Li Mu opened his eyes again, and the sky was filled with stars. He looked at the starry sky in a daze, stunned for a while, and his consciousness gradually returned to his body.

The sound of firewood burning sounded in his ears, bringing warmth. Li Mu touched his body, and the side facing the fire was almost dry.

Very hungry.

The instinct of survival made Li Mu get up, and then he saw Miao Nu on the other side of the fire. The two looked at each other, and Miao Nu hurriedly carried the things in her hand behind her, but Li Mu had already seen that what she was holding was the jerky she had prepared.

When he set off on a hot air balloon in the morning, he brought dry food and money, and carried a bag with Dugu Jiu and two others on his body. When he fell into the water, as his strength was exhausted, Li Mu felt that he was heavy and he untied the bag and lost it. Unexpectedly, it fell into the hands of this Miao girl.

Fortunately, it fell into her hands, otherwise she would have to chew on the bark now.

Li Mu looked at Miao Nu, and Miao Nu also looked at her. The atmosphere was a bit awkward. Obviously, neither of them knew how to open up the topic and resolve the awkward atmosphere. Miao Nu was originally confident because she saved Li Mu, but she was caught stealing food again, so she was no longer justified.

Of course, Li Mu couldn't accuse her of stealing food, because the bag was originally thrown away by him. No matter how they got it, it was their ability, they picked it up and not robbed it. Moreover, before he sank into the water, he cursed him in anger, and no matter how he said it was his fault.

"Gu~~"

Li Mu's stomach rang, breaking the awkward silence. He smiled embarrassedly and said, "Can you share some food for me? I'm hungry."

The girl hesitated for a moment, took the bag behind her back to the front, took out a piece of jerky from it, and handed it to Li Mu. From her eyes, it was obvious that the jerky was very suitable for her taste, and she could not eat it often.

Li Mu thanked him, took the jerky over, and squatted beside Miao Nu. He was just opposite, and the left half was dry, and the right half was still wet. Miao Nu thought he was going to make a mistake, so he stood up and ran to the opposite side of the bonfire.

"You don't have to be so afraid of me, I won't hurt you. You saved my life, I thank you too much." Li Mu said in a vague way while eating jerky: "The things in the bag are all yours, and I have companions. They will definitely look for me now. When they come, you like to eat jerky and give you as much as you want."

Li Mu's words did not dispel Miao's vigilance, but instead made her feel alert. What? He has companions?! My father once said that the Han family is the most insidious and cunning. What they like to do the most is to plunder the Miao family and sell it to the Central Plains to be slaves. Will the Han family in front of him also do this? When his companion comes, will he capture me?

Miao Nv kept not talking, and Li Mu finally began to feel strange. He looked at Miao Nv carefully and said, "Why don't you talk? When you are in the water, you don't talk. When you get ashore or don't talk, do you not speak, or do you not understand what I say?"

When Miao girl heard Li Mu say this, she changed her mind. Although she finally saved Li Mu, she actually didn't want to have any contact with Li Mu. It was just because something happened, she didn't think about what to do for a while. When it was delayed, it got dark and was forced to stay overnight.

Since we meet by chance and don’t want to have any contact, there seems to be no need to talk and chat.

Then I won’t talk about it.

Miao made up her mind, but if she didn't say it, she had to find an excuse? Should she not understand or hear it?

It seems a bit far-fetched to pretend not to understand. Xuzhou connects Miaojiang and the Central Plains. The Miao people and the Han people have been living together for many years and their language has long been connected. The Miao people here can speak Chinese, and the Han people can basically write a few Miao words. If they can't understand, they can understand it. It seems a bit fake.

It is not realistic to be unable to hear it. He just wanted to eat jerky meat, but he gave it to him. He must know that he could hear it.

Come on, pretend to be mute!

Miao girl made a decision, opened her mouth and shook her head. Although she was pretending to be mute, the girl's reserve still made her unable to really imitate the mute like "Ah Bar". Moreover, in Miaojiang, "Ah Bar" is homophonic to "Ah Dad". She doesn't want to be taken advantage of by this kid in the Han family.

Li Mu widened his eyes: "Are you mute?!"

Miao Nu nodded but still said nothing.

