Chapter 29 ninety-ninth night dead

Today I am in a slightly happier mood, because Ji Yan told me that he will be back soon.He told me that he had found the clue of the weird man who made the leather mask. Although it was just an accidental discovery, it was not unrelated to months of hard searching. (The following is Ji Yan’s letter.) I followed the clues I learned along the way to find the man who claimed to be a worker bee, and even this was one of the reasons why I went to visit the croupier friend, because there are all kinds of teachings in the casino, and it is very convenient to inquire about news. Although that friend did not want to see me again, he still told me that there were strange stories in the southwest hundreds of kilometers away from this coastal city.

It is said that a man with bandages all over his face pawned a black box in a row in a pawnshop around the local area. After that, the pawnshop owners encountered accidents one after another, and these cases have not been solved so far.I suddenly realized that this journey might be dangerous, so I had no choice but to place Li Duo in a reliable friend's house, and go alone to the place where the man last appeared. I don't know much about pawn shops, but I know that this nearly one-thousand-year-old business is still tenaciously surviving. Even in some big cities, you will occasionally see a small shop faintly appearing Among the flashing neon lights of various high-rise buildings, a big "Dang" character is written on the black canvas shop curtain hanging straight from above. Whenever passing by, there are almost always a few people chatting inside. It makes people feel cold, but it is indispensable for some people.The pawn price usually does not exceed half of the original price.Interest must be paid at the time of redemption. If the redemption expires, the pawnshop will sell it. It sounds like a very cost-effective deal, but it is not. If there is a social depression or war and turmoil, everyone will die, and the pawnshop will have to close down. .

The development of the economy gave birth to pawnshops, which were called Changshengku in the Song Dynasty and confirmed as pawnshops in the Ming Dynasty.The most prosperous era of pawnshops was during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. There were more than 200 pawnshops in Beijing, ranging from dilapidated ancient calligraphy and paintings to large real estate title deeds, cheap pots and pans, and expensive jewelry and antiques. The high profits of usury also made many merchants rich, but the long war and the banning of pawnshops after liberation made this ancient industry almost disappear.However, in the last decade or so, it has quietly recovered and is showing great signs of prosperity.

If there are so many pawnshops in a place, then the landlord must have a well-developed gambling industry.Nowadays, pawnshops sometimes act as auction houses. Some unrepayable dead debts are mortgaged with things. Some pawnshops collect a warehouse full of goods but cannot sell them, so they are not as good as before. Well, once all the pawnshop owners find that some unworthy descendants or blind laymen come to the pawnshop with family treasures in a daze, they will naturally be overjoyed. And these unlucky pawn shop owners are naturally right. I came to the first pawn shop. It has been two months since the tragedy happened, and the pawn shop has been quite depressed. A man in a singlet and shorts was holding a plastic teapot outside the door, drinking tea to escape the heat with a dejected expression. It's hot in May.

He was about thirty years old, with a decadent expression on his face, resting with his eyes closed and shaking the paper fan.The eyelids are slightly blue, and the lips are slightly white, as if he is a person who has not recovered from a long illness.I took a step forward to explain my purpose, and he kindly invited me in. The pawn shop was small, but it was quite shady, and I wondered why he didn't go in, but stayed outside in the heat. It is less than ten steps to cross the threshold, and a one-person-high metal fence separates the customers from the pawnbrokers—the pawnshops used to have wooden fences, so some people say that the pawnshop is only for pawnshops.In fact, it is not quite the case. This is just for self-protection, which is the same as the fence between the taxi driver's seat and the back seat.

There is an inner room on the left side of the door cabinet, but it is separated by a white cloth. It must be the place where the clerk comes and goes to the counter and handles the storage of goods inside. I want to gain some popularity, this bird house, it makes people feel aggrieved after staying for a long time.He told me that he could call him shopkeeper Liu, and he seemed to like this title very much. "I don't like what people are called managers, such as Xiyiou. The shopkeeper is called the shopkeeper. Our business has been passed down for more than a hundred years, and the title cannot be changed." Liu shopkeeper walked into the shop while talking. In the inner hall, put on a coat, firstly to show respect, secondly, the room is indeed very shady and cool.

