There is a notice posted at the door of the small hall of the department, Halloween is still a few days away, and the department is going to hold a masquerade party on Halloween, and the location is in this small hall of the department.

On Saturday afternoon, Zheng Yan and a few classmates in the same dormitory went out on the street to prepare for the Halloween costume party in the department.

In a boutique in the business district, there are various Halloween ghost masks hanging on the wall, red, green and green faces, and a hideous appearance.

Xiao Miao casually picked up a ghost mask and put it on his head, looked at it in the mirror, took it off again after taking it, and changed it again. The other students were also carrying masks one by one, and each of them was picking out their favorite masks.

Zheng Yan looked at all the masks hanging on the wall, and there was nothing he liked. He didn't want to look like a demon, he wanted something special, but there wasn't one here.

The boys, all wearing ghost masks, rushed out of the boutique, and the people who came and went in the street looked at them, the young girls, laughing and talking about something. Zheng Yan walked at the end, he felt that Xiao Miao's appearance was like a fool, no, it was a big fool!

Xiao Miao stopped and tilted his head to look at Zheng Yan: "You didn't buy it?" ”

"It's all ghosts, it's too old-fashioned!" Zheng Yan shrugged.

"You're not trying to pretend to be a prince, are you?"

"That's better than a room full of ghosts!"

"So, who will play the princess?" Xiao Miao burst out laughing.

The rest of the classmates went back to school, and only Xiao Miao accompanied Zheng Yan around the streets.

The dance party is going to be held tomorrow night, Zheng Yan has not found a suitable mask yet, Xiao Miao persuaded him to buy a random one and forget it, but he said: "I have always preferred to lack rather than abuse!" ”

"What if you can't buy what you want?" Xiao Miao squinted at him, "Aren't you going to the prom?" ”

Zheng Yan pinched his face into a strange look with his hand, "Then I'll be like this, pretending to be the bell ringer of "Notre Dame Cathedral"!" ”

The afternoon passed quickly, it was starting to get dark, and the hungry Xiao Miao couldn't help it, so he pulled Zheng Yan headlong into a noodle restaurant on the side of the road, and sat down on the seat against the glass window. There are a lot of people in the noodle restaurant, and they have been ordering something for a long time, but they still haven't served it. Zheng Yan was chatting with Xiao Miao while looking outside.

"I'll go out for a while." Zheng Yan suddenly stood up, turned around and went out.

Xiao Miao watched Zheng Yan walk into a small shop across the street from the noodle shop, and he was staring at the shop when the noodles they ordered came up. Xiao Miao didn't wait for Zheng Yan to come back and eat together, he puffed up his mouth and blew the hot air on the noodles he picked up, and at the same time sent it to his mouth, he was really hungry.

A person sat down on Zheng Yan's position opposite, Xiao Miao squinted and saw an unfamiliar face, so while swallowing the noodles in his mouth, he said honestly and unceremoniously to that person: "There is someone there!" As he spoke, he felt that something was wrong, so he lowered his chopsticks and looked up at the man: "Oh my God! What is it! Zheng Yan! ”

The person on the opposite side grabbed a handful from his neck and lifted it upward, and a mask was taken off, but it was Zheng Yan.

Xiao Miao snatched the mask from Yan's hand and looked at it carefully.

That mask was an ordinary human face, and like Zheng Yan, it was a man's face. However, the mask looks like it's real! The texture of the mask is delicate, extremely elastic, and thin, not made of rubber, as in ordinary masks, but like a very delicate skin. The workmanship of the mask is also extremely fine, the shape of the eyes is the same as the curve of the human eyes, the eyebrows are one by one, like the real human eyebrows, there is a hole in the lips, and when the person puts on the mask, he can reveal his mouth, and the shape of the lips, the depression in the middle of the lips and the decree line on the side of the mouth are also extremely detailed and meticulous. No matter how you look at it, that mask looks like a very realistic man's face!

"Where did you find this thing?" Xiao Miao was so excited that he didn't feel hungry, "It's like the real thing!" ”

Zheng Yan pointed to the small store opposite the glass window, "I just bought it there." ”

Xiao Miao swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "It must be so expensive, right?" ”

"It's not very expensive, it's twice the price of the mask you bought!"

