Chang'an: Qinglian Sword Song

Chapter 34 The Four Ghosts

"It doesn't feel right."

Li Bai said, "This is not a place to receive guests. Where is the dragonfly?"

"Dragonfly passed away last year, and now Ladybug is in charge of business."

The receptionist answered calmly.

"I don't care about dragonflies and ladybugs." Li Bai was unmoved, and stared at him firmly: "Why are there fewer and fewer people? Isn't it better to be as close to the market as possible when talking about business?"

"I'm afraid the two of you are not here to discuss business, are you?"

The receptionist said slowly: "To be honest, I never thought that the two of you would come to the door so quickly. I think there are some misunderstandings that need to be resolved, so I am waiting here."

"Please rest assured that the ghost market is a free place, and we will definitely not lose our courtesy. Swords and soldiers are facing each other. If the two of you have no intentions, you can leave."

He took a step back, pointed out the direction of the exit, and seemed to glance at the hilt of the sword in Li Bai's hand: "We have absolutely no malicious intentions, and we dare not understand the sharpness of chivalry."

Li Bai looked at Xun Qing.

I didn't expect that not long after entering the ghost market, my identity was already exposed. Wait, could it be that this guy's identity was exposed long ago, and he was discovered as soon as he came to the door?
Isn't this self-inflicted?

Xun Qing also fell into a daze, at a loss.

"Please don't be surprised, even if the two of you don't come, I originally planned to visit you, so it's not surprising that you can notice the movements of the two of you.

However, it would be too disrespectful to unilaterally hide your head and show your tail, so let me show my sincerity first. "

The host reached out and took off the hood on his head.

revealed his mask.

A piece of scarlet.

No, it wasn't a mask, because no mask could have sculpted such lifelike textures, and no mask would have both eyeballs exposed.

That guy's face was completely peeled off!

At this moment, he seemed to be smiling at the two of them in a friendly manner, but those exposed muscles became more and more ferocious.

"My next class is a wandering soul, known as 'Red Face'."

He said, "I wonder if this face can win people's trust?"

Li Bai was slightly taken aback.

Unexpectedly, the red face known as the king of ghosts actually has such a face like a ghost.

"When I was young, I made some mistakes, and when I found out, I regretted it too much. Fortunately, although I damaged a little face, I can still keep my life."

Chimian explained indifferently, and pointed forward: "Please follow me, the place is in front."

Behind the door, outside the courtyard.

In an open space next to the river, many people had already gathered.

Under the moonlight, the faces of those figures in gray clothes were covered with pale masks, as if they were already familiar with each other and cooperated skillfully. They silently carried the goods, packed them into the car, and transported them away.

Through the open box, Li Bai found that it was full of messy cloths and old clothes, and he couldn't help but pause.Guess what fragile items they are smuggling, wrapped in so many soft items.

But the red face seemed to know what he was thinking, just smiled, and knocked over a box, and the contents fell out.There was nothing but dirty, torn clothes.

"Do you know how our group of people came to the ghost market?"

He suddenly asked, "How did we become what we are today?"

Li Bai looked over.

"These masks that everyone is afraid of today actually originated from a group of homeless people in Chang'an City."

Chimian caressed the wound on his face, and laughed softly: "In the earliest days, we homeless people just wanted to find a place that would allow us to barter...

In order to avoid being chased by bullies and managers, you must choose a remote place, sneak around, and hide.

Exchange a pair of shoes for a quilt, exchange a day's hard work for an old clothes.In order to survive, we came to the ghost market, only hoping to have a shelter here. "

Li Bai smiled coldly: "So, you have to tell me that everything you do is involuntary?"

"I admit that there is no end to human greed. We are naturally duty-bound to become what we are today, but why is it that Chang'an needs us to become like this?"

Chimian said: "All we can do is to try our best to make the lives of other homeless people better."

"That's the problem."

Li Bai said: "I didn't see that killing me or the second-hand mechanism engineer next to me would make life easier for the homeless in the city."

The second-hand mechanism engineer glared at him, but dared not speak out.

"That's the mistake we made."

The red face lowered his eyes and looked at the last thing on the ground: "Someone is shaken by money, bewitched by greed, and violates the precepts, and he will have to pay the price."

On the ground, when the white cloth was torn apart, a pale corpse was revealed.

The scar on the chest is exposed.

It was the attacker during the day!
The red face bent down and took off the mask of the dead, revealing the ugly face covered with scars again.

