The strange story of Huai'an Inn

Chong Liuben was so nervous that his hands and feet felt cold, but suddenly he felt the shopkeeper covering his eyes.

In an instant, he felt a certain change in the body surrounding and protecting him behind him.It was as if something had unfolded, accompanied by the sound of the carriage being torn apart.There was a strange fishy sweetness in the air, a bit like blood, but also a bit like the desolate and decadent sweet fragrance of peonies that are about to bloom.

Chong Liu wanted to break away from the shopkeeper's hand, and wanted to see what happened, but he heard the shopkeeper's voice ringing in his ears, and his breath blowing on his ears.

"Don't open your eyes."

The shopkeeper's voice sounded slightly different from usual.

It seemed that there was some echo outside his voice, and it became a little deeper than before.

Chong Liu's heart was still in his throat, but he still didn't move after hearing Zhu Helan's words.The wind rustled in his ears, as if countless long whips were dancing around him, and the powerful heat like lava was trembling with the sound of the wind.

He heard all kinds of strange noises that he couldn't understand.Sometimes metal scrapes against each other, sometimes it's like a baby neighing, sometimes it's like bones are breaking, sometimes it's like thousands of worms crawling and laying eggs...

Those sounds gave him goosebumps, his senses heightened by not being able to see.He could feel pure evil and filth gathering, jostling, and devouring each other around him.Occasionally, something acid-like would fall on the back of his hands and on his neck, causing a slight burning sensation.

From the beginning to the end, Zhu Helan's hand was always covering his eyes.But Chong Liu knew that the shopkeeper was expelling those dogs.

How did he maintain the pose with one hand covering his eyes?

Chong Liu could vaguely sense that the current shopkeeper probably no longer looked like a human being...

On the other side of the shopkeeper, Chong Liu has never really seen it clearly, it is always a cloud of red mist, with a disturbing shadow looming in the middle.

At this moment, he knew that he was surrounded and protected by the thick red foul smell.It should be the power that brings unknown, chaos and deformity, but he feels extraordinarily safe.

He kind of wants to see the shopkeeper...

He could feel that the shopkeeper didn't want him to see it, but he just wanted to know everything about the shopkeeper...

After a while, the shopkeeper finally let go of his hand.Chong Liu blinked and looked around.

The car had completely fallen apart, and the horse...or rather, the wreckage of the horse was scattered on the ground. If he hadn't seen half of the horse's head, he could hardly recognize what those were.

It doesn't seem to be bitten to death by something, it's more like... being dissolved, there is not even blood on the ground, and the corroded section of fat is exposed in sight, which is disgusting.

There were puddles of black and viscous stuff on the ground, whether it was liquid or solid.But there was no sign of the dog anywhere.

Chong Liu turned around, but saw that the shopkeeper was the same as before, except that the silk ribbons that were tied up had diverged.

Chong Liu looked around the shopkeeper up and down, and was relieved that he did not see any signs of injury.

"Boss...you were not bitten?"

Zhu Helan shook his head, but his expression was not relaxed, "These dogs are behaving abnormally, as if they are eyeing us. In my opinion, we should take less shortcuts in the future."

How could such a good person follow them?

Chong Liu suddenly thought of... the locust tree...

The blood of the locust tree was stolen...

And all along, the shopkeeper used his own blood to water the locust tree, so what they stole was actually the shopkeeper's blood?Could it be that someone stole the blood and fed it to the dog, so the dog came after the shopkeeper?

Chong Liu hurriedly told Zhu Helan the guess, the shopkeeper frowned deeply, and said in a low voice, "I just don't know if it's the water ghost or Xiao Yi."

"If Xiao Yi, this matter must have something to do with Xu Hanke." Chong Liu said angrily, "You saved his life, but he plotted against you endlessly!"

Chong Liu was so angry that he was about to smoke, but Zhu Helan smiled as if he was in a good mood, reached out and rubbed Chong Liu's head, "Okay, it's all speculation, and I'm not sure if it's him. But if it's him, he is How did you know so many things about foul creatures?"

