In the early morning of the next day, when the sky was bright, Li Deng dragged his tired body out of the dilapidated house, gently closed the door, and walked west along the narrow and cramped alley.

The town of Red Candle is not big, because of its age, it looks a little dilapidated, and the sky is just bright and the pedestrians are sparse, so it will give people a miserable and desolate scene.

Most of the buildings in the town are low-rise houses of blue bricks and red tiles, scattered and intertwined, without the slightest regularity. Therefore, next to this house with a sense of historical vicissitudes, there will be many zigzag alleys for only two people to walk side by side, and the crooked alleys are like the marks left by a big snake climbing, twisting and turning. Under the long years of wind and rain, the original bright blue bricks, red tiles and white walls have long been old and yellow, mottled and craggy, and the yellowed water stains engraved on the wall are like the wrinkles on the old man's face climbing and spreading.

Li Deng quickly ran through the cramped and depressing alleys and alleys, and the uneven cyan slate still had the rain stains left over from the night rain last night, wet, but fortunately, these alleys were paved with bluestone slabs, and there was no mud, just some wet yellow paper money lying quietly on the slate.

Li Deng glanced at the wet paper money, and then walked along the bluestone slab again.

The old people in the town often say that an autumn rain and a cold are the best clothes after the autumn rain. The young man has been doing this for a long time, so he doesn't care about whether he adds clothes or not. This dress has been worn for a few years, and because the young man has sprung up like mushrooms after a rain in the past two years, Li Deng had to tear the clothes carefully, and then find some rags from the lamp shop or the money shop in the west, and sew up the torn seams, so that the tight clothes can be worn again.

A cold wind blew, and the boy couldn't help but shiver, and then quickened his pace, as long as he ran and his body was hot, he would not be cold.

The young man heard the old shopkeeper in the money shop say that he didn't feel cold in the autumn freeze, and this sentence was very useful to Li Deng.

In the lonely alley, a young man familiar with the road shuttled through it, and after several turns, he came to a small street with antique and many shops.

At this time, there are small traders who get up early to sell breakfast on the small street, most of these traders are people who live in the town, and when the market has not yet risen, they set up a stall to sell some breakfast, and when the flow of people on the street increases, the mobile early stalls will be removed, these stalls are to make room for the employers who spend money to buy the stalls, and the small traders who sell the early days will generally leave some breakfast for the employers, which is regarded as thanking the employers for borrowing land.

After the young man in tattered clothes walked out of the cold alley, he stopped, raised his eyes and looked forward, with a sad expression.

Last night's rain not only wet the streets, but also the scattered yellow paper money.

According to the old shopkeeper's request, his main task today is to clean up the yellow paper money that has fallen in the town. But the paper money that was wet by the rain was tightly attached to the stone slabs, and even some house tiles were stuck with soaked paper money, and the yellow paper money on the stone road was easy to say, it was nothing more than a matter of putting in more effort and delaying some time, but the yellow paper money on the tiles was a little tricky.

Li Deng is very familiar with the architectural layout of this town, although this town is not big, but the layout really does not dare to be complimentary, even the scattered house buildings are not counted, even the stone roads connecting the houses are like a group of snakes crawling over the snake path left behind, twisted and roundabout, the first time Li Deng carried a basket all over the town to collect paper money, he felt like walking on the wall of the money shop full of talismans, because the chaotic bluestone slabs connecting the town are too much like the traces outlined on the talismans!

The reason why Li Deng thinks that those talismans look like earthworms is that in addition to the similar shapes, the lines of those talismans are painted with cinnabar, and the blood-red lines are like slender earthworms attached to the wall.

However, after listening to the absurd stories of the storyteller on the street, Li Deng felt that those sinuous red lines were like the "blood vessels" of those walls.

Li Deng's eyes quickly swept across the street, and according to the old shopkeeper's instructions, Li Deng had to clean up from the street first, otherwise he would delay the businessmen on the street when the sun came.

Today's workload is not small, Li Deng is also the first time to encounter this situation, in previous years, those floating paper money were blown by the wind in the corner of the wall and alley, groups of paper money gathered together, the teenager only needs to fill the back basket, and send it back to the shop one by one.

Li Deng quickly swept through the town like a desolate cemetery, and the slightest cold wind poured into his body along the tattered coarse clothes, and he subconsciously tightened his clothes and hurried to the shop.

In fact, the young man was a little panicked in his heart, in this town where ghosts are sacrificed every year, the existence of ghosts has been deeply imprinted in the flesh and bones of the young man, he can't help but not believe it, he naturally has a little bit of awe of ghosts in his heart, and he is also very worried about cleaning up this kind of ominous money.

