Chapter Five: Zhai Zi

  The dugout canoes finally gathered together, and Zhu Yongxing sitting in the canoe was seen. Including that young man, everyone on the string of canoes looked at him with surprised eyes and curiously whispered to each other.

  The young man furrowed his brow and said a string of words to Mengzhu, as if inquiring about Zhu Yongxing's background. Mengzhu looked very proud and excited, speaking non-stop, gesturing with her hands, and occasionally glancing at Zhu Yongxing with a smile.

  The duck heard the thunder, Zhu Yongxing made an effort to put on a harmless smile on his face, Mengzhu's words were introducing himself because he could hear the word "Zhu Ge" in it.

  The young man's face became increasingly solemn, occasionally asking a few questions, and the eyes of the people on the boat also changed, surprise, astonishment, suspicion, awe... Zhu Yongxing couldn't explain it clearly either.

  You ask me to answer, after a conversation, Mengzhu sat down, smiled at Zhu Yongxing, and started rowing. Surprisingly, he was rowing back along the way they came, with the string of wooden boats closely following behind.

  "Are they going to see the bear's body? Zhu Yongxing shrugged, as if guessing. This demon just now was bragging, describing me as a brave and fearless warrior, but others don't believe it, so they want to go see the bear's corpse."

  As expected, the wooden boat docked at the previous location, and Mengzhu gestured to Zhu Yongxing with a series of hand gestures, indicating that he should wait here. After Zhu Yongxing nodded, she led the young man and a group of people carrying torches up the mountain slope.

  Is that a spear? A halberd? Neither is quite right. What's the name of those shiny, cold things they're carrying, great choppers? Zhu Yongxing looked at the objects in these people's hands and couldn't help but scratch his head, feeling even more that what was happening around him was unbelievable.

  Actually, Zhu Yongxing saw a unique weapon of the Miao people - bamboo strip dart, called "She Le" in Miao language. It is made by cutting long old bamboo from the mountains into thin strips, then using 12 or 16 strips coated with earth lacquer and tied together with hemp rope, and finally applying another layer of earth lacquer to form a bamboo strip dart handle, which is equipped with a spearhead to become a "bamboo strip dart". The bamboo strip dart has many characteristics. In battle, it can withstand thousands of spears and knives, and its softness makes it resistant to blades. It can also be launched continuously like flying darts, arriving instantly, making it extremely difficult to defend against, and its power is unmatched.

  Another characteristic weapon is called a hook knife, which the Miao people call "Guo Teng Gao", meaning a knife with a hook. It has a hook and a handle, generally made of heavy iron-like green steel. Normally, this knife can be used to chop small bamboo sticks, one knife can chop one piece, especially when chopping thorns without hurting hands. Before liberation, the Miao people were accustomed to carrying hook knives as self-defense weapons when going out, if they encountered wolves and tigers, they could use them to fight against fierce beasts, and if they encountered bad people, they would also use them for hand-to-hand combat. The hook knife can be split, chopped, hooked, swept, supported, blocked, knocked and poked, very convenient.

  A row of wooden boats were moored by the shore, with only a few people left to keep watch. These men would occasionally glance at Zhu Yongxing, then look worriedly in the direction where their companions had disappeared, muttering among themselves.

  It wasn't long before a commotion was heard, and several people turned their heads to look. The firelight flickered, and Mengzhu led the group back. Not only were there people, but that ferocious bear was also being carried back by several strong men.

  As they approached, the young man and everyone else looked at Zhu Yongxing with a mixture of reverence and doubt in their eyes. The young man blinked, seemingly thinking about something. He was still hesitating when Mengzhu spoke up, as if making some suggestion, sometimes pointing to the two bears' corpses, sometimes pointing to himself, and sometimes looking at Zhu Yongxing. After a while, the young man seemed to relax a bit and nodded slightly.

  Mengzhu smiled and jumped over, joyfully saying in Chinese: "To thank you for saving me and killing the ferocious beast we hated the most, my brother wants to invite you to our village as a guest."

  Zhu Yongxing blinked his eyes, looking at the young man, who seemed to be a very simple guy. Mengzhu, on the other hand, looked at Zhu Yongxing with great expectation, clearly hoping that he would agree.

  "Alright, thank you for your hospitality, I'll be leaving then." Zhu Yongxing made up his mind. This place was very unfamiliar to him, and since he was injured, it would be a bit difficult for him to walk out alone.

  When Zhu Yongxing agreed, others didn't think much of it, but Mengzhu smiled with great joy and jumped onto the small boat, still traveling in the same boat as Zhu Yongxing.

  A fleet of wooden boats tied together, torches flashing like a string of lanterns, fish-like swimming upstream, passing through a very narrow mountain gap, suddenly opening up to a wide river, the moonlight shining on the water, making Zhu Yongxing feel as if he was immersed in a silver light.

  There are many houses by the river, with a very special appearance, having a very good technique, a very pointed top, and a very high frame, the house is framed in mid-air, each house has a long ladder leading to the house.

  Mengzhu sang a beautiful song with joy, and the people on the wooden boat also followed suit. After a while, the sound of drums and singing came from the shore, and countless torches appeared on the shore.

  It's getting more and more incomprehensible, such a building has never been seen before, it seems to be similar to the Miao Village in Yunnan, and Zhu Yongxing's doubts arose again.

  The boat docked, and the people on the shore gathered around. When they saw the people on the boat carrying a bear down, they couldn't help but burst into cheers. A young man said a few words to Mengzhu, then bowed to Zhu Yongxing and led his men in big strides towards the village, with some people casting curious glances at Zhu Yongxing.

  Mengzhu led Zhu Yongxing to a house by the river, explaining as they walked: "My brother has gone to inform the clan leader. There is a rule in our village that outsiders are not allowed to enter. But for you, it should be an exception. Mengzhu thanks you for saving me and will definitely speak well of you in front of the clan leader. The clan leader loves me the most and will not have any unexpected moves."

  Zhu Yongxing nodded, since he had come here, he would listen to what others had to say. Since there were such rules, it was better to wait and see for now. Mengzhu's Mandarin was spoken with a somewhat strange tone, but it seemed to be getting more fluent, as if she didn't speak much normally and was not very familiar with it.

  Entering this simple house, Zhu Yongxing looked around and it didn't seem like a place where people lived, but rather a temporary resting place. He sat down in the chair, leaned his shotgun against the wall beside him, and Mengzhu offered him some oil tea.

  "What ethnic group are you from? You look like Miao people, but there's something different." Zhu Yongxing asked curiously.

  "We are a branch of the Miao ethnic group, but now we can only be called the Mangshan Ke ethnic group." Mengzhu's expression turned gloomy as he explained: "The name change should have been during the Wanli era, and it has been many years since then."