Daily life of civil servants in the prefectural government

Old man Zhang tremblingly pushed open the door of the room facing the corridor on the third floor, and the flying dust covered their faces.

"Ahem...don't mind, I haven't been here for a long time."

Old man Zhang coughed and apologized, and seemed to mutter something softly, but Su Xiyan's attention was completely off him.

The bright lights reawakened the room that had been dusty for a long time. Rows of wooden shelves were neatly arranged, and various types of parts were stored in different categories.

There are wooden ones, iron ones, and all kinds of strange things. Just by looking at them, you can't guess what shape they will be pieced together for a while.

For Su Xiyan, these things represent a bizarre world that he has not seen for a long time.

Because of the airtightness, the smell of the air in the room was not good. Cui Zhao sneezed a few times, and just wanted to laugh at the old man Zhang’s habit of keeping these rubbish things as treasures. A voice full of envy whispered.

"so cool."

Cui Zhao: ...

How is this guy so fat? !

Su Xiyan didn't notice his boss's increasingly unfriendly eyes for a while, he felt that he was now a little mouse that fell into the rice warehouse, and he was dazzled by the good things around him.

Every time he recognizes a piece of material, he will cheer in his heart, and at the same time he is proud that what he learned back then has not fallen behind.

Making dolls is an unorthodox skill that the old Taoist had mentioned to him by chance before.

Use wood, bamboo strips, iron sheets and other materials to make a human figure and put on a realistic skin.After the switch is turned on, the most perfect doll can even be a real one, running, singing and dancing. Except for cutting his body, most people can't tell the difference between him and a human being.

Initially, these dolls were used as stand-ins to protect humans from disasters.Sometimes it will be spread out as a rare gadget, causing people to snap up it.

But this handicraft has been passed on, and the taste has changed.

The inheritance of puppeteers has always been passed down from generation to generation, with the master leading the apprentice.

In such an unsafe inheritance process, some people have found a way to make the puppet go further.Capture ghosts, seal them into dolls, use various methods to fuse the soul and non-flesh body together, and then cover him with a layer of human skin.

Once they succeed, they will be able to gain an IQ online, with high strength and will absolutely obey their subordinates.

The puppeteers who had tasted the sweetness frantically hunted ghosts and killed the creatures, and finally aroused public anger and were exterminated by various factions.

Su Xiyan still remembers the complicated look in the old Taoist's eyes when he mentioned this matter.

"Obviously, you can live a good life in peace and stability, but you haven't studied the death puppet clearly. If you insist on taking these crooked paths, you deserve it if you are wiped out!"

Even so, when Su Xiyan told him that he wanted to learn how to make a puppet, he didn't scold him.

He just doubled the number of talisman papers he had to practice, and at the same time threw him a copy of "Puppet Basic Knowledge" the next day, asking him to familiarize himself with it within a month :)

Su Xiyan really had a headache for a long time in order to fulfill his request.Later, because of the increasingly heavy schoolwork, he had to temporarily stop this unscientific extracurricular hobby, but he still retained a love for dolls that never faded.

"Su Xiyan, how long are you going to stay there?"

Cui Zhao's voice pulled him out of his past memories.

"Come on."

Taking a nostalgic glance at the small materials neatly placed on the shelf, Su Xiyan quickened her pace and rushed over.

Cui Zhao and old man Zhang had already sat down at the round table, with a cup of steaming tea beside them.

Seeing him coming, the boss who had disliked him just now put on a standard mean face.

"Don't automatically turn on the supermarket mode when you see a room full of cabinets. It's just a few steps to go straight. As a result, you disappeared when I looked up."

"Should I buy a baby leash to hang you on me the next time I go out?"

Su Xiyan: ...

He silently picked up the third cup of tea reserved for him on the table, and sat beside old man Zhang.

"Master Zhang, are you a puppeteer?"

Su Xiyan asked with longing, and promoted the old man Zhang who Cui Zhao said was not very polite.

"..." Old man Zhang glanced at Su Xiyan in surprise, as if he didn't expect that there were young people who knew puppet masters these days, and this young man seemed to like dolls quite a bit.

"I can't be called a puppeteer. I'm just a craftsman, and I rely on handed down craftsmanship to make a living."

He responded with a smile, and at the same time took out a palm-sized figure from the table and handed it to Su Xiyan.

The villain was wearing a pink lace skirt, with twin ponytails and braids twitching. Old man Zhang pressed lightly on the back of the villain, and the villain began to sway and dance lively.

