A few people found a relatively large farm at the foot of Yu Ling Mountain. They gave the owner some silver and stayed overnight.
The people on the farm saw that they seemed to be rich, so they were very enthusiastic and polite to them.
An aunt invited them to have dinner and arranged rooms for them.
Wu Ying had a room to himself, which was arranged on the other side. The four sisters had two people per room, which were next to each other.
The aunt took them to the rooms and changed new quilts for them.
“Thank you, auntie.” The few people politely thanked her.
“You're welcome. You also gave a lot of money. But from listening to several young ladies talking, you don't seem to be from around here?” The aunt asked with a smile.
They looked at each other, and Sang Li smiled and said, "We are indeed not from Li City. We are from a more remote area in Miao Territory. Li City is the most prosperous place in Miao Territory. We have never been here before, so we came to take a look."
"I see. Then you've come to the right place! Recently, Li City is holding the Flower Mountain Festival, which is more lively than previous ones!" The aunt laughed and said, "Because in a couple days, it happens to be the coming-of-age ceremony day of our young tribal chief!"
When Sang Li heard the three words "young tribal chief", she was visibly startled.
Xia Miaomiao subconsciously looked at Sang Li and asked the aunt, "So does that mean the young tribal chief can get engaged and married?"
"Of course. Every young tribal chief will get engaged to the Miao saint on their 20th birthday. That's why this year's Flower Mountain Festival is particularly lively!"
"I see... So we came at just the right time."
The aunt smiled and said, "Young ladies, I won't disturb your rest anymore. Let me know if you need anything."
"Okay, thank you auntie." Xia Miaomiao politely thanked her.
After the aunt left, the three looked at Sang Li.
Sang Li also looked at them, "What are you all staring at me for?"
"Sister Sang Li! Gu Zhi is getting engaged!" Su Mo went up and grabbed Sang Li's arm. "He's getting engaged. Aren't you anxious?"
Sang Li was silent for a moment before saying, "Isn't it a good thing that he's getting engaged? It just completely severs my fanciful thoughts."
"Oh sister Sang Li. You finally fell for someone. Are you really just going to give up like that?" Xia Miaomiao couldn't help but persuade her.
"What else can I do? He and I are doomed to not be together."
"Why must it end in marriage? Why can't you just enjoy the process?" Su Mo couldn't help but say.
"No... I won't let myself do something when I know clearly there's no future!"
"Ah..." Su Mo wailed. She was utterly helpless when it came to Sang Li.
"Why do you all feel it's a pity? I think sister Sang Li is right! We weren't from here to begin with. There's nothing to feel bad about!" Xiao Han said while eating, "Sister Sang Li, I support you. It's best that Gu Zhi is engaged. He's the young tribal chief. Many things aren't up to him."
"Don't worry about me. Go rest early." Sang Li said.
Knowing that persuasion was useless, everyone returned to their rooms.
Su Mo, who was rooming with Sang Li, did not leave.
"Sister Sang Li, you're really not sad at all?" Su Mo couldn't help but ask, "Don't get angry when I say this. But I feel like you're... emotionless ..."
Sang Li looked at her without getting angry. "Perhaps. I'm the type of person whose reason overpowers emotion. So in some people's eyes, I'm just cold-blooded."
One doesn't have to outwardly show their anger, sorrow, joy or grief. She didn't like having all her emotions show on her face.
Su Mo went up and hugged her. "Don't be angry. You're not cold-blooded! I'm a bit dumb. I also can't figure out what you're thinking about. Anyway, you have to tell us if something is on your mind!"
Sang Li smiled and patted her head. "I know. Go to sleep early."
...
The next morning, the five followed the goods the aunt was pulling and went into the city together.
The enthusiastic aunt introduced them to Li City's situation.
The Gu clan lived in the busiest and most prosperous part of Li City center.
Only after arriving in the city did they realize it seemed livelier here than Lan City, probably because of the Flower Mountain Festival.
The few first looked for an inn to stay in, but found that inns in prosperous areas were almost full.
In the end, they could only find an inn slightly more remote.
After settling into their lodging, the few went out to take a look at the situation here.
There were a lot of people on the street with many performances and competitions everywhere.
Without a doubt, after a while the crowd separated the few.
