"I'm sorry, I was indeed too impulsive in this matter, and didn't consider it thoroughly…"
After thinking it over, I felt it was necessary to apologize to Zhang for my behavior. Though I didn't feel I had done anything wrong, there was one undeniable fact. Because of the conflict between me and the village chief, it was bound to have a big impact on Zhang and his family's life in the village in the future.
After all, it was me who led Zhang into the village…
Hating the house along with the crow, given the temperament of the village chief, who could guarantee that he wouldn't single out Zhang and his family in the future?
"Eh?"
After hearing my apology, Zhang couldn't help but be stunned, scratching his head. He looked speechless, "What are you talking about? You didn’t do anything wrong. It was the village chief who acted improperly, and you were just acting in self-defense…"
"You're right!"
Speaking of this, Brother Zhang suddenly seemed to understand my meaning and smiled, saying, "If you are worried that the village chief will hold a grudge against our family for this, you can rest assured! I forgot to tell you, my grandmother is also one of the village chiefs in the village. He wouldn't dare to do anything to our family!"
"Oh?"
Hearing that Brother Zhang's grandmother was also one of the village chiefs, I was relieved and said, "That's good!"
Although I didn't see Brother Zhang's grandmother when I visited his house this time, being a village chief must mean that she is not an ordinary person. As long as Brother Zhang's family is not affected, I am at ease.
As for the threat from the village chief, I didn't care at all. With so many troubles, I dared to provoke even the giant like the Liu family. Why would I be afraid of a Gu master?
While we were talking, Chief Han had finished the call. He said to me and Brother Zhang, "Let's go! We'll go to the nearby police station to file a report!"
With Chief Han's status as the deputy chief of the district, the local police station chief warmly welcomed us. However, after we explained the whole situation, the police chief's expression suddenly became somewhat troubled.
It is understandable, once a matter involves a minority ethnic group, no matter how small the matter, they need to take it very seriously. Otherwise, once it escalates into an ethnic issue, it could very likely lead to bloodshed, and at that time, even they would be affected...
However, Chief Han's status was there. Although he was somewhat reluctant, the police chief still played the role of mediator, and promptly contacted the Yi people who had been chasing us just now. Representatives from their side quickly arrived at the police station.
Fortunately, they were not as unreasonable as we had imagined. On the contrary, the person was not only reasonable but also easily accepted our explanation, no longer suspecting us. However, they requested that we work with them to find the real thief, in order to thoroughly prove our innocence.
We readily agreed to this. After all, we originally had to investigate Sima Yinyin, and recovering the Phoenix Plume was just an incidental matter. Besides, once we agreed to help them, we not only could prove our innocence, but we could also get the help of these Yi people!
After all, this was their home ground. With the strong assistance of the Yi people, it would be much easier to find Sima Yinyin!
And at this point, I finally learned that the Yi people who had been chasing us before were actually descendants of the Lady She Xiang and the guardians of the She Xiang Tomb! No wonder they were so excited when they saw the Phoenix Plume was lost...
But when we asked what the lost Phoenix Plume actually was and what its uses were, the other party suddenly fell silent, not revealing a single word.
We felt quite helpless about that, but it also indirectly proved that the thing was indeed unusual. Otherwise, why would they be so cautious?
With the misunderstanding cleared, we returned to the She Xiang Tomb that afternoon. Here, we met their leader, a Yi person who had a physique and a style of doing things very similar to Sha Biao: Longzan Gebu. The name was quite tongue-twisting, but luckily he also had a Han name, An Ding, so we called him "Brother An Ding."
Brother An Ding was a straightforward person, good at martial arts, and was said to be the thirteenth generation descendant of Lady She Xiang! This can be inferred from his Yi surname, "Longzan," which was the surname of She Xiang's husband, Qianzhou Envoy Longzan Aicui.
What's more, even the Han name he chose for himself, in fact, provided further evidence of this. Because "An" is the surname given by Zhu Yuanzhang to She Xiang's only son Aqi Long.
Apart from Brother An Ding, we also met another person here, and my mood wasn't so beautiful when I saw him! This person was Ning Zhaoyang! The old monk I met at the funeral home in Wuli, Qiandong!
I did not expect that the actions of the religious bureau were so prompt. In just over an hour, people from the religious bureau actually arrived at the scene? Isn't that too quick?
Later, I learned that Ning Zhaoyang happened to be attending a Buddhist seminar in Bijie, so that's why he arrived so promptly. Otherwise, even if he received a notification and immediately rushed from Qianyang to here without stopping, it would never have been so fast!
Perhaps because of the incident at the funeral home in Wuli, my impression of this Ning Zhaoyang was not very good, even quite bad.
Leaving aside the "Deadlock Formation" at the funeral home which was likely related to him, there was also the fact that he directly extinguished Feng Chen's soul that day, leaving me with a very bad impression.
This person was definitely ruthless, and it was not a very pleasant thing to cooperate with someone like him.
Contrary to my reaction, Chief Han and Brother Zhang seemed unusually happy to see him after they met. Perhaps after I and Old Zhang left that day, he also demonstrated his strength in front of Chief Han and Brother Zhang, and therefore earned their respect.