"Row! I'm going to buy one too! Xiao Miao said that he was about to stand up, looking like he was about to rush out.

"Don't go, I bought the last one, and the boss said that the goods were very sought-after and they were all sold out."

"Hey!" Xiao Miao sighed, a little frustrated, but he quickly became excited again: "Good buddy, can you lend him to me to wear it?" ”

"Of course you can, but after the Halloween Ball!"

"Not now?"

Zheng Yan snatched the mask, "No, I'm going to put it away now, and I'll wear it tomorrow night." I warn you, don't tell anyone about the mask, or I won't lend it to you in the future! ”

"Hey, alright! It's not enough buddy! Xiao Miao grabbed his chopsticks again, "But, seriously, if you wear a mask, a high-necked dress, and cover the joint between the mask and your neck, others will not recognize you!" ”

Zheng Yan dressed himself slowly and methodically after everyone in the dormitory had left. He adopted Miao's advice and wore a white sweater with a high neck, and after putting on the mask, he carefully covered the place where the bottom of the mask met his neck with a high collar. He looked at the only palm-sized mirror in the bedroom, but there was really no trace of it, and then he went out.

Far away, I heard the low, slightly terrifying music in the small auditorium, and there was also a purple light shining out of the entrance of the auditorium.

Zheng Yan walked to the door of the auditorium and was about to go in, but was stopped by several girls who were receiving him at the door.

"It's a masquerade today, so let's put on some makeup and come back!" Dressed in black, wearing a black cloak, with a black peaked wide-brimmed hat, Jiang Yunyan, who was dressed as a little witch, stopped in front of Zheng Yan with her broom that was used as a prop. Although she wore a mask made of feathers to make an owl's face, Zheng Yan could still hear her voice at once.

"Do you think I'm not wearing makeup?" Zheng Yan asked her with a smile.

"Do you think you're wearing makeup?" Jiang Yunyan asked him rhetorically in his tone.

"Well, since you don't believe it, I can show you, but you are not allowed to scream or tell anyone!"

"Humph!" Jiang Yunyan let out a very contemptuous snort from her nose, but then she let out a scream: "Ah! The broom in her hand fell to the ground in shock.

Zheng Yan made a strange face at Jiang Yunyan and walked into the small hall, he heard the girl behind him asking Jiang Yunyan what was wrong, Jiang Yunyan didn't make a sound, she must have been stunned!

Throughout the dance, Zheng Yan became the most popular boy among girls.

The girls came to see Zheng Yan in groups, chatting with him while staring at his face, Zheng Yan was sometimes seen blushing, but fortunately he was wearing a mask and others couldn't see it.

It was easy for him to invite girls to dance. In their department, the proportion of male students is overwhelmingly female in numbers, but this is not something to be happy about, and tonight is the best example of this.

The sophomores and juniors also put down their dignity tonight and came to dance with Zheng Yan with their curiosity.

Of course, they don't really like Zheng Yan, or how well Zheng Yan's dancing attracts them, to be honest, Zheng Yan's dancing can be said to be terrible. Of course, Zheng Yan knew in his heart that they were just looking for an excuse to see the mask on his face.

The girl's little news spread really fast, Zheng Yan thought to himself, he remembered a science fiction novel he had read, saying that scientists were studying the way moths transmit information, which was said to be transmitted by brain waves. Maybe the messaging between girls is similar to that of moths, he thought, it is with brain waves, not words, and the messaging between boys is much worse, and yellow jokes will not be transmitted so quickly!

The climax of the dance party has passed, and Zheng Yan is still surrounded by a few girls. These girls tried to persuade Zheng Yan to take off the mask with the idea of doubting everything.

However, no matter what they said, Zheng Yan just refused to take off the mask.

The feeling that something was wrong was when a girl said a sentence: "You must have partnered with Jiang Yunyan to deceive us!" ”

After that, Zheng Yan smiled "hehe" and touched the back of his head with his hand.

At this moment, Zheng Yan's heart shuddered, and an ominous feeling came to his heart, he felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't specifically say what was wrong, and he had a strange feeling of fear in his heart.

Before the dance was over, Zheng Yan sneaked away.

Along the way, Zheng Yan touched the back of his head several times with his hand, but he didn't find anything wrong. He quickly returned to his dormitory.

