The world inside and outside [Unlimited Streaming]

The sudden thought made Shen Na feel cold all over, and even her teeth could not help chattering.She tried to recall the faces of the thirteen people in the photo, but she couldn't recall them.

She hurriedly wiped her body clean, opened the bathroom door, and took out her mobile phone to check.

In the photo, all thirteen people were there, and she numbered each face with her companions during the day, and found that there were quite a few of them.

What is the order of taking group photos?

First her, then An Xingyu, then...

Outside the door, the bell rang, and it was eleven o'clock.

Shen Na was startled and immediately went to bed.Before going to bed, she saw Ding Conglu in the next bed lying on the bed and falling asleep.

Be sure to... follow the rules.

On the second day, none of the group dared to sleep in. They all got up early obediently, quietly lined up and sat downstairs, and asked the hotel waiter to order in a soft voice.

Yesterday everyone had seen the village rules brought back by He Lou, and they had to follow them, fearing that they would forget, so they specially took pictures.Of course, everyone knows that you can't get up later than eight o'clock here.

The proprietress was very satisfied with their behavior of abiding by the rules, with a smile on her face.

However, as the time passed by, many people had already finished their breakfast, and there were still four people who did not come down.

What happened to them?

They didn't eat or sleep, and one of them asked the proprietress after eating. The other party was probably in a good mood, and replied with a smile: "Of course, those who don't obey the rules will be punished."

She didn't say what happened to the two of them, but obviously, it wasn't much better.

Several other people looked at each other in blank dismay, and after breakfast, they decided to go upstairs to check together.

It's not against the rules.

The hotel is also made of wood, and there is a slight creaking sound when the boards are stepped on. Probably because the village head's son needs to get married, a whole row of white lanterns is hung outside the wooden corridor on the second floor, shaking gently.

He Lou walked at the back, carefully looking at the lanterns hanging in the corridor, An Xingyu walked side by side with him, and asked in a low voice, "What do you see?"

He Lou: "These lanterns are very similar to those of the village chief's house. Also, do you remember? The proprietress said on the first day that the specialty here is their paper lanterns. Could it be these paper lanterns?"

An Xingyu: "Wait a while and ask."

While speaking, they had arrived outside two rooms.

There were a total of four people who got up late yesterday. Out of some mentality, when they divided the room, they divided the four people who did not get the white bag together.Nobody wants to live with them.Now, there is no one in the room, their luggage is still there, the mobile phone is charged on the bedside table, even the pajamas are neatly spread on the bed, and a human figure is placed under the quilt, but the person is gone.

"Look carefully, is there any clue?" Shen Na said.

It has been recorded in the village rules that no random rummaging is allowed. She didn't do it herself, but watched others start rummaging.

There cannot be too many people in one room, so they are divided into two groups and enter the room separately.The same was true for He Lou. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, he walked to the bed and bent down, picked up a slender withered yellow straw by the bed leg.

Why is there straw in the room?

Another companion came over behind him, his name was Qi Yan, and he admired He Lou, who had performed eight missions, and followed him all the time, trying to "hug his thigh", seeing him pick up a straw, he immediately moved over.

"Brother Lou, is there something wrong with this straw?"

He Lou shook his head: "Not sure yet."

He put the straw back in its place and said, "Let's go next door and see."

The other room was also fruitless, so He Lou came to the bed and searched carefully, and sure enough, he found a straw in the gap between the bed.

Shen Na came over and asked, "What's wrong?"

He Lou: "In both rooms, I found a straw beside the bed. Could this be a clue?"

"Did it accidentally get stuck on the road? There are a lot of scarecrows in the fields around here."

An Xingyu's eyes were still inorganic, and even his tone of voice didn't fluctuate: "If it only appeared in one room, it might be accidental. If it's in two rooms, it's probably an anomaly."

Nothing was discussed in the room, so they noted down the anomaly and closed the door to leave.

