Roster of Demons

The story of the old beggar is very simple, that is, he gave the last molted skin to the man in the dessert shop.They have known each other for many years, and the old beggar still doesn't know his name.

The man moved to this city from other provinces, lived in Luyanwan, and opened a dessert shop with all his savings and a large amount of borrowed money.He has a good heart and a little optimism, giving food and money to beggars every now and then.

But he was out of luck. Not long after the dessert shop opened, the shopping mall had a large drop in traffic due to a wrong decision-making.

During that time, the man was under a lot of pressure. He had a wife and a son, but he couldn't tell them the troubles he encountered at work. So one day when he was delivering bread to the old beggar, the man bought himself a few cans of beer, Sitting on the flyover alone, he was talking about the future that the dessert shop can't see.

There are tributes and wine, so the old beggar asked the man, are you willing to do anything to keep the dessert shop open?

The man also answered very simply. This dessert shop weighed all on him. If the shop collapsed, the debts would snowball him and his family. He didn’t mind suffering, but he was afraid that his family would suffer along with him. .So yes, he'll do anything for it.

"Then you accepted his sacrifice? Are you the priest of the dessert shop owner?" Gu Zhen asked.

The old beggar's inconsistency may have something to do with his confused "meaning", but Gu Zhen still summed up the result from a lot of words.

"Yes. At that time, the old man was in good health, and he estimated that he could live for at least a hundred years. Unexpectedly, this month suddenly..." The old beggar recalled the past, his wrinkled face was full of regret, "So the old man So I accepted his sacrifice and gave him a sheet of shed skin, telling him that it was an amulet passed down by ancestors to keep him safe, and asked him to carry it with him. The nature of our Pixiu people is that we can only go in and out, and we will eat it again every time we molt. Return it to the stomach. The old man’s last piece of shedding skin, I didn’t eat it, so I gave it to him.”

So the questions before and after are all reasonable.

The old beggar accepted the man's sacrifice and became his priest. In order to fulfill his wish, he gave him a pixiu's shed skin. As a result, the shopping mall that was about to close down began to operate again, and the business of the dessert shop gradually improved.

But it's useless, if the old beggar dies, the man will die too.

Gu Zhen originally wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he found that his throat was extremely dry, so he swallowed what he wanted to say back into his stomach.

"Hey." Seemingly seeing through Gu Zhen's thoughts, the old beggar cleared his throat and suppressed the cough that came up, "He is a good boy, the old man hurt him."

Gu Zhen didn't speak.

"But you don't have to worry, little miscellaneous hair. Your priest is very powerful. The Phoenix family can live for a long time, and he is still so young." The old beggar said.

Gu Zhen nodded.Suddenly came back to his senses: "You said he is a phoenix? Isn't it a crow?"

"The little boy told you?" The old beggar smiled, "The old man also guessed. He has a strong 'will', but there is no way to tell his race by this. But only the ancient Rui beast race can become the priest , and he is very similar to the friend of the old man when he was young, so I guess he is a phoenix."

"He didn't tell me, so I guessed it." Gu Zhen said, "His monster form is a dark bird that looks like a crow, and he also calls himself a little crow. I Of course I guessed at this aspect. Anyway, he didn't say that we can't talk, why don't you just tell me about Phoenix?"

"The old man doesn't like reading, and he doesn't know much." The old beggar said, "I only know that the phoenix is ​​the king of all birds. The male is the phoenix, and the female is the phoenix. points. The whole body is black is the black phoenix, called '鸑鷟' (sound: yuèzhuó), which symbolizes unyielding quality. If the little doll is a black phoenix, it would be good for you to follow him."

"That's it." Gu Zhen said, "Then you must have guessed wrong, the little crow has nothing to do with perseverance."

"Hahahaha, you little bastard is quite funny." The old beggar shook his head and laughed twice.But this little joy soon dissipated, the old beggar slowly restrained his smile, sighed, and stopped talking.

It was rare for Gu Zhen to have good eyesight, so he didn't ask him any more questions, and the two fell silent, each occupying a corner of the bridge.From time to time, passers-by pass by and throw some change to the old beggar.

