chasing shadows

In the early morning, Ping'an Town was shrouded in a white mist. Five meters away, the silhouette could not be seen. Occasionally, conversations and footsteps could be heard, but they could not be seen. Only when they approached could they clearly see three people.

The hooves of the "da da" donkey stepped on the bluestone road. A middle-aged man with a beard was leading a white donkey. At the same time, beside the man was a delicate child who was bouncing around with a bamboo stick in his hand. The child looked no more than five or six years old, wearing a red dress, with a ring of bells around his neck, which jingled with his movements, looking quite cute.

Sitting on the white donkey behind the middle-aged man and the child was a young man wearing a half-mask in Tsing Yi. The half-mask completely covered his eyes, so that people could not see his whole face clearly.

The young man had no hair crown, his hair just reached his shoulders, and it was lazily draped over his body. He held a white flag in one hand, on which was written crookedly "Divination, exorcising demons and ghosts, thirty The starting price of Wenqian!" And around his wrists were strings of long red ropes, which the boy called "Luoying ropes".

"Firefly, you shameless bastard, you've been sitting on a donkey for hours, it's my turn!" the child turned around, frowned, looked at the young man in Tsing Yi, and said angrily.

Xia Ying smiled and said: "If you don't tell me, I really forgot. We agreed that each person will take turns sitting for an hour. Nuo, it's your turn now." After speaking, Xia Ying jumped off the donkey.

The middle-aged man gave an exaggerated "Ouch", supported Xia Ying, pointed at the orchid and cursed at the child: "Puppet, you have no conscience, you don't know that our young master can't see the way clearly, you are arguing with him to sit on the donkey!" , are you asking for a fight?"

Xia Ying stopped the middle-aged man and said, "Uncle Liu, it's all right, I promised him. Besides, the puppet has short legs, so it's hard for him to walk for so long."

The puppet handed the bamboo stick to Xia Ying, and then quickly climbed onto the donkey. He stuck out his tongue and made faces at the middle-aged man and Xia Ying.

Leaning on a bamboo stick in one hand and a white banner for divination in the other, Xia Ying nodded, "My shadow can really run around, and it's really troublesome to come to such a ghostly place again!"

Uncle Liu looked around at the vast expanse of whiteness, and said softly, "Master, do you think this fog is unusual?"

The puppet pricked up its ears, but said disdainfully, "What's so unusual about this? No matter how unusual it is, how can it be unusual for the shadow of a firefly to have legs and lead us around?"

Xia Ying nodded in agreement, "Speaking of which, I really made a fuss." Xia Ying turned her head slightly and said to Uncle Liu, "Let's find an inn and stay in this town for a few days. In this town."

Uncle Liu looked around and said, "There is a heavy fog right now, I can't tell the direction, and I don't know when the fog will dissipate. Let's find someone to ask where there is an inn nearby."

Xia Ying pointed to a place and said, "Someone is talking there."

Uncle Liu hurriedly walked towards the direction Xia Ying was pointing at. After walking about ten meters, he saw a thin and short boy talking to a man in snow-white filial piety with a sad face.

"Thank you, thank you, I know what to do." The boy bent down to the man in white, rubbed his red eyes, and then got up to leave.

The young man walked past Uncle Liu. Uncle Liu stepped forward and was about to call him back, when a soft voice suddenly came from behind, "Divination?"

Uncle Liu turned his head and saw the white-clothed man dressed in filial piety standing behind him. She was wearing a white cap that completely covered her entire face. According to the voice of the bamboo tube, it should be a young girl.

Uncle Liu smiled and said: "No, no, I'm here to ask you where there is an inn around here. There is a vast expanse of whiteness everywhere. We are foreigners, so we can't find our way for a while."

The gentle and soft voice sounded again: "Divination?"

Uncle Liu coughed and smiled dryly, "Let's be honest, my young master also helps people with divination and fortune-telling just like you. If I want to do a fortune-telling, I can just go to my young master."

The girl in white was silent. Looking at the white coat and hat, Uncle Liu felt a strange eerie feeling in his heart. He took a few steps back, stopped talking to her, and wanted to move forward quickly, but he just stepped out. With a kick, a pale hand grabbed his sleeve, "Divination?" The soft voice seemed to be close to his ear.

Uncle Liu let out an "ah", pulled that hand away, and ran forward desperately, screaming as he ran, "Master, there is a ghost! There is a ghost!"

Xia Ying turned her head slightly, her hearing was extremely sensitive, she pointed at Uncle Liu and said, "Uncle Liu, he is following you."

Uncle Liu screamed, covered his face with his hands, squatted down, and muttered: "Ghost Daxian, spare your life! I will burn paper money for you, and I will bow down to you, please forgive me!"

The puppet poked its head and stared at the man in white behind Uncle Liu, and laughed: "Old man Liu, you are really useless, are you blind? Take a good look at whether it is a human or a ghost."

As soon as the puppet finished speaking, the man in white let out a "hahaha" laugh. She pulled off her hat, revealing a delicate face, "Another idiot is scared, dry medicine, come out quickly."

At this time, the young man who had just been divining also came out of the white mist. He stared at Uncle Liu and said with a playful smile, "It's so embarrassing for such a big guy to be so frightened."

