Although the shopkeeper with eyes and ears is blind and cannot see all tangible and intangible things, he can tell everything about this old inn without thinking.
"The previous tenant of Room No. 5, Qiuzi on the second floor, moved in a month ago. He was a rough-and-tumble man who spoke in a loud voice. He had a vulgar personality and didn't know how to be polite when talking to others. On the first night he stayed, He had a quarrel with the tenant next door. He said that the tenant next door stayed up all night and was demolishing the wall. He smashed the wall with a sledgehammer endlessly, disturbing people's sleep. He almost got into a fight with the tenant next door. But the tenant next door kept knocking down the wall. The defense was that he was sleeping quietly and soundly after nightfall, and it was impossible to make any noise, and this was an inn, so where could he find a sledgehammer to smash the wall."
"The argument went back and forth like this, and the grumpy man drove away the tenants on both sides. However, he still complained that there was always a sound of a sledgehammer hitting the wall every night. The man said that the sound of the sledgehammer hitting the wall was still at the door at first. I get closer to the head of the bed every day. It seems like someone is smashing the wall looking for something. Tonight, I am going to smash the wall at the head of his bed. He has a very bad attitude and asks me if this inn is a black shop and if there is anything in the wall. The dead man was crying for injustice. After saying that, he turned around and went to the back yard of the inn to find a big hammer and smashed open all the walls of Room No. 5, Qiuzi, but he found nothing."
Jin An: "He checked out later?"
The shopkeeper, whose eyes were dark and without eyeballs, still shook his head numbly and expressionlessly.
Jin An: "He didn't check out, so he continued to stay in Room No. 5, Qiuzi. That night, the sound of smashing the wall finally hit his bedside, and his head was smashed in his sleep, and then the inn gave him Did he collect the corpse?"
The shopkeeper still shook his head numbly and expressionlessly.
"He's missing."
"You can't see people alive, you can't see corpses after death."
Although it is two short sentences, it has a strange ending.
Jin An: "Didn't the inn report to the official?"
The shopkeeper numbly said: "What does the reporter do? One thing is worse than one thing less. I saw that he didn't come to renew the room for ten days, so I directly used the luggage he left in the guest room as room fee and compensation for smashing the wall, and renovated it. Later, I continued to rent out Room No. 5, Qiu Zi, on the second floor.”
Jin An frowned.
What a cold-blooded and insensitive answer.
Jin An: "What about Room No. 7 Dongzi?"
The shopkeeper continued with his empty eyes: "The last tenant of Dongzi Room No. 7 was very special. He was one of the tenants who had lived in the inn for the longest time. They were a couple. Later, the wife went crazy and ate her husband. I also ate several tenants next door.”
Well.
This time it was short and clear, but it sent a chill down the spine.
Jin An: "How did you find out that the wife was crazy and started eating, uh, cannibalism?"
Shopkeeper: "The first two days were normal. The two of them were inseparable and very affectionate. There was no abnormality. About the third day, the couple suddenly closed the door and refused to go out. The couple stayed together for two consecutive days. I couldn’t go out. On the fifth day, Room No. 7 finally opened the door, but only my wife came out. That day, the wife of the couple suddenly came to me and said that her husband was weak and wanted to use the kitchen to cook the dishes herself. The broth was brought back to the guest room to nourish her husband. I agreed. It was strange to say that I had never seen her leave the inn, but she had fresh meat and offal every day to make soup and bring it back to her room to nourish her husband. , and sometimes they would improve the food and make pig blood soup, and this lasted for about a month..."
The shopkeeper seemed to be deep in thought and did not say anything further.
Jin An: "A woman who has never been out of an inn can borrow the kitchen to make soup every day. There is clearly something weird and fishy about it. As the owner of this inn, didn't you become suspicious and investigate from the beginning? "
The shopkeeper still responded numbly: "Control? Why do you care? She pays, I borrow the kitchen, and when I buy it, I sell it. Why should I care? There is a saying that money can make things worse."
Jin An frowned: "Is money more important than human life in your eyes?"
Shopkeeper: "When you spend money to buy beef, are you more pitiful than the old cow that kneels down and sheds tears at you under the butcher's knife? If you don't do it for yourself, God will punish you."
Jin An did not defend himself: "Then how did you find out later that she...killed her husband and other tenants?"
