Human dimension reduction

Lan Yin came out from Huajian Xiaolu with a lamp. After leaving the brightly lit Hualiu Street, the outside world was dark night. The common people had already fallen asleep, and the ghosts and monsters that belonged to the night began to wake up.

After inadvertently staring at a strange-looking thing for the third time, Lan Yin finally couldn't help but turned his head sideways, and stared at the object seriously...can't say how to describe it.

About half an arm long, the upper body is like a pot-bellied pot, and the lower body is the legs and feet of a frog, with a green luster unique to the membrane, and the three eyes are evenly distributed around the head.

I don't know how to describe it, so let's call it a frog pot.

"Big, big, big... my lord..." Frog Pot trembled and tried to back away, but was forced to dare not move by the sight of the unknown magician in front of him. He deeply regretted why he had extra curiosity, knowing that Not all magicians are as kind as Abe Seimei...

"My lord, I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to look directly at you!" Frog Pot's whole body was lying on the ground. Due to its special body structure, this action obviously took a lot of effort, but compared Randomly pinched to death with a finger, it would rather work harder.

Ahhh, it's really not easy for a weak monster to survive in Kyoto. A little monster like it with weak to almost no monster power can kill anyone, but it's because of its own characteristics that can't be restrained. Living Curiosity...

Frog Pot's three big eyeballs rolled, and wet tears welled up in the creased eyelids. It didn't look sympathetic, but it was even more disgusting because of its ugliness.

After a brief silence, the powerful yet unfamiliar magician looked at it, then at the lantern in his hand, with a hint of doubt on his face: "Can you see me?"

Eh... this question...

Frog Pot blinked twice, and almost knocked his fragile belly against a stone when his legs gave way.

So isn't the lantern in this lord's hand just for lighting but for concealing his body?But my lord, you have been deceived!Even a little monster like it can't hide this prop, sir, are you on your way to do some errands or are you already back?No, no, no, this is not its concern. Frog Pot's mind is filled with only the words "dead" playing repeatedly.

Even if it is such a stupid and weak monster, no, it should be said that it is precisely because it is such a weak monster that it understands how dangerous it is when others don't want to be seen but are seen.

"I...you..." Frog Pot stammered and tried his best to show a pitiful smile, his limbs rattled and trembled. The sorcerer, who was extremely terrifying in its eyes, bent down and said softly, "Shh... Answer me a few questions and I'll let you go."

"Okay, okay..."

"The first question, there are many...existences like you, are there many in Kyoto Prefecture?" Frog Pot didn't notice that the other party used the vague term "existence", and it's not surprising that he would ask such a layman's words .

Because judging from the useless lantern, he is not a magician who has received a good education in the way of Yin and Yang!But even if he thought this way, Frog Pot didn't dare to show a little neglect. No matter what the opponent's level was, just from the breath, he was a big shot who could crush himself into pieces.

"Yes, I'm just the weakest monster in Kyoto Prefecture. There are countless companions like me... Even in the palace of the human emperor, there are traces of us!" Speaking of this, Wa Pot felt inexplicably A little pride.

"Second question, who is in charge of you and who is your natural enemy."

"Commander..." Frog Pot's face showed a blunt blankness, "The powerful monsters rule over the weak monsters, if humans don't have enough to eat, the monsters will eat each other, natural enemies... Are you talking about Onmyoji? "

When it comes to monsters cannibalism, Frogpot's face is full of coldness unique to other species. Obviously, cannibalism is not something worthy of attention for monsters. On the contrary, when it comes to Onmyoji, Frogpot trembles in awe.

Humans and onmyojis are like two kinds of creatures in the mouth of the frog pot.

The law of the jungle is very obvious, and the law of survival in the jungle is clearly demonstrated in a few sentences.

Lan Yin casually extinguished the lantern—although he didn't know the reason, obviously the ghosts of those dead women couldn't see him, but since it didn't work against a huge number of monsters, this lantern can only be classified as Useless.