Turning on the light in the bedroom, Zheng Yan exhaled softly, and he reached out to remove the mask he was wearing. However, his hand froze in mid-air.

"It can't be!" Zheng Yan thought to himself, could it be that his mask has fallen off? How else you can't touch the interface of the mask?

However, when those girls surrounded him in the auditorium just now, no one recognized him, indicating that the mask was still there at that time!

He thought again of the ominous feeling he had when he touched the back of his head, that feeling, that feeling! By the way, that's when he touched the back of his head and felt as if he wasn't wearing a mask at all!

Zheng Yan broke out in a cold sweat.

Slowly calming down, he walked towards the only mirror in the bedroom.

When he got to the mirror, he didn't dare to look into the mirror, and the sense of foreboding came up again.

Zheng Yan suppressed the panic in his heart, and quickly glanced into the mirror, this time, he couldn't help but retreat back, and finally retreated to the side of a bed, and he suddenly fell on the bed in fright.

What he saw in the mirror just now was the face of the mask!

Zheng Yan frantically scratched his hand under his neck, trying to find the interface of the mask, but he didn't touch anything. Unwillingly, he ran to the mirror again, and the mask was still in the mirror!

He looked in the mirror and touched his neck with his hand, but he felt that what he was touching was his own flesh and skin, and there was no sense of the diaphragm that he had with the mask at that time. And he, even more, didn't find the interface of the mask!

Zheng Yan pulled his hair hard, and a burst of pain came, it wasn't the feeling of pulling the mask, it was really pulling his own hair!

I don't know how long later, there was a noise outside the dormitory, and the dance was over. Zheng Yan heard several people in the same dormitory talking and laughing towards the door of the bedroom, he hurriedly lay down on the bed, covered his head with a quilt, and pretended to be asleep.

But Zheng Yan couldn't sleep, and he heard his roommates talking excitedly about the dance party and the girls until they all went to bed and fell asleep.

"It must be a dream, it must be a dream!" Zheng Yan said to himself in this snoring sound one after another, "Yes, this is a nightmare, when the dream wakes up, everything will be fine!" Zheng Yan didn't know when he really fell asleep.

"Hurry up, I'm late for class!" Zheng Yan woke up to Xiao Miao's screams, he stretched out his head to look out in a daze, but was scared into a cold sweat by Xiao Miao's words, "You sleep with a mask!" , there's something wrong with your head! ”

Zheng Yan retracted back into the quilt suddenly, he touched his neck with his hand, it turned out that he was not dreaming last night!

The dormitory was quiet, and a faint bell rang from the teaching area. After a while, Zheng Yan was sure that there was really no one in the bedroom, so he stuck his head out of the quilt to see that the bedroom was empty.

Zheng Yan jumped out of bed, didn't have time to put on his shoes, walked barefoot towards the only mirror in the bedroom, stretched out his head to look into the mirror, and then closed his eyes in despair.

Zheng Yan was anxious like a lost dog, running out of the bedroom, and he didn't know where he was going. It was like a beaten water dog, picking up places where no one was there along the way, and finally came to a small garden on the campus.

Zheng Yan's heart was very confused, he didn't know what to do, he found a stone bench and sat down, wanting to think quietly.

I don't know how long later, a chubby girl walked into the garden, she looked at Zheng Yan curiously, Zheng Yan heard footsteps, and couldn't help but look up at the fat girl.

The fat girl was stunned, she stared at Zheng Yan for a long time, suddenly let out a low voice, turned around and ran quickly out of the garden.

Be all abroad! Zheng Yan scolded secretly in his heart, but after a while, he remembered the fat girl's expression, and couldn't help but be afraid, could it be that she knew him? Know he's wearing a mask? Thinking of this, Zheng Yan hurriedly got up and walked out of the garden.

When he was about to reach the garden gate, Zheng Yan saw the fat girl and another girl with long hair standing at the garden gate. He turned to go back to the garden, but heard the girl shouting to him, "Wait a minute! ”

Zheng Yan hesitated to stop, but didn't dare to look back. He heard the footsteps of two girls, and all of a sudden, the two girls stood in front of him again.

He saw the long-haired girl, her face full of surprise, her eyes wide open and staring at his face.

