劍問蒼天 - 第121章 烈酒 - 翰墨軒

The old man was plainly a person of no small standing, and deeply familiar with this place held sacred in the hearts of the Miao. He showed no hesitation but walked straight into the depths of the altar. Now and then a Miao shaman appeared along the way, and the two would greet each other. Had Ming Li and Xiaobai seen this, they would surely have guessed the old man's identity.

For who but the other shamans of the altar could be greeted so by a man of a Miao shaman's rank—and the chief of the whole Miao people.

The old man walked on, through a broad passage, until he came to the innermost recess of the altar, the largest chamber within it.

From the stone door hung ornaments made of the bones of fierce beasts, and the stone walls all around were smeared with fresh red blood, a sign of devout sacrifice to the ancestors.

Seen from the darkness, everything here looked utterly savage.

Yet to the Miao this was the holiest of places. A solemn look came over the old man's face; he straightened his garments and slowly walked in.

The vast stone chamber was empty and bare. Only at the far end burned a single fire, standing out sharply in the gloom.

Before the fire stood a strange stone statue, likewise carved from a single block of rock: the head of a hound, but with a full body, sharp claws on its feet, and two pairs of wings upon its back. A very strange image indeed—plainly the deity the Miao worshipped.

And in that great chamber there was only one person, his back bent and aged, sitting silently before the fire as though in meditation, or as though keeping some silence.

This strange place somehow gave one the eerie sense that time itself had been held fast here, halted and unable to move on.

Here everything seemed still and silent.

The fire blazed high, casting the figure before it now bright, now dim.

The old man walked slowly forward and stopped ten feet behind the figure. In a low, reverent voice he said, "Great Shaman."

The figure seated before the fire stirred, and an aged voice came: "Tu Magu, why have you come back? Did I not already tell you the will of the Hound God? Is there something that still confounds you?"

This old man whom he called Tu Magu was none other than the chief of the Miao people of the southern borderlands. In all respect he said, "Great Shaman, I fully understand the Hound God's meaning, and I will surely act according to his will."

The great shaman did not turn around. "Oh, that is well. But what is it that has brought you back? I sense some unease in your heart."

Chief Tu Magu frowned slightly, as though weighing how to put it. After a moment he decided to speak plainly. "Great Shaman, two strangers from the Central Plains have come to the foot of Qili Gorge. They wish to pay their respects to you."

The great shaman's body stirred. The head that had faced the fire and the stone hound all this while turned slightly toward him, though one could glimpse only the sparse, wholly white hair.

"Who are they? I have not set foot outside this altar in nearly a hundred years. Why would men of the Central Plains come seeking me?"

Tu Magu said, "Yes, I found it very strange myself, and so I came up to ask you, Great Shaman—shall I let them come up?"

The great shaman was silent a moment. "Did they say what they want?"

Tu Magu said, "Yes. It is a man and a woman. The man said he wishes to ask the great shaman to heal a friend of his."

The great shaman gave a cold snort. "I must attend to the Hound God. I have no time for such people. Refuse them for me."

Tu Magu was taken aback, but he said no more. "Very well. I will go and convey your meaning." He turned to go.

But he had taken only a few steps when the great shaman's voice came suddenly from behind him: "Wait."

Tu Magu turned back. "What is it, Great Shaman? Is there something else?"

The great shaman's bent figure still faced the fire, but his aged voice came slowly: "This illness they would have me cure—what is it?"