Chapter 45 Mei Shu

However, Cheng Ying still underestimated the size of the dense forest.

The dense forest blocked out the sun, shrouded in fog, and visibility was very low, only allowing people to see within a radius of five meters.

Even as Cheng Ying walked along the river into the dense forest, she could still see bushes, weeds, tree trunks, branches, and leaves, as well as many snakes, rats, insects, and ants that were visible to the naked eye.

When the first snake appeared in the grass, Dahuang tensed up and barked loudly at a patch of lush green grass by the river.

Cheng Ying turned her head and saw a small green snake with its whole body emerald green clinging to the grass. Its color blended into the grass, and it was hard to see unless you looked carefully.

Judging from Da Huang's expression, the little green snake should be a poisonous bamboo viper, not a non-venomous green tree snake.

Upon hearing the dog bark, the little green snake, which had been hiding in the grass, suddenly raised its body, exposed its head, flicked its tongue at Cheng Ying, and arched its body slightly, as if it was about to attack Cheng Ying.

Cheng Ying silently took out realgar powder, lime powder, and floral water from her crossbody bag. Just as the little green snake was about to leap out and bite her, she quickly sprinkled a handful of lime powder on the snake.

The little green snake paused, fell from mid-air to the ground, writhed for a moment, then turned and darted into the river under the grass, quickly disappearing from sight.

"This lime powder is quite effective," Cheng Ying muttered to herself, patted the lime powder off her hands, called to Da Huang, and continued walking forward.

The further they went, the more snakes and insects they encountered.

Besides the many snakes hiding in the grass and bushes, there are also many snakes hiding in the dry leaves on the ground, including highly venomous snakes such as the five-venom snakes that are mixed with the dead leaves.

You thought it was perfectly safe, the ground of dry, easy-to-step-on leaves, but as soon as you stepped on it, several grimy-colored venomous snakes poked their heads out from under the dry leaves, their cold, vertical pupils wide open, their dark red tongues flicking, staring coldly at you.

Even though Cheng Ying was very brave, she was still stunned by the scene.

Besides, there were strings of spider webs hanging among the leaves, and colorful, seemingly poisonous spiders dangling from the sides. Various insects crawled and flew everywhere on the branches and trunks. Every now and then, you could see a few bright red or black scorpions crawling out from under the trunks. When you heard someone passing by, there were also swarms of leeches or insects that desperately jumped onto people, trying to suck their blood, making various rustling sounds as they jumped down.

Cheng Ying felt a chill run down her spine. She hadn't gone far before she began to regret coming to this dense forest.

But she had already entered the dense forest, and there was no reason for her to give up halfway. If she turned back, the Miao people would laugh at her in their hearts if they found out, so she gritted her teeth and continued to move forward.

Hearing the footsteps, the snakes and insects rushed towards Cheng Ying from all directions, but stopped when they were within two meters of her, not daring to attack her, as if they were wary of something.

Cheng Ying saw two venomous snakes, thicker than her wrist, stretching their necks and standing behind a rock, their bodies arched as if about to attack her. But for some reason, they hesitated to attack her, just twisting and watching her from behind the rock. It was really strange.

At first, she thought that the snakes and insects were afraid of Dahuang, because ever since Dahuang entered the dense forest, it had been barking its sharp teeth at the snakes and insects, barking at them and occasionally biting them in an attempt to drive them away.

Cheng Ying was afraid that Da Huang would be poisoned to death by these venomous snakes and insects, so she kept calling out to it not to bite those poisonous creatures.

After walking for a while, Cheng Ying discovered that the snakes and insects were not afraid of Da Huang. As long as Da Huang was about two meters away from her, they would swarm over and attack it.

Fortunately, Big Yellow is fast and always runs to her side whenever this happens, which is how she manages to avoid their attacks.

At this point, Cheng Ying was basically certain that the poisonous creatures were afraid of her, or rather, afraid of something on her body.

She didn't think that someone from outside the village could frighten those poisonous creatures. The only thing that could make them fear her was the brocade pouch that Zhuo Zuilan had given her.

