dragon pen

A bonfire had already been lit in front of the Yuzao Front Hall, and the light of the fire reflected the sky like daytime.

Zhang Ziyao walked up the last stone steps, and after his eyes widened, he realized that the Night Walk of the Hundred Ghosts was different from what he had imagined. The Night Walk of the Hundred Ghosts in his imagination was a group of ghosts and ghosts passing by on the street, where there was no grass growing. The child was crying, and the adults were terrified to avoid the scene——

However, it is not.

Monsters of all kinds and strange shapes gathered together, men and women, old and young. They chatted and greeted each other in groups, and they all lamented that they "looked weirder than before" and "seemed to be more strange" in the past ten years. I have become a little stronger", and loudly talked about what I have seen and heard in the past ten years... Behind them, there is a bustling street, which is brightly lit by the blue ghost flame in Qingxing Deng's hand, Among the crowds, several civet cats and foxes chased and ran past him——

It's like the celebration ceremony that human beings have during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival. There are all kinds of food and clothing on the street. The things these merchants are selling seem quite normal...but there are some special ones selling some mysterious items. Spicy eyes, what "a long hair of a monk", "platinum sheet peeled off from a Buddha statue", "a ten-year-old wooden fish", Zhang Ziyao leaned over to look out of curiosity, and found something like a white cloth, he was curious He pinched it with two fingers and took a look. Before he could figure out what it was, the catfish monster who was selling items in a wooden box opened his mouth and shouted: "Be careful, be careful, don't buy it!" If you don’t, don’t touch it—be careful not to spoil the good stuff, these are Mr. Oboroma’s underwear! Do you know how hard we worked to get it!”

Zhang Ziyao's hands trembled, and the white cloth slipped from between his fingers: "What did you say?"

"Huh, you're shocked! To tell you the truth, there is nothing I, Lord Kurokawa, can't get these days!" The catfish looked proud, "Not only did I get the adult's underwear, but it was still unwashed. !"

Zhang Ziyao took three steps back again and again——

"Do you want it! I'll sell it for two taels of gold. I don't know how fashionable this thing is to make a headscarf!"

Zhang Ziyao shook his head and then took three steps back, directly bumping into Zhu Jiuyin behind him. At this time, the catfish was still tirelessly talking about how good Luzhen's diapers are. Seeing Zhang Ziyao shaking his head desperately, he took care of himself He got up and bargained on his own: "What, do you think two liang of gold is expensive? How is it expensive? Do you know how difficult it is to sneak into that adult's house as a monster? Oh, forget it Since you sincerely want it, then a tael of gold, if you still shake your head, then this business will not be possible—"

During the catfish's self-questioning, Zhang Ziyao fled with Zhu Jiuyin and Su Lian. After a while, he fled to and from the crowd. The catfish was holding a big wooden box and it was inconvenient to catch up. He spat and muttered "Hillbillies don't know what to do" and walked away cursing, twisting his buttocks, his big tail wagging behind his trousers, and after a while he entangled a pair of young mother and daughter wearing bird masks. Desperately trying to sell them "the vanity mirror used by Yuzao's former empress"...

"Wash your hands." Among the crowd, Zhang Ziyao held up the hand that had squeezed the white cloth, holding it away from himself, "Where is there a place to wash your hands?"

"Why don't you just cut off your hand," Zhu Jiuyin said mockingly with her sleeves rolled up, "I told you to grope."

"Are you curious? I originally thought that the Night Walk of the Hundred Ghosts was eerie, but I didn't expect it to be like this..."

"The days of bumping ghosts and scaring people are happening every day. Why do you need to find a good time once in ten years when everyone gathers together and makes a solemn move to scare people again?" Zhu Jiuyin shook her head, as if extremely disgusted Zhang Ziyao thinks without thinking, "Maybe I really did this kind of boring thing of taking off my pants and farting at first, and then it gradually evolved into a celebration of the monsters themselves, not to mention the relationship between monsters and humans these days—"

While talking, Zhu Jiuyin turned around, and the small stall behind him was selling a kind of candied haws-like dessert.At first, Zhang Ziyao focused all his attention on his hands, but he didn't pay attention. After a closer look, he realized that the strings on the bamboo sticks were not candied haws at all, but human eyes!

——The round human eyeballs were painted with syrup, and tied to a wooden stake in a bunch!

