As the wine bowls were brought in front of us, a strong, intoxicating aroma of wine filled the air.
"Hmm?"
Smelling the fragrance, Director Han's eyes lit up, and he was pleasantly surprised, "Could this be the specialty of your place, the famous Babao Water Blossom Wine?"
Saying this, Director Han unexpectedly also couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva with excitement.
No wonder Director Han was so excited. The water blossom wine really smelled good, just the scent made people feel intoxicated. It's not surprising that it's called "water blossom wine", even I, a person who doesn't usually drink, couldn't help but want to taste it.
I had heard that the Miao people are hospitable. It seems that the rumors are true. We had just met, and they had taken out this kind of good wine to entertain us.
"Hey, this big brother has good taste!"
Seeing that Director Han recognized the origin of this wine at a glance, the old man smiled even more and said, "Enough talk, drink up!"
Respecting the offer, since the old man had brought the topic to this, we naturally didn't decline. We held the wine bowls and brought them to our lips. However, just as the wine bowls were brought to our lips, I suddenly smelled a faint, sour and foul smell mixed in with the strong aroma of the wine!
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, I remembered the old man's warning. He said that many people in the Miao region were adept at making witchcraft poison. Especially the Miao people, this craft has been passed down for generations. If you encounter Miao people, you must be extra cautious and avoid trouble, it's a hassle once it's involved. Since I got here, I subconsciously started to sense the wine in the bowl.
Sure enough! Under my careful sensing, a strange energy fluctuation emanated from the wine.
At that moment, Director Han, who was beside me, was engrossed in the fragrance and was about to drink the wine in his bowl.
"Don't drink!"
Since I knew the wine had issues, naturally I couldn't just watch Director Han, so I quickly grabbed his wrist.
"Hmm?"
Director Han seemed a bit bewildered, inexplicably looking at me, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Meanwhile, the old man who offered us wine across the table seemed to hesitate for a moment, then frowned and looked displeased, saying, "What? You refuse to have a drink?"
"Is it because you think my country wine is not as good as the wine from your big cities?"
As soon as these words were spoken, I suddenly felt the surrounding friendly gazes turn sharp, with many angry eyes fixed on me, suggesting a hint of potential physical confrontation if things didn't harmonize.
In this remote and rugged area, the Miao people are not only warm and hospitable, but also quite bold and fearless! Moreover, due to certain ethnic policies, sometimes even the local government cannot control them. If a fight broke out here, we would likely get beaten for no reason.
"Look at the way you talk..."
Seeing the situation going south, Chief Han couldn't help but hurriedly flatter the Miao elder, saying, "Your wine is far more fragrant than the wines in our city, probably even better than Maotai. My little brother is probably just reluctant to drink it!"
As he complimented, Chief Han also signaled me to quickly finish the wine! Since we had entered their village, it was best to follow their rules. Moreover, it's just to have a drink, a thing most people can't even have the chance for...
"That's right! Everyone in the Bapu Township knows that the water blossom wine brewed by my Mr. Sha is the most fragrant!"
At the same time, Zhang also stepped forward to mediate, anxiously blinking at me and saying, "Drink up, it's okay, Mr. Sha has plenty of water blossom wine at home! If it's not enough, I'll get more for you..."
"I..."
With a bitter smile, I shook my head, still firmly holding onto Chief Han's arm, and said to Mr. Sha, "Sir, why do we need to do this? We just met by chance, was it really necessary?"
"What's the big deal? Isn't it just two bowls of wine? I can afford to treat an old man like myself..."
Mr. Sha said kindly, "Besides, didn't you just give my two granddaughters a hundred yuan each? In your city folks' words, it's reciprocity..."
"Huh?"
Those two little girls from earlier are his granddaughters?
Damn, as soon as I heard that, I couldn't help but feel an outburst of anger in my heart. If those two little girls were your granddaughters, then you shouldn't harm us even more!
Suppressing the anger in my heart, I still declined, adamantly refusing to drink, and of course, not allowing Chief Han to drink either!
Unable to persuade me, Mr. Sha immediately became furious! He slammed the table behind him, making a few points, as if looking down on grandpa?
Damn!
You get angry, but I still have a lot of pent-up anger! Who did I provoke? I gave you two hundred yuan for nothing. And now you want to cast a spell on me?
Seeing him slam the table, I couldn't help but restrain my smile, and sneered, "Is this necessary?"
"Huh?"
Seeing me suddenly change my expression, Mr. Sha was also startled, it seemed he probably knew I had sensed something. But this was still the Miao village in Bapu Township, surrounded by his fellow villagers. He naturally appeared confident. He then said fiercely, "This is the custom of our Miao people, offering you wine is a sign of respect and treating you as our most honorable guest! If you refuse, then we are enemies!"
"Yes!"
"Enemies!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there were many voices of approval from the crowd. Their Mandarin was rough but full of killing intent, not allowing any questioning!
"Wang Lin!"
Seeing the situation getting more tense, Chief Han couldn't help but feel uneasy and complained to me, "It's just a drink, is it really necessary?"
"If you don’t drink, I’ll drink for you!"
As he spoke, Chief Han shook off my hand and prepared to drink the wine in the bowl in one gulp.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, I sharply pointed at Chief Han's elbow joint. His right hand went numb, and the wine bowl in his hand fell to the ground, making a crisp crash and spilling the liquid all over the floor!
"What are you doing!"
Seeing the spilled wine, Chief Han was furious, unable to contain his anger and shouted in frustration.
"Hmph! You city folks are quite precious..."
On the other hand, Mr. Sha across the table sneered repeatedly. As soon as he spoke, the Miao men around him angrily surrounded us. It seemed they really wanted to teach me a lesson!
"See for yourselves!"
I knew Chief Han was well-intentioned, so I wasn’t angry. I focused my dragon energy on my fingertips and directly stirred the golden liquid.
After stirring for a few moments, the almost transparent golden liquid suddenly became turbid, and countless tiny, almost invisible flesh-colored bugs floated up to the surface, making the liquid look disgusting.
These tiny bugs looked somewhat like nematodes but were much smaller, barely visible to the naked eye of an ordinary person.
However, when tens of thousands of such bugs floated on the water surface, it became clear, much like the relationship between colonies and bacteria!
"Ah? What is this..."
Seeing this scene, Chief Han couldn't help but take two steps back, his face full of astonishment, looking at the bowl of wine full of flesh-colored bugs, and asked, "What is this thing?"
Not only him, even the angry Miao men who had been glaring at me hesitated and turned their gazes to Mr. Sha. Some of them had even started to roll up their sleeves! It seemed, even the people in this village had probably suffered from his mischief!
I didn't pay attention to them but instead looked directly at Mr. Sha across the way. I was calm and composed as I asked, "What do you have to say now?"
"You... it must be you who did this!"
Exposure by me, Mr. Sha's tone suddenly became fierce and brusque, showing a face of panic and said, "Everyone, don't believe him! He intentionally framed me, he must have hidden something in his hand!"