For a moment all the sounds sank, and time seemed to stand still.

After briefly looking at each other, the masked youth turned and reintegrated into the crowd.

Qi Ji hurriedly shook off the crowd around him, and immediately ran towards the direction where the young man was-

Chapter 40: 404 Hot Spring Street (10)

The masked guy is like the most cunning prey, easily navigating through the crowd, sometimes even deliberately slowing down and waiting for the pursuer behind him, but then turning away before the other party is about to catch up, keeping the safest and most cunning distance from hide and seek.

Qi Yan followed, he, the newcomer "hunter", seemed a little powerless, when he turned the corner of the street, the "prey" in front of him seemed to be boring, and wanted to end this chase game, so he quickly turned around and completely disappeared into the crowd.

Qi Ji lost his target, standing in the flow of people and looking around blankly, where will this guy go?

Suddenly, he saw a little gray cat standing on the eaves not far away—

"Meow Meow~"

Just as Qi Ji found his cat wagging its tail, it then ran lightly at the eaves of the building. The little gray cat will not be like that cunning guy, it will slow down and wait for Qi Zhen to catch up with him.

Qi Yan followed the little gray cat through most of the street, until the little gray cat ran into the window pane on the second floor of a building.

Qi Yan stopped in front of this building, which is a two-story Japanese-style wooden building, the building is painted in an extremely strong crimson, the panes are painted with bizarre ukiyo-e drawings, rows of red paper lamps hang under the eaves, swaying in the wind and overlapping the lights and shadows, and the open-air hot spring pool in the courtyard rises mist and the whole building exudes a psychedelic and ambiguous temperament.

The narrow door to the building, which is hidden under a paper lamp that reads "Yu no Ya", and the richly dressed male guests pull up the red curtains to enter and exit, making it clear that this ambiguously lit building is a place of pleasure.

Next to the "Yu-no-ya" is the "Yu-no-yu" with the same paper lantern hanging, and male guests who have had fun from the building walk to the "Yu-no-yu" on the side.

Qi Ji learned from the appearance of the guest, lifted the curtain and entered the "Yu Zhi House", but his existence was like a transparent person, easily avoiding the waiter's greeting, he looked around and didn't find the figure of the guy, and walked straight towards the depths of the corridor.

The long corridor is connected to the wings provided for the guests, all the rooms are lit with lights, the ambiguous light falls on the corridor through the shoji door, the shadows on the paper door are full of intertwined figures, and the sound of scalp numbing play comes and goes, Qi Jiu, who has never seen such a world, is inexplicably a little nervous, which is more terrifying than the supernatural scene for him.

Although he knew that he should not ignore the insolence, in order to find clues about that guy, Qi Ji had to look along the shoji door from room to room, and he believed that the little gray cat would not give wrong guidance.

Until he walked to the end of the corridor, the continuous greasy voice gradually subsided, and the leftmost wing room was not lit.

"Meow~"

It's the familiar meow of a cat.

Qi Yan breathed slightly, hesitated for two seconds, and then bent his fingers and knocked on the door.

"Knock knock."

Qi Zhen waited for ten seconds, there was no movement in the dark room, and he knocked on the door again.

Finally, there was a very soft grinding sound in the room, as if someone had struck a match.

Immediately after that, a faint light shone through the paper door, and through the door, a faint figure in the room could be seen bending down to light the lamp in the corner with a match.

"Meow Meow~"

As the light fades on, the silhouette of the figures in the room becomes clearer.

Qi Zhen could see clearly that it was the silhouette of a "woman" dressed in a costume and holding her hair in a bun, holding a long pipe in her hand, and a cat standing on his shoulder, with her tail cocked and making "meow" sounds from time to time.

Qi Yan was stunned for a moment, and then continued to knock on the door.

The figure inside the door finally spoke: "Is there anything wrong with this guest?" I'm not picking up random customers. ”

It was a voice that Qi Yan was all too familiar with.

