The strange story of Huai'an Inn

After listening to Xiao Shun's words, Chong Liu threw the quilt on the ground and ran downstairs.

A group of officers and soldiers rushed in from the courtyard, wearing black official uniforms with red borders that were completely different from the soldiers of the county government, well-trained to guard the entrances of the north building and the east building.As soon as Chong Liu went out, a tall and strong military master immediately stopped him, "Who are you? A customer or a helper?"

"Master Jun, I'm the waiter. I know Mr. Liu, please let me go over and say hello to him." Chong Liu said pitifully, with the most humble smile on his face.

However, the officer didn't appreciate it, and said in a business-like tone, "Master Liu ordered that no one should run around. We are arresting the suspect, and it will be over in a while. Go back and wait."

With a plop, Chong Liu actually knelt down, which startled several officers and soldiers around him, who all looked sideways.

"My lord! Let me go over and say hello to Master Liu! I promise I won't make any trouble, so I'll just say a few words!"

"Tsk, what are you making a fuss about! Get up! It's none of your business!"

"Master Jun, please be merciful, I have to listen to our innkeeper explain what will happen to the inn after he leaves!"

"If you make trouble again, I will arrest you together!"

Chong Liu rolled his eyes and said in a hurry, "Master Jun, that's fine too, you can take me away too!"

The officer looked at him, as if he thought he was out of his mind, and was afraid he was a lunatic, so he kicked him down, "Go away! The people in this inn are fucking abnormal."

At this time, Chongliu saw a Xiangfei-colored figure walking out surrounded by the crowd across the atrium.

"Boss!!!!" Chong Liu hoarse at the top of his voice.

The bright figure paused, then turned around.From a long distance, he couldn't see the expression clearly, but Chong Liu could tell. The shopkeeper smiled at him, shook his head, then turned and left.

Heavy six can't do anything.He is just a small running hall, unable to fight and has no power.He watched them take the owner away, but there was nothing he could do.

However, the soldiers did not withdraw immediately. He saw many people entering the backyard, and he was afraid that they were going to search the small courtyard where the shopkeeper lived.

Chong Liu felt his heart was burning. He hadn't experienced such a strong depression and panic, as well as that ray of anger that could not be ignored, for a long, long time.

He knew there was nothing he could do now.Xiao Shun's anxious eyes are red, Zhu Yi and the others are still trapped in the lobby, if he messes up now, the trouble will be even greater.

It's all his fault...he saved Xu Hanke...

He didn't expect that saving people would be wrong.

The soldiers finally withdrew, and then the guests in each room also ran out to check out.Before closing time, the entire Huaian Inn was empty.

Facing the chaotic lobby made by the officers and soldiers, everyone was silent as if they had been frightened and turned into stone, and no one even lit the lights.

Only Master Liao took a sip of tea and said flatly, "Okay, clean up quickly. The shopkeeper won't be gone for long. When he's gone, we still have to look after the store."

Chong Liu rubbed his face vigorously, stood up, started to lift up the overturned stools one by one, and swept the broken wine jars into the dustpan.The others also stood up silently, looking for jobs, as if they wanted to regain a sense of control from this out-of-control situation. "Excuse me... what happened?"

Lvzhi hugged Qianqian, who was not crying or making trouble, and Xizhu followed her, watching the decadent and chaotic scene in the hall with wide eyes.

Zhu Yi said with a mournful face, "The shopkeeper was taken away by officers and soldiers."

"What?! How could this be?!" Lvzhi was shocked, and after thinking about it, panic appeared on his face, "Could it be that the Shen family has reported to the government? No, I will go back and tell them to let them let Mr. Zhu go!"

As soon as she said that, she really wanted to go to the gate, and Xizhu couldn't hold her back.Chong Liu hurriedly stopped her, and persuaded in a low voice, "Madam, don't think too much, it's not because of your business."

"Why is that?" Lvzhi asked in confusion, "Who caught him?"

Chong Liu didn't want to say it, but Xiao Shun had already answered honestly, "Department of punishment..."

Her eyes widened and she took a step back.

"Tiring Division... that kind of place, once you go in, can you still come out?"

Chong Liu glanced at the crowd, warned them not to talk nonsense, and then said in a low voice, "Madam, don't worry, we will find a way to rescue the shopkeeper."

"Rescued? How to save? You are just a waiter, and I am just an abandoned woman. I have no power or power. What can I do?" Luzhi asked softly with a pale face.

Her words once again clouded the minds of all the helpers.Fuzi said, "What if the shopkeeper doesn't come back, what shall we do?"

"Why can't you come back? What's wrong with this? Why are you discouraged!" Chong Liu began to reprimand these young people who were younger than him, "whatever happens tomorrow, the shopkeeper will be fine!"

Master Liao took a sip of tea and nodded, "Chongliu is right, don't think about it, this matter... Maybe Mingzi Song needs to know."

Song Mingzi...

Didn't he go to the capital...

But Chong Liu didn't tell everyone, if he did, it might cause more panic.

After sending Luzhi back to his room, he went to the shopkeeper's courtyard alone.

After some searching, the shopkeeper kept a room full of filthy things, probably...

However, the moment he stepped into the yard, he was almost dumbfounded.

All the strange-looking flowers in the yard disappeared, leaving only some bald weeds, but there was no trace of the flowers being pulled out.He walked quickly to the gate that had been forcibly kicked open by the officers and soldiers, looked inside, and was almost speechless.

