Bonfire on a fiery night.
The sound of the lusheng (a traditional reed pipe instrument) echoed in the night sky, and the silvery moonlight slanted down, reflecting the sky and earth over the Miaoyi River.
This beauty remains in everyone's heart.
On the side of the river, next to the waterwheel, the chief of the Buyi Luo village and the chief of the Miao Lan village sat facing each other.
The core members of the two villages stood behind their respective village chiefs.
And Mu Achen was in the middle.
The Meng couple stood to the side.
When the topic of Meng Yan and the Buyi woman Luo Yao came up, Chief Luo told Mu Achen that their Buyi tribe had discussed it—
Luo Yao's crime is unforgivable, but given that this matter involves the teacher of Mu Achen, the future Miao King, therefore--
Luo Yao and Meng Yan may be spared, but their crimes remain unforgivable.
"Future Miao King, my Buyi tribe offers you two choices, and your teacher can choose."
Two options?
Ah Chen's gaze fell on Chief Luo and the others, but he didn't answer. He simply gestured for them to speak first.
Chief Luo said, "First, Meng Yan's limbs will be broken; Luo Yao will have her child aborted and be expelled from the Buyi tribe. From now on, she will never be a Buyi woman again."
"The second child in Luo Yao's womb can be saved, but she must move to Gushan and live as an orphan for the rest of her life; as for Meng Yan, he must take the root-severing herb, which will sever both of his limbs, and he will never be allowed to set foot in the Buyi tribe again in this lifetime."
Both methods can save your life, but it's worse than death.
In the first scenario, Luo Yao would remove the fetus from her womb, and Meng Yan would lose all four limbs; then they could be together.
But are they willing to abandon the fetus in their womb?
Moreover, without the approval of the Buyi people, even if an orphan girl becomes successful in the outside world, she will not be able to rest in peace after death.
The second type, which involves even greater sacrifice, is Meng Yan. The "root-severing grass" mentioned here is actually sterilization.
For a man in his twenties, sterilization is an incredibly tragic experience.
Besides, he couldn't see Luo Yao again.
so--
Choosing either option is cruel to both parties involved.
However, if we compare the two, the first option might be better.
after all--
If this child is gone, they will have a second and a third.
This idea, however, belonged only to Meng Ci and his wife, not to Meng Yan and Luo Yao.
So Mu Achen thought for a moment before saying, "Thank you, Chief Luo, for giving me this honor, but the final choice is up to them, or my teacher can take a look."
"Teacher, what are your thoughts?"
Meng Ci's idea, of course, was to protect the baby in Luo Yao's womb! But if that happened, his son would be in big trouble.
Therefore, faced with such a choice, the Meng couple had no option to choose.
Achen wouldn't help make the choice. Now that the Buyi tribe has made concessions and spared Meng Yan's life, it's already a favor to Mu Achen.
However, if Meng Yan truly repents and begs Mu Achen, perhaps Mu Achen will consider the teacher's sake and offer a third option to gain more for them. Unfortunately, Meng Yan is too reckless!
The chief of the Miao village, Lan, seemed to realize that Achen was unwilling to interfere in the Meng family's decision-making, so he spoke in somewhat broken Mandarin:
“Teacher Meng, Chief Luo and the others have already given face to the future Miao King of our Miao family by making such concessions. Now it’s up to you to choose.”
"We—we had no choice!" Meng Ci cried out in anguish.
His wife sobbed, "Choosing either one is a sin. Isn't there a third option?"
"What they're doing is already a sin, and they want a third way?"
The Buyi village elder angrily said, "If you hadn't been the teachers of the future Miao King and hadn't brought out Achen, my Buyi tribe would never have made such a concession."
The Buyi tribe was indeed giving Mu Achen face.
But Ah Chen deliberately didn't participate in the Meng family's choice, nor did he offer his thoughts or opinions, which puzzled Chief Luo and the others.
Tears streamed down Meng Ci's face, yet he still couldn't choose. He could only turn his gaze to A Chen.
"Ah Chen, what should we do? No matter what we choose, it's not a good option! But we have no choice. Can you... can you give the teacher some advice?"
"Teacher, don't panic, wait a moment."
Ah Chen couldn't bear to see his teacher in such pain, because the teacher's helpless expression reminded him of his own experience back then, when his teacher was just as helpless.
so--
Ah Chen, who hadn't intended to say much, thought it over and over before finally asking Chief Luo and the others, "Where are Luo Yao and that beast Meng Yan? Could you bring them over?"
"Future Miao King, please wait a moment."
Chief Luo immediately ordered the men of his tribe to bring Luo Yao and Meng Yan to him, and told Achen that neither of them had made a choice.
Soon, Luo Yao and Meng Yan were brought in.
Meng Yan seemed to have more injuries, but he still had that unwavering expression, which infuriated Mu Achen.
"You beast, don't you know how to repent?!"
Enraged, Meng Ci stepped forward and slapped him several times, but Meng Yan still said, "Yao Yao doesn't like that A Lai. Their engagement was forced. She likes me, and I have no regrets."
"You still dare to say that."
"You beast! How could I have given birth to such a wicked child?" Madam Meng roared in anguish.
However, compared to Meng Yan's brainless behavior, Luo Yao remained silent, as if everything was irrelevant to her and she didn't care about life or death.
But at this moment, Mu Achen asked Luo Yao, "Is it worth it?"
Luo Yao slowly raised her pale face, her empty, colorless eyes staring at Mu Achen, and actually sneered, "There is no such thing as worth it or not, only willingness or unwillingness."
“I don’t like Alai, I only see him as an older brother, but my parents forced us to agree to the marriage! The village chief and the elders are inflexible and won’t let me back out.”
"As for Meng Yan, that was also an accident! An accident that happened after drinking."
Luo Yao's words were very simple, but they explained almost the entire matter.
Mu Achen hadn't expected that the Buyi woman could still be so clear-headed at this moment.
So, the question is: "Do you want the child?"
"It shouldn't have existed in the first place!"
Where is Meng Yan?
"He shouldn't have been in my life at all."
Upon hearing this, Mu Achen was somewhat surprised, thinking to himself that this Buyi woman was quite ruthless.
"Yaoyao, how could you have such a thought? I've said it before, I will protect you for a lifetime no matter what."
Even now, Meng Yan still can't see the situation clearly.
Luo Yao stared coldly at Meng Yan, saying nothing, but utterly disappointed.
Because she had already realized that, given the relationship between Meng Yan's father and the future Miao King, as long as Meng Yan admitted his mistake and asked his father to intercede for Mu Achen, things would definitely take a turn for the better.
But Meng Yan---
Luo Yao wondered if she had acted impulsively back then, spending a night of passion with such a person, leading to something irreversible.
At that moment, she glanced at Mu Achen, then said to their tribe's chief and elders:
"I admit the mistakes I made!"
"Since the chieftain has given me a chance to live, then I'll remove this..."
Luo Yao pointed to her lower abdomen, and then--
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