The little crow finished mixing the three-color ink, and when he came back, he saw Gu Zhen and the old beggar sitting side by side, bowing their heads with their knees hugged in silence, just like a little beggar who was dressed gorgeously and broke the rules.He walked over and lightly kicked Gu Zhen's ankle: "Let's go."

Gu Zhen looked up and saw that it was the little crow, and smiled at him.Patting the ashes on his buttocks, he stood up, turned around and said to the old beggar, "Old man, we are leaving, take care of yourself."

"Hey." The old beggar replied blankly.He turned his eyes back and forth between the two of them, and then said to Gu Zhen, "Young boy, let me have a few words with Xiaowa alone."

Gu Zhen turned to look at the little crow. The little crow had no intention of objecting. He said "oh" and went to the stairs first to wait.

This distance is definitely not audible with human hearing.

"You can say whatever you want," said the little crow.

Next to his bare feet is the old beggar's stainless steel bowl, and the whole coin that Gu Zhen gave has been put away.

The nature of only getting in and out.

"Little baby, the old man asks you, is there any way to keep the priest alive after the priest's death?" The old beggar raised his head to look at the little crow, his eyes sparkled with hope that shouldn't have been there.

"You have lived longer than me and have experienced more than me. You should know better. Besides," said the little crow, "you are Pixiu. I have never heard that Pixiu will let go of the ritual."

"That child doesn't know about sacrifices, there is no mark on his body, and he doesn't know that I am a monster." The old beggar said, "He thought I was just a beggar."

"There is no way. The sacrifice will die with the priest." The little crow said.

When saying this, the little crow restrained his expression.When he is not smiling, he has an air that no one dares to underestimate, and when he is serious, his seriousness is even more superior to others.

The old man was silent.

He was dying.And at this moment, the little crow suddenly thought that he was one step closer to death.

"It's just a sacrifice, don't take it too seriously." The little crow comforted him.

The old man subconsciously turned his head to look at Gu Zhen, who was leaning on the guardrail of the overpass, his head following the flow of people from left to right, and then from right back to left.A bit of a fool.

The old beggar smiled helplessly, and the smile contained emotions that the little crow could not understand.

"I'm leaving," said the little crow.

"Go." The old beggar waved his skinny hands, "I probably won't have a chance to meet again in the future, so I won't say goodbye."

"En." The little crow nodded and walked towards Gu Zhen.

At this moment, Gu Zhen turned to look at him.

With just a glimpse, Gu Zhen thought that what he saw was not the fiery little crow who loves to jump, but another person.Most of his face was covered by his peaked cap and mask, except for the exposed corners of Danfeng's eyes, which were not stained with emotion, not even half popular, and cold and ruthless.

Gu Zhen couldn't help but think of those high-ranking rulers in costume TV dramas, sitting on a hard throne, with piles of bones and wreckage under their feet.

Until the little crow approached, raised his hand and waved in front of him, and went to the stairs first: "Why are you in a daze and still not leaving? Are you looking for a fight?"

Only then did Gu Zhen recover from the momentary delusion just now, and made a sudden move.

Looking at the little crow again, just by looking at his back, he could feel the freshness of a young man.I think I am really old and dizzy.

"I'm so tired from work, I really want to eat ice cream." The little crow stretched his waist, and walked down slowly, his short sleeves slid up for a while, revealing a small section of his strong and tight waist, "Miscellaneous hair , let's go eat ice cream."

"I'm angry when it comes to ice cream." Gu Zhen yelled to catch up with him, "We didn't eat the two ice creams we ordered! It's all wasted!"

"Are you ashamed to say it's a waste?!" Speaking of this, the little crow also became angry, and glared at Gu Zhen, "Why did you give Pixiu so much money!"

After the words fell, there was a strange silence between the two of them for a few seconds.

"You're still struggling with this." Gu Zhen said.

The little crow's face flushed red: "...not at all."

Gu Zhen silently opened the wallet, took out two coins and handed them to him.

The little crow took the money and gave Gu Zhen a supercilious look.