"This--" Li Mu didn't know that she was pretending, and the mute couldn't tell from the outside. He suddenly felt sorry, his life-saving benefactor, and his behavior seemed particularly bad.

"You can understand what I say, but you just can't say it, right?" Li Mu confirmed, Miao's woman hesitated for a moment and nodded.

"I'm sorry, I don't know you're hoarse... Uh," Li Mu was about to say 'dumb', but when he thought about it, it seemed that it was not appropriate to say so, so he changed his words: "I don't know your situation, so I offend you so much. Don't worry, I know a very good doctor, I'll help you treat your throat."

Seeing Miao Nv still didn't respond, Li Mu thought he didn't believe it and said, "I can really help you, do Doctor Sun Simiao know? I know him, and we have a good relationship with each other, because we are close friends. If you have saved me, I will definitely help you. When I see him again, I will ask him to help you see a doctor. He will definitely cure you..."

When Miao girl heard Li Mu say "Sun Simiao", her eyes lit up. Of course, she knew Sun Simiao, not only did she know that Sun Simiao also had a special relationship with her family. If Li Mu was really Sun Simiao's friend, she would be a trustworthy Han family member.

Just as he was about to speak, Miao Nv suddenly became alert again. It is impossible that the respected man from the miracle Doctor Sun is so old. The man in front of him is almost the same as him no matter how he looks at him. How could he know Dr. Sun? He must be lying, surely.

So the question is, why does he lie? It must have an unspeakable purpose! What purpose can he lie to me?

After thinking about it, the girl completely figured it out! The person in front of her was a human trafficker! He wanted to traffic me to the Central Plains and be a maid for wealthy families!

Thinking of this, the girl looked at Li Mu again and there was a hint of hatred.

Li Mu was full of questions. He couldn't understand why he said he would help her treat her illness, which caused disgust. Is it wrong to repay kindness? Then he thought, maybe he didn't know Sun Simiao, but he just hated that he always mentioned things that she couldn't speak, so he got angry.

This is the only reason Li Mu can think of. He never thought that he would be regarded as a human trafficker.

Worried that Miao Nv was even more angry, Li Mu had to stop talking. After eating a piece of dried meat, he didn't dare to ask for it anymore.

The two continued to remain silent in embarrassment.

After a while, Miao Nu got up and moved the bonfire away with a thick branch prepared beside her. She spread the hay that she picked up from somewhere. The hay was spread on the steaming ground, which was not damp and very insulated.

The girl opened Li Mu's bag, took out the gold and silver soft softness, and threw it back to Li Mu. She kept the food herself and put it in her bag. Obviously, the food was the reward she needed for saving a life.

The girl held the bag in her arms, curled up on the daylily, with her back facing Li Mu. She held a scimitar in her arms with one hand. If Li Mu dared to get close, he would be seeking death.

"Where am I sleeping?"

Li Mu asked, of course the girl ignored him, holding the scimitar in her hand and grabbed it tighter.

Li Mu smiled bitterly at the money in his hand. There was a gold bar, two silver ingots worth five taels, and it would be 110 jin to exchange for copper coins. It was not a small amount of money anywhere. It was enough to put it in Luoyang City. But at present, it could not even be exchanged for a quilt or a piece of jerky meat. So, what's the use of money? The money that can't be spent is of no value at all.

Li Mu threw his purse aside, found a tree to lean on, and squinted his eyes and fell asleep. He deliberately kept a certain distance from Miao Nu just to avoid disturbing her. He could see that Miao Nu was deeply wary of herself, so it would be better not to make things boring.

What he wanted to know most now was where he was and how to find a way to meet Dugu Jiu, but the only Miao girl who could ask in front of him could not speak, so she was really helpless.

"I don't know if she can write," Li Mu murmured, feeling of fatigue surged up, he yawned, and fell asleep in a daze.

...

On the Lingser Mountain.

The Miao family members who came from all directions to Lingshe Mountain. They wore clothes of different colors, each color representing a Miao village. Each Miao village did not unite. Wu Miao, represented by black clothes and Bai Miao, represented by white clothes, are even more irreconcilable. There are several wars every year. However, when they came to Lingshe Mountain, they did not dare to be arrogant, even if fire was spurted out from each other's eyes, as long as they were within the range of Lingshe Mountain, no one dared to take action. They were all in a regular and honest manner.

