I looked at the boatman in front of me: he was tall and thin, with a black shabby cloak, messily wrapped around his body, and his mouth covered, but I could still see the slightly yellow and thin face, especially the protruding cheekbones on both sides, almost skinny, and looked very weak, as if he had no strength to struggle even if he was pushed into the water. I noticed that his eyelids were thick and drooping in front of them, like a curtain covering his vision, and although I couldn't make eye contact with him, I still vaguely felt a solemn gaze watching me.

"Crossing the river? Sir. The boatman repeated his words slowly.

I looked at him and glanced up and down a few times again before saying, "Are you going to the demon market?" ”

The boatman nodded slightly. The cervical vertebrae and shoulder blades seem to creak together.

"How much does it cost?"

The boatman stretched out two fingers and said in a low voice, "A corner." ”

I couldn't help but frown at him - it was the early eighties, and a dime was enough to buy half a basket of eggs. What's more, at that time, the famine in the Northeast had just been raging for many years, where did the people have so much money, not to mention those of us who were in the countryside where birds don't, and we usually spent some money in the county town at most when we rushed to the market, and stayed in the village on weekdays, growing our own vegetables, raising chickens and ducks and eating by ourselves, all of which were self-sufficient.

Grandma asked me to come out this time and gave me two dimes. I thought I was going to buy a few bowls of wonton buns outside the village and something delicious, but I didn't expect it to be just enough to take a boat to pay back, and it was really budget-conscious. However, the boat fare of this dime made me even more convinced that Demon City is a mysterious place. To make an inappropriate analogy, it is like going to a kiln in ancient times, that is, prostitution, if you go to the kind of white house of the inferior people, a few children can solve the problem, but if you go to the green house of the superior people, it will cost a lot of silver. As far as the boatman's offer is concerned, it is impossible to ask you for this money for nothing, the underground river will not be long, and it will not take much time to get through, I don't think this demon market is ordinary.

I took a dime from my pocket, straightened it up, and handed it to the boatman's bony hand. At first, I was a little reluctant to let go, but I always felt that the old man was staring at me with a threatening look, and I was inexplicably panicked, so I threw it directly in his hand, pulled up my trouser legs and got on the boat neatly.

The position of the boat is quite spacious except for the boatman's place, but the board is very dirty, and it feels like a pile of freshly caught fish that has been piled up there before, wet and a little slimy, like a large area of transparent saliva fish. At first I was reluctant to sit down, this broken ship did not even have a bench, had to stand, when the boatman began to row the bamboo pole in his hand, I suddenly felt that I was about to fall down, although the speed of the wooden boat is relatively slow, but maybe it is because the ship board is in disrepair and loose, or maybe because of the current, the whole boat is a little shaky, relatively slight, after all, I am not a person who has ever done a boat, naturally it is untenable, and then look at the old man, except for the hand shaking the bamboo pole, The rest of his body was almost motionless, standing very steady, looking very calm. I tried to get my footing, and after a few attempts, I almost fell into the river, so I gave up, and although I was a little disgusted, I sat down anyway.

I just sat cross-legged on my knees, looking at the boatman in front of me with his back to me, I decided to ask a few words, first, to be a little curious about this old man, and second, to find out more about the situation of this demon city.

"Old man?" I tried to scream, but he didn't answer, still rowing his boat, as if he was deaf. So I continued: "Old man, how many years have you been a boatman in this place? I look like it's been some years. ”

I noticed that the boatman's hand had slowed down, so I stared at his back, and after a few seconds, he turned his back to me and said, "Forty years." ”

"You've been on the boat here for forty years!" I was taken aback by this answer, looking at the old man's appearance, he was here as a boatman when he was a teenager, I don't think he was lying to me, because my grandmother told me that this demon city has existed for a long, long time, and then look at the boatman's hands, all of them are covered with a thick layer of white flower cocoons, rowing is not a particularly tiring work, to grow such calluses, it must be accumulated for a long time.

"Yes." The boatman's hoarse voice remembered again, revealing a sense of long-term experience of vicissitudes, "Forty years ago, when I was still fighting the old Chiang (Chiang Kai-shek), the sound of artillery fire continued, and there was no place to be stable, I wanted to live, I didn't have any ability to live, so I found a way to come here to be a boatman." It's been forty years, and I've been in this place where I don't see the light of day for forty years, and I can't earn much money, but I can live together. ”

I want to scold when I hear it, your mother's broken boat will charge me half a basket of eggs when you go through the river, listen to grandma's words, there are not few people in this demon city, and there are five or six dimes of money a day, this old man has to eat a few baskets of eggs a day, how many delicacies of the mountains and seas can be eaten this day to make up for it?

Although the boatman did not see my expression, he seemed to notice my reaction, and suddenly laughed dryly, and explained: "Young man, don't think that this boat fare is easy to earn, there is no such thing as pie in the sky. My old bones are clearly saying that although there are two dimes of this money to cross the river, there are not a few people who come to cross the river on weekdays, but the money I can get in five days can be less than a dime! ”

"Why?" I wondered, feeling that the old man was fooling me.

