The strange story of Huai'an Inn

dog?

"What dog? Big yellow dog?" Chong Liu didn't understand.

The coppersmith clicked his tongue, as if he asked some stupid question, "You don't even know what a dog is, and your shopkeeper dares to let you out alone?"

"I'm not a novice..." Chong Liu scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Anyway, just don't stop, and don't look around." The coppersmith just repeated what the shopkeeper had told him.

Chong Liu still didn't understand very well, but he was in a hurry, so he didn't ask any more questions, thinking about asking the shopkeeper what kind of dog this dog is when he gets back.He bid farewell to the coppersmith, holding the copper basin wrapped in cloth, in which there was a box for chopsticks.He left the quiet village, crossed the bridge, stood on the side of the bridgehead road, and took out the "map" given to him by the shopkeeper again.

Same method.He repeated the incantation taught to him by the shopkeeper back and forth, and waited patiently for the chaotic lines on the paper to become a straight line.This time was faster than the last time, and he soon discovered that treacherous road full of twisted lines and incredible angles appeared in front of him.

The world is turned upside down on this road, the ground is in the sky for a while, and the side is for a while, all the scenery is cut and squeezed.He had to keep his head down and walk along the only straight road, so as not to vomit or fall due to severe dizziness.

He didn't want to fall into those dark holes... who knew what was in there.

Occasionally there was a wind with a strange smell in the air, and there were strange sounds he couldn't make out from near or far, but he didn't see anything moving.

Just when he felt that he was about to reach Tianliang City, Chong Liu suddenly began to smell a strong and greasy smell of rust, accompanied by a piercing and sharp sound like iron hitting a porcelain bowl from a place not far away. .The sound poured straight into his eardrums, making his brain ache slightly.

what sound?

Chong Liu remembered the advice of the shopkeeper and the coppersmith, fixed his eyes on the ground, and quickened his pace.

But the greasy and rusty smell did not dissipate, on the contrary, it became more intense.

Suddenly, from the other side, a closer place, there was a similar but subtly different sound, like metal rubbing against each other, mixed with a sticky sound.

This voice, with a certain animal quality... seems to be following him...

Chongliu's heart felt cold, and his pace became faster, and eventually he even started to run.

The smell seemed to envelop him, no matter how fast he ran, it still entangled him.The metallic sound seemed to be coming from the body of an animal. It was far and near, flickering, and it was obviously different from other more distant sounds he heard.

In his peripheral vision, he seemed to be able to see some... fleeting black shadows glowing with oil paint, but when he turned his gaze away, he couldn't see anything.

His heart was beating so fast that it almost jumped out of his throat, all the hairs on his neck and back stood up, and goose bumps densely covered his whole body.

The surrounding atmosphere changed subtly, as if acid had been injected into the air, burning his lungs.A kind of cold but extremely hot existence is surging around him, their breath rolls on his skin, although he can't see it, he clearly knows that they are around him.

What the hell is... what? !

Could this be the dog the coppersmith was talking about?

Different from the indifference of the city god that was too much higher than human beings, the things around him now carry a deep, ancient, primitive and trembling malice.

They hovered around him, appearing and disappearing, waiting for him to stop.

Chong Liu tried his best to move his legs forward and dash forward, but a strange phenomenon appeared in front of him.The originally straight road was suddenly torn apart as if it had been smashed, and a sharp angle appeared.

The strange scene was incomprehensible, and the moment Chong Liu approached that angle, he suddenly felt a very strong sense of ominousness.

It was as if he was rushing into the gaping mouth of some gigantic invisible monster.

He slowed down, but didn't stop.He must go on, not stop...never stop...

But...but from that angle, thick smoke began to rise, filled with the smell of tar and rust.Immediately afterwards, in Chong Liu's horrified sight, a thing that couldn't tell whether it was blue, purple or black, half liquid and half solid, filled with oil paint, overflowed from the horn-shaped gap.

Chong Liu's scalp was numb, and his pace couldn't help but slow down.But as soon as his speed slowed down, he could feel that strange viscous object overflowing from every sharp cutting angle in all directions.

