Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 782 Nine Immortal Mountain

After the arrival of the Lost City, communication facilities were greatly affected, but many things still functioned perfectly, such as surveillance near the train station and ID card information recording.

So it couldn't be easier for the company to conduct an investigation.

However, after finally receiving the compiled data, Tang Zhishang, the company team leader for the region, faced a dilemma.

"Send someone to the city company to report this."

After a moment, he handed the documents in his hand to his assistant: "It's classified as a conflict between martial arts practitioners. As long as they don't attack ordinary people, we don't need to get involved."

"But!" The assistant looked at the list of those under special observation marked by the company on the document and couldn't help but feel worried.

Tang Zhishang understood his assistant's meaning: "That's why we need you to report this to the company. We can't make the decision on this matter. It's a matter of personal grudges between gangsters. They can fight however they want. If we interfere directly, it might cause regional unrest. Don't forget, the Miao people in the mountains are not easy to deal with."

The situation in Guizhou is very special. After the arrival of the Lost City, a huge number of Miao people appeared in the mountains, as well as many villages that had never existed before. Their power was enormous, and they were very careful in dealing with them, for fear of causing turmoil.

"Yes, I understand."

The assistant nodded, but before she could leave, someone burst in from outside: "Captain, there's trouble. Those priests are heading towards Da Nan Miao Village."

"Ugh!"

Upon hearing the news, Tang Zhishang sighed, slammed his hand on the table, and stood up: "Let's go, let's go take a look."

"High Priest, this is the place. I remember this was once the home of a minor priest. Because he disobeyed orders, his Gu Mother was taken away."

The girl waved her hand, and a small Gu worm that looked like a firefly slowly returned to her hand.

"Oh, I vaguely remember."

The woman nodded and walked straight toward the gate. The others tried to follow, but she immediately stopped them.

"Need not."

Seeing this, everyone was worried, but no one dared to disobey the high priest's order, and they all retreated.

She walked up to the door and knocked.

"Buzz!"

Amei opened the door a crack, but was startled when she saw the old woman in front of her. Of course, she recognized the old woman.

Miao Zongpan, the high priest under the King of Sacrifices, felt his heart race and instinctively tried to close the door.

"Snapped!"

But Miao Zongpan slammed her hand on the door, stopping it from opening. She looked Amei up and down, then asked with a smile, "What, as a fellow priest, am I not allowed to visit?"

Hearing this, Amei finally realized that she couldn't stop the other person at all, so she stepped back.

Miao Zongpan walked into the courtyard, looked up, and then turned her gaze to Amei's attic. She didn't go in, but just sat on a small stool in the courtyard, looking Amei up and down.

"Your Gu Mother was taken away because you disobeyed the High Priest King's orders. In fact, as long as you obey the High Priest King, you can still become the High Priest of our Miao people. I can personally take you as my disciple and teach you a more complete Gu Dao."

Amei thought Miao Zongpan had come to settle accounts, but she was stunned by what he said.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted, but...

Seeing the momentary hesitation in Amei's eyes, Miao Zongpan's smile became even more friendly: "Child, you are one of our Miao people. The Han people often say, 'Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts.' In the past, when you were weak, it was only right that you relied on the Han people. Now, our Miao people have returned. There are still 100,000 Miao people in the mountains. What are you afraid of?"

Hearing this, Amei was stunned for a moment.

Seeing this, Miao Zongpan continued, "Let bygones be bygones, and I won't bring up the past. If you're willing, we can set off now. Once we leave here, I'll take you to see the High Priestess, who will personally bless you."

As Miao Zongpan spoke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye toward the second floor.

"I do not!"

However, Amei's simple yet powerful words immediately froze the smile on Miao Zongpan's face.

Amei took a step back, staring at Miao Zongpan warily. She turned and stormed into the house, then came out again.

With a "smack!", he slammed his ID card on the table.

"Look carefully, what Miao people, Han people, we now only have one identity, residents of the People's Republic of China, simply put, we are all Chinese."

Amei glared at Miao Zongpan: "I refuse to respond to the so-called priest king because you simply don't understand that times are progressing. You may not know the suffering we endured a hundred years ago when we faced the disaster of the Japanese invasion of China, but that was pain we personally experienced. Now we are all one family, citizens of the same country. As a high priest, we should be a bridge connecting the raw and cooked Miao people, not an obstacle!"

Miao Zongpan's face turned ashen. Her original intention was to sow discord between Amei and the mysterious group, but she never expected to be lectured by Amei. Miao Zongpan's expression darkened immediately, and from beneath her wide robes, a series of hissing and rustling sounds could be heard—the restlessness of countless awakened Gu worms.