"The third question, what is the biggest thing that happened in Kyoto recently? Or, in other words, the most impressive, never-before-seen, very strange, and talked about everywhere..." Lan Yin changed the words, Let me mention the Frog Pot, whose education level is not that high.

The ugly monster squatted on the ground, subconsciously raised its hind legs and flaunted its waist. This posture is weird and funny, but a thing that looks like an amphibian will make movements unique to mammals, and this behavior itself has its own characteristics. It's just a weird dislocation.

"If you want to talk about big things..." Frog Pot became obviously distressed, "Humans are talking about it, why is the general from Edo going to Beijing, and he wants to marry the emperor's daughter as his wife, and the result is considered Under the protection of Abe Seimei, the general's wife is still—”

"Who are you talking about?"

Lan Yin's expression changed. The name Abe Seimei is not only a household name, but it is still very famous in certain circles. When making games with special backgrounds, most of them cannot avoid this character, so even if you are not familiar with other cultures Qiao Zhou, who was so interested, had also heard of this name before.

So he knew a basic knowledge, Abe Seimei should be an onmyoji who was active in the Heian period, and the buildings and pedestrian clothes here have obvious characteristics of the Edo period.

There is a gap of thousands of years.

"Abe... Seimei?" Frog Pot didn't know what was wrong, so he could only repeat it carefully.

The unknown sorcerer's expression was a bit dignified. It could be seen from his eyes that he was thinking quickly. After a while, he finally raised his eyes, as if the gaffe just now hadn't happened: " Well, the last question, is there any weird incidents where monsters hurt people nearby? ——The kind that is enough to attract Abe Seimei."

After hearing about the general's entry into the capital, which even alarmed the monsters, he can roughly confirm that one of the centers of the world must be in the imperial palace, but if there is Abe Seimei sitting in the palace, the Yin Lantern cannot be hidden from the monster's sight... ...Then he'll have to find a way around it.

Frog Pot stared at him blankly, not knowing what he understood, and took a breath, the awe in his eyes deepened visibly with the naked eye.

******

"Hua Zhizi, do you still have Bai Hua Nectar?"

An old woman in a shabby short jacket was carrying a bamboo basket, standing on the stone road and asking the young girl behind the low counter.

The structure of the machiya is similar, and there are many houses for commercial and residential purposes. In fact, it is just an ordinary house on the first floor that has been tidied up and put on a few shelves.

This small honey shop sells very small things, including candied and dried fruits, but the main business is honey. In addition to the cherry blossom petal honey that is available all year round, it is the acacia flower honey and jujube honey that are occasionally purchased, because they are made and preserved. The method is outdated, and the purity of the honey is not high. Even if it is branded as Sophora japonica honey, there will be other types of honey mixed in it, so everyone simply gave it the nickname of Baihua honey.

"Ah... there's more, do you want a spoonful?" The girl called Huazhizi has mediocre facial features, both eyes and lips are dull and boring, but she has extremely beautiful long hair, which is as smooth as a top-notch hair. Silk, black and soft, tied with red ropes, judging from the country's crazy obsession with women's hair, just relying on a long hair and flowery branches is enough to leave a good reputation.

"With such beautiful hair, even if Hua Zhizi calls herself a princess of a noble family, she won't have any problems."

The people in the machiya praised her like this, but the girl who was praised just lowered her head shyly and smiled.

"I want a spoonful." Waiting for Hua Zhizi to scoop honey in the honey jar, the old woman who is used to talking and talking began to sigh again, "No matter how many times I have seen it, Hua Zhizi's hair is really beautiful, just like Just like Qiaozi back then, both of you sisters are incredible beauties."

Obviously, the beauty here is limited to Hua Zhizi's hair. The girl's poor facial features always have a soft and tasteless smile like clear water. She uses a long-handled wooden spoon to pour a spoonful of honey into the old woman's crock. Li, took the coin from the opponent's hand, folded his hands respectfully and bowed deeply in front of his body: "Welcome to come again next time."

