The strange story of Huai'an Inn

Chong Liu was soaking comfortably in the bathtub. How long has it been since the last time he took such a refreshing bath?

After all, it's just a small running hall, busy all day long, and on weekdays, at most, it boils a bucket of hot water, wipes the body with a wet towel, and it's over.This feeling of being immersed in hot water and stretching every pore in the body made Chong Liu feel so comfortable that he began to doze off.

Zhu Helan and Yuanchu inquired about the latest news about Tailong Town with the waiter who was watching the store, and they had just returned to the house at this time.As soon as I entered the door, I saw that although the lights were on in the room, it was quiet, and Chong Liu could not be seen anywhere.

"Liu'er?" Zhu Helan called out, but there was no reply.He muttered, "Where are you going crazy again?" He reluctantly went around behind the screen to find a circle, only to find that Chong Liu was sleeping in the bathtub, his face was still wet, and his mouth was still slightly open.

The corners of Zhu Helan's mouth raised unconsciously.

"Six! Six!"

In the blurred dream of Chong Liu, someone patted himself on the shoulder and waved impatiently, "Don't make noise..."

"Get up! You'll catch a cold if you sleep like this."

Chong Liu opened his eyes in a daze, only to find that the shopkeeper was looking at him with a smile.

He yelled and quickly shrank into the water, "When did you come back, Master!"

"Just now." Seeing that his face was flushed, Zhu Helan almost buried his face in the water, and leaned against the side of the screen leisurely, "Get up quickly, I will catch the wind and cold for a while, and I won't take you there tomorrow." .”

"Then you have to go out for a while before I can get up!"

"Why, it's not like I haven't seen it before." The shopkeeper said quietly, then turned the screen and went outside.

Seen……

what... when...

Ah... Could it be that after the first distortion in the dream of the locust tree, he woke up in the owner's house, and the clothes on his body seemed to have been changed...

Chong Liu only felt that the blood in his whole body probably rushed to the top of his head.

He dressed, dried his hair, and entered the room with two berths, feeling a little cramped for some reason.Zhu Helan was sitting on the head of the bed with a book in his hand, and when he heard the voice, he raised his head, and saw Chong Liu sitting on the opposite bed with his back to him, his hair was still dripping, and he was about to throw off the quilt to sleep.

"Hey, wait a minute."

Zhu Helan stood up, picked up the towel on the washbasin stand, stood in front of Chong Liu and began to help Chong Liu wipe his hair with a slightly "violent" method.

"Hey! I'll do it myself!" Chong Liu felt dizzy from rubbing his head, "Are you helping me brush my hair or shoot the ball?"

Zhu Helan sneered, "I'm afraid you'll sleep with wet hair and get sick, and you still think my hands are too heavy?"

Chong Liu complained on the lips, but he was flattered in his heart, his mouth was almost grinning to the base of his ears.

Later Xiaoer brought hot water again, Zhu Helan came out after taking a bath and changing clothes, only to find that Chongliu was lying on the bed and fast asleep.

Zhu Helan walked up to Chong Liu, squatted down, looked carefully at Chong Liu's eyebrows and eyes as if seeing him for the first time, and listened to his breathing.The more you look at it, the cuter it becomes.

Just looking at him made him feel lighthearted, and the loneliness that had haunted him forever disappeared for a short while.

At this moment, Chongliu muttered two words in sleep, "Master... eat watermelon..."

Zhu Helan hurriedly covered her mouth, lest she couldn't help but wake up the waiter.He stood up quietly and went back to his bunk, took off the outer clothes, his eyes fell on the strange red line that appeared on the inside of his wrist at some point.

Kind of like a protruding blood vessel.

He frowned slightly, and the relaxed look on his face faded a little.

The fluctuating filth seems to have begun to affect him and the pagoda tree...

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

Early the next morning, the three of them ate breakfast and set off on the road.

Tailong Town is located in the south, it is warmer than Tianliang City, but in the twelfth lunar month of winter, when the morning wind blows, people are still shivering.

Chong Liu sneezed and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

It's clammy and cold... so damn...

The leaves in the forest are all withered, and the clouds and mist are filled. In the dim morning light, only the shadows of dry trees at different distances can be seen.The trees were all very tall and huge, and there were hundreds of trees in all of them.The knotted branches stretched all the way to the depths of the fog above the head, with no end in sight.

The tree shadows in a trance are thin and tall monsters, standing silently in the thick fog, looking down on them with malicious eyes.

There are also many dead trees that are obviously dead.Either lying across the road, or standing stiff and upright.Different from their decayed bodies, there are large pieces of Ganoderma lucidum covering the dead wood.

They are crowded together layer by layer, one by one, some are as big as a plate, and some are as small as a human armor.It is common to see mushrooms like tree tongue and versicolor versicolor on dead wood, but these Ganoderma lucidum... the color is too bright.

Purple, red, yellow, blue, green, spots, stripes... Many kinds of gorgeous and strange colors and clumps are twisted together, it is hard to tell whether it is beautiful or chaotic...