After saying a few polite words, I made it clear what I wanted to do.At first he was a little impatient, saying that the police had asked him many times, but each time he made no progress except to make himself sad again.When I told him that I was introduced by a friend, he was a little surprised and said that I would definitely be able to find out the cause of his brother's death, that is, the former shopkeeper. "My brother and I are both in business. It is also my father's legacy. The two took over the pawn shop and the rice shop of the previous generation respectively. However, the elder brother's pawn shop is not doing well. This thing depends on the sky, luck No matter how capable he is, he usually doesn’t say anything, but when his brothers are drinking together, he always gets drunk and says that he is too wronged——because my rice shop business is very good, of course, when people I have to eat, how can I not do well? I think my father also let him do the pawn shop business that is more important to the family because he considered that he is more capable than me. The rice shop is open, alas." Shopkeeper Liu's expression of sadness was beyond words, but he could only let out a long sigh.I asked if there were any changes before and after his brother's accident, and he thought about it and said yes.

Shopkeeper Liu signaled me to wait a moment, then turned to the pawn shop, and came out after a while, but there was an extra piece of paper in his hand. Shopkeeper Liu handed me the paper, and I glanced at it, it was a contract document.To be precise, it is a pawn ticket. The person who pawns must hold this pawn ticket to redeem the pawn and pay interest fees.More than ten centimeters long, the paper is thick, and there are patterns, the number and address of the pawnshop on the front, and there is a big red seal and the signature of the pawnshop owner right below, with a line of cursive characters written in the middle.

"A tattered black brocade box, five and three cents long, three and six cents wide, and two cents high. The poster, XX, is in urgent need now, so he treats the property as cash for seven hundred and twenty yuan. The interest rate is three cents per month, and the deadline At the end of eighteen months, the shop will be sold after the expiry date. If there are rats and insects, the owner will be happy. This is a photo." "It's really strange. Your brother actually gave that person more than seven hundred yuan for an ordinary box. The economy of this place is not like those in big cities. The monthly salary of ordinary people is only seven or eight hundred yuan." I will be the ticket Returned it to shopkeeper Liu, who took it and nodded.

"I didn't come to the pawn shop very often at that time, but when I found out that my brother took the box, he was overjoyed, saying that he got a good treasure, and then he actually handed over the shop to me, and then went home alone, without going out the door. Those few days It happened that there were a lot of people pawning and buying pawns. I was busy for a while, so I forgot about it. Later, my physical condition took a turn for the worse. I got a serious illness and almost lost my life. He came to see me once, but it was like losing his soul. My eyes wandered away. I was too busy to take care of myself at that time, and I didn't pay much attention to it, but unexpectedly, a month later, the news of his sudden death came out, and he actually..." Shopkeeper Liu was at a loss for words, his voice was choked up, and it seemed to touch the heart of sadness, I had to wait for him to calm down a little before continuing to ask him.