At the same time, all the people around the courtyard also took off their masks, revealing the same ferocious faces.Everyone's face seemed to have been cut by a sharp knife, their mouths were crooked, their eyes were slanted, and their faces were beyond recognition!

Under the dim moonlight, looking at Li Bai and the others with those numb and sluggish faces, it actually made Li Bai feel that he had stepped into the underworld in an instant.

The chill is excruciating.

"What is this?" Li Bai frowned.

"That's the price you have to pay for wearing this mask."

The red face said faintly, "I lost everything before, and I gave up the possibility of living in the sun. From then on, I will never see the light. Only the ghost market can shelter me and become such a living ghost...

Correspondingly, they have also been blessed by the ghost market, so as to bid farewell to the unbearable past-debts, sins, vendettas, rewards, pursuit, control, orders... everything under the sun has nothing to do with us. "

"This is the so-called 'separation of yin and yang', and it's the [price] of lingering," he said.

In the silence, Li Bai only felt the creeps.

When I looked around at the ugly 'ghosts', I could feel the bone-deep chill from those numb pupils.

Are they really alive?
Or is it just a puppet of this ghost city?

After abandoning the life under the sun, what is the meaning of being here besides being alive?
"There is no mercy. Compared with death, everything else is insignificant."

The red face shook his head, and when he looked down at the corpse at his feet, his eyes became disappointed: "This idiot, he believed Wu Yougong's promise, violated the precepts, not only killed himself, but also almost killed others."

A ghost city of white masks attacked with artillery carts in the middle of the city in broad daylight.

If it spreads out, the neutral status of the ghost market will inevitably be questioned, and when that ambiguous balance is broken, the situation will inevitably deteriorate rapidly.

At that time, how can the ghost market, which has lost the trust of customers, survive in its current state?

If you make a mistake, you will be punished.

But if you want to recover your mistakes, you have to pay the price!

At that moment, Chimian raised his hand, and Li Bai heard the sound of drawing a knife close at hand. Behind Chimian, the silent white mask suddenly stepped forward and drew out a short knife.

Cut off in an instant!

The direction of the attack is not the direction of the two of them.

Instead, it aimed at the red-faced arm!

collapse!
A high-pitched steel whistle burst out, and the broken dagger flew up and fell in the air.

Li Bai has put his sword back into its sheath.

The red face was stunned for a moment, and then it suddenly dawned on him: "Isn't a mere arm able to calm Your Excellency's anger? Then Master Xiang..."

"enough!"

Li Bai suppressed his anger, and interrupted him: "What do you think of your life as a bargaining chip?"

"..."

In the silence, Chimian stared at Li Bai's pupils. After a long time, his ferocious face twitched and smiled wryly: "Sometimes, this is the most straightforward way."

"In this world, there is something more terrifying than death, and that is meaningless living."

Li Bai said coldly: "I don't like your way of life, and don't expect me to accept your rules and principles... I have only one purpose here, and that is to find out the whereabouts of Wu Yougong.

Other than that, I'm not interested. "

"Wu Yougong has left."

The red face sighed helplessly: "Half a month ago, all his business in the ghost city was withdrawn, and in all places in the city, his power is also shrinking rapidly... It's like evaporating, even the homeless people all over the city , and couldn't find any clues.

Unfortunately, Mr. Li Bai, we have nothing to compensate you.What to say..."

He paused, and looked at Xun Qing meaningfully.

"Wu Yougong, it is very likely that he is from your Anlefang."

Xun Qing froze, unable to hide his anger: "What did you say!"

"Wu Yougong only appeared more than ten years ago, just after the Great Crash. Don't you think it's a coincidence, Mr. Xun?"

Chimian said: "It's not just you who are chasing Wu Yougong, Dali Temple, Yu Hengsi, Jinwu Guard, other operators in the ghost market, and even Lu Daoxuan have come here in person over the years.

This is his own admission.

It was here at that time that Huang Fan personally received him, and after getting the same answer as now, he left.I guess he must have grasped some key clues afterwards, otherwise he would not have fallen to this level. "

"..."

Xun Qing froze, his lips moved, but he didn't know what to say.

I don't know whether it's because he was shocked that Wu Yougong had the same background as himself, or because he knew the truth about Lu Daoxuan's attack, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

After finishing speaking, Chimian cupped his hands and confessed, then turned and walked towards the firewood behind him.

