Li Mu opened his eyes again, and the sky was full of stars. He stared blankly at the starry sky, stunned for a moment, and his consciousness gradually returned to his body.

The sound of beeping firewood burning in my ears brought warmth. Li Mu touched his body, and on the burning side, it was almost dry.

I'm so hungry.

The instinct to survive made Li Mu climb up, and then he saw the Miao girl on the other side of the fire. The two glanced 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 in her hand was the dried meat she had prepared.

When he set off in a hot air balloon in the morning, he brought dry food and money, and carried a burden on his back with Dugu Jiu. When he fell into the water, as his strength ran out, Li Mu was suspicious of the heavy back, so he untied his burden and lost it, but he didn't expect it to fall into the hands of this Miao girl.

Fortunately, it fell into her hands, otherwise she would have had to gnaw on the bark of the tree now.

Li Mu looked at Miao Nu, and Miao Nu also looked at her. The atmosphere was a little awkward, and it was obvious that neither of them knew how to open the topic and defuse the awkward atmosphere. Miao Nu was originally justified, because she saved Li Mu, but she was caught stealing food again, and this justification was gone.

Of course, Li Mu couldn't accuse her of stealing food, because the burden was originally lost by him. Don't care how people get it, that's people's ability, it's picking it up, not robbing it. And before he sank to the surface, he was so angry that he cursed others, and he was at his own fault anyway.

"Goo~~"

Li Mu's stomach rang, breaking the awkward silence. He smiled embarrassedly and said, "Can you give me a little bit of food?" I am hungry. ”

The girl hesitated for a moment, took the burden behind her back to the front, took out a piece of jerky from it, and handed it to Li Mu. From the look in her eyes, it can be seen that she is very reluctant, obviously the jerky is very to her liking, and she can't eat it often.

Li Mu thanked him, took the jerky, and squatted next to the Miao girl. He had just been on the other side, the left half of his body was dry, and the right half of his body was still wet. Miao Nu thought that he was going to plot against him, so she quickly stood up and ran to the other side of the bonfire.

"You don't have to be so afraid of me, I won't hurt you. You saved my life, and it's too late for me to thank you. Li Mu said vaguely while eating jerky: "The things in the baggage are all yours, I still have companions, they must be looking for me now, when they come, you like to eat jerky, give you as much as you want." ”

Li Mu's words did not dispel Miao Nu's vigilance, but made her vigilant. What the? He still has companions?! Daddy 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 them to the Central Plains as slaves. The Han family in front of him, will he also do this? Will his companions come and take me away?

Miao Nu didn't speak, and Li Mu finally began to feel strange. He looked at Miao Nu carefully and said, "Why don't you speak?" When you're in the water, you don't speak. If you go ashore or don't speak, do you not speak, or can't understand what I'm saying? ”

When Miao Nu heard Li Mu say this, her mind turned sharply. Although she saved Li Mu in the end, she actually didn't want to have anything to do with Li Mu. It's just that because something went wrong, she didn't think about what to do for a while, and when she was delayed, it got dark, and she was forced to spend the night in the future.

Since everyone meets each other and doesn't want to have any contact, it doesn't seem necessary to talk and chat.

Then let's not talk about it.

Miao Nu made up her mind, but if she didn't say it, what excuse did she have to find? Is it incomprehensible, or inaudible?

Pretending not to understand seems a bit far-fetched. Xuzhou connects Miao Xinjiang and the Central Plains, and Miao and Han people have lived together for many years, and their language has long been compatible. The Miao people here can speak Chinese, and the Han people can basically come to two Miao languages, and if they don't understand, they can understand it. Pretending not to understand, it seems a bit fake.

It's not realistic to hear it, just now he asked for jerky to eat, but he gave it to him. He knew for sure that he could hear it.

Come on, pretend to be dumb!

Miao Nu made a decision, opened her mouth, and shook her head. Although she is pretending to be dumb, the girl's reserve still makes her unable to really learn to be dumb like 'Ah Ba Ah Bar', and Miao Jiang's side, 'Ah Bar' is the same as 'Abba', she doesn't want to be taken advantage of by this Han boy.