When Uncle Liu saw the situation, he knew he was being tricked. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to beat up the two brats. Xia Ying had already grabbed him, and said to the pair of boys and girls, "You two friends, we came from another place. I came here and wanted to rest in this town, but now due to the fog, I can’t find my way, can you take us to find an inn? I am very grateful.”

Seeing that Xia Ying was wearing a red mask covering half of his face, the boy named Kuyao turned his eyes and said, "Why are you dressing up like this? Take off the mask and let me see your face, and I'll take it with you." you go."

The girl next to her also echoed: "Yes, you are dressed in a nondescript way, who knows if you are a bad person, quickly take off your mask!"

Xia Ying smiled and shook her head, "I have a disease in my eyes, which is different from ordinary people, and I might scare you."

Withered Yao crossed his arms, "Then we refuse to help you, you... ouch!" Withered Yao covered his stomach, and the puppet beside him jumped off the white donkey at some point, and punched Kuyao in the stomach , this punch was almost a dry medicine, and he was completely helpless.

He raised his delicate face and said: "It's fine to bully old man Liu, but I can't bear to bully Firefly!" As he said that, he was about to punch the puppet again. Dad is the owner of Pingle Inn, we will take you to the inn."

Xia Ying called out: "Puppet!"

On weekdays, as long as Xia Ying just called his name and didn't say much, it meant that Xia Ying was really angry.

The puppet quickly stopped and stood behind Xia Ying, puffing its mouth and snorting coldly.

But when he looked behind Xia Ying, he immediately bent his eyes, looking extremely happy.

Xia Ying leaned her hand behind her back and silently gave the puppet a thumbs up.

Ku Yao rubbed his belly and said, "It's really a divine power!" He suddenly laughed, walked in front, and said to Xia Ying and the others, "Go, follow me, I will take you to our inn."

The girl in white glanced at Xia Ying. Xia Ying felt her gaze and asked warmly, "What's wrong?"

The girl in white snorted, "I didn't think you were good-looking!"

Xia Ying chuckled and said nothing more.

Uncle Liu, who was leading the white donkey, started talking to the girl and asked, "What's the matter with the white fog in your town? I don't think it's because of the town's special geographical location. It's the first time I've seen you."

The girl in white said: "This thick fog only happened a year ago. There is a thick fog every three days, usually in the morning or evening of a day, and the thick fog lasts for half an hour, not too long. So it doesn't affect our life." The girl looked around and said, "The fog is about to clear, hey, brother Kuyao and I didn't catch that murderous man in white."

Xia Ying asked, "The man in white?"

The girl nodded and said: "Since a year ago, every morning or evening when there is thick fog, someone will see a man in white clothes like filial piety, holding a bamboo tube full of lottery, asking passers-by on the road if they want divination. The girl put the hat back on her head, covering her entire face, and said softly, "Divination?" Then, she lifted the hat again, "No, just like I did just now."

Uncle Liu couldn't help but said, "Did you just pretend to be this so-called man in white?"

The girl nodded again, and continued: "As long as the person who has been divined by the man in white will end up talking about it, and after a period of madness, he will set it on fire. I was burned, and the strange thing is that generally people who meet a man in white, no matter how scared they were before, will finally go to divination the man in white. I heard some old people in the village say that the man in white is an evil spirit, and he can do ghosts. , so people in Baiwutian Town will not come out, for fear of running into that evil ghost in white."

The puppet blinked and blinked, "Then you are quite courageous."

The girl puffed her chest out and said proudly: "Brother Kuyao and I are the most courageous. We will come out every time it is foggy. The purpose is to catch a man in white and eliminate harm for the people."

At this time, the white mist had gradually dissipated, and the surrounding scene became clear. Ku Yao, who was walking in front, pointed at the inn in front of him, and said to Xia Ying and the others, "Here we are, guests please come in." Then, he Stepping into the door step by step, he shouted towards the inside: "Boss, I have invited some guests for you, hurry up and give me a raise."

A fat, white, middle-aged man came out with a smile on his face. When he saw Xia Ying and the others, he hurriedly said, "Please come in, please. Are you staying in the room? Or are you eating?"

And the girl at the side yelled: "Father, these people bully Brother Kuyao and me, kill them to death!"

The puppet snorted and said with a sneer, "Try it." The two hands clacked.

Uncle Liu also raised his orchid finger and protested: "You just played tricks with that brat just now, we didn't ask you to compensate us for mental damage, you still have the face to kill us?!"

Xia Ying laughed out loud when she heard the girl's words, and sighed in her heart, she really didn't know whether to call this child stupid or innocent.

The boss said "Ouch" and rubbed the girl's head, "Ah Bo, don't be crazy with that kid Kuyao anymore." Then he said to Xia Ying: "Young boy, don't take offense, Ah Bo is young and has no words. Block."

Xia Ying nodded and said, "Nothing, we are here to stay, seven days, three rooms."

The boss hurriedly said: "Let's do it now, let's do it now."

Xia Ying found it interesting, the boss was so easy to talk to, so that it gave people a feeling of being cautious and walking on thin ice.