As soon as they stepped out the door, they could see the proprietress downstairs looking up at them. The look in their eyes was very strange, cold and extremely uncomfortable.However, for just a short moment, she seemed to realize that this was against the rules, she immediately looked back, smiled and asked if they wanted to go out to play.

It seemed that the cold and strange gaze just now was their illusion.

After An Xingyu went downstairs, he took the initiative to ask the proprietress about the paper lanterns.

"Lanterns, you said, this is a specialty of our place, and every household can make it. Look, don't they look good?" The proprietress smiled and pointed to the ones hanging on the second floor.

Her smile was also inexplicably uncomfortable, and one could only find out upon closer inspection that although the corners of her mouth were raised, her eyes hadn't changed at all, and there was no trace of a smile in her eyes.

An Xingyu didn't say much, but nodded, which made the landlady's smile even higher: "In our place, whenever there is a wedding or funeral, every household must hang lanterns. This is the rule."

Another rule...

"If you want to buy lanterns, you can go to Uncle Wu in our village. He has the best craftsmanship. He lives in..."

An Xingyu asked many questions, thanked him and left.

He still walked with He Lou, and as soon as the two of them stepped out, they saw Shen Na standing under a tree not far away, waiting for him.

Shen Na raised her phone and motioned for them to go over.

"Do you guys remember? We took some group photos yesterday."

The two nodded.

"Do you remember the sequence of taking pictures?" Shen Na took a deep breath to calm herself down.

He Lou: "What happened?"

Shen Na pulled out the photo album and handed it over: "You can see for yourself."

He Lou took the phone, and looked down with An Xingyu. As they watched, their pupils shrank: "This, this is..."

"Did you also find out? The number is wrong." Shen Na swallowed, moistening her dry throat, "We have a total of thirteen people here, but...there are also thirteen in the photo."

An Xingyu's voice remained flat. He took the phone and put it in front of Shen Na: "But obviously, the problem now is not just the quantity."

In the photo, the faces of the four people who hadn't seen this morning have been completely blurred, like a paper map stained with water, their faces are completely blurred, and they can't see their original appearance clearly.

Thirteen people stood upright, showing exactly the same smiles, four of them had blurred faces.Moreover, Shen Na didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but Shen Na always felt that the dizzy faces of those people were distorted into a very strange pattern.

It's as if...

It looks like a smiling face, with two curved lines for the eyes and one curved line for the mouth, the kind of smiling face similar to stick figures drawn by children.

Shen Na, who originally had a fluke mentality, finally confirmed at this moment that those four people... probably won't come back.

"Is there any problem with this photo? Should I delete it?" Shen Na asked.

He Lou shook his head: "At present, there is no danger, we can keep it first."

Shen Na was noncommittal.

These photos are in her mobile phone, not in the other party's mobile phone, he said lightly.

She agreed on the surface, and the three of them went to Uncle Wu's house that the proprietress had just introduced.

Along the way, Shen Na was thoughtful: "If there were no such weird incidents, it would be really nice to come to Honghe Village for vacation, but it's a pity..."

She was right. The scenery in the village is very beautiful. The main road is clean and tidy. When walking on the road, there are paddy fields on one side and small forests on the other.Although the weather is a bit gloomy, cloudy days also have a different flavor.

An Xingyu walked at the back, carefully looking at the field on the right with a pair of pure black and almost inorganic eyes.

It's too... regular.

It’s not that he has never been to the countryside, and he has also experienced farm life in order to write essays. Although the rice fields in the countryside are neat, they can never be like this, so neat that they seem to be compared with a ruler. Even the scarecrows in the fields are like The distance was measured, and the gap between them would not exceed half a meter by visual inspection.

etc!This scarecrow hat?

An Xingyu's eyes suddenly widened.

That hat is...

A small group of sparrows flew down. They seemed not afraid of people, and some of them just landed on the scarecrow, chirping and jumping.

Suddenly, the few birds that landed on the scarecrow fell down and landed in the green rapeseed field.

