Even the cold wind and rain could not cool down the excitement at the table.
On the stage, Jin Ling'er sang with emotion, the high pitch was so clear that it penetrated the brain, and the low voice was sweet and heart-catching. During the interval of the show, the audience, who had been holding their breath for a long time, finally started to cheer loudly.
Jin Ling'er nodded and thanked the gift, and the old man next to him also took the opportunity to come down with a copper plate to ask for the reward.
The listener in the first row was the most fascinated. His face was flushed and he was not stingy. He immediately picked up the hem of his clothes, opened the flesh with his nails, grabbed his ribs with his left hand, and dug into his heart with his right hand.
in a blink.
"Wave."
After a clean tearing sound.
A bright red heart fell on the copper plate, still beating slightly.
Black blood gushed from his mouth, soaked his clothes, and shouted.
"reward!"
The courtyard was silent for a moment.
then.
"good!"
“Shopkeeper Zhang’s atmosphere!”
“Sister Jin’s music is worth the price!”
…
Shopkeeper Zhang was already hunched over the table, probably unable to hear these compliments, while the old man was already carrying the plate and walking towards the next guest.
The man sitting next to me was a wealthy businessman and a generous man. Without saying a word, he took out a dagger, cut his belly button, and then opened his belly along the knife edge.
Suddenly.
The yellow-orange fat mixed with the red intestines flowed straight to the ground. He didn't take it seriously and wanted to remove the liver, gallbladder, spleen, and kidneys one by one. But in the end, he was not strong enough, so he only removed one kidney and died of exhaustion.
.
Cang Tou very considerately helped the businessman put the kidneys in his hands on the plate, then stepped on the bloody footprints and went to the next table to ask for rewards.
At the right time, drizzle and breeze blow, the lanterns sway, the candlelight glows, the wine spills, and at the banquet with messy cups, the audience is showered with rewards, and the beauty smiles lightly with red lips.
The Taoist priest drank a glass of cold wine.
Moisturizing things silently.
Good idea!
"It's Jin Ling'er and Lao Cangtou who are awakened!"
The "truth" about Dionysus is long overdue.
"I remembered!"
"These two monsters are a pair of ghost mother and son that Yu Mei surrendered in Huaiyin. I don't know where she got a fragment of the "Taiyin Refining Method", specifically taking the five internal organs of people, intending to use evil magic to return Yang. They seized a local place.
Chu Yu Temple, induced the villagers to worship, and after many years of worship, they actually gained some magical power to move clouds and spread rain."
"These two monsters have just woken up and are still weak. If you want to kill them, do it now."
However, the Taoist priest neither took action to eliminate the demon nor had any intention of escaping. He only focused his eyes on a guest in the seat in front of him.
The guest's eyes were slightly closed and his body was swaying slightly, as if he was intoxicated by Jin Ling'er's lyrics and music and couldn't extricate himself.
But the Taoist priest noticed that tiny scales were emerging one after another on the skin of his nape.
There are actually signs of awakening!
Are they inspired by the evil spirit of the ghost mother and child? Or are they driven by the instinct of survival?
The Taoist priest was thoughtful.
No matter which one it is, there seems to be a lot to write about.
Dionysus urged in my ears again.
"If the Taoist priest doesn't want to take action, leave immediately. Don't forget! There are also vine demons and phantom butterflies."
These words gave Li Changan a wake-up call. He only woke up after one or two. The hungry and crazy monsters were not a threat, but if they attracted Yu Mei and the doctor and exposed themselves, it would be a bad thing.
No more dawdling.
Li Changan drank the remaining wine in the pot - although it was an illusory thing transformed by essence, it tasted really good - he picked up the bamboo box and stood up to leave.
He was not worried that the two monsters would entangle him. After all, there was no reason to let go of the fat in front of him and pursue a difficult opponent instead.
But when he got up, there were new changes in the scene.
The third monster woke up.
Not a customer with scales growing on the back of his neck.
