At twelve o'clock sharp, after three and a half hours of "climbing over mountains and ridges", we finally reached the foot of the mountain.
Looking at the gate of Mojiazhai in front of me, I was excited but at the same time I couldn't help but feel nervous.
Putting aside whether we can successfully find the One-Eyed Gu King, Mojiazhai is different from ordinary villages in the outside world. Every household here raises voodoos, and they all do so.
Gu, of course, is not raised in vain.
In Wang Shan's words, there are only two reasons for the inheritance of Gu cultivators in the Miao border area to this day.
First, this is a craft left behind by our ancestors and a characteristic of the Miao area.
Second, sell the poison to make money and make profits.
There are countless types of Gu insects, and it is no exaggeration to say that there are tens of thousands.
Each kind of Gu has its own special effects. Depending on the feeding conditions and the year of feeding, the selling price is very different.
Low-level Gu insects start with a thousand yuan, while high-level Gu insects cost hundreds of thousands or even millions. This is all real.
Despite the fact that Mojiazhai is located deep in the mountains, it lives a life without fighting against the world.
Privately, no one knows how much money these Gu farmers have.
As outsiders, we trespass into the territory of the Gu farmers. No matter why we come, we will arouse their vigilance and attention.
This is also the specific reason why Wang Shan is unwilling to accompany us into the village.
In the final analysis, he is just afraid that the wary Gu farmers will strike first and catch us off guard.
As a local, he knows better than us the horror of voodoo insects and the rules of voodoo-raising villages.
So along the way, Wang Shan gave numerous warnings and even spoke out loud.
"Eat something." Wang Shan threw away the branch and crutch in his hand and said with a tired face: "You will have the strength to find someone after you eat."
The three of us put down our backpacks, and Tieshan spread a tablecloth on the ground and poured out the food we brought.
I was so hungry that I opened a box of cakes and devoured them without saying a word.
"Remember the three conditions you promised me, and you must not be careless." Wang Shan drank milk and still said uneasy: "Follow me closely, no matter what happens, don't leave the team."
"I know." Ji Qinghe nibbled on pickled pepper chicken feet and said impatiently, "Just take care of yourself. Our safety is protected by an iron mountain."
Wang Shan didn't know the true identities of the Lingxi people, so he said anxiously: "Two fists are hard to beat with four hands. No matter how good you are, you can still score points."
"I don't doubt that Brother Iron can fight a dozen of them alone, but the people here won't fight you head-on."
Ji Qinghe was fed up with Wang Shan's nagging, and immediately said frantically: "I promise to follow you every step of the way. If you ask me to go east, I will never go west. Is this okay?"
"Okay." Wang Shan got a satisfactory answer, took a long breath, and silently ate to replenish his strength.
After resting for half an hour, everyone ate and drank enough and put the food back into their backpacks.
Wang Shan tied the woodcutter with a black cloth and stuck it on his waist, and walked straight towards the village gate.
The road is a mud road.
Because it rained a little last night, the bumpy dirt road was very muddy.
Along the way, almost all the doors of every house and courtyard were closed, and not a single person was seen.
Xiao Yu'er asked curiously: "Don't the villagers here move around each other? The atmosphere is so weird."
"Maybe he's taking a nap." Ji Qinghe added, "Otherwise, he's working in the fields."
Tieshan smacked his lips and said, "It's quite strange. There are more than a hundred households in Mojiazhai, but they don't even have a watchdog. This is so unreasonable."
"Although it is hidden deep in the mountains and it is difficult for outsiders to come in, it does not mean that there are no thieves."