"What's wrong?" He Lou didn't know when he realized that An Xingyu hadn't followed, and came to him in two or three steps.

From He Lou's point of view, An Xingyu is smart and calm, and he is a good partner.In the future, there are tasks that can be fully cooperated.

An Xingyu pointed at the scarecrow: "That hat looks familiar."

Shen Na's eyes were fixed, and she immediately took out her phone to check the photo album.

One of the missing men was wearing this hat!

In the photo, his face became more blurred, while the smiling face gradually became clearer.

Shen Na suddenly understood what was going on with her familiarity just now.

The blurred smiling face in the photo is exactly the same as the stick figure painted on the face of the scarecrow.

Shen Na immediately closed the album without thinking about it.

Contacting the straw in the room, the three of them looked at each other, and when they understood, they couldn't help but feel chills in their hearts.

After a while, He Lou said, "Let's go to Uncle Wu's house."

Uncle Wu lives a little far away. He does not farm, but sells lanterns for a living. According to the proprietress, he lives alone deep in the woods.It was already noon when the three of them arrived, the sun was shrouded in dark clouds, and the grove was rattled by the wind.

From a distance, the few people saw a corner of the eaves exposed on the hillside, and when they walked over quickly, they couldn't help being stunned.

Since I make lanterns for a living, it is not surprising that the front and back of the house are full of lanterns, but these lanterns are too weird. No matter what shape, whether it is a rabbit or a cat, they are all uncomfortable and extremely bright colors.

Moreover, the expressions of those animal lanterns are very strange, bright red paint paints the corners of the upturned mouth, but there is no smile in the eyes.Although the technique of making lanterns is extremely delicate, these lanterns always give people an uncomfortable feeling.

Shen Na wanted to tell He Lou what she had discovered, but when she saw that he was staring in another direction in a daze, she pushed He Lou: "What did you find?"

"Nothing." He Lou shook his head.

He just...saw a particularly familiar figure from the back, but then he thought, how could that person survive if he could leave with a mission?I thought it was an illusion and ignored it.On the other side, An Xingyu was raising his hand to tell them to go in quickly.

Uncle Wu was working in the yard, and a big table was set up in front of him.The few people didn't want to disturb too much, so they watched from the sidelines.

The skeleton of his new lantern is a bit strange, the bottom is made of thin bamboo strips, the top is round, and there is a circle at one-third of the place, and the bottom is rounder and bigger. At first glance, it looks like a gourd.Uncle Wu oiled a layer of skin of unknown material, brushed it with paste, and pasted it finely on the thin bamboo strips.

His craftsmanship is indeed very good, and the irregular bottom frame can also allow him to wrap the layer of soft leather and fold it without gaps.After a lantern was pasted, Wu Bo picked up the brush beside him and began to outline it carefully.

Only then did the three understand that what Uncle Wu is making now is a female doll lantern. He has painted two balls of black buns little by little, the face is as round as a doll in a New Year painting, and the arms and legs like lotus root joints are exposed outside the apron.After the outline was finished, Uncle Wu changed to a brush and carefully painted the apron.

The dark red viscous paint reminded He Lou of the Red River in the village, and...human blood.

Uncle Wu's speed was very fast, and he soon reached the last step - face painting.The fine brush draws a little by little... a smiling face that is not much different from the scarecrow's face, with no smile in the eyes but the corners of the bright red lips are curved high.

"Finally finished." Uncle Wu looked at the lantern in his hand with satisfaction, and carefully placed it on the ground.

"Very well, you are very well-behaved and didn't disturb my work." He chuckled, the old man's voice was a little hoarse, his eyes were cloudy, and when he stared straight at people, he made people feel very uncomfortable.

"Uncle Wu, may I ask if this lantern you made is...?"

Uncle Wu took out another lantern from under the table, it was a boy doll, and put it together with a girl doll, like a pair of golden boy and jade girl.He explored the two lanterns little by little with fascinated eyes, and finally put the lanterns away reluctantly.

