I live on the 18th floor of Nether Community

"The sky is full of clouds and mist, and the clothes are wet, like being next to the Milky Way...Where is the misty spring feeling next to, the smoky moon is too cold...cough cough cough cough!"

A hunched figure staggered out of the deep alley on a rainy night, and heard the intermittent coughing before seeing his face.

Lightning suddenly illuminated him, with cloudy eyes and a sallow face, it was the old shadow puppeteer who was drunk not long after he left Tang Zhai.

He took out two cough medicines from his pocket, and swallowed dryly with some saliva.Holding an umbrella and leaning against the wall, he cursed inarticulately: "Damn Tang Deyong, you are so helpful to me that you don't even have a guest room for me to sleep in! Cough cough, wait for me, one day the entire Tang family will have to sleep." It's mine! Cough cough cough cough..."

Just as he tremblingly took out Tang Deyong and the paper contract he had drawn up and rubbed it over and over again, a pair of hands suddenly appeared and nimbly pulled the contract away.

The old man was shocked: "Who?!"

Lightning flashed suddenly, and met a pair of sharp eyes.

"Old man." The man gritted his teeth and smiled, "If you do something bad, you will go to hell."

"Wh... uh!"

Before the old man who made the shadow puppet finished speaking, he struck the back of his neck with the knife.The old man rolled his eyes upwards and passed out.

"You have struck too hard." Qi Chi looked at the unconscious old man and said in a low voice.

"Restraint enough." Jiang Xiao clapped his hands, lifted the old man's arm up to his neck, and dragged him roughly to the outside of the alley.

Qi Chi frowned: "I'm afraid that if you accidentally beat someone to death again."

"Ha, no way." Jiang Miao turned his head and hooked his hands at Qichi, "Come here and help me. I remember that there is a coal factory not far away, and there are many old warehouses in it. Let's take him there first."

Qi Chi nodded, and together with Jiang Xiao, he took the old man to the coal factory...

……

When a basin of cold water poured on his head, he almost cut off half of the old man's already empty blood tank.There was a pain in his lungs, and he was about to cough and gasp instinctively, but unexpectedly his mouth was already stuffed with a rag.He coughed to the edge of his mouth and couldn't get it out, his cheeks swelled into balls like a dick.

A tall and thin figure dragged a stool and walked up to the old man, stepped on the stool, with a cigarette in his mouth, like a bandit who is familiar with his business.

"Old man, I'll give you two ways." Jiang Xiao stretched out two fingers and said sternly, "One, you can answer whatever I ask, and cooperate honestly. Two, I will send you on your way now." He finished speaking With a cold smile, "I think you have worked so hard to come here, you should know how to choose?"

The old man struggled subconsciously, and after realizing that the whip tied to his body would only get tighter as he struggled, the old man rolled his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Very good." Jiang Miao raised his hand and tore off the cloth gag in the old man's mouth, and questioned, "I see that you are struggling to bend down to pick up things, how did you bring Ajiao here?"

"I..." There was panic in the old man's eyes, and he glanced aside, "I don't know what you are talking about..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the whip on his body began to shrink violently.The old man was so strangled that he couldn't breathe, and his whole body was shaking violently.

"Yes, someone gave me a baby!" The old man finally didn't want to waste all his troubles, and said frankly, "That year when the Tang family held a church meeting, I got drunk and bumped into my sister-in-law and my cousin by accident. Arguing, knowing about, about..."

"The matter of the human skin lantern." Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows impatiently, "I knew it earlier, so stop haggling there."

The old man's body went limp for a moment, and he knew that today he might not be able to hide it completely, so he could only continue to confess: "Afterwards, my cousin disappeared. I know he must have gone into the painting and won eternal life! I have a serious illness. I have a cough, and I have been searching for a doctor for a long time, and I have spent all my money. I can't afford to go to a good hospital by walking around the streets to play shadow puppets for others. But I want to live...Why do some people Can stay in youth forever, but I have to wait to die?"

"So, you have been looking for a way to enter the enchantment." Jiang Xiao continued.

"That's right." The old man nodded, "Until one day, a Taoist came to me and told me that my cousin was in trouble in the painting, and his lantern might be about to go out..."

Speaking of this, the old man's eyes showed a look of pride: "The Taoist said that if you want the lantern to last forever, you need to find the soul of the person who made the lantern. And his soul has not been able to enter reincarnation from beginning to end. Because he is not reconciled, he has always wanted to find his own skin...cough cough cough!" A strange smile appeared on the old man's face, "In that case, I did help him."

"Stop fucking nonsense!" Jiang Miao felt that the old man's smile annoyed him, flicked the cigarette ash and said, "Continue talking."

"The Taoist asked me to follow his method, and I would say what he said. He said that as long as he does this, that soul will find me... At that time, as long as he puts him in the jar, he will be able to open the scroll. Entrance."

"So, you tried your best to bring A-Jiao's soul here, not only to keep yourself from dying, but also to use A-Jiao's soul as a bargaining chip in exchange for half of the Tang family's property. Worry." Xi Chi said lightly, "Tang Deyong will not refuse such a good bargaining chip."

