Obscuris Labyrinth

Among the serene mountains and waters, there was a huge rock. The rock was like a silent behemoth, lying there quietly. Beneath this boulder sat a girl.

She was a girl of seventeen or eighteen, in the prime of her youth. At this moment, she had stopped singing, but the lingering notes still seemed to reverberate around. She sat there quietly, with her feet immersed in the clear stream. The stream gurgled along as if telling endless stories. She looked down at the stream, with a pensive look in her eyes, as if her thoughts had drifted far away.

Zhao Yuxuan carefully lay prone at the very front of the boulder. This position was like a natural lookout, just right for taking in the girl's appearance without missing a single detail.

He saw that she had a pointed oval face, as delicate as a piece of jade carefully carved. Her neck was as slender and smooth as a swan's, exuding an elegant charm. The snow - white and tender skin on her cheeks seemed to have a layer of glittering luster flowing slowly, like the dew on the grass leaves in the early morning that was about to drip but hadn't yet, giving off a fresh and charming air. Her eyebrows were like a new moon, faint and curved, just like a gentle crescent moon hanging in the sky, adding a touch of softness to her face. Her star - like eyes were bright and vivid, with a glimmering light in her pupils, like the twinkling stars in the night sky, bright and charming. Her nose was straight and slightly upturned, making her face more three - dimensional. Her lips were not smeared with any rouge, but they were rosy and shiny like freshly - picked cherries, looking extremely delicate. Her long hair cascaded down like an inky waterfall to her willow - slender waist, and there were still some undried water droplets hanging from the ends of her hair. Presumably, she had just washed her hair. Under the sunlight, those water droplets sparkled with dots of light. The whole person was as beautiful as a poetic picture, pure and refined.

Zhao Yuxuan couldn't help but think of the song that was like the sound of nature just now. The song seemed to come from a far - away fairyland, ethereal and wonderful. If it weren't for the fact that the girl was wearing a floral - cloth jacket unique to Miao women, he would almost have mistaken her for an elf in the mountains and waters, or a little fairy who had descended to the mortal world.

However, what was a bit of a damper was Zhao Yuxuan himself. Because his previous injury had not fully recovered yet, at this moment his face was still bruised and swollen, completely covering up his former handsome appearance. Lying on the rock like this, secretly and blankly looking at the girl like a fairy, he couldn't help but feel a bit self - deprecating in his heart, thinking that his current appearance was rather like the comical look of a toad wanting to eat swan meat.

Nevertheless, he didn't maintain this posture for too long.

The Miao girl, who was like a little fairy, seemed to have a keen intuition and had already sensed his presence.

Zhao Yuxuan only saw her wave her hand abruptly. The movement was neat and swift, and a black object flew towards him. The object drew a short arc in the air and was extremely fast. He had no time to dodge at all, and a sharp pain suddenly came from his forehead. The pain was like a needle prick, making him couldn't help but cry out "Ouch" loudly. Immediately after that, he saw the object fall down. It turned out to be a small stone.

He couldn't help but be secretly astonished in his heart. He didn't expect that this Miao girl's stone - throwing technique was so precise and powerful. At this moment, Zhao Yuxuan was in no mood to look at her anymore. The pain in his forehead made him roll over on the boulder. He reached out and touched his forehead, only to find that the skin was broken and bleeding, and a big bump had swollen up high. The bump looked like a unicorn's horn, protruding abruptly on his forehead.

The Miao girl's movements were extremely swift, like an agile deer. Before Zhao Yuxuan could cry out "Ouch" a few more times, he found that she was already standing in front of him. She was looking him up and down with a pair of crystal - clear eyes, full of surprise and vigilance in her eyes. Zhao Yuxuan could feel that her gaze was like examining a strange intruder, which made him a bit uncomfortable.

Just at this time, Zhao Yuxuan heard her first words.

"Hey, you're a Han Chinese, right? Why did you come here sneakily? Are you a bad guy?" Her voice was as clear as a silver bell being gently shaken, and as pure as the stream flowing in the mountains. Although she was interrogating him, there was an indescribable refinement and gentleness in it, and it sounded extremely pleasant to the ear. However, to Zhao Yuxuan's surprise, she could speak very standard Mandarin. This made him feel a bit puzzled in his heart. In this remote place, it was really unexpected that a Miao girl could speak such standard Mandarin.

Zhao Yuxuan wasn't sure whether she had hit him with the stone by chance. But he thought that after all, he was in a foreign land, unfamiliar with the place and people, so it was better to avoid trouble. So he endured the pain in his forehead, stood up from the rock, and covered his still - bleeding forehead, saying, "No, no, girl. I'm not a bad person. I'm here to look for someone." As he said this, he felt a bit nervous in his heart, not knowing whether this girl would believe his words.

At this time, he was standing side by side with the Miao girl, and then he found that her figure was rather tall. She actually reached the upper part of his ear, at least 1.7 meters in height. This should be relatively rare among the Miao women he had seen along the way. He secretly marveled in his heart that this girl was not only outstanding in appearance but also so tall.