Li Mu's eyes widened: "Are you dumb?!" ”

Miao Nu nodded, but still didn't say anything.

"This-" Li Mu knew that she was pretending, and the dumb person couldn't be seen from the outside. He suddenly felt very sorry, the life-saving benefactor, he was still a mute girl, and his behavior seemed particularly bad.

"You can understand me, but you can't, right?" Li Mu confirmed, Miao Nu hesitated for a moment, and nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were dumb...... Uh, "Li Mu was about to say 'dumb', but after thinking about it, it didn't seem appropriate to say so, so he changed his words: "I don't know your situation, how offended I am." Don't worry, I know a very good doctor, and I will help you treat your throat. ”

Seeing that Miao Nu still didn't react, Li Mu thought he didn't believe it, and said, "I can really help you, does Sun Simiao and Sun Divine Doctor know?" I know him, and we have a good relationship, but we are old friends. You saved me, I will definitely help you, and when I see him again, let him help you see the doctor. He'll be able to heal you......"

Miao Nu's eyes lit up when she heard Li Mu talk about 'Sun Simiao'. Of course she knows Sun Simiao, not only does she know that Sun Simiao also has a special relationship with her family. If Li Mu is really Sun Simiao's friend, he is a Han family member who can be trusted.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, suddenly Miao Nu became alert again. It is impossible, Doctor Sun is a highly respected person, and he is so old. The kid from the Han family in front of him is almost the same as himself no matter how he looks at it, how can he know Doctor Sun. It must be a lie, it must be.

So the question is, why did he lie? There must be an ulterior motive! What purpose can he have by lying to me?

After a circle of thoughts, the girl completely figured it out! The person in front of him is a human trafficker! He wants to abduct and sell me to the Central Plains and work as a maid for a big family!

Thinking about it like this, the girl looked at Li Mu again, and there was a trace of hatred in her eyes.

Li Mu's head was full of question marks, and he couldn't understand why he said that he would help her heal, but it caused disgust. Isn't it wrong to repay the kindness? After thinking about it, maybe people don't know Sun Simiao, but they are just disgusted with the fact that they always mention that she can't speak, so they are angry.

The only reason Li Mu can think of is this. He could never have imagined that he would be treated as a human trafficker.

Worried that Miao Nu would be even more angry, Li Mu had no choice but to keep silent. After eating a piece of jerky, he was a little full, and he didn't dare to ask for it again.

The two continued to be awkwardly silent.

After a while, Miao Nu got up and used a thick branch prepared next to her to move the bonfire away. Spread with hay picked up from nowhere, the hay is spread on the steaming ground, which is not damp and very insulating.

The girl opened Li Mu's baggage, took out the gold and silver softly, and threw it back to Li Mu, leaving only her own food and putting it in her own baggage. Obviously, these foods are the reward she asks for saving people's lives.

The girl held the burden in her arms, curled up on the daylily, and turned her back to Li Mu. One hand clenched a scimitar in his arms, if Li Mu dared to approach, he would be looking for death.

"Where do I sleep?"

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

Li Mu looked at the money in his hand and smiled bitterly, there is a gold bar here, two silver ingots of five taels, and it is one hundred and ten yuan when exchanged for copper coins. It's not a small amount of money anywhere, and it's enough to buy a small house in Luoyang City. But right now, I can't even get a quilt or a piece of jerky. So, what's the use of money, money that can't be spent has no value at all.

Li Mu threw the money bag aside, found a tree to lean on, and squinted and fell asleep. He deliberately kept a certain distance from Miao Nu, just so as not to alarm her. He could see that Miao Nu was deeply wary of herself, and it was best not to be bored.

What he wants to know most now is where he is and how he can find his way to meet Dugu Jiu, but the only Miao girl in front of him who can ask can't speak, so he is really a little helpless.

"I don't know if she can write," Li Mu muttered, exhaustion welled up, yawned, and fell asleep in a daze.

……

Spirit Snake Mountain.