He took a sip of tea, and suddenly said in a low voice: "No one knows about this except the police and a few of our relatives. My brother died in a terrible state. His whole face was gone and dripping with blood. The police were in the room where the accident happened. I haven't found that face after searching for a long time, so it's listed as a suspect." I was a little surprised after hearing this, and hurriedly asked him if the man who came to pawn the box had appeared again. Shopkeeper Liu shook his head and said that he had never seen it again. "But the box disappeared soon after." Shopkeeper Liu replied again. I hurriedly bid him farewell.Before he left, he repeatedly begged to tell him if he had any clues, and I promised.So he returned to his previous sluggish look, and continued to sit outside the house drinking tea to enjoy the cool. Then I went to several other pawnshops where the accident happened, without exception, although some people refused to tell me the whole truth, but most of them were the same as shopkeeper Liu's brother, the strange black brocade box and the shopkeeper who died suddenly soon after, And also shameless. I suddenly lost my bearings, just wondering what this pawn man was trying to do, and where should I go to find him.When I had no idea, I suddenly received a call from a friend of the local criminal police team. I had repeatedly asked him to notify me if there was any change. Sure enough, he told me that a strange case had recently appeared in the area under his jurisdiction. , and it happened that the person who made the report was the owner of a pawnshop, so I immediately cheered up and rushed to him. This man was in his forties, with early protruding head, bright and narrow face, narrow eyes and narrow nose, and a mustache. Unlike his hair, the beard was very dense, which may be the wrong direction of nutrition flow.He was neatly dressed, but he couldn't hide the tension in his heart, like a frightened bird, after a few seconds, he raised his head like a bird for a few quick glances, and then lowered it down again.My friend half-jokingly called him Old Bald. "Old bald, this is my friend, talk to him after you know what you know, and remember not to hide a word!" The man who was called old bald raised his head, looked at my friend with a bit of dissatisfaction, and turned to him again. I look. I walked over and handed him a cigarette. My friend looked at his watch and said that there was not much time and someone would come to take notes in the afternoon, so he took the two of us to the small room next door.Sure enough, he seemed to be much quieter, but he was still very cautious towards me. I also said that he would not accept the cigarette I handed him, but his yellowed index finger made me laugh, so I pretended not to know it. When I asked about what happened that day, he was a little scared, but he still spoke out intermittently. "It was only me and my buddy that day, and it was already ten o'clock at night. I wanted to close the door, but a man of medium build, wearing a big felt hat and sunglasses walked in. He didn't say much, just put the black brocade box in his hand. Throwing it on the cabinet, he said in a low voice that he wanted to treat it as something. His voice was ugly, as if a gear in his throat was rubbing sandpaper. "I looked at the box, a little funny, and jokingly asked him how much he wanted. He suddenly raised his head and looked at me. I found that his face was covered with bandages, and he looked a little scary. You know what we do, There are all kinds of teachings and nine streams who come to be things. Although you must not have the intention of harming others, you must be cautious, so I carefully retreated to the inner stage, fearing that something unexpected would happen, and I was ready to call someone at any time. "'Four thousand and eight.' He said coldly. The clerk suddenly laughed, picked up the box and played with it while laughing at the man, saying: 'This kind of rags is less than five thousand, you seem to go to grab it,' this clerk I have been with me for three years, although I can't talk about my eyesight, but I can still recognize some antiques, so I didn't bother to look at it, and planned to throw the box back to drive him away. "'Oh? It's too expensive? Please take a closer look, it's already very cheap.' He seems to mean that he must pawn the box. "Suddenly the clerk looked at the box as if possessed, and quickly went to draw out the pawn ticket. I wanted to stop him, but he pushed him away. The weird man took the pawn ticket and walked out of the pawn shop without saying a word. Before leaving, he looked back He glanced at it and said, "There are still people in this world who think this thing is expensive." Then he walked out. "I scolded the guy for being incompetent, but he held the box like a dementia, said to me with a smirk that it was a treasure, and then said that if I didn't want to, I could deduct the money for the box from his salary. Then the next day I found out Both he and the box were gone. "For several days, the guy disappeared, so I had no choice but to go to his house, but there was no one there. He used to live alone in a rented house in the town. Later, I heard from friends who run pawnshops, Anyone who got the black box died a terrible death. So I was terrified, so I had to come here to report the case, but the police comrades said that this is not a case, at most it will be listed as the guy missing in a few days, and he is People who come to work from other places have a lot of things to do without saying goodbye, and they can't manage it. In