Chong Liu squatted down, carefully looked at the appearance of those Ganoderma lucidum, wishing to take out the notes immediately and write them down carefully.Those colors... seem to be alive, changing subtly at different angles.Even when it's not moving, those patterns are subtly changing their appearance.

These colors, gorgeous and filthy colors... After watching for a long time, there is a feeling of being absorbed.

"Liu'er, come here." Zhu Helan called out before pulling his thoughts back.Chong Liu trotted for two steps, catching up with Yuanchu and Zhu Helan.

"These Ganoderma lucidum are so strange, what kind? I've never seen them before."

Yuanchu said, "I didn't have these when I came to treat the widow a few months ago. Although there were last time, there were not so many."

With that said, everyone's eyes focused on a dead tree not far away, the ganoderma lucidum densely covered the whole tree like fish scales.

Not only Ganoderma lucidum, mushrooms are also thriving.Mushrooms of various sizes and shapes are growing everywhere beside the roots of trees and under dead leaves.Some are dull and dull, and some are as dazzling and gorgeous as Ganoderma lucidum.There are even some mushrooms that are surprisingly big, like an upside-down bowl, with crystal-clear translucent, insect-like dots densely growing on it.

Chong Liu thought, this thing is very poisonous at first glance, even an elephant can be poisoned instantly...

Passing through the fog-shrouded Hanshan Mountain, you can see rows of tile-roofed houses in Tailong Town spreading in the basin between the two mountains.Clouds and mist spread across the land like snow, and the town will be hidden, solidified into a light gray shadow.

A vague sense of ominousness.

Zhu Helan raised his head and sniffed the air.He waved his hand in the air, and could see some dust-like objects swirling with his movement.

"Seeds of fungi." Zhu Helan said softly, "Their seeds are everywhere here."

Chong Liu was a little worried, "Is it going to be okay if we breathe this air..."

"You and I don't have to worry, the filth on our bodies is not attractive to them." Zhu Helan said to Yuanchu, "Do you have any other things to avoid filth on your body other than the charm given by your master?"

Yuanchu nodded, "I have already borrowed the same magic weapon from the Hongyi Temple of the Daluo Sect in Chongming City, so it should be fine."

"That's good." Zhu Helan said, "You have to be prepared. Maybe... there is no one in that town anymore."

"No one?" Yuanchu said in astonishment, "The last time I came there was still a thriving population?"

Zhu Helan pursed her lips and smiled, without explaining much, and continued on her way.

As soon as they entered the town, someone recognized Yuanchu immediately, and within half an hour, Lizheng had rushed over.A country gentleman in his fifties warmly invited them to rest at home.

But this enthusiasm seemed to be directed at Yuanchu only. Chongliu noticed that the villagers looked at him and Zhu Helan with smiles that did not reach their eyes.

All that's left in the eyes is a kind of hair-raising hollowness.

Chong Liu observed carefully, the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong.

Something is wrong with these people.

At first glance, it is normal, but if you look closely, you will find that some people wear their shoes backwards, some people wear summer clothes in winter, and some people look a little weird. On another look, his mouth actually grows upside down ...

Mushrooms... Countless mushrooms grow in every corner you can see.I don't know if it's because he was dazzled, but when he saw a person raising his hand and scratching his head, the moment the sleeve fell from his arm, there seemed to be something growing on that arm... piece by piece that looked like Ganoderma lucidum...

But that hand was put down again soon, so Chong Liu didn't know if he was wrong.

The chickens in Lizheng's yard did exactly what Yuanchu said, doing the exact same movements over and over again.It seems that there is a short cycle that traps these chickens.

Chong Liu and Zhu Helan looked at each other, obviously knowing that the other felt all these same things.

It's as if the whole town is a disguise.

There is a table of vegetables in Lizheng's house, all of which are mushrooms.Mushrooms of different sizes and colors.

Lizheng's family ate and drank with enthusiasm, but Yuanchu, Zhu Helan, and Chongliu didn't move their chopsticks.

Lizheng Zhao Xing asked, "The real person left without saying goodbye last time, and Zhao thought it was a neglect somewhere, which made the real person unhappy."

Yuan Chu showed a slightly embarrassed smile, "Li Zheng said seriously, last time I had to leave because of a sudden emergency."

"That's good, that's good, are these two gods of the Da Luo sect also?"

Zhu Helan smiled generously at this time and said, "Don't dare, I'm just a businessman, and today I'm just here to save the face of real Yuanchu. This is my buddy."

Chong Liuyi grinned, showing his signature warm and sincere smile.

Li Zheng nodded again and again, then asked what kind of business he was doing.With Chong Liu's eyes, he noticed that there was a nurse in the back room who was holding a child about three or four years old.At the beginning, the child turned his back to Chongliu, as if he was asking for something from the nanny but couldn't get it, so he danced and tried to break free from the nanny's embrace.

In the end, none of the nurses hugged her, and the child fell down!

Chong Liu hummed softly, but found that the child was lying on the ground, not crying, but got up at a speed that was not like a child.In an instant, he turned around.

Chong Liu saw that the "child" had no face.Where the face should have been, dense layers of Ganoderma lucidum grew.

With a bang, the nanny closed the door of the back room in panic.