In Wild Deer Town, it seems that two people know the principle, but they will never resort to words.

One, when you see something strange, don't react to it in any way – that is, what you have to do, keep doing it; It's best that your behavior, words, and even facial expressions don't change in the slightest because of strange things.

For example, when a customer suddenly walks out of an empty store, just check out for him as usual; Even if he takes out a product that is not on sale in the store and can't sweep the price, just apologize and send him away.

For example, Vero clearly saw the gray and naked man, but after she pretended not to see, the thing would disappear on its own, and would not react to Vero.

Second, don't talk to anyone about strange things you've seen or experienced, don't talk about things related to strange things, such as the two principles themselves—at least, not directly.

These two principles were summarized by Ai Weili from her conversation with Wei Luo, half guessing and half reasoning. Vero had to be vague and unresponsive in many places, and sometimes she couldn't even give a simple "yes or no" answer, and the hints were ambiguous.

However, Ai Weili felt that his speculation was correct.

"I sometimes can't react," Vero added, "and it's okay for me to say it when I have absolutely no idea what's wrong with what I'm talking about." ”

This was already the most explicit and essence thing she could say, and in all fairness, if she had changed places, Ai Weili felt that she would not have the courage she had - for Vero, she was just a stranger she had just met.

"You don't even know what you're seeing, it's a strange thing that shouldn't happen...

Vero turned his head when he heard this, as if he was very interested in a stain on the glass window.

In just half an hour of conversation, Ai Weili had already understood, because his question was very direct, so this was how Vero answered "yes".

"But... how could you not even know that what you saw was wrong?"

Vero seemed to be unable to stand this kind of secretive, half-swallowing chatting style, but other than that, she had no choice, and thought about it for a long time with a painful face before saying: "You guy... What do you think, if you see a person squatting on the ground, you must know if he is going to pick up money or?" ”

Although the metaphor is a bit unnecessary like this, Ai Weili can be regarded as understanding.

The real question is, what happens if a person violates these two principles?

"I don't know," Vero looked down at the phone sitting quietly on the table, his tone hesitant for the first time. "At least I've never heard of anyone who has suffered any consequences...

Ai Weili pursed his lips. I haven't heard of it, I'm afraid it's worse than I've heard of it.

On the premise that no one is allowed to talk about something, if someone violates this principle, then of course the consequences cannot be put into words—and of course Vero will not hear about it.

There is not even an "urban legend", which seems to prove the authenticity of the rules themselves.

"It's okay," Ai Weili whispered, "you've helped me a lot." If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known what to do with that... ”

"And what's next for you?" Vero asked, looking at her.

Ai Weili thought for a moment and asked rhetorically, "Is this the only one in Yelu Town?" ”

Vero smiled bitterly.

"If the other towns were in the same situation, and everybody would be silent, I wouldn't be able to listen. You've never heard of this before, have you? I haven't seen anyone talk about it on the Internet. ”

Seeing Ai Weili nodding, she continued: "I think so. However, I'm guessing it's only in Wild Deer Town... for no other reason, except that sometimes I feel like Wild Deer Town is like a dead end in a room. ”

"Dead end?"

"Yes, if the world were a big room, Wild Deer Town would be one of the dead ends." Vero smiled embarrassedly, revealing a mouthful of snow-white teeth. "The kind of dead corners that are difficult to clean no matter how much you clean... far away from the center of the room, and when people clean other places, the dust is dirty and accumulates in the dead corners. The feeling that Wild Deer Town gives me is such a calm and dull corner that I can't even escape the dust... ”

It's probably not easy for her to live in this town.

"Then why don't you leave?" Ai Weili asked.

Vero was silent for a few seconds before he said slowly, "I don't know either. The days went on like this, there was no dissatisfaction, there was no happiness, and in the blink of an eye, I also reached the age when my mother gave birth to me, but there was still no impetus for me to leave. It's like... I was trapped in an invisible spider's web, but there were no spiders to suck me, I just spent my whole life in the webs. ”

People who seem to be so healthy and energetic have the same sense of powerlessness?

Vero waved his hand, changed the subject, and asked, "What about you, are you planning to leave?" ”

Ai Weili nodded.

"Apan hired me just to find a replacement for the dead ghost and help him survive the period after five o'clock." If Apan had walked into the convenience store now, she might have picked up the phone and smashed it at his head. "But it doesn't matter where I go, since I've violated the rules of the town, then I'll go, anyway, it's my third day on the job."

