Chapter 7 Chapter 6 The Home of the Shadow

During all these years, I have almost forgotten about that incident, although it is one of the most incredible things that have ever happened to me, and it is almost inexplicable. For I cannot find any reason, nor can I make the most absurd assumptions, to find out what that shadow is.So, as early as a year ago, I wanted to write about the "shadow", but I didn't write it because it was a matter with a beginning and no end.It's not a complete story, but if I write it out, I'm afraid the readers won't be scolded to death? But now, the situation has developed differently.

Not so long ago, about the day after "Shadow" began to appear, an unexpected visitor came. The uninvited guest was very old, and his clothes were ragged. He seemed to be a poor old man, and I really couldn't recognize who he was. So, when he stood in the living room looking very rigid, I had to ask him: "Old man, what's your name?" His voice trembled a little: "You...you don't know me anymore?" I shook my head: "Maybe we met a few times before, but I really can't remember." When he opened his mouth, I tried my best to search my memory. Where did I see that accent and that demeanor?Have I seen this old man before?

But I really can't remember. But in fact, I don't need to think about it at all, the old man has already said: "Do you still remember? I am a locksmith. Many years ago, I opened the lock for you twice in a big house. Once, When I went, you were still screaming, so scared that I thought you were crazy!" As soon as I heard him say that, I completely remembered that he was the old locksmith!He was old enough then, and of course older now, that I really don't remember him at all. I hurriedly said: "Please sit down, please sit down, it turns out that you have also left your hometown!"

The old locksmith sat down and sighed: "There is no way, sir, I can't live in my hometown, so I have to run out, but running out, alas, getting old is not a solution!" I hurriedly said, "Don't you have very good craftsmanship?" He sighed again: "Look at my hands, they are not flexible anymore. Moreover, the locks now are different from the previous ones. Before, I could open any locks. Now, alas!" I couldn't help feeling curious, and said, "How did you find me? You saw me mentioning the past in the newspaper, so you came to me?" The old locksmith blinked: "On the newspaper? What's the matter? I can't read and never read newspapers."

"Then how did you come to find me?" "A fellow of mine, he knew you, he said, you are the most willing to help others, I can't live, there is nothing I can do, that's why I came to you shamelessly, as soon as I saw you, I knew you, What a coincidence." I couldn't help laughing, it was indeed a coincidence, I thought he came to me after seeing something in the newspaper before I remembered it, I took out some money and handed it to him: "You first Use it, come to me if it’s not enough, and I’ll find a job for you.” He thanked him very much, took the money, and got up to leave.

When I walked him to the door, he suddenly turned around and asked, "Mr. Wei, is there a ghost in that big room, the one I unlocked for you?" I was stunned: "Why would you say that?" The old locksmith hesitated for a moment: "Later, I went there again." I couldn't help being very interested: "You went to that house again? What are you doing?" "Aren't you going to install the lock? But, I always feel that the room is very strange, as if... there is a ghost." I held him back: "Come in and have a seat. Tell me the details. We sold that house to a man named Mao, but that Mr. Mao asked you to go?"

"Yes, his surname is Mao!" The old locksmith's face showed horror, but in a blink of an eye, he laughed again, and said to himself: "Even if there is a ghost, I can't find it now." It's my turn!" I was very anxious in my heart: "What did you see?" The old locksmith lowered his voice: "Don't you know? The man named Mao may be a ghost. He... alone...has two shadows!" I took a deep breath.I immediately understood what the so-called "one person has two shadows" was all about. Naturally, a person can only have one shadow, but the old locksmith naturally saw two shadows.

If he hadn't seen two shadows, he wouldn't have doubted that the house was haunted, and the other shadow he saw was obviously the mysterious "ghost of the ancient temple".Of course I didn't need to explain everything to him, I just said: "Maybe your eyesight is wrong, or, there were two lights in different directions in the room at that time, so naturally there will be two shadows." The old locksmith shook his head. He shook his head, as if he was denying my words, or because he was indeed dazzled at the time. I asked again: "That Mr. Mao, what kind of lock did he ask you to get?"

"A box." The old locksmith replied: "A very strange wooden box. The lock is broken. He asked me to fix it. It's a very strange lock, and there is no one who can repair it. " "What's in that wooden box?" The old locksmith scratched his head and said: "It's even more strange to say it, there is a round stone ball in the box, I reached out to touch the stone ball, but Mr. Mao screamed strangely, as if... It seemed that a shadow of him had rushed towards me, and I was also frightened and fainted at that time." I forced a smile: "You must have been too nervous!"