addition, the thefts have occurred frequently these days, which keeps the police busy." I comforted the boss a few words, and felt a little strange, so I asked him for the guy's place to live.Then I told my friend to help look after the pawnshop owner for the past few days, and then I was going to the rental house.When I was about to leave, I saw a few people reporting to the police station with sad faces. There was a commotion in the room, as if it was stolen again. My friend scratched his head annoyedly and cursed, and then complained about why there were so many thefts recently.After I said goodbye to him, I went straight to the rental house. It is said to be a rental house, but it is actually just a dilapidated old one-story house with three rooms side by side. The other two rooms are temporarily unoccupied, so the landlord uses them to store goods, and the third room is the boy's residence.I touched the doorknob, and there was a thin layer of dust—it’s windy in this area, and things that don’t move for two or three days will accumulate a layer of dust. I told the landlord that I was that guy's friend and I came to pick up something. The landlord looked at me with some mistrust and said he still owed several months of rent, so I had to take out my wallet. He opened his eyes all of a sudden, took the money and immediately untied a bunch of keys from his belt, and opened the door. The room is small and smells of mildew.To my disappointment, there is nothing but a single wooden bed and a shelf for placing washbasin and toiletries. The room can be seen at a glance, and there is nothing. The light can hardly shine in, so the darkness is like night .I rummaged around on the bed, but found nothing worth researching. Nothing seems to be found.So I planned to leave, but the place was too narrow, and I knocked over my teacup when I turned around.The teacup suddenly fell to the ground with a strange falling route.It felt like I hit something in the air and fell, because it should have landed at my feet, but now it bounced to the corner of the wall. I picked up the teacup, squatted down, and slowly approached under the bed. It was dark and there was nothing underneath, but I heard a sentence clearly. "I can't take it off." It seemed to be muttering to myself, the voice was small and weak, which made me a little confused, but what happened next let me know that it was not my auditory hallucination just now. A few drops of red viscous liquid suddenly began to drip slowly along the corner of the wooden bed. I smelled it, and it was blood, and it was very fresh. Cold, much like human skin. I raised my head, trying to straighten up from under the bed, but found that there was an extra eye in front of me. That's right, there is only one, and the eyes hang alone in the space, just like a painting, but full of pain and unwillingness. "Help me." I heard the voice again, so I called out "Where are you" in a low voice, but there was no answer. I looked at the eye again, it seemed to be dripping blood, and then I heard a scream of pain and a sound like something was tearing. It turned out that the man was always in front of me, but I couldn't see him. He held his own face in his hands and slowly tore it off. The flesh and blood were connected together, as if he had used great courage and endured unimaginable pain. When the thin human skin mask left him, The whole body of the man could be seen, his bloody face turned to one side, and the whole man collapsed on the ground. In the pocket of his jacket, a cloth bag containing sharp-edged objects was exposed. I suddenly understood something.But it was too late, the man had died. One thousand four hundred and forty for two people, is it expensive?It turns out that the money is not used as money for the box, but how much their lives are worth. Is that person not pawning the box, but the lives of those pawn shop owners? But I didn't see the so-called black box, so I had to call my friend who is a police officer and ask about the whereabouts of the pawnshop owner. He told me that the branch office was short-staffed and the owner was let go. According to the address of the pawnshop I got from a friend, I hurried over there.The pawn shop is located on the other side of the town, and it usually operates in a bleak manner. It’s just that some people pawn some valuable goods when their money is too tight. So it’s far away from the center of the town, and it took me almost half an hour to get there. Fortunately, the pawn shop was not closed. I lifted the heavy black cloth curtain with the characters "Da Da Pawn" and walked in. The shop was empty, with a light bulb hanging from the roof in the center. I saw nothing but sitting on the ground holding a black The boss of the brocade box. His appearance changed again, as if a hungry person saw the food, his eyes were shining, his mouth was half opened, his upper and lower lips were trembling, he didn't know whether it was fear or excitement, a faint blush appeared on his thin and dry cheeks, but Under the dim yellow light, the color jumps and jumps makes people look very uncomfortable, the skin seems to be separated from his cheeks at any time, and it seems to be alive. I hurried over to ask where the brocade box came from, but he suddenly stood up. "It's really a good thing. It's no wonder that Ali (the guy's name) likes it. This guy has a problem with petty theft when he first came here. After being punished by me a few times, he seems to have changed, but once he gets it This box, the addiction that he had kept in his heart for many years came up again, he opened the box and stole