Behind him, the white masks walked out silently, picked up the corpses on the ground, put them into the piled up firewood, and poured oil on the fire.

The red face stretched out his hand, and someone came forward with a burning torch and handed it to him.

There are low-pitched drums sounding from under the dry hands, and the simple flute is blown, interweaving intermittently and desolately into the melody.Under the pale mask, the ghosts who dwell in the shadows sang mourning songs.

When Chimian let go of his hand, a flame rose up, engulfing everything in the firewood.

Holding his mask in his arms, the deceased silently melted into the flames, leaving only a handful of white ashes.

Was thrown into the river beyond the broken wall.

Along with the rushing water, it flowed into the depths of the sewer and disappeared into the endless darkness.

It's like returning to the underworld.

"Let's go."

Li Bai withdrew his gaze, turned around and left with Xun Qing.

However, when they left the ghost market, another white mask chased after them and presented them with a tray.

"Master Red Face asked me to forward this item to express my regret."

The cover on the tray was lifted, revealing a dazzling golden light, which made Li Bai frown uncontrollably.

He originally wanted to refuse, but he sighed when he thought of Xun Qing's tragic situation of being unable to make ends meet recently. He was also the one who was attacked, and if Chimian wanted to make up for it, he was not qualified to make decisions for him.

But to Li Bai's surprise, Xun Qing looked away after taking a look.

Although there was still a faint look of heartache on his face, he didn't look at it after all, and just waved his hand: "Take it away, don't pollute my eyes with that kind of stuff."

After all, he quickened his pace.

As if he was afraid that he would regret it.

He didn't let out a sigh until he was far away.

Li Bai looked at his troubled look and shook his head.

"You don't take the free money? You have a share of it."

Xun Qing glared at him, "This is called Fangzhu's donation. There are some wealthy businessmen in the city who like to do this. In name, they are sponsoring the construction of facilities in Fangshi, but in fact all of it goes into the Fangzhu's own pocket."

"Then you can also kick it into your pocket."

"Then what? Is conscience okay?"

Xun Qing asked, "The most important thing for a person is to know how much he has. If it wasn't for Fangzhu's election, if it wasn't for you here, do you think I deserve it?
If I really got lucky and became the owner of the shop, and one day the ghost market came to me for help, would I help or not? "

Having said that, he sighed, "Since you have nothing to do with that place, don't come and go in the future."

"Yes, Xun Qing!" Li Bai exclaimed in amazement, "If you die of thirst, you will not drink the stolen spring water, and you will have a high integrity!"

"Don't embarrass me."

Xun Qing shook his head, laughing at himself wryly.

"I'm not joking. Isn't what you said just now quite reasonable... However, you are wrong about one thing."

Li Bai stretched out his hand, and patted this guy on the shoulder vigorously, "You can definitely become the owner of the workshop, and you will definitely become a good owner of the workshop."

In this regard, Li Bai has great confidence.

And Xun Qing staggered, grinning in pain, his hands were too strong!
But when he turned his head, he saw the prying figure at the corner behind him, and he was immediately alert: "Is there someone behind?"

"After following all the way, did you find out?"

Li Bai shook his head, looked back, his voice became cold: "What? Chimian still have something to say?"

Behind the corner, the trailing white mask was silent for a long time, and answered hoarsely: "It's not the red face, it's me."

As he spoke, he took off his mask, revealing scars covered with burns.

Under the moonlight, the outline of that face was so familiar.

"Wang Anliu!"

Xun Qing looked at it for a long time and couldn't believe it: "You... are you still alive?"

People from Dali Temple failed to catch Wang Anliu, and Xun Qing thought he had been buried in the fire.

"I was about to die, but the Dali Temple who came to exterminate me saved me."

Wang Anliu said coldly: "However, you can't be considered alive now... I heard people say that you are here to spy on that guy who was burned to ashes, right?"

Li Bai frowned: "What clue do you know?"

"That's it."

Wang Anliu laughed strangely, touched his face, and felt the unrecognizable pain again: "Before the Qingshan Society was wiped out, a batch of very important goods came, and I personally sent them to Boqing They went to Jun's mansion... If you want to find Wu Yougong, you can go to Mr. Boqing."

His expression was convulsed, and he couldn't hide his viciousness: "That guy definitely knows something."

"Why tell us this?"

Li Bai asked coldly: "Why, do you want to abandon the darkness and turn to the light? Shall I introduce you to Dali Temple?"

Wang Anliu was silent for a long time, then smiled hoarsely.