Thinking this, Cheng Ying took out the light blue brocade pouch from her pocket and held it out in front of a small black snake that had been following her. The snake seemed to have seen something terrifying, shrank back, and disappeared in a flash.

Now Cheng Ying was certain that the reason those poisonous creatures didn't attack her was because she had the Zhuo Zui Lan Brocade Pouch.

After receiving the brocade pouch from Zhuo Zuilan, she opened it and looked inside. There were some chopped medicinal herbs, some powdered substances, and some dried scorpions and insects. They didn't look particularly special, but they smelled rather foul.

In retrospect, this brocade pouch was probably meant to ward off these poisonous creatures.

Thinking of this, Cheng Ying felt much more at ease. She held the brocade pouch in her hand, pulled on the rope around Da Huang's neck, and kept Da Huang close to her. The two of them walked confidently to the riverbank where there was a large bamboo forest.

Behind that bamboo grove, about a hundred meters apart, stand a dozen or so relatively spacious stilted houses.

The household she was to deliver the letter to was the one in the middle.

When she was about eighty meters away from the stilted house, she suddenly heard a slight flapping sound of wings behind her.

She turned around sharply and saw a dark blue insect, about the size of a chopstick tip, fly past her and disappear into the bamboo grove ahead.

As the insect flew past Cheng Ying, she saw what it looked like. It was strange in appearance, resembling both an enlarged version of a rove beetle with a long, pointed body, a red abdomen, and a dark blue upper body and wings, and a plump, furry appearance like a bumblebee. It looked rather cute, and when it flew, it resembled a moving, dazzling sapphire with a strange, dark blue tail light. It was so beautiful that one would want to catch it and keep it as a pet.

This was the first time Cheng Ying had encountered an insect that could glow in broad daylight, and she instinctively felt that this flying insect was definitely unusual.

However, adhering to the principle that the more beautiful something is, the more poisonous it is, she wouldn't be so impulsive as to grab the bug and invite trouble upon herself.

As she and Dahuang walked through the dense bamboo forest by the river, she subconsciously circled the bamboo forest, but did not see the glowing insect. She then turned around and followed a long-lost stone-paved path that appeared by the roadside, heading towards the stilted house in the distance.

As soon as she stepped out of the bamboo forest, a young man came down from the stilted house in the middle and walked towards her.

Soon, the man walked up to her, looked her up and down, and spoke: "Cheng Ying? Cheng Jiantong's daughter?"

It was still broken Mandarin, with syllables lingering in unexpected places.

This young man, about twenty-five years old, had deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and bronze skin. He had the classic handsome features of a striking man. He wore a dark blue long-sleeved Miao robe with double-breasted buttons and matching trousers. The buttons on his neck were fastened high, and the high collar covered half of his neck. He also wore a Miao hat with red and white feathers on his head, making him look somewhat serious and mature.

"Yes, that's me." Cheng Ying nodded, took out a small package, no bigger than the palm of her hand, wrapped in layers of nylon bags, from her bag, and handed it to the man. "Long Jin, this is your package. I'm sorry, because I fell down the mountain and got injured, I'm late in delivering your package. Please open the package and see if anything inside is damaged. If it is, I will compensate you at the original price according to our post office regulations."

Long Jin stared at her face for a while before shaking the package in his hand and saying, "No need to look, the contents are fine."

"You should still take a look. I fell from a cliff seventy or eighty meters high. If there are any fragile items inside, they could easily break," Cheng Ying advised.

“No, no need.” Long Jin shook his head. “Inside is my mother’s medicine. It’s in a white plastic bottle that won’t break.”

It turned out to be medicine. She remarked on how small and light the package was.

Cheng Ying understood, but then another question came to mind: Wasn't it said that Miao medicine could cure all diseases? Why did Long Jin still need to buy medicine from outside?

Perhaps sensing what she was thinking, Long Jin said, "It contains asthma medicine. Miao medicine is too strong, and my mother can't handle it, so she can only use external medicine."

