This is a quaint town.
This is what the newly arrived ghost fairy thought. Compared to many bustling and noisy cities, this place is much more deserted; but compared to those villages that are too quiet and boring, this place is certainly lively. Teahouses, inns, theaters...this place has everything. But before she came here, the words on the sign at the entrance of the town were blurry. But she was sure that it was not due to the wind and rain, but was artificially crossed out. The technique is rough and there are ravines and ravines, and only the third word "town" can be barely made out.
Who would do such a malicious thing? Guixiangu naturally wants to know. She walked along the river and came to the town, and found that the population here seemed to be far smaller than it should be. At least now, it is noon in the town, which is the busiest time. But whether they are people on the street or in the store, they are only in twos and threes. They all spoke in a friendly manner, and no one made any noise. Although she couldn't see all this with her own eyes, her other more acute senses would tell her the answer.
The sun was getting a little hot, so she walked a few more steps, turned around and entered a wine shop. There are eight people in the store. Two people are chatting at the table against the wall in the east. One person is drinking alone in the southwest. There are three people at the table near the window in the north, having lunch. In addition, there is a waiter and a cashier in the store, but they are all idle and have nothing to do anyway. When she came in, no one came forward to greet her. However, she couldn't blame others for being indifferent. She knew that she looked a little weird, and not everyone dared to talk to her easily.
She randomly picked a seat and sat down, and began to wonder: Where have all the people in the town gone? There can't be only such a small number of people. All the buildings were spotless, and she didn't see a single cobweb in any corner along the way. Judging from the time, it is even more impossible for people to stay at home. Now is the time to work.
And the strangeness of this town is not that simple.
"You are from outside."
It is the voice of the ninth person.
The female voice spoke as soon as she entered the door. The table where Guixiangu sat was very close to the door, so she could naturally hear it clearly. She was sure that the ninth person who entered the store was talking to her because she was sitting opposite her so naturally. The moment she sat down, the waiter suddenly came over and brought tea and water for you two. Guixiangu glanced at the waiter. After all, his behavior was as if he hadn't seen her just now. Then, she turned her gaze to the woman opposite.
Young and beautiful, wearing a red skirt and long snow-white hair. There is a small mole under her right eye.
"Well... I'm new to this place. If there are some things I don't understand about the rules or etiquette, I hope you can help me."
"You're welcome."
"No, no, I'm not exaggerating. It's probably because I wasn't polite enough just now. That little brother didn't even want to serve a pot of hot tea, just pretending I'd never been here. Thanks to you, girl, I worked hard all the way and finally finally I can take a sip of water.”
"You're joking. It's them who don't understand etiquette, and you're not wrong."
"Oh, I can't even tell if you are being mean to me or not."
"It's you first."
At this point, the waiter has already served the food to the two of them. The dishes are light and simple, they smell bland, but they look appetizing. Glutinous rice and lotus root sandwich, stir-fried kale, cold tendons, mung bean rice cake... and a bowl of egg soup with chopped green onion. Guixiangu took a spoon and stirred it in the bowl. It could be seen that the egg blossoms were very abundant. Unlike those sold in many stores, they only had a thin layer. If they were lifted up and unfolded, they would be able to transmit light. But she put the spoon down and didn't touch them.
"The townspeople here are not exactly hospitable. They are quite xenophobic. Your Excellency has a large number of people, so don't worry about them."
"No, I'm just a nobody."
"Who can come this far and be a nobody?"
"I see that they treat you very kindly. However, you also seem like an outsider."
"……Ha ha."
The woman smiled deliberately. She picked up her chopsticks, picked up a small piece of rice cake and put it into her mouth, and then put her chopsticks down again. She probably had no appetite, but it was a pity that there was a table full of good food. Guixiangu's neat front hair covered her face, making it impossible to judge her emotions from her eyes, but she had a sophisticated smile on her lips and said:
"If I eat these things, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out, right?"
The woman looked at her quietly, expressionless.
"From the first time I stepped into this town, I started to feel that something was not right. Even the food."
"Tell me?"
The woman changed the hand holding her chin to another.
"Lotus root is a summer food. No matter how warm the place is, it should only be available in late spring at least. But no matter what, this kale should be ripe in summer, at least one or two months after the Lotus Root Festival. The lotus root has not yet arrived. When the harvest comes to market, where can the kale be eaten? If the vegetables are from earlier, it can be considered that there is an ice cellar here to store fresh vegetables. If it is said to be from last year, it will not make sense."
"keen."
"When I came, it was already approaching dusk, but the moment I entered the town it was noon again. This trick deceived ordinary people, allowing them to accept the change of day and night naturally like a dream, but it couldn't be hidden from me. In addition, the people in this town Too few, and it shouldn’t be what this scale should look like. But people’s lives seem so regular and simple, and I’m wondering, what’s the reason for other people to disappear? The town is not shrouded in sadness, and it is far away from disputes. , is a rare and clean place, so there will never be a war. Even if the court arrests people and exiles them, it will be difficult to find this place. But they are indeed dead... died a long time ago, far away It lasted longer than I could have imagined. And so did the rest of the people here - they were all dead. From the first moment I met a passerby, I realized that it was noon and no one had a shadow."