"Let's just pretend that the dog that was not poisoned to death wants to turn against its master..."

He took a step back, took one last look at them, put on his mask, and limped into the darkness, disappearing.

In the silence, Li Bai and Xun Qing looked at each other.

"I always feel that something is wrong." Xun Qing said in a low voice: "To be honest, I don't believe that guy will find out with conscience."

"I'm afraid it's because of hatred and wanting revenge."

Li Bai glanced behind him one last time, and speeded up: "We'll talk about it when we go back."

Late at night, under the dim lights in the workshop.

Li Bai looked calm, Li Xiang looked bewildered, only Xun Qing knew Bo Qing's power inside and outside Chang'an best, and he was worried.

"That's Li's aristocrats, princes and nobles all treat each other with courtesy, but they are also involved in Wu Yougong's case?"

Even if he doesn't believe that Wang Anliu's conscience will play a role, but recalling the appearance of that fellow at Lu Daoxuan's birthday banquet, and the appearance this morning, Xun Qing's heart gradually sank.

"Why don't we go to Di Renjie." His eyes lit up, and he suggested, "It's best to leave this kind of matter to Dali Temple."

Li Bai asked back: "If he asked you where you got this clue, how would you answer him?"

Xun Qing was speechless immediately.

Li Bai knew that guy Di Renjie too well. Although it was true that he was jealous, it was too naive to ask him to search Li Boqing based on his own words without reliable reasons and solid evidence.Maybe he would be worried that Li Bai would go around the rules and make a seizure, and then he would repeat the rules like an old nanny for a long time.

In the end, there will probably be a ticket.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

How can there be such ignorant people in this world?
"Forget it, let's rest first."

He shook his head helplessly, "Have a good night's sleep, and we'll make a long-term plan tomorrow."

In the middle of the night, sleepiness struck.

Soon, the workshop returned to silence.

After a long time, Li Bai, who was lying on the bed with his clothes on, suddenly opened his eyes, staring at the moonlight outside the window, as if he was in a poetic mood as usual, took out a pen and paper and flicked across it, after looking at it for a while, he nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he threw the just-finished masterpiece into the pile of manuscript paper beside him.

She tiptoed up, pushed open the door carefully, and walked out.

However, when passing by the gate of Lixiang, a young man's confused voice came from the darkness: "Mr. Li Bai?"

"Shh."

Li Bai quickly motioned him to lower his voice: "Why didn't you sleep?"

"I'm a little worried about you, I can't sleep." Li Xiang asked softly, "Mr. Li Bai, where are you going? Could it be that you want to be alone..."

"I finally found a clue, so I have to go and have a look." Li Bai shook his head: "If I just let it go like this, I'm not reconciled.

Don't wake up that guy Xun Qing, or you'll make trouble again, don't worry, I'll come back as soon as I go. "

After all, he patted the boy on the shoulder to show his comfort.

The young man hesitated to speak, and finally sighed helplessly.

Say nothing more.

Li Bai took his own sword with him, went downstairs and walked out the back door deftly. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief under the moonlight, he heard a familiar voice from the shadow opposite.

"where are you going?"

Xun Qing, who didn't know how long she had been waiting, asked quietly.

Li Bai was stunned and coughed twice: "I can't sleep, I'm looking for a drink."

"What a coincidence, I want to drink too."

Xun Qing said, "Together?"

"Hey..." Li Bai was helpless.

"Why, wouldn't it be refreshing to bring a bottle of oil?"

Xun Qing paused for a moment, and his expression became serious: "Or, are you going to leave me and do something on your own?"

"You still want the Fangzhu election, so don't get involved in these things at this time."

"But these things are originally my business, right? Others go through life and death for me, so I have to sit at home and wait for no reason?"

Xun Qing said seriously: "If you want to go, just add me. The mountains of swords and seas of fire have come here, and this one is not bad."

"..."

In the silence, Li Bai shook his head helplessly.

Originally, I just didn't want them to worry, but in the end, no one could hide it.And look at this guy's collar, in order to prevent being knocked out by Li Bai, he seems to have specially worn a neck guard!
"Sometimes it's not a good thing to be too ambitious, Xun Qing."

He no longer knew whether to admire or scold.

"So, what's the answer?" Xun Qing asked.

Li Bai didn't speak, just walked in front, turned his head and waved to him, motioning him to follow.

Xun Qing suddenly smiled, and strode after him.

(End of this chapter)