East China Sea dust

Covering her face and figure, Zhang Qinglan deliberately avoided the servants who were patrolling near the main house. After a while, she relied on her skilled lockpicking skills to pry open an inconspicuous door on the mansion.

Walking along the narrow path behind the side door, the journey was very smooth. After about a stick of incense, the scenery in front of me suddenly opened up, from the main house with all the blue tiles and white walls to the criss-crossing streets in the market.

The young man stopped for the time being, stood in the shadow at the corner, and looked up and down at the carriages and pedestrians in front of him.

Almost instantly, the hustle and bustle of the secular world rang in my ears, completely dispelling the original cleanliness, leaving behind a lot of fireworks.

The peddler's hawking was mixed with the snorting of the horses pulling the cart forward, and was carried by the warm summer wind, blowing the paper pinwheel inserted on the cargo box.

Leaning halfway against the wall, Zhang Qinglan sighed in her heart that the illusion was so real.

His eyes lingered on the rice cakes and candies displayed in several small stalls, the young man's eyelashes drooped slightly, and he walked absent-mindedly.

Recalling that day after the boat tour on the lake, he was taken to the main house in the city by Ao Zhan.Although it's just another courtyard cleaned up from a corner, the living conditions are much better than before.

Later, I heard that the small courtyard on the outskirts of the city was burnt down, even the old purple sand water tank inside was smashed to pieces.

From then on, Ao Zhan restricted him so much that Zhang Qinglan had no chance to step out of the main house.

They even sent a few more maids and servants to the small courtyard where the young man lived. On the surface, they were there to take care of daily life, but in fact they were closely guarded, so as not to give Zhang Qinglan a chance to sneak around.

The butler was ordered by the head of the house several times to take good care of this person in the other courtyard, which scared the servants and maids, and walked around Zhang Qinglan's small courtyard every day, fearing that if they did not serve well, they would be held accountable by the steward. .

It's a pity that this kind of flattery only lasted for less than a month——

After Ao Zhan hadn't visited the small courtyard for more than ten consecutive days, the servants who were rushing to show their faces in front of Zhang Qinglan lost most of their patience and became passive and sabotage.

Originally, the higher-ups also ordered Qing Lan to watch the nervousness and not let anyone run away.It's just over half a month, not only is there no accountability and inspection, but the young man himself is very obedient, and he doesn't leave the gate all day long.

As a result, a group of people in the small courtyard had nothing to do, their laziness grew day by day, and they naturally slacked off on taking care of the young people.

It's like noon today.

Zhang Qinglan stood alone under the grape arbor in the yard, watching from afar the three or five maids chatting and laughing together, and staring thoughtfully at the green curly vines of the grapes for a while.

In a blink of an eye, a kite turned over and jumped over the wall. The tall and slender figure disappeared around the corner and disappeared soon.

……

This is the reason why he can stand freely and freely on the streets of the market today.

Zhang Qinglan was used to sneaking away, and this time he didn't even have any worries or regrets. When he left, he re-attached the copper lock on the side door without leaving a trace.

Soon, Zhang Qinglan stopped hesitating, patted the dust left when the hem of the clothes rubbed against the wall, walked towards the other side of the street, and hurried forward.

Go straight along the streets paved with blue bricks, and if you see a lot, you will be able to discover some of the mysteries.

Although the furnishings are different, and the styles of the surrounding shops and houses are also very different, Zhang Qinglan found that the town layout in the phantom array is very similar to Ye City in the real world.

Standing in the middle of a certain street, Zhang Qinglan looked around and carefully compared it with the town in his memory.

Only then did I realize that if those fragmentary shops and houses and some more subtle points were removed, the phantom array and the road direction of the present world can almost be aligned, and no mistakes can be found.

The only difference is that the layout of the "Yecheng" in the illusion array is simpler, giving people a sense of simplicity.It is not as prosperous as the present world.

After realizing this, Zhang Qinglan frowned slightly, and then slowed down her pace.

He had heard that the phantom array has the ability to transcend time and space, and recalled that Begonia the flower demon said that the phantom array was born based on her...

Zhang Qinglan can probably be sure that the reason for this situation is either that the flower demon is not strong enough. In order to fully construct the phantom formation, it directly modifies the existing Ye city layout slightly.

Or it is that what is recorded by this phantom array is not the current situation in this world.

To put it more clearly, what is displayed by this phantom formation is basically Ye City ten years ago, or even a hundred years ago.

After figuring out the joints, the young man's eyes darkened slightly.

Just as he lifted his foot and was about to move on, an indistinct child's voice came from behind the door, which immediately attracted Zhang Qinglan's full attention.

Maybe it's because they're far away, and they can't be heard clearly, and the faint mass is weakened a bit when it comes out along the crack of the door.