"True!" He heard the long-haired girl say to the fat girl, "It's so similar!" ”

The fat girl looked at the long-haired girl, and then at Zheng Yan, "You said he wasn't Shao Yong?" ”

"No," the long-haired girl took a breath, "although the face looks very similar, Shao Yong is not that tall and not so thin. ”

Zheng Yan listened to the conversation between the two girls and couldn't help but be curious, "Who do you think I am?" ”

"Do you know Shao Yong?" There was a slight tremor in the long-haired girl's voice.

Zheng Yan shook his head in confusion, did they think he was that Shao Yong?

There were tears in the eyes of the long-haired girl: "He was my boyfriend, last Halloween, the department had a masquerade ball, I danced the last dance with him at the ball, he disappeared the next day, and I never saw him again." You look like him, even the black mole under your left earlobe...... It's all pretty much the same. The girl's voice lowered and began to whimper.

"What?" Zheng Yan was shocked, "Then what makeup did he put on on the day of the prom?" ”

The long-haired girl looked at him a little puzzled, "He wears a mask like a real person, and he has a very handsome face. ”

Zheng Yan's heart was beating otherwise, his mind was spinning rapidly, he thought of something, but he didn't quite understand. He didn't know when the two girls left, he just suddenly thought of the boss who sold masks.

Zheng Yan came to the small shop where he bought masks, and the fat boss was sitting on a chair to settle accounts.

"Boss, I was here with you the day before yesterday......" Zheng Yan's words were suddenly stuck, and when he looked up, he saw a different mask in the row of masks hanging on the wall, a mask like a human face, and that mask was so familiar, it was the face he had seen countless times in the mirror! That face of his own!

"What do you want?" The boss's fat face wore the usual sly smile of a businessman, "Mask? ”

"This mask, this mask ......" Zheng Yan was speechless at once.

"This mask is the newest variety, and when you put it on, it looks like a real person's face. Do you want it? ”

Zheng Yan looked at the smile on the boss's face as if he knew everything, and he couldn't wait to punch that fat face! But he suppressed the fire in his heart, pointed to his face and asked, "Can it be as true as this face?" ”

"Of course!" The boss still smiled and lowered his voice, "You will definitely like it, half an hour, guaranteed to be more real than this face!" ”

The boss offered a high price to Zheng Yan, no matter what Zheng Yan said, he didn't give in at all, Zheng Yan, who didn't bring so much cash, had to give the boss the expensive watch that his father gave him when he came to school, saying that it would be redeemed in a few days.

Zheng Yan put on the mask that looked like his face and sneaked back to the bedroom.

At noon, Xiao Miao went back to the bedroom and called Zheng Yan to get up and eat, Zheng Yan hummed in the quilt and said that he was uncomfortable and didn't want to eat. In fact, Zheng Yan was afraid that he would come together, and he heard Xiao Miao shouting: "Why are you still wearing a mask!" "He was afraid, afraid that he would not be able to go back.

In the afternoon, the classmates in the dormitory all went out, and Zheng Yan stuck his head out of the quilt. He touched his neck with his hands, without the feeling of wearing a mask, and then twisted his face and pulled his hair, which hurt. Zheng Yan got out of bed, cautiously came to the mirror, and quickly raised his eyes and swept inside, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. So he raised his eyes again and looked carefully in the mirror, it was really himself.

Zheng Yan dressed up, brought enough money, first went to the restaurant for a hearty lunch, and then went to the small shop that sold masks.

As soon as the chubby shopkeeper saw Zheng Yan, a smile appeared on his face, "You're here." ”

Zheng Yan also smiled, walked into the store, and sat on the boss's chair, "Yes, I'll redeem my watch, what about the watch?" Zheng Yan said as he looked at the wall where the mask was hung, and there was indeed the mask that Zheng Yan had bought two days ago in the row of masks.

The boss took out the watch and handed it to Zheng Yan, Zheng Yan looked at it, there was no problem, and he put it on his wrist.

Zheng Yan took out the money and counted it, it was the number of bad bosses. The boss looked at Zheng Yan with a smile, he was waiting for Zheng Yan to give him the money. Zheng Yan put the money back in his pocket again, and the boss was stunned.