Now he spoke Mandarin much more fluently, no longer stuttering, and Cheng Ying found it much easier to listen to. "So that's how it is."

Long Jin's mail package was a local county package. It seems someone helped him get medicine for his mother from the county hospital, mailed it from the county to Qingqu Town, and then the postman delivered it into the mountains. It was quite convenient.

"During the time I didn't bring you medicine, was your mother alright?" Cheng Ying couldn't help but ask with concern.

“It’s alright.” Long Jin pointed to a middle-aged woman standing not far away on the second-floor corridor of his house. She was dressed in Miao clothing and a Miao hat, looked thin and pale, and appeared to be in poor health. “You postmen often deliver packages late due to weather or other reasons. I was worried that my mother wouldn’t be able to wait for the postman to deliver her medicine, so I asked the commune leader to mail the medicine in advance, enough for her until your next delivery. If you really can’t deliver it, my mother can also take medicine that I make myself, but it will make her feel very uncomfortable.”

Cheng Ying knew that the "commune head" he was referring to was the commune head, which was also the town head.

The commune cadres had both a sense of care and preferential treatment for the Miao people of Pucang Village, which was due to their being dispatched by the state, and they would help solve many of the problems raised by the Miao people. They also had a sense of awe and fear towards these Miao people. Even if they were cadres, they had no choice but to help the Miao people with the things they asked the government departments to do.

Cheng Ying was completely relieved and asked Long Jin if he had any letters or packages to send out. When she learned that he didn't, she turned to leave.

Long Jin stopped her, "Cheng Ying, it's getting late, it's almost lunchtime. Why don't you have lunch at my house before you leave?"

Cheng Ying:......

Are the people in this village really hospitable, or is there something wrong with them? Why does everyone invite her to their homes for a meal whenever they see her?

Cheng Ying politely declined, saying, "No, I still need to go to Uncle Mengwang's house to find Aunt Meishu. I'll take care of lunch myself."

"What are you going to do with Mama Meishu?" Long Jin asked.

"I'm asking about something personal," Cheng Ying mumbled incoherently.

Long Jin smiled and suddenly asked, "Cheng Ying, there are many snakes, insects, rats and ants in Zuowu Forest, as well as Gu worms. People from our village rarely come here. You are not from our village, so how did you manage to come here safely?"

Cheng Ying said, "Someone gave me something that should be able to repel insects."

"Did Long Buxi give it to you?" Long Jin asked again.

Cheng Ying frowned, feeling that Long Jin was talking too much. She didn't know him before and wasn't familiar with him, so why was he asking so many questions?

Seeing her silence and displeasure, Long Jin seemed to realize he had asked too many questions. A cryptic smile appeared on his handsome face as he said, "You've been in the village for several days now. You should know that Long Buxi is no good person, and Mei Shu, many years ago, even used a curse on your father. Those two, aunt and niece, have a terrible reputation in our village. I advise you not to go looking for Mei Shu. After you recover, leave Long Buxi and our village as soon as possible. Don't be fooled by his good looks."

Cheng Ying didn't understand why Long Jin, or rather the entire Pucang Village, harbored such great hostility towards Long Buxi.

Did Long Buxi witness the deaths of his parents and brother?

Or perhaps Long Buxi did something bad to the village over the years, causing them to have a bad impression of him and dislike him.

She came to the dense forest today for Mei Shu; she couldn't possibly not go to see Mei Shu.

Although she had previously guessed who had cast the spell on her father and had a few candidates in mind, she was still surprised to hear from Long Jin that it was Mei Shu, Long Bu Xi's aunt.

She ignored Long Jin's words and walked directly along the gravel path to the first house on the left side of the stilted building.

The stilted house was neither too big nor too small, built amidst a cluster of banyan trees with intertwined roots and massive trunks. The tall canopies of the banyan trees completely obscured the roof of the stilted house. Perhaps due to its age and its proximity to the river, the house was very damp, appearing gray and covered in moss, blending seamlessly with the banyan trees. From the outside, one could hardly notice the existence of this stilted house.