Especially since there was a cold light rain today, according to Mr. Storyteller's miraculous words, it should not be a good thing to rain around Halloween.

The boy comforted himself while running, people were scary, scared to death. The old storyteller is just to hang people's appetite and talk nonsense.

When Li Deng came to the shop, the sky had just broken and a touch of fish belly white emerged from the east.

To the boy's surprise, the old shopkeeper was already sitting behind the counter, Li Deng glanced at the old shopkeeper, his expression was slightly tired, his eyes were cloudy, sitting there like a sculpture, when Li Deng arrived, the old shopkeeper moved slightly.

Looking at the old shopkeeper, he should have not slept all night. An old man of his age, half of his body has almost gone into the loess, and it stands to reason that he can't stay up all night, but this old shopkeeper has been sitting here all night.

Li Deng first took the few rainwater lamps at the door into the shop and placed them in the dark compartment of the counter.

The accumulation of lamps used to guide the way year after year has now occupied the dark grid, and many lamps of some years have even been covered with a thick layer of dust. This is not the reason why the young man is lazy, the old shopkeeper has instructed that these lamps have a gloomy smell on them, and it is better not to touch them.

After Li Deng placed the lamp, he looked up and said to the old shopkeeper: "Grandpa, there will be no guests in the shop today, you go to the backyard to rest for a while, and just close the door when I go out." ”

The old shopkeeper got up and said, "You are busy with your going, you are not allowed to be lazy, I will go and ask for a trip to the money shop." ”

Li Deng nodded and said, "There was a light rain in the town at night, and it may be late today." ”

The old shopkeeper walked slowly to the door, "Just don't be lazy." ”

Then he turned his head again, and as usual did not smile, he admonished, "Don't forget to lock the door!"

Li Deng patted the key on his waist, and the old shopkeeper left. Li Deng knew that the old shopkeeper was a miser, but he would not deduct any of Li Deng's wages from being a miser, but he would not deduct any of Li Deng's wages.

Li Deng saw that after the old shopkeeper left, he did not waste time, today's work is a bit heavy, he doesn't want to pick up paper money in the streets and alleys in the night on July 15.

Li Deng ran to the back of the shop, behind which was a very small courtyard, and the layout was not exquisite, only a side room, a narrow stone path, and a small flower garden, which carried a few thin small trees and a clump of golden thread. In the autumn season, this clump of chrysanthemums is in full bloom, and the bouquets are like golden threads shooting outward, and there are a few drops of crystal dew on the chrysanthemums.

In this town, there are very few people who grow chrysanthemum, because the people in the town are convinced of the existence of ghosts and gods, and chrysanthemums are shade plants, according to people, this thing is easy to hide filth and attract evil spirits. Most people will only plant this kind of golden thread in front of the ancestral cemetery.

Li Deng walked on the stone path, and the chrysanthemums were particularly beautiful under the dew. This small flower garden is usually taken care of by Li Deng, and the branches of the golden thread chrysanthemum are pruned very delicately by Li Deng, and the branches and leaves are so neat that they look like trapped haystacks. The young man smiled, because the shop front and the backyard were only separated by a wall, and there was a narrow small wooden door, every time Li Deng sat at the counter, there was a dark fragrance floating.

After a while, this clump of golden thread chrysanthemum will wither in the face of frost and snow, then Li Deng will take a small pair of scissors to cut off the withered flowers, and then dry the golden thread chrysanthemum in the warm winter sun, and carefully tie it with oil paper. Li Deng knew that chrysanthemum was a good Chinese medicinal material, cool and slightly bitter, and dispersed wind and heat.

The old shopkeeper never drank chrysanthemum tea, a few years ago when he first came to the shop, Li Deng made chrysanthemum tea for the old shopkeeper, the old shopkeeper said that he was old, his physique was cold and not suitable for drinking chrysanthemum tea, but Li Deng wanted to drink more, the young man grew up day by day, and his blood and qi also flourished, and drinking more chrysanthemum tea could dispel the evil fire.

Li Deng carried a bamboo basket in the corner of the backyard against the wall, and carried a slender bamboo pole, and after walking out of the yard, he locked the door of the shop again.

Many early shops on the side streets have opened their doors to welcome customers, and the steaming heat is steaming, and the town, which was washed by the autumn rain last night, is alive again.

However, there are not many people on the side street at this time, and probably many people are still asleep at the moment. There is a very strange thing about this Red Candle Town, there is not a single family in the whole town that raises chickens, not that this town is extremely rich, on the contrary, this town is extremely poor, but Li Deng has never seen a chicken since he was a child.