Shopkeeper: "As the number of tenants disappearing on the second floor increased, one tenant noticed something strange about the wife of the couple. After breaking in, they found human bones that had been picked out all over the floor. The room was very clean, with even a little bit of meat, internal organs, There’s no blood.”
No wonder no one smelled the strange smell even after killing so many people. This was such a complete destruction of corpses and traces. After hearing the story that happened in Dongzi Room No. 7, I shuddered.
Jin An: "There are still room No. 8 with the hidden character on the second floor and room No. 10 with the character Yu on the third floor. Could it be possible that people have died in these two rooms as well?"
The shopkeeper still had that numb and merciless expression, especially after listening to two more horrifying stories, each one more horrifying than the last, and then looking at his pair of dark eyes without eyeballs, it seemed as if he was staring into the abyss.
Shopkeeper: "The last person who stayed in Room No. 8 with Tibetan Characters was a woman who was trapped in love. She liked to sigh and talk nonsense about being trapped in love. Since she moved into Room No. 8 with Hidden Characters, she has been radiant and full of energy. She finally burst into tears. Die from exhaustion."
Jin An: "What kind of strange way to die is this?"
Shopkeeper: "There is only a woman in Room No. 8 with hidden characters. Since she moved in, she has been singing and dancing every night. When she goes out during the day, her face becomes more radiant every time, with happiness on her face... Let's call it a happy smile for now. Some people say this is After a long drought, she was nourished by men, and secretly scolded her for stealing wild men."
"But not long after this happened, there were noises in Room No. 8 not only at night, but sometimes even during the day. At this time, she was no longer radiant, but looked pale and ugly, and she was extremely energetic. It’s ugly, and it looks like a serious loss of energy and spirit.”
Jin An: "You still refuse to save me this time?"
Shopkeeper: "I reminded her that it's time to renew the room."
Jin An glanced at the other person's empty eyes: "You are really blinded by money."
Shopkeeper: "After she renewed her room payment, she went back to Room No. 8 with hidden characters. A few days later, I reminded her again that it was time to renew her room payment. At this time, her energy level was even worse, she was thin, her skin was dull, and She no longer had any money to pay for the renewal of the house, so she decided to find a pawn shop to sell off all the jewelry she had to pay for the renewal of the house, and told me not to return Room No. 8 with Hidden Characters and to keep Room No. 8 with Hidden Characters for her."
"I asked her why, and she said that a few days ago it was supposed to be her wedding day to her fiancé, but when her fiancé was hanging a lantern with the character "囍", he unfortunately fell off the ladder and hit the back of his head hard and died. She was out of love. She died, but she dreamed of her fiancé in the hidden room No. 8. She had too many things to say to her fiancé, and her already dead heart was rejuvenated by love. As long as she could see her fiancé again, she was not afraid of carrying the burden. The name of chastity."
Shopkeeper: "I asked her if she wasn't even afraid of death? She said, 'If you can't be with the one you love in life, you will both turn into butterflies after death. When you ask the world what love is, it tells you that life and death are mutual commitments.'"
"She died of love and came to Tibetan Room No. 8, took on new life in Tibetan Room No. 8, was reborn for love, and finally died for love in Tibetan Room No. 8, which can be regarded as a new chapter in life. Happy ending, why should I save her? As long as she is willing to pay enough for the room."
Jin An sneered disdainfully: "It's just some monsters and monsters messing with people's minds. How can two people be happy and treat each other sincerely? The wish that was exchanged for a dream will eventually be shattered."
Jin An: "What about the last room No. 10 on the third floor?"
Shopkeeper: "Several guests who have stayed in Room No. 10 on the third floor all said that they heard footsteps upstairs and the sound of things falling on the floor at night, which disturbed them while they slept. However, the third floor is already the highest floor of the inn. How could the fourth floor disturb them?"
Jin An: "Are these people also dead?"
The shopkeeper shook his head: "All the tenants are the same as the previous tenants in Room No. 5, Qiuzi. They disappeared suddenly, with no one alive or dead."
Jin An frowned.
This is not an inn.
This is clearly a haunted house.
Each guest room has a story. There are thirty-two guest rooms here. If each guest room has a story, wouldn’t there be thirty-two supernatural stories?