This is really a delicate, but not very suitable gift for boys.Generally speaking, he only chooses toys with this style of painting when buying gifts for his three-year-old niece.

Su Xiyan: ...

He is holding a pink villain, smiling awkwardly, and a little helpless.

Cui Zhao let out a contemptuous laugh from his throat, and blatantly put on the appearance of watching the show on the opposite side.

"Originally there was a blue one, but I gave it away. The pink one was even more delicate when it was made. It's all male dolls anyway, so it's okay for you to hold it."

Old man Zhang quietly winked at Su Xiyan, with a meaningful smile on his face.

Su Xiyan: ...

Su Xiyan was already shocked by the meaning revealed by old man Zhang. He waited for the villain to finish his dance and when he was standing still, he secretly lifted the villain's skirt.

Holy shit! ! ! !

"Snapped--"

Cui Zhao reached out and patted Su Xiyan on the shoulder.

"What are you doing? What kind of obscene gesture is this? You are already so big. Are you ashamed to lift the doll's skirt?"

Su Xiyan turned the villain to Cui Zhao expressionlessly.

"........."

Even Cui Zhao couldn't help but fell silent when he looked at the little man whose crotch was slightly protruding.

The two of them looked at each other, and Qi Qi turned his gaze to Old Man Zhang, who was still drinking tea and pretending to be innocent.

Old Man Zhang: Dignified Drinking Tea.jpg

"Old man Zhang, don't pretend to me, what are you doing? Aren't you afraid of teaching children badly?!"

Cui Zhao gritted his teeth, the anger on his face made Su Xiyan a little puzzled.

It was obviously something given to him, why is he so angry?

In the next second, the question was solved by old man Zhang.

"Oh, don't be angry. The one I gave you is wearing blue pants, it's normal to have this!"

"Normal fart!" Cui Zhao slapped the table angrily, his eyes became brighter because of anger. "What did you tell me when you gave that villain to me?"

"What did I tell you?"

Old man Zhang ignored the aura exuded by Cui Zhao when he was furious, he tilted his head, as if he was thinking carefully.

Suddenly, he clapped his hands and suddenly realized.

"The pink doll and the blue doll are a pair. I remember I told you that casually, but you really believed it?"

Su Xiyan: "...poof"

"Laughing ass," Cui Zhao turned back angrily, "Don't laugh!"

Su Xiyan covered her mouth, turned her head silently, and shrugged her shoulders slightly.

The incident ended when Cui Zhao violently beat the elderly, and was stopped by Xiaosu, a bystander.

"Okay, don't talk nonsense to me. Where did you hide Zhen Ruyu? He is on the list of the underworld to be arrested, and your nameless inn can't protect him."

Cui Zhao unbuttoned two shirt buttons, the warm-up exercise just now made him feel a little hot.

As expected, old man Zhang was the same as before, looking at the crumbling old man, he would run fast whenever something happened, and he also liked to pretend to be deep.

The little dolls that are made have to do these tricks, he pretends to be so deep!

"I didn't want to protect her," old man Zhang turned his head in surprise, "How dare I hide the person who is called for by the underworld."

"Then your people still say she is your new favorite?"

"It's a new favorite. Her personality is very interesting." Old man Zhang replied confidently.

He leaned half of his body into the cabinet, groping inside to find it. "Oh, I finally found it."

He took out a small cloth bag, and after unpacking it, what was wrapped inside was a scorched and tattered leather item.

"This is Zhen Ruyu's skin, but it's not complete. When I promised her, she was already burned like this."

Cui Zhao picked up a corner of the cloth bag in disgust, looked it over carefully, and immediately threw the cloth bag to Su Xiyan.

"Take it, this is one of the quest items. When you collect it all, send it down, and you can exchange it for something better."

"Oh."

Su Xiyan obediently picked up the cloth bag and looked at it again.

The scorched human skin has strong resentment remaining, it may be the soul of the original owner staying inside for a while.

what……

Su Xiyan reached out and touched the lower left corner of the human skin. Compared with the skin on the side, the place he touched had a small bump.

As expected, he was not mistaken just now, this area strangely gathered a part of Yin Qi and resentment.Because the density is too large, a small convex lump is formed.

"Master Zhang, have you made Zhen Ruyu into a puppet?"

Generally speaking, such marks only appear on human skin that has been processed and prepared to be made into dolls.