There are constantly Miao families who come from all directions and various Miao villages to come to Lingsnake Mountain. They wore clothes of different colors, each color, representing a Miao village. All Miao villages are not united. The black seedlings represented by the black clothes and the white seedlings represented by the white clothes are even more incompatible, and there are several major battles every year. But when they came to this Spirit Snake Mountain, they didn't dare to be presumptuous, even if each other's eyes were about to erupt fire, as long as it was within the scope of Spirit Snake Mountain, no one dared to do it, all of them were well-behaved and honest.

Because the annual "Ruozuo" is coming, everyone gathers in Lingsnake Mountain to discuss the major affairs of the entire Miao family.

The so-called Ruozo, this is the name of the Miao language. Han people call it "cut Mars", Miao people live in the mountains and forests, and the dwellings are mostly wooden houses and grass sheds, often caused by lightning strikes or people accidentally use fire to cause fire, the ancestors of the Miao people think that this is a ghost and god disaster, so it is set to cut Mars on a day after the harvest every year, and sacrifice to the gods to remove the disaster.

At that time, no matter how far or near the Miao Village lived, they would have to send people to Lingsnake Mountain to participate. For the Miao family, it is a sacred ritual to celebrate a good harvest and eliminate disasters after a year of hard work. On this day, they will worship ghosts and gods, pray for a good harvest in the coming year, and also take this opportunity to deal with disputes between Miao villages, such as water disputes, fights, etc.

The Miao people believe in the Snake Spirit Sect, so the heavy responsibility 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 Serpent Spirit Cult and their experience in dealing with these matters over the years. Most of the time, each Miao village will obey and be convinced.

But there are times when they don't listen, and the elders don't force it. If you don't listen, then fight, just fight, you have to go outside the Spirit Snake Mountain, within the scope of the Spirit Snake Mountain, no one can do it.

Once the dispute has been resolved, it is time to celebrate. Each Miao village will bring its own good wine and food, put it in one place to make a flowing water feast, three days after the feast, each back to their own home, each looking for their own mother, and the Mars Festival is over.

Therefore, cutting Mars Festival is not a day. Rather, it is a few days, and the specific number of days 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 no more than seven days.

Miao Nu came to participate in this 'Mars Cutting Festival', as for why she is the only one in her Miao Village. It is because her Miao Village is very small, there are only a few families, and it is inconvenient in the deep mountains. She came to participate, and at that time, no matter how far or near the residence of each Miao village, she had to send people to Lingsnake Mountain to participate. For the Miao family, it is a sacred ritual to celebrate a good harvest and eliminate disasters after a year of hard work. On this day, they will worship ghosts and gods, pray for a good harvest in the coming year, and also take this opportunity to deal with disputes between Miao villages, such as water disputes, fights, etc.

The Miao people believe in the Snake Spirit Sect, so the heavy responsibility 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 Serpent Spirit Cult and their experience in dealing with these matters over the years. Most of the time, each Miao village will obey and be convinced.

But there are times when they don't listen, and the elders don't force it. If you don't listen, then fight, just fight, you have to go outside the Spirit Snake Mountain, within the scope of the Spirit Snake Mountain, no one can do it.

Once the dispute has been resolved, it is time to celebrate. Each Miao village will bring its own good wine and food, put it in one place to make a flowing water feast, three days after the feast, each back to their own home, each looking for their own mother, and the Mars Festival is over.

Therefore, cutting Mars Festival is not a day. Rather, it is a few days, and the specific number of days 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 no more than seven days.

Miao Nu came to participate in this 'Mars Cutting Festival', as for why she is the only one in her Miao Village. It is because her Miao Village is very small, there are only a few families, and it is inconvenient in the deep mountains. She came to participate, and therefore, the Martian Festival was not a day. Rather, it is a few days, and the specific number of days 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 no more than seven days.

Miao Nu came to participate in this 'Mars Cutting Festival', as for why she is the only one in her Miao Village. It is because her Miao Village is very small, there are only a few families, and it is inconvenient in the deep mountains. She came to participate, and therefore, the Martian Festival was not a day. Rather, it is a few days, and the specific number of days 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 no more than seven days.