Zhang Ziyao was so frightened that his liver almost spit out, "Ah, he froze in place with a cry of panic——and Zhu Jiuyin lazily glanced at the fussing young man, and rolled an eyeball from the string closest to him Throwing the stick down into his mouth, the sound of something exploding when he gritted his teeth came to his ears, and Zhang Ziyao's stomach rolled along with it.

Zhu Jiuyin took out a few copper coins from his sleeve and threw them to the peddler, took off the string of eyeballs and handed it to Su Lian - Su Lian took it and muttered calmly, "I don't like sweets". Jiuyin glanced at him: "Let you hold it."

Then, he took another eyeball from the string of eyes, and went to the trembling teenager, before he could react, lifted his mask a little bit, and then grabbed his jaw to force it out of the way. He opened his mouth and threw the eyeball in—— Zhang Ziyao finally came back to his senses when the sweetness of the syrup touched the tip of his tongue, and he struggled desperately with two "woo hoots"!

However, at this moment, Zhu Jiuyin held his chin with a big hand to prevent him from spitting out with a mean smile on his face. The young man's slender figure was not enough to look good in front of him. He was half-embraced by the man and covered his mouth. Zhang Ziyao was choked. Tears came out, but he couldn't do anything to fix his "bronze wall and iron wall"-finally, under the struggle of a big movement, he accidentally bit and exploded the eyeball in his mouth, and heard the familiar "poof" explode in his mouth, The boy who was still struggling suddenly stopped——

As if time stood still.

It was as if the soul had been emptied.

After a while.

The imaginary bloody taste did not spread in the mouth, on the contrary, the sweet and creamy milky fragrance flowed down the tip of the tongue and covered the taste buds to the throat, Zhang Ziyao was stunned.

At this time, a smiling male voice sounded from above him: "Is it delicious?"

Zhang Ziyao "gurgled" and swallowed the thin layer of eyeball-like milk skin into his stomach. Fortunately, at this moment, he was wearing a mask and everyone couldn't see his stupid face. At Jiuyin, the man snorted and put him on the ground from his arms... As soon as Zhang Ziyao turned his head, he saw the owner of the eyeball candied haws skewers—a bald kappa looking at him with a smile: "We have already I haven't eaten human beings for many, many years... Ever since Master Oboroma came, monsters are not allowed to eat people casually, even big monsters."

"And eyeballs are very expensive, how can they be made into snacks that can be bought on the street." Zhu Jiuyin twisted Zhang Ziyao's head, and then stretched out his hand to take the sugar string with a few eyeballs left from Su Lian's hand Take it over and stuff it into Zhang Ziyao's hands, "Hillbilly."

After speaking, he walked in front with a look of disgust. After walking two steps and seeing that Zhang Ziyao didn't keep up, he turned his head and said impatiently: "What are you doing in a daze? Don't you need to wash your hands? There is a well over there to draw water."

Zhang Ziyao stood there holding the dessert for a while, until his shoulder was hit by a cat in a bathrobe, he staggered for a while as if he had just recovered, muttered "Sorry" and was about to keep up with Zhu Jiuyin Steps... However, at this moment, someone grabbed his shoulder——

The man exerted so much force that Zhang Ziyao turned around in pain, only to see a fluffy cat's paw on his shoulder!

"The Inugami family, don't you want to run away after bumping into someone with your eyes and just apologizing?" The cat in the bathrobe grinned slightly, showing its fangs, and the beard on its face moved threateningly. "You dogs, when will you learn to be polite?"

When he was talking, two cat tails lifted up from the bathrobe, impatiently wagging in mid-air, like two poisonous snakes ready to attack others...

Its mid-back is glowing.

"..."

Zhang Ziyao thought in a daze that he seemed to know the kind of monster in front of him - when he had nothing to do before, he had looked through the monster illustrations collected by Yu Zhen, and he had some impression of the monster in front of him. The name of this monster was "Maoyou" ", are some monsters that have been cultivated by domestic cats for more than ten years. Among them, "the best cats have two tails on their backs and they will fluoresce" - that's what the illustration book says, compared to silly kappa and broom gods Little monsters, cats are definitely not good even among monsters.

Zhang Ziyao felt that he might have gotten into trouble, he raised his hand, and repeatedly supported the mask on his face like a conditioned reflex—as if this action could bring him a sense of security, he lowered his head slightly, He lowered his voice and asked, "I've already apologized, what else do you want?"

