Chapter 907: Revisit

“I am not that great,” Yang Guanfeng said. He lit a cigarette in the middle of the turbulent drive.

“Well, what happened with the last helicopter?”

“Someone contacted the nearby troops and asked for their support.”

“Who was it that they had so much face to even get the troops to help? It couldn’t have been that Secretary Guo, who is so outstanding and has so much face, was it?” Lu Xiufeng asked with a smile. “Light me one as well.”

“I do not know about that.” Yang Guanfeng lit another cigarette and handed it to Lu Xiufeng.

“Hey, drive properly, please. There are trees all around us. Don’t crash into one because you are not paying attention.”

“You with your crow’s mouth!”

The Jeep jostled its way through the jungle and across the river. Finally, they saw the valley.

“Here we are,” Yang Guanfeng said.

“Oh my, I have had enough.”

After a journey that took several hours, both of them nearly had their bones rattled apart.

“Next time we come to such a dilapidated place, we must apply for a better vehicle. The comfort level of this thing is too poor!”

“Come on, don’t talk so much,” Yang Guanfeng said. “Let’s go. Someone’s coming to pick us up.”

There was a big river outside the valley that had a suspension bridge over it. The Jeep could not drive across it, so they had to walk over it.

As they were walking, the suspension bridge slightly shook. Below them was the turbulent river. It was about a 50-foot drop to the water. Standing on the suspension bridge, one could see the structures in the valley. With mountains as a backdrop, they could see stone walls, thick tomb doors, a few bamboo buildings, and people coming and going.

After seeing the place, Lu Xiufeng said, “What a naturally dangerous place!”

“It is indeed very dangerous,” Yang Guanfeng asked. “But this place is in a remote location. It is not an important transportation route or a place for strategists to fight for. There aren’t any resources and it is inconvenient to travel to and from. Who would come here?”

“Us,” Lu Xiufeng said with a smile.

“Look, someone came out to meet us. Did you tell them we were coming?”

“No, I’m afraid we’ve already been discovered.” Yang Guanfeng said. The same thing had happened the last time he came to the valley.

“If they discovered us approaching a long time ago, why didn’t I realize that someone was following us?”

“It would be strange if you could realize that.”

“Welcome, welcome, a very warm welcome, Captain Yang. I didn’t expect you to come just after a few days!” This time, it was Miao Qingfeng who had come to meet them. With a smile on his face, he opened his hands and expressed his warm welcome to them.

“Thank you. I would like to trouble you again. Let me introduce you guys. This is my colleague, Lu Xiufeng, and this is Miao Qingfeng,” Yang Guanfeng said with a smile.

“How do you do?” Miao Qingfeng politely greeted the new stranger. “Captain Yang, you are being too polite by saying that. I said that when you left last time, you and your friends are welcome to visit our stronghold at any time, whether it is for work or leisure.”

His words were seamlessly spoken.

“Have you returned regarding the same matter as last time?”

“Yes, we have come to take a look again.”

“Let’s go. We can talk as we walk.”

“Sure.”

Under the lead of Miao Qingfeng, the two of them entered the Valley of Thousands of Medicine.

Since it was Lu Xiufeng’s first time there, he was looking around as he walked.

“Tut, tut, this place is so beautiful!” he exclaimed. It was not just a compliment. It was the truth. This mountain village was surrounded by mountains and trees. It had pleasant scenery and evergreen seasons.

“It is indeed beautiful,” Yang Guanfeng said.

“If you like, you can stay here for a couple more days,” Miao Qingfeng said with a smile.

“We have not only beautiful scenery, but we also have delicious food.”

“Hmm, are there any beauties here?” Lu Xiufeng blurted out.

“Ah?” Miao Qingfeng was stunned.

“Are you mad?” Yang Guanfeng glared at him.

“Ah, sorry, sorry, I am so sorry about that.” Lu Xiufeng immediately apologized with an embarrassed smile.

“It’s fine. There are, there are, there are!” Miao Qingfeng strangely said “there are” three times in a row.

“Don’t take it to heart,” Yang Guanfeng hastily explained. “It was just some casual nonsense he spouted.”

“It’s fine,” Miao Qingfeng said. “There are indeed some beautiful girls in our village, but there are some rules in the village.”

“He’s just someone like that. Don’t take him seriously.”

“Captain Yang, where shall we start?”

“Well, is Chief Miao busy? I want to visit him first.”

