Liu Qianling didn't expect that she was just unwilling to wash her face with the dirty water in the tank, but it made the old lady cry. Her heart softened, and she hurriedly coaxed: "Mother-in-law, don't cry, I'll just wash it." After saying that, she returned to the water tank, held her breath, lifted the lid, then closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth, and teased the stinky water a few times. In fact, she didn't need to wash much, just the smell of stinky water was enough to cover up the fat powder on her face.

After washing, Liu Qianling immediately wiped off the dirty water with her sleeve, and out of the corner of her eye, she also recognized several debris floating on the water: a swelling dead mouse, a piece of rotten meat with maggots, and a moldy rag. Liu Qianling endured the violent vomiting sensation and smiled at the old lady.

The old lady also laughed in a low voice, but this laugh was like an evil laugh, and the messy house was full of the old lady's strange laughter, and Liu Qianling's hairs stood on end when she heard it.

"Mother-in-law, it's so late, why don't you light the lamp?" Liu Qianling quickly interrupted the mad laughter, looking around for candles or oil lamps.

The old lady waved her hand again and again: "No, no, never." Light the lights and they'll come!"

"They?" Liu Qianling frowned, "Is it a 'hundred ghosts'?"

"Ghosts, they are all ghosts, they are all evil ghosts!" the old lady covered her face with her hands and looked at Liu Qianling in horror through her fingers.

It seems that the old lady's mind is not very clear.

"I've never heard of a haunted city in a huge state city, and tonight I want to see what those ghosts look like!" Liu Qianling took out his magic knife and walked out of the courtyard.

"Hey, come back, girl, come back, don't go!" the old lady beckoned to her behind her.

Liu Qianling hesitated for a moment, but returned to the room, squatted in front of the old lady, and comforted softly: "Mother-in-law, don't worry, I won't leave you alone." I'll take you with me, and a short distance south is the street, and there are still many pedestrians on the street, and those ghosts don't dare to come out. ”

"No, I don't go, I can't go. Evil ghosts will come, often come!" the old lady shook her head like a rattle, held Liu Qianling's hand, and persuaded, "Girl, don't go, I'm for your good!"

Liu Qianling had no choice but to respond: "Okay, I promise you, I won't leave." She looked around, and found that there was a broken futon in the window under the window, so she picked it up, patted it, and suddenly raised a puff of dust. She lifted the old lady out of the pile of rags and helped her to sit on the futon, while she sat down against the wall.

Maybe it was because she was sitting comfortably, and the old lady had a smile on her face. Liu Qianling took the opportunity to talk to her. After a period of small talk, Liu Qianling learned something about the old lady. The old lady's surname is Yang, and she has lived in this alley for a long time. Originally, this alley was not called "Hundred Ghost Alley", but "Tongmingli". However, once Liu Qianling asked about the so-called "haunting", the old lady would be incoherent, and her originally organized mind would become unclear again. From the old lady's fragmented sentences when she was confused, Liu Qianling intermittently came up with a message: The people who originally lived in "Tongmingli" were all captured by evil ghosts. Liu Qianling could not be said not to be shocked, this is a prosperous Piaoding City, a gateway city that enters the Luye Plain from the south, and it is not a barren mountain and a wild ridge! Tongmingli, that is, Baigui Lane, which is full of houses, and there are no barren graves and mounds, how can it be haunted? With a distance of only a few tens of zhang, the bleakness of Baigui Lane and the bustling streets outside are simply incompatible, and it is hard to imagine that these two scenes can coexist in the same city.

Liu Qianling decided that he must find out the truth about the "haunting" in the city.

Then, the old lady began to ramble on and on about the history of Piaoding City. It seems that she has indeed lived here for a long time, and she has witnessed the gradual development of Pioding City from a small town to the present. The people and events of the past are remembered very clearly in the old lady's untidy mind. Where there used to be a tower, where there used to be a temple, the old lady came one by one. Although it was extremely boring, Liu Qianling still listened attentively and asked the old lady a few words from time to time. Gradually, the old lady seemed to become dependent on Liu Qianling, and held her hand as she spoke. The withered hands were rough, the backs of the hands were full of wrinkles and cracks, and the palms were cold, so you didn't need to look at them to know that they must be dirty. Liu Qianling's heart trembled, and she also held those hands tightly. The old lady grinned, perhaps tired of speaking, and closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Liu Qianling carefully looked at the old Long Zhong's face, and unconsciously, tears flashed in her eyes, and she quickly wiped it with her sleeve.

