Chapter 372 Grandma's Thank You Gift
The clan leader arranged for He Shu and the others to rest in a bamboo building.
A young man from the Lisu ethnic group brought them some food and water.
This was He Shu's first time living in a bamboo house. As he went up the stairs, the bamboo house made a slight creaking sound.
Everything inside is natural , made from trees, bamboo, stones, and animal skins and bones found in the mountains.
You can’t see any of the things from modern society here. There is no electricity or running water.
It’s like traveling to another ancient time and space.
It was pitch dark and He Shu couldn't see the whole view of the village. After climbing the mountain for a whole day, he was so tired that he closed his eyes without even having dinner.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already bright outside. I felt as if I had been beaten up severely all over my body, and not a single part of my flesh was unhurt.
This was due to excessive exercise yesterday and the accumulation of lactic acid, which caused He Shu to still feel weak in his limbs after sleeping all night.
The panda came in from outside, holding a plate of food with grilled meat and something like rice paste on it.
"Eat something and have a good rest today."
"Saber won't be buried today?"
Panda shook his head: "The Lisu people have their own rules. It takes one or two days to prepare a tomb, and they also have to choose a day."
He Shu sat up with a grin: "Ma Dao hasn't come back for so many years, it seems that the people in his tribe still value him very much."
He Shu picked up a piece of grilled meat, which was a little hot. He took a bite and tasted a burnt aroma and a little salty. It should have been rubbed with salt when grilling.
The panda looked at He Shu with strange eyes. He Shu ate a piece of meat, then picked up the wooden bowl and drank half a bowl of porridge. I don't know what leaves were added to the porridge, but it tasted like mugwort.
He Shu put down the bowl, looked up and found that the panda immediately looked away.
"Brother Panda, is there something on my face?" He Shu touched his face.
The panda shook his head and chuckled twice: "It's okay, just eat yours."
"No, I'm full."
"Eh? That's all you can eat? Are you not used to it? This is all they have here."
He Shu still refused: "No, maybe I haven't recovered yet. When I return to Dadu, I have to practice my physical strength."
Panda agreed with He Shu's words: "You don't need to find anyone else to guard Instructor Qi. You are too weak. You are even thinner than the last time we met."
"By the way, where is my uncle?" When mentioning his uncle, He Shu just remembered that he hadn't seen him since he woke up in the morning.
"Instructor Qi has left the village and followed the tribe to look at the location of the tomb. This is also a way to familiarize yourself with the terrain in advance."
"My uncle is going alone? He doesn't speak the Lisu language. Is it safe?"
Panda pushed the wooden plate in front of him and said, "Don't worry, the wasp is following you. Besides, you should have more confidence in your uncle, he is Instructor Qi."
At this point, He Shu asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time: "Is my uncle very powerful?"
"I heard that when Instructor Qi was young, he defeated an independent regiment by himself during field training and captured the enemy commander alive. How many years has this record stood? No one has been able to break it!"
He Shu opened his mouth wide when he heard this: "How is it possible? An independent regiment? Three thousand people?"
"Oh, this must be true, but I was also peeing and playing in the mud at that time, so I wasn't lucky enough to see it with my own eyes."
Uncle? Is the uncle who only has a stern face so powerful?
One versus three thousand? Too mythical, right?
"Haha." Seeing He Shu's surprised look, the panda knew that he didn't understand.
"It's not like one person is really fighting 3,000 people head-on. That's a guerrilla war in the wild. While the two sides are fighting, your uncle is launching a sneak attack..."
Panda wanted to continue, but when he heard someone coughing twice outside the door, he immediately stopped talking.
Qi Zhijun came back with a sullen face and glanced at Panda. Panda laughed and went out with He Shu's unfinished breakfast.
"How is your recovery going? We have to cross the mountain again in three days. The place where their people are buried is on another hill."
He Shu gritted his teeth and nodded: "I can do it."
He had to do it no matter how hard it was. He had promised Ma Dao that he would bury him, and he had to see him buried with his own eyes to fulfill his promise.
"Uncle, Brother Panda said you went with him to see the tomb, why are you back so soon?"
Qi Zhijun sat cross-legged on the animal skin mat and said, "Since their people followed me, I just walked around the village."
The two had just said a few words when someone outside shouted in the Lisu language.
He Shu endured the pain all over his body and got up. He walked to the door and saw a young Lisu boy and an old lady holding a saber.
"Grandma, you're looking for me?"
The old lady said a few words, but He Shu didn't quite understand. The boy next to her translated for He Shu in the Lisu language outside.
What the old lady meant was that she wanted to ask if Shulong had left any last words before he died?
He Shu told the boy in Lisu language: "He told me in a dream that he wanted to be buried with the things he used in the past, such as wooden bowls, wooden barrels, used knives, etc."
When the old lady heard this, she made a whimpering sound, took out something wrapped in cloth from her arms and handed it to He Shu.
"What is this?" He Shu asked the young man.
"Grandma said that you were the one who sent Shulong home, and this is her thank you gift. Please don't despise it."
He Shu took it with both hands and opened it. It turned out to be a pair of silver bracelets that were roughly made and looked very old. The engravings on them were covered with black stains.
"Grandma, I can't take your things. I sent the saber back because I made a promise to him."
He Shu wrapped the bracelet and wanted to return it to the old lady, and the boy conveyed He Shu's intention.
The old lady didn't say anything. She stepped forward, and under the guidance of the young man, she raised her arm and reached out to touch He Shu's face.
He Shu did not dodge, allowing the skinny and rough hand to stroke his face and finally rest on his head.
With only one or two teeth left, he was muttering words with an ancient charm in a low voice. Although He Shu could not understand them, it felt like a kind of chanting similar to scriptures.
He didn't dare to move, just stood there, holding the pair of silver bracelets given by the old lady in his hands, as if he was undergoing some ceremony?
He Shu had looked up information before and found that most of the Lisu people in Nanzhan believe in Catholicism and Christianity.
The village where Ma Dao was born worships the gods of nature...
After reading the obscure words, the old lady did not take back the silver bracelet. With the help of the young man, she slowly left the small building where He Shu lived.
No matter how He Shu called out, the two of them did not turn back.
Qi Zhijun stood behind He Shu at some point, looking at his nephew standing there at a loss with other people's thank-you gifts, his eyes full of heartache.
Last night, He Shu himself didn’t know how long he cried in his sleep, as if he was trapped in a nightmare.
"Let's keep it for now. I'll ask Panda to ask the locals if they have any explanation."
He Shu turned to look at his uncle and had to rewrap the bracelet and put it away.