At a seat in the front row, in front of a copper plate piled with organs, a long-faced drinker struggled with his expression. The tip of a knife was scratching on his belly for a long time. Finally... Duang! His whole head turned into a shiny, black and blue head.
Donkey head.
Li Changan almost spit out the wine he just drank, and subconsciously picked up the long sword in the bamboo box.
However.
Almost at the same time.
"Woo~"
A strange trombone sound suddenly broke into the yard.
The sound was loud and harsh.
It was like inserting a hacksaw into a person's brain and pulling it back and forth, making the Taoist almost want to vomit. He gritted his teeth and was about to recite the "Heart-Purifying Mantra".
"Your Majesty..."
However.
The sound of the trumpet disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
The difference is that after the trumpet sounds.
The world is completely different and dead.
The wind stopped, the rain stopped, and even the hustle and bustle at the banquet disappeared.
Li Changan looked up in surprise and saw raindrops floating in the air one by one.
This scene is so familiar.
Turning his head and looking around, sure enough, it was as if the pause button had been pressed during the banquet. The guests, including the donkey-headed man, remained motionless as they were when the trombone sounded.
There are only three living creatures that can move in the huge yard.
Jin Ling'er, Lao Cangtou and Li Changan themselves.
Under dramatic changes.
Li Changan's movements were undoubtedly very conspicuous, and the two monsters immediately stared at him.
The Taoist priest suddenly sniffed the air with his nose, then smiled at them, quickly took out his long sword and put it on his waist, and sat down calmly on the mat, pretending to be a wooden man.
next moment.
The towering rain walls on all sides suddenly collapsed.
It was like a flood bursting a bank or an iceberg toppling over. There was a "rumbling" sound and the water poured into the courtyard.
In the corridor, all the lanterns and candles were immediately extinguished.
It was difficult to see in the darkness, and I could only see many blurry shadows leaping into the yard.
Immediately.
Roars, screams, beatings, swords and guns clashing, bones cracking and blood splattering, all at once.
The Taoist priest just sat still and waited for the next step.
But suddenly.
A grimace emerged from the darkness and broke into the Taoist table.
He has a green face and fangs, and his hair is as messy as dead grass, but his body is stained with blood and covered with wounds of all sizes. He looks more miserable than ferocious. If you look closely, you can vaguely identify the old man just now.
Li Changan didn't know what it wanted to do, nor did he expect it to do anything.
Just listening to the "buzzing" sound, dense swarms of mosquitoes chased out of the darkness, enveloped its body, and penetrated into its orifices.
time.
Its body and face shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Later.
A bird's claw came out, grabbed its heavenly spirit cap, and pulled it back into the darkness.
Li Changan was calm. He only felt a little sore from keeping his eyes open. He would have closed them if he had known better.
Fortunately it didn't take long.
The fighting subsided.
The wind started to rustle and the rain started to fall again.
Without the rain curtain like a high wall, the cool moonlight came in and lit the red lanterns on the corridor one after another.
Only then could we see clearly that the yard was already in a mess. The residents were standing still, being tossed around, and some of them were even hit by fish in the pond.
Jin Ling'er and Old Cangtou, or the ghost mother and son, had been killed, and their tattered bodies were casually thrown under the stage.
And the person who killed them has also revealed their appearance. They are a team of police officers, led by two people - Li Changan's hand holding the wine glass suddenly tightened - the two faces in front of him are really too familiar.
Those are Xing Baotou and Bo Ziyu.
…………
Under the cool moonlight, the government officials were busy again.
Under the guidance of Xing Captou and Bo Ziyu, the government officials straightened the overturned table, hung up the downed lanterns, and returned the drinkers to their seats... In short, they tried to eliminate as many traces of the fight as possible.
Even a certain yamen servant came to Li Changan's table, picked up the wine bottle that the old man had knocked down, and filled half the bottle of water in the courtyard.
Li Changan regarded himself as a stone, motionless like other residents.
only.
As the yamen officer approached, the Taoist priest's nose smelled a vaguely familiar smell, which seemed to be...