Su Mo and Sang Li had just come out from watching an archery competition and didn't see Xiao Han and Xia Miaomiao anymore.
"Where are Xiao Han and Xiaomiao?"
"I don't know. Weren't they just here? How did they suddenly disappear? Wu Ying, did you see them?" Su Mo turned around and asked Wu Ying.
Wu Ying shook his head. His eyes had been on Su Mo the whole time. How could he pay attention to Xiao Han and Xia Miaomiao?
"There are too many people on this street. They probably got separated."
"They shouldn't have anything happen to them right? Since no one knows us here, they'll probably go back to the inn themselves later." Su Mo said.
"Then let's go back and see later."
...
On the other side, Xiao Han pulled Xia Miaomiao to look here and peek there on the street. They soon had no idea where they'd wandered off to!
"Xiao Han, Xiao Han! I can't see Sister Sang Li and Su Mo anymore!" Xia Miaomiao called out.
"Oh it's fine. They know martial arts so nothing will happen to them! We'll just go back to the inn ourselves later."
"...What exactly are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for... Miao Territory gu worms!"
"What?!"
Xia Miaomiao was shocked. While others avoided them, Xiao Han was actually looking for gu worms?
"Oh don't be scared. I have antidote on me. Ordinary gu worms pose no threat to us." Xiao Han said. Just then, she saw a few people gathered in a secluded alley, seeming to be looking at something.
Xiao Han immediately pulled Xia Miaomiao over. They saw a few men fighting bugs in a large bowl!
There were a few worms in the bowl biting and tearing at each other. Some looked like centipedes, some like beetles, some they hadn't seen before!
"Bite it to death, bite it to death!" The men shouted on the sidelines.
Xiao Han squeezed over to look at the battle in the bowl. Her eyes lit up!
"Bite! Harder!"
A woman's voice rang out. The men were startled and immediately looked up at Xiao Han.
"Who are you?" One man asked.
Xia Miaomiao immediately pulled Xiao Han away. "Sorry, brothers. She was just a bit curious."
"Want to play? Then take out your gu!" The man said.
"No no, we're not playing..." Xia Miaomiao quickly said.
"If you're not playing then scram! And stop attracting attention here!"
"Who said I wasn't playing?" Xiao Han walked over and took out a transparent bottle from her clothes. "Look, my gu worm!"
Xia Miaomiao looked at the earthworm in the bottle. Her eyes were shocked stiff.
She subconsciously retreated a few steps. "Xiao Han, when did you... catch that earthworm?"
"Ahem..." Xiao Han deliberately coughed and didn't answer Xia Miaomiao's question. She looked at the men instead, "Can I play now?"
The men glanced at her. Able to turn earthworms into gu worms wasn't rare, and some were pretty capable at it. So the men let Xiao Han join in playing.
Xia Miaomiao was utterly helpless and could only wait next to her. Although she feared bugs, she still couldn't help but squeeze over to watch.
She saw that as soon as Xiao Han's earthworm in the bottle was released, the other bugs immediately tore it to shreds.
Xiao Han and Xia Miaomiao: "......"
The men: "......"
"Miao Territory gu really are powerful!" Xiao Han blurted out.
"Are you messing with us?!" The clearly unhappy men said.
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! My gu worm was just too weak!" Xiao Han quickly said.
Just as the men were about to speak, scolding voices suddenly came from the alley entrance. "Hey! What are you doing?!"
Seeing the people at the entrance, the men's expressions changed. They immediately turned and ran.
Those people chased up and Xiao Han and Xia Miaomiao were still standing there, completely unresponsive!
"Who allowed you to fight gu worms here?! Catch them!"
A few came up and immediately arrested Xiao Han and Xia Miaomiao.
Xiao Han immediately realized something was wrong. "Brothers, misunderstanding! We weren't fighting gu!"
"There isn't any? Then what is this?!" The man pointed at the bowl on the ground, where several bugs were still biting each other, and the centipede had actually been bitten to death.
"Big brother, this isn't ours, it belongs to those few men from earlier!" Xia Miaomiao quickly said.
"Hmph! You can go tell that to the young tribal chief!"
Xiao Han and Xia Miaomiao were escorted directly out of the alley.