Chapter 78 The Valley of the Dead, the Other Shore Flower
A day later, they arrived at the Valley of the Dead.
The Valley of the Dead is located in the southeast of the primeval forest. It is a valley between two hills. It is called the Valley of the Dead because during the war, many people came here with their families to escape the massacre by the enemy army. They wanted to hide in the primeval forest to avoid disaster, but they all died here. Their bones piled up like mountains, and over time, it got the name Valley of the Dead.
When Cheng Ying and the other arrived at the Valley of the Dead, it was already noon. Cheng Ying thought she would see a desolate place or a scene overgrown with weeds, but when she arrived at the entrance of the valley, she was so shocked by the scene in front of her that she couldn't speak.
Countless crimson spider lilies grow in the valley, their slender stems like flames, blooming in the grass all around the valley, creating a spectacular sight.
For some reason, the grass grew close to the ground, and the leafless spider lily flowers appeared even more vibrant and alluring against the backdrop of the low-lying green plants.
Under the bright sunshine, the red spider lilies shimmered with a subtle light. With the mountain breeze, the petals swayed gently, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene that also evoked a sense of boundless loneliness and desolation.
That sense of loneliness probably stems from the fact that the red spider lily is also known as the flower of the underworld. It usually blooms during the damp autumn rainy season. The flowers bloom without leaves, and the leaves appear without flowers. Its life is short yet brilliant, and the sadness of the flowers and leaves never meeting makes people feel a faint sadness when they see this flower.
Cheng Ying saw a large patch of spider lilies in the valley. For some reason, she felt that Long Buxi was like these spider lilies, with beautiful colors and stunning appearance. Although she was blooming in the valley among people, she was very lonely and isolated.
She couldn't help but reach out and take Long Buxi's hand, wanting him to know that he was not alone from now on.
Long Buxi felt her movement, looked down at her hand holding his, and with a slight thought, he took her small hand in his large palm, looked up at her and smiled, "How is it? Isn't it more beautiful than you expected? Dead Man's Valley is beautiful, isn't it?"
Cheng Ying nodded: "It's beautiful. I thought the Valley of the Dead would be a desolate place with bones everywhere. I didn't expect so many spider lilies to bloom. It's really beautiful."
Long Buxi: "There are indeed many corpses in the Valley of the Dead. These spider lilies grow on these corpses, which is why they can bloom so beautifully. After the flowering season, when the weather is dry, the Valley of the Dead is prone to fire, burning all the flowers and plants to the ground and turning it into a wasteland. The burned flowers and plants will become fertilizer, and when the spider lilies bloom again the following year, they will be even stronger and more beautiful."
When I was a child, I didn't want to practice Gu poison and wanted to hide from my mother, so I would go to the Valley of the Dead, sleep with the corpses, talk to them, and tell them about my troubles.
They would always respond to me, and when I was happy, I would take two skulls back to the village to play with.
He was smiling, but the words he said were chilling.
To outsiders, this almost insane behavior would surely make him seem mentally ill for doing such strange things.
How can the bones of the dead speak? He was so young, yet he traveled all that way alone to the Valley of the Dead to bring the skulls of the dead home. Wasn't he afraid?
Cheng Ying could understand Long Buxi's thoughts. He grew up in a deformed family with a mother who was abnormally controlling, a father who had no opinions of his own, and a crazy, freakish older brother who did all sorts of bad things. From a young age, his mother made him practice Gu poison and he spent his days with poisonous creatures. Over time, his personality became withdrawn and twisted.
The adults and children in the village were afraid of him and his family. No one wanted to play with him or talk to him. When he could no longer bear the beatings and scoldings from his mother, he could only find other ways to relieve the bitterness in his heart.
He may have come to the Valley of the Dead with someone, discovered this hidden place, and knew that there were many skeletons here.
He was wronged and in pain, with no one to confide in and nowhere to vent his frustrations. So he traveled a hundred miles to the Valley of the Dead to tell his troubles to the skeletons and remains.
Cheng Ying couldn't believe how much suffering and injustice Long Buxi, who was only a young child back then, had endured, walking such a long way through the mountains to find these skeletons and complain about his grievances.
She felt a pang of heartache, stood on tiptoe, and gently stroked Long Buxi's head, as if she were stroking him when he was a child. "You suffered injustice and pain, but you didn't choose to cry and make a scene, nor did you hurt anyone. You came to such a remote place alone to seek spiritual comfort. Those bones must have been your good companions back then."