"I think..." The cat moved its whiskers again and showed a treacherous smile, then suddenly paused and asked, "Hey, you dog, why do you smell like humans everywhere? I just heard yesterday that , Oboro lost a shikigami, hurriedly found a human to replace the place on the invitation, you could be..."

What the cat said made some other monsters around look over, most of them looked at Zhang Ziyao and the cat with shocked and hesitant eyes, as if they were undecided whether to believe it or not——

"Human? He said human!"

"How can humans get in here? Humans can't get invitations!"

"It would be terrible if humans were allowed in, and the monster's secrets would be greatly challenged—then Master Qing Xingdeng would be considered a major dereliction of duty."

"What will Yuzao's ex-mother say?"

……

The little monsters around whispered to each other. Standing among the monsters, Zhang Ziyao suddenly became the focus of everyone. At this moment, his body and mind were tense, but he had to raise his spirits. He thanked the mask for covering the momentary stiffness on his face. He was about to speak, At this time, a low and dangerous male voice suddenly sounded behind him——

"Milk cat, who do you think you are talking to?"

The surroundings suddenly quieted down.

The disdainful cat and monster raised his head and glanced behind Zhang Ziyao. He was about to say what it has to do with you, but before he could speak, his face became stiff when he saw the person behind the young man——Zhang Ziyao turned his head away , and saw Zhu Jiuyin and Su Lian, who had just walked away, come back again—on the crowded street, the little monsters automatically divided into two groups to make way for them, Zhu Jiuyin folded her sleeves with a blank expression on her face He approached quickly and stood behind Zhang Ziyao.

From the corner of Zhang Ziyao's corner of the eye, he saw the cat let down its proudly raised tail, and the corners of its eyes also softened into a flattering and treacherous look: "Master Zhuyin? When I was queuing at the foot of the mountain, Xiaosheng heard someone say that you are the same as the god of disasters." The adults both appeared today, what's going on now, why..."

"Oh, the person who told you that I appeared, didn't he kindly tell you that I came with his pet?"

Zhu Jiuyin showed an arrogant smile, reached out and dragged the young man who was the focus of everyone's attention into her arms, disregarded his struggle and forcibly twisted his face, and planted a frivolous kiss on the seam between his mask and cheek——then Letting go of his hand, regardless of the boy jumping out of his arms immediately, he raised his head and looked at Maoyou: "Beating a dog depends on the owner."

The cat narrowed its eyes slightly again, and the pupils shrank slightly at that moment——

When everyone gasped and thought he was going to do something, he suddenly relaxed and said with a smile: "Xiaosheng has never heard that Master Zhuyin suddenly has such a liking."

"Is there any change in my preferences that I need to report to you?"

"Naturally dare not."

The cat bowed slightly again, and glanced at the side. It didn't say a word from the beginning to the end. It just frowned and came to the dog god and lowered its voice to ask him if he was injured. This time, the drooping tail also obediently retracted. Putting it in the bathrobe, it bent down and obediently bowed in the direction of Zhu Jiuyin and his party: "It's Xiaosheng who is being abrupt."

Su Lian paused, glanced at him out of the corner of his eye but ignored him, and instead, Zhu Jiuyin snorted loudly through his nasal cavity, showing no trace of disdain...

The cat glanced hesitantly at the boy wearing the crimson Inugami mask, raised its claws and touched the shoulder where it collided with the boy just now, and moved its beard lightly as if it was still confirming what the human breath coming from him was... ...On the surface, he was still respectfully facing Zhu Jiuyin's direction, stepped back a few steps, and then gradually retreated more than ten meters away to stand still——

This seems to be just a small episode.

The monsters around saw that this little conflict ended without beginning and end, so they couldn't tell whether they were disappointed or they dispersed. When they left, they were still discussing about Zhu Jiuyin and the God of Fujin...

When the crowds of people coming and going gradually resumed the excitement and conversation before, the cat was also submerged in the figures of other monsters——Zhu Jiuyin then withdrew his gaze, and lowered his eyes as if inadvertently glanced at the thing he was holding in his hand at this time. Teenager's hand.

Paused, but did not let go.

Pulling the boy towards him, the man snorted, "I know it's causing trouble."

At this moment Zhang Ziyao felt as if he had just walked around the Palace of the King of Hell, and he was still in shock: "Wh-whose fault!"

