The dust settles

Chapter 16

Now, we can all see clearly that it is indeed the flower that makes the Maggie family strong.There are three poppies in total, standing tall and strong in the sun, and the clusters of flowers are shining.The lame butler set fire.We just walked towards those flowers.The ambushed gunmen fired.Bang!Pepper, pipe, pipe!There were four loud bangs like breaking a gong.The shooters must have been full of fear, otherwise it would have been impossible to fire four shots in a row and kill one of my men and injure the other.The poison examiner fell face down on the ground, grabbing a handful of grass in his hands.

The singer squatted on the ground covering his shoulders, blood slowly oozing from his fingers.I think it was a little silence before my men fired.It was a sudden storm.After a burst of gunfire, there was no sound in the woods, only the sound of torn leaves falling slowly.The four gunmen curled up as if they were afraid of the cold, and died under the big tree.

I can't recall why the poppies were not torn off, but dug down with bayonets.The results of the excavation were surprising.Under the three poppies are three square wooden boxes, inside which are three rotting human heads.Millet came out of the ears of the three heads.Just remember that we killed the man who stole the poppy seeds and returned the head to Chief Wang Po to understand what happened.The men put the seeds in their ears before they were caught.Chief Wang Po got poppy seeds from the heads of the victims!

Wang Bo commemorated his heroes with this ear blossoming.

We canceled our planned trip to the north, hurried back to Guanzhai.

On the way, the steward and I said that the news would surely surprise them.

But they, especially my brother, were more surprised than we could have imagined.

The wise man jumped up from his seat and shouted: "How is it possible, flowers are blooming in the ears of the dead!"

Before that, he was very friendly to me. In other words, among the brothers in the Tusi family, no older brother has ever been so kind to his younger brother.But this time it was different, he raised his contemptuous finger at me: "What do you know, a fool?"

Then, my elder brother rushed to the butler again and shouted, "I think you are having a nightmare!"

I really feel sorry for my brother.He is the smartest man in the world.His weakness is the occasional lack of intelligence himself.Usually, he is indifferent to everything.That doesn't mean he doesn't care about everything, it's that he's showing his intelligence - he can get everything clear and in order without paying attention.Seeing my brother's heartbroken look, I really wish I had a nightmare.When I woke up, I was still sleeping in a tent on the southern border, and the rain was still falling gradually.

But it's all true.I clapped my hands.

The boy Suo Lang Zelang walked in and opened the bundle in his hand.

Mrs. Toast immediately covered her nose with a silk scarf.Tana didn't dare to do such a thing, the stench filled the room, and I heard her gagging: Uh, pappa, pappa, pappa.Everyone walked slowly to the rotten head. The elder brother wanted to prove that someone had inserted the poppy temporarily, so he started to pull the seedling, and finally lifted the rotten head.He shook the seedlings.Mrs. Toast let out a cry.Everyone saw that the head was split open.The head fell apart and fell to the ground.Everyone can see that the root of the poppy has been inserted into the deep canal in the ear, and the roots stick out of the canal and go straight into the brain.The father looked at his brother and said, "It seems that it was not planted by people, but grew by itself."

The elder brother stretched his neck and said with difficulty: "I think so too."

Lama Monpa, who had been silent all this time, spoke.Call him Lama because he wants to be called that.He is actually a witch who is quite accomplished in spells and divination.

He asked me which direction the heads were facing when they were buried in the ground.I said, north, that is, the direction of Chieftain Maiqi.He asked if it was buried under a tree.I said yes.He said yes, the seeds were stolen there, and Maggie was cursed with the most vicious spells.He said to his elder brother: "Eldest young master, don't look at me like that. I eat and receive support from Maiqi's family, so I have to tell everything I know."

Mrs. Tusi said: "Lama, you can speak boldly."

The chieftain asked, "What did they curse us for?"

Lama Menba said: "I'll know what's with the head. I don't know if the second young master brought all the things back."

Of course we brought everything back.

Lama Monpa used his fine white rue to fumigate the foul smell in the room before leaving to study those things.My brother slipped out too.The chieftain asked the butler how he found out.

The butler explained the process vividly.There is no lack of mention of how important the young master played.After hearing this, the chieftain looked at my mother first, and then closed me with an unprecedented gaze.Then he sighed, which I understood meant to say, well, you're still a fool after all.What he said in his mouth was: "You can go to the north again next year for a cruise. At that time, I will send you more followers."

Mother said: "I haven't thanked my father yet."

I sat there without speaking.

At this moment, Lama Monpa came in and reported, "Chief Wangpo has cursed our poppies."

To be overwhelmed by egg-sized hailstones at the peak of growth.Chief Tusi let out a sigh of relief: "Well, he wants to fight us, so let's start today."

Everyone started discussing, but I sat there and fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was almost dawn.Someone put a blanket over me.At this time, I remembered another thing, I ticked my fingers at Lama Monpa.He came over and said with a smile, "What did the young master's eyes see again?"

I told him what kind of medicine the Songba headman gave me and I threw it away.He immediately yelled: "My God! What kind of magical medicine did you throw away? Now, who has the skills to make a pill with wind and light!" He said, "Master, you didn't take a bite of it!" Just throw it away?"

I said, "No."

He said, "So you throw up and feel like a worm wants to come out of your stomach?"