"Oh, isn't this the comrade Xiao Wang we met at the funeral home last time?"
I didn't like Ning Zhaoyang, and Ning Zhaoyang seemed to dislike me as well, saying in a sarcastic tone, "What? You guys are also here?"
"So you guys knew each other before?"
Hearing this, Brother An Ding, who was about to introduce himself to everyone, suddenly brightened up, then said with a smile, "That's great! Since we're all acquaintances, it will certainly be easier to handle things later."
After speaking, without waiting for my answer, he started to explain the situation to us. Strangely, Brother An Ding didn't know where Sima Yinyin was at the moment, but he insisted that after Sima Yinyin took the Phoenix Plume, he would definitely go to a certain place, and we just needed to go there and wait for him.
This not only aroused my interest in the origin and use of the Phoenix Plume, but also prompted Ning Zhaoyang to inquire about it.
However, Brother An Ding looked embarrassed and still refused to reveal any useful information, apologizing to us repeatedly, saying that it was a family secret and inconvenient for us to know.
His words were fine to dismiss us, but it was clearly impossible to dismiss Ning Zhaoyang. So Ning Zhaoyang said with a sneer, "Leader Longzan, we are here to help. If there is no basic trust between us, I find it very difficult to convince myself why I should take this risk..."
"That's right!"
As soon as Ning Zhaoyang spoke, Brother Zhang also chimed in, "That guy Sima Yinyin is definitely a dangerous person. Just a few days ago, I and Brother Wang Lin almost died in his hands. At this point, if you're still hiding information from us, we don't want to wade into this mess again..."
"Sima Yinyin?"
As soon as Brother Zhang finished speaking, before Brother An Ding could respond, Ning Zhaoyang suddenly stood up from his chair and asked eagerly, "Are you saying that the person who took the Phoenix Plume is Sima Yinyin?"
"Yes!"
Brother Zhang nodded doubtfully and then asked, "What? Director Ning, do you know him?"
"I don't!"
With a straight face, Ning Zhaoyang said these words and then sat back down on the chair, staying silent.
"..."
Almost everyone but me looked at him wordlessly, thinking, why is he so excited if he doesn't know him?
And I subconsciously furrowed my brows, connecting many things together in an instant. Old Zhang had mentioned a long time ago that the "Deadlock Formation" in the funeral home must be related to Ning Zhaoyang, or at least, he was one of the people in the know. He also said that the reason we discovered that "Deadlock Formation" was certainly because Sima Yinyin deliberately led us there.
I had been wondering why Sima Yinyin would do this before, but now, looking at Ning Zhaoyang's reaction, there must be something weird going on here!
When I heard the three words "Sima Yinyin," there was clearly a hint of shock and even fear in Ning Zhaoyang's eyes, indicating that at the very least, he knew or had heard of Sima Yinyin.
Could it be that the reason Sima Yinyin led us to discover the "Deadlock Formation" was to target Ning Zhaoyang?
From Ning Zhaoyang's reaction just now, this possibility was undoubtedly very high!
While I was still pondering about this, Ning Zhaoyang spoke again, "Leader Longzan, to be honest with you, although I am from the religious bureau, it's just a temporary position! Matters like this are actually not under my jurisdiction. You either tell us the truth, or wait for people from the provincial religious bureau to come. My Buddhist seminar in Bijie has not ended yet, and I am afraid I have to rush back..."
"This…"
Upon hearing this, Brother Anding immediately furrowed his brows, fell silent for a moment, and finally nodded, saying, "Alright! In that case, I'll tell you all. But, this matter is of great importance, so I urge you all not to spread it! Otherwise, you will become the archenemy of my entire Shuixi Yi tribe, and there will be no truce until one of us perishes!"
Brother Anding's seriousness made us all shudder, and we quickly nodded in agreement.
After obtaining our promise, Brother Anding did not directly explain the origin and use of the Phoenix Feather, but instead asked us, "Have you ever heard of the Luodian Kingdom?"
"The Luodian Kingdom?"
I had heard of Luodian County, which was in the southern part of Guizhou. I had several classmates from there. But as for the Luodian Kingdom, I had never heard of it.
"I know!"
As everyone stared at Brother Anding with confusion, Zhang suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Are you referring to 'Mu'ege'?"
"Mu'ege?"
Upon hearing this, we were even more puzzled, wondering what this "Mu'ege" was all about.
"That's right! Within our Yi tribe, it is indeed called Mu'ege! In the Han records, it is referred to as the Luodian Kingdom!"
Brother Anding nodded in approval at Zhang, and then explained, "The location we are currently standing at is actually the site of the castle built by the Luodian Kingdom in the past!"
"Seventeen hundred years ago, our Shuixi Yi ancestors, Tuoa Zhe, formed an alliance with Zhuge Kongming on Mount Chuaoshan in the third year of the Jianxing reign of Shu Han, assisted Kongming in his southern campaign, and was granted the title of Luodian King, and was ordered to govern Mu'gua, which is now Dafang County. They then established their capital here and built a castle. That is the origin of the Luodian Kingdom!"