Urban Oddities: Soul Contract

Chapter 22 Mother

Huo Minghai's face suddenly changed when he saw the hundred-yuan bill penetrated his mother's hand.

Du Jiajun counted the banknotes and said it was not enough, took away the necklace and bracelet, and when he wanted to get the small silver earrings, Huo Minghai raised his hand to stop it, and the outstretched hand also penetrated Du Jiajun's arm and shot into the air.

"how so?!"

Huo Minghai stared blankly at his hand, the clouds in the sky moved, and the moonlight shone down, he found that his hand was actually translucent!

Impossible...impossible! !

Huo Minghai turned back and rushed into the room, pushed open the bedroom door, there was a little boy lying there on the kang, his little face was as white as snow-white by the moonlight.

The heart was finally overloaded, and Huo Minghai let out a shrill cry...

"Ming Hai? Ming Hai?"

The body was shaken violently, Huo Minghai opened his eyes, and the passengers around him stared at him as if they were insane.

The train rattled, Huo Minghai came back to his senses, and sat up all of a sudden.

"It's so loud, the whole car can hear it." The fat woman complained to him, coaxing the crying baby.

"Have a nightmare?" Du Jiajun wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Huo Minghai touched his face, but finally shook his head.

For the next time, Huo Minghai didn't sleep again, but Du Jiajun leaned against him and fell asleep.

The city is changing with each passing day, and it changes every year. After the two got off the train, they took a taxi to the entrance of the alley. Many buildings in the alley were rebuilt, the old ones were demolished, and new ones were built. He was stopped by Du Jiajun.

"Damn, did you really forget how to leave?"

There are big discount posters hanging in the canteen, a place I just passed by a few minutes ago.

The cobbler didn't admit that he was lost, so he stiffened his neck and asked Zhuge Liang: "Then how do you get there?"

Zhuge Liang raised his hand to stop a passerby, and threw him the question.

"Oh, it's very simple, turn left at Alley C, walk 400 meters and turn right."

Zhuge Liang raised his eyebrows: "Look, it's that simple."

The cobbler moaned: "My lord is wise!"

"Do you know where you lost?"

"I beg your lord to advise."

"Three cobblers are against Zhuge Liang, but you are a cobbler, how can you be against Zhuge Liang?"

The cobbler walked around behind Zhuge Liang, raised his knees and pressed against his waist.

Zhuge Liang: "Oh! It's broken!" Limply drooping on Stooge's body.

The cobbler snorted: "So weak?"

"It's good to have you here." I blew a breath against his ear.

Cobbler: "...I'm almost too weak."

Before the two of them approached the residential building, the cry of the child was heard, and at the same time, there was the roar of the man. The little boy was playful, left his homework without writing, and was caught by his father when he ran out.

The belt snapped off, and the little boy curled up on the ground.

Seeing that the crowd of onlookers gradually increased, the man hit him a few times, put away his belt, grabbed his son's slender arm, and dragged him home.

The little boy lay on the ground and refused to get up, crying louder and louder, the man walked out a few steps like dragging a sack, upset by the noise, his anger rushed to his head, he threw off the belt and slapped it a few times.

"Cry again? Cry again, I will beat you to death!"

The man was divorced early in his life, and he worked greedily from morning to night to earn money to support his son, but the son had books and couldn't read well, so he wanted to go out to play all day long. An aunt saw the little boy was beaten miserably, and wanted to persuade her, but was dragged back by the neighbors.

"Children can't do without beating, and they are easy to learn to be bad."

"I saw him go to the Internet cafe to play games yesterday, hey, this kid."

Huo Minghai was terrified when he saw it, and was about to go over and talk about it, but Du Jiajun dragged him back, shook his head, and dragged him to the small building.

The man tugged at his son: "Can't get up?!"

"Woooooo!"

"Go back and do your homework!" The man dragged his son towards the small building. Seeing this, Du Jiajun pulled Huo Minghai to make way for him. The little boy cried loudly. The man dragged him up a few stairs. Temper, couldn't help being furious.

