240: Chapter 240 Gu Market

Early the next morning.

When the sunlight spilled into the stilted building, the entire Hulu Ancient Village had already awakened.

The morning in the Miao Border was filled with a vibrant, earthy atmosphere of mortal life.

The crowing of roosters came from afar, and villagers herding black goats to graze occasionally passed under the wooden building, letting out long, drawn-out shouts.

On the dining table on the second floor.

The atmosphere was extremely eerie.

Lin Ye sat in the main seat, holding a bowl of the Miao people's signature hot and sour rice noodles, slurping them with great relish.

Leng Yue and Frost Star sat on his sides.

As for Ayugu sitting opposite him.

She kept her head down from start to finish, staring intently at the rice noodles in her bowl.

Her face was as red as a ripe tomato, and she didn't dare raise her head to look at Lin Ye even for a glance.

Whenever Lin Ye's gaze inadvertently swept over her, she would tremble all over like a startled rabbit, subconsciously clamping her legs together.

That scene of bare-all honesty last night was like pressing the loop playback button in her mind.

Thinking about how her most intimate parts had been seen completely by this wicked boss, she felt so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole overnight and bury herself.

"Why aren't you eating? The pickled vegetables in these noodles were pickled personally by your second aunt, and the taste is quite authentic."

Lin Ye tapped the table, naturally starting a typical straight-man conversation out of nothing to say.

As if that old pervert who had seen everything of hers last night wasn't him at all.

"It's... none of your business! I have no appetite today!"

Ayugu stammered a retort, but her momentum was obviously a hundred thousand miles weaker than before.

Leng Yue held her teacup, her dark golden eyes sweeping back and forth between the two.

Although she didn't go out to watch the excitement last night, just looking at the strange magnetic field reaction between these two, she had already guessed seven or eight parts of it.

However, she didn't expose them, only taking an elegant sip of tea.

"The weather is nice today, and we have nothing to do during the day anyway. Ayugu, since you are back home, fulfill your role as a host and take us around your village."

Leng Yue spoke up to break the awkward atmosphere.

Hearing the first madam speak, Ayugu felt a sense of relief, quickly slurping up the last mouthful of noodles in her bowl and standing up.

"Okay! I will take you to visit the liveliest Miao market in our Hulu Ancient Village! You absolutely won't see a place like that outside!"

...

After breakfast.

Led by Ayugu, the group mighty and grandly walked out of the stilted building, following the bluestone slab path toward the central area of the village.

Compared to the modern cities outside.

This ancient village hidden deep within the Ten Thousand Mountains retained a strong ethnic characteristic.

The village streets were not spacious, and the shops on both sides were all open-air stalls built of wood.

Seeing Ayugu, the residents here enthusiastically greeted her in the Miao language.

And seeing outsiders like Lin Ye and Helena, although there was a trace of curiosity in their eyes, there was even more of a reverence originating from their bones.

After all, the distinguished guests whom the High Priest personally welcomed at the Wind and Rain Bridge last night had a status equivalent to the most noble Gu God emissary in this village.

"Boss, look! That's the shop for making silver jewelry over there!"

Ayugu regained a bit of her liveliness, pointing at a stall ahead glowing with fire.

A shirtless, dark-skinned Miao old man was waving a small hammer, beating a piece of red-hot silver with 'clang, clang' sounds.

In the Miao Border, silver was not only a symbol of wealth, but also a sacred object for warding off evil and avoiding poison.

The old man's technique looked very ancient, and with every hammer blow, he could leave exquisite flower and bird patterns on the silver sheet.

Frost Star was very interested in these shiny things.

She ran over, picked up a newly crafted silver bracelet, and gestured with it on her wrist.

"Brother-in-law, does this look good?"

"It looks good, but your body temperature is too low. If you wear it, it will freeze in a moment."

Lin Ye smiled and shook his head.

Continuing to walk forward, the painting style began to become increasingly bizarre.

Passing through the area selling silver jewelry and batik fabrics, the street ahead was shrouded in a strange smell of herbal medicine and rotting flesh.

This was the true core trading area of the Wangu Ancient Tribe — the Gu Market.

On the stalls along both sides of the street, what was placed were no longer daily necessities.

Instead, they were black pottery jars of various sizes, bamboo tubes, and hollowed-out skulls!

"My Lord..."

Helena followed behind, her eyes filled with shock.

She saw at a stall that a lean Miao granny was casually teasing a dark purple two-headed poisonous snake as thick as an arm with a grass stick.

The venomous snake's tongue flicked out, faintly carrying a fishy, sweet mist.

And on another stall, there were over a dozen transparent glass bottles.

Unsurprisingly, what was inside the bottles was not wine.

What was contained inside were giant beetles emitting a dim green fluorescence one by one.

"These are the larvae of the [Drunk Dream Butterfly]."