things recklessly, it was really comfortable! I want to open this box too, I want to fulfill my wish!" The boss's words were a little weird, and the tone of his voice was strange. It was strange and rude. When we met before, although he looked a little mean, he was still polite, but now he has become like this. Could it be that the so-called box can fulfill other people's wishes?As a person who likes to steal, making others invisible is what he most wants to achieve, but what is the wish of this pawn shop owner? I saw the thin boss opened the box and opened the lid with trembling hands. He took out a thin, transparent light yellow sheepskin-like thing, I just wanted to stop him from putting it on, but it was already too late. "I want, I want hair, I want hair!" the boss murmured. Just kidding, is he just doing it for such an outrageous wish?I can't believe it. "Do you know the pain of having no hair? What's the use of having money? I can't grow my hair even if I have money. People here laugh at me every day! Even children, and I can only deal with it with a smile on my face. Even that Ali, A guy from a foreign country also told people behind his back that I was bald and ugly because of my physical illness, I can't bear it, I can't bear it!" the boss stroking his bald head and shouted angrily. I used the light to see that his bald head turned blue, and then slowly stretched out a spike like a hedgehog. Did he really grow hair? "Haha! It's grown, it's grown!" The boss frantically took out a mirror and looked around. The scene made me dumbfounded, but the hair was still growing, and the hair was so black that it was unusually black. Come, it seems to have a life of its own, and then slowly began to wrap around his neck and head, and finally the boss shouted "what a thick hair, continue to grow and grow", while being cocooned by his own hair Wrapped tightly until there was no sound at all.Then, I heard a crisp sound of bones being twisted, and the boss's body slumped on the ground like a layout, he twitched a few times and then became unresponsive. I called him a few times, but there was no answer. Just as I was about to walk over, I felt someone behind me. It was the brocade box person they described in their mouths. As expected, his face was covered with bandages, only a pair of eyes were exposed. But he didn't look at me, he just looked at the boss who was motionless on the ground. "I'm here to redeem the pawn. Oh? It seems to be a dead pawn." He walked over jokingly, and pushed the pile of hair away. I saw that the boss's face had disappeared, and the bandaged man's hand There was an extra leather mask, and he carefully put it into the black brocade box, then looked at me with a smile. "Do you have a wish too? If so, I can give you the box, but remember not to be a fool." He handed over the box, but I didn't accept it. "You must be thinking why? The guy who likes to steal things, the shopkeeper who is dissatisfied with his baldness, and the first person who is jealous that his younger brother's store is better than his own, and hopes that he will get sick and die earlier. It’s pawned too! Fulfilling one’s wish requires a price. Do you know what it means to be cheated? It means being pawned in a pawnshop. The so-called pawning means forced buying and deception. These people are willing to make deals with me.” He is not tall, but when he said these words, he seemed as arrogant as talking about ants. I just remembered that shopkeeper Liu said that he was seriously ill and almost died. I didn't expect it to be his brother's curse. It's a pity that his brother died before he took over Mipu. "Even so, you have no right to decide the life or death of others." I thought my words were correct, but he laughed. "I didn't make a decision. They decided by themselves. Opening the box and putting on the mask are all decided by themselves. The degree of evil in their hearts will have the effect of the mask. Of course, the side effects will naturally be greater. , I’m just responsible for recycling.” He paused, then stared at me, “I know you, you always like to meddle like your father, and this kind of person always uses the brand of kindness and justice, In fact, it is just to satisfy my own curiosity. I admit that you are different from the person lying on the ground, but you are not noble enough to criticize me. Moreover, when this piece of human skin is almost completed, I will Go hit you." The bandaged man carefully put the piece of human skin back into the box.You can try to stop me, but I advise you not to do it, I know where the little girl is, maybe you think your friend is reliable, but I don't think so.She means a lot to you, doesn't she?If you don't want her to have any accidents, I advise you to stop chasing me. When the time comes, I will appear in front of you by myself. "He was talking about Li Duo's whereabouts, so I couldn't help but tense up. After speaking, he walked out of the door of the pawn shop and gradually disappeared.I also had no choice but to call a friend to deal with the aftermath, and then hurried back to the friend's house where Li Duo was placed. Fortunately, everything was fine.But I feel guilty for not being able to stop that person.I have no way of knowing what exactly that man wants to do, or that he also has wishes that need to be fulfilled. After reading Ji Yan's letter, I went to the window and rubbed my eyes. I also saw a small pawn shop across the street, and suddenly remembered a very famous TV series. In the pawn shop, everything can be clearly marked Pawned, only greed is worthless, but double can never be redeemed.