"Could it be my fault, who would dare to trouble you by obediently following behind me? Standing so far—"

"Who told you to stuff me with random things! Don't just stuff things into my mouth!"

"Oh, I'm just stuffed, what can you do to me? Have you seen the roasted palm over there, do you want to have one?"

"What?! Vomit..."

"It's bread stuffed with red bean paste, idiot."

"..."

……

Not paying attention to the unpleasant episode just now, the group of three walked towards the end of the street while arguing loudly, and gradually moved away from the bustling crowd to the quiet grove not far away. Monsters who passed the Qingxing Lantern inspection joined the bustling line one after another until no matter what they sold, every stall was crowded with monsters...

When the cries faded away——

I found the well water that Zhu Jiuyin mentioned. It was almost Haishi (*[-]:[-] p.m. to [-]:[-] p.m.), and the shops and streets behind the forest became more and more lively. Into the ears——The man sitting by the well raised his head slightly, looked at the full moon hanging on the treetops, and muttered: "Everyone is almost here."

At this time, Su Lian seemed to know what Zhu Jiuyin meant, and showed a disgusted expression.

The young man who was holding a wooden spoon and washing his hands with well water with his head down raised his head and asked nervously, "What's the matter, is it time to go to the front hall of Yuzao?"

"No, there are other things to do before that," Zhu Jiuyin stood up, took the spoon from Zhang Ziyao's hand and threw it into the well, "Let's go."

The wooden spoon fell into the well water and made a "pop" sound. It didn't seem to fall on the surface of the water, but it seemed to fall on someone. Zhang Ziyao, who was about to leave, let out a "huh" and wanted to turn back to look at the well. Under the water, but at this moment, the man pinched his jaw and forced his face back: "Don't look."

Su Lian also stretched out her hand to push Zhang Ziyao forward, Zhang Ziyao was puzzled——

"Why can't I watch it? It seems that I hit someone just now..." Zhang Ziyao seemed to wake up suddenly after finishing his sentence, and his face changed drastically, "Is there someone under the well? Who is under the well?! Zhu Jiuyin, you let me use bubble Wash your hands with water!!! So what’s the difference between washing and not washing?!”

Zhu Jiuyin made a "tsk" sound: "Because I didn't see it, so you just pretend it doesn't exist, what can there be if it's soaked in water every day and it's pretty clean..."

Su Lian: "Floating corpses are also soaked in water every day, why—"

Zhang Ziyao: "Floating corpse ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"

Zhu Jiuyin glanced at Su Lian, and said strangely, "Thank you for your help."

Su Lian: "..."

Su Lian knew that he might have said something wrong, so he didn't have the cheek to refute Zhu Jiuyin at this moment, so he pushed the young man who was thumping and wanting to go back to the well to see what happened, and gradually pushed him away from the well , gradually moving in the original direction——

"If I don't read it, I think more. Have you ever heard of the fear of the unknown?" Zhang Ziyao complained all the way, "My mind is full of a skin ulcer soaked in well water, and the rotten scales that fell off were soaked in white and thick. layers floating on the water, and her skin flakes, her hair..."

"Don't worry, it's not that disgusting, the well water you used just now is very clear." Zhu Jiuyin said lazily.

"Then what if it's a female monster with no clothes on, disheveled hair, three legs, six breasts and four eyes?" Zhang Ziyao asked again.

He was fully expecting Zhu Jiuyin to say "how can there be such a disgusting thing" again, but he didn't expect that the man beside him just paused, then turned his head and looked at him meaningfully, hesitantly saying: "You can't accept it like this?" ?it's not good?"

Zhang Ziyao: "??"

Zhang Ziyao stopped at his feet, terrified, this time it was Su Lian who couldn't catch him and wanted to run back—or Zhu Jiuyin quickly grabbed the boy and fixed him in his arms, and exhaled a puff of air from both nostrils: "Where are you going? It's Haishi soon, and we still have to—"

"I don't want to do anything! I just want to find a quiet place to give up on myself—"

"I just went through the incident with the cat, and you don't want to learn the lesson again, right?" Zhu Jiuyin simply clamped the boy under her arm——

"What are you doing! Do you really think I'm a dog! Let go!"

"Don't bury the dog. I have never seen such an unreasonable and rambunctious dog. After a little bit of disdain, it will cause trouble like a joke, and then wag its tail and wait for the master to clean up the mess for you. ..."

"What did you say!"

"I've said a lot, it's too long, I don't want to repeat it again."