"Okay! That's almost it. We don't have time to delay any more. We'll take care of the rest after finishing the business for today."
"Xing Baotou" suddenly spoke. After receiving the order, the government officials immediately stopped what they were doing. They remained silent from beginning to end, and their expressions were all cold and hard.
Only "Bo Ziyu" walked up to the donkey-headed man.
"What should I do with this donkey monster?"
Li Changan remained calm.
"Xing Captou" took a look and waved his hand.
"It doesn't matter, it's just a different look."
Say it.
He took out a cloth bag from his arms and shook it open in the wind, scattering a lot of fine dust.
"Xing Baotou" pursed his lips and blew into the opening of the bag.
Not long after.
The whole yard was filled with dust.
Then he clapped his hands.
All of a sudden.
The air in front of Li Changan's eyes blurred for a moment.
Wait until it becomes clear again.
"Captain Xing", "Bo Ziyu" and other agents have all disappeared.
On the contrary, the drinkers came to life again, exchanging cups and cups, and it was very lively.
Look carefully.
The lanterns that were knocked down earlier, the window lattice that was chopped down, and the dishes that were smashed were all intact.
Another sound of music came to my ears.
Jin Ling'er, who was supposed to be dead, was singing softly on the stage again, and in the audience, the dead audience members were sitting upright in their seats, cheering for her.
Li Changan closed his eyes.
Be still and concentrate.
Open your eyes again.
Dead corpses are still dead corpses, living "people" are still living "people", the holes in the window lattice are still there, and the dishes picked up from the ground are still covered in mud and water.
The government officials did not disappear, but were still standing in the courtyard, watching the drinkers with wide eyes.
The only difference is probably that the donkey-headed man is slowly turning back into a human head. At the moment, only a pair of donkey ears are left hanging in the air.
Li Changan was not interested in tasting the "new wine" in the flask. He closed his eyes slightly and pretended to be listening to the music.
In my mind, I asked Dionysus.
"Will the monsters in the illusion come back to life?"
Dionysus does not think twice.
"How can it be?!"
"Whether it is a demon in the illusion or an innocent person from outside, in the illusion, death is death. From soul to body, it will be swallowed up by the illusion array. How can there be any resurrection?"
After that, he said strangely:
"Why does the Taoist ask this?"
Li Changan was silent for a while and glanced at the agents.
"Have you seen the two leading police officers? They died once, and I collected the bodies." He couldn't tell whether he was regretful or lucky, "Oh, they are just fakes as expected."
Maybe I understood the complex emotions in the Taoist priest's words...
"They are dead a long time ago." Dionysian's tone was extremely solemn, "To be precise, everyone in the city is a fake."
"It's nothing unusual."
He explained to Li Changan:
"Although the characters played by monsters in the fantasy seem to have their own stories and lives, in the end, Yu Mei made them up one after another. First she made up her parents, then she made up her wife and children, then she made up her neighbors, and then she made up her neighbor's wives and children.
.Nothing more than that.”
"Like a serial killer?"
"It's just a set."
"But some are in the middle and have more rings. Some are at the edges and have fewer rings."
"When Yu Mei first played with the illusion array, the monsters often broke free from the illusion, and she had to clean some of them from time to time. After cleaning, whenever the illusion was restarted, the empty characters were okay at the edges, but the middle ones couldn't be ignored. Otherwise,
The whole story circle has to collapse, and the monsters have to wake up."
"Every time this happens, she will erase the peripheral characters, leaving monsters to replace the central ones."
"The same is probably true for these agents. However, looking at their strange behavior, they must be the minions of some party."
Li Changan agreed.
"I smelled spoiled incense from several government officials. They should be Yu Mei's rampant soldiers."
The God of Dionysus sneered: "Drink poison to quench your thirst."
But the Taoist priest said again:
"The harpy that can subdue the old man is a mosquito mother and the larvae of a hundred fantasy butterflies."
This sentence left Dionysus speechless.
for a long time.
