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On the night of the full moon, the day of the moon god dynasty. 35xs

Believers come from all directions, sit around a circular square, and neatly place the light source in their hands on one side. Beams of light, bright and dark, shot into the sky, making the man-made night a starry one.

A thin figure kneeling in the middle of the square, beside him were four priests with half masks depicting the four phases of "greed", "anger", "confusion" and "foolishness".

Ling Shucheng sat in the outermost circle with a solemn face, and could only faintly see the white shadow in the middle.

For the first time, he had a strong desire to express himself, but the people around him remained absolutely quiet.

Although the purpose of his trip was to investigate the matter, Ling Shucheng really didn't expect everything to come so suddenly.

Beside him sat a little boy who had come with his parents, his eyes closed, his body hunched, and his face reverent.

It's not good. Looking at the tired cyan color under the boy's eyes, Ling Shucheng frowned.

In the silence, he faintly heard the soft singing.

The divine atmosphere casts a hazy mist over the thin singing. No matter how Ling Shucheng distinguished, he couldn't hear what this "Moon Owl Lord" who had dealt with him was babbling.

However, the intoxicated expressions of everyone around him may still affect him somewhat. Ling Shucheng felt a little dizzy - it could also be because the time was a little closer now. He kept thinking about how to explain to Lao Cai that he was distracted when he returned late, and accidentally glanced at Gan Yao on the right, and found that this person was also watching a play on his face.

Suddenly, the figure in the middle spun under the tutelage of the priest, like a ballerina doll spinning on an old-fashioned music box. In the process of spinning, the moon bird threw a ball of thick line from his hand, and then clutched the end of the thick line and slowly knelt on the ground. The ball of thread falls into the crowd and rolls forward along the road.

Is this a lottery? When the ball rolled past Ling Shucheng's side, he thought, in fact, this is fair.

Everyone's eyes were on the ball of thread—even those who sat too far away to see it had their eyes fixed in this direction.

Eventually, a boy who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old stood up trembling as he held the ball of string.

The boy looked stunned at first, and then the corners of his mouth moved his facial muscles a little bit.

Under the leadership of the priest, all the people around who were staring at each other with cold faces finally applauded. Ling Shucheng also followed the sparse clapping twice, watching the young man follow the traction of the rope to tonight's stage.

The priests blindfolded him. Yuelu held the hem of her skirt in one hand and grabbed the young man's arm with the other, and walked towards the depths of the adjacent square with her back to Ling Shucheng step by step. Everywhere she went, it was as if Moses had divided the sea, and the prostrate crowd moved their knees on the cool stone bricks of the square to make way until they disappeared from all sight.

The short performance finally came to an end. All kinds of people bowed deeply in the direction of the thin back's departure, and then extinguished the light source in their hands one by one and scattered away.

"...... 'half-faced'?" Ling Shucheng whispered to Gan Yao.

"Hmm." Gan Yao handed him the extinguished 'hand star' in his hand, "If you like it, take it as a souvenir." ”

"About this incident......" Ling Shucheng tried to organize the language.

"Aren't you going back quickly?" Gan Yao patted the ash on his knees, "If there are any questions, you can come to the old place to find me tomorrow night...... Oh, and I'd like to remind you, it's past one o'clock in the morning, and 'tomorrow' is 'tomorrow', so don't get the time wrong. ”

"Why not tonight?" Ling Shucheng asked. He sincerely hopes that everything can be resolved as soon as possible.

"What are you anxious about? I have my own things to do. Gan Yao gave him a rough direction, "I won't send you back, you can come on and find your way." ”

-

"Hey, hey!" The striped shirt hit Ling Shucheng's arm hard, "Lao Cai Xun is talking to you, what are you doing?" ”

At eight o'clock in the morning, all the employees of the Changning gathered in the canteen, divided the few pickles by two, and were eating high-priced steamed buns on millet porridge.

"You tell me the truth, when did you come back last night?" Lao Cai slapped the table hard, "Don't lie!" Our games were all gone, and there was no one in your room, so I stayed up all night waiting for you in the hall, and you didn't even cross the door, and you came out of your room in the morning. Say! What's going on! ”

“…… At one o'clock, I was afraid that going through the main entrance would make a noise to the store that had already left work, so I went back directly through the window. Ling Shucheng lowered his head and admitted his mistake sincerely, "I'm sorry to affect your rest." ”

"Okay, okay!" Lao Cai's deep-set eye sockets hung two eyebags that looked quite weighty, "How did I explain to you, huh?" Why did you come back so late? Do you know what the situation is on this ship now, if you die in some corner, even if we have the heart to collect your body, there is no way! ”

After being reprimanded for half a morning, Ling Shucheng, who knew that he was wrong, still maintained a calm tone: "Your teachings, it's just that there were some unexpected troubles last night......

"What's the trouble?" Lao Cai interrupted him.

"It's okay now...... Probably. Ling Shucheng decided not to say anything to death first.

Lao Cai's eyes narrowed into a slit, and he looked him up and down: "You have to got, you kid who is temporarily messing with me, I don't bother to care about you so much." But since I promised your sister to bring you back with all your beards and tails, I hope you don't make it too difficult for me. ”

Ling Shucheng was stunned for a moment, realizing that the "sister" in Lao Cai's mouth might be the Yuan Sui who came to send him on the boat.

Before leaving, Yuan Sui also reminded him that this group of crew members may not be reliable, so he can hide it as much as possible. But once it gets to the point of real danger, you can try to show your bottom to Lao Cai.

