When Miao Xiaoxian heard my question, she calmly replied, "Those three statues are not our faith; they are merely the keys to enter the Temple of the Ferocious God! It should be said that the Temple of the Ferocious God is our faith... no, it is not; it is only the clan leader's faith!"
The chieftain's meaning was clear: his duty was only to guard the Temple of the Demon God, not to open it. As long as they could destroy the Heart of the Forest God, the Temple of the Demon God would never be able to be opened again; this was the only way to solve the problem once and for all!
When I heard the clan chief was about to make this extreme choice, I was speechless: "This statue is something you have guarded for generations. Isn't it incredibly irresponsible of the clan chief to just destroy it like this?"
“This is not a question I should be thinking about. I only know that if the Temple of the Evil God can never be opened, then the future of our village will be tied to this place for generations to come! I don’t want myself, Uncle Qi, or countless innocent people like us to become such pointless sacrifices!”
Miao Xiaoxian looked at me with a determined gaze, but also with a hint of pleading: "I can't accomplish all this by myself alone, so I beg you, please help me save my village and my people!"
"Don't worry, we already agreed on this condition. Besides, I need to find Minotaur to save my friend."
I first agreed to Miao Xiaoxian's request, and then continued to ask, "According to you, now that everyone in the village has arrived, it will probably not be easy for me to snatch the bull's head from the clan chief! Moreover, you must understand that Qingyun Town is not a lawless place. Making too much of a commotion here will bring big trouble!"
"You don't need to worry about that. I have a way to drive the people of Qingyun Town away."
Miao Xiaoxian paused for a moment: "Tomorrow is the full moon. According to the village legend, on the day of the full moon, the gods will leave the human world! This day is the day when evil breeds. The chieftain wants to destroy the bull's head, and he will definitely do so tomorrow night... After you return to the town, take your people and leave immediately. Do not rush back before tomorrow morning!"
Upon hearing Miao Xiaoxian's reply, I widened my eyes in horror: "Big sister, you wouldn't be following in the footsteps of your ancestors and preparing to release the human Gu poison, would you? Let me remind you, this isn't the feudal society of the Qing Dynasty anymore. If you release something like the human Gu poison, that's a supernatural phenomenon. Not only will it not drive the people out of the town, but it will also attract a large number of scholars, and you might even recruit the army!"
"Don't worry, I'm not that crazy! The lives of my people are lives, and the lives of outsiders are lives too. I can't do something like indiscriminately killing innocent people."
Miao Xiaoxian paused for a moment: "I'll drive the people out of the town first, and then I'll think of a way to get you closer to the chieftain's camp and get the stuff for you before he destroys the bull's head."
I was a little worried: "The clan leader values the matter of the Temple of the Ferocious God so much. If we take away the only key he has left, will it push him to the brink and make him do something extreme?"
Miao Xiaoxian's eyes revealed a maturity beyond her years: "Your decision to enter the Temple of the Ferocious God is a huge gamble, and everything we have to give up is a stake in this gamble, isn't it?"
I looked at Miao Xiaoxian with a hint of unfamiliarity: "You've changed a lot since I last saw you."
“When I was in the village, I thought we were all sacrifices, but after leaving this time, I realized that I was too naive. We are not even sacrifices, but just expendable items! Our villagers can be pushed out at any time as human sacrifices, and they are not even allowed to have the consciousness to resist! I can't be like an executioner and personally kill the people who live with me.”
Miao Xiaoxian paused for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating smile: "Even though many of them have bullied me."
Looking at Miao Xiaoxian, I took a deep breath: "You are a kind girl, but society doesn't have much malice towards kind people."
“I’ve said it before, I just don’t want the children of the tribe to repeat my mistakes.”
Miao Xiaoxian waved her hand: "Just remember what I said, leave the town as soon as you get back."
I agreed: "After we break up, how will we keep in touch?"
"I'll be waiting for you on the north side of town early tomorrow morning. If I'm not there, my mastiff will lead you to me."
Miao Xiaoxian chatted with me about the intelligence she had gathered recently, and before we knew it, she had led us to the foot of the mountain. Pointing to the valley in front of us, she said, "Go out from here and head south. You'll see the location of Qingyun Town from the top of the mountain. I have to get back to the tribe as soon as possible and can't stay with you."
I glanced at the dense bushes ahead, then turned my gaze back to her: "The people of the village have no sense of law; killing is commonplace for them. When you get back, you must protect yourself."
"Don't worry, before my identity is exposed, I am the Holy Maiden of Ping'an Village, and no one will harm me."
Miao Xiaoxian hesitated for a moment, then took out a small porcelain bottle and a dried, mealworm-like insect from her bag and handed them to me: "This bottle contains a kind of powder that can cure Gu poison. It can cure most of the Gu poisons in the village. This insect is called a breath-holding Gu. After swallowing it, it will put a person into a state of suspended animation. It can save your life in critical moments."
Thank you!
After I parted ways with Miao Xiaoxian, I took Song Laosan and we went into the woods.
We had taken off our clothes to start a fire in the cave, and now we were walking naked in the woods. Not only were our bodies covered in small scratches from the leaves, but we were also covered in large welts from mosquito bites.
We walked for four and a half hours in the mountains until the sun was directly overhead before we finally arrived at the Willow God Temple outside Qingyun Town, which was built with funds allocated by Nian Gengyao.
Song Laosan munched on a wild fruit in his hand, standing on the hillside looking at the outline of Qingyun Town: "We've only been in the mountains for a day, and we just saw traces of people in the woods. I don't know if it's the team searching for the two militiamen who haven't come down the mountain yet, or if other teams searching for the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace are wandering around there! In our current state, if we're caught by the patrolmen, we won't be able to explain ourselves no matter how hard we try. Maybe we should wait until dark before going down the mountain?"
"No, I have an appointment to speak with the person who rescued my friend at noon, I have to go down."
After thinking for a moment, I added, "Moreover, Qingyun Town is not peaceful today. We must go down the mountain to meet up with our respective people and then take them away before dark."
Song Laosan squinted at me and asked, "Xiao Duan, what exactly are you guys up to?"
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