"I want you to answer me a question first," Zheng Yan said slowly, "where did your mask come from?" ”

The boss's face changed, and he asked Zheng Yan viciously: "Do you want to pay the bill?" ”

"No, as long as you answer my question, I'll give you the money." Zheng Yan smiled, "By the way, I forgot to tell you, the owner of that mask face," Zheng Yan pointed to the mask on the wall, "I know he's been missing for a year, you don't want to cause a lawsuit, right?" ”

The boss's face changed and changed, but he suddenly laughed: "I think so, I don't want your money anymore, you better go!" ”

"If you don't tell me everything, I won't leave." Zheng Yan looked at the boss for a long time.

"Don't push me!" The boss glared at Zheng Yan, stared at him for a long time, and then smiled again, "You want to call the police?" When you call the police, and the police come here, what do you think I'm going to let them find? ”

Zheng Yan smiled even more happily, "You think I'm going to leave here and call the police?" All I have to do is yell here, and the patrolmen on the street will come in no time, do you think I'm going to be stupid enough to get out of here and give you time to clean up? ”

The boss sat down on a wooden cabinet like a deflated ball, and sighed repeatedly: "What do you want?" ”

"I'm just curious, I want to know the secret of the mask, you tell me, I will never tell anyone else."

"Okay!" The boss sighed, "If you tell others, no one will believe you, and I do have to find someone to talk about it." One day a few years ago, not long after my store opened, I had just entered my first batch of masks. That day, an old woman came with a mask and asked me if I would buy it, and I couldn't help but be curious when I saw that the mask looked like a real person's face, but I was afraid that she would sell it at a high price, and I would lose money if I couldn't sell it. As if she had seen through my thoughts, she said, "I'll send you here to sell it, and I'll give you half the price," so I took the mask. Not long after, a young man bought the mask, and the next day, the old woman came, and she took half of the money and gave me another mask, but it was the face of the young man who bought the mask! I was frightened, but the old woman said to me as she was leaving, "If the man with the exact same face as you sold the mask comes to you, sell him the mask and tell him that it will be restored, but at a higher price." Sure enough, that morning, a young man with a face identical to the one I had sold had come in, and from his voice I could tell that he was the same one I had bought the mask last time. Later, I slowly discovered the mystery, whoever bought the mask, the face of the person who bought the mask would turn into a mask and send it to me within a few days, and sometimes, the person who bought the mask would come back to me, and I would sell him a mask in his own form, and he would change back to his original appearance. Most people will come back, but there are also people who don't, and their mask face is waiting to be sold to the next person, such as the one you bought, which the owner no longer asks for. Later, I tried it myself, and after half an hour of wearing the mask, the mask became my face, and the next day, the mask sent by the old woman was my own face, and she smiled and didn't ask me for money. "That's all I know, the old woman is always secretive, I can't find her, but she always finds me." Maybe one day when I get tired of it, I also put on a mask and don't change back to my original face. ”

Zheng Yan also breathed a sigh of relief, he stood up, took out the money, and handed it to the boss, but the boss refused to accept it, Zheng Yan put the money on the chair, and when he walked out of the door, he turned back to the boss and said, "Maybe one day, I will also buy a mask and never change it back." ”

Soon, school will be out for the holidays.

This is Zheng Yan's first vacation after going to college, Zheng Yan and Xiao Miao went to the street to buy things, they wanted to see what local products were in the city, and buy some to take home for the New Year.

After buying a lot of things, it was already dark, Xiao Miao took Zheng Yan to eat, casually entered a noodle restaurant, and sat by the window, but Zheng Yan found that it was the noodle restaurant where he ate noodles with Xiao Miao when he bought masks.

While waiting for the noodles to be served, Zheng Yan said to Xiao Miao, "I'll go out for a while." ”

Zheng Yan walked straight to the store where he bought the mask last time, and saw the chubby boss with his back to the door, settling accounts at the cash register.

"Hi, boss, is business good?" Zheng Yan greeted the boss like an old friend.

"Thanks to you, business is okay." The boss turned around as he spoke.

Zheng Yan saw a man in his thirties in front of him, with a little dark skin, a Chinese face that looked honest, big eyes and a high nose. This face doesn't seem to match the chubby figure, and it looks a little funny.

Zheng Yan raised his head and saw a different mask on the wall where the masks were hung, with a little sly smile on his white and chubby face.

But it's the face of the shopkeeper!