Tomb Raider: The man is in the Nine Gates, but the system insists it's the Primordial Era.

"No, for some reason, my brow keeps twitching."

As Partridge Whistle walked with him towards the Miao village ahead, Partridge Whistle leaned against a tree trunk, his face looking rather pale.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Partridge Whistle frowned and stepped forward to check on Su Mu's physical condition.

Su Mu shook his head. He knew his own condition; it was definitely not due to illness or possession by evil spirits.

He couldn't quite explain why he felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

After waiting for a while, the discomfort persisted, so Su Mu endured the inexplicable unease and continued to follow Partridge Whistle and the others into the Miao village.

"Hmm!"

As soon as we entered the Miao village, we heard excited shouts from ahead.

Seeing that it was the Miao boy he had helped at Changsheng Mountain, Su Mu's distress subsided considerably, and a pleasant smile appeared on his lips.

The foreshadowing he had laid earlier was now playing its due role.

"Go home, I, Apu, can speak human language." The Miao boy rubbed the back of his head and grinned.

Su Mu couldn't help but smile.

This guy summarized the Han people's language as "human language," which means he's implying that the Miao people's language isn't human language.

at the same time.

Su Mu also noticed that the people in this Miao village were slightly different from the Miao people he had met outside.

Everyone here has very well-developed limbs and a lot of muscle, regardless of gender.

They all had bronze skin, and their brows exuded a rugged and untamed aura.

The boy kept calling out, pointing Su Mu and the others in the direction of their home.

Along the way, the Miao men and women who passed by all showed a sense of resistance when they saw Su Mu and his group dressed and looked like Han Chinese.

Since the boy didn't speak much Chinese and could only use gestures, Su Mu and the others didn't bother to talk to him any further.

After a while.

The boy led Su Mu and the others to his home, where they met "Apu," the one the boy had mentioned who could speak human language.

At this moment, Su Mu realized that the "Apu" in the other person's words actually meant his grandfather.

The old man, tapping his thick water pipe, leaned back in his recliner and glanced sideways at Su Mu and his group: "So, you're the one who saved my grandson?"

"As expected, you have no good intentions. You've come to my door asking for payment. There are some herbs I collected in the mountains in the yard. Take whichever one you like. These herbs are quite valuable to you Han people. Consider this my way of thanking you."

Upon entering, Su Mu glanced at the herbs that the old man had placed in a bamboo basket to dry, but saw nothing unusual.

Upon hearing this, Partridge Whistle's junior brother, Old Foreigner, immediately changed his expression: "A small place is a small place. Even getting things done is done in a petty way. This young man probably saved your grandson out of kindness. We didn't come here to ask for a reward. Can you still stay here? Let's go, senior brother, young man."

Partridge Whistle turned his head to look at Su Mu.

His meaning was very clear: Su Mu's decision on whether to stay or leave was entirely up to him.

"Kill the chicken, kill the chicken to eat!" The boy ran over and tugged at his grandfather's beard, hopping and skipping playfully.

The old man, still inhaling the smoke from his pipe, nearly choked on the smoke upon hearing this: "Cough, cough, you really believe him that much?"

The boy nodded vigorously: "He's amazing. He took on five people. When I got beaten up, they were all laughing, but he didn't. He helped me."

The old man slightly raised his cloudy eyes and began to look directly at Su Mu and the others.

Throughout history, ethnic minorities have rarely been treated normally by Han Chinese from outside the region.

Despite the language barrier, they were still born in China and were children of this land. After being treated this way by outsiders, they gradually united and began to show xenophobic sentiments.

It's actually quite normal for boys who can't speak the language to be hit and laughed at.

But if someone can't stand by and watch this happen, and even steps in to help, then that person's moral character is truly outstanding.

At least in the eyes of this Miao old man, he deserves respect.

"Then let's start a fire and cook. I'm an old man, and although you are my guests, I'd still like to trouble you to catch a chicken from the yard. Grandson, go start the fire, and don't cause any trouble."

The old man got up and swayed as he fiddled with the herbs he was drying.

"I'm good at this kind of thing, I'll do it!"

The old foreigner, who was also the junior brother of Partridge Whistle, volunteered and headed for the magnificent rooster with beautiful plumage that was kept in a cage in the yard.

Last night, Su Mu had told Partridge Whistle about the Angry Rooster, so after arriving here, Partridge Whistle immediately noticed something unusual about the rooster in the courtyard that crowed so loudly.

【Phoenix Clan. Angry Sun Chicken】

[Effect: Unknown]

[Type: Demon Bloodline (Incomplete)]

Su Mu glanced at it, but didn't rush to look at the angry-eyed rooster. Instead, he walked to the kitchen door and watched the boy light the firewood.

"Do the witches here possess these traits due to their bloodline, or are they acquired through their diet?"

Su Mu had been pondering this question on the way here.

If someone is born with the bloodline of the Wu clan, then Su Mu will most likely be unable to obtain their bloodline.

Unless Sumu marries a Miao girl from this area, the child born might carry the bloodline of a shaman.

Besides this, Su Mu couldn't think of any other way.

"We've been walking for a while and are a bit thirsty. Where is your water?"

Su Mu walked into the kitchen and asked, pretending to be thirsty.

The boy pointed to the water vat behind him: "It's clean, drink."

Su Mu lifted the lid of the water tank and looked inside, but still found nothing unusual.

The rice container was on one side, but there was no system display.

Regarding food, Su Mu searched everywhere but found no system prompts.

Does this mean we can only watch helplessly as the foundation of witchcraft slips away right under our noses?

"I've already given up on the path of cultivation and am waiting for the path of the Witch Clan. What haven't I noticed? You're so dense, hurry up and think!"

Su Mu patted his forehead and shook his head repeatedly.

Bloodline, bloodline.

No, we can't keep thinking in that direction.

Bloodline is innate; unless one undergoes a blood transfusion like the Zhang family, special blood transfusion equipment is required.

No, it can't be passed down through bloodlines anymore, wait, inheritance.

The legacy of witchcraft.

"Are there any old temples or anything like that around here?" Su Mu stood by the kitchen window, his hands gripping the mud slabs on the windowsill.

"Kid, don't even think about it. All the valuables in the temple have already been taken and swindled by you Han Chinese. We don't have any antiques here, so give up on that idea."

The old man coughed twice and continued to fiddle with the herbs that were drying.

There really was a witch temple!

"I don't want any antiques. Where's the temple? I want to see it."

"Go straight that way, turn the corner and you'll get there. You're too late. Last time an army came and looted everything, leaving only twelve broken statues, each one strangely shaped. Nobody knows who carved them; they don't even resemble a human being..."

Hearing the old man's unconscious sarcastic words, Su Mu's heart burned with passion.

Is it really the Ancestral Witch Temple with twelve ancestral witches?