Long Buxi lowered his head and saw the heartache in her eyes. A lonely and lost heart fluttered gently at that moment. He looked down at her and asked, "Aren't you afraid of me?"
"What are you afraid of?" Cheng Ying withdrew her hand, looked up at him and asked.
Long Buxi stared intently at her, his eyes as dark as an abyss, concealing a turbulent and dangerous emotion. "In the eyes of outsiders, I sleep with dead bones, talk to skeletons, and play with dead heads. I'm just a lunatic, a madman. They're terrified of such things and stay far away from me, as if I'm some kind of ominous creature that will bring bad luck if they get involved with me. Aren't you afraid of someone like me?"
Cheng Ying scoffed, "You don't kill anyone, you don't break the law, so why should I be afraid of you? Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Just because you play with human bones, if I were afraid of you, then I would have wasted all those years of being a soldier."
In her past life, when she was on a mission in the wild, she encountered danger and was seriously injured. She even slept with a corpse, enduring the strong smell of decay every day.
He was just sleeping with rotting bones; what was there to be afraid of?
Long Buxi's cold eyes softened, and he held her hand tightly, saying, "Cheng Ying, thank you."
"Thank me for what?"
"Thank you for coming into my life, for not disliking my past, and for being willing to be with me."
Cheng Ying smiled, turned to look at the vibrant red spider lilies covering the valley, and asked, "Where are the love flowers?"
Long Buxi looked at the flowers swaying in the wind in the distance. "You have to find this yourself. I can't tell the difference. The Love Flower grows in this valley. Only those who have been poisoned by the Love Gu can see the difference."
Cheng Ying didn't believe it. "Then how can people who were previously afflicted by the love curse and wanted to break free of it not come to this Valley of the Dead?"
“Then the only option is to die,” Long Buxi said expressionlessly.
Cheng Ying pouted, thinking that there must be another way to cure this love curse, but Long Buxi was unwilling to tell her, so she couldn't force him. She took Long Buxi's hand and walked into the valley.
The valley was vast, with sloping hillsides on both sides, all covered in dense clusters of spider lilies. It was both dreamlike, like a scene from a movie, and so real that it made one feel as if they were living in a dream.
A faint fragrance of flowers and grass floats in the air. Not a single butterfly or insect perches on the bright red spider lily blossoms. They use their vibrant colors to lure lost souls into this valley. If there are traps inside, they will surely lead people into them without them even realizing it.
Cheng Ying held Long Buxi's hand and walked down the valley, stepping on the low weeds and among the spider lilies, trying to find traces of the love flower.
There were so many flowers in the valley that she looked for a long time until her eyes were tired, but she still couldn't see any different flowers.
Just as she was about to give up, she saw a unique spider lily in a clump of low grass on the right side of the slope.
The flower's appearance is similar to that of the spider lily, with a straight green stem, no leaves, and fierce red petals.
However, a small clump of water vapor gathers between the center of its flower and the petals, as if it holds dewdrops gathered in the morning, radiating a crystal-clear light under the sunlight, and its petals are also more vibrant red than those of other spider lilies.
While other flowers had no dew and it was already midday, under the bright sunshine, it was impossible for any moisture to exist, making this flower stand out.
Cheng Ying walked over, squatted down, and tried to press down on the flower to pour out the dew from its center.
Pressing down with his finger, the flower tilted to the side, but the dew inside didn't budge. He immediately became excited, "Found it!"
She picked the red spider lily, stood up, and showed it to Long Buxi. "There's a dewdrop in the middle of this flower, and it won't fall over no matter how hard I try. Is this a love flower?"
Long Buxi took it and looked down at the spider lily carefully. He couldn't see the dew in the center of the flower, but the flower was of excellent quality and was indeed different from other spider lilies. It should be a flower of love without a doubt.
He handed the flower back to Cheng Ying, saying, "It's a love flower. It's good that you found it. Let's go back. When we get back, I'll make a Gu for you."
"Wait a minute." Cheng Ying bent down, picked two brightly colored spider lilies, kept one for herself, and handed the other to him. "These spider lilies are so beautiful, it would be such a waste not to pick some to put in a vase. This spider lily is for you, to thank you for saving me and taking care of me all this time."
"A gift for me?" Long Buxi held the flower in her hand, her eyes filled with surprise and delight.
"Do you like it?" Cheng Ying asked with a smile.
"I like it." Long Buxi smiled and gently stroked the petals of the spider lily with great care. "This is the first time I've ever received flowers from someone."