"I'm going to give these two lanterns to the village chief. His son finally got a wife, so I have to show my housekeeping skills." Uncle Wu laughed again, and his eyes stayed on Shen Na for a while .

He Lou praised a few words against his will, seeing this, the other two also praised a few words, and offered to buy some Yun Yun after they left.

Uncle Wu agreed to come down and let them have lunch.

Several people looked at each other in blank dismay, but agreed.After Uncle Wu pushed himself into the house, they found out that Uncle Wu was a disabled person who could not walk on both legs and had to rely on a wheelchair instead.

In this case, as a group of well-behaved tourists, it is natural to help cook.He Lou and Shen Na went into the kitchen, while Liu An Xingyu chatted with him outside.

Several people had lunch, and it was still calm, and no other abnormalities occurred.Before parting, Uncle Wu gave each of them a small white lantern. After they returned to the hotel, several other people saw it and planned to try it at Uncle Wu's too.

There are many specialties in the village, and they searched for them separately.He Lou picked up a mushroom brought back by others, and always felt that the red mushroom was a bit strange.

The law of nature is like this, the brighter the color, the more poisonous it is.This bright red mushroom...

With a light scrape of the nail, a layer of skin was scraped off the swollen mushroom, and the bloody red juice dripped down.

"Is this really edible?" He frowned.

An Xingyu: "For safety's sake, don't do it for now."

Not long after, other people came back one after another, each carrying a small lantern.There is nothing to do today, everyone is just waiting for the banquet in the evening.

Night fell quickly.

In the autumn season, it is extremely cool at night, and the cold wind blows the leaves, rustling.The lanterns of every household in the streets and alleys suddenly lit up and swayed in the wind.

"This... this is..." Everyone gathered at the hotel entrance, dumbfounded.

After those lanterns were lit, the patterns hidden under the white paper were fully revealed, and the smiley faces painted with stick figures fluttered, their lips were as red as blood, and their eyebrows and eyes were crooked, making them look particularly uncomfortable.

"The auspicious time has come—to welcome the bride—"

From nowhere, perhaps from all directions, came a long-drawn-out shout.After the sound, the high-pitched suona sounded suddenly, resounding through the sky.

A suona, blowing new life, blowing marriage, blowing death, high-pitched and loud, came from the village.

The bride is coming.

With the sound of crackling firecrackers, every household opened the door, and people came out one by one with smiles on their faces.A group of people walked out the door behind the proprietress, also with smiles on their faces, gathered in the crowd and went to the village head's house.

There are obviously a lot of people, and everyone has carried lanterns, but the road seems to be unable to illuminate the dense night, and the faces are blurred in the middle of the night, only the smiles on the faces can be seen, and the smiles make people feel cold for no reason. .

The crowd formed a long line to go to the village head's house. The village head's house is not big, so he can't greet so many people. Fortunately, there is a platform in front of his house, and many tables and chairs have been arranged neatly during the day.

An altar was set up at the top, and three white incense candles were burning, and the white smoke blurred the black and white and illuminated the young man's face.Under the altar, there are wreaths, paper houses, gold and silver ingots made of paper.In the front row is a half-person-tall paper figure, with a small red mouth, pale face, and crooked smiling eyes.

The whole village gathered together, but there was no lively atmosphere at all.For the sake of rules, you can't talk nonsense at other people's wedding banquets, you have to wait for the host to speak.

"Today is my son's big day..." the village head was very happy, standing in front of the altar and speaking.He was obviously very happy with the marriage, and kept praising how good his future daughter-in-law was.

Thinking about it, his son is also very satisfied. In the photo, the corners of his mouth are raised a bit.

All the mission executors noticed this anomaly, and they felt like a cold wind passed through, sending chills down their backs.But for the sake of rules, no one dared to speak out.

The same was true for He Lou, unknowingly, he could not help but tremble.

What shocked him was not the smiling photo, but a young man standing next to the village chief listening intently.

That person...wasn't Lu Yanli, who else could it be?