The curtain next to the wooden shelf full of various pots was lifted, and a middle-aged man with short stature and a sad face walked out. His clothes were wrapped crookedly around his body, and he showed half of his chest in front of his daughter carelessly. He yawned: "That old woman is here again?"

Hua Zhizi re-sealed the honey jar, turned around and reminded: "Diaoqianwu's mother-in-law is a big customer of our family, and she often comes to buy honey, Dad, be careful not to be overheard when you say that."

The man waved his hand impatiently: "Okay, I got it."

He walked over to look at the goods on the counter, picked up the jars one by one and weighed them: "This one is gone—"

Hua Zhizi took the jar from his hand: "Okay Dad, I understand, I will pretend."

The man let go of his hand indifferently: "I've finished my wine too. Mingtai told me yesterday that the oil lamp was out of oil. As a sister, you should care about your brother's life. If Qiaozi is still here..."

Having said that, his expression suddenly became gloomy: "No, if she is still alive, I will beat her to death on the street."

"Father!" Hua Zhizi interrupted the man almost screaming, staring at him with big eyes, "Qiaozi has found her own happiness, as a family member, we should bless her!"

The man exhaled heavily from his nostrils, and muttered: "Happiness! Dropped a letter and ran away, happiness! Hmph!"

While complaining, the man yawned and walked behind the curtain again, Hua Zhizi lowered his head to wipe the cabinet, showing a tired indifference on his face.

"Excuse me, I'm Ono Yamahara, who just arrived here recently. I would like to ask, I heard that there are houses available here?" There was an extra man in front of the counter who couldn't tell his age at a glance. He looked like a typical Kyushu countryside. The man has regular features and a square forehead, which can be regarded as solemn and handsome. His hair is shaved in the middle, and the two sides are braided and tied on the top of his head. He has a decadent and carefree temperament, which is subtly blurred. his age.

Hua Zhizi looked at the blue and white striped kimono on his body, hesitated for a moment, did not find that he was wearing anything related to a samurai, and finally let go of her guard: "That's what you said...but it's actually just a narrow room. The small room is upstairs, and the rent is paid once a month."

"Then, please take me to have a look." The man showed a relieved expression on his face, and then scratched his head in embarrassment and distress, "There is no problem with being narrow and simple, as long as there is a tile to cover yourself."

Hua Zhizi was keenly aware of the embarrassment of the person in front of him, nodded, and shouted into the curtain: "Father, there is a guest who wants to rent a room upstairs!"

Unlike Hua Zhizi, the owner of the Honey House almost couldn’t wait to get rid of the unused room. Fortunately, this tenant is also a good talker, and the two parties quickly reached an agreement, and the man named Yamahara Ono became Honey. first tenant of the house.

"It's offensive, but what does Yamahara-kun do?" asked the head of the family.

"Ah, I came out from the countryside of Kyushu to see the world. I worked for the Shogun's Mansion in Edo and did some business, but later I realized that I was not qualified to do this anyway, so I sold my things and came to Kyoto. Look, you haven't found the right job yet."

Yamahara Ono lowered his head in shame.

"Hmm..." Kichijiro who asked the question frowned, thinking of the rent already in his pocket, he quickly laughed and patted the new tenant's shoulder, "Well, don't be discouraged, Yamahara-kun, a good man like you , can always find a way out!"

Indeed, being able to have a surname has proved that this person is of a higher class than them, maybe it is a descendant of a fallen noble or something... It is always not particularly difficult for such a person to succeed.

"Hi, thank you for your good words." Shanyuan showed a grateful expression, nodded respectfully and thanked, and when the other party didn't notice, he stuffed a puppet that was about to fall out of the belt into the depth.

