Well of Mystery

Bai Xiuqi is 1.8 meters tall, and he thinks he belongs to the upper-middle level; however, Jiang Chenglu standing next to him is more than half his head taller, which is also consistent with the feeling of the two hugging in the dream.

If I hug this man tightly now, will I be able to remember the reason for my trance like triggering some kind of spell?

Bai Xiuqi claims to be a straight man, at least in his nearly 30 years of life, he has never really become interested in any man.But now it seems that this gender gap is not so insurmountable... Maybe those who engage in art are more open-minded?

He laughed at himself and followed Jiang Chenglu's footsteps.

Le Yaochun was right, Jiang Chenglu really knew more about this apartment.

Xuanjing Apartment was built in the early years of the Republic of China. This land is the edge of the foreign concession, a vast swamp.

From 1926 to 1940, after the river completely dried up, a huge cement building was built, which was used as a detention center for the police station in the concession. Around 1940, the concession was taken back, and part of the detention center was transformed into a slaughterhouse.

After 1960, the slaughterhouse was shut down, the houses were vacant, and residents moved in one after another...

Hearing this, Bai Xiuqi immediately asked a question: "Since this place has always been a public place, why is the title deed in my house?"

"I don't know about it either. Mr. Bai never mentioned it."

Jiang Chenglu denied it categorically, and then continued to introduce.

"The four buildings have six floors above the ground and two floors underground. There are more than 300 rooms in total, but they are basically vacant, filled with debris left by previous tenants."

Speaking of which, he pointed to the downstairs: "Huaiguxuan Taobao shop mainly deals in all kinds of genuine and fake antiques, consecration charms, and magic utensils. The boss is Shang Douxing, who lives on the second floor of the West Building. The guy is Ah Chun, you have already met Yes, I also live in Xidong.”

Following his introduction, Bai Xiuqi looked towards the opposite side of the building. The second floor of the west building looked much neater than this place, apparently after renovation.

Downstairs from Shang Douxing's house, and on the first floor of the west building, there lived a young man named Wei Xiangtu who lived alone.

There is a mud field in front of Wei Xiangtu's house, where Chinese medicinal herbs are planted. He has a gentle personality and knows some medical skills.The tenants liked to rub his hands on him if they had a little headache.

Speaking of this, I heard the sound of an engine in the distance.

Bai Xiuqi lowered his head following the sound, and saw a small truck coming in from the "hole" downstairs, with a large piece of lush green leaves in the truck.

Are these all Wei Xiangtu's flowers and plants?Just as he was about to inquire, he saw the truck nimbly reversed and stopped at the south building.

"Sister An's flower shop is stocking up again."

Jiang Chenglu pointed to the sixth floor of the Guidance Building, and there was indeed a lush green area on the top floor, as if there was a greenhouse.

"Sister An", whose full name is An Shande, is the tallest of all the residents. There is no way, green plants need sunlight, and the apartment compound surrounded by buildings on all sides has no way to meet this basic need.

It is also because of the existence of this air flower shop that the cage elevator in the south building has been repaired and can work normally.

Just as Jiang Chenglu was introducing here, Bai Xiuqi saw a young woman walking out of the stairs of the South Building, with fair skin, black curly hair, and wearing a fancy silk dress.

She is a royal lady type beauty.

Bai Xiuqi likes and appreciates beautiful women.He was thinking that this dilapidated apartment didn't seem to be useless, when he suddenly saw Ansand suddenly looked up and looked over here, then stretched out two fingers painted with bright red Kodan, and blew a kiss to his lips .

Obviously, this kiss was not for Bai Xiuqi.

Jiang Chenglu beside him laughed "hehe", waved his hand at An Sande, and then turned his head to ask Bai Xiuqi again: "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"I want to find a place to work as a studio." Bai Xiuqi finally remembered his reason for coming: "Do you think there is a suitable venue here?"

"This……"

Jiang Chenglu's smile froze suddenly, and he scratched his hair: "I'm afraid it won't work."

Bai Xiuqi stared: "Why? Why can't I live in my land?"

"Of course I can...but I can't, it's just not suitable." Jiang Chenglu smiled wryly: "You may not understand some things."

"I don't understand, then you can tell me." Bai Xiuqi insisted: "My grandpa is gone now, and I'm the owner of this place. If you were you, would you leave such a large property alone?"

"..."

Jiang Chenglu couldn't talk to him, frowned and thought for a while, and felt that he should communicate first.

"Then where do you want to see?"

"There." Bai Xiuqi randomly pointed in a direction, which was the third floor of the North Building.

"It's really not good there." Jiang Chenglu shook his head like a rattle: "The north building is too damp, and the walls are covered with mildew. During the rainy days, the water dripped from the ceiling, and the cats didn't run there."

Having said that, he proposed again: "Well, let me show you a few rooms."

"Row."

In fact, Bai Xiuqi didn't really have to move here, it was just a whim to satisfy his curiosity, so he agreed.

Jiang Chenglu first showed Bai Xiuqi the room on the left side of his house.Opening a locked and dilapidated small wooden door, a gloomy musty smell hits the face.

Surprisingly, this room is much larger than Jiang Chenglu's house, about 80-100 square meters.But it was full of miscellaneous items, and there was a dressing table. When Bai Xiuqi just opened the door, he was startled by his own reflection in the mirror.

Jiang Chenglu explained that these are things left by previous residents.During the slaughterhouse period, a temporary ramp was built downstairs to facilitate the driving of livestock upstairs for slaughter.This room faced the ramp to the east, so it served as a makeshift stable, which made it extra spacious.

Bai Xiuqi soon discovered that there was a facility like a feed trough built against the four walls of the room, which should be suitable for raising shade-loving plants.

