Between seas

When Jiang Yizhou said this, Boss Qian was pouring tea for several people himself.Hearing this, his hands trembled slightly, and some hot tea splashed onto the table.He lightly put down the unfinished tea, looked up at Shen Boru, and said in a low voice: "It's not convenient to talk here. A few... Come along with me. After seeing the little girl, it will be clear."

Qian walked in front to lead the way, they passed the Hanging Flower Gate, and then there was a Chaoshou verandah.On one side of the veranda is a pond with shallow blue water, reflecting the skylight.Among the soft water plants, there are several koi chasing each other.

Miss Qian's boudoir is on the west side of the pond.Boss Qian pushed open the closed door, stepped in, and called out, "Pingping."

No one answered.

Shen Boru saw that the small room was covered with light blue gauze curtains, revealing a woman's figure indistinctly.

She was sitting in front of the desk, holding a pen in her right hand, as if she was drawing.But her neck is empty and has no head.

Boss Qian's eyes were red. He turned his head and couldn't bear to look at it. He said regretfully, "I've never seen such a thing. People can still live after losing their heads. It's just that they can't eat or drink, can't see or hear. I don't know how much longer they can last." sky."

Jiang Yizhou asked: "Miss Qian's head, how long did you lose it, and when did you lose it?"

Boss Qian recalled: "Three nights ago, because the monks of Fengxian Temple invited Pingping to paint some murals for them, I also went. Fengxian Temple is far away from the city, and it was already dark when I came back.. ...."

As Boss Qian spoke, he frowned, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his face flushed, his mouth grew wide, and a "ho ho" sound came out of his throat, panting violently.It was as if something was strangling his neck, preventing him from continuing.

Boss Qian's eyes were wide open, watching his hands shaking like chaff sieves, he raised them up slowly uncontrollably, and grabbed his neck violently.The veins in the ten fingers were exposed, and the strength was so great that he wanted to strangle himself to death.

Sanbao was stunned by this sudden change, she covered her mouth, and said in amazement: "What...what's going on?"

"It's Nightmare Town!" Shen Boru reacted very quickly, he pinched the formula with his right hand, a thin stream of water lingered between his fingers, and lightly touched Boss Qian's neck.

Boss Qian was hit by the stream of water, and his hands regained consciousness instantly.He let out a cry of pain, quickly let go of himself, and fell to the ground as if he lost his strength.

Nightmare Town, a type of victory-hating technique, is a very vicious curse.Spellcasters often cast spells on inconspicuous small objects, such as a piece of hair or a piece of paper, and let the victim carry them with him.It usually occurs at a specific time and a specific place, killing people invisible.

The water dissipated, and a very small object floated down from Boss Qian's head.Shen Boru stretched out his right hand and caught it in his palm.

A wolf hair on a brush.

Shen Boru twisted the wolf hair in the palm of his right hand. He saw a little bit of unwashed ink on the tip of the wolf hair, rubbed it, and asked: "When you went to Fengxian Temple three days ago, was there anyone with you?" Draw and write in front of you?"

Boss Qian got up from the ground, and after this incident, he was more cautious in answering: "Yes. The ancient murals are in a hurry to finish. Many painters in Luoyang City have participated in this matter, and they have been painting in the temple day and night." He said Knowing what Shen Boru meant, he hurriedly said: "Master Immortal, it can't be those painters, they are old acquaintances of our father and daughter, they won't harm us."

Jiang Yizhou touched his chin with one hand, his eyes were full of thoughts, and said: "Have we forgotten something? If it is an ordinary vicious monster, stealing someone's head is nothing more than eating it himself, and the person's life will not be spared." Excuse me. And the head pickers are talking about temporarily borrowing the heads so as not to hurt the lives of those who have lost their heads, what are they doing with these heads?"

"I once read an ancient book, which said that the young lady of a large family thought she was ugly, so she paid a lot of money to hire a ghost fairy, and asked the ghost fairy to replace her with a beautiful head. Is it possible that the two thieves in Nangong Dongfang , are you also doing this kind of head-changing business in private?"

Boss Qian said: "I have sent people to keep an eye out in the city for the past few days, but I haven't found any woman with Pingping's head on her head."

A smile appeared on Shen Boru's lips: "So, let's take a look at what happened the night Boss Qian came back."

After he finished speaking, he blew lightly on the white wolf hair in his hand.The fluttering wolf hair whirled in mid-air, and suddenly scattered into thousands of dust.

At this moment, the light suddenly disappeared, and the room fell into darkness for an instant.

Boss Qian felt as if he was locked in an airtight box. He couldn't see anything, so he panicked, "Master... Master?!"

"Hush." ​​Shen Boru smiled and said, "Don't talk."

Boss Qian hurriedly shut his mouth.

I don't know how long it took, but in the darkness, there was a clatter of horseshoes.Two carriages approached from far and near, each with a small orange light hanging on them, shaking as the carriage moved forward.

The scene from three days ago.