The boatman didn't answer me directly, but just asked, "You're new to this circle, aren't you?" ”

"Yes."

After hearing this, the boatman laughed a few times: "Stunned green is stunned, and I haven't figured out how many fish there are, just like wading in this pool of troubled water." Let me tell you, I only got a pitiful little bit of this boat money, and most of the rest had to be handed over to the people above, including every transaction in the demon market, and 20% of the income of the oil and water had to be handed over to the people above. Is it easy to make money? It's not easy to earn! ”

"The people up there?"

"That's right. A gang. ”

"What gang?"

"Buddha's Hand."

This is the first time I've heard the name of this gang. Gangs are a kind of secret organization of the people of the old society, mainly in the Qing Dynasty, mainly in Fujian and Guangzhou. When I was a child, I read some novels that described the Tiandihui or the Elders' Association, and the mystery of the gang in it has always been like a layer of gauze, hazy. In fact, in the early eighties, there were only a handful of gangs that could stay until then, after all, since the beginning of the Republic of China, the government has increased control over these organizations, and few people have taken the risk of being arrested to the street to say "the king of heaven covers the tiger, the river demon of the pagoda town" and other codes, at that time, most of the gangs, especially the spontaneous gangs of the common people, began to be gradually forced to disperse, except for a few gangs with power and financial resources, which have remained until now.

The boatman continued to row the boat and said, "This place, including the large and small demon markets in other provinces, is controlled by the Buddha's Hand Society, but as for what kind of gang this Buddha's Hand Society is, I don't know, and few people know it. I only know one thing, that is, the power of this Buddha's Hand Society is very huge, to what extent, so that even the people of the county government can't afford to provoke them. ”

"How do you say that?"

"The demon city was originally hidden from the Manchu government, and now, what era and what is the world, this is the cusp of the storm, but if there is a little rumor, the government must be able to know immediately, but why no one has come to investigate? Because they didn't dare, some people in the government couldn't move this Buddha's hand. In other words, the place of the demon city has been known by some people in the government, but the Buddha's Hand Society can still blatantly do their own business, you say, how many people in the Buddha's Hand Society can afford to offend them? ”

After listening to it, I was a little wooden, I thought that the business of robbing the demon mound was a small minority, and the scope would not affect anywhere, but I didn't expect that there was a gang in this circle with such a force, if it was really as the boatman said, the business of robbing the demon mound was indeed a pool of muddy waters, there were many things I almost didn't know, and it was also a secretive existence for me, which made me feel more and more mysterious about this line.

"Old man, this is my first time in this place, is there anything I need to pay attention to?" I asked.

The boatman paused and said, "There are not many places to pay attention to, but there are many places to pay attention to, and what you should pay attention to all the time is the people inside." The goods in the demon market are mixed, and there are all kinds of people who buy and sell, and you never know what the other party's intentions will be, so beware of any stranger around you. ”

The distance of the underground river was shorter than I expected, and about five minutes after we finished speaking, I saw the banks of the river gradually emerging on the other side. At first, I saw a little blurry, just some gray stone piles, but slowly, I began to see clearly, in the distance directly in front of a ruins similar to the ancient city, scattered and untouched some broken walls with the decorative features and carvings of the Northern Song Dynasty, and some dilapidated stone pillars spit out of the soil, standing crookedly. At the top of the center of the field of vision, I saw a huge plaque, sandalwood frame, the coloring on it looked a little shabby, but it was strange to say that there was no dust on the frame, and it was still shiny with oil, which looked a little old. The sandalwood frame contains a piece of white rice paper, on which are written in block letters with the two characters "Demon City". There is a stone carving hanging at the top on the left and right sides of the plaque, and I can't tell the name of the demon beast carved in the stone, a bit like a tiger, with a very hideous face, grinning with a bloody mouth, and each aimed at the plaque.

At the same time, I heard a burst of noise in my ears, and with this commotion, the first appearance of the demon city gradually became clear in my eyes: from the sandalwood plaque and beyond, I saw a long and wide street, flanked by a family of stone storefronts, the decoration of the façade is simple, like the antique shops in the county town, in front of the store hung a red lantern, through the paste, emitting a dim but conspicuous light. As far as the eye can see, this street is not endless, and the storefronts on both sides of this street are also nowhere to be seen, and the feeling of looking at the past at a glance is not shabby or magnificent, but in that era that has just developed, it can be regarded as "lively". This kind of "liveliness" is not the kind of liveliness of selling vegetables and fish when you go to the city to catch the market, and the "liveliness" of the demon market does not have any cries and joys, and there is no joyful atmosphere, instead of a weird and crazy feeling. Whether they were walking down the street or in the shops, they all looked strange, with their heads drooping, their brows lowered, and a wary look in their eyes—I was sure it wasn't kind. There is also a sound, although the sound of the demon city is a little loud, but it is different from the noisy, more of a whispered kind of humming sound.

