"Problem?" Qiying didn't seem to understand, "What's the problem?"
After hearing this, Han Chang suddenly stopped and looked at his sister in surprise.
"Don't you think there's a big problem here?"
"B-but... it seems that the lives of the people here are stable and everyone is happy. And maybe we can really bring our parents back -"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
Han Chang suddenly scolded her louder than he had ever called her before, causing everyone nearby to glance here. Jiao Mo quickly persuaded him, but Wenying only felt baffled. She stood there with an innocent face, wondering why her brother was so angry.
"But it was clearly you who brought it up just now, so why are you blaming me again?"
"Can't you tell the difference between deceptive tricks and true feelings?"
Xie Zhe had begun to realize why Han Chang felt that Wenying was not suitable to go out and have a career. Sure enough, she had too little experience. In today's world, there are many inexplicable things that she cannot immediately understand. He explained:
"Such happiness is just an illusion and is temporary. You know that the deceased is dead, but you still want to believe that the person who is left by your side is the same person from back then... This is too self-deceiving."
"But how can we be sure that the people around us today are not the people we were then?"
Jiao Mo sighed and said: "I can understand it to a certain extent. You are awake now, and of course you know how to distinguish which is true and which is false. But those people - those who have just experienced a huge blow, cannot recover from the pain. People who have come out of pain do not want a formal and long farewell, but a complete replacement. At first, they will not make too many demands for this fake, because they need to fill the vacancy in their hearts. Place. If things go on like this, being bound by the phantoms of the past will prevent us from facing reality and moving towards the future..."
Wenying's expression seemed to understand but she didn't say anything for the time being. Han Chang suppressed his anger, glared at her, said a few words, then turned around and continued walking forward.
"If you look for imitations like that to replace your parents, they will feel sorry for you."
Wenying felt a lump in her throat and wanted to say something, but in the end she couldn't open her mouth. Jiao Mo took her hand and followed the two people silently. Xie Zhe was not good at dealing with these things. He just felt that everything that happened since this morning was too ridiculous.
After walking a few steps, they arrived at the place mentioned by the inn's cashier. This is really a humble store. To the left is the largest pharmacy in the town, and to the right is the onmyoji's magic weapon. Both stores are larger and cleaner than the one in the middle, but the one in the middle has neither a sign nor a decent door. There was only half a dark blue dirty curtain hanging at the door. I really didn’t know what to do when the strong wind blew up and blew up the dust and fallen leaves.
"Is this really here..." Wenying didn't really want to go in.
"This is what he said, so it should be right."
As he said that, Jiao Mo took a step forward and felt a cold atmosphere inside. Han Chang was afraid that something might happen, so he walked over and opened the curtain and came inside. Others followed one after another. The room was dark, which was strange, as if a thin curtain could block out all the light, and there was no single light in the room. There was a faint basement smell in the air. I couldn't tell whether it was the smell of dust or damp musty smell.
"Is there no one?"
"There's no light either..."
As they were talking, Han Chang lit the fox fire, and three groups of active flames completely illuminated the room. It was too small here, the fox fire was like three small suns, and he had to extinguish two of them. Such a place cannot even accommodate four people moving side by side, so they can only stagger. There was a shelf next to it that could be knocked over if not careful. Xie Zhe noticed that there were many different shapes of carving knives on it, as well as several different brushes. There are also some bamboo rackets, bamboo rackets, horn slices, etc. randomly placed on the other floors.
"It's all potter's work."
"Hey, there's a door in here."
Wenying was already standing inside. The terrain of this space is very narrow, like a long corridor. Hanshang's firelight could not shine on this place for the time being, so Wenying lit a blue-white flame between her fingers. In this lighting, they did see a complete door. Han Chang stepped forward and looked at his friends hesitantly. Xie Zhe and Jiao Mo both nodded in agreement, and then he stretched out his hand and knocked on the door.
Boom, boom, boom.
No one responded.
Han Chang frowned and put his ears against it. Everyone asked him what he heard, but he couldn't hear anything. Just as he was about to lift his face from the door, the door suddenly opened, almost causing him to stumble. Xie Zhe felt that he had the right to gloat at this moment.
However, it's really not the time. Although the door was open, there was no one there, as if it opened on its own initiative. A wave of scorching hot air hit my face, which was more painful than the street exposed to the sun at noon, and it also had an earthy smell. After all, this is indoors, and the heat is trapped inside. They all stood up straight, looked left and right, and found that this place was much brighter and more spacious.
There was actually a kiln in the house, but it was not operational. Otherwise, they might be able to see the black smoke from outside. There was a naked man lying on the ground beside him. The four of them were shocked when they first saw him. But they quickly realized that this was not a person, but a clay doll lying on the ground. It has a peaceful expression and fine wrinkles on its face, like an old man sleeping peacefully. Although it is still the original color of clay, its ingenious craftsmanship will still confuse the viewer at first sight.