At that time, Master Qian was sitting in the carriage in front.Probably because he was tired, he leaned his head against the side of the carriage, squinted his eyes, and looked like he was about to fall asleep.

His daughter Qian Pingping was sitting in the carriage behind.She was wearing a light blue thin shirt, and she pushed the window open a slit with her white fingers, looking out secretly.

She is indeed a beauty.

The carriage came to a fork in the road and came to a sudden stop.The half-awake, half-asleep Boss Qian leaned forward, almost hitting his head.He woke up with a start, straightened the hat on his head, and asked loudly, "What's going on!"

The groom replied: "Master, our horse suddenly stopped going!" The groom was also an honest man, worried that Master Qian would get angry, raised his whip, lashed the horse's buttocks hard, and yelled: "Go, drive!"

The horse neighed a few times, shook the reins vigorously, and took a few steps on the spot.

Seeing this, the groom also felt that something was wrong.He hurriedly jumped out of the car, and said to Master Qian in the car: "Master, our horses are always obedient, and they don't usually behave like this. Maybe there is something unclean nearby, so they don't want to go. You and Miss Come down first, let's go to the side to avoid it, let that thing go first."

Master Qian thought about it, raised his hand to lift the curtain of the car, turned around and shouted: "Pingping, come down first."

Upon hearing this, Qian Pingping slowly lowered the window.She held up the hem of her skirt with one hand, and just stepped out of the carriage, before landing, there was a soft laughter in the dark.

The sound was getting closer and closer, but the person who made the sound could not be seen.Moreover, the tone of the laughter gradually increased, from an immature child's voice to a shrill sound that is impossible for human beings, like two pieces of cold iron rubbing against each other, piercing one's ears sorely.

Although it was an illusion, the three of Shen Boru still felt the creepy coldness in their laughter.Sanbao couldn't help shivering, and shrank back to Shen Boru's side.

Two children came into their sight.

A girl in red and a boy in green.The girl holds a cane in her hand, and the boy holds a bamboo pole in her hand.Every time they take a step, they have to use these things to explore the way.

When the groom saw their faces, his eyes were so wide that they almost popped out of their sockets.He let out a horrified cry, collapsed to the ground, and crawled backwards on hands and feet.

The faces of these two children were like weathered stone statues, with scratches and scars of different sizes.Their eyes have long been invisible, bloody and bloody, and their noses have collapsed, exposing a small section of white nose bridge.

Their scarred red lips opened and closed, and they smiled at the Qian family: "Wine, Jin Poluo, and Wu Ji's fifteen fine horses. Don't blow the Qiang flute to surprise the neighbors, and don't use the pipa to make noise in the bridal chamber. The Furong tent is no good. "

Master Qian turned pale with fright, he couldn't care about anything else, he ran to his stunned daughter Qian Pingping, pulled her up and ran away.

The two children just looked at them with a smile, and they were not busy chasing after them.The girl in the red dress tapped the ground with her cane, shaking up countless fine dust.

The strong wind suddenly picked up, the horses neighed, the lamps and candles shook violently, and the white fog like a long drizzle surrounded the bewildered Qian family father and daughter.

Jiang Yizhou frowned: "This is...the passage? Where does it lead to?"

Shen Boru said: "It's just a simple small passage, it can't lead to the heaven and the underworld. But it can take people to other places in an instant, and the effect is similar to a small spell like shrinking the ground into an inch."

The Qian family's father and daughter in the illusion ran around in the thick fog without knowing what happened.Soon, the thick fog dissipated, and the scenery around them suddenly changed, from the streets of Luoyang City to an endless wilderness.

The ground is as bright and fiery red as the sunset, and the smoke drifts under the feet, like clouds flowing in the sky.

Many stone statues surround the Qian family's father and daughter. These stone statues include men and women, standing with their hands down or dancing with drums. Among them, several stone statues of women are wearing floor-length silk skirts and light green cloaks, playing bouncing lutes. The graceful pose is particularly eye-catching.

The only thing these stone statues have in common is that they all have no heads.

Qian Pingping was so frightened that she fell asleep tremblingly and could not speak.She was terrified, and kept hiding behind her father, Boss Qian.

The figures of the two children appeared in front of them.Leaning on her crutch, the girl smiled and said, "My name is Nangong Cuihua, you can also call me A Cui. Don't worry, I won't hurt your life, I just want to borrow your head for a while."

Qian Pingping didn't believe this nonsense. Seeing the two children approaching step by step, the father and daughter shrank back.

With an impatient look on his face, the boy took off Qian Pingping's head without seeing clearly what method he was using.

Qian Pingping's body was still retreating, her head was held in the hands of the boy, she looked at Master Qian with her eyes, and shouted eagerly, "Father!"

When Boss Qian saw this scene, he rolled his eyes in fright and fainted instantly.

The author has something to say:

The poems read by the two ghost children are two poems pieced together, the front is Li Bai's "To the Wine", and the back is Qiao Zhizhi's "Advocating Women's Walks"