Although I said that in my mouth, what I thought in my heart was completely different. I knew in my heart that the old locksmith was not too nervous or dazzled. When he touched the stone ball, the shadow might have really rushed towards him! Because, according to Professor Mao, when he saw the "ghost of the ancient temple" for the first time, the old monk in the temple uncovered a round stone ball, and the shadow came out of the stone ball. . Judging from that point, that stone ball may be the shadow's "hometown". Maybe the shadow doesn't like people touching his hometown, so when the old locksmith touches the stone ball, he will feel strange. action.

I can also know that Professor Mao must have found that stone ball somewhere in that room! The old locksmith watched: "Later, I hurriedly fixed the lock and left. Within a few days, the house caught fire." "Oh?" This made me even more interested. Because I haven't heard anything about that house since I left, and I didn't know it was on fire until now. I naturally remember that it was a building mainly of wood, such a building caught fire that it is almost impossible to rescue. I hurriedly said: "The house caught fire, and naturally it burned down!" "Of course, there's nothing left. It's burned up. That Mr. Mao seems to have burned to death too," said the old locksmith. "Like?" I asked. "The fire brigade couldn't find the body, but no one saw that Mr. Mao, he must have been burned to ashes!" The old locksmith said seriously. I straightened myself up, thinking involuntarily, if Professor Mao was buried in the fire pit, then what about the shadow?Was it also burned to ashes by the fire? I've always thought of that shadow as a living thing, even as a person. If you want to explain it, there is really no way to explain it, because the shadow is nothing at all, the shadow is just a shadow! If someone, like me, has seen the shadow many times, he will naturally regard the shadow as a creature, a creature that exists in a strange form. I thought again: "How did this fire start? Did Professor Mao accidentally start it, or did he set it on purpose, or even the shadow?" This is really a series of unsolvable mysteries! I asked again: "Since the fire, what strange news has there been in this house?" The old locksmith said: "Yes, someone passed by that house in the dark night, and there seemed to be crying in the ruins, and there seemed to be a ghost in white clothes, wandering around on the ruins." I couldn't help laughing, those words of the old locksmith are definitely not worth studying. Because that is the most commonly heard "ghost story", and this kind of ghost story is usually made up by the cowardly out of far-fetched people, I said: "Is there nothing else?" "No more." The old locksmith replied. I stood up: "Okay, you go back, you leave me an address, if there is a job that suits you, I will find someone to come and see you." The old locksmith thanked him again and again, and left. After the old locksmith left, I closed the door and sat alone in the living room, thinking for a long time. The appearance of the old locksmith brought back my memories. What happened that day seemed to be vivid in my mind. I thought that Mao Xueping was a famous professor, if he hadn't been buried in the fire cave, then it would not be difficult to find his whereabouts. I decided to make a phone call to Xiao Guo. The detective agency he runs has a very developed business and a wealth of data. I ask him to check it out, and maybe there will be results. When I heard his voice on the phone and he knew it was me, he exclaimed happily: "What a coincidence, I just happened to call you too!" I smiled and said, "Don't be so good, you want to find me, why don't you call? You have to wait for my call to come, so you say that?" Xiao Guo hurriedly argued: "You have to give me time. Besides, it's something related to you. I don't want my secretary to call you. I want to talk to you myself." I said: "Okay, what's the matter?" Xiao Guo lowered his voice very low, it sounded very mysterious, he said: "Someone is looking for you! A man from Thailand wants our detective agency to look for you. As soon as I heard him say your name , I can tell him your address almost immediately, but I don’t know where that person came from, so I just let him go.” "Oh, what kind of man is he?" I said. "It's about the same age as you, with a very secretive attitude," Xiao Guo replied, "It looks like the leader of some criminal organization!" I couldn't help becoming nervous: "He didn't leave his address or his name?" "No, it's all there." Xiao Guo said. I laughed and said, "If he was the head of some criminal organization, he wouldn't have done that. What's his name?" "His name is Xu Xin." Xiao Guo replied. I called out abruptly: "Xu Xin." Things happened by chance, everything was piled up together.How many years, there is no news at all.If only I had met the old locksmith, now Xu Xin also appeared. Xiao Guo was obviously taken aback by my loud yell. He said, "What's the matter with you? Do you know this person?" "Of course I do. When I met him, you were still wearing crotch pants!" I replied, "Where does he live?" "Wait a minute, I'll check the address he left... Well, he lives in the Skyscraper Hotel, on the 21st floor, room 2104, do you want me to go with you!" "No need, I will deal with the leader of the criminal organization myself!" I replied immediately. Xiao Guo smiled a little embarrassedly, and I couldn't wait to put down the phone. I ran out of the door, jumped into the car, and drove to the skyscraper hotel at the highest speed. Xu Xin came, and I haven't heard from him for so many years