Only then did I sigh:
"I see, the vine demon has lost."
…………
The surveillance by the agents, or in other words, Phantom Butterfly's minions, did not last long.
After confirming that there was nothing unusual about the drinker, he quickly left.
But this hurried demeanor aroused the interest of the uninvited Taoist priest.
before following up.
The Taoist priest took one last look at the courtyard.
Jin Ling'er's tattered body was leaning on the stage, her empty eyes reflected the drinkers cheering for her music.
Under the stage, the shopkeeper bowed his head next to a disemboweled corpse and talked to it with a warm smile.
Er.
He turned around and shouted to his wife in the kitchen.
"Shopkeeper Qian, add a plate of mutton and two taels of warm wine."
Don't forget to call before moving to the next table.
"Amei, come out and help the guests clean up."
"okay."
A childish but spirited response immediately sounded.
Amei swung her braid, picked up a dustpan and a broom, and ran into the yard.
The bright smile on his little face made Li Changan's cold eyes soften a little unconsciously.
Since entering Xiaoshui, every time I see Amei, she seems to be smiling.
perhaps.
Is this also Yu Mei’s original intention in creating the illusion?
The Taoist priest suddenly asked the God of Wine:
"What is Amei's true identity?"
The God of Dionysus might also be in a trance, and waited for a while before hearing his answer.
"It should be a living corpse."
Living corpse?
This answer is somewhat unexpected.
Living corpses are actually a type of zombie, but their joints are not stiff yet.
This is a very common monster.
In troubled times.
They are commonly found in deserted suburbs, wild roads, abandoned villages and even annihilated cities.
It doesn't matter how powerful it is. If an ordinary man encounters it, he can drive it away as long as he has the courage. Of course, if he is scratched or bitten and infected with putrid poison, whether he can find treatment in time is another matter.
In fact, Li Changan once walked through an uninhabited land and saw a group of hungry wild dogs hunting this thing.
There are so many kinds of monsters in the fantasy world that it can be said that a complete encyclopedia of monsters in the south can be compiled, and there are also several powerful monsters, such as the Hundred Fantasy Butterflies.
But for the role of his childhood, he only used an ordinary and weak living corpse?
It's really puzzling.
"Is there anything surprising about this living corpse?"
"surprisingly?"
"Let me think about it, Yu Mei only told me that she found this living corpse in a village in Wuyue that was burned down by war. At that time, she was passing by the village and wanted to draw water from the well, but she saw that the well had been filled with water by villagers.
The well was stuffed with corpses, and the living corpses were eating carrion in the well."
"To be surprised, it's probably because the appearance of this living corpse is somewhat similar to that of Yu Mei when she was a child."
This reason? Oh, it also agrees with that real person’s behavior.
Li Changan took one last look at the innocent and charming Amei.
"He is also a poor person."
Dionysus refuted solemnly:
"The pitiful thing is the children who died in the rebellion, not the monster her body turned into."
"I know."
Li Changan smiled. He knew what the God of Wine meant, so he didn't say much and left.
…………
Li Changan's departure did not affect the enthusiasm of the banquet.
Little Amei carried a dustpan and broom and walked through it, like a diligent bee picking things.
Not long after.
"Uncle."
she called loudly.
"There's too much garbage, I can't move it."
When the store owner heard the sound, he turned around and saw the first thing he saw was the red intestines in the basket of little Amei.
"You kid, how can you treat a customer's belt like garbage?"
He hurried over and gave the "belt" back to the fat and wealthy businessman. He apologized several times and turned back to pat Amei's braid.
Pointing to the half-filled dustpan.
"Why can't you move such a small amount of stuff?"
"Hurry up and pour it into the water channel at the back door. Don't be lazy."
After saying that, he hurriedly went to greet the guests, leaving little Amei to look at the guests in the front row and bite her thumb in distress.
Suddenly.
Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands.
In the reality of the fake banquet, the corpses of the guests in the front row stood up one by one, and followed Amei's brisk steps, jumping to the back door.