Under the stilted house, two boys and girls, about five or six years old, were playing and frolicking. When they saw Cheng Ying walking over, they stopped playing, looked at each other, and mumbled a bunch of Miao words.

Then the little girl looked at Cheng Ying and asked, "Are you the new postman? The one who lives at Uncle Arno's house?"

Her Mandarin wasn't very fluent, but it wasn't too stiff either. Although her pronunciation was a little off, her English sounded fine.

"Yes, I'm the new postman. What's your name? Do you have someone named Meishu at home? Can I go to your house and ask her something?" The little girl had round eyes, snow-white skin, and the appearance of a beauty. She was wearing a clean Miao dress, and silver necklaces on her neck and hands. She looked clean and pretty, and her voice was sweet and gentle, which made it easy for people to like her. When Cheng Ying spoke to her, she unconsciously softened her voice.

“My name is Aduo, and Meishu is my grandmother. What do you want with her?” Aduo looked up at Cheng Ying for a while, then suddenly said, “Sister, you are so beautiful. You have to be careful of the Gu worms in our village. If you are bitten by a love Gu and no one can cure you, you will have no choice but to marry the owner of the love Gu, just like my grandmother. Otherwise, you will suffer a fate worse than death.”

She was young and her speech was somewhat unclear, so Cheng Ying could barely understand what she was saying.

Before she could even react with surprise, a furious shout came from upstairs, "Aduo, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Cheng Ying looked up and saw a middle-aged man standing on the second-floor corridor of the stilted building. He was dressed in dark brown Miao clothing and a matching Miao hat. He was about fifty-five years old, short, thin, with a bitter and resentful look. His gaze was particularly sinister, and he seemed to have a very bad temper.

When Aduo heard that voice, her small body trembled involuntarily. She hid behind her twin brother, who was about the same age and looked quite similar to her, and stopped talking.

Cheng Ying looked at the old man and greeted him politely: "Uncle Mengwang, hello. I am Cheng Ying, the daughter of the old postman Cheng Jiantong. I have taken over my father's job and become the new postman. I will be delivering mail to Pucang Village from now on. I am here today to say a few words to Aunt Meishu. I mean no harm."

Upon hearing the name Cheng Jiantong, Mengwang's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He said something in Miao language in a very agitated manner and waved impatiently at Cheng Ying.

Cheng Ying couldn't understand Miao language, but she could tell from his actions that he was trying to get rid of her.

The host family didn't welcome her, and she didn't want to force her way into their home to find someone. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a voice calling from the second floor: "Cheng Ying? Cheng Jiantong's daughter?"

Cheng Ying looked in the direction of the voice and saw a beautiful middle-aged woman, about forty-five years old, wearing a floral Miao dress, with her hair neatly tied back. She had delicate features and a charming appearance. Even though she was over forty, she still looked graceful and charming. She was standing next to Meng Wang and looked Cheng Ying up and down with a pair of affectionate eyes that were exactly the same as Long Buxi's.

"Yes, I am Cheng Ying, Cheng Jiantong's daughter. Are you Aunt Meishu?" Cheng Ying asked.

"Yes, I'm Mei Shu." Hearing Cheng Ying's words and seeing Cheng Ying's handsome face, which bore a resemblance to Cheng Jiantong, Mei Shu was momentarily dazed. "What do you want from me?"

Cheng Ying glanced at her, and Meng Wang, who was standing next to her with a face almost contorted with anger, whispered, "I want to ask you some questions."

Mei Shu turned her head to look at Meng Wang and said a few words to him in Miao language. Meng Wang angrily replied with two sentences, but she remained unmoved and looked at him coldly.

The two faced off for about a minute before Meng Wang gave in, turning his head to glare fiercely at Cheng Ying before storming off.

Mei Shu turned to look at Cheng Ying and called out with a gentle smile, "Come upstairs, Cheng Ying."

