Mustache negotiated the conditions with Brother Xiong, and the next day he took me and the "plane combination" to the small village at the foot of Dawangling Mountain, and re-found the guide that Brother Xiong had found before, Fu Yapao. But Fu Yapao actually told us that the old grandfather of the Miao tribe who picked up the corpse in the Yizhuang where Brother Xiong stayed that night was really dead!

"Are there still dead people in Ma Taigong's righteous village now?" The mustache asked Fu Ya cannon.

"Dead people?" Fu Yapao asked in surprise, "How come?" When I went out of the funeral, I didn't see any other dead people in Yizhuang! ”

Brother Xiong and the mustache both frowned. Unexpectedly, this investigation encountered a big change just after arriving at the place. Ma Taigong is dead, and the bodies of Brother Xiong's brothers are gone, which almost cuts off the two most obvious clues!

Brother Xiong and Mustache got together to discuss it, and when they came back, they told Fu Yapao that the five of us would stay at his house tonight, and let him take us into the mountain tomorrow. Fu Ya Cannon is naturally happy. He is a bachelor, his home is empty, and he is built with a bunk, not to mention five people, and five more can live!

Although Fu Yapao was a little afraid of Brother Xiong, he also knew that Brother Xiong was more generous, so he tried his best to please Brother Xiong. Brother Xiong has been a little depressed recently, and as soon as he heard bad news, he wanted to ask Fu Yapao to get some game and Miao wine to drink. Fu Yapao diligently took out a pheasant he had hunted yesterday, plucked it and stewed it, and went out to find someone to borrow two catties of local specialty Shanlan wine and came back for Brother Xiong to drink.

That Shanlan wine is a sweet wine made by the Miao people with mountain glutinous rice, and if you drink too much, you will have stamina. Ah Fei and Ah Ji rarely came to this mountainous Miao Village, and they also happily drank with Brother Xiong. Only Mustache and I declined their drinking and lay down in bed early to get ready for bed.

While Brother Xiong and the others were drunk, I asked the mustache sleeping next to me in a low voice: "What did you discuss with Brother Xiong just now?" Still can't go to that Yizhuang? ”

The mustache didn't fall asleep either, moving his lips slightly, and said, "Go!" I'll go there early tomorrow morning when I enter the mountain! ”

"What if Fu Ya Cannon doesn't want to go?"

"Brother Xiong will drag him hard!"

"And then? If that grandfather is really dead, what's the point of us going to see it again? ”

"Let's take one step at a time!"

After answering a few of my questions, the mustache sighed again and said leisurely: "What I'm worried about now is not the problem in Yizhuang, but the problem outside Yizhuang!" ”

"What's the problem?" I was stunned and asked rhetorically.

The mustache said: "If we don't get anything in Yizhuang tomorrow, do you think Brother Xiong will stop there, let us go home, and easily earn 40,000 yuan?" ”

That's when I thought about it, and I don't think it's going to be so easy. I said, "That means that this trip, no matter what, we are going to follow Brother Xiong to the north peak he said?" ”

"That's it for you to go to the North Peak! I'm afraid that after entering the mountain, we can't let us have the final say! After saying this, the mustache turned over and ended the topic.

It dawned on me that this mission was by no means as simple as it seemed. Brother Xiong promised the mustache's asking price yesterday so simply, I'm afraid he had other plans. It's just that we're all here now, and it's not so easy to regret it!

The drunkenness of the first day did not prevent Fu Yapao from getting up early the next morning, and then he called us up one by one. He said that the road in the mountains is difficult to walk, and if you don't want to spend the night in the mountains, you should start early. Brother Xiong and the two horses were put down by the Miao family's sweet glutinous rice wine last night, and they couldn't get out of bed today, so they got up and washed up for a while. By the time I got out of the door, it was already dawn.

Fu Yapao was a little anxious, and kept nagging, saying that there was too little time to leave today, and there was no way, so he could only go to one or two attractions less. Brother Xiong said to him: "It's okay, let's drive, we can save a lot of time!" ”

So, the five of us still sat in the car according to the original position, and Fu Yacang could only squat in the rear car. Originally, Brother Xiong was still thinking about how to trick Fu Yapao into taking us to Yizhuang, but he found that the Yizhuang was actually easy to find during the day, on a hillside between the village and the road into the mountain, and as long as you pay attention to it when you pass by, you can see it.

