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Chapter 233 The Demands of the Daika Tribe
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"Mr. Lin, please have your meal." A crisp, clear voice rang out. The heavy accent sounded somewhat like that of the Miao girl in "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer."
This is the Xiangxi region. Lin Yao already knew this while being transported in a car after being arrested, and it was confirmed again after arriving here.
Along the way, apart from a few masked kidnappers who didn't talk much, Lin Yao managed to gather some information from their snippets and determine their general identities, as well as the general area.
Xiangxi, a region in western Hunan Province, can be considered the "northwest gateway" and has always been the "throat" between Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou, making its geographical location of great strategic significance.
Lin Yao had a very weak impression of western Hunan. He only knew that there was a world-famous Fenghuang Ancient Town and a world-famous Zhangjiajie, as well as that there was a Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture there, with a strong ethnic flavor.
Another impression was that Yi Yang had mentioned in a casual conversation that there were some small families among the ethnic minorities in western Hunan who were skilled in poison and Gu techniques, as well as Miao witchcraft and talismans, which had long existed only in legends. However, the latter two skills were also legends to Yi Yang, since the aristocratic families in western Hunan had not appeared in public for many years.
The Miao girl, about fourteen or fifteen years old, wore a sky-blue traditional dress with intricate silk embroidery on the collar and cuffs. She looked extremely beautiful. Around her waist was an apron, its colors and patterns even more vibrant, giving the impression of appreciating art.
The girl was not tall, about 1.5 meters, and wore a silver collar. The collar was quite simple, with only a dozen or so silver rings like copper coins on a silver ring, but it was polished to a very bright shine. The bright silver-white made her look refreshing and radiant.
"Dika, have you eaten yet? Why don't you eat together?" Lin Yao said to the girl with a smile. He had been here for a week and had already built a good relationship with the girl he was serving, and they usually chatted and laughed together.
The Miao girl, Dika, wasn't shy at all. She arched her pretty eyebrows, grinned, revealing two dimples, and whispered, "Brother Lin, I haven't eaten yet, but I have to tell you I have, otherwise Alang (brother) will scold me, hehe."
"Then let's eat together. There's so much food here, I can't finish it all by myself. Don't worry, we'll just keep it a secret." Lin Yao really liked this little girl; she was innocent, pure, and incredibly optimistic. She was always smiling.
Although he was being held captive after being kidnapped, it didn't stop Lin Yao from appreciating beautiful women. The air and people here were quite nice, and apart from not being allowed to leave his room, there was really nothing awkward about it.
Of course, Lin Yao had only met a few people, including two beautiful women and one man.
“No, Brother Lin, you are a distinguished guest, I can’t eat with you.” Dika shook her head, glanced at the food on the table, waved her hand and walked away, her footsteps making the wooden floor creak. She was going to collect Lin Yao’s clean clothes, which was her daily task.
"Aya (elder sister), you're here! Brother Lin is eating. I'm going to do the laundry." Dika called out as soon as she stepped out of the room, her voice as clear and melodious as a nightingale's.
Lin Yao ate his meal, ignoring the girl who entered. He knew this was the masked girl who had kidnapped him from Chengdu last time. Although she looked quite beautiful in her ethnic costume, he had no interest in speaking to her. After all, he was the victim, while she was the kidnapper.
"Mr. Lin, how have you been these past few days? Is there anything you need? Please let me know." The girl's voice was also very pleasant, like a clear bell ringing in the wind, full of vitality.
"Nika, I need to go home." Lin Yao's tone was very flat. He had said this many times before, and he was too lazy to add any emotion to it, since it never worked anyway.
He felt a little regretful; how come every Miao girl had such a beautiful voice? It made him too embarrassed to speak ill of her.
No wonder Long Zuying sings so well; it turns out it's all thanks to her Miao ethnicity.
“Mr. Lin, I’m afraid that won’t work. Please forgive me.” Nika shook her head in refusal, looking somewhat embarrassed. “What about what Baka mentioned last time? What have you thought about it, Mr. Lin?”
"Of course not, no need to even consider it," Lin Yao replied outright.
Are you kidding me? Does he really intend to live in this place where all he sees are green hills and clear waters, and where there isn't even a cell phone or telephone?
Although this place is green, environmentally friendly, has fresh air, beautiful scenery, and pretty young girls, Lin Yao would never want to settle here, no matter what.
This place is only suitable for tourists who want to stay for three to five days to see something new. Lin Yao only stayed for a week before he got completely fed up. Life here is too monotonous!