There was too much dust in the room, and Bai Xiuqi, who was allergic, couldn't take a closer look, but even with a simple glance, he could be sure that the debris contained things from different ages.

For example, the dressing table just now seems to be an item from the Republic of China period.The dilapidated black and white TV on the floor should be a product of the 70s and 80s.As for the glass Maitreya Buddha on the TV...

It's not like glass.

Bai Xiuqi was stunned, and bent down to confirm the texture of the Buddha statue, but his half-stretched hand was stopped in mid-air.

"do not move."

Jiang Chenglu suddenly grabbed his wrist: "Dirty."

There was a burst of warmth from where the skin touched, which was the temperature of Jiang Chenglu's palm.Bai Xiuqi unconsciously turned his wrist and dawdled for a while, then asked back: "That thing is very valuable, right? Jade carving ornaments, why would they be left here? It's really unreasonable."

"How could it be a treasure!" Jiang Chenglu smiled calmly: "But anything that is worth a little money has already been sold by me."

It's the same when you think about it, who wouldn't care about a real baby?Bai Xiuqi had no intention of wasting energy speculating on this aspect, and nodded in compromise.

After that, they checked the remaining rooms on this floor.Although the spaces vary in size, they are all uniformly dirty and messy.After walking for a while, they arrived at the top of the big hole used as a driveway. Jiang Chenglu stopped, obviously waiting for Bai Xiuqi to speak to end this tour.

But what he waited for was an upward gesture.

"Go upstairs and have a look."

"There are about three hundred rooms in this apartment, do you have to look at them all?"

"At least look at all the floors of the East Building." Bai Xiuqi replied confidently: "I'll talk about the rest when I have time."

"...This is different from what you said."

Jiang Chenglu was a little dumbfounded, maybe he didn't expect that this elegant and handsome young man in front of him would have such a stubborn temper.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

"Okay, but you have to promise me to follow me and don't touch anything. And don't trespass into any room."

"Why, I can be regarded as the actual owner of this building."

"But I am the actual owner of the gate."

Having said that, Jiang Chenglu shook the bunch of keys in his hand.

So, Bai Xiuqi followed Jiang Chenglu and continued to walk up the concrete stairs.The sound of their footsteps echoed in the not-so-spacious corridor.

"This wall feels very smooth, not like cement, what material?"

"Ah, that's a very old craft, but it was a combination of local and foreign at that time."

Jiang Chenglu also touched the wall: "Using steel bars as bones, sand, glutinous rice and bone meal are mixed together, and a certain proportion of pig's blood may be added. This material is tougher than the current concrete, and it is also More delicate."

Bai Xiuqi also heard that there was a building material called "Sanhe soil" in ancient times, and the walls of Xuanjing Apartment were probably further improved on the basis of Sanhe soil.

Just as he was thinking of this, Jiang Chenglu, who was walking ahead, stopped.

The third floor arrived, but an iron gate blocked the way.

"This is a legacy from the previous prison period." Jiang Chenglu explained as he opened the door.

Starting from the third floor, the corridors on each floor are guarded by iron gates to ensure that outsiders will not enter by mistake, and there is obviously no one living here.

In Bai Xiuqi's eyes, this floor is not much different from the one below - the same gloomy and dilapidated, the same filthy, and even darker and weirder.

I don't know when Jiang Chenglu stopped talking.Bai Xiuqi followed him to the door of the first room, only to find that the door was closed tightly.

"Can you open the door?"

"I can't explain it, will you agree?" Jiang Chenglu teased, but his expression was relaxed: "Go in and have a look, but remember what I said."

Bai Xiuqi nodded.

With the sound of unlocking, the dusty wooden door was pushed open.There are still some sundries illuminated by the faint light, but the number is nearly half that of the second floor.

Moreover, all these things, regardless of size, are bound by a kind of ocher brown cotton thread, and if you look closely, there are rusty copper coins strung on it.

Of course, the painter's eyes couldn't miss these details. Bai Xiuqi immediately asked Jiang Chenglu a question, but what he got was a rhetorical question.

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

ghost?

Rather than saying he didn't believe it, it should be said that Bai Xiuqi hadn't considered this issue at all.In his 27 years of life, he has never encountered anything truly called a ghost.

But from the bottom of his heart, he hoped that the legends and ghost stories were true, so that this overly realistic world could at least become a little more romantic.

Just when he didn't know how to answer, Jiang Chenglu spoke again.

"The original owners of these things deeply believed in the theory of ghosts and ghosts. After encountering various bizarre and unfortunate events, they pointed their finger at these utensils, thinking that they had become spirits or possessed by evil spirits, and then sealed them here. "

Blaming others, this is the most simple and rude solution that treats the symptoms but not the root cause.

"Have you seen enough? The rest of the floors are similar to this one. If you intend to stay, then choose a place on the first and second floors."

Having said that, Jiang Chenglu's stomach growled, and he patted his stomach and walked out first.

Everyone is so hungry, Bai Xiuqi is too embarrassed to make trouble again.

But when he walked back to the door, he didn't know how he did it, and suddenly something fell from the upper door frame, hitting him on the shoulder.

……

Jiang Chenglu rubbed his stomach and leaned against the railing of the corridor. After waiting for about half a minute, no one came out, and then his heart skipped a beat.

He hurried back to the room, and saw Bai Xiuqi leaning on a dusty armchair, picking up the thin thread on the side with his fingers, but his eyes were squinting towards him, with a strange softness.

"Master Jiang, do you miss me? But I miss you so much."

Bai Xiuqi called out softly, then with a hook of his finger, he tore off his collar.