"Let go, let go! Don't hold me, I'll go by myself!"

"Don't let it go."

"I'll go by myself!"

"Wait for me to find a dog leash to hang around your neck before letting you go by yourself."

Zhang Ziyao was held under the armpit by the tall man and dragged, and the mask on his face was distorted during the struggle. Su Lian, who was beside him, saw it, and stretched out his hand to put the mask on for Zhang Ziyao as if obsessive-compulsive. Zhang Ziyao yelled as if he just remembered that there was someone beside him, "Niu Niu! You are here to help!"

Su Lian: "..."

Zhu Jiuyin sneered: "After being almost eaten alive by a cat just now, you thought he would help you and let you do whatever you want—"

Zhang Ziyao's eyes widened slightly in disbelief: "Niu Niu!"

Su Lian twisted his head: "Safety first."

Zhang Ziyao: "..."

Just like that, Zhu Jiuyin carried him all the way back into the crowd in an extremely undignified manner, and found that the more he struggled, the more strange gazes he attracted from the people around him. Zhang Ziyao finally calmed down, and hung himself on Zhu Jiuyin's elbow to rest Quiet as a dead dog.

"Master Zhuyin, Lord Fujin Sun God."

At this time, the Qingxing Lantern that I had seen before at the foot of the mountain floated over, and the old woman was holding the lantern in her hand. She shook her head in surprise, and she looked at the third child of the Inugami family hanging on Zhu Jiuyin's elbow in surprise: "This is... ..."

"The domestic dog is tired from playing, and it's lying on the ground, refusing to walk. It insists on hugging." Zhu Jiuyin said with a subterranean smile.

The boy who was hung on his arm immediately raised his head to look at him—but under the mask, he couldn't tell what his expression was at this time... probably a dissatisfied stare.

However, Qing Xingdeng didn't seem to doubt Zhu Jiuyin's words, and just muttered "Your Excellency is so caring", at the same time a few butterflies flew out and landed on her palm, and immediately turned into three candles with flickering candles— —

"Hundred Story Ceremony is about to begin."

Zhu Jiuyin responded, and took the three candles with a big hand and held them in the palm of his hand. The candles shook and made a "sizzling" sound, but they didn't go out... Qing Xingdeng turned and left, and came to some others with invitation cards Beside the monsters who marked them, they handed them the candles in their hands, and all the monsters took them, each with a candle, as if carefully guarding the candle flame, finally the number of monsters crowded in front of the booth decreased, and everyone walked in one direction——

Su Lian took her own candle and looked it up and down carefully.

Zhang Ziyao was hugged by Zhu Jiuyin, raised his head staggeringly and asked, "What is the Hundred Story Ceremony?"

From his direction, only the man's perfectly curved jaw can be seen.

"A group of monsters sit together and tell ghost stories. After each ghost story is finished, a candle is blown out. Starting from the hour of Hai, tell a hundred ghost stories. When the clock rings, blow out the last candle. Just a candle, and the door of Yuzao’s front hall opened.” Zhu Jiuyin didn’t even move his eyelids, he held two candles in his other big hand, one belonged to him, and the other naturally belonged to Zhang Ziyao.

Zhang Ziyao's face was dark: "What kind of ghost story is a group of monsters telling?"

"Ghosts can't tell ghost stories?" Zhu Jiuyin said lazily, "I'll let you see it today."

"..."

While talking, the group of three returned to the bonfire they saw first, and saw that at this moment, dozens of monsters with red name imprints on their bodies had surrounded the bonfire, and they sat down around the fire. Zhu Jiuyin and the others also found a place near the fire, and the man conveniently placed Zhang Ziyao on a futon like a doll, and sat down on his right.

At the same time, Su Lian silently took a seat on Zhang Ziyao's left.

Zhang Ziyao moved his lips, and was about to say something, when Zhu Jiuyin pressed his hand to his lips and made a silent gesture—at this moment, Qingxing Deng flew to the top of the bonfire and circled around, the fiery red The light of the fire suddenly turned dark green, and hundreds of butterflies scrambled to fly out of the bonfire tower!

"Let's start, don't delay the good time."

Qing Xingdeng said lightly.

From the corner of his eye, Zhang Ziyao caught a glimpse of a snow-white figure floating up not far from him. The woman was dressed in white, beautiful but icy cold. Under everyone's gaze, she slowly said: "A long time ago ..."