This appearance is older than his peers, but his physical condition has always made many young people ashamed of the veteran, after all, he also retired from the army, and he retired from the army because he almost died because he blocked a knife for his brother back then, and he was barely more credible and reliable than others.

However, speaking of which, Yuan Sui seems to have had considerable doubts about Ling Shucheng's ability to conceal his identity and infiltrate the "Changning" led by Lao Cai, and several times he recommended himself in the hope that he would complete this task for him - in the end, he was rejected because his gender and height were really unable to enter such a pure environment with an average height of about 1.8 meters.

The reason why the height element is specifically mentioned is because Yuan Sui seems to have had the idea of dressing up as a man...... However, her height is estimated to only fit a little hairy child of her brother's age, and the fleet will not want it.

"Come on, eat it." Lao Cai's distrustful eyes were full of red bloodshots, "In a while, we have to go to the buyer who collects the things to bargain, and everyone has to stand and fill the scene." As for what you're going to do in the evening, I'm too lazy to ask, so be vigilant. ”

"Yes." Ling Shucheng continued to bury his head in drinking porridge, noticing Lao Cai's inquiring eyes, and deliberately tried to drink a little boldly.

Perhaps, as Han Yue and Yuan Sui said, he is not a good material for espionage work at all.

After the meal, Ling Shucheng continued to follow the end of the line, hurrying through the alleys.

On the electronic publicity screen along the road, eight out of ten are broken, and no one has come to repair it. The street came to an end, but there were still five or six shops still open, and almost all of them were accommodation for outsiders. There were also a lot of children laughing and running on the streets, as if Monday had become a day off for school.

Passing by a crowded teahouse, there were people at the door who were openly promoting the doctrine of "half noodles", which attracted many men, women and children to participate in the store.

"Don't look at those people." The striped shirt walked next to Ling Shucheng, "They are powerful...... We can't afford to provoke us, so we can only hide. ”

"Why do so many people believe this?" Ling Shucheng raised a question that had been lingering in his heart. How could a group of people who possess all sorts of extraordinary talents themselves believe in a so-called "god" that they have never heard of anywhere else?

"Who knows, maybe it's because people always have to find some hope for themselves in order to survive." Striped Shirt whispered, "I've heard that this sect of unknown origin has been circulating in Zhuan for at least fifty years, but it has only recently become so popular. I've heard that there are far more people who are willing to actively participate in the various activities of the 'Half Face' than those who are willing to vote on what decisions are made. ”

"What exactly is their doctrine?" What Ling Shucheng wants to ask is actually, what do they rely on to fool people?

"They worship a god called the 'Moon Bird,' and legend has it that this dream-keeper will parasitize the newborns of a certain clan within the Moon, and it will be passed down from generation to generation."

"Parasitism?" Ling Shucheng felt that this word didn't sound like it could be associated with the sacred.

"The reason why this god is so popular is said to be because it is really effective." The smile on the striped shirt face was a little playful, "I heard that she can control and link the world of dreams, and the living can use this to step through the Yellow Spring and meet the people who will never say goodbye in their dreams; Or go to your sweetheart in a dream and ask him directly about his heart...... Of course, the examples I gave are all mild usages, and I heard that intimidating and punishing opponents in dreams is the most popular source of worship for this moon god. ”

"But no matter what, a dream is a dream. If it is the ability to influence the spiritual world, many of the residents here also have it, so why bother looking for such an unknown person? ”

"People always need a hope to be alive." The striped shirt motioned to Ling Shucheng to observe all the people who walked into the teahouse, "You may have noticed that although the early influence of 'Half Face' was mainly concentrated in those who had a difficult life, but now, their followers are said to be all over the top and bottom of the teahouse, and even the current police captains believe in this, and walk into this kind of place openly after work." Why do you think this is because there are more fools? Or have their teachings become more advanced and convincing? ”

“…… It's because there are more people who feel that their lives are difficult. Ling Shucheng sighed.

"People always need to find a spiritual sustenance...... If you can't find it in real life, then find a fictional one. The striped shirt patted Ling Shucheng on the shoulder, "Whether the existence of this kind of thing is good or bad is not something that outsiders like us can casually evaluate." ”

"At least personally, it's not a good thing to be intoxicated with fantasies." Ling Shucheng paused, "But I might be able to understand a little bit now." ”

The striped shirt looked at him fixedly for a while, then suddenly laughed, and hammered Ling Shucheng's shoulder again: "Whether a person lives a miserable or happy life in this life, only he knows." In addition, pain is difficult to share with other people compared to happiness, so if it can be relieved by dreams, I think it would be a good thing to be reluctant. ”

Ling Shucheng did not answer. If the young man in front of him, who was smiling briskly and flamboyantly, knew that what had just happened at his doorstep not long ago was also related to this "Moon God", I don't know if he could still say such a light-hearted thing.

"I decided to say a few kind words for you in front of Lao Cai, I think you are a pretty good person." The striped shirt scratched his head, and the corners of his mouth kept rising, "I think it's rare that someone who has lived to your age can seriously try to understand the pain of others." ”

Ling Shucheng tried to figure out the deep meaning of this sentence, and realized that this evaluation was actually not a complete compliment.

"But with all due respect, I'm sure you might be able to understand the pain of others. But people like you will probably never be able to understand the root cause of other people's suffering. The striped shirt left behind an inexplicable conclusion and ran away grinning.

The source of the pain? Ling Shucheng raised his head, looked at the ceiling without any sense of mystery during the day, and suddenly remembered the false and bright starry sky last night.