The shopkeeper's room was full of things, but now it is completely clean, even the huge medicine cabinet that occupies the entire wall is gone.

The decoration of the entire hall and inner room is like an ordinary but more elegant dwelling, and even the portraits on the walls have disappeared.

Although it was messed up by the officers and soldiers, Chong Liu clearly remembered that the officers and soldiers came out empty-handed and did not take anything away.

So... what about those things?

The shopkeeper can't move everything away overnight, can he?

He suddenly remembered something, pulled a red rope from his neck, and tied two keys at the end.One was his own, while the other was given to him by the shopkeeper half a month ago.

Did the shopkeeper already start preparing for today?

Chongliu's hanging heart settled down a little, and he began to rummage in the house.

This key... What kind of lock does it open?The shopkeeper didn't explain...

Maybe the shopkeeper has his own plans?

Chong Liu tapped on the wall carefully, and even lay down on the ground to look for hidden traps.But after searching for more than an hour, nothing was found.

The dark night sky pressed against the treetops outside the window, Chong Liu sat on the bench facing the gate, absent-mindedly ravaging the sachet in his hand.In the dim light, his eyes became brighter and firmer.

He stood up, found a pen and paper in the shopkeeper's room, and rubbed the ink smoothly.It took less than a stick of incense from the first stroke on the paper to the completion of a long Yuefu poem in one fell swoop.He picked up a long poem describing the beauty of the four seasons of the Bian River, and gently dried the ink, with an unpredictable expression.

Chongliu found a dark-colored dress in the shopkeeper's suitcase and put it on, then went to the warehouse to search for a long time, and found a Shigongxi Green Tara mask that someone bought back from a visit to a temple fair some other year.

He put the mask on his face and quietly left the inn in the middle of the night. Now he walked around several streets before he hurried to the bulletin board where the residence newspaper was posted at the gate.

The street was quiet, even the stalls in the night market were closed, only the beating sound of watchmen from a certain street.

Notices and arrest warrants from the Yamen are plastered on the bulletin board.And next to the public version, there is also a chore board specially for the common people.The upper layer is full of folk tabloids, notices about looking for lost cattle or people, or proclamations by laymen, and promotions for their newly opened stores... Chongliu chose a very good one. Brush the paste on the conspicuous place, and paste the long poem on it.

After doing all this, he turned around, but was stunned.

There is no cloud tonight, and the full moon is exceptionally bright, illuminating the night sky as clear as water.And above the sleeping ancient city, a strange scene appeared.

He saw the huge, terrifying and treacherous figure of the City God rising from the ground, and the huge antlers streaked across the sky, as if to tear the starry sky apart.But those countless hands, hooves, and tentacles seemed to be wrapped in countless silk threads.It raised its head and let out a long and frightening howl, like thunder in the clear sky, tearing apart the silence.

Such a loud voice didn't wake up the whole city? !

Or... No one heard it?

And opposite to it, there is an equally huge thing that overlooks the entire city.

Something Chong Six has never seen nor understood.

It was a mass... It seemed like a huge mountain piled up by someone with mud, but the appearance of constantly wriggling and changing its posture was like a huge mass of yellow Tai Sui (an ancient name for slime mold).Countless yellow hyphae are like vast nets and densely packed blood vessels, dragging from it to all directions.Almost everything seems to be densely covered by the yellow mycelium.

Its bloated, shapeless body ejected broken and cohesive hyphae, tightly entangled and suffocating the vast and ancient body of the City God.

Chong Liu's mind was blank, leaving only a kind of empty blankness.It was as if his brain was sucked and swallowed the moment he saw the huge yellow monster.

Suddenly, countless chaotic thoughts burst into the mind, like crazy colors whirling and colliding.The foul-smelling wind blew against his face, making it hard for him to breathe, and his skin seemed to melt in the hot, filthy smell.

Until, he blinked his eyes.

Then it's all gone.Regardless of the City God, the yellow giant monster, or the mycelium of densely packed people covering the entire city, all of them seemed to have never existed.There was only one round of cold moon left, hanging alone as before.

His heart was beating fast, and at this moment, he realized that his brain suddenly seemed to be out of order.

It was an extremely weird feeling. If I had to make an analogy, it might be a bit like a stroke?

But now, he finally felt the fear that slowly covered him like a tsunami, the fear that came from the source of life.

City God... what happened?

Is that thing... attacking Chenghuang?

That yellow color reminded him of the unknown sticky threads in the soil that Ding Buqiang sent...

............................................................

Three days later, Chongliu changed into a black robe and a Green Tara mask again, and went to the Yuanmen Miscellaneous Board to look around.

The long poems he wrote are gone.Originally at the same location, someone returned a long poem by the Yuefu, which described the celestial spirit of Zilu Mountain, the quiet and elegant scenery.

The mouth under Chongliu's mask was raised, showing a relieved smile.He took off the long poem and carefully put it in his arms.When he turned around, he was a little scared, afraid of seeing something that ordinary people shouldn't see again.

But this time, nothing happened.

He quickly ran back to the inn, lightly passed Zhu Yi who was dozing off at night in the lobby, and after returning to the room, he lit the lamp and took off his mask, then lay down on the table and began to study the poem seriously.

He took out his pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and took out another booklet that was pressed on the bottom of the wooden box and filled with weird symbols. While comparing, he wrote and drew on the paper, as if he was calculating something.

Soon, he skillfully and accurately deciphered a sentence from the poem: On the second day of June, I will see you under the willows with ghost hair in Baizhize.