I don’t think I’m a mediocre person, at least not so mediocre that I can’t tell whether someone is at home or not. As a person who strives to survive in this industry, I definitely have the most basic observation skills. However, in the past three days, almost every time I knocked on the door, I would carefully observe the surrounding environment. If there was anyone during this period, If I go in and out, I think it shouldn't be difficult to tell the difference.
However, this middle-aged woman spoke so firmly, as if she was particularly puzzled by the fact that I couldn't find anyone for several days in a row. She told me that just this morning when she went out, she saw people coming out of the house.
So I asked the middle-aged woman, are you saying there is someone in this room? Then why no one answers my knocks these days. The middle-aged woman said, maybe they don’t know you, so they won’t open the door. I said, little duck, you should wait until daytime. It’s so late now. Even if someone is at home, they won’t dare to open the door for you. It’s like this outside. chaos.
What she said was true, but I still couldn't figure out why she called me a duck. Could it be that I looked like a bird in the dark?
After the middle-aged woman finished speaking, she seemed to want to turn around and leave, but I stopped her and asked, Auntie, are you from nearby? She said yes, then pointed toward the end of the alley and said she lived there. I asked again, do you all know this person who lives here? The middle-aged woman said she knew him, but he was just a familiar face, so there was no friendship. I looked at the surrounding environment. These houses have been here for at least twenty years. Judging from the age of the middle-aged women, they should be old residents here. The alley is not long, and there is no room for neighbors. Shouldn't they already know each other well? The middle-aged woman told me that this house is currently occupied by a tenant who moved here almost five years ago. She is a bit stern on weekdays, so she does not have deep contact with the neighbors.
I thought to myself that what she said was somewhat similar to what I heard about Senior Qin's character, so I added, "But that shouldn't be the case. I heard that she is a kind old lady, and she is always willing to help others. Neighbors The relationship is good! As soon as I said this, the middle-aged woman looked me up and down again and said, Little Duck, are you really here to find someone? Then I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place. The person living here is not an old lady, but an old man with a big beard. He usually gets along well with everyone, but he may not be willing to help others, right? Do you want to check the address and come back? And there is no such number one lady in our alley...
The middle-aged woman's enthusiasm to clear up the doubts made me more certain that the person living in this house was Senior Qin. Just now, I used a very absurd assumption for a middle-aged woman to deliberately arouse her doubts, so that I could get out the truth from her. So I thought to myself, if this senior Qin is obviously at home and I knock on the door so many times, he won't be gone every time, right? Then he had only two reasons for avoiding me, either he didn't open the door on purpose to make me anxious, or he was wary of me and didn't see me on purpose.
I think it's not just me. I guess many of the people who came to visit him over the years have encountered this situation. So I thanked the middle-aged woman and told her that I would check the address carefully before speaking. By the way, I told her that I am a human being and not a duck. After saying that, I deliberately quacked twice and then reveled in my own self-deprecating sense of humor. .
The middle-aged woman also laughed. She told me that people here call young people "伢子" instead of "duck" in dialect, because in the southwest Mandarin, "伢" and "伢" have the same tone. , so I had such a misunderstanding.
That night I returned to the guest house, planning to find a plan to lure that senior Qin to show up and at least meet me. Besides, I didn't come here specifically to find him, but I thought he should know more about my master's whereabouts. It’s just that I know something about it, so I really can’t avoid it. Even though I’m an old-timer, it’s really rude. So I decided not to knock on the door early tomorrow morning, but to find a place to hide and observe from a distance. As soon as someone comes in or out of his house, I will run over immediately. I can't hide now, it seems. To deal with such industry seniors who don't follow the routine, you still have to outsmart them.
But that night, when I slept until about three or four in the morning, I was suddenly disturbed by a rustling sound in my daze. Not only that, I also smelled a strange fishy smell in my nose. I had smelled a similar smell from the cat's angry open mouth when I was fighting with the cat at Aunt Xu's house.
As a person in the world of martial arts, I am fairly alert. I was immediately startled by this abnormal phenomenon that was suddenly different from the environment I was accustomed to. I rolled from the bed to the ground, then rushed to the door to turn on the light. The moment the light came on, suddenly From darkness to light, my eyes were still slightly uncomfortable, but even so, the scene in front of me still almost scared me to the point of peeing.