"I'm sure...is it Yuanchu's master?" Chong Liu rubbed his chin, pondering seriously, "After Yuanchu told me about him, I've been thinking about it. His master... seems to have some problems. He said that the problematic spells were passed on to him by God Qingxuan in his meditation. The problem is... You also said that the defilement god and the Tao god we usually know are actually not so clear. They were originally a family. ...How did he know that it was God Qingxuan who passed it on to him, and not something else?"

The shopkeeper Wang Chongliu not only stopped being afraid after meeting the dog, but also looked like he was analyzing and guessing layer by layer, which made him feel more and more cute.Compared with when he first came to the inn a year ago, Chong Liu's ability to withstand dirty creatures is getting stronger and stronger.

"Okay, let's get on the road as soon as possible. There is no carriage now, so we have to walk. Don't make Yuanchu wait too long."

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

When the two of them arrived in Chongming City, the sun was already in the west. According to the agreement, they went to an inn called "Beiyi" to look for Yuanchu, but they saw a large group of men and women from the Lay Order from a distance. Yang Yang crowded at the door of the inn, stretching his neck to look inside.There was a poor fellow at the door trying to persuade everyone to leave quickly.

"Realist Yuanchu! Realtor Yuanchu!" Someone shouted, and the crowd immediately became excited again, as if they were celebrating the New Year.

Chong Liu stared at the scene dumbfounded, "Unexpectedly, this kid Yuanchu doesn't have many believers in our Tianliang, so they are all here?"

The shopkeeper was not surprised, and said, "Most of the laymen in Tianliang are followers of the Qingming Sect, and about [-]% of them are sincere followers of Song Mingzi and his brother. But the Daluo Sect is the strongest in Chongming City."

"I think they won't be able to disperse for a while... Shall we go have dinner first?"

"Okay."

Chong Liu has not been to Chongming City yet, but he has also heard that the whole fungus banquet in Chongming City is famous all over the world, so he must have a meal when he comes.Zhu Helan also let him go, and took him to the most famous restaurant in the city, Baixianglou.

Facing a big table with a sumptuous banquet made up of all kinds of strange mushrooms, although it is winter now, most of the mushrooms are dried and preserved, not as delicious as those freshly picked in spring and summer, but Chong Liu is still drooling, and he is not ashamed to ask Zhu Helan, "Did I order too much?"

Zhu Helan held his chin and looked at him with a wicked smile, "Eat it, finish it, after this matter is settled, you probably won't want to eat mushrooms anymore."

"...Master, you are such a spoiler!"

However, after that is the next thing, how can I take care of so much now.Chongliu was in a tizzy, and felt that the mushrooms were delicious and flexible, and they were even more delicious than meat.

Zhu Helan's enthusiasm for liuzhi was full of enthusiasm, and his smile filled the corners of his brows and eyes.He didn't even realize that he was laughing, and while persuading Chong Liu to eat slowly, he helped him bring over the dishes that were too far out of reach.

After eating and drinking enough, the two strolled along a lively night market.Before Chongliu came to Huai'an Inn, he traveled around and saw many markets, and he explained in detail many new gadgets that Zhu Helan didn't know.

"Boss, look, this is from the far west!" Chong Liu held a metal lark in his hand, and showed Zhu Helan excitedly.He twisted the spring behind the lark, and the originally motionless bird suddenly began to move its beak, and moved its feet to walk in Chong Liu's palm.It's just that one foot seemed to be out of order, and it fell over after taking two steps.

Zhu Helan let out a cry of surprise, took the lark out of Chong Liu's hands and studied it carefully, "How did it come alive without foul smell?"

Chong Liu laughed loudly, "Master, why are you looking around for filth? It's all thanks to clever tricks."

Chong Liu has always felt that he is a fool who doesn't understand anything in front of Zhu Helan. This time he finally regained a little bit of self-esteem...

Chong Liu saw that Zhu Helan liked it very much, so he began to bargain with the shopkeeper.Zhu Helan hurriedly persuaded, "No need, I'll just take a look."