Zhang Qinglan heard the word "mother", and thought the voice was very familiar.

It was this half attention that made him take a step in a strange way, and walked towards the direction that the voice came from.

After finding the source of the sound, Zhang Qinglan stood in front of the shop, only to realize that he was lying on the wrong side. He had really been to this place.

On the eaves of the pavement, there were two plain white lanterns hanging neatly on the left and right. There was no signboard on the door panel, and it was a clean piece, quietly falling on the spot, painted vermilion.

At the threshold, several paper-folded animals were neatly lined up and fixed on the wooden platform with paste, motionless.Probably because it has not been taken care of for a long time, it is covered with a layer of dust.

——Seeing this, Zhang Qinglan was able to confirm that the one in front of him was really the nameless shop he bumped into by mistake that night.

The only difference is that several dark yellow seals were pasted on the door panel, covering the entire front door and making it difficult to open from the outside.

Standing in front of the door, Zhang Qinglan's expression froze suddenly.

I was paying attention to the shop in front of me before, but I don't know when, the noisy human voices that filled my ears disappeared like a low tide.

Zhang Qinglan looked back slowly, and as expected, the street full of traffic before had become empty at this moment, with no one there.

All that came from my ears was my own clear and shallow breathing, and the breeze blew past, engulfing the individual leaves falling on the brick and stone street, making a rustling sound.

At this moment, the sweet laughter of a few children suddenly came from behind the vermilion lacquer door.

Different from the vagueness just now, in the young man's ears now, the voice of the little boy calling "Mother" is very clear.

The right hand hanging by his side unconsciously grabbed a corner of his clothes. The young man was thin and standing in front of the shop door, with his thin lips pursed into a straight line.

The expression was inexplicable, the light in the amber-like pupils flickered, but it was hard to tell whether he was afraid or not.

Without thinking for too long, when the child's voice disappeared for the second time, Zhang Qinglan directly raised her hand and tore off the seal stuck to the crack of the door. Using force with her palm, she pushed the vermilion lacquered door straight with ease. open.

He crossed the threshold and walked in with great strides.

It wasn't until the young man stood behind the gate that he felt the icy breath enveloping him, followed by a familiar light rosin, which lingered in the air.

The familiar scenery in front of him did not surprise him. The young man looked around calmly, looking around at the hundred cabinets lined up on the walls in front of him.

All Baizi cabinets still have the same transparent appearance, even the gilt wooden strips with the edges have not changed in the slightest.Inside each transparent drawer is a copper-yellow candle in the shape of a flower petal.

This time it was daytime, so there was no candle lit in the drawer like last time, the wick was exposed bare, and the top was scorched black.

Even the number of window grilles and paper-cuts of different styles beside the candlelight has become less, not as complex and exquisite as when Zhang Qinglan broke in by mistake at midnight that night.

The grand teacher's chair in the middle of the hall was empty, and the gold phoenix tail lamp on the floor was extinguished, standing quietly aside.

Zhang Qinglan took a few steps forward, and the upper of the shoe rubbed against the rough stones underneath, making a slight noise.

Probably it was this slight noise that alarmed the people in the house.Soon, the thick cloth door curtain behind the grand master's chair was lifted from behind, and a corner was raised.

Zhang Qinglan noticed this change, and her movements froze.

In the next second, the door curtain opened wide, and the person standing behind the heavy fabric fully appeared——

I saw a graceful young woman in plain clothes leaning halfway against the door frame. Her long hair was loosely tied into a bun. Between her hair was a bright red crabapple flower. Stained with dew, it looks very fresh.

The woman is thin and thin, with a lowered face.He holds a pair of golden scissors in his right hand, and holds the door curtain with his left hand.

Zhang Qinglan frowned, staring at the woman's long hair covering her face and remained silent.For a while, the house was very quiet.

Right now!I saw the woman who had lowered her head and said nothing suddenly raised her head!

The face that was supposed to be facial features was pitch black, but like the monster in the Baihualou, it was completely covered by a mass of thick and thick black matter, and it became very hollow.

When the young man saw the man's face clearly, his pupils constricted immediately.

The woman slowly raised her head, as if she had locked onto the place where the young man was, her ink-like face turned slowly, "staring" at Zhang Qinglan's direction.

In the next second, I saw the monster clenched the scissors in his hand and raised them high!He roared and rushed towards Zhang Qinglan!

This moment seemed to freeze.

The dim light in the room reflected on the sharp blades of the scissors, and the swiftly approaching shadow was reflected in the youth's pupils, turning into a silvery white light.

The young man stood still, with a serious expression, raised his eyes to the woman rushing towards him holding the scissors, and gently waved his sleeves.

He gripped a dagger that fell from his sleeve.