In the evening of this day, the last member of the honey house also came home. The youngest son of this family, Ming Tai, is six years old. He is currently accompanying his son at the home of a Jinya lord (the lowest-ranking nobleman). He is said to be a book boy. Whether it is a good playmate or not, in short, it is such an identity, maybe he can take this opportunity to become a famous big shot in the future - Jijiro thinks so, in order to grab this opportunity, he also paid a lot to that Jinya-sama money.

If Qiaozi hadn't eloped with an unknown samurai, it would be a good choice to marry Qiaozi to that Lord Jinwu as a concubine.

Kichijiro felt a little regretful, seeing his son Mingtai sternly reviewing the words he learned from the son of Master Jinya under the dim oil lamp, his heart was suddenly filled with pride.

Look, even the son of a lowly merchant can become a servant to serve the nobles, and in the future, maybe he will be able to make a fortune in the future!Wasn't the great person who became the world's people also a lowly person called a monkey and a mouse?

Yamahara Ono’s room is at the end of the stairs. It’s a five-fold room. It’s cramped for everything except a futon. There’s a dilapidated low table in the room and an oil lamp. Of course, the oil lamp The oil still has to be purchased by yourself.

The sound insulation of the Japanese room door is not very good. He sat in the darkness, the moonlight from the window could only cover a small area in front of the door. There was the voice of the young Mingta strenuously chanting unfamiliar words.

Clash of cups, rubbing of clothes...

The wooden stairs creaked, a little yellow halo flashed through the thin sliding door, and he stood up.

The world at night is terribly silent. In this era without electricity, any artificial light source is rare and expensive. The girl in a plain kimono carefully holds the oil lamp with only a small amount of light, and rubs her elbows against the wall. go down.

In her other hand she held a jar, which was also a very expensive item-nothing should go to waste in a family like theirs.

The stairs from the first floor down to the cellar are narrow and long, and the wet and cold wind blows over her neck, like a woman's cold and soft hand brushing against that piece of skin, dense pimples are instantly aroused on the warm skin, and the flowering branches tremble. He opened his eyes tremblingly, although in the thick darkness, this movement was futile.

Complicated thoughts rushed out of my heart, and the monster stories my mother-in-law told her during the chat became more real than ever. I heard that there have been murders in the surrounding area recently, and there are already several people who died. He died in the middle of the night, his body was full of thin holes, as if his body had been eaten away by countless bugs...

Huazhizi stepped on the stairs that had been in disrepair for a long time, and the stairs that had absorbed the moisture felt a little slippery and soft, as if stepping on many soft insects.

Such associations made her tremble all over.

The light from the bean-sized oil lamp tried its best to illuminate a small circle of darkness. This was a little bit of lamp oil begged from Mingtai. If she hadn't said that she would go downstairs to get honey, Mingtai probably wouldn't give it to her.

"Why don't you go get it during the day? It must be lazy, like a pretty girl." Even though he is an eight-year-old child, he has already shown such a sarcastic expression similar to that of an adult, with arrogance appearing on his smooth face The creases of the eyes, the eyes rolled up, probably learned the movement from the son of Jinya, full of self-righteous sharpness.

"It's not... just accidentally forgot." Hua Zhizi shrank her body in front of her younger brother. It was strange that she didn't have such respect when facing her father. Maybe it was because her father lacked the power of self-belief.

The light was blown slightly elongated by the wind, casting a black shadow with teeth and claws on the wall. The shape more terrifying than monsters can arouse the fear in anyone's heart. Hua Zhizi looked at the slowly approaching shadow behind him, and the hairs all over his body were covered with hairs. It exploded, and the hot sweat slipped out of the pores. The extreme fear made her teeth tremble, and her legs softened and leaned against the wall. She didn't even dare to look back to see what was approaching.

"Miss Huazhizi."

The deep male voice broke the girl's fear.

It is a human voice.

The sweat on Hua Zhizi's body was blown by the wind and turned into sticky cold sweat, and her hair was stuck to her cheeks. She shivered and looked back, and the oil lamp illuminated the old-fashioned and cold face of Ono Yamahara.

