Xing Shisan quickly swept to the text next to the illustration, because it was a vertical red text typesetting, and the writing was all some professional terms, he had a hard time reading, and he only understood the words "human body" and "puppet".

A knee-jerk reaction made him look up, and the thin old man selling books was standing behind the stall staring into his eyes, with a strange smile on his face - almost the same expression as the man drawn in the book! Xing Shisan only felt a "buzz" in his head, and couldn't help but take a step back.

"What's the matter, you like this book?" The old man spoke, his voice hoarse, as if pressed out of a millstone.

"Well, it's okay." Xing Shisan's throat rolled and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "Is this book for sale?" ”

"No, I keep this book for myself." The old man pointed to the other books, "These are all sold, which one do you want, I'll give you a cheaper." ”

"Oh, that's not necessary. Thank you. He put the book back, nodded as naturally as he could, and walked over to Xu Donghao. His legs seemed to be clockwork, and he couldn't bend when he walked.

What always lingers in my mind are those few illustrations, human bodies, puppets, and in the twilight, I think of a story I once saw in the wild history.

It is said that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there was an entertainer named Ah Si. This Ah Si has no long skills, but he has a black dog that is very obedient and humane, let him squat, let him jump, let him do it, and he can also read and count, everyone who has seen the black dog performance is amazed, and Ah Si relies on this dog to get a well-off life.

Once Ah Si took the dog to perform in the downtown again, and there were many onlookers. At this time, the local county order passed by in a sedan chair, and the black dog suddenly rushed out of the crowd in a frenzy, stopping in front of the county order honor guard to make a gesture, and the official couldn't drink it. The county commander felt that something was wrong, so he took the black dog and Ah Si back to the yamen for interrogation. Above the public court, the black dog suddenly spoke, shocking the audience.

The black dog said that he was from a local village, and when he was six or seven years old, he was sold by traffickers to Ah Si. Ah Si first poured him with cartilage, broke his hands and feet, and then wrapped the freshly peeled black dog skin in tropical blood, and applied some ointment, and the dog skin grew on his body like glue, and gradually grew with the skin. Ah Si used medicine to break his throat, and he could only bark as a dog and could not speak, and then Ah Si took him around to perform for profit. After a long time, his vocal cords gradually recovered, but he never showed a flaw, just waiting for a chance to redress his grievances, so there was a scene of stopping the sedan chair in the downtown before.

The black dog was shocked, and Ah Si also confessed to the crime, so he was imprisoned and executed in the autumn. This incident caused a lot of discussion among the people, and was included in the notes of the literati at that time.

It's no accident that this story, which I read a long time ago, now pops up. As soon as he thought of this, there was always a lingering haze in the heart of Xing Thirteen.

Shook it hard, and temporarily threw away the thoughts in his head.

Xu Donghao was squatting on the ground and fiddling with a gadget, it was a small dog made of wood, very delicate, the size of a fist, walking in a circle, and when someone shouted "pee", it would stop and raise its hind legs to pee. Xu Donghao squatted there and kept shouting: "Pee! Urine! Urine! And the puppy kept lifting his legs, and lifting his legs, and lifting his legs.

Xing Shisan was indeed taken aback at the time, but he returned to normal in an instant, walked over and patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Mouse, it's time to go back." ”

Xu Donghao didn't turn around, still pointing to the wooden puppy with great interest and said, "It's amazing, what's going on?" ”

He's still a local, so he doesn't even know about this little trick. There is a transparent thin thread tied to the wooden puppy, and the other end of the thin thread is held in the seller's hand to control the puppy's movements, Xu Donghao kept shouting just now, but the seller was tired to death, and he was looking at him with complaining eyes.

Xing Shisan forcibly pulled him up, told him that he was tired and wanted to go back to rest, Xu Donghao was stunned for a moment, nodded, walked out, and before leaving, exchanged mobile phone numbers, and told Xing Shisan that if he needed a tour guide, he was duty-bound.

Outside the exhibition hall, the sultry heat just now was swept away, the moon and stars were scarce, and the light was as clear as water.

The occasional cool breeze made Xing Shisan sneeze, it seems that the foreign environment is not something that can be adapted to for a while.

At this time, he was standing in a corner around the exhibition hall and was in no hurry to leave.

After waiting for an hour, the night was dark, and the crowds on the street were gradually thinning, and he saw the old man selling books come out of the theater.

Xing Shisan's pupils shrank, and he quickly followed, following him from a distance. Keep a distance of twenty or thirty meters, a distance that will not be discovered by him, and it is not easy to lose. He always walks alone, pretending to be an ordinary pedestrian, but in his heart he feels like a spy.

He didn't know why he had such a strong desire in his heart, so he chose to follow, maybe the too real human body process drawings were really enough to attract people's attention.

Following the old man for dozens of minutes, he turned around and entered a residential alley area. The terrain of Minxiang District is complicated, and it is possible to lose it at any time, Xing 13 cheered up and cautiously followed behind him.

The old man didn't seem to notice his tailgating, and after passing through a neighborhood of alleys, he walked into a small courtyard in the middle of nowhere, and when he entered, he casually closed the courtyard door.

This is the most ordinary folk courtyard, the most typical kind of urban-rural junction, and the courtyard wall is also messily inserted with glass shards to prevent climbing.

Xing Shisan didn't dare to rush in, and leaned on the crack of the courtyard door and looked inside. In the courtyard, there is a "Jie" shaped tile house, which is a hall house. Seeing that there was no one around, there was a gleam in his eyes, this old man, a person who participated in a handicraft exhibition, actually lived in such a place, there must be something invisible.

However, in a foreign land, even if the old man has an ulterior secret, he will never intervene, and if necessary, he must have the help that he should have in the face of the countrymen.

With a gentle run, the body was unbelievably three meters high, and he steadily crossed the courtyard wall and dived in.

The figure of the old man swayed by the window of the hall. Xing Shisan bent his waist and stuck under the window outside the hall, carefully listening to the movements inside, his heart was so nervous that he could hear it clearly. To be honest, he didn't know what was wrong with this old man, but intuitively, he didn't look like an ordinary person.

This level of blasphemy is necessary to understand the knots in happiness.

"Another day has passed, and there is still no information." The old man suddenly said something, as if he were talking to himself, as if he were talking to someone else.

"Where will it be?" The old man said one more thing. I said to myself, he was looking for something. "I'm thirsty, pour me a cup of tea."

Xing Shisan was sure that this sentence was not talking to himself at this time, there were still others in the house! He cautiously leaned up, holding his breath and peering through the glass window. I saw the old man sitting on a chair, his face facing him, and a cigarette roll in his hand. A young man walked over with a cup of tea, bent over, and placed it on the table. There was nothing unusual about this, but he observed that the young man was bending down to put the teacup in a strange way, unlike a normal person...... Anyway, it's a little stiff.

The old man drank tea, smoked a cigarette, and stopped talking. The young man also stood aside, motionless. The moonlight would sink, and because of the angle, the bright moon shadow shone into the room through the window, illuminating the interior in a crystal light. Xing Shisan pressed his face against the glass, looked in with wide eyes, and when he saw the young man's face clearly, he only felt a tingling of his scalp and an indescribable fear in his heart.

The young man stood there, motionless, not the kind of human silence, but absolutely immovable! Not only did the body remain still, but even the facial expressions seemed to freeze on the face, the corners of the mouth maintained a slightly upward arc, and the two eyes looked vacantly ahead.

Waxwork! It was the first thought that popped out of his head.

No, not a wax figure, he immediately dismissed the idea. He also brought the old man a cup of tea just now, how could the wax figure do such an action? So he is...... Dolls?