After I met him, I had to punch him twice first, and then I asked him why he slipped away without making a sound. When I was in the elevator of the skyscraper hotel, I really felt that the elevator was going up too slowly. At the same time, I also scolded Xu Xin, why did I live so high? When I stood still and knocked on the door, my heart was filled with a strange joy. The door opened, and the person who opened the door was a thin man with a dark complexion and a gloomy face. I was stunned for a while, and quickly glanced at the number on the door. It's room 2104. At this time, the man also looked at me with strange eyes.I hurriedly said, "Excuse me, is there a Mr. Xu Xin from Thailand?" The man was stunned for a moment: "I am Xu Xin from Thailand, who is your Excellency?" When I heard that answer, I was literally stunned! The person in front of me is Xu Xin! That's really not forgiving. In my impression, Xu Xin, how could he be like that! I smiled wryly, Xu Xin looked at me with a very strange gaze, and of course he couldn't recognize that I was the Wesley he was looking for! In an instant, my mood couldn't help becoming very melancholy, I spread my hands and said, "Xu Xin, you don't know me anymore?" Xu Xin apparently still didn't recognize it, he just looked at me and said, "Your Excellency—" That was really a sad thing, and I thought he could recognize who I was from his memory, so that our reunion could be more or less romantic. However, he couldn't recognize him at all, so I had no choice but to say, "What's the matter with you, I'm Wesley!" He opened his mouth wide, as if I said it, but he still didn't believe it. He froze for a few seconds before saying, "God, Wesley, why did you become that cat?" As soon as he opened his mouth, I was sure that the person in front of me was definitely not a stranger, but really Xu Xin.Xu Xin likes to hurt people most, and his habit has not changed over the years. I immediately said: "Your appearance is not much better, Xu Xin, you have become extremely ugly!" Just like I recognized Xu Xin from his sentence, he can also recognize who I am from my words!He laughed "haha" and stretched out his fist to hit me on the shoulder. However, I punched faster than him, and with a "bang", I hit his shoulder. He was punched into the room by my punch, and he opened his arms: "I never imagined that the two of us would have a day when we wouldn't recognize each other!" I also entered the room: "That is really unexpected, we have been separated for too long!" He hurriedly raised his hand: "Stop talking, I will explain why I left without saying goodbye." I smiled, an old friend is an old friend after all, he knew what was the first thing I wanted to mention to him after I met him! I said: "I only found out that you came to Thailand from Hong Kong, and after you arrived in Thailand, it seemed like you disappeared. What the hell are you doing these days? Planting opium in the dense forest?" "What the hell are you thinking?" Xu Xin asked. "Do you know what kind of person that private detective described you as? He said you were the leader of a criminal organization!" I remembered Xiao Guo's words, and fell down on the sofa with a big laugh. Xu Xin was a little annoyed, but he immediately said: "For these years, no one has known my whereabouts. I have lived a life that is almost isolated from the world. Do you know where I am? I am in an ancient temple!" I raised my eyebrows: "What ancient temple?" "Do you still remember that Professor Mao we sold the house to?" "of course I remember." "Naturally you also remember that shadow?" "Stop talking nonsense, who can forget it." "Professor Mao said," Xu Xin was walking back and forth, "that shadow came from an ancient temple, and there were many strange things in that ancient temple, all of which were sent by villagers from all over the world. Just went to that ancient temple." I looked at him, and my heart was full of doubts. Xu Xin was not a persevering person, but he actually lived in that ancient temple for so many years, which is really unimaginable. I said, "What are you going to do?" A very confused expression appeared on Xu Xin's face. He didn't answer my words, but just said to himself: "After we broke up that day, I couldn't sleep all night. I wanted to come to you, but I think you may not be willing to go with me." "You had already decided to go to the ancient temple at that time." "Yes, the next morning, I took the money, only told my family, and left. Until now, I don't even understand myself, why I have such determination, it seems that it is not me decision, and it seems like there are a lot of people influencing me to make that decision!" I couldn't help but feel a chill in my heart. "I went to Hong Kong first," Xu Xin said, "and then I went to Thailand. I found the ancient temple. I can't say what era the building was. When I said I would live in the temple for a long time, the temple's Monk, welcome, at the beginning, I just listened to them talk about all the strange things in the temple, most of those strange things have been lost, but there are still people who keep sending weird things." "What are those?" "It's really hard to see in other places in the world. I have seen beehives that are bigger than bamboo baskets. There are naturally formed text patterns on the stones. Some dead wood is in the shape of a living duck. Some villagers carry There are three to four hundred catties of large eels to be released, and some objects dug out of the mud, whose origins are unknown." "Have you seen that shadow?" Xu Xin suddenly fell silent. He was silent for quite a long time before he said, "That was a recent incident."