On the bed where I sleep, about to the side of my feet, there is a big white snake as thick as an arm coiled, with its head erect, facing me and spitting a message!
When I suddenly saw this scene, I was so frightened that I had no time to think about why there was such a big snake in the city. I felt a sudden numbness all over my body and involuntarily retreated to the wall. I reached out to grab the door, intending to just walk through it. I grabbed a pair of boxer briefs and prepared to grab the door and run away. However, after twisting the door a few times, I found that even the door handle was locked tightly and could not be turned at all. So I suddenly became desperate and couldn't even blink my eyes. He stared at the big white snake on the bed, not daring to take a breath.
Only then did I have time to think about why such absurd things as big snakes appeared in the city. A snake of this size would be at least two meters long if its entire body was unfolded. It would be impossible for it to survive in the city and grow to such a big size without being discovered. After taking a closer look, I saw that this big snake has two pointed ends and a fat middle section. The thickest part is about as thick as my arm. From my perspective, the head is in the shape of an inverted triangle, close to the snake's neck. On the two corners of the body, there are raised bones that look like brow bones. Although the whole body looks white, the back is slightly yellow. I don’t know if it is because of the lighting in the guest house. There are some light white diamond-shaped patterns on the whole body. The snake looked shiny, and I am a person who is afraid of snakes, not to mention that I had collided with a master of the Xian family because of snakes before. This scene before me scared my heart into my throat.
When I couldn't open the door, I realized that someone might have tampered with it. Otherwise, why would the door be so tightly closed? So the snake's appearance on my bed was obviously not a coincidence, but someone who did it deliberately. But I have only been here a few days, and I keep a low profile. Has anyone discovered my whereabouts? Could it be that because I stepped on the line and bumped into the door of the local master’s door, do I need to be taught a lesson?
While thinking rapidly, he looked at the big snake without daring to move. The big snake didn't attack me, but just stood up with its little triangular head and looked at me. When I was in the countryside earlier, I often heard news from villagers saying that they had caught a snake somewhere. In rural areas, the natural environment is good, and snakes can survive easily. And I also know that most of those colorful or brightly colored snakes are highly venomous. It is said that the most powerful ones will die in seven steps after being bitten. These highly venomous snakes generally have one characteristic, which is that when you look at them, you know they are poisonous, including the fact that their heads are triangular. So although I'm not sure whether the big snake in front of me is poisonous, at least if I get bitten by it, it will definitely be very painful.
All my bags were placed on the side of the bed. If I went to get them now, I would be just one step away from the big snake. I would not do such a thing that would lead to death. We could only stand in silence like this. On the ground not far away from me, there were two kettles and an iron basin. The kettles also contained the boiling water I fetched last night. This was probably The only thing I could get, so I started thinking in my mind, otherwise I would pour a pot of boiling water on the snake first. When it struggled in pain, I would cover it with an iron basin. I weighed more than 100 pounds. His body, after thinking about it, would not be able to be broken away so easily. We'll figure it out then. But there are too many possibilities. What if it suddenly rushes over when I splash the water? What if I don't splash it right this time? What if I accidentally burn myself? What if I can’t cover it with this basin?
All kinds of contingencies made me hesitate to act rashly, but I also knew that if the confrontation continued like this, I would definitely not be the opponent of this big snake, so even if it was dangerous, I still had to take the risk.
So I put my back against the wall and slowly moved closer to the kettle and iron basin. I moved very slowly so as not to alert the big snake. Although I am completely puzzled by its appearance, and even feel a bit like the fairy tales I heard when I was a child, I believe that it is always a beast. Even if it is spiritual, it is definitely not as smart as me.
I just moved my body slowly until I felt that I could reach out and grab the kettle. I even calculated the time it would take me to open the lid and pull out the plug and the coordinated movements of my left and right hands. Just as I took a deep breath, I planned to quickly When I went to grab the kettle, a hoarse, cold voice came from the window of the room. The voice said:
"What, you still want to scald my snake?"