"Don't mind! Didn't we just make a big deal!" Chongliu proudly took out his wallet from his arms, "You invited me to a mushroom feast just now, so I have to be proud of it."

Zhu Helan watched with half astonishment and half relief as Chong Liu forcibly cut the price to one-third of the original price, and bought the slightly malfunctioning lark, but did not give it to the shopkeeper right away.

Zhu Helan smiled and said, "Why didn't you give me the gift you gave me?"

Chong Liu's eyes crooked with a smile, "I'll give it to you after I fix it."

The two bought snacks at the night market, and walked around every stall before returning to the inn.As soon as the waiter in the store heard their names, he immediately ran away, and within a moment saw Yuanchu coming out with him.

"Why did you come here!" Yuanchu looked devastated.

Zhu Helan said, "I met a dog on the road and saw that you were busy, so we went out for a walk first."

"Dog?" Yuanchu immediately frowned when he heard it, "Recently, they appear more and more frequently on the road...Last month, I even heard about a strange case that happened in Pinggan City, saying that someone He disappeared in a closed room, leaving his blood and some sticky and poisonous black things on the ground. I suspected it was a dog at the time."

"Dogs haven't invaded the mortal world for a long time. The last time this happened was..."

There is no need for Zhu Helan to finish speaking, Yuanchu also understands what he means.

50 years ago...

Yuanchu sighed, sat down at a secluded table in a corner, and said in a low voice, "I always feel that something big is about to happen. The filth is increasing everywhere, and Dao Qi is chaotic... The imbalance has already begun. Last time That's what my fan is."

Thinking of the fan, Chong Liu still feels a little uncomfortable.

He remembered the painting on the fan.The mysterious ruins of an ancient city eroded by wind, sand and time...

Is that a real place?Why did it appear on the fan? At this time when Xiao Er served tea, Zhu Helan opened three teacups and slowly filled them up, "It's no use worrying so much, we have to deal with the matter at hand first. You prepare the map of Tailong Town Ok?"

Yuanchu nodded, pulled out a roll of paper from his sleeve, and spread it on the table.

"Tailong Town is located in this forest valley between Tailong Mountain and Yuqi Mountain. Due to the poor circulation of the earth, the mountain is humid and easy to grow fungus. After I arrived today, I asked people here, and they said that it was probably from Since the beginning of the year, I have occasionally heard rumors of people missing in Tailong Mountain. Some people say that there are mandrills and monsters in the mountains. But some people think that they got lost and died in the mountains."

"Do you know the approximate scope of those people's disappearance?" Zhu Helan asked.

Yuanchu used his finger to draw a circle on the south side of Tailong Mountain, "About all of them are concentrated here. The widow also got lost here before. She remembered that she was there at the end, but she couldn't remember everything after that clearly." .”

"It may be filthy smell, or it may be the presence of filthy creatures." Zhu Helan said, "But if the filthy smell wants to infect the entire village, it must not only have a wide range, but also be thick enough. So much filthy smell suddenly gathers, it doesn't seem to be self-produced of."

Yuan Chu nodded, "I think so too."

"May I have a look at the amulet you gave to the widow?"

Yuanchu took out a bright yellow charm and handed it to the shopkeeper. Zhu Helan carefully looked at the knotted lines that seemed to be words but not words, and said, "It's a very arrogant charm, which is a bit similar to the one given to the blacksmith before. But at first glance, it seems that only the widow should be affected. But you said that she is the only one who is fine." "Maybe it has nothing to do with the spell?" Yuanchu asked hopefully.

Zhu Helan pondered, and Zhuang Liu yawned next to him, his eyelids were so sleepy that he was about to droop, so he smiled and said, "Tomorrow morning, let's go to Tailong Town to have a look before making any plans. Tonight, everyone, go to bed early. "Speaking, he stood up and went to the waiter to book a room.

Chongliu pricked up his ears.

When he heard that the shopkeeper had asked for a small room with two bunks, his heart fluttered like several butterflies ran into him for some reason.