Listening to your own voice through the door is quite a novel experience.

Qi Zhen made up a lie: "Excuse me, I'm here to find something." ”

The figure inside the door smiled: "But there is nothing here, I'm afraid you have come to the wrong place, right?" ”

Qi Jiu's voice was firm: "My cat is lost, I saw it enter this room." ”

"My mask is gone, and I see people wearing it in here too." He added.

"But it's just my cat, the mask... It was given to me by a friend I knew well," the figure bit his pipe, a smile hidden in his voice, and he shuffled a few steps towards the shoji door, and finally leaned against the door and said, "What's going on?" ”

Through the thin door, the two faced each other in silence for a moment.

"Sorry, I still want to open the door to confirm." Qi Ji said quietly.

"Alright then," the figure behind the door came closer, pressing his hand against the door, "then I'll make an exception and allow you to visit." ”

"Squeak" –

The moment the shoji door was opened, the Luotuo swordsman wearing the mask of "Sixteen" on the street disappeared, and was replaced by a "woman" wearing the same mask on her face and holding her hair in a bun.

The "woman" wears a robe with intricate patterns and bright colors, and looks like an "oiran" dressed in costume and hair accessories.

A long pipe hung from his hand, and the cat lay lazily on his shoulder, and the little one looked like he was enjoying himself.

The "woman" Adam's apple moved slightly, tilted her head slightly and looked at Qi Yan in a condescending manner: "Is this your cat?" ”

He took a bite of the cigarette holder, and the thin smoke rose from the pipe, and as he spoke, he raised his hand and touched the cat on his shoulder.

The cat closed its eyes comfortably and took the initiative to rub its palm with its face.

The intricately patterned clothes slumped loosely over his shoulders, and the slender collarbones and the outline of the man's chest loomed.

"Is it your mask?" He stopped petting the cat and moved his five fingers to the mask.

Qi Ji stared at him quietly, stared at his fingers pressed on the mask, and replied affirmatively: "The mask is mine, please return it to me." ”

Because he was a little nervous, Qi Jiu's voice sounded tense at the moment.

"It's your mask, I'm sorry." As he spoke, the other party chuckled lowly, and then took off the noh on his face.

The face under the mask was pale with fat powder, and the facial features were painted with strong makeup, but despite this, Qi Yan still recognized this face that was exactly the same as himself-

Qi Zhen stared at the same pair of gray-green eyes, and time seemed to stand still at that moment, and all the sounds around him disappeared, so quiet that only the sound of Qi Jiu's breathing and suppressed heartbeat remained.

After all, the scene of looking at "oneself" is too absurd.

Absurd, yet funny.

This appears to be their first official meeting.

Light the lamp, meet the light, face to face.

After a while, the other party handed the mask he took off from his face to Qi Yan, holding the cat while lazily biting his pipe, and said with a low smile: "Come to me." ”

"—like last time, come to me."

*

When Qi Yan woke up, it was almost dusk, and there was a faint noise in the corridor.

The scene in the dream is vivid, the man's words and smiles linger, and Qi Yan, who has just opened his eyes, inexplicably feels like a world away.

At this time, Qin Rang put his ear on the shoji door, and seemed to listen with relish.

Qi Yan rubbed his eyes: "What's the matter?" ”

"Other players quarreled with Xiao Mi's mother and daughter," Qin Rang seemed to have heard the ins and outs, "Because Xiao Mi refused tonight's bathing activity, but if their mother and daughter don't participate, the number of people will not be enough to start the group, so everyone will not be able to go to the bath." ”

Qi Jiu: "Have you already gotten the rule book for soaking in hot springs at night?" ”

Qin Rang shook the "Open-air Hot Spring Safety Code" in his hand with a little pride: "Just now, I saw that you didn't mean to wake up for a while, so I went over and asked the young lady at the front desk to get it." ”

"That's good." Qi Yan smiled, feeling a kind of relief that his little brother of the European Emperor could finally take charge on his own.