Cheng Ying followed A Duo and her brother up to the first floor of Mei Shu's house.

Mei Shu's stilted house has three floors. The first floor is the reception hall, which is similar in layout to Long Bu Xi's second floor. It is very spacious and has tables, chairs, benches and everything else. In the middle is a square stove.

A pot hangs on the stove, and a young woman in her early twenties, dressed in Miao ethnic clothing and with a decent appearance, is cooking next to the iron pot that is hooked on the stove.

Beside them was a young man, also in his early twenties, with dark skin and good looks, who was tending a fire and chatting and laughing with the woman.

A'duo went upstairs, threw herself into the woman's arms, called out "Mama" and then "Dad" to the man. She then spoke to them in Miao language. Cheng Ying guessed that A'duo was complaining.

"These are my son and daughter-in-law." Mei Shu noticed her confusion and gave her a brief introduction. She then gestured for her to follow her up to a sunny and spacious room on the second floor, where they sat on two wooden stools to talk.

"What brings you here?" Mei Shu asked as she poured Cheng Ying a cup of her homemade flower tea.

Cheng Ying sat opposite her, not daring to drink the tea she had brewed. She placed the tea on a small table to the side and said, "Aunt Mei, you should know that I fell down the mountain and was rescued by Long Buxi, and that I stayed at his house, right?"

Mei Shu noticed her actions but didn't mind. She took a sip of tea and said, "I know, but what does this have to do with you coming to see me today?"

Cheng Ying hesitated for a moment and said, "I've heard some bad rumors about Long Buxi. Some people say that Long Buxi killed his parents and his brother back then, and you saw the terrible scene when you went to his house. Is that true?"

"Why do you want to know about him?" Mei Shu put down her teacup and looked at her sharply.

"Because of curiosity." Cheng Ying looked directly into her eyes, her gaze calm, and answered truthfully.

“Young lady, being curious about a man is not a good thing.” Mei Shu seemed to recall the past. Her still beautiful face, though covered with fine lines, was filled with a lonely expression: “Back then, I was curious about your father, which caused a lot of trouble.”

Cheng Ying was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Aunt Mei, my dad's colleague said that you once used a curse on my dad. Is that true?"

"Really," Mei Shu readily admitted. "But I only used a regular Gu on him, intending to make him sick for a few days so he could stay in the village longer and spend more time with me. It wasn't the love Gu that outsiders were spreading. I really liked your father back then, but he didn't like me. No matter how good I was to him, he remained unmoved. I did consider using a love Gu on him to make him unable to leave me for life. In the end, I couldn't bear to see your father lose his job, nor could I bear to see his hateful face. So I didn't use the love Gu on him, and I also removed the regular Gu from his body. In the end, we parted ways and never saw each other again."

But the way she looked, it was clear she hadn't forgotten her father, Cheng Ying thought.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Mei Shu smiled and asked, "After your father fell down the mountain, Ya Lin's father carried him back to the village. I thought he was going to die, so I went to find Arno to make him some medicine to save his life. I'm not sure about what happened between Arno's parents and his brother back then, whether Arno was the one who did it. Because Arno has always had a strange temper, he's very withdrawn, doesn't like to talk, doesn't like to communicate with people, and doesn't like to play with his peers. He spends all day dealing with snakes, insects, and rodents. He developed his own Gu worms when he was very young and used them to kill many small animals in the village. Their deaths were all very gruesome, and the children his age were all afraid of him."

"So, you didn't witness Long Buxi killing his parents and his brother, right?"

Mei Shu nodded. "That's right."

"Aren't you Long Buxi's aunt? Without witnessing Long Buxi kill his family, your village's old patriarch threw him, a young boy, into the Gu pool, leaving him to be devoured by the Gu worms and die on his own. Didn't you ever think of saying a few words in his defense or trying to save him?" Cheng Ying's expression was calm, but her tone was somewhat angry.

Mei Shu paused for a moment, then laughed. "You're angry? Long Buxi is no relative to you. He just saved your life. Why are you angry about his past?"