The reason why Li Deng knew about the existence of this species was because of the money shop, the old man in the shop usually likes to read some books, so he has a lot of miscellaneous conversations, when the shop is free, Li Deng will go to the money shop, the old man sits on the rattan chair, Li Deng sits on the threshold of the shop, and the old and the young read quietly.

The young man didn't know much at first, and it seemed very difficult, so he asked the old man from time to time, and the old man seemed to be lonely, and he was tired of the young man's inquiry, and sometimes he would smile and analyze the content with Li Deng, including many absurd things that were not involved in the miscellaneous conversation.

The old man in the money shop had a lot of books, but most of them were yellowed, and even some of the books had extremely striking black gray stains, dragging like smoke stains. Li Deng guessed that these ash stains should be the traces left by the old man reading at night and the smoke of the oil lamp, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

From those bizarre books, Li Deng saw the colorful outside world, and every time the young man read those books, he longed for the outside world and wanted to go to the outside world to see it.

In the world of those books, there are the heroic and happy deeds of the rangers in the rivers and lakes, there are all kinds of divine soldiers with the power of ghosts and axes, there are proud readers in the spring breeze, there are talented people and strange people who can burn the mountains and boil the sea with their gestures, and there are all kinds of demon beasts, spirit beasts and even divine beasts.

The world depicted in the books is much more exciting than this lifeless town.

Every time Li Deng looked fascinated, he couldn't help but ask the old man, is there really such a world? The old man always said with a sigh on his face! But it is far, far away from Red Candle Town, and most people will never be able to reach that world again in their lifetime.

Li Deng always longed for the old shopkeeper to wait for a hundred years, he must go outside to have a look.

The old man would put down the book in his hand, with a nostalgic expression on his face, saying that the outside world was good everywhere, but it was not very friendly, and it was comfortable to live without red candles.

Li Deng would say with a curious face, has grandpa been to the outside world?

The old man picked up the book again and shook his head regretfully, saying that he had never been to the outside world, and it was all about the book.

The old man also said that if you can go to the outside world in the future and take a look at it for him, will the outside world really be as wonderful as the book says?

Li Deng, who was carrying a bamboo basket on his back, held a slender bamboo pole in one hand and a scallion pancake in the other, and after standing on the street and gnawing the scallion pancake in his hand, he put down the bamboo basket and bamboo pole, and bent down to pick up the soaked yellow paper money from the wet stone street.

In front of the thick vermilion gate of Red Candle Town, a caravan came.

The caravan arrives every year on the fifteenth of July, and the caravan stays in the town for only one day, leaving again in the evening.

Because Red Candle Town is located in the deep mountains, isolated from the outside world, it is impossible for the people in the town to get out, in this kind of labyrinth-like mountains, once you leave the town far, you will lose the way, and it is difficult to walk back, there were many men in the town who wanted to break free from the shackles of this town, and finally there was no news, and over time, the people in the town stayed quietly in this "cage".

This caravan was like a jailer, regularly sending supplies to the town every year, and then leaving, no one knew where they came from or where they would go when they left, they were selfless, they were indifferent, and even after sending supplies, they would not stop in the town, but go to the ruined earth temple next to the tomb ten miles south of the town to rest, and leave at nightfall.

But even if they are not close to people, the people of the town will look forward to this day, because their arrival will bring a lot of strange things from the outside, which is like a long drought and rain for the people in the town.

When the outline of this caravan appeared, the guards guarding the town opened the thick gate early, and welcomed this supply with a look of hope.

The soldiers watched as the sturdy white horses drove into the city, leading the caravan in uniform and looking ruddy and graceful, as majestic as a general.

As the caravan drove past the town gate, the soldiers lowered their heads in displeasure, for the horses were too awe-inspiring, like the majestic statues of the ruined earth temple.

Even the statues in the dilapidated earth temple did not have the extraordinary bearing of this pair of people, and those mottled and discarded statues of abandoned gods were eroded by the wind and rain, even if they originally had the majesty of the mud bodhisattva, they had already been almost eroded.

After the majestic white horse pulled the scarlet copper chariot into the town, the soldiers dared to look up, the scarlet copper chariots were tightly wrapped with pitch-black silk threads, and the walls of the cars were chiseled with cumbersome patterns, as dignified and solemn as the majestic rituals of the kingdom of God.

As the caravan leader walked through the town gate, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes became cautious, as if ordinary people had walked into a desolate tomb.

In his eyes, this town is actually no different from a desolate tomb, if you have to say the difference, this Red Candle Town can be regarded as a living ancient battlefield site!

However, they are more accustomed to calling this region the "Land of the Dead" or the "Land of Conquest"!

And they weren't caravans at all, they were the lowliest corpse chasers of the bloodline.

Because the copper cart they pulled was a dark red coffin!