui, what's wrong? What happened? Did something bite you?"

Qin Suisui gasped for breath: "I can't go on, Zhenzhen, I really can't walk anymore."

The boy walking in front also heard their commotion, frowned, and turned around.

Qin Suisui tried to reason with him: "Paman, how about we take a break? We've been traveling for the past two days, and I'm really tired."

Paman is the name of this Li ethnic boy. Jia Zhenzhen had to pester him for a long time before she finally found out.

Seeing the boy's furrowed brows, Qin Suisui thought he might find her troublesome. Just as she was wondering whether she should persevere a little longer, she saw him walk back quickly, squat down in front of her, and say in broken Chinese, "Get on, I'll carry you."

Qin Suisui was taken aback and instinctively refused, "No need, I'll just rest for a while."

Jia Zhenzhen shoved him away: "Oh dear, what a boorish man! Our Sui Sui is a married woman, how can you carry her like this? Get off me, I'll carry her!"

Although Parman wasn't fat, he was still a tall man over 1.8 meters. When Jia Zhenzhen slapped him, his eyes widened in surprise.

As if realizing she had accidentally revealed her true identity, Jia Zhenzhen was a little embarrassed: "Hehe, sorry, I'm just naturally strong."

The shock in his eyes quickly disappeared, and he nodded as if nothing had happened, continuing to lead the way.

Qin Suisui leaned on Jia Zhenzhen's back, somewhat worried: "Zhenzhen, are you alright? Can you carry me?" After all, Jia Zhenzhen had been poisoned by the centipede and hadn't had a proper rest, so Qin Suisui was worried that her body couldn't handle it.

Jia Zhenzhen nodded: "Don't worry, I'm fine. I was in a daze all day. You must be tired from carrying me."

Qin Suisui shut her mouth. After all, it was really Da Hei who was carrying Jia Zhen, not her, so she couldn't respond to that.

They walked in silence, and perhaps because of Paman and Dahua's presence, they encountered no snakes, insects, or rodents along the way. The dark, desolate forest was eerily quiet. Qin Suisui was almost asleep on Jia Zhenzhen's back when she suddenly heard Paman speak: "We've arrived."

Qin Suisui suddenly opened her eyes, but Jia Zhenzhen spoke up before she could: "No, comrade, are you kidding us? This is just a cave, isn't it? What else is in here besides these strangely shaped rocks?"

Qin Suisui also saw it; the place where they were standing was a karst cave, which must have been formed many years ago. Strange stalactites filled the entire cave, and water dripped from the cave ceiling from time to time, forming a shallow puddle on the ground.

Paman ignored her, took out the nose flute they had seen before, placed it on his nose and blew a short note. Soon, a slight ripple sound came from deep within the cave, and the next second, a huge snake head appeared in front of them.

Qin Suisui recognized it almost immediately: the five-meter-long python was the same one that had attacked them last time; it still bore the marks left by the dagger.

The python was taken aback when it saw them, and its forked tongue hissed as it flicked out. The big flower, which had been coiled around Parman, swam over aggressively and swung its tail heavily over the python's head.

The python seemed momentarily stunned, looking at Big Flower and then at Paman with confusion.

Paman nodded and spoke a string of words in the Li language that they couldn't understand. Qin Suisui keenly noticed that the aggressive aura emanating from the giant python had dissipated.

Qin Suisui patted the big yellow dog whose fur was standing on end. The big yellow dog rubbed against her with its tail, and its standing fur softened.

“Before entering the tribe, you must first be inspected by the ancestral spirits,” Paman said, pointing to the large python.

Qin Suisui nodded and was about to take off the cloth bag she was carrying and hand it over when Zuling beat her to it. With a flick of its tail, Zuling lifted her, Jia Zhenzhen, and Dahuang high into the air.

Having experienced this "treatment" once again, Qin Suisui felt numb and thought she might not be afraid of snakes anymore.

Jia Zhenzhen screamed in fright.

Before they could even understand what this so-called "inspection" was all about, the ancestral spirit had already thrown them onto its snake back, and Paman also stood on it.

The ancestral spirit quickly turned the snake's head and swam into the darkness.

Big Flower excitedly flicked its tongue and followed behind.

The ancestral spirit was extremely fast, yet remarkably stable. Qin Suisui and the others rode on the snake's back, watching Paman standing behind them as steady as a mountain. They couldn't help but marvel at how just like the heroes in martial arts novels they were.

It was only then that Qin Suisui discovered that there was actually an underground river inside this cave, and that she would have to cross this river to get to the Snake Witch Tribe.

Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, the ancestral spirit stopped and threw them ashore.

“&*@##@*&%…”

Before Qin Suisui and the other person could even stand up straight, they heard a fierce-looking voice, accompanied by a string of gibberish.

They looked up in bewilderment, and Parman spoke up at the opportune moment: "Show him the snake pendant with scales hanging around your neck."

Qin Suisui quickly stood up, took out the token that Huang Weimin had given her, and handed it over.

As expected, upon seeing the token, the man's previously fierce expression softened, and he even bowed slightly to her before letting them pass.

It was past midnight, and the Snake Witch tribe was extremely quiet except for the people patrolling around with torches.

Parman led them to a boat-shaped thatched hut and said in a low voice, "It's late today, you should rest here for now and go see the High Priest tomorrow."

As Qin Suisui nodded her thanks, she secretly sized up the house. Calling it a thatched hut wasn't quite accurate; the main structure was probably made of wood, the roof looked like it was covered with vines, and the walls were made of bamboo strips. The whole house was full of natural charm.

The room was covered with snake-shaped carvings, and even on the roof beams, several small, colorful snakes were coiled up, flicking their tongues and staring at them.

Jia Zhenzhen got goosebumps all over. She quietly tugged at Qin Suisui: "Suisui, is this a snake house? Are we really going to sleep here tonight?"

Qin Suisui glanced at Dahuang beside her, then at Dahua who had been following them, and felt a little more at ease: "Don't worry, everything should be fine."

Parman brought them here, then disappeared. Luckily, Big Flower was there, wagging her tail to guide them to fetch water to wash up, and then wagging her tail to lead them to their room.

I didn't sleep very soundly; I kept dreaming that I was bitten by a snake.

When she woke up in the morning, the morning mist had not yet dissipated. Qin Suisui stood by the window, observing the entire tribe.

The houses in the tribe are basically all like the one they live in, like an overturned canoe, with a high ridge and low eaves. Smoke from the bamboo-woven walls seeps out, mixed with the sweet and sour smell of fermented mountain rice wine, spreading in the humid air.

Parman waited outside early in the morning until they finished washing up before taking them to the high priest.

It was already late at night when Qin Suisui arrived yesterday, and it was only now, as she was walking through the tribe, that she realized that this tribe was neither built on a high mountain as the legends had described, nor at the bottom of a cliff as they had guessed, but rather on the edge of a cliff.

Not too high, not too low, hidden deep in the mountains, this is indeed a perfect secluded corner.

The village was bustling with activity in the early morning, with people coming and going. As they passed by, there was a huge banyan tree that required at least five people to hug. Half a cow horn hung under the banyan tree, and several smooth stones were placed where the roots were intertwined.

Women wearing double-sided embroidered tube skirts were squatting and pounding rice. Their tube skirts were dyed indigo, and the Gan Gong bird pattern on the hem fluttered with their movements, clearly a beautiful sight in this mountain tribe.

Perhaps because Qin Suisui and her companion were dressed in "strange clothes," people would secretly stare at them wherever they went, but when they met Paman's indifferent gaze, they would immediately look away and pretend that nothing had happened.

Passing by a shallow stream, I happened to see several Li girls walking barefoot across the pebbles, their silver necklaces dangling between their collarbones. Their baskets were filled with freshly picked areca nuts, the green fruit still glistening with rainforest dew.

Upon seeing Parman, one of the bright-eyed and white-toothed girls greeted him warmly and handed him the betel nuts from her basket. Parman, however, only glanced at her coldly and uttered a string of gibberish. Seeing the girl's dejected expression, Qin Suisui guessed that it must not be anything nice.

But she had no time to think about any of that. Today was their third day out, and she wondered how Pei Jiuyan was doing. He was weak, and every day that passed meant more poison would seep in. All she wanted was to find the High Priest as soon as possible, beg for the antidote, and bring it back to save him.

As if sensing her urgency, Parman glanced at her after shooing the girl away, then led the way with a blank expression.

A mountain breeze blew, and the grass and trees were lush and green. They had almost traversed the entire tribe before arriving at the door of an ancient boat-shaped house. Paman pushed open the door, and Qin Suisui saw an old man dressed in Li ethnic clothing squatting by the hearth, his dark arms adorned with indigo totem patterns.

He was brewing strong tea in a bamboo tube, with a few pieces of bark from trees he didn't know floating in the tea soup. The bitter aroma mixed with the humid steam swirled in the wooden house.

Hearing the creak of the wooden door, he turned around, holding a bamboo teacup. The moment their eyes met, Qin Suisui felt that the face seemed somewhat familiar.