"It's me, Yamahara."

The man looked at her in the flickering light: "I heard a voice and thought it was a thief sneaking in, so I went down to have a look. I'm sorry to scare Miss Hua Zhizi."

As he said that, he looked over Huazhizi at the deep darkness below, and frowned: "Do you need me to accompany Miss Huazhizi down? It's dark down there."

Huazhizi showed an ugly smile that could not be recovered after being frightened: "No, don't bother Yamahara-kun, I just go to get some honey, and I will give it to Mingtai to send to Jinya-sama early tomorrow morning."

Yamahara Ono looked at her for a moment, probably thinking why she was asked to be a girl and so on, Hua Zhizi groaned in her heart, no matter what the question is, please don’t ask it, please leave quickly, whether it’s back to yourself Sleep in the room or do something...

I don't know what kind of clues Shan Yuan found on her face, he nodded after a brief silence: "Okay, please be careful, Ms. Hua Zhizi."

After he finished speaking, without any nostalgia for playing hard to get, he turned and went back upstairs.

Hua Zhizi listened to the steady footsteps of the man going up the stairs, and sighed slowly. This time the darkness didn't make her feel any more fear. The girl stepped steadily on the ground of the cellar, and raised the oil lamp to illuminate the surroundings.

This cellar is very narrow, and there are two huge tanks inside, each tank is as high as the neck of an adult male, Hua Zhizi brought a small bench on the side, and tightened the loops that bound the sleeves , put the oil lamp on the ground, and gently pushed away the huge wooden board covering the mouth of the cylinder.

The planks were very heavy, and there was a hoarse and piercing creaking sound in the cellar. The sound echoed in the cellar for a while. If there were any monsters, they should have climbed to the cellar door and peeped at the humans below with greedy eyes. up.

With great difficulty, the wooden board was pushed open a crack, and the sweet and strong aroma of honey came to the face. The flower branch held a long-handled wooden spoon, and tiptoed almost half of its body into it, before scooping up a spoonful of thick and rich flavor. honey, and poured it into the jar in his bosom.

The liquid that flows like gold pulls thin threads, some of which are frozen petals, which is to prove the source of the honey and also add to the beauty of the honey.

The plump and thin pink cherry blossom petals swirled and sank, wrapped in honey, and fell silently into the mouth of the altar.

It wasn't until a pot was almost filled that Hua Zhizi put down the long-handled wooden spoon and pushed the wooden board back to its original position.

If the wooden board is not sealed, such a big vat of honey will be full of worms, and the layers of worms will tightly adhere to the honey, drilling in and out of the golden honey, until the honey is squeezed out by the same kind. Inside, it slowly suffocated and merged with honey, turning into a rotten sticky thing.

When she was younger, the situation at home was not so bad. At that time, it was Qiaozi, who was five years older than her, who greeted the guests and took care of the honey jar. Her father always told Qiaozi to do these jobs. The wooden boards were tightly covered, and the honey vat was full of worms the next day.

So many, so many bugs, of all kinds, wriggling, desperately squeezed into the honey.

Until now, when Hua Zhizi thought of that scene, her whole body was still numb, the temperature from her fingertips to her feet was icy cold, and there seemed to be countless bugs burrowing into her back.

Qiaozi was beaten half to death by her father, and she had to drag her blood-stained arm to find a way to get the bugs out with her family. This was obviously impossible, so most of the jar of honey had to be sold at a very low price The situation at home has become precarious.

Hua Zhizi nervously checked the wooden board on the vat again to make sure it was sealed, then picked up the honey pot and oil lamp and walked back.

The light of the oil lamp swept across the wall, drawing the two silent large black vats out of strange shapes, looking at the black shadow on the wall, Hua Zhizi shivered slowly, quickly hugged the vats tightly, and tightened his neck Stumbled and climbed upstairs.