Brother Xiong confessed to Aki, who was driving, and Aki slammed the steering wheel, and the pickup truck arched up the hillside. The pickup truck has a low chassis and plenty of horsepower, and there was no problem at all on the small hill, and we just felt a little bumpy when we sat in the car. But Fu Yacang, who was sitting in the back car, was uncomfortable, and kept shouting and screaming in the back, and was almost thrown out several times!

The pickup truck drove all the way to the gate of Yizhuang before stopping. When Brother Xiong got out of the car and looked at it, he couldn't help but sigh again. It turned out that he had run in the wrong direction that night, and had been running over a hill before coming down to the road from the other side, and if he had run in the direction of the village, it would have been five miles at most!

Fu Yapao got out of the car and vomited wildly, and he didn't bother to come over and question. Brother Xiong pointed to the gate of Yizhuang and said to the mustache: "This is it!" ”

The mustache understood what he meant, but in broad daylight, no matter what was in him, just go in! The mustache pushed the door open and walked in first, followed by me.

The situation in Yizhuang is not much different from what Brother Xiong said before, but it is smaller than I imagined. The contents were basically emptied, and not even a straw mat remained. However, the mustache still found some charcoal ash in the corner of the wall, indicating that someone had lived there before.

Brother Xiong and others also came in to take a look, and the empty Yizhuang made them quite disappointed. Fu Yacang finished vomiting bitter water, and then came to complain: "Boss! How do you drive this car? I'm going to die! What do you have to do here? I've told you all, Ma Taigong has been dead for several days! ”

Brother Xiong was upset, and when he saw Fu Yacang coming to complain, he grabbed him and pushed him to the corner. Brother Xiong didn't speak, he kept staring at Fu Yacang viciously, and Ah Fei and Ah Ji also surrounded him, staring at each other. Fu Yapao was frightened by the fierce appearance of Brother Xiong and the others, and hurriedly begged for mercy: "Boss! Yes...... If you have something to say...... Say it well! ”

Brother Xiong asked him, "Do you want to make money or do you want to die?" ”

Fu Yapao subconsciously said: "Make money!" But he didn't think about it right, so he quickly changed his words: "No, no, no, I don't want to die either!" ”

Brother Xiong said: "Then do you want to be able to make money without having to die?" ”

Fu Yacang nodded hurriedly: "Yes!" ”

"Then I'll ask you a question now." Brother Xiong looked directly into Fu Yacang's eyes and asked, "Do you know where there is an ancient tomb on this Great King Ridge?" ”

As soon as Fu Yacang hesitated, Ah Fei next to him shouted: "Hurry up and tell the truth!" ”

Fu Yapao was bluffed by them, so he confessed: "I, I heard the old man say before that there is a tomb of the king of the Miao nationality on the north peak, so this mountain is called Dawangling!" ”

"Do you know where this tomb is?"

Fu Yapao smiled bitterly and said, "I don't dare to dig a grave, where will I know?" ”

Brother Xiong softened his attitude at this time, and said to Fu Yacang: "You take us to the North Peak now, and I will give you double the tour guide fee!" ”

Fu Yapao hurriedly agreed, but asked again: "Boss, but you have to walk for a day and a night to go to Beifeng, can you spend the night in the mountains?" ”

Brother Xiong said: "You don't have to worry about this, we even brought a tent!" ”

Fu Yapao saw that Brother Xiong had already prepared, and he didn't dare to ask any more, so he walked out of Yizhuang and consciously climbed into the rear car again. Brother Xiong and the others were also about to get in the car and leave, but the mustache and I didn't move. The mustache called out to Brother Xiong and asked him to come over and talk, and Brother Xiong walked back to Yizhuang.

The mustache said to him: "Brother Xiong, I also have one thing to say." We were only here to catch ghosts and corpses when we were commissioned by you, and now you say that you want to go into the mountains to fight, and we are not doing this, so I'm afraid it's not appropriate to follow, right? ”

Brother Xiong was not annoyed, but patted the mustache on the shoulder very kindly, and said, "Daochang He, I understand what you mean." But I'm short of manpower right now, and the cause of death of my brothers hasn't been ascertained, so it's not appropriate for you to just go back halfway, right? ”

The mustache said, "We're not leaving!" We can stay here and continue our investigation and wait for you to come back. ”

Brother Xiong spread his hands and said, "You also saw it, now there is nothing to check in this Yizhuang." In this way, Daoist He, how about I double your total amount and increase it to 80,000? And don't worry, after you enter the mountain, according to our previous agreement, you are only responsible for driving away evil spirits and protecting us, and we will do the rest of the work ourselves, and you will not do it! ”

Although Brother Xiong's tone was quite kind, it was unquestionable, and he couldn't help but refuse from the mustache. The mustache frowned and thought about it, but finally reluctantly agreed. I couldn't speak at all in front of Brother Xiong, so I could only follow the army.