As the host, Ayugu proudly introduced them.

"Don't look at how ugly it looks right now; once it emerges into a butterfly, its wings will emit a pleasant-smelling fragrant powder."

"As long as one inhales just a little bit, it can make a person fall into the most wonderful dreamland and unable to wake up for three days and three nights. Outside, this thing is a priceless, hard-to-find divine sleeping pill!"

Lin Ye squatted down, looked at the glowing bug, rubbed his chin, and his occupational disease acted up again.

"This thing is quite interesting. If it can be mass-cultivated and packaged to sell to those insomniac urban executives and wealthy women, the profit will definitely be much higher than selling sleeping pills."

"It's simply a solid monopolistic super-profiteering industry!"

Ayugu rolled her eyes. "Boss, every three sentences and you don't leave the topic of making money. You don't know how difficult it is to cultivate this Drunk Dream Butterfly; it needs to be fed with virgin blood for three years before it can emerge. How could it be mass-produced?"

"Then what about this?"

Frost Star pointed to a bamboo cage hanging under the eaves nearby.

Inside the cage was imprisoned a bug that looked like a cicada, but had a distorted human face growing on its back.

That bug was rhythmically making an eerie cry.

Because its cry was unexpectedly identical to the voice Lin Ye had used to speak just now!

"This is called the [Echo Cicada]."

Ayugu leaned closer, bragging somewhat proudly.

"It can perfectly replicate and store all the sounds it hears. As long as you feed it a drop of blood, it will loop play the sound you designate."

"In the past, the people in our village used it to transmit secret codes and intelligence deep in the mountains."

Hearing this introduction, Lin Ye's eyes instantly lit up.

"Isn't this a natural ultra-miniature living wiretap?! It doesn't even need batteries, and there's no electronic signal radiation at all!"

"If this is sold to The Ninth Bureau, or to companies engaging in corporate espionage..."

Lin Ye rubbed his hands together, looking at these weird Gu insects as if he were seeing a huge gold mine.

"Tsk tsk, you Miao Border people are guarding such a huge treasure trove and living a hard life in the mountains every day; it's simply a waste of heavenly things."

"Ayugu, do you complain about having no money all day long? Aren't all these things money?"

"After resolving the matters here, I must have a good talk with the High Priest about the exclusive agency rights for this 'special agricultural product export'."

Facing Lin Ye's bizarre line of thinking.

Ayugu was completely speechless.

Just as the group was walking and stopping in this Gu Market.

"Gurgle..."

A loud stomach-growling sound came from Frost Star's flat and tight lower abdomen.

"Brother-in-law, I think these bugs are not delicious at all. I'm hungry."

Frost Star stuck out her tongue, held her stomach, and pitifully tugged at Lin Ye's sleeve.

"Glutton."

Lin Ye smiled and pinched her cheek.

"Alright, Ayugu, lead the way. Let's go taste the authentic delicacies here."

Ayugu led the crowd to a stilted restaurant by the water.

"Boss, give us five bowls of signature sour soup noodles! And cut two plates of smoked ribs!"

Ayugu shouted familiarly.

Soon, the steaming hot food was served.

Those sour soup noodles were fermented using the unique red sour of the Miao Border.

The soup base was rich and bright red, sprinkled with litsea cubeba and houttuynia cordata, looking very appetizing.

Frost Star slurped and ate until she was sweating all over, crying out in sheer enjoyment.

"Boss, besides noodles, we also have the most nourishing specialty snacks here. Would you like to try them?"

Ayugu's eyes rolled around craftily.

"What good stuff?" Lin Ye asked casually while holding his bowl.

Ayugu waved at the restaurant owner.

After a while, the owner walked over carrying a black plate.

On the plate was a pile of bugs fried until they were golden, crispy, and still sizzling with oil!

"This is high protein! It's dozens of times that of beef. Eat some of this, and it's guaranteed to make you full of vigor tonight!" Ayugu pushed the plate toward Lin Ye.

"666, it's still the beef-multiple law."

Lin Ye looked at the fried bugs on the plate and spoke.

"However, didn't we eat them at your house last night?"

"The cooking method and seasonings are completely different, have a taste."

Ayugu pushed the plate again.

"Eat! This is delicious!"

Frost Star had already eaten them last night, and now her eyes shone brightly as she directly reached out to grab a fried bee pupa and shoved it into her mouth, chewing it crunchily with great relish.

"Brother-in-law, you should eat some too!"

She picked up the fattest fried bamboo worm and shoved it directly to Lin Ye's lips.

Seeing this, Lin Ye bit down on that bug in one bite.

"Crunch."

Not to mention, it was quite crispy.

After dinner, several people continued to stroll forward. The bustling Gu Market made everyone temporarily forget the external disturbances.

...

As the sun gradually slanted westward.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over the Heishui River, dyeing the river water into an eerie dark red.