Indeed, everyone seemed to be guarding against those who were outside of themselves, and as the boatman had said, everyone was on guard.

The boatman skilfully brought the boat to shore, and when it had come to a standstill, I got up and looked at him, and although I could not see his face clearly, I remembered what he had said to me. I grabbed the hull of the boat, lifted my legs and got off the boat, and stepped my foot on the land of the demon city.

I don't know if it's the psychology at work, from the first step into the demon city, I felt uncomfortable, as if someone in the dark was staring at me all the time. I tightened my collar and looked around cautiously.

The boatman just told me that people like me who take one or two things to sell in the demon market are called individual customers, and they don't have their own stores, and there are many rules in the demon market, and individual customers can't just find a place to spread out the cloth and start selling it on the ground like the vegetable seller in the market, so they can only go to any store in the demon market to sell, and then the store sells it at a higher price, which is similar to the change of hands of the antique shop, so the shops in the demon market are also very careful. There are a lot of little ninety-nine in my heart.

It's the first time I've come to the demon market.,Naturally, I don't know how to do this kind of business work.,Look around like a lost doll.,Surrounded by people who are hurrying by.,This kind of weird atmosphere makes me a little clueless.,Even a little timid.。

I don't know how far the whole street is, so I didn't dare to keep going along the way, so I kept wandering for a distance, and after a while, I really couldn't stand the dry and dry air in the demon city, so I simply mustered up the courage to pick a store and walked in, thinking about leaving this hellish place early.

The name of this shop is called Honchukaku - strange to say, this shop is the only store I have seen with a plaque, which means that the others don't have a name. But the whole store looks like the general public, the only difference is that the front of the door is covered with a curtain, and the curtain is dressed in a lot of bronze bells, which are not very dense, and I can see through the gap that the counter is lit by candlelight.

I approached the shop and smelled the smell of incense, which seemed to be a spice from the Western Regions, and it smelled very fresh and made me feel a lot more relaxed. Then, I reached out and carefully lifted the curtain.

Bang Bang Bang!

The bells on the curtain collided with each other and made a pleasant and crisp sound.

I poked my head in, and then my body moved in completely. The light inside was dim, there were only three or four candlesticks, and the flames on the wicks were constantly flickering, and even if no wind blew in, they seemed to be extinguished at any time. As I roughly thought, the furnishings were basically the same as those of an ordinary antique shop, an old counter with a thick stack of ledgers on the counter, an abacus pressed on top, and a brush and ink inkstone on one side. On one side of the counter are a few Bogu shelves, and there are more dense things on the Bogu shelves, including antiques and some strange things that cannot be named.

I looked at the contents of the shop in the same way, and for the moment I didn't see anyone, and I didn't dare to ask if there was anyone, so I had to pace around the small space.

As I was watching, I suddenly felt a cool air creep up from the back of my neck, like someone was blowing on you! I quickly turned my head, but I didn't see anything, but my intuition told me that there must be nothing good about this feeling!

Just as I was wondering what was going on, I suddenly heard a pop and a candle on the counter suddenly went out without warning!

I was a little frightened, because the candle was still a little longer, it had not burned out, and it would normally not go out on its own. At first, I wondered if it was because of the wind, but I quickly rejected it, because in the ghost city of the demon city, the air is almost stagnant, and where the wind comes from, it is impossible to blow out the candles. I quickly lifted my spirits and cautiously looked left and right, but I didn't notice any movement, and I had an urge to rush out of the store, but I didn't know why, I was discouraged.

Burst!

Before I could see anything, another candle went out! At this time, the light in the shop dimmed significantly, and although I could still see clearly, some places were blurry and dark, and this hazy vision made me feel panicked.

"Anyone?" That's when I had to speak. Maybe it was after the incident in the Black Forest that I developed a fear of black, because in my subjective consciousness, black is blurry and I can't see the situation clearly, and this unknown makes me even more worried.

But after my voice fell, I heard no answer, except for my slightly rapid breathing, the rest was deathly quiet. I thought to myself that this place should not stay for a long time, after all, this place in the demon city is evil, who would have thought that there would be some messy dirty things here? So I quickly turned around and walked quickly towards the door.

Just as I was about to lift the curtain, I suddenly felt a sinking of my shoulder, and it seemed as if a hand was on it!

I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, I didn't dare to move, I stood in place, and my breathing began to gasp a little. After about two or three seconds, I began to try to turn my body slowly, and at the same time slowly twist my neck back, and when I fully saw the scene behind me, I felt a little strange: there was nothing behind me.

I secretly scolded the damn in my heart, and I didn't want to care about anything else, the weird thing here was to go out and leave early. So I quickly turned around and prepared to open the curtain.

The moment I turned my head, I saw the face of a bloody baby boy appear in front of my eyes! It's almost on my face! He suddenly grinned at me and let out a squeaky laugh.