It's late at night and people are quiet.

The charlatan stood in front of the fish tank, sticking his butt, marveling at the fierce Jian in the water. He didn't know where he got a magnifying glass, and from time to time he squinted his eyes and leaned in front of him, like an old pedan who turned a blind eye to the outside world.

He said: "Is this a phoenix or a phoenix? Look at the pattern, the finest and finest, and the best craftsmen can't carve it."

Luo Ren was a little tired. The rain was much lighter, but it was still drizzling. It was actually a chill at the third update in the middle of the night.

Luo Ren did not take the visit of the charlatan seriously. This person always whispered, saying that he understood, always speculated, saying that he didn't understand, but he was talking very well--like his name, "the charlatan" is not easy to believe, and it is not easy to believe it all.

Luo Ren said: "You can stay here tonight. Uncle Zheng has tidied up the guest room downstairs. If you can't live, you will be as long as you can. If you have nothing to do, I will go to bed first."

He turned around and wanted to leave, but the charlatan called him behind him: "Luo Ren."

For a while, Luo Ren felt strange, but he didn't know what the strange was - he finally realized it.

The charlatan is always not serious and always calls him "Little Radish". This seems to be the first time, he calls him with his name and surname.

The tone is rarely solemn.

Luo Ren turned around.

The charlatan dragged a chair and sat down, pointing at the outer wall of the fish tank with his index finger: "Fishing line doll, immortal guides the way, rouge and amber, three of them."

Yes, three are there.

"How do you feel?"

Feeling? Luo Ren frowned: How can this feel?

The charlatan said: "You can't just suck it like a donkey pulling a mill, and you have to think about it."

His eyes rolled, and the fingertips of his two fingers pressed against his temples, as if he was about to use his brain.

Luo Ren is both angry and funny.

"You never thought about where this evil sword came from, why it was Qigen? Why did it appear in the places you found? Why did it harm people? Is it just for harming people? Or is it a purpose? Why is it important to collect it?"

Why? The charlatan seemed to suddenly transform into 100,000 whys.

Luo Ren asked: "Do you know?"

"I don't know either, but I'm at least thinking." The charlatan moved his butt and turned his body to the fish tank.

Luo Ren heard him murmur: "It's not about beating a gopher, you'll come out and beat another one. There must always be connections in the middle..."

Maybe, but where is the connection?

When Luo Ren left, the charlatan was still thinking hard, sitting cross-legged with his legs and holding his cheek with one hand, like a funny version of the thinker.

This night, Luo Ren didn't sleep well. The words of the charlatan and the affairs of Mu Day made it difficult for him to rest and had many complicated dreams.

I dreamed of walking on the street, and passers-by suddenly behaved stiffly and their limbs were pulled by invisible lines; I dreamed that the sea was ripped up with wild waves, and the sea water was exposed to the bottom of the sea, and the huge paintings made of animal bones were vivid in my mind; I dreamed that Sao Qingniang was hanging under the eaves, suddenly blinked at him strangely, as if saying: Guess, where is the connection?

Finally, I dreamed of Kiyo.

She sat in the darkness, covered with a hazy light, and raised her face to smile at him.

Luo Ren went over and hugged her, thinking that the ancients described the girl as a warm and soft jade, which was really true.

He lowered his head to kiss her on the cheek and asked her, "Where have you gone?"

She smiled sly at him and said, "Guess."

...

The dream broke here, and it was five in the morning when I woke up.

Luo Ren smiled bitterly: He asked him to guess, how could he guess?

I was no longer sleepy, so I just got up and went to the room where I stored the evil sword.

The light inside was turned off and there was no sound. I thought the charlatan had gone to the guest room downstairs to sleep, but when I pressed the light, I suddenly glued a piece of white paper outside the fish tank with transparent glue.

The words on the top are tilted.

——I went to Hangu Pass.

***

Aunt Zheng Shuiyu and uncle He Qiang were muttering in the corner, and Zheng Li felt very embarrassed.

She looked at Kiyo with a little nervousness.

She brought Mu Dai. On the bus, she was grateful for Mu Dai's help and tried hard to repay her. When she learned that she wanted to find someone, she quickly moved her aunt out: "My aunt has been in Nantian County for many years. It's a small place. She must know who you want to find."