Their eyes were all attracted to the dummy, but then Xie Zhe noticed that there was another person next to the dummy.
The man was stooped and looked old, even older than the man he carved. The wrinkles on his face were like the cross-sections of a mountainous area, and his arched back looked like there were pillows in his clothes. His gray hair is very sparse, like a wasteland with only scattered withered grass left after winter. He looks old, but he has a pair of extremely stable hands. He was holding a trimming knife, carving the wrinkles on the back of the puppet's hand bit by bit.
"Is this...a miracle doctor?" Wenying couldn't believe it.
No matter how you look at it, he looks like a craftsman, and the word doctor really doesn't go together. What's more, no matter whether it is the corridor outside or the earthen kiln here, there is no such thing as a herbal cabinet placed anywhere. Although the white-haired old man was old, his ears still seemed to work well. He turned his head and glanced at Wenying. His eyes were so deep that it was hard to see clearly, like two dark bottomless pits.
"Cough, cough..."
He seemed to be about to speak, but his throat was stuck. He turned his head and coughed continuously for a long time. The sound was deafening, and the noise was so loud that it almost shook the dust from the room. They looked at the scary old man worriedly. He finally stopped coughing, stood up, and staggered closer to them step by step. There was a strange sense of oppression emanating from this small body, causing them to take a small step back. Only Han Chang stood there, frowning and looking at the white-haired old man.
The old man was not tall and was still stooped. He looked like a child standing in front of him. He tried to raise his head and looked at Han Shang. From the side, his neck was almost broken. The old man sniffed and sniffed under his chest, then turned his head and sniffed the people behind him. Then, in a voice as hoarse as burning firewood, he said:
"evildoer."
"..."
It is true that only Xie Zhe is an ordinary person, but these words coming from his mouth are indeed a bit humiliating. Before Han Chang could ask clearly, he put his hands behind his back again and turned around, still holding the trimming knife between his fingers. Everyone hesitated and made eye contact repeatedly. Xie Zhe finally took a few steps forward on behalf of his friends and walked to the old man's side.
"I heard that you have a special skill that allows you to revive your soul. Is this... true or false?"
The old man did not respond immediately and continued to modify the puppet's wrist. He asked Xie Zhe in a hoarse voice:
"Guess who this is?"
Xie Zhe looked at it, shook his head and said, "I don't know, I just recognized her as an old woman in her sixties."
"Several guests who have come from afar... I tell you that this is the mother of a filial son. This mother has a hard life. The child has never seen his father since he was born, and it depends on the mother's hand. The son looks like this Da, although he has never made a name for himself, is still living in this small town, but he knows that being a mother is hard work. When his mother was old and had not fulfilled her filial piety, she passed away. So he came to visit the old man. I beg the old man to bring his mother back to the world..."
Several people said nothing. Although this is indeed a touching story, but...
Han Chang said lightly: "What a selfish son."
The old man raised his head and glanced at him.
"oh?"
"You may have heard the story of the Hundred Skeleton Lord." Han Shan continued, "The most important point is, do the dead want to come back? All the puppets you make are just imitating the behavior of the living. They can speak but cannot express their opinions. In the final analysis, they are just zombies and have never had real feelings. What you satisfy is just the selfish desires of the living."
"Young master is right." The old man nodded and continued to modify the clay puppet, "But what I do is a business of living people. It is never the dead who need to say goodbye seriously, but the living."
Xie Zhe said: "Since you said that, we understand it. We can't say you are wrong, it's just this way..."
"I think this is a personal choice." The old man adjusted the posture of holding the knife, "No one should interfere."
They stood here awkwardly, always wanting to refute something but not knowing how. Wenying stepped forward curiously, squatted opposite the old man, and looked at his sculpted arms. The texture of the skin is very delicate, as if he would move his little finger and sit up the next moment. Wenying didn't feel scared, only felt novel. She asked the old man:
"Is your soul method really so magical this time? Do you have to carve the embryo exactly like it was before life so that the soul can reside in it?"
The old man said without raising his head: "Little girl, you think too simply. How to harmonize the soil is very important."
"Is there a secret to the technique? And what kind of formations should be set up in the process, what kind of spiritual power should be injected..."
"Hey, you girl, are you trying to steal some skills from me?" The old man stopped.
Wenying waved her hands repeatedly: "How is this possible? It sounds so difficult, and I wasn't very good at kneading mud when I was a child. It's really difficult for me to do this."
Han Chang and the others suddenly understood something, and they stopped making any sound or movement, trying their best to pretend they didn't exist.
