Tooth Token
At dusk, the Golden Water Stronghold lay quietly in the setting sun, and no one could be seen.
According to Yu Ping, as long as she saw Ma Shucai, she would have a way to make him hand over the jade. However, when we arrived at the entrance of the stockade, we saw that the huge wooden gate was tightly closed.
Manbei shouted towards the village, but there was no response.
Just as the three of them were feeling helpless, a few bamboo arrows flew out from the village. One hit Manbei in the thigh, and a few flew past us.
The three of them did not dare to stay any longer and retreated a distance. Fresh blood stained Manbei's thigh. He pulled out an arrow from his thigh and cursed,""Why do these skulls shoot arrows so easily?”
I saw that the arrow was no more than a foot long. It had no arrowhead or tail feathers. It was just a sharpened bamboo. "Is this an arrow? What shot it?" I asked in surprise.
"It's a crossbow, made of cow tendons and wood. If you can't shoot far, you can shoot accurately." Manbei said.
Yu Ping wrapped his leg with a cloth and said,"Eh? Why was the gate of the village tightly shut, and no one talked to him? They even shot arrows at him. I think something unusual must have happened. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so vigilant. But if they don't open the door, what should we do?”
"Let's walk around the stockade and see if we can get in. Some places don't have wooden fences." Manbei said.
"Even if we go in, it'll be dangerous if they find us," Yu Ping said after some thought. I have to get their leaders to come forward. Some of them might know me, so it'll be easy as long as I talk to them.”
"This Goldwater Stronghold is isolated, so we might not know about Sister Ping.”
"Let's try. When dawn broke tomorrow, someone from the village would definitely come out. It was impossible for such a large village to be closed for a long time.”
We found a clearing in the forest for the night. Manbei cut a few bamboos and stuck them into the ground. He propped up a piece of plastic cloth and set up a small tent. Yu Ping took out a bottle of Mie Hai Ling from her bag and sprayed it around. I can't help but admire her thoughtfulness.
"If we don't prepare this thing, mosquitoes and ants will eat us up, let alone wild beasts.”Yu Ping smiled." We're here for treasures, not to feed them.”
The three of them spent the night in the tent. The next morning, a group of people came out. The three of them became excited and held their breaths. They hid in the weeds and thorns and did not dare to move, afraid that they would scare them away.
The group of people walked along the dirt road. When they got closer, they could see that they were a group of women. They carried long bamboo tubes on their backs and held a short wooden handle with a serrated iron sheet in their hands. They were carrying aluminum basins, stibous pots, and so on.
When they were in front of us, we got up and walked out of Thorn Forest. When they saw it, they were shocked. A few of them shouted timidly and ran. Manbei shouted at them. A few of them stopped and looked back at us. After hesitating for a moment, he still followed.
Manbei said with a wry smile,"You've become a frightened little finch. You can't even chase after someone when you see them." I don't know what I'm afraid of."
"This is really strange. What are they holding that iron sheet for? Is it a weapon?" I asked.
"It's not a weapon, it's something used to cut open the fruit of the Opium. They're there to collect the Opium.”According to Manbei, most Wa men did not work, and women did everything. Poppies were planted in this Wa Mountain. From October to November every year, the sesame seed would be sown on the slope of the slash-and-burn cultivation. The seeds would be left alone, and the seedlings would only grow once when they were three or four inches tall. By the third or fourth month of the second year, they could be harvested. Using the iron piece to cut the poppy fruit in four directions, white juice would flow out. After four to five hours, it would turn into a brown paste that could be scraped off and collected in a container. After that, he added water and lime to heat it up and filtered it into blocks, which became the ointment.
"Let's go to the front of the village to take a look. If there's nothing, we'll go in directly. It was broad daylight, and nothing would happen.”Yu Ping said.
When they arrived at the village, they saw that the village gate was wide open and there was no one guarding it. Manbei shouted a few times towards the village, and the three of them slowly entered the village.
When the people in the village saw us, they all turned around and ran in panic. It's like we're demons and ghosts.
There was an uneasy atmosphere in the village. I always felt that there were countless eyes watching us from the wooden building.
As we approached the wooden building, we suddenly shouted loudly. A group of men rushed out from the wooden buildings on both sides of the narrow dirt road. They held Burmese knives and earth spears in their hands and surrounded us.
Manbei and I quickly pointed our AK rifles at them. Yu Ping shouted,"You can't shoot. Put it down!"
Her tone was firm and resolute, not allowing anyone to defy her. We put down our guns and faced each other.
"Manbei, tell them that we are here to find the leader and Ma Shucai.”Yu Ping said.
Manbei shouted for a while, and one of them replied. Manbei said,"They'll take us to the leader."”
When they arrived at a large wooden building, the headman came out. It was no different from the last time he saw it, still wrapped in a big red bun.
Manbei and the headman talked for a while before Manbei said,""The headman said that Ma Shucai left early. He asked us if we were here to headhunt? He said that Niu He and the other two had disappeared a few days ago. Yishui Stronghold and the other strongholds joined forces and even sent people to deliver spicy food and bullets. He said that he knows you, Dabao. He said that you're a Han from Yishui Stronghold…"
Before Manbei could finish his sentence, the leader shouted. The Wa men beside him suddenly pounced on Yuping. Seeing that something was wrong, I jumped in front of Yu Ping and blocked her. I kicked a man over, but the other grabbed my left hand. I punched him in the chin with my right hand, and he fell on his back. However, a few men hugged me and pressed me to the ground. Yu Ping and Manbei were also pressed down by them.
