Upon hearing Miao Xiaoxian's reply, the monkey chuckled and said, "Little sister, we just wanted to take a walk in the woods over there. We weren't going to steal anything from your Ping'an Village. It's not that serious, is it?"

Miao Xiaoxian looked at us and said, word by word, "I have said that everyone has something worth protecting. There is our own belief in the willow forest, so I hope you can respect our traditions and customs."

Seeing Miao Xiaoxian's unprecedented seriousness and earnestness, I immediately changed the subject with a smile: "Little Fairy, you're being too sensitive. We've already said that we came here only to learn about the ancient legend of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, not to be enemies with Ping An Village. Since Willow Forest is an important place for Ping An Village, then we won't go there! There's no need for us to argue."

"You'd better keep your word, or we'll definitely become enemies."

After Miao Xiaoxian finished speaking, she led us through the woods back towards the village.

After walking for a while, just as they were about to reach the village, Miao Xiaoxian suddenly stopped.

I nearly bumped into her as I followed behind. Seeing that she wasn't moving, I asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly stop? Is something wrong?"

Miao Xiaoxian looked at the bushes and nodded seriously: "Someone has been here before."

The monkey, thinking something terrible had happened, rolled its eyes when it heard Miao Xiaoxian's words and said, "Isn't that obvious? I noticed it when we came out. This place is full of traps, and there are only a few paths. How could no one have come here before?"

"No, you don't understand."

As Miao Xiaoxian spoke, she had already taken the bow and arrow from her shoulder: "Follow me closely!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she darted into the woods like a nimble cheetah, keeping her body low to the ground.

Although we didn't encounter any danger in the woods under Miao Xiaoxian's guidance, I knew that this place was definitely fraught with peril.

Seeing Miao Xiaoxian take a step, I cautiously followed behind.

Although Miao Xiaoxian said that other people appeared in the woods, I did not find any trace of them.

Miao Xiaoxian moved extremely fast through the jungle; even with my stamina, it was a bit of a struggle to keep up with her.

Fortunately, we didn't run too far.

We had only traveled about six or seven hundred meters when Miao Xiaoxian suddenly raised her hand to stop us. Then she raised her bow and arrow and pointed it at the bushes ahead: "Who goes there? Come out!"

Apart from a gentle breeze, the air was completely silent.

"call out!"

Miao Xiaoxian shot an arrow into the bushes and said in a deep voice, "I'm only giving you one chance. Step forward yourself, or you'll know the consequences when the whistling arrow takes off!"

"Little Fairy, it's me!"

A deep male voice came from the bushes, and then a person came out.

This was a man in his early forties, dressed in the kind of coarse linen clothes from Ping'an Village, with bloodstains on his body.

Seeing the man's disheveled appearance and not knowing his background, I immediately drew my pistol.

"Don't move!"

Miao Xiaoxian tossed a question at us, then squinted at the middle-aged man: "Why did you leave the village without permission?"

"hunting!"

The man sighed, turned slightly to the side, revealing two yellow-throated martens and a bamboo cage in the bushes behind him. Inside were many colorful venomous snakes, but after looking at them for a long time, I could only recognize one silver-ringed snake.

When I heard the man say he was out hunting, I breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It turns out it was just a misunderstanding.

Unexpectedly, Miao Xiaoxian's expression turned even uglier upon hearing his words: "Seventh Uncle, you are a member of the planting team, hunting is not within your scope of business."

The middle-aged man seemed somewhat afraid of Miao Xiaoxian, and said timidly, "Xiaoxian, I'm really desperate for money. Regarding what happened today, you..."

"Enough!"

Miao Xiaoxian interrupted the middle-aged man, saying in a cautionary tone, "Seventh Uncle, I can help you once, but I can't help you every time! I hope you'll think twice before you act in the future!"

The middle-aged man, as if granted a pardon, nodded repeatedly to Miao Xiaoxian, saying, "Thank you! Thank you!"

"let's go."

Miao Xiaoxian ignored the middle-aged man and turned to lead us toward the village.

Seeing that the monkey wanted to ask Miao Xiaoxian a question, I grabbed his wrist and gently shook my head.

The way of life in Ping'an Village is somewhat like the communal dining system during the collectivist era. Regardless of their division of labor, everyone in the village can go to the canteen and eat as much as they want every day at mealtime.

Perhaps due to the limited conditions in the deep mountains, the food in Ping'an Village was not as delicious as I had imagined. Moreover, the grains were all brown rice, and many of the dishes were even made with insects, which I found terrifying. However, the villagers seemed to enjoy their meals immensely.

After lunch, we made an excuse to rest and went back to our wooden house to chat.

As soon as the monkey entered, he raised the question that had been on his mind: "Young Master Duan, when we met that middle-aged man whom Miao Xiaoxian called Uncle Seven outside, did you hear what he said? Uncle Seven said he went out hunting because he was really short of money. What does this mean? It means that Fengmen Village is not the completely isolated place we imagined. At least they have contact with the outside world. Otherwise, why would these people need money?"

"Yes, I noticed that at the time too. The reason I didn't bring it up in front of Miao Xiaoxian was because I was afraid she would become suspicious."

I nodded: "Once a person has a weakness, they are easily bought off, and Uncle Qi is short of money, which is exactly the kind of person we need!"

Lin Que interjected, "Then shall we not go out this afternoon, but go directly to talk to that Uncle Qi?"

"No, we have to get out of here! Otherwise, Miao Xiaoxian will definitely become wary. Although she is naive, she is very smart."

I paused for a moment: "This afternoon we'll split into two groups. Monkey, Lin Que, and I will go outside the village to continue distracting Miao Xiaoxian. Jiang Man will stay in the village and keep an eye on Uncle Qi during dinner time. We'll try to find his place and then go talk to him when it gets late at night."

Jiang Man nodded: "Shall we still go see the village over there in Liulin?"

"Of course we have to go, but we can't escape the village over there. We'll start with this Uncle Qi."

I looked at everyone and said, "Judging from Miao Xiaoxian's attitude, Uncle Qi's behavior is probably not tolerated by Ping'an Village. Before he is punished, we need to meet with him first."

After hearing what I said, the monkey suddenly interjected, "Young Master Duan, as we walked around Ping'an Village this morning, did you notice a huge problem with this village?"