Seeing that the old lady was asleep, Liu Qianling wanted to quietly withdraw her hand, but the old lady clenched it tightly in the fog and was reluctant to let go. Liu Qianling sighed softly, turned over a piece of clothing from the pile of rags with her other hand, and covered it for the old lady.

Liu Qianling leaned back against the wall, raised his head, and looked out through the half-hidden window, the sky on a spring night seemed to be covered with a faint veil, and only bright stars could be seen through the clouds. It seems to be a peaceful and quiet night, but Liu Qianling is always vigilant, worried about those mysterious "nocturnal ghosts".

Such a long night slowly passed away in the sound of the old lady's deep breathing. Until dawn broke in the east, there was no sound in the Hundred Ghost Alley outside the courtyard.

"I'll just say, how can such a prosperous place be haunted?" Liu Qianling thought to herself, "Maybe her mother-in-law was delusional and delusional?" First, why is there no one else in Hundred Ghost Alley? Second, it's that weird green light.

"Watching the mother-in-law's hanging lantern seems to be to find out if it is safe at night in Baigui Alley. How do you say that? It seems to be 'green lanterns shine on demons, and a hundred ghosts walk at night', which means that as long as the green lanterns shine high, then there are ghosts in the alley?" Liu Qianling pondered, "In other words, it's okay to go out during the day." Now the night has passed, and it is safe and sound. When the day dawns, I will leave this place with my mother-in-law. ”

Just as she was thinking, she woke up when she heard the phlegm in the old lady's throat. The old lady opened her eyes and saw that Liu Qianling was still there, and smiled at her: "Girl, you haven't left yet." ”

Liu Qianling lifted it up, still being clenched

hand: "I said I wouldn't leave you alone." ”

The old lady laughed, let go of her hand, and looked down at the clothes draped over her body, and the laughter gradually turned into a cry, and she began to sob. Liu Qianling hurriedly asked, "Mother-in-law, what's wrong with you?"

"I miss my girl. The old lady cried.

It turned out that the old lady also had a daughter. Liu Qianling immediately asked, "What about your daughter?"

"She...... I went out of town, and I'm here waiting for her to come back. The old lady replied.

Liu Qianling was a little angry in her heart, she was angry with the old lady's daughter. Looking at the situation in this hut, the old lady has been left here for more than a year or two.

"Where did she go?" asked Liu Qianling.

The old lady wiped her tears and shook her head.

"When will you be back?"

The old lady still shook her head.

"What did she say before she left?"

"Didn't say anything. The old lady burst into tears.

Liu Qianling couldn't bear to ask anymore, the old lady was obviously abandoned by her daughter.

"Mother-in-law, why don't you come with me?" asked Liu Qianling tentatively.

"No, I have to wait for my daughter to come back. The old lady was still a little stubborn, "If she comes back and can't find me, she'll be in a hurry!"

It seems that this path is not going to work. Liu Qianling thought for a while, and then said, "Mother-in-law, then your husband ......"

"He died a long time ago. ”

It's troublesome now, the old lady is alone, but she doesn't want to leave Baigui Lane, and Liu Qianling can't bear to abandon it. "If it really doesn't work, I have to forcibly take her away...... "The only thing Liu Qianling can think of is this method that is not a solution.

Anyway, we have to figure out about the "Hundred Ghosts Night Walk" first. Liu Qianling walked outside the house, and the old lady hurriedly asked, "Girl, where are you going?"

"I'll go take a look in the alley. It's dawn now, it shouldn't matter, right?"

The old lady was stunned, but said, "It's not necessarily safe during the day." Let's light a lantern and take a picture. ”

"Isn't it 'a hundred ghosts walking at night'? Could it be that evil ghosts dare to come out in broad daylight?" Liu Qianling said in surprise.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a picture. The old lady walked to the door on crutches, and lit the lantern as she had done the night before, "Girl, hang it on the door for me." ”

When Liu Qianling hung up the lamp, he looked into the alley, and it was still peaceful. On the street outside the alley, you can already see the figure of pedestrians coming and going. Looking up again, it was really evil, and the candle flame turned cyan again!

"'The green light shines on the demons, and the ghosts walk at night'. The old lady muttered the old saying behind her.

"Impossible! In broad daylight, there is a long street with people coming and going, how can there be any ghosts?" Liu Qianling did not believe in evil, "Mother-in-law, don't stay in this ghost alley anymore, I'll take you to the street!"

