Damao went on to say that although this person named Jiama Dan may not be an expert, he must be a capable person. As for why he is in such a state of desolation, I am afraid only he will know. If we go to visit him tomorrow, he might not be welcome yet, so Brother Shankong, you have to think carefully before going.
I nodded and then asked Da Mao, "What about that silly girl? You saw it at the time. Her expression was a little weird. She was happy and scared at times." Da Mao said yes, she is a person who doesn't know how to hide and is afraid of ghosts. When I saw her looking scared, there was usually a ferocious-looking or scary-looking ghost behind the vendor. If we are going to extract words from this girl, we probably have to prepare some candies.
I spread my hands, which meant that we have eaten all the remaining steamed buns, where can I find candy for her. Da Mao also shrugged and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. No matter what, let's get to know Jiama Dan first tomorrow."
It’s getting late, and we are not like other vendors who stay up day and night, and our schedules have not yet been adjusted. In addition, I rushed to three places in one day, which was indeed quite tiring. So I just fell asleep on the smelly quilt. In my daze, I seemed to think that Da Mao had gone out twice. I don’t know if he went to find out some information, but I know Da Mao well. , if he got valuable information, he would definitely tell me, and I still resisted asking him, because during the day in Jiamatan's house, he once mentioned that Damao and Wang Chengqian had suffered losses here. And Da Mao himself didn’t tell me, so I wouldn’t ask him that way unless he wanted to say it himself.
This night, I slept for a long time, but I kept having some strange dreams. In the dream, I was in the perspective of a third person, but the scenes were all kinds of strange. I seemed unable to speak and could only watch silently. The strange people who appeared in my dream were all people I didn’t know. They didn't seem to notice my presence at all. I was like an audience watching a short film, watching the joys and sorrows of these people at a very fast speed. And when it was almost dawn, I was half asleep and half awake. Only then did I realize that these people who appeared in my dream were probably in this market at this moment, or before Damao and I moved in, my ex Those ghosts brought by the owner of the house. Because at the end of every short film, there is always a dead person, as if these ghosts are telling their stories silently, but they don't care who is listening to the story.
Although I can't confirm whether this strange dream of mine was a dream entrusted to me by those ghosts. If it is, then one thing that is certain is that although they have become ghosts, they were brought here to be sold. In fact, they themselves Very unwilling to do so. Of course I know this, but between humans and ghosts, especially in that era, human life gradually becomes worthless. The relationship between us and ghosts is probably like the colonists and slaves hundreds of years ago. Without equality, how can we talk about fairness?
So even though I slept for a long time that night, my mind was never free for a moment. It was like I had watched an all-night, non-repetitive movie. When I woke up, I still felt mentally exhausted. I even started to notice From my point of view, this kind of ghost selling is a very inappropriate thing, but I can’t say what is wrong specifically, but if someone wants me to destroy this ghost market, I believe me Will be more willing to vote in favor.
But when I woke up, I found that Da Mao had taken advantage of the dawn when all the vendors outside had closed their stalls and went back to rest. He secretly dug a small gap in the wooden board nailed to the window, and he was right next to the window. , looking out through the small gap. Da Mao has been very nervous since he came here. Looking at him like this, it seems that he didn't sleep all night last night. So I asked Da Mao, how long have you been observing here? Sure enough, he told me that it had been one night. I said that while I'm awake now, you should go to sleep quickly. Firstly, you won't be hungry when you fall asleep. Secondly, you really need to rest. I'll wake you up in the afternoon and let's go find Jiama together. Dan, he should have woken up by then.
Damao asked me, what are you going to do all morning and noon? I picked up the bag where I had put the steamed buns before, but it was empty, so I told him that I would take advantage of this time to go to the county town. First, I was looking for a place to exchange the national food stamps into RMB. After all, this place seemed to have a lot of food. The tickets are used for whatever purpose. Secondly, I also bought some food and drinks. We don’t know how long we will stay here, as well as daily necessities, cigarettes, and candies.