Still Aki drove, and it was bumpy and downhill again, until it stopped at the foot of Dawangling. Fu Yapao got out of the car and vomited again in a daze. Brother Xiong didn't care about him, and began to distribute the equipment on the car to everyone, preparing to carry them all up the mountain.

Brother Xiong was polite to me and the mustache, and only allocated some food and blankets for us to carry. He, Ah Fei and Ah Ji mainly carried some tools, and the folding tent and drinking water were thrown to Fu Ya Cannon to carry.

Fu Yacang finally finished vomiting, and Brother Xiong walked over and kicked him in the ass, telling him to get up quickly and lead the way into the mountain. Fu Yapao grimaced, picked up his tent bag, carried two buckets of mineral water, and stumbled first. The ** gun he brought was also confiscated by Brother Xiong, and he was completely reduced to a coolie.

Dawangling is a typical southern mountain range, each peak is not particularly high, but it is undulating and can span hundreds of kilometers. Dawangling in the broad sense is a large mountainous area in the east of Lexi County, but Dawangling in the narrow sense actually refers to the highest peak of this mountain range: the North Peak.

According to Fu Yapao, we need to climb three more mountains before reaching the north peak. Although I am young and have a good physique, it is not an easy task to climb a mountain with a weight of more than 15 kilograms on my back. Mustache, Fei and Aki are even more struggling. Brother Xiong has a large physique, and it is relatively easy for him to carry the same weight. What surprised me the most was Fu Ya Cannon, who was the heaviest on his back, but still managed to lead the way in front at a constant speed. It seems that the real mountain people are indeed more hard-working than those of us outside the mountains.

Fortunately, I don't have to worry about the problem of whether I am in the sun or not in the mountains and forests, and I walk under the shade of the trees all the way, and the consumption is not so big. Because we were destined to spend the night in the mountains, we were not in a hurry, and by the end of the evening, we had just climbed the third hill. Brother Xiong saw that everyone was tired, so he ordered to rest on the spot and prepare to spend the night.

Tonight's dinner certainly can't be as extravagant as last night, everyone is all boiled noodles and ham sausage. After eating, Fu Yapao found an open area and built a bonfire, and everyone gathered to warm up, smoke and chat. Brother Xiong threw Fu Yapao a cigarette and asked him to tell him about the legend of the local Miao village about the North Peak.

Fu Yapao took the cigarette that Brother Xiong gave him and lit it, took a sharp puff, and slowly exhaled a burst of smoke. It was as if his tense mood had finally been relieved after a day of tension. He looked at the north peak of Dawangling opposite, his expression became religious, and he began to tell us a story about King Miao:

The old people in the village spread the word of mouth that this mountain was not called "Dawangling" a long time ago. The reason why it was later renamed was because there was a legendary Miao King buried in this mountain!

Before the appearance of King Miao, it was the Li people who lived in this mountainous area for generations. The Li people are fierce by nature, unwilling to be constrained, unwilling to pay all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and have liked to rebel since ancient times and disobey the management of the Central Plains Dynasty. Later, when it came to the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court came up with a trick and forcibly relocated a group of Miao people from Guangxi and Xiangxi, and also settled in this mountain, wanting to use the Miao people to contain the Li people.

But the Miao people themselves have been oppressed by the Han people for a long time, so they sympathize with the Li people and plan to get along with each other. Seeing that this move failed to achieve the expected results, the imperial court made an obstacle and constantly sowed discord, causing the Li and Miao tribes to constantly clash and enmity each other, just like a plate of scattered sand.

At this time, King Miao appeared. He was only the son of the leader of a certain village, but he was born with divine power, strong martial arts and integrity, and soon subdued the nearby large and small Miao Villages and Li Villages, commanding the Li and Miao tribes, from a Miao leader to a real Miao King!

After King Miao unified the villages, he put forward a slogan: Li Miao is a family. He is fair, has a good leadership, and never favors himself because he is a Miao person, so he is widely supported by the people of Li and Miao. When his territory was the largest, he commanded the 36 villages, 72 Dongli, and Miao people around Dawangling, and his territory was larger than the entire Lexi County now, and he was a veritable king of the soil!