Our guns were stolen and our hands were tied behind our backs.
Moba said something to the headman, who nodded. Moba commanded the Wa people to carry the wooden block over.
The wooden drum sounded.
From the looks of it, are they going to chop off our heads to sacrifice to ghosts? I was scared.
As expected, Manbei said,"They're going to chop off our heads."”
Moba said something to Manbei. Manbei shook his head fiercely and shouted.
"They said that we were sent by other villages to scout the way. I said it wasn't, but the headman and Moba didn't believe me and wanted to test it.”Manbei said.
A few men carried over a large pot, filled it with water, and started burning it with a large piece of wood. He added a few more pebbles into the pot. Moba said something to Manbei. Manbei said to us with a bitter face,"Moba wants us to fish out the stone from the pot and let him see if his hands are blistered. If there are blisters, it proves that we are from the enemy stockade. We robbed their people and stole their cattle. If it doesn't bubble, then let us go."
"It's too absurd, barbaric and stupid! He did not know how he came up with such a method. It was ridiculous!”Yu Ping said hatefully.
I saw that the hot water in the pot was boiling and splashing high. The pot was deep and big, so how could the smooth pebbles not bubble when they were scooped up with their bare hands?
They untied Manbei and pushed him to the pot.
"Don't fish! Manbei." Yu Ping called out.
"If we don't, they'll think we're the enemy's people." Manbei smiled bitterly. "I've fished it before, it won't bubble because we didn't lie. We're not their enemies. Sister Ping, don't worry."”As he spoke, he took off his shirt.
I looked at Manbei's dark and firm flesh, and the skin on his arms and palms was also rather rough and thick. It was obvious that his skin was much more resistant to heat than mine. I couldn't help but secretly rejoice that they didn't let me fish them out. Otherwise, not to mention the blisters, I would definitely be thought of as a liar.
Everyone stared at Manbei. I couldn't bear to look, but I had to.
Manbei looked at the pot for a while and suddenly reached his hand into the pot. Accompanied by a scream, a pebble fell out of the pot and onto the ground.
Manbei bit his lips tightly and stretched out his arm for Moba to see.
There was a big burn on Manbei's arm, and Moba cried out.
They pressed Manbei down without any explanation.
The wooden drum sounded again, and the low thumping sounded like it was urging him to die. Mo Ba walked in front of Yu Ping and reached out to stroke her long black hair, his eyes shining. He suddenly hugged Yu Ping's face and looked closely, as if he was examining the sacrifice of a priest. Yu Ping spat at him and struggled fiercely as she cursed.
I couldn't stand it anymore. I jumped in front of him and kicked him in the chest. Although he was pulled back, the kick still made him stagger backward and almost fall to the ground.
Yu Ping's clothes were in a mess, and the bone pendant hanging around her neck had been pulled out and hung on her towering chest. Her handsome face was flushed red, and she was panting as she glared at Moba.
Moba widened his eyes and stared blankly at Yu Ping's chest, as if he was awed by her beauty. Suddenly, he rushed in front of her. I thought he was going to be rough and molest her. I struggled desperately, but I was held down by the people around me.
Unexpectedly, when Mo Ba arrived in front of Yu Ping, he held up the bone plate with both hands.
"Si Gangdi! " Si Gangdi…" Mo Ba shook it off as if it was scalded by fire. It suddenly knelt in front of Yu Ping and kowtowed continuously, muttering something.
The headman felt that something was wrong and asked Moba something loudly. He went forward to carefully look at the bone plate on Yu Ping's chest. Her expression was very surprised and confused.
Mo Bawei babbled to the headman for a while, and the headman's eyes revealed a look of horror. He actually knelt down to Yu Ping and kowtowed. Then, he quickly called out to untie us. Moba kept saying something to Manbei, while the headman made an inviting gesture, as if he wanted us to enter his wooden building.
This change was too sudden. Yu Ping and I looked at each other, not knowing why. "Moba said he really didn't know and asked us not to blame him." Let's go inside."
Everyone stared at the bone plate on Yu Ping's chest as if they were looking at a god. Yu Ping tidied her clothes and hesitated for a moment, but she didn't stuff the bone plate into her clothes. She let it hang in front of her chest, swaying it, looking very proud and awe-inspiring.
We sat by the fire pond in the wooden building, drinking and talking. Manbei said,"Sister Ping, Mo Ba is asking you how you got this tooth token." They said that they didn't know how this card ended up in your hands since you weren't Wa.”
Yu Ping looked at me and said,"Tell them that I don't know either." I had a dream of a man who looked like this card; When I woke up, this thing was hanging around my neck.”
After listening to Manbei's explanation. The headman and Mo Ba kept bowing to Yu Ping, not knowing what they were saying.
It turned out that Manbei had said that this bone tile was the symbol of the Wa King in ancient times and was made of ivory. The picture on the token was called Si Gangdi, symbolizing their ancestors walking out of the cave.
Manbei said that this token was no small matter. Anyone who held it had supreme power and divine power. They hadn't seen each other for many years, and they didn't expect to see each other again today. The headman asked the goddess to tell him what to do.
Yu Ping asked Manbei about Ma Shucai and learned that he had left half a month ago, saying that he planned to return to China.
I asked Manbei to ask Zhu 'er. He knew that his head was still being worshipped in the wooden drum room. He requested to burn it and bring its ashes back to his hometown. The headman and Moba hesitated for a while before agreeing.
At noon the next day, we left the Goldwater Stronghold.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。