Jiang Miao picked up the old man's collar, gritted his teeth and asked, "Did the Taoist tell you how to open the 'chrysalis' in the statue of Luo Shen? Tell me!"

"Cough, cough, cough! You, you let me go first! I'm going to be out of breath...!" The old man's neck was stuck, and his voice was squeezed out of his throat.

Jiang Miao let go of his hand angrily, and the old man gasped for breath like a fish out of water.

"He said..." The old man's voice was hoarse, "If someone asks me about this matter, I can tell him a word..."

Hearing the words, Jiang Miao and Qi Chi's expressions sank, and suddenly there was a thunderstorm outside the house!

……

Under the full moon, above the wilderness, a man in a black Taoist robe walked alone between the heaven and the earth.

The sound of the grass flute came from his lips, sometimes mellow and desolate, sometimes mysterious and ghostly.

The Taoist raised his head to look at the bright moon in the sky, and slightly raised the corners of his lips.

"Since breaking out of a cocoon and becoming a butterfly, there are naturally trade-offs. Whether it is making an ever-burning lantern or breaking the shackles of the 'chrysalis', it is necessary to combine the spirit and the chrysalis into one." The Taoist's eyes showed unbearable excitement.

"Either keep that soul in the chrysalis forever, or peel off the boy's skin and melt the barrier with his flesh and blood... Xiao Miao, after so many years, I really want to see this time, you again What choice will you make?"

But don't let people down.

……

Ziyunhu took You Ji and Xiao Jiao galloping along the long and dark road.

With a cold face, You Ji grabbed the tiger's mane with one hand, unbuttoned his coat with the other, and wrapped the drenched Xiao Jiao into his arms, warming him with his body temperature.

Their backs were pressed against their chests, exchanging each other's warmth, which made both of them somewhat uneasy.

"Brother You Ji, how did you find me." Xiaojiao pressed against You Ji, his expression was covered by a fluffy hood. "Jiang Xiao told me." You Ji said unhappily, "I told you long ago that your bastard Laozi has no good intentions, so I don't believe it."

Mentioning Tang Deyong, Xiaojiao's eyes hidden in the shadows filled with sadness again.

"If I can get away with it this time, I will definitely go and pick up my mother. Then I will leave Sui Town with her and never come back..."

It was only then that You Ji realized that he only paid attention to his pleasure and ignored Xiao Jiao's feelings.With some remorse, he lightly put his hand on the other person's shoulder, and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you."

"Thank you, Brother You Ji..." Xiaojiao's thick eyelashes curled gently, "The person you love is really happy."

With a long roar, Ziyunhu covered Xiaojiao's words, and then dissipated in the wind.

……

At this time, the old shadow puppeteer who was firmly tied up had fallen asleep in the corner with his neck tilted.There was no sound in the warehouse, except for the continuous pouring rain outside.

The cigarette in Jiang Xiao's hand had been burned from the beginning to the end, and a long pile of soot fell to the ground from the burning part.

"Hiss..." He frowned, his hand was burned by the smoke.Then he threw the cigarette butt on the ground and extinguished it, hugged his head with his hands in annoyance and exhaustion, and crouched by the door.

On the side, Qi Chi stood leaning against the wall, his eyes were also deeply pierced.The red lotus seeds flowed nimbly between his five fingers, and he finally grasped them in the palm of his hand.

To save Ajiao is to kill Xiaojiao, and to protect Xiaojiao will not be able to take Ajiao away.This fatal multiple-choice question is now in front of him, and it has been forcibly given a countdown of less than three days.

"Buzhou Shandao is an idiot..." Jiang Miao scratched his hair irritably, and looked up at Qi Chi, "Brother Xiao Hua, do you think there is another way? It can satisfy both."

"The reason Taoist Bu Zhou told us that Ajiao is here is probably because of today."

After Xichi's words reached this point, he fell silent again, and the world with red rain and corpses strewn across the fields appeared again in front of his eyes.

The person in the fog-colored gown stood in front of him, protecting him and stepping back step by step.On the other hand, the person facing him with a blurred face kept asking sharply, "Is this your choice?!"

A tear fell on the blood-stained soil, and he heard the person standing in front of him sigh softly in a hoarse voice: "I'm sorry..."

Qi Chi frowned.

So, is it a choice again?

When You Ji brought Xiao Jiao to the warehouse to join Jiang Miao and the others, what he saw was the scene in front of him.

The oppressive and dull atmosphere made him feel flustered, he hurried to Jiang Xiao's side, looked down at him and asked urgently, "What happened?"

Jiang Xiao remained silent, stood up with You Ji in his arms, took out the cigarette case from his arms and lit another one, then continued to smoke sullenly.

You Ji became more irritable now, and turned to ask Qi Chi who was standing by the wall: "What do you guys mean by not saying a word?!"

Qi Chi glanced at Jiang Miao, then whispered to You Ji, "Come with me."

When the two passed by Jiang Miao, Qi Chi stretched out his hand and lightly pressed on the other's shoulder, then tightened his hand in a reassuring way, and said comfortingly, "You're right. There's still time, think again. "

……