The woman didn't speak, just stared at her intently. Even though Guixiangu couldn't see, she could still detect the burning, thorn-like gaze. Some people have very strong spiritual bodies and can detect it even if they are watched from a distance, let alone this time they are close at hand. In addition, the woman took no further action. However, Guixiangu could still feel that the people around her seemed to be getting closer. Whether it was the other eight people in the store or people passing by on the street, they all approached here. There were more people outside the window, including peasant women carrying baskets to buy vegetables, workers carrying poles, and children holding candied haws. Although they did not enter the store, they stood by the window, blocking out most of the sunlight. The store seemed much darker. Being scrutinized by so many eyes, anyone would feel breathless and oppressive, but Guixiangu was calm and composed.
"How do you know they have no shadows?" the woman asked, "I think you can't see them."
"I am the shadow."
After saying that, Guixiangu suddenly raised her head. The front hair was thrown up, revealing a pair of dark eyes. Black liquid quickly spread from inside - but it could not be touched, it seemed to be just a shadow. Such "tear stains" centered on her and instantly spread in all directions, adhering to tables, chairs, floors, and walls, and grabbing the feet of every onlooker. They formed the shadows under those people's feet, but they were constantly moving, turning into dark ghost hands, clinging tightly to people's pantyhose and climbing up. In an instant, everyone let out sharp and weird screams, so hysterical that they could make people's eardrums hurt. In just the blink of an eye, everyone except the two of them turned into a plume of black smoke and disappeared into the sky.
"Qinglian Town is originally Qingnv's territory. You didn't do anything bad by occupying the magpie's nest. It's just that time passed too long and they all gradually died. If we guarantee that there will be no war, no disease, and no danger, Environment - Of course, if Qinglian Town can do all these, then it will take at least several thousand people to continue the survival of a village. This is a conservative number. We also consider that having a family will lead to congenital lesions... Although men are Those who can take concubines, but proportionally distributed, the maximum number is monogamy, which can also avoid class differentiation in a closed area. Presumably there were only a few thousand people in Qinglian Town at first, but time is really Too long... Qinglian Town is so isolated that humans can only come and go. Although people who have eaten the food here will never leave, there are very few people who can come here. By luck. You never planned to deliberately maintain the population here, but just allowed them to live freely. As a result, to this day, this place must have been an empty city. There is no filth of the world in this refuge, and all the townspeople are also You made it all up. Of all these, I am only puzzled by one question. I wonder, would you please answer me?"
The fact that the truth was exposed did make this woman feel a little angry, but not to the point of being angry. Although this outsider has powerful magic power, this is a place under her jurisdiction, and she has certain advantages in both emotion and reason. However, she is not ready to go against Guixiangu just yet.
Guixiangu said quietly: "Actually, you must have guessed my question. That is: Why do you do this?"
"Is this a strange thing?" The woman actually snorted and became happy, "Pfft - don't many people like to plant trees and flowers, raise chickens and fish? It's just a small experimental field. I won't interfere. Let it develop. In this unique safe and comfortable environment with unlimited resources, the only thing I do is to eliminate the human factor. Those quarrels and grievances will definitely develop into something uncontrollable in the outside world. War...money killings, vendettas, love killings, I stopped them before they happened, so that this group of people could remain so-called...kind as much as possible. But human beings really disappoint me, throw away the narrow-mindedness, complacency, vanity, selfish desire, laziness , greedy, cunning, willful, impulsive, high-minded but short-sighted, ambitious, and a liar, he will still do more incredible things."
"That is?"
"Ignorance. Haha..." Lord Kuchue seemed to be mocking something, "It's not enough to rely on only one person to mediate everything. Neighbors should also play a role in addition to supporting the fire. I gradually downplayed my identity and withdrew. In this town, a spell was cast so that no one would recognize me. As a result, the woman in their memory became the god they worshiped - ridiculous. All the current stability and prosperity are of course As a result of their efforts, they are still the same as the humans outside, fabricating non-existent patrons. Beautiful long-cherished wishes can become sustenance, but they are by no means a reason to get something for nothing. People gradually return to laziness, are satisfied with the status quo and cannot stop. Before. Conflicts sprouted again, and they soon went back to the days of constant disputes... It was really noisy. I have known for a long time that the so-called goodness of human nature is when the self is satisfied. Doing good is also a kind of vanity. And there is no end to human desires.”
"So are you disappointed in humanity?"
"Disappointed? No, how could it be?" Lord Xueyue frowned and sneered, "It's all hopelessness."