I really don't know what the situation is like in Chengdu now. If his parents knew he had been kidnapped, they'd probably be devastated.
“Mr. Lin, please reconsider. We’re not in a hurry.” Nika spoke quickly, and although her words were a clear rejection, they didn’t sound like she was toying with or teasing anyone. It was as if she were talking to a close friend, and her tone was very casual.
Lin Yao didn't want to continue arguing with Nika. This girl was practically the Hong Kong version of Zhao Min, both in appearance and mannerisms and in her way of speaking.
I'm not Zhang Wuji, if I can't afford to mess with you, I'll just stay away and ignore you! Lin Yao buried his head in his food and stopped paying attention to Nika.
Nika was a little angry. Lin Yao always acted like an ostrich, and with her temper, she would have hung him up and whipped him long ago. But her father disagreed, which annoyed her. She came to ask him every day but got no answer. The anger that was being suppressed in her heart grew stronger and stronger, and one day it would explode.
"Nika, how is it? Has Mr. Lin agreed?" A strong male voice rang out. Lin Yaoshang had never heard this voice before, and he put down the food in his hand and looked up.
The man was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, of medium height, not particularly burly, but he gave off a very lean and capable impression. His exposed arm muscles were not exaggerated, just clearly defined veins without a trace of fat. Combined with his sun-darkened skin, he appeared to have explosive power and probably had good endurance as well.
Lin Yao made a judgment instantly at the early stage of the prefecture level.
Which family is this? How come there are so many people at the early stage of the Earthly Realm? Of the fifteen people who carried out the kidnapping in Chengdu last time, eleven were at the early stage of the Earthly Realm, and the highest-ranking one, the middle-aged masked man, had even reached the mid-stage of the Earthly Realm.
After carefully searching his memory, Lin Yao found nothing. He secretly regretted not asking Yi Yang more about the affairs of the martial arts world back then. He was too uninterested at the time, and even Yi Yang, who wanted to tell him, had no intention of continuing. He was worried that he would bother him.
"Koka, it's just in time. I'll leave this place to you. I'll head out now." Nika seemed to have been liberated. As soon as she saw someone arrive, she decided to leave. She didn't want to stay any longer, lest she lose control and attack Lin Yao. This sissy was really annoying, clingy and unwilling to agree to the family's conditions.
Could I really let him suffer a loss? Nika thought bitterly as she slipped outside.
"Hello Mr. Lin, my name is Kou, you can call me Kouka. What have you thought about the matter that Baka proposed last time?" Kouka seemed much more composed, and his voice was quite loud, making a good first impression. If it weren't for this meeting, Lin Yao would have been interested in getting to know him better, and it would be good to have a few more nodding acquaintances.
"You're good too, 'Kouka'," Lin Yao replied with a smile. "Why are you all called 'Ka'? Dika, Nika, Baka, Kouka, are there any other cards?"
Koka was taken aback, thinking to herself, "Are you deliberately trying to distract me? No wonder Nika always says this sissy is slippery, spouting irrelevant nonsense the first time he met me."
Suppressing her temper, Kouka answered Lin Yao's question, though her tone wasn't as enthusiastic as before. Miao people dislike people who are slow and uncooperative. "Miao people all have their own names, which are all monosyllabic. My name is 'Kou,' and Nika's is 'Ni.' There are no surnames in the Miao language. The reason we are called Kouka Nika is because we are from the Daika tribe. There is also a Dailie tribe nearby, and they add the character 'lie' to the end of their names."
“Mr. Lin, if you don’t agree, the clan will use other methods against you, and you’ll suffer.” Koka changed his tone back to be friendly, making a final effort.
“Mr. Koka, then just tell me directly, what are you after? How can I agree to this without saying anything?” Lin Yao also dropped his joking expression. In fact, he had long been impatient to stay here, so it was better for everyone to lay their cards on the table. “Last time, Baka only said that I should live here from now on. Do you have too much food here and need to call someone to help eat it?”
"Speak, what is it?" Lin Yao's imposing aura vanished in an instant, his sudden display of anger startling Kou Ka. He thought to himself that this level-one pharmacist was quite imposing; he had actually made him feel uneasy just now.
"Hand over the formula to help the Yi family advance; that's exactly what we want," Kouka said earnestly, staring into Lin Yao's eyes.
"Is it that simple?" Lin Yao retorted. "Then why didn't you say so earlier? Why did you have to wait until I've been here for so long before bringing it up? If you had said so earlier, everyone could have considered the terms, and if it was suitable, the deal could have been made and everyone could have gone their separate ways."