Just as I was about to speak, he disappeared like mist.
"sieve."
Before I could take a few steady breaths, a light suddenly appeared outside the window.
I looked up and saw that the lantern at the door lit up by itself.
"Herb Hall."
The light of the white lantern allowed me to see the words clearly.
No wonder it has such a strong herbal flavor and is co-authored by a Chinese medicine shop.
"Do you want to prescribe medicine?"
The lantern had just been lit when an extremely hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind me.
I looked back and saw an old lady wearing a blue and white shirt.
The room that was empty just now suddenly underwent earth-shaking changes. Two medicine cabinets with full ceilings were placed straight against the wall.
A little boy wearing commoners was rolling a medicine knife under the statue of Lord Medicine.
The old lady pinched her index finger and thumb and picked up a golden medicine scale.
"Human life is priceless. If it falls like this, it will turn into fish. If flowers fall one after another, no one will cry in a new grave."
The old lady hunched over and put the scale on the counter: "Let me weigh it. How many copper coins can your bones be sold for?"
I sneered a few times and stretched out my hand: "I put it here, do you dare to touch it?"
"I've weighed the bones of thousands of people, but I haven't found a hard bone that I can't weigh."
As she spoke, her hands, which were rougher than the cement floor, had already grabbed my wrist.
As she touched it, she muttered: "Let me, an old woman, take a look."
"you……"
The old lady's slow and gentle tone suddenly stopped, and her narrowed eyes opened.
"You are alive!"
"I didn't say it was a dead person either."
She immediately withdrew her hand and said, "It's a sin, I almost got into trouble."
"Young man, listen to the old woman's advice and leave quickly. If it's a little later, you won't be able to leave!"
What I didn't expect was that this old lady was quite sensible.
Not only did they not make things difficult for me, they even took the initiative to give me a way out.
She and I were one person and one ghost. At this moment, it seemed that all boundaries had been broken, and no one was hostile.
Although I interact with people every day, this kind of kindness from strangers is rare.
She was so kind to her, so I didn't reveal my identity, but continued to ask: "What did that person just say, don't leave at the second hour, and it's even harder to stay at the third hour, what does that mean?"
The old lady waved her hand, causing a breeze, and then waved her hand.
"That means that if you can't go out on the second watch, it will be difficult for you to survive until the third watch! Leave quickly!"
When the door was opened, I saw that all the doors along the road were open, and uniform white lanterns were hung in every house.
As for the names above, they are all-inclusive.
From a blacksmith shop to a tailor shop, everything is available. At a glance, it looks like a very ordinary alley.
I looked back at the old lady and asked, "Mom, one more question, the road is right here, why can't I get out?"
She sighed heavily, then shook her head and said, "You are such a brave young man!"
"If someone else were here, they would have lost half their lives in fear. Why do you still have the energy to ask questions?"
I rubbed my frozen hands: "If you knew what I do, you wouldn't be so worried."
"Taoist priest? Monk?"
The old lady didn't seem curious about my identity, let alone surprised.
She said with a serious look on her face: "Unless you are a god descending to earth."
"hehe."
The old lady's last words turned into laughter.
She walked out of the counter with small steps, stood next to me, and then pointed her hand to the door.
"This place is called Twelve Stores. Counting from me to the end, there are 12 stores in total."
The old lady's tone was full of worry: "I am a bone weigher. There is a tailor shop further ahead. Do you know what it is for?"
"Tailor shop..."
While I was hesitating, the old lady already said the answer: "That's to sew the ghost's head!"
"This family."
I followed her finger and looked over: "Fish-killing shop?"
"What is this for?"
The old lady took a few steps forward and whispered, "Have you ever seen a live corpse?"
"After this man was beheaded alive, the flesh on his body looked like fish scales. The people at the fish killing shop used the flesh on his body to wear it bit by bit."
Being beheaded alive is not a rare thing, but for her to describe it so vividly, I couldn't help but feel creepy.
Seeing that she wanted to push me out, I quickly shouted to stop: "I have one last question."
"Now this building cannot be built. Is it because of you?"
The old lady pursed her lips: "If your home was occupied, would you be happy?"
