Early in the morning, what woke Xie Zhe and Han Zhang was not the crowing of the rooster, but the panicked banging on the door.
Xie Zhe hadn't fastened his belt yet, so he stumbled and ran to open the door. When he opened the door, he saw Jiao Mo's frightened face, and she was holding a steaming basket of pasta in her hand.
"Why are you so nervous..."
Han Chang sat up from the bed limply, yawned, and stretched. His messy hair really looked like a stuffed fox. Jiao Mo put the basket on the table and spoke incoherently. This was the first time they had seen her so anxious.
"Speak slowly, what happened?" Xie Zhe asked, "By the way, where is Yingying?"
"She is still asleep, in the next room. The store owner said yesterday that there is a steamed vegetable dumpling across the street. They are very delicious, but they only sell them in the morning. I think you were tired from the journey yesterday, but I am still very happy. Spirit, I will buy it for you. While I was talking to the landlady, her child ran out..."
"Isn't this normal?" Han Chang slowly got up and sat at the table.
"If it were an ordinary child, of course I wouldn't have such a big reaction." Jiao Mo frowned even more tightly, "Children love to run and jump, and so does the boy. The boss's wife looked at him and smiled, but he suddenly He fell and was so frightened that his mother even took away her money and ran over to help him up. At that moment, I saw a crack on the child's knee."
"Crack?" Xie Zhe looked at Han Chang, whose expression also became strange.
"At the same time, I also heard a clear cracking sound. He was like a porcelain doll... After he was helped up, he neither cried nor fussed. The boss's wife called the child's father, and his father immediately took the child back. I Then I realized that from beginning to end, the child never spoke."
The two of them stopped talking. Apparently, the child easily reminded them of something... something they had seen, and it was definitely not human. Wenying was still asleep, so she slowly walked into the guest room, rubbed her eyes and sat next to Jiaomo.
"Why are you all getting up so early in the morning for a meeting...what's wrong?"
"Are there any strangers in this town?" This was what Han Chang heard, which made Wenying feel a lot more energetic.
"What? Is that what you said, the thing made of ceramics that looks like a human being?"
Xie Zhe was even more worried: "Moreover, are you already mixed in with ordinary people? Don't you think there's anything wrong with that couple?"
Jiaomo continued to explain: "At that time, I was really panicked. I thought about what happened to you, and my heart was in my throat, but I didn't dare to say anything. I had to pretend not to see the crack and just treat it as if he had fallen. When I fell down, I asked the landlady: "Your son is really lively." The landlady responded to me: "Being lively is not a good thing, he always gets hurt. The child wants to play, and we can't bear to keep him in the house for too long." All this happened. It seemed to be talking about ordinary human children, leaving me at a loss. I didn't know what to do next, so I had to take breakfast, pretend that nothing happened, and leave, and then hurried over to tell you."
Wen Ying was really brave. Even after hearing Jiao Mo talk about such an extraordinary experience, she still reached into the basket and chewed the steamed dumplings. At this moment, there were three in my stomach.
"But the dumplings are really good."
"...You should eat less."
Han Chang had an expression that was hard to explain. After all, the parents who raised dangerous dolls as their children must not be proficient in any magic, right? Then who knows if there are drugs in the food to make it taste delicious? Eighty percent of it contains something harmful.
Xie Zhe thought about it again and again and suggested: "Let's do this. Didn't you say that the people at the inn recommended you to buy their steamed dumplings? I think they have been doing business for so many years and they are only one street away. They should have a good relationship. Maybe they know Something."
"I think so. The accountant said this to me. Maybe we can go and ask."
After discussing, the four people quickly packed themselves up and went downstairs to the lobby together. The accountant was already sitting there working on the abacus, probably checking yesterday's accounts. Several people came forward, but no one dared to speak first. The accountant hadn't noticed them yet, and was still busy with his work with his head down. Han Chang reached out to poke Xie Zhe from behind, and pushed him forward a big step with a strong force.
Xie Zhe almost fell down and hit the table in front of him. The legs of the table made a harsh friction with the ground. The accountant looked up and saw the embarrassment on Xie Zhe's face, and then he noticed them.
"What orders do you have, guest officers?"
"Ah, that's it..." Xie Zhe turned around and glared at Han Shang, then turned around and smiled apologetically, "Didn't you recommend a breakfast shop yesterday that sells steamed dumplings? It's the one diagonally opposite."
"Yes! The craftsmanship of that company is really amazing. You won't be able to buy it if it's too late."
"Actually, that's the case. When we were buying dumplings, we encountered something that made us a little concerned... We want to ask you first, do you know that the couple selling breakfast have a child?"