The butler said, "It's not a bug, the young master said it was a fish."

Laru stumbled and sighed: "That's it, that's it, if you spit out all those things, your illness will be gone!" After all, a lama is a lama, and he has his own words for everything, "That's fine," he said , "If this matter fails, there will be no problem dealing with Wang Bo."

I asked my father, "Is there going to be a war?"

Father nodded.

I said again, "Call it the Poppy War."

They all just looked at me, and no one took the words down.In the past, when there was Maiqi Tusi, there were special clerks to record the words and deeds of the Tusi.So, until now, we still know what the first three generations of chieftains of the Maiqi family did, what they ate, and what they said.

Later, there was a guy who wrote down things that shouldn't be written down, and he asked the fourth chieftain Maiqi to kill him.Since then, Mai Qi has no clerk, and since then, we don't know what the predecessors have done.The hereditary post of clerk was shared with the executioner.The executioner's family is still there today, but the clerk is gone.Sometimes, in my foolish head, I would think that if I were chieftain, I would have to have a clerk.It must be very interesting to get the records every once in a while to see what I said and what I did.Once, I said to Suolang Zelang: "I will ask you to be my clerk from now on." The servant yelled at that time and said, "Then I will change with Eryi. He will be your clerk, and I will be your clerk." Executioner!"

I thought, if there was a clerk, he would stand behind me at this moment, licking the black charcoal refill.Remembered the nice name: Poppy War.

17. Poppy Wars

My mother said that the seeds of a plant will eventually grow elsewhere, and we shouldn’t worry so much about it. Even if people don’t come to steal it, the wind will blow over and the birds’ wings will get on it. It’s just a matter of time.

Father said, we just do nothing and just watch?

Mrs. Toast pointed out that we can of course use this as an excuse to attack the enemy.Just don't worry too much about yourself.She also said that if you want to start a war on poppies, you must get the support of Commissioner Huang.

For the first time, no one disputed her opinion.

It was also the first time that the chieftain's letter was written by his wife in Chinese characters.Mother has to seal the envelope.At this time, the elder brother who delivered the letter said, "It's not necessary, I don't know the written language of the Han people."

Mother said very kindly: "It's not about whether you want to see it, but to make it appear that the Maggie family understands the rules."

Before the courier returned, he received reliable information that a large number of witches and witches working for chieftain Wangbo were gathering on the southern border, and they were about to cast a curse on Maiqi's family.

A special war is about to begin.

The wizards built a mandala on the hill where the executioner's family lived.Led by Lama Monba, they wore colorful clothes and hats with weird shapes, not to mention innumerable magic weapons, and even more innumerable offerings to gods and ghosts.I also saw that from ancient times to the present, all the weapons used by people have gathered here.From stone knives and axes to bows and arrows, from catapults to muskets, only our machine guns and quick guns are not among the weapons prepared for God.Lama Monpa told me that the gods he invited would not use these new weapons.He also looked at the sky with one eye when he spoke to me.The weather was very clear, with thin white clouds floating in the sea-like blue sky.It was these clouds that the lamas kept an eye on in case they suddenly changed color.White clouds are auspicious clouds.The enemy wizards tried their best to make these clouds carry huge thunder, long lightning, and countless hailstones.

One day, such a cloud really came from the south.

The war between the gods and witches is more lively than real swords and guns.

As soon as the dark clouds appeared in the southern sky, Lama Menpa put on a huge warrior helmet and appeared like a character in a play, with triangular and circular flags on his back.He took one out from his back, shook it, and all the chimes on the hill: Xiejian, drums, ai na, and bells all rang.Row after row of muskets fired into the sky.The clouds came to a stop over us, billowing and billowing, as dark inside as outside, the color of the cursed.The rumble of thunder rolled around overhead.But there are so many incantations from the mouths of our witches, so many offerings on our altars, and so many weapons that look like toys but are very effective against gods and demons alike.Finally, the dark clouds were driven away.The poppy field, the official village, and the gathered crowd of Maiqi's family were once again bathed in bright sunshine.Holding the sword in his hand, Lama Moinpa was sweating profusely, panting, and said to my father, the hailstones in the clouds have turned into rain, can we make them fall to the ground?

The strenuous look was like the rain in the sky asked him to hold it up with a sword.Toast Maiqi said with a serious expression, "If you can guarantee it's rain."

Lama Monba let out a long cry, put his sword in his arms, and all the chimes on the hill stopped immediately.

A gust of wind blew through, and that cloud no longer rolled like a man with a stomach ache.It stretched out, became wider than before, and poured a lot of rain on the ground.We sat in the sun and watched the heavy rain not far away.Lama Menba fell to the ground, asked people to remove his helmet, and helped him into the tent to rest.I ran to look at the helmet that Lama Monba was wearing just now. It weighed thirty or forty catties. I really don't know how strong he is. Wearing it, he can jump up and down and do tricks with his sword.

The chieftain entered the tent where Lama Menba was resting, and some little witches and future witches wiped the lama's sweat.The father said, "It's sweating. My son doesn't know how heavy your hat is."

At this time, Lama Monba was very weak, and he said in a hoarse voice, "I was also asking people to go to the gods for a while so I didn't feel heavy." stand up.I don't think it's useful.

(End of this chapter)