Just as tensions were rising, clear applause came from the second floor: "Clap clap clap!"

Immediately afterwards, Li Qing's slightly hoarse yet teasing voice rang out: "What the little one said is so true."

As they were talking, Li Qing and Zhou Shang came downstairs. Li Qing rubbed the sleep from the corner of his eye as he walked, and then sat down next to Miao Zongpan.

“My dear sister, times have changed. You came from the Lost City and landed on earth, so you are now part of China. If you want to survive and develop, the country will help you. If you really don’t understand, when I came here, I saw a Xinhua Bookstore outside. Go in and buy a book on modern history and take a good look.”

Upon hearing this, Miao Zongpan said with a forced smile, "You killed so many of our people last night, and now you come here to say these things to us. Don't you feel hypocritical?"

"do not think so."

Li Qing shook his head: "A life for a life, a debt for a debt. This is a personal grudge, a matter between the underworld. But it doesn't affect my patriotism. If you want revenge, then draw up the line, and I'll take it all. But I only have one request: return the Gu Mother to this child."

"What if I don't pay it back?" Miao Zongpan stared intently at Li Qing.

Li Qing didn't say anything, took out his pipe from his backpack and put it to his mouth. Zhou Shang, who was next to him, also didn't say anything. The two of them sat on the stool with their eyes half closed.

After about two or three minutes, Li Qing exhaled a cloud of smoke before raising his head: "Then we'll kill you until you give up."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

The hissing and rustling sounds from under Miao Zongpan's robes became clearer and more agitated. The Gu worms under the robes sensed their master's anger and seemed ready to burst out at any moment.

Li Qing's eyes, peering through the smoke and clouds, were so empty they chilled the heart, like two bottomless dry wells, reflecting no trace of life, only a cold indifference.

It was a kind of almost numb calm that came from experiencing the vicissitudes of life and having hands stained with blood.

It is said that the older one gets, the more lawless one becomes, especially for a江湖人 (jianghu person) like him. At his age, psychological burdens and moral constraints are simply irrelevant.

Rules? He only follows his own rules.

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly tense, Amei wanted to speak up several times. If it was just about the Gu Mother, it would really escalate into a bloodbath between the two sides, which was not the outcome she wanted to see.

However, she didn't know how to start the conversation.

"The Gu Mother has already been delivered to the High Priest King. Even if I wanted to give it to you now, I couldn't. If you insist on having the Gu Mother, come with me to Nine Immortals Mountain tomorrow. If you have the courage, the Gu Mother will be offered to you with both hands."

"Nine Immortals Mountain?" Zhou Shang frowned. "Where is it?"

Anshun.

Upon hearing the name Anshun, Zhou Shang and Li Qing immediately smiled: "That's perfect, we're going that way anyway."

"It's settled then. We'll pick you up first thing tomorrow morning." After saying that, Miao Zongpan added half-jokingly, "You're not going to run away tonight, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shang grinned and burst into laughter: "Hahaha, if you like it, little sister, we can talk all night long."

Miao Zongpan said with a smile, "Old man, I'm afraid your body can't take it."

Zhou Shang wanted to say a few more words, but before he could even open his mouth, he suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately shut his mouth.

Fortunately, Miao Zongpan did not notice this. He stood up, opened the door to the courtyard, and slowly walked out.

As soon as Miao Zongpan left, Zhou Shang ran up to the second floor and soon heard his wailing screams.

“Grandpa…” Amei looked up at the second floor.

"Don't worry about him. If he keeps talking like that, he's probably going to get a beating." Li Qing waved his hand, indicating to Amei that she didn't need to worry about him.

"Oh." Amei felt dizzy at that moment.

I thought that with Miao Zongpan coming in person, a fierce battle was inevitable, but I didn't expect him to just sit here, talk for a bit, and then leave.
For a moment, I stood there, at a loss.

But Amei quickly realized, "Grandpa, we can't go to Jiuxian Mountain, that's where the Miao people live."

Seeing this, Li Qing gestured for her to sit down; "This old woman is worried that she herself is no match for us, so she deliberately sent us to Jiuxian Mountain. We have no choice but to go, as she has been watching us outside for a long time. We could fight our way out, but what would be the point?"

Li Qing and his group want the Gu Mother. What's the point of fighting their way out? If the Gu Mother can't come back, Amei will be implicated instead.

This was not their original purpose.

Seeing that Amei wanted to say something more, Li Qing gently patted her shoulder: "Child, this is how the world is. No matter what you want to get, there will be obstacles. Some people choose to give up when faced with difficulties, and some choose to avoid the limelight. We are old and don't have that many options. There are only four words: ride the wind and break the waves."

(End of this chapter)