After get off work, Liu Huajian called home and told him that he would be back later so that his wife and children would not have to wait for him to have dinner.
He drove to the vicinity of Panjiayuan. The antique market was still crowded with people in the evening. He didn't know whether it was because of the paper butterfly or something else.
Liu Huajian walked into the antique market, walked around, and soon saw an old man.
The old man was wearing sunglasses and sitting quietly in the corner, looking a bit strange in the shadow of the setting sun.
His skin was unnaturally white, as if he had applied too much foundation.
Only her cheeks were quite rosy, and the rosiness was unnatural, too bright red.
Coupled with the little hat and long gown and mandarin jacket he was wearing, Liu Huajian had a strong feeling that if the old man's sunglasses were taken off, he would probably have hollow, lifeless eyes, like paper figures.
There was an endless stream of tourists coming and going around, but no one stayed across from the stall.
People seemed to ignore this old man.
It shouldn't be.
Liu Huajian had seen the video online, and he was sure that although the makeup was a little different, it was the old man.
How come others can't recognize it?
Not to mention, there are some young people who are fans of Lu Tan’s movies at first glance.
Those who came to look for the old man walked past the old man several times.
Just didn't look around the corner.
Liu Huajian felt strange.
But he didn't care too much,
While the sky is still bright,
He walked quickly to the old man.
"Old sir."
Liu Huajian said hello.
The old man didn't respond at first, until Liu Huajian came closer again.
He shouted, causing the owner of the stall next door to look at him strangely.
The old man finally made some movement.
His head turned slightly.
It was not a natural twisting of the neck, it was more like some kind of machinery.
The way an artificial object rotates.
"Old sir, I heard that you are very good at cutting paper."
Seeing this, Liu Huajian said again.
"It's just a little trick."
The old man spoke, his voice hoarse and dry,
It's like dry paper rubbing against each other.
"I have seen the trailer of "Nine Streams",
old gentleman,
Are you a descendant of Jiuliu?"
Liu Huajian asked again.
"hehe,
They are all things that are not worth mentioning."
The old man smiled.
His smile is also very stiff,
It's like it was painted on.
The sound of cicadas chirping suddenly sounded, abrupt and noisy.
There shouldn't be summer cicadas in this season. When Liu Huajian thought about it,
I found that the surrounding area became much quieter.
"Little brother, if you can see me directly, it means that you have been severely corroded."
The old man suddenly said amidst the noisy cicadas.
"erosion?"
Liu Huajian didn't know why.
"It's better for ordinary people not to see me.
People with severe erosion can see things that ordinary people cannot, and those things will inevitably lead people to madness."
The old man smiled and said,
Picked up the scissors and paper at the same time.
He patiently cuts,
Although his head never lowered to look at his hands, the paper was quickly cut into a human shape.
"You are lucky enough to meet me. I will give this to you. You can keep it with you.
It should be able to withstand a disaster."
The old man handed the things into Liu Huajian's hands,
There is no obstruction, just like a person with normal vision.
"What's this?"
Liu Huajian carefully looked at the paper man in his hand. Although it was made of paper, it had facial features.
It's so lifelike that it actually looks a bit like myself,
He subconsciously touched his face, looked at the old man again, and waved his hand in front of the old man's sunglasses. Gu Peng
"Paper mannequin stand-in. In the past, Taoists would use paper mangoes as stand-ins to protect themselves from disasters, but don't rely too much on this, otherwise you might end up like me."
The old man explained.
"Same as you?"
Liu Huajian didn't understand.
"Okay, it's already dark. I should go. Remember, take the paper man with you."
The old man waved his hand.
Liu Huajian glanced at the paper man again, raised his head again, and found that the stall was empty, as if no one had ever been there.
"???"
Liu Huajian felt a little weird. He found that the sky around him was almost completely dark. He went to the stall next door and asked the boss who was packing up his things.
"Boss, where did the old man here go?"
Upon hearing Liu Huajian's question, the boss who just looked at Liu Huajian with a strange look suddenly frowned.
"The place has been empty for several days. There used to be a blind man setting up a stall there. A lot of people came here some time ago, but he never showed up again after that. Maybe he went home because of illness."
"ah?"
Liu Huajian rubbed his eyes and looked at the stall.
Suddenly, a chill rose up from his back, and goosebumps appeared on the skin on the back of his hands. Liu Huajian hurriedly left Panjiayuan,
Return to the car.
At this time,
Only then did he realize that he was holding the paper figure tightly in his hand.
"Whoa!"
Liu Huajian threw the paper man away in panic.
Looking at the paper man, he calmed down, picked it up, and put it into the glove box of the car.
start the car,
Liu Huajian broke into a cold sweat.
"There was no one there, who was I talking to?"
"The old man said that I am in trouble. Is this true or false?"
"Have I seen a ghost? Are all "Nine Currents" filming ghost stories?"
"No, that was all decades ago. Wait, this old man has lived from decades ago to now?"
There were thousands of thoughts in his mind.
Suddenly, in front of Liu Huajian, an electric car sped up for some reason, and rushed toward him as if the brakes had been turned into accelerators.
Liu Huajian had no time to dodge, and saw that the car was about to collide with him head-on.
bang
However, the car suddenly skidded just as it was about to hit Liu Huajian's car. It just missed his car and hit the tree trunk in the isolation zone.
Everything happened in just a moment, and Liu Huajian didn't even react.
Only then did his heart begin to beat wildly, and a sense of powerlessness swept over him.
When Liu Huajian saw the car hit the deformed electric car, the driver opened the door and climbed out, muttering some words of revenge against society such as "I will kill you all," but Liu Huajian did not dare to open the door.
It wasn't until someone called the police and the traffic police arrived and subdued the driver who tried to attack passers-by that Liu Huajian breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, he remembered the paper man that the old man gave him.
Opening the glove box, Liu Huajian took out the paper man, his eyes widened.
The body of the paper man had been broken into two pieces, as if someone had roughly torn it apart, but Liu Huajian clearly remembered that it was still intact when he just put it in, and it shouldn't be so damaged.
"Is what he said true? Is something really corrupting me?"
Liu Huajian thought of the books he had studied on the abandoned city and some basic information about foreign lands that he had discussed with others.
The most important one is that knowledge will bring pollution!
*
I went out to do errands during the day, so I’ll touch on today’s extra update first.