It turns out that it's not just women who like flowers; men like them too.
Cheng Ying bent down and picked two more spider lilies, placing them in his hand. "I'm glad you like them. In the future, whenever I see pretty flowers, I'll pick some for you. And when you see beautiful flowers, remember to pick some for me too, okay?"
“Okay.” Long Buxi nodded obediently. “It’s a deal. You can’t forget your promise. From now on, whenever you see a pretty flower, you have to think about picking it for me.”
It's a deal.
**
Three days later, Cheng Ying brought Long Buxi back to Qingshui Village.
As soon as they entered the village, they attracted a crowd of villagers to watch.
Long Buxi was simply too handsome and alluring. He was wearing a dark blue Miao costume, and on his thin shoulders he was carrying a wild boar weighing over 100 pounds, which made him particularly eye-catching.
A curious aunt saw Cheng Ying walking beside Long Buxi and asked her, "Xiao Ying, who is this? Why is he wearing such strange clothes? Where did that wild boar on his shoulder come from?"
Cheng Ying recognized the aunt as one of her relatives, a nice person who had helped her mother with chores when she was little.
She replied politely, "His name is Long Buxi, and he is wearing Miao clothing. He hunted the wild boar and is preparing it as a gift for my parents."
"Oh, Miao clothes, he's a Miao? Could he be from that Pucang village?" The aunt looked Long Buxi up and down curiously. "This young man is really handsome and spirited. He brought wild boar to your parents because he's taken a liking to you and wants to date you, right?"
Cheng Ying smiled without saying a word. After a while, she said it was getting late and she had to go home so her parents wouldn't worry. She then left with Long Buxi.
When they returned to the Cheng family home, the Cheng family members, along with Wan Shuhui and her husband, and Cheng Xue, had all heard the gossip circulating in the village and were all standing in the courtyard, looking out.
Seeing her return, there was indeed a man dressed in Miao clothing standing beside her. Liu Guifen, the eldest wife, said sarcastically, "Some people really don't know what's good for them. We kindly introduced her to good potential partners, but she didn't like any of them. Instead, she brought back a barbarian from the mountains. She must be out of her mind."
Cheng Ying picked up a stone from the ground and threw it hard at Liu Guifen's head, saying with a forced smile, "Are you the one who's sick? Who I date is my business, what's it to you? Who do you think you are, what right do you have to talk to me like that? Don't go around barking like a dog all day long, or you'll bite off more than you can chew!"
She threw the stone with great accuracy, hitting Liu Guifen squarely on the forehead. Liu Guifen screamed in pain, clutching her head, her eyes blazing with fury as she tried to fight Cheng Ying: "You vile woman, how dare you throw at me, I..."
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly met the eyes of the man next to Cheng Ying. His eyes were dark, cold, and deep, with a wild, bloodthirsty, and ruthless gaze.
Liu Guifen felt a chill run down her spine from the man's gaze. She instinctively knew that if she continued speaking, this wild man would kill her, so she involuntarily shut her mouth.
Cheng Ying caught a glimpse of Long Buxi's cold expression and smirked, "There's something I need to remind you. Long Buxi is from Pucang Village. He knows how to concoct and cast Gu poison. See that worm on his left shoulder? That's a Gu worm he raises. One bite from it will kill you instantly. He's also concocted many other Gu worms that can make people wish they were dead. If you want to die, just go ahead and cause trouble and provoke me."
As she spoke, her gaze swept over the group of onlookers from the Cheng family: "My patience is limited. If you don't heed my warning, you'll have to bear the consequences!"
Once fully recovered, Alan chirped twice at her, then flapped its wings and circled around in front of Old Cheng's family.
Its strange appearance frightened the Cheng family members, who all hid inside the house, no longer bothering to argue with her.
As soon as they left, Da Huang rushed up enthusiastically, wagging its tail incessantly at Cheng Ying and whimpering.
It seemed to be asking her, "Where have you been all this time? I was so worried about you."
Cheng Ying bent down, hugged Da Huang, and stroked its head. "Da Huang, you seem to have gained a little weight in the few days I haven't seen you."
Big Yellow affectionately licked her palm with its tongue, then gently bit her hand with its mouth, trying to lead her into the house.
Cheng Ying knew this was called a "hand-biting gesture," a way for dogs to show their affection for humans. It wouldn't hurt anyone, and she didn't resist. She bent down and followed Da Huang into the house.
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