The shopkeeper, who had finished telling four stories at this time, saw that Jin An did not make a sound. He looked directly at the direction where Jin An was standing with his dark eyes, and repeated: "There are still four empty rooms, Qiu An on the second floor." Room No. 5 with the word "Dong", Room 7 with the word "Dong", Room 8 with the word "Zang"...and Room 10 with the word "Yu" on the third floor...Which one do you want?"
Jin An thought about it and finally decided to pick it on the second floor. Anyone leaving the inn would pass by the second floor, and he could always pay attention to the movement.
"Which guest room on the second floor is closest to the stairs going downstairs?" Jin An asked the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper said without hesitation: "Room No. 5 with the character Qiu."
It was the room where there was the sound of hammers hitting the wall every night.
Jin An didn't think for long before he chose this room: "Okay, it's room No. 5, Qiu Zi. How much does it cost to stay for one night?"
The shopkeeper stood up and went to get the iron key hanging on the wall behind him.
There are obviously no eyes.
But he can accurately touch the iron key.
"The girl next to you has already paid for the room." The shopkeeper's words made Jin An look at the red umbrella girl Zhizharen who had been silent next to him in surprise.
Next, the shopkeeper held an oil lamp and led them up to the second floor.
The light on the second floor was very dim, and the few light windows in the corridor were all boarded up tightly.
Jin An looked at the guest rooms on both sides and asked curiously: "Why are these windows nailed shut? If the inn catches fire, wouldn't there be no chance of escape?"
The guest rooms on the second floor are arranged in such a way that the winter and summer seasons, autumn harvest and winter storage are aligned on the left and right, and the leap year and year old and the lulu tiao yang are aligned on the left and right.
In leap years, Lu Lu and Yang Yang are all in the back section of the corridor.
The inn was in disrepair, and the door cracks leaked a lot of light. Through the light and shadow under the door, when he passed the No. 2 room, he found that there was light and shadow flickering under the door crack, as if someone in the room heard the movement in the corridor. , was tiptoeing to the door.
When he looked at Room No. 1, which was opposite Room No. 2, he found that the door of this room was sealed with wooden bars. When he accidentally got a little closer, the amulet hidden in his collar was surprisingly hot.
Jin An asked calmly: "Why is this room sealed?"
The shopkeeper still leads the way with an oil lamp in his hand. He has an attitude of not bothering to pay attention to the customers after taking the money. He has no service at all and has no intention of attracting repeat customers.
When passing by Room No. 3, the light leakage under the door was half blocked. Someone was already hiding behind the door and eavesdropping.
When passing by Room No. 4, there was candlelight leaking from the door, but no one was hiding behind the door to eavesdrop. However, there was a painful low sound coming from the room, as if the mouth was blocked and someone was being beaten painfully.
Finally arriving at Room No. 5, Qiuzi, Jin An took a curious look at Room No. 6, Shuzizi, which was opposite to his own. He found that there was no candlelight leaking from under the door, and the room was very quiet. There was no sound at all, and he didn't know what it was. I didn't blow out the candle on purpose. I was hiding behind the door and eavesdropping.
Each of these rooms has a special feature. Whenever he approaches, the amulet on his chest will feel warm, but the reaction is not as intense as in the sealed Hanzi Room No. 1.
He didn't know which of these guest rooms the bloody handprints and the two Laughing Corpse Village veterans he was looking for were in.
Jin An turned his head thoughtfully, well, he was almost so frightened that he subconsciously punched the two eyeless black holes that were approaching.
There was no strange expression on the shopkeeper's face, and he said numbly: "You seem to be very interested in every guest room?"
If Jin An hadn't been so courageous, a less courageous ordinary person would have been frightened to the point where at least one of his souls would have left his body, and he would have been weak and feverish for several days.
Jin An answered truthfully: "I was thinking, there are thirty-two guest rooms in the inn. Does each room have its own story?"
The shopkeeper did not answer, but said: "I forgot that the repairs in Room No. 5 Qiuzi have not been completed after the previous tenant smashed the wall. Now only Rooms 7 and 8 are vacant on the second floor."
Hearing this, Jin An frowned and glanced at the Qiu Zi Room No. 5 in front of him. He couldn't see anything unusual at this moment.
Jin An: "Shopkeeper, are you sure the repairs haven't been completed yet?"
The shopkeeper nodded.