When he heard me talking about candy, Da Mao seemed to understand, so he nodded. I told him that we were very low-key yesterday. No one except Jiama Dan noticed us. There were chicken feathers hanging at the door, so no one who knows the rules would break in unless we memorize it to the extreme. , and a few new people came. Da Mao yawned and said with a smile, "It's not such a coincidence. I saw that he was indeed very tired, so I asked him to go to bed quickly. Before I left, I sprinkled some water at the entrance door. There is a thin layer of incense ash. If someone or a ghost comes in, I will see it from above. Then I left my soldiers and horses to wait here, and then I went out and walked towards the small bamboo forest.
According to the diagram that Master Liu drew for me earlier, I walked out of the bamboo forest. The sunshine in the morning was very good. When it penetrated the bamboo forest, even the air turned green. The strange thing is that the path on the ground seems to be buried by a lot of fallen bamboo leaves. It seems that every time someone walks through it, the traces of the road are hidden. I just don’t know if this is a coincidence or not. This formation itself is so magical. But when I passed by that strange little shrine, I heard a rustling of footsteps walking through the bamboo forest in the distance.
When I heard this sound, I immediately stood still and listened with bated breath. I found that it was indeed the footsteps of someone walking on the fallen leaves, and it sounded like more than one person. This path is very narrow, and it is basically impossible to pass two people side by side. I also think that the fewer people see me, the better. Although no one here will know me, if these people passing by are with me, If we meet on this narrow road, they will definitely remember my appearance. It's better not to cause trouble. When I thought of this, I burrowed into the small bamboo forest next to the shrine, got deep, squatted down, and used the shrine and the nearby bamboo to block my body, quietly. Waiting for the other party to pass.
From my perspective, I could see the few people passing by. When they passed near the shrine, I found that there were three people, two men and one woman. Their clothes looked different from those of the current era, especially when they were walking. The woman in the middle looks to be in her thirties. She is well-dressed and looks very much like a female spy from the National Army during the National Government. When these three people passed by here, they all stopped, then clasped their hands, bowed three times to the weird statue in the shrine, and then continued to move forward. During this period, the three people did not speak.
When they worshiped towards the shrine, I was really shocked because I was hiding behind the shrine. And when Damao and I came here yesterday, we found that this shrine was not so eye-catching that everyone could see it. Since these three people found its location so accurately and saluted respectfully, it means that this is not the first time they have come to the Sanchuan Ghost Market, but they come here often. It seems to be a rule to worship this shrine. See It seems that when I come back from shopping later, I have to say goodbye here.
I hid until those people were far away, then I got out from behind the shrine, and then found a way out of the bamboo forest. After returning to the road, I actually had a very strange feeling. It felt like you had just withdrawn from a completely different environment and returned to reality. Although I had a deep feeling of "this is my world", I found that I accepted Mikawa Ghost Market much faster than I thought. Logically speaking, the most important rule for people in our industry is that humans and ghosts have different paths. Although they can coexist in the same space, they should never coexist. However, in Sanchuan Ghost Market, it is like a three-nothing zone where even gods and Buddhas cannot interfere. People and ghosts here coexist peacefully, and those bustling people each have their own purposes. For a moment, it was impossible to tell who was good and who was evil. Fortunately, I am not a person with Qin Bukong's personality. Otherwise, I would definitely use the simplest and crudest way to get to the bottom of everything here.
When I got to the edge of the county town, I didn't care about whether it tasted good or not. I found the nearest supply and marketing cooperative and bought some tobacco, alcohol and food, which was probably enough to support Damao and I for about a week. But candies are relatively expensive, so I made a lot of determination and bought a small bag, which cost about two taels. Then I asked someone on the street to see if there was anyone who bought food stamps across the country privately. It was not easy to find, because its nature was actually similar to that of the black market, but because the place is small and the political environment has relaxed a lot now, people's I also became a little bolder.
After getting everything ready, I looked at the time and saw that it was almost noon, so I walked back while eating dry food, walked through the bamboo forest, and when I returned to the long street, I looked at the sky. It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon.