He can't stop, but the road ahead has also been cut off.what to do?

Get out...he has to get out of this way!

The shopkeeper didn't teach him how to leave the current state, his thoughts turned rapidly, his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him, staring at those dark, empty voids.

What happens if you jump in?

It might not end well.But... He has an inexplicable intuition that if he is caught by these "dogs", something even more terrifying will happen...

Just when he couldn't make up his mind that he couldn't stop, suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder, stopping his steps.Chong Liu jumped up in fright and yelled, but his mouth was quickly covered.

"Stop screaming! Are you trying to scare me to death?" The voice that appeared next to my ear was not the shopkeeper's, but it sounded familiar.

Chong Liu broke free from the calloused hand, but saw Song Mingzi's face.The alchemist in Tsing Yi threw the round paper lantern in his hand into the sky, and the lantern quickly grew bigger, covering the two of them, and suddenly there was only a piece of round white around, spinning continuously.

"Those dogs can only enter places with horns. This lantern has no horns, so they can't get in." Song Mingzi heaved a sigh of relief, and looked at Chong Liu who was still in shock, "Are you okay?"

"You...how are you here?"

"You shopkeeper is worried about you alone, but he can't get away tonight and can't get things. The coppersmith doesn't trust people he hasn't met, so he had to let you go, and exercise your courage by the way. " Song Mingzi smiled proudly at him, showing his white teeth, "Your shopkeeper told me to follow you quietly, it seems that you are really very foresight."

Chong Liu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and said uncomfortably, "Thank you for being here... Thank you..."

"It's easy to say." Song Mingzi's words were immediately interrupted by a deafening, sharp and angry strange hissing sound, as if there were thousands of ghosts, both male and female, howling together in the pit of hell.

Chong Liu shrank his neck in fright, and hugged the brass basin in his arms tightly.

Song Mingzi comforted, "Don't be afraid, they can only be angry and can't get in. Ah, by the way, they haven't touched you yet, have they?"

Chong Liu shook his head.

"That's good. Once you are touched by them, it will be very troublesome. No matter where you go, as long as you have horns, you may be taken away by them."

Through the thin barrier of the paper lantern, Chong Liu could see the shadows constantly surging outside, rolling like smoke and tsunami.

"What is this?" Chong Liu asked, "The coppersmith said there was a dog on this road recently?"

"That's right, these are dogs." Song Mingzi said casually, as if what he saw was just a neighbor's rhubarb, "They are a kind of filthy carnivore with a very bad personality. Once they come across their prey They will be marked, and even if they escape by chance, they will be taken away in any place with sharp corners. Fortunately, they can only move in places with corners, so if I know which area is dog-infested, I often They always bring a magic weapon like a paper lantern.”

"They... don't look like dogs at all!"

"Probably because they chase people like dogs. However, most of them eat dirty birds and animals. Generally speaking, unless they are provoked, they will not pay attention to a well-behaved walking on the main road." People who didn’t stop did this kind of deadly action, and they even cut off the main road. The behavior of these dogs today is really strange, and I haven’t seen it before.” Song Mingzi looked around in confusion, and then at Chong Liu, “ You haven't stopped in the middle, have you?"

"How dare I!" Chongliu complained to the shopkeeper in his heart, no matter how much he asked people to follow him, he didn't say a word to him... He was almost scared to pee his pants...

The sounds outside gradually became inaudible, and the strong smell of tar and rust gradually faded away.

"Looks like they're gone." Song Mingzi murmured, raising his hand, a gap opened up in the lantern.

The road ahead still had a twisted sharp corner, but the shadows of those strange and sticky semi-solid objects could not be seen.

Song Mingzi walked with Chongliu for the last part of the way, and the paper lantern was hung above their heads to prevent the dogs from coming back suddenly.

Chong Liu thought, if he wanted to take a shortcut next time, he would have to ask the shopkeeper to give him a magic weapon like this lantern...