The accountant nodded repeatedly: "You mean Panpan, right? Is he a little boy of four or five years old, quite lively?"
Jiao Mo nodded and said yes, and the accountant continued:
"Oh, that child is pitiful. He used to be very lovable, and the neighbors loved to tease him. But he was too playful, jumping up and down, and one day he climbed up a tree, his foot slipped, and his head fell to the ground first. The bleeding was not stopping. He could still move when the other children called for adults, but he died just as his mother carried him to the doctor..."
This sounds like a truly hair-raising ghost story. Several people's faces turned livid, especially Jiao Mo, who couldn't figure out where the child she saw this morning came from? Before she could ask further questions, the accountant said again:
"Although the doctor couldn't bring him back to life, he thought of another idea. He immobilized Panpan's soul and put it in a new container. In this way, Panpan is their good son again, but he needs to pay more attention to it on weekdays. For ordinary bumps, there is still a way to repair them with clay, and for large cracks, you have to remove them. If you fall from a height and smash them to pieces, there is nothing you can do."
"What kind of evil magic is this? Why have I never heard of it?"
Xie Zhe only expressed emotion on the surface, but secretly thought in his heart, if this is not a technique to bring the dead back to life, what else could it be? Even if it is not the body of the past, it completely violates the ethical principles. What kind of identity does the doctor dare to do such an unnatural thing?
"Hey, hey, how can you say it's a witchcraft? That doctor came to the town five years ago, and everyone still respects him to this day. Although he has refused to tell the neighbors his name, but He said that he was proficient in the art of yin and yang, and that by combining it with medicine, he could stabilize the soul. People called him a miracle doctor."
Wen Ying said: "But the child named Panpan will only be so tall in this life, right?"
"That's natural. This body can only be changed once. He can only be a child in his life. But it doesn't matter. His parents don't have any objections, and the neighbors are also happy? What's more, in our Nanyangpo, There are many such 'people'."
"Many?!" They were extremely surprised.
"Isn't this? Foreigners are making a fuss, right?" The accountant adjusted the abacus with one hand, shook his head and smiled, "However, miracle doctors also need to eat, and it is still a big expense to bring a person's soul back from the gate of hell. Many people came from far away to beg him with gold and silver treasures. But he is a kind man and never charges a little money from people in our town. Those who beg him are nothing more than parents who have lost their children and those who have lost their homes. A humble person who loves.”
What is the background of this doctor? Nobody knows. If you want to find out, it seems you can only visit in person. So Han Chang pretended to be very concerned and said that he had lost his parents and wanted to see a miracle doctor to find a solution. Wen Ying and he put on a sincere look, bursting into tears, which immediately made the accountant feel at a loss. He had no intention of concealing anything and quickly revealed the address of the miracle doctor. But he also made it clear: although he told the whereabouts of the miracle doctor, whether the old man was willing to take care of the miracle doctor was another matter. If things don't get done, the guest officials can't cause trouble for him. The four of them thanked each other and ran out of the inn without looking back.
Walking on the street, Xie Zhe said, "It's really strange. How can this small town hide so many puppets?"
Asking Ying: "Could it be that the accountant was teasing us?"
"It shouldn't be. After all, what Mrs. Jiaomo saw cannot be fake."
There is an endless stream of people on the street, and it can be seen that this is indeed a prosperous town. After walking for about another quarter of an hour, Han Chang, who was silent, suddenly said:
"The accountant did not lie to us."
"how do I say this?"
"Remember the scholar who walked hand in hand with the lady just now?"
"What's wrong?"
"He held the woman's hand and kept talking, but the woman just laughed and didn't answer."
Xie Zhe was a little confused: "What does this mean? You are too sensitive."
"No... I listened carefully all the way. When I passed the two of them, I heard the scholar's heartbeat, but I didn't hear his wife's. That woman is also a doll."
"this……"
After hearing what he said, Wenying turned around frequently, but the scholar and his wife had already disappeared into the sea of people hand in hand. Hanshang also said that there was a woman holding a baby just now. Her hair was gray and she must have given birth to a child in old age. The baby was quiet, neither crying nor fussing. Thinking about it, it was just a replica. Maybe, its prototype is the woman's child when she was young. There is also a young man who helps the old man carry vegetables. He has no heartbeat and no breathing. He should be the deceased son whom the old man asked the "miraculous doctor" to make. In this way, Han Chang has already identified three puppets. Such a dangerous thing is now so similar to a human being, and it still permeates people's lives. Not even one of the townspeople finds it strange.
This is really incredible.
"It's only been five years. Maybe no problems will be exposed yet... I really don't know what that person's conspiracy is."