He asked Kiyo if there was any place to stay: "If you don't dislike it, live with me. My aunt's restaurant is recruiting people anyway, so it's okay if you want to work there."

I was so full that I realized that Zheng Shuiyu's restaurant was only operated by small businesses.

Seeing that she dragged one, Zheng Shuiyu's face immediately fell down.

But Muyo seemed to have not seen it, leaning against the restaurant door and looking out: This is a very small and narrow street with a strong sense of life. There are grocery stores on the street, vegetable stalls at the end of the street, bicycle repairs and haircuts, everything is available, like a small world.

Diagonally opposite there was a man selling marshmallows. He was walking on a machine and a small wooden pole was spinning in the pocket wheel. A little bit of candy was wrapped around, and when he was wrapped, he became a white and fat baby.

Kiyo saw that it was rising, and he made a big stride. When he asked, he made two dollars a day.

She bought one, and she had all her money, and she immediately went to most of her money.

But it doesn't matter. Tear off a strand and put it in your mouth, press your tongue, and gently suck it, and a trace of sweetness spreads in your mouth.

Happiness is not very real.

Zheng Li hurriedly came up and lowered her voice.

"Sister Mumu, if my aunt doesn't want to... don't be angry, I can find another way."

What can I think of a little girl in Xu Sui’s 17th year of film? Mu Dai said: “They will use mine.”

She said it was sure.

At the same time, Zheng Shuiyu made up his mind.

This girl is beautiful and can help the store attract customers: the regular customers in the store are all big guys, who doesn’t like girls who are pleasing to the eye?

Furthermore, Xiao Li'er said she could fight: This was the best, there were many people causing trouble in the store, and it would inevitably lead to disaster when fighting. Last time, a group of gangsters got drunk and caused trouble. Her husband He Qiang went up to pull the fight and got hit by a brick.

If you have someone who can fight, it will be worry-free.

***

The room was a loft on the second floor, low, cramped and wet. Zheng Li insisted on giving the bed to Mu Dai and slept on a single spring-folded steel wire bed.

On the first day, Kimyo said, "I'll go out for a walk."

She didn't explain where to go, and went downstairs alone. Zheng Li lay down to the window and saw Mu Dai come out after a while.

She put her hands in her jacket's pocket, slowly walked through one stall after another, turned around the corner and disappeared.

Zheng Shuiyu came up, carried a kettle in his right hand, and a basin of water piled together in his left hand, and asked her: "Why don't you even have luggage?"

Zheng Li said: "It might be lost on the road."

Suddenly I thought of something: "Auntie, do you have new toothbrushes, towels and slippers? Sister Mumu should use it."

Zheng Shuiyu had a calm face: "No!"

He also signaled to the opposite side: "There is a small supermarket downstairs. Can't you buy it yourself?"

Zheng Li was unhappy and felt that this aunt was too stingy at the small place.

She took out her small wallet, held it in her hand, and held her head up.

***

Nantian County is very small. You can walk straight in one direction and only half an hour to reach the urban-rural fringe.

Really, corn and tomatoes were planted on the yellow soil. After walking a few steps to the ridge of the field, he actually encountered a big white goose.

Return to the original route of Kiyo.

There was a lot of dust, a lot of cars, and there were also many motorcycles and bicycles. There were big snack stalls on the bridge, and the stall owner in dirty aprons were frying carrot cakes.

No one came out to scold the impact on the city appearance. Small cities are like this. They are dirty and messy, and they are intimate and wanton.

There is a child who trudged his schoolbag and squatted on the side of the road to play cards.

Carrot cakes cost one dollar.

Mu Dai was waiting by the oil pan, watching the radish cake wrapped in the noodle sauce in the hot oil without any way up and down.

She talked to the stall owner.

"I remember, once, standing at the bridge and looking there, there was a building, square and dark."

The stall owner carried the pot and spoon and looked blankly in the direction she indicated. There was now a new building with huge advertising pictures on the top. The advertisement was Kim Soo-hyun, a Korean star who was very popular a while ago, with a thumbs up and an advertising slogan on it.

——English training to the blue sky! A bright future is tomorrow!

Kim Soo-hyun probably never knows that he has taken on such an advertisement.

The stall owner frowned, flipped a handful of carrot cakes with a spoon, and muttered: "How long ago was that? I don't remember."

Kiyo said: "When I was a kid."
To be continued...