"Xiao Paitang, you learned to take shortcuts very quickly. You are so talented, why didn't you become an alchemist?" Song Mingzi probably felt that the two of them walked too quietly, and started to chat about something.

Chong Liu muttered: "I don't want to be an alchemist..."

"Why? The salary of an alchemist is very high, especially if you are innocent. As long as you work a little bit to learn some small spells, and often write some incomprehensible slang in tabloids or mansion newspapers, I will set up for you A group of laymen can line up the entire Bianhe Street."

Chong Liu chuckled, "It's that simple, then why don't you learn from your senior brother Qi Yao and increase your popularity?"

Song Mingzi shrugged, "I'm used to being carefree. If my senior brother's alchemist has to pay attention to his words and deeds all the time, he can't live without food, I can't stand it."

Chong Liu listened to the excitement he said, but there was a thought in his heart that he couldn't let go of.After thinking about it, he still asked, "Our boss... why can't we get away tonight?"

Song Mingzi looked at him amusedly, "Hey, do you miss your shopkeeper so much?"

Chong Liu pretended to be calm, "I just asked."

"Then I'll just tell you casually. The locust tree in the yard should be watered tonight, and you shopkeepers have to stay in the inn and watch."

Water the locust tree?Do you need to be so motivating?Want to stare all night? !

Chong Liu felt a little resentful.

After taking a shortcut and entering Tianliang City, Song Mingzi said that he still had to run errands for Shopkeeper Zhu to deliver a letter, and left first.Chongliu went back to the inn with the copper basin and chopsticks in his hands.

Except for Fuzi who dozed off at night in the hall, everyone fell asleep.Chong Liu lightly passed by Fuzi, who was drool-drooling on the table, and entered the empty atrium with only the moonlight on it.

Besides him, there was one other person in the court.

The shopkeeper was wearing a white coat, but a red dress was tied around his waist. He was sitting under the locust tree, his eyes were slightly closed, his face was pale, and he seemed very tired.

Chong Liu was dumbfounded, and immediately rushed over and squatted beside the shopkeeper, "Boss! What's the matter with you!"

The shopkeeper opened his eyelids, saw him, and sat up a little, "Are you back? Is the journey going well?"

Chong Liu originally thought that he would cry to the shopkeeper about the hardships and dangers on the road when he came back, but when he saw the shopkeeper's pale lips and tired eyes, he suddenly couldn't say anything, "It's good, I have Song Mingzi to take care of me .”

"That's good. I'm at ease with Song Mingzi's work." The shopkeeper smiled at him and looked at his face carefully, "How does it feel to take a shortcut for the first time?"

"It's very interesting..." Chongliu replied perfunctorily.

The shopkeeper nodded without asking further questions.

Watering the locust tree, is it so energy-consuming?The shopkeeper, who was so tidy, sat down on the spot.

He suddenly noticed that there was a red line on the shopkeeper's wrist.

Not a red thread tied on, but embedded in the skin...

Seems like a sign of a wound healing?

"Boss, when did your wrist get hurt?" Chong Liu frowned with worry on his face.

The shopkeeper just pulled down his sleeves to cover up the red marks, "It's okay, it's almost ready. Liuer, it's almost dawn, go to sleep for a while. I'm going back too.""My boss, I Help you go back?" But the shopkeeper sneered, stood up by himself, and dusted off the dust on his body.

Chong Liu saw that he seemed to have regained his strength, so he felt a little relieved.

"Your shopkeeper, I'm just a little tired, and I don't need to be supported by someone. But you, give me the things, and go to bed quickly. We still have important things to do tomorrow."

"What's the matter, shopkeeper?"

"Shen's family in the south of the city, Yan Luzhi." The shopkeeper said, "Xizhu has heard that the entire Shen family will go to Xianglu Temple to offer incense tomorrow, but Yan Luzhi is sick and will not go back. We can take this opportunity to talk to her." We met."

The author has something to say: The prototype of the dog is the Tindalos Hound that appeared in Frank Belknap Long's "Tindalos Hound" and HP Lovecraft's "Dark Night Whispering".