Because the annual "Ruozuo" is coming, everyone gathered in Lingshe Mountain to discuss major events in the entire Miao family.

The so-called Ruosuo is the name in Miao language. The Han people called it "cutting Mars". The Miao people lived in mountains and forests, and their houses were mostly wooden houses and straw sheds. Fires often caused by lightning strikes or people accidentally used fires. The Miao people's ancestors believed that this was a disaster caused by ghosts and gods, so they decided to choose one day to cut Mars to sacrifice to the gods to eliminate disasters after the harvest every year.

At that time, no matter where the Miao villages live, they will send people to Lingshe Mountain to participate. For the Miao family, this is a sacred ceremony to celebrate the harvest and eliminate disasters after a year of hard work. They will sacrifice to ghosts and gods on this day, pray for a bumper harvest in the coming year, and will also take this opportunity to deal with disputes between Miao villages, such as water source disputes, fights, etc.

The Miao people mostly believe in the Snake Spirit Sect, so the important task of judging right and wrong is determined by the elders of the Snake Spirit Sect. The elders will decide who is right and who is wrong based on the teachings of the Snake Spirit Sect and their experience in handling these affairs over the years. Most of the time, all Miao villages will obey and accept.

But there are times when you don’t listen, and the elders don’t force it. If you don’t listen, then you will fight. Just hit it. You have to go outside Lingshe Mountain. No one can do it within the Lingshe Mountain range.

After resolving the dispute, it is time to celebrate. Each Miao village will bring its own good wine and food, and put it in one place as a water table. After three days of the banquet, each will go back to his house and find his mother. The Mars Festival will end.

Therefore, cutting the Mars Festival is not a day. It is a few days. How many days does it take depends on whether there are many disputes this year and how many days it takes to deal with them. In previous years, it was mostly within three or five days, and at most, it was only seven days.

Miao Girl came to participate in this "Mars Cutting Festival". As for why she was the only one participating in her Miao village, it was because her Miao village was very small, with only a few families, and there were many inconveniences in the deep mountains. She came to participate just to go through the motions. Listen to the Miao family in the past year, and give a offering to the snake spirit. After all, the Miao village where she is located is too small, and there is no dispute with other Miao villages.

Her father asked her to come, but she didn't want her Miao village to be removed from the list.

In previous years, her father brought her with her. This year, she felt that she had grown up, so she volunteered to set out alone.

Meeting Li Mu was purely an accident.

If that hadn't happened, the girl might have nothing to worry about.

But it happened, so what should I do?

The girl thought about it until dawn, but she didn't think of anything. Seeing that the sky was bright and Li Mu was about to wake up, she gritted her teeth and thought that she should have cut the mess quickly. She pretended that nothing had happened and left quickly. She had no relationship with the Han family anymore and was out of sight.

If he waits for his helper to find him and then capture him in Central China and sell him, not only will he not be able to save the jerky he got, but he will also trap him in. My father has only one daughter like me. If I am caught in Central China, my father will have to come to participate in Ruosou by himself. After a few years, when my father is old, he will not be able to participate in Ruosou. If he doesn't come for three consecutive years, the village will be removed from the list.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I had a heavy responsibility. The girl encouraged herself, quietly got up from the daylily, glanced at Li Mu, and saw that he had no idea, she tiptoed away.

She didn't know that Li Mu didn't sleep well at all.

Just like she was careful to prevent Li Mu, Li Mu would of course be careful to prevent her. After all, everyone was not familiar with each other, who could guarantee that the other party was a good person? Li Mu was also afraid that he would fall asleep, so the girl gave him a while. Even if it didn't happen, the system could not be used at the moment and there was no other person, he could only hold on to the girl's only life-saving straw.

Otherwise, if there is a place in front of Jiang and Lin behind him, he wouldn't know how to survive.

As soon as the girl got up, he heard a sound, squinted his eyes and glanced secretly. When he saw the girl running away, Li Mu didn't care about pretending to be asleep, so he quickly got up and chased after her. He was afraid that the girl would be irritated, so he didn't dare to chase her too tightly. He followed her farther and didn't follow her. He glanced back and saw that it was getting farther and farther away from the riverside. He didn't know if Dugu Jiu and the others had found this place, whether they had missed it, should they wait or continue chasing her.
Chapter completed!