The Miao girl was still very vigilant. She frowned slightly and said, "Looking for someone? I know all the people in Tianwang Fort. Who are you looking for? If you can't tell, I'll tie you up and hand you over to the chieftain." There was an unquestionable determination in her words, and a firm resolve in her eyes.

Zhao Yuxuan could hardly believe that this girl, who looked gentle and pure, as slender as a willow in the wind, could actually say such threatening words as "I'll tie you up". He thought of being hit by her with a stone just now, and he was both angry and unconvinced in his heart. He thought to himself that he was just attracted by her song and came over to have a look, but she treated him like this. So he said a bit angrily, "Little girl, who I'm looking for here has nothing to do with you. Also, I heard you singing beautifully just now, so I came over to have a look. I really didn't expect you to throw a stone over so unreasonably. Forget it. I'm a man, and you're a woman. A gentleman doesn't fight with a woman. I'll let you off this time, but don't be so rude next time. You look so beautiful and refined, but your personality is so unruly. What a pity." As he said this, he planned to leave. He looked up at the sky. The setting sun in the sky was about to disappear completely, leaving only a faint afterglow. He was a bit worried in his heart. If he didn't reach Tianwang Fort soon, it would be dark.

Who knew that as soon as he lifted his foot, he saw that the Miao girl blocked in front of him again. She widened her eyes, with a determined look in them, and said, "No. Looking at you like this, you seem like a bad guy. Maybe you're a fugitive from the foot of the mountain. You must say who you're looking for, otherwise I'll really tie you up."

Zhao Yuxuan thought that his current appearance was indeed a bit wretched. His bruised and swollen face was indeed easy to arouse suspicion. It was not surprising that this girl was on guard. So he forgave her in his heart. But it was not a solution for her to block him so ungratefully. It was better to scare her away first.

Immediately, he also widened his eyes and opened his mouth, which was twice as thick as usual because of the injury. He thought in his heart that he should pretend to be fierce. He raised a fist and waved it in front of the Miao girl, deliberately saying ferociously, "Little girl, get out of the way quickly, otherwise I won't be polite to you..."

However, before Zhao Yuxuan could say the word "qi" (rude in Chinese), an ivory - like arm had been raised in front of him. The movement was quick and agile, and then a pink fist hit his nose squarely. The force of this punch was not small. Zhao Yuxuan only felt a sudden darkness in front of his eyes, with golden stars flashing everywhere, as if countless little stars were flying in front of his eyes. He involuntarily fell to the ground, and his nose was numb, as if it was no longer his own. A fishy liquid immediately flowed into his mouth. He reached out and touched it, and his hand was full of blood. He kept shouting "unlucky" in his heart. You know, his nose had been injured two days ago, and he didn't expect to be hit again now. He was a bit worried in his heart, not knowing whether it was broken. If so, it would be a big trouble.

At this time, he saw the Miao girl looking at him with contempt. There was a look of disdain in her eyes, and she said, "Do you think our Miao women are easy to bully? Let me tell you, if I had used a little more force just now, your nose would be gone. If you don't say who you're looking for, I won't let you leave."

Zhao Yuxuan was really angry. He had always looked down on men who hit women. However, he couldn't be a man who was randomly beaten by a woman either. The anger in his heart was burning, and he felt that his dignity had been challenged.

So, he bravely stood up, took out a napkin from his trouser pocket. His hand was shaking slightly, whether because of anger or pain, he himself couldn't tell. He tore the napkin in half, pinched them together to make two nose plugs, and then blocked his two nostrils, temporarily stopping the bleeding. He looked at the Miao girl and shouted loudly, "Well, you dare to attack me by surprise. Don't blame me for being really rude to you." He tried to make his voice sound very imposing, but because of the nose plugs, his voice sounded a bit muffled.

But frustratingly, he spoke so loudly that the two bloody nose plugs were suddenly ejected. This unexpected situation caught him off guard. Zhao Yuxuan quickly bent down to pick them up and stuffed them back in again. This unavoidably greatly reduced the imposing manner of his previous statement. He was a bit annoyed in his heart, feeling that he had made a fool of himself in front of this girl.

The Miao girl saw his so - comical appearance and subconsciously covered her mouth, as if she wanted to laugh. A glimmer of laughter flashed in her eyes, but she quickly put on a straight face again, as if she thought it was inappropriate to laugh in this situation. So she said, "Okay, I won't make the first move. Let you hit me."

Zhao Yuxuan was extremely angry, but looking at this beautiful girl in front of him, how could he bear to hurt her? However, if he didn't teach her a lesson, where would his dignity as a man be? He looked at this boulder. The boulder was more than three meters high. He was a bit worried in his heart, afraid that he might accidentally push her down and cause her to get hurt. So he slowly climbed down the boulder and then said, "Okay, you come down."

The Miao girl said proudly, "Come down as you wish. I want to see what's so great about you." As she said this, she showed a fearless look. Instead of walking from the place where Zhao Yuxuan had climbed down, she grabbed a vine, her body slid down swiftly like a nimble monkey. Then she jumped lightly, and in an instant, she was in front of Zhao Yuxuan.