"No, no, no, I can't go!" the old lady waved her hand and hid back.

Liu Qianling lost her temper, and couldn't help but take the old lady's hand, and shouted repeatedly: "I must take you away! But you can get out of the alley twenty or thirty zhang away! The streets are full of people, what are you afraid of? Besides, I still have ...... to protect her?" Halfway through her words, Liu Qianling suddenly stopped, and she felt that there seemed to be someone behind her! The old lady's frightened eyes looking behind her also proved this.

"Ghost!" Liu Qianling's hairs stood on end, he took out his magic knife and turned around to slash, but the blade was firmly clamped by two fingers.

The person who came was none other than Zhu Yuan. After Liu Qianling saw it clearly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Yuanlai shook his head and smacked his lips: "Tut-tut, it's just a day, and when you see each other, you have to wave a knife at each other?

"I'm sorry. I'm still ...... It's a ghost. Liu Qianling was very embarrassed.

Zhu Yuanlai said seriously: "Is there such a handsome ghost as me?"

Liu Qianling smiled: "You, as arrogant and boastful as Fei Tukong, you are really a pair of living treasures!"

"We came back from drinking yesterday, but we didn't see you when we arrived at the inn, and you didn't come back until midnight, and we thought you were in some trouble! So we split up in the city to search, and searched all the streets and alleys overnight, who knew that you were here!" said Zhu Yuanlai.

"I definitely didn't 'search it all over', otherwise why would I have found this Hundred Ghost Alley now?" Liu Qianling deliberately "picked thorns".

"There's no one living here at all, I really didn't have a place to look for it, so I didn't expect it to be here. What the hell are you doing here?" Zhu Yuan came to look into the courtyard, and the old lady had already hid back in the house at some point.

So, Liu Qianling told him about the experience of the night before.

"Oh?' 'Green Lantern Shines on the Demon'?" Zhu Yuanlai looked up with interest and said with a smile, "That's right, isn't it just shining on me, the 'demon'?"

"Don't you think it's strange that the lantern wasn't cyan when it was first lit. Also, it's too strange that there are no people in sight in these alleys dozens of feet deep. ”

"The guy at the teahouse near the entrance of the alley did say that there was no one living in the alley, only an old woman. Zhu Yuan said.

Liu Qianling raised her eyebrows: "What's the matter, there are people outside the alley who know that this place is haunted?"

"I don't know if it's haunted or not, but the light is turning blue, hehe. Zhu Yuanlai was only halfway to speak, raised his hand to take off the lantern, and looked inside, "Ha, sure enough." ”

"What?" Liu Qianling also looked into the lantern. The candle under the turquoise candle flame was very strange, red and white, staggered at intervals. Her eyes widened: "It's ......"

"Color-changing lanterns, children's frolicking stuff during the New Year's holidays. Zhu Yuanlai smiled, "The white ones are normal wax, and the red ones are mixed with things that can make the flame turn cyan, I guess it's mostly some copper powder or something, right?"

"Huh?"

"Well, wait a little longer, and when the red one is finished, the candle will be lit

It's going to be back to normal. ”

If this is the case, when the candle burns to the white candle, the candle flame turns from green to yellow.

"You, you've been tricked by that god-nagging old woman!" Zhu Yuanlai couldn't stop laughing, "Don't talk about cyan, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, as long as you want, you can 'change' it through this little trick." It's also 'a hundred ghosts at night', I think that old lady has a ghost in her heart!"

"Shhh The old lady played tricks on her, but she didn't resent the old lady.

"Then the old lady didn't treat you badly this night, did she?" asked Zhu Yuanlai.

Liu Qianling shook her head: "Just chatting for a while, she fell asleep." I just woke up a while ago. ”

"And what are you missing?"

"I'm poor and white, how can I have anything less?" Liu Qianling said with a smile.

"Huh?" Zhu Yuanlai held his chin, "It's strange, she didn't treat you badly, and she didn't want anything from you, she worked hard to act in this 'play', why?"

"Mother-in-law, she is not very sane, maybe...... Hey, don't think about it, she didn't hurt me anyway. Liu Qianling did not say what he thought in his heart.

"In that case, let's go back quickly, Fei Tukong is going crazy for you. Zhu Yuanlai urged.

"But......" Liu Qianling looked at the hut again, and there was a trace of reluctance in his heart.

