Obscuris Labyrinth

Lin Yaxuan gently shook her head and said helplessly, "No. According to the elders in Tianwang Fort, since Lin Yaoyang left those words, over the past thousands of years, countless people have wanted to decipher their meaning. There were Miao people, Han people, and even foreigners. Among them, some stayed here for as long as more than ten years, but in the end, no one was able to recognize these characters. In recent years, fewer and fewer people have come to try to decipher them."

Zhao Yuxuan's eyes were fixed intently on the barely recognizable strange characters on the huge stone. The more he looked at them, the more he felt that these characters were very similar to those in the ancient jade. His heart couldn't help but start beating violently. What kind of connection was there between this huge stone and that ancient jade? His father had once said that the ancient jade was at least thousands of years old. This meant that the characters in the ancient jade could still be recognized in Lin Yaoyang's time more than a thousand years ago, but later, somehow, they were lost. So many scholars and experts from all ethnic groups and countries couldn't decipher them. It was probably more difficult than climbing to the sky for him to figure out their meaning. However, he secretly swore in his heart that he would never give up easily.

Seeing that Zhao Yuxuan's eyes had been fixed on the strange characters on the huge stone, Lin Yaxuan pouted her cherry - like lips in dissatisfaction and said, "Zhao bad guy, don't waste your energy here. Didn't you hear what grandpa said? These characters are probably the ancient characters of our Miao ethnic group. You don't even know our current Miao characters, let alone these ancient and mysterious ones. Well, grandpa asked me to show you around. Now that we've been here, I've completed my task. Let's go back for lunch."

Zhao Yuxuan looked up and saw that the sun was already overhead. He knew it was noon, and his stomach also started growling, so he nodded. Lin Yaxuan was right. He really knew nothing about the Miao characters, and he should indeed learn more about Miao culture.

The two of them turned around and walked towards Tianwang Fort. This time, when walking across the "Thin Blade", Zhao Yuxuan was not as frightened as when he first came, but he was still extremely cautious. He knew very well that walking in such a narrow place, if he was just a little careless, he would fall into the deep valley below and would surely be smashed to pieces.

About forty minutes later, Lin Yaxuan and Zhao Yuxuan returned to Xingyao Manor. At this time, Grandma Li Yuexuan had already prepared the meal and was waiting for them to come back.

After listening to Lin Yaxuan's introduction of Grandma Li Yuexuan, Zhao Yuxuan began to look at her carefully. She was wearing a red - and - black cloth garment unique to the Miao ethnic group, with some simple silver ornaments on her body. Her hair was coiled into a bun on her head. She had phoenix - like eyes, long and slender eyebrows, a beautiful nose, and cherry - like lips, and she was very beautiful. Lin Yaxuan's appearance was somewhat similar to hers, but Lin Yaxuan was taller and her eyes and eyebrows were more delicate.

However, what surprised Zhao Yuxuan the most was Grandma Li Yuexuan's skin. It was really white with a rosy tinge, very different from others. Although, like ordinary Miao women, she did housework every day, her skin was as tender as smooth white jade, and there was not a single crow's - foot wrinkle at the corners of her eyes. If it weren't for her mature charm, people might believe that she was only twenty - seven or twenty - eight years old. This made Zhao Yuxuan feel a shock in his heart whenever he thought of Lin Yaxuan saying that grandma was already seventy - three years old. This was also the only reason that enabled him to associate Grandma Li Yuexuan with the title of "the First Witch of the Miao Ethnic Group".

Seeing the two of them come back, Grandma Li Yuexuan called out loudly for Li Ruize to come down for lunch.

Before long, Li Ruize, looking haggard and weather - beaten, walked down slowly. Everyone sat around a dining table in the hall and started to have lunch. Looking at Li Ruize's aged appearance, Zhao Yuxuan felt very strange. If Grandma Li Yuexuan was really seventy - three years old, she must have some secrets for maintaining her youthful appearance. Why didn't she pass them on to Li Ruize? The age gap between them made them look very mismatched.

While Li Ruize was asking Lin Yaxuan some things, everyone started having lunch. This was the first time that Zhao Yuxuan had a meal with the Miao people, and he could see that Grandma Li Yuexuan had specially added some dishes, including fish and meat. The dishes were mainly sour and spicy, and they tasted very delicious. Zhao Yuxuan ate with great relish and soon ate three bowls of white rice. He was even surprised at his own appetite. You know, in his past urban life, no matter how sumptuous the banquet was, he would feel full after eating at most one small bowl of rice. Now that his situation had suddenly changed, his appetite had increased so much.

Li Ruize and Zhao Yuxuan didn't have much conversation. Li Ruize just told Zhao Yuxuan that he could walk around the Miao village more these days, learn more about Miao customs and rules, so that his visit would not be in vain. He also told Zhao Yuxuan that Lin Yaxuan usually had to study with him and Grandma Li Yuexuan, and could no longer accompany him. He should go and interact with the people in the village by himself.

After lunch, as expected, Lin Yaxuan followed Grandma Li Yuexuan out. Zhao Yuxuan knew in his heart that she must be going to learn some fighting and self - defense skills. He kind of wanted to go and learn secretly, but when he thought that Grandma Li Yuexuan was very powerful, if he secretly went to learn and violated her taboo, the result would surely be very bad, so he had to give up this idea.

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During the following period, Zhao Yuxuan stayed in Tianwang Fort and gradually became familiar with the people around him. Fortunately, almost all the Miao people here could speak Chinese, so there was no difficulty in communication. Zhao Yuxuan very humbly learned the Miao language and characters from them.

However, it was at this time that he was extremely shocked.

It turned out that the Miao ethnic group, which has a population of several million and is distributed in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, as well as the United States, Canada, Argentina, French Guiana, France, Australia and many other countries, has a history of thousands of years, but no language or writing has been passed down. Most of the Miao people are also proficient in Chinese. In some areas, Miao people are also proficient in Bouyei or Yi languages, etc. Besides, there are also many Miao people who use Dong or Yao Mian languages as their mother tongues. And some existing Miao scripts, such as the square - shaped Miao script created by Shi Pantang in western Hunan and the shorthand Miao script created by Shi Qigui in western Hunan, were all created in modern times and have not been fully promoted either.

Zhao Yuxuan had asked many elderly people in the village. In the Miao poems, ballads, and legend stories passed down from generation to generation among them, without exception, ancient Miao characters were mentioned. Even an elderly Miao person who had once worked in the provincial capital told him that in order to find the ancient Miao characters, he had read a large number of local documents, but apart from some records indicating that the Miao ethnic group did indeed have its own language and writing in the past, he had no other findings.

This was another mystery, an incredible mystery. This made Zhao Yuxuan feel that everything about the "Miao" ethnic group was becoming more and more mysterious. He really didn't know how to solve these mysteries, and finally decipher the strange characters left by Lin Yaoyang at the foot of Lingjiu Peak, and then find the clues to the mystery of his parents' death. He felt that his head was like a mess of tangled hemp, and he couldn't find any direction to untie it at all.