“OK, just a moment. I’ll go and tell him that.” Miao Qingfeng quickly went to the village and reported to Miao Xihe.

“Ah, you can’t deny that this stronghold is really beautiful,” Lu Xiufeng said.

“Ah, where are you going?”

“I am going to look around.”

“Wait a minute. Let’s go and meet that chief first. I think that we will stay here for a couple of days, so there is enough time for you to look around another time.”

“Ah, I really can’t wait. Ah, is that the lake you mentioned?” Lu Xiufeng pointed to the lake not far away.

“Yes.”

Only part of the lake could be seen from the village. It was partially blocked by the mountain, and the larger part of it was on the other side of the mountain.

“What is it called?”

“Soothing of Gods Lake.”

“Soothing of Gods Lake?” Lu Xiufeng repeated the name.

“Are the fish inside delicious?” He immediately deviated the topic.

“They are delicious, very fresh, and tender.” Yang Guanfeng had adapted to Lu Xiufeng’s jumpy conversational structure. In fact, he had eaten quite a lot of fish in the two days he had been here before.

Lu Xiufeng walked slowly and observed carefully.

“Hello, Sir!” When he saw an old man in his 60s or 70s, he immediately greeted him with a smile.

However, the old man spoke the local dialect, which they could not understand.

“Sir, would you like a cigarette?” Lu Xiufeng smiled and pulled out a cigarette.

“Mmm.” The old man smiled and waved his hands.

“Ah, it is so important to master a dialect. I can’t understand what this old mister is saying at all!” Lu Xiufeng lamented.

“He has greeted us and asked us to not wander around if we have nothing specific we are looking for,” Yang Guanfeng said.

“What? Do you understand him?” Lu Xiufeng asked in surprise.

“A little bit,” Yang Guanfeng replied. In addition to focusing on the cases, another thing he had done recently was to find a way to learn the dialect used in the valley. The language used there was similar to the Miao dialect of this generation of Miao Jiang. He just happened to understand some, so the difficulty of mastering it was somewhat lessened. He could not talk with the people in this stronghold, but he could understand most of what they said.

“I did not expect that you would know that!”

“We can’t let them know about it,” Yang Guanfeng said. “Last time we came here, they kept something from us and communicated with each other in their local dialect. I don’t think it’s a big issue for people in this stockade to speak Mandarin, even if it’s not standard.”

“Alright, I got it.”

Before long, Miao Qingfeng returned.

“The chief has asked for you two to come over.”

“Alright.”

The two men followed him to the biggest wooden house in the stockade.

Lu Xiufeng carefully looked at the wooden house and said, “Well, it’s quite imposing.”

“Let’s go. You can check it out more later.”

“I got it.”

“I apologize. The chief was going to meet you in person, but someone in the stockade asked him for treatment, so he has been delayed.”

“Oh, does your chief know how to treat illnesses as well?”

“Of course, the chief is the one with the highest medical skills in the stronghold. That is a rule passed down by the stronghold for hundreds of years. Only those with ability hold the position.” Miao Qingfeng explained the rule to him.

“Is that it? Is there no voting or elections?”

“Ha-ha.” Miao Qingfeng loudly laughed.

“Come in, please.”

They went into the wooden house and saw that Miao Xihe was treating a man who appeared to be in his 60s.

“Sit down, please.” When he saw the two of them come in, he smiled and nodded at them.

“I’ll be with you soon.”

He had a few words with the old man before saying something to a man around 30 years old next to him. The man turned and left.

“Hello, Captain Yang, and this new friend. Welcome to the stockade.”

“Hello, Chief Miao, we did not mean to disturb you again.”

“It’s too polite of you to say that. You are welcome here any time.”

As they were speaking, the man who had left returned with a package in his hands. He handed it to the old man in his 60s and said a few words to him. The old man left. The man in his 30s stepped back and respectfully stood behind Miao Xihe.

“Have you come this time for the same case?”

“Yes, another similar case has happened. We still have something we don’t understand, so we have returned.”

“Alright, what do you need to investigate? We will cooperate with you fully. Qingfeng will join you since you are already familiar with each other.”

“Alright!” Yang Guanfeng smiled.

“Qingfeng, cooperate with Captain Yang and entertain them. Treat them as friends from afar.”

“Yes, Chief.”

“If you need me to do anything, just let me know,” Miao Xihe said.

“OK, thank you for your cooperation.”