"Well," Vero said, glancing at her, "why pile up dust in a dead corner?" ”

None of them knew what would happen if they violated the town's unwritten rules, so Ai Weili wasn't too afraid: the ethereal threat of the future was not as terrible as the man with genitals on his face.

"Then it's decided," Ai Weili stood up and said, "I'll close the shop now, pack up my things, and leave tonight." ”

"Well," Vero said, stretching out his hand to gather the garbage on the table, "Recently, it has become more and more difficult to protect one's self..."

It always sounds familiar.

"Is it more?" Ai Weili glanced at the phone on the table and asked. It was fifteen minutes before seven o'clock, but the phone was still sitting on the table.

Maybe it will be after seven o'clock before it will be completely "cleaned".

"What to say, it's getting harder and harder for people to pretend it's okay." Vero said with a frown.

This sentence immediately reminded Ai Weili of another sentence she had heard Ah Pan say - "It seems to have become more and more excessive in recent months, and it is difficult for me to pretend to be it." ”

Could it be that he was talking about this?

If you don't clearly say what exactly "what" is getting more and more excessive, it is indeed not a violation of principle... No wonder Ah Pan has only recently wanted to recruit the dead ghost, it turns out that it is because of the recent abnormality, which is getting more and more serious.

I really shouldn't ignore my feelings that day - she didn't feel very comfortable from the first sight of Apan, and she was really not a good person. However, since she was determined to go, the rest was none of her concern.

It's just that she is grateful to Vero, and after the two of them got up, she still persuaded more: "Actually, if you want to move to other cities..."

She turned around as she spoke, and found Vero staring behind her without blinking.

What's wrong?

Ai Weili's heart tightened, and he hurriedly turned his head. But everything was normal behind her: the door, the small open space in front of the store, the reflection of the two on the door, the cash register on the other side of the door...

But...

Ai Weili raised his hand and waved it towards his reflection.

It may seem ridiculous to say, but in general, things like reflections are easy to go wrong, aren't they? At least that's always the case in novels or movies, but her reflection also waved her hand with her, neither delayed nor eccentric.

What went wrong, at least not the reflection.

No, it's not.

She paused, slowly sticking her neck forward in the suddenly dead air of the convenience store.

"You have a back door in the store," at this moment, Vero glanced at the time on his phone, and said casually, "I'll also accompany you to your apartment to pack up your things, help you." ”

Ai Weili couldn't make a sound for a while, so he could only nod his head, still staring at the door.

It's only less than seven o'clock now, and the autumn evening is the time when there is a deep blue and purple, not to mention that there are street lights on the roads in the town, and it should be very bright outside...

In other words, why is it so dark outside the door and the glass window that it seems to be filled with ink?

What about small towns? What about the road outside? What about street lights?

"The back door is over here," Ai Weili still looked at the dark glass door with his spare eyes, led Wei Luo, and quickly walked to the back door in a few steps.

When opening the white back door for employees, Ai Weili was tightly pressed in his chest, and finally spit out. She was a little worried, afraid that she would not be able to open the door, afraid that she would not know what she would see when she opened the door; Now this worry has finally dissipated in the cool air of the night.

Although the alley behind the store was dim, everything was normal: under the dark blue sky that was about to sink into the night, an orange light behind the store reflected a pale red on the brick road of the alley.

It's a normal evening behind the store, which means that there is an incomprehensible darkness in front of the store.

"Let's go this way," Ai Weili said, gently closing the back door.

Everything in the alley was the same as the last time she had seen it: not far to the right hand of the back door of the convenience store was a large garbage bin to which she had been responsible for throwing garbage once; On the other side is a small iron door, and from the stairs behind the small door, the second floor is Ai Weili's apartment.

"The apartment is here... are you going to go home from the alley?" In the silence, Ai Weili asked in a low voice.

Vero looked at the small door that led to her apartment. It was an old-fashioned iron door, and through the railing, you could faintly see the steps in the shadows inside.

"I said I wanted to help you," she said, her eyes wandering back and forth in the alley, as if she were speaking to someone else. "Which apartment is you?"

That's right, I don't want to walk into the depths of this empty alley alone at this time.

"On the second floor," Ai Weili looked up, trying to point to her, "here you can see my bedroom window, I didn't draw the curtains. That's the one—"

At the same time that her finger was raised, the light in the bedroom window was extinguished.

The two fell into a frozen silence.

From the darkness in the corridor behind the door, a sweet, indistinguishable male and female voice came out: "Come in... ”