The others were still wrapped up in the quilt, and they had already taken the rules handed over by Qin Rang in their hands and studied them-

"Hello dear tourists, welcome to 404 Hot Spring Street, I believe that you will definitely feel a unique bathing experience here.

Please be sure to strictly follow the following hot spring etiquette during your bathing, even if it doesn't seem reasonable, please don't doubt it, everything is for your safety and health, please remember:

1. The entrance fee to the hot spring is 30 yuan/person;

2. The open-air hot spring adopts the group ticket purchase mode, and the number of visitors shall not be less than 11 people, otherwise it will not be open to the public;

3. Pregnant women and people suffering from serious infectious diseases are not allowed to enter the hot spring area;

4. It is not advisable to soak in hot springs for 6 hours after drinking;

5. Please wash your body thoroughly before bathing, and do not wear shoes, clothes, makeup, or jewelry into the bath;

6. Please pay attention to the bathing etiquette, do not stare at other tourists who come to the hot spring for a long time, please do not bury your head below the surface of the hot spring, or dive in the hot spring pool;

7. Hot springs are divided into male and female pools, please confirm in advance whether your gender is in line with the selected pool, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and dangers;

8. There are different soaking time regulations for different soup pools with different curative effects, please strictly follow the soup instructions to ensure the soaking time, and it is forbidden to leave without authorization before the arrival of the specified time of the selected soup pool;

9. No matter what happens during the bathing process, please do not panic and do not make loud noises to break the silence of the bath;

10. Guests staying at the hotel must go to the hot springs on the open day of the hot springs, otherwise they will bear the consequences (passengers who meet the taboos in Article 2 can ignore the content of this article);

Thank you very much for choosing 404 Hot Spring Street for your hot spring experience, and I hope to bring you a comfortable and safe hot spring night."

"Doesn't Xiaomi want to go?" Qi Zhen stared at the last article of the code and frowned and asked, after all, the code has clearly stipulated that all travelers staying at the hotel must go to the bath on the night of the open day, and there is no reason why ordinary guests should not participate.

Qin Rang nodded: "Yes, that's why I said that Xiaomi's mother and daughter are so strange." ”

Qi Yan quickly got up and finished washing, and picked up the mask again: "Let's go, let's go see what's going on." ”

His expression paused when he held the mask in his hand, and Qin Rang just looked at it: "What's wrong?" ”

"It's nothing, it's just a dream about masks." Qi Ji replied sloppily, and had no intention of continuing the topic.

He recalled that when the guy took off the mask, the face that was exactly the same as him was painted with strong and bewitching makeup, and the other party raised the corners of his lips slightly at him, and whispered in a tone that was impossible to refuse: "Come to me." ”

The long pipe was filled with a fog that felt unreal, and his bewitching whisper sounded in his ears.

It's too cunning, Qi Zhen thought.

But this game of hunter and prey, search and chase, he was very interested.

Qi Yan and Qin Rang, who were wearing masks, appeared in the corridor, and ten players led by the elderly witch gathered in front of Gate 105 and argued, the content of the argument was the same as Qin Rang's description, Xiao Mi was unwilling to participate in the open-air hot spring experience tonight, and she still didn't let her mother go.

"You don't care that the second rule is your business, but the tenth rule of the safety code has been clearly written, if you don't participate in the open-air bathing activities on the open day, you will bear the consequences." The small leader of the trade union reminded sharply.

Xiao Mi chuckled: "Tsk, I think you are saying the opposite of this uncle, right?" I don't care if the tenth rule is my business, after all, I bear the consequences, but the second rule is really none of my business, you care about the second rule, don't you? ”

Of the 18 players who came with the coach, 5 died on the first night, leaving 13 people left.

There is also a "pregnant woman" in addition to the mother and daughter, and the safety rules clearly prohibit pregnant women from entering the hot spring area, so if the mother and daughter refuse to participate, their number will not be enough.