Suddenly, the door of the house was slammed open, and the old lady ran out of it with her teeth and claws, and she no longer needed her crutches, and shouted loudly: "Here it is!

Liu Qianling hurriedly hugged her and comforted: "Mother-in-law, don't panic, I'm here!"

"Hey, you shouldn't be pretending to be crazy and stupid, right?" said Zhu Yuanlai.

Liu Qianling's eyes widened, and she scolded him: "Why do you talk to the old man like this?"

"Here they are, they are really here!" the old lady trembled.

Zhu Yuanlai's face changed suddenly: "Old woman, don't worry, no matter what demons and monsters come, I will beat you away!" After speaking, he returned to the alley and stood with his waist crossed at the entrance of the alley. He also noticed that someone had indeed come to Hundred Ghost Alley, and there was more than one.

Liu Qianling wanted to carry the old lady out of the courtyard, but the old lady screamed, broke free and fled back to the house, and closed the door again. "Is it really so scary?" Liu Qianling curiously walked out of the courtyard door and looked towards the alley. The one who came was a couple of men in soldier attire.

The soldiers saw Zhu Yuanlai and Liu Qianling standing at the gate of the courtyard from a distance, and asked, "Who are you?"

"I still want to ask you, who are you?" Zhu Yuanlai asked unceremoniously.

"We are the guards of the City Lord's Mansion. The leader replied, "You know the old woman?"

"It's not a ghost. Liu Qianling said coldly, "We are friends of my mother-in-law." ”

Upon hearing this, several of the guards looked at each other and laughed together.

"The old lady said that we were evil spirits, and some people believed us. In broad daylight, people come and go, how can we be haunted in Piaoding City?" the leading guard laughed.

Liu Qianling glared angrily at a few people: "You must have bullied your mother-in-law that she said that! What have you done to her?"

The leading guard arched his hand to Liu Qianling: "Girl, you really misunderstood, the city lord has repeatedly told you to respectfully invite the residents of Tongmingli out, how dare we bully her?"

"Oh?" Liu Qianling was skeptical.

"It's not the first time we've been here, and we've been trying to persuade the old lady to leave every once in a while, but she just won't. It just so happens that since the two of you are friends with the old lady, please do her a favor and persuade her to leave, so that we can make a good deal!" pleaded the other guard.

Immediately, the guards all chimed in.

Zhu Yuanlai asked, "Why did the city lord drive all the people here away? Could it be that this is the reason why there is no one else in the alley?"

"That's right. The daughter of the city lord has reached the age of talking about marriage, but the city lord is such a daughter, and he is reluctant to marry her far away, so he is counting on recruiting a son-in-law in the future. The purpose of vacating Tongmingli was to build a new mansion for the young lady and her aunt to live in in the future. The lead guard explained.

I see! The two mysteries of "green lantern" and "empty alley" have now been solved.

Liu Qianling pouted dissatisfiedly: "Your city lord is too, for the sake of his daughter, he doesn't care about other people." Forcing people to leave their homes like this, Baigui Alley, oh no, aren't the residents of Tongmingli homeless?"

"Definitely. How could our city lord be such a domineering person? The city lord had already arranged a place for them to live in the east of the city. The reason why he chose this place in Tongmingli to build a mansion for the young lady is because it is not far from the city lord's mansion, close to the edge of the city, and it is a dead end, which is very suitable. No, the other residents happily moved to the east of the city, but this old lady refused to leave, and we tried our best to speak, but still did not enter, and we also took the trouble to call Tongmingli Baigui Lane, telling others that we are all evil ghosts. Anyone who knows that she's fooling around, and those who don't know really think we're haunted by Piaoding!" the leading guard shook his head and sighed, "If this stalemate continues, I'm afraid we will have to take strong measures to drag her out." ”

"How can this work? Mother-in-law, she just thinks about her daughter, so she doesn't want to leave here!" When she said this, Liu Qianling's nose was sour, and she almost burst into tears.

"We can't help it!" the leading guard spread his hands, "Because she is alone, the demolition of the house has been delayed for a long time, and the end of this month is the deadline, and we can't pay the difference by then, so the city lord has to blame us for not doing things well!"

"Is there no other way?" Liu Qianling did not give up.

"Aren't you her friend, it would be better if you had a way, and we didn't want to be rude to an old man. ”

"This ...... Let me think about it. Liu Qianling decided to take care of this idle matter to the end.

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