"Are you playing temper with your father? I'll beat you to death, you little bastard!"

Snapped!Snapped!

There were red marks on the thin arms, the belt rose and fell again, the corner of the little boy's mouth was broken, and a trace of bright red dripped down.

The belt was raised again, and the little boy curled up holding his head, but the expected pain did not come.

The little boy opened his eyes secretly, and saw a big brother holding his father's wrist tightly.

"Stop hitting." Huo Minghai stared back at the man's gaze. The man snorted coldly, shook off Huo Minghai, picked up the little boy and walked upstairs. When he turned the corner, the little boy glanced at Huo Minghai .

In order to avoid embarrassment, Du Jiajun dragged Huo Minghai upstairs slowly when the father and son were far away. Huo Minghai's home is on the fifth floor, and the door god tablets in the corner are all dusty, and no one has taken care of them for a long time. Not to be so negligent, Huo Minghai only felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet, he let go of his clenched fist, moved to the doorbell, and pressed it.

"Who?"

The door opened, and when the man saw Huo Minghai, he was taken aback for a moment, and then showed a very strange expression.

"What's the matter?" the man asked.

Huo Minghai felt cold all over and couldn't speak.

Du Jiajun asked, "Do you live here?"

"Correct."

"How many years have you lived?"

The man seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly asked, "Are you here to find someone?"

Huo Minghai's eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded and said yes.

The man waved his hand impatiently, and burst out a sentence: "There is no Huo Minghai here!"

Huo Minghai was wondering if his mother had moved away, but when he heard the man's words, he almost jumped up as if he had been whipped.

Even Du Jiajun was stunned.

Obviously, someone has come to look for Huo Minghai, and more than one, otherwise, the man would not have formed such a conditioned reply.

Seeing that his expression was wrong, the man waved his hand again: "I don't know Huo Minghai, and I don't know how to contact him. If you need anything, go to the landlord!"

Said, to close the door, Huo Minghai hurriedly opened the door, anxiously said: "Did someone come to look for him?"

"Correct."

"several?"

"two."

"who are they?"

"I don't remember! It happened a year ago!" He slapped Huo Minghai's hand away and closed the door with a bang.

Huo Minghai stood there dumbfounded, his body trembling slightly.

The man lived in this place for at least a year, or even longer, and a year ago, two people came to Huo Minghai separately.

They knew about Huo Minghai's home, but they didn't know that he had already gone to S city to work.

Who are they?

Where does mother live?

He went downstairs with a lot of worries, went out the anti-theft door, and was knocked on the head by something.

A small stone rolled to the ground, Huo Minghai covered his head, looked up, wondering where it fell from?

Just watching, a bigger stone fell from the sky. Du Jiajun protected Huo Minghai to avoid it. The big stone hit the ground, and a pile of debris burst out. It turned out to be a lump of mud in the flowerpot!

The little boy was lying on the anti-theft window on the fifth floor looking around. Seeing their attention, he threw another object with his hands. Huo Minghai saw it, okay, it's another big lump of mud. This kid is so naughty, he deserves to be taught by his father ah!

Just in time, the man's roar sounded again, and the little boy shrank his head back timidly, being driven away by his father to do his homework.

Du Jiajun scratched the mud with his feet, squatted down suddenly, and squeezed out a crumpled business card from the mud.

Sweep off the mud on it, and the words on it become clear.

Jiantong Hardware Equipment Co., Ltd., general manager, Bu Tianxiang.

Du Jiajun folded the business card into small squares along the fold.

"I guess it was used to place the bottom of the table, but he wrapped it in the mud and threw it down..." Du Jiajun was talking, and suddenly his eyes lit up. Huo Minghai was still thinking, and his eyes widened after he understood.

Bu Tianxiang once went to the little boy's home and handed him a business card?

If he came to look for Huo Minghai...

"Do you know Bu Tianxiang?"

"I don't know you." Huo Minghai said, and dialed the number on the business card. After connecting, an unfamiliar male voice came.

"Hello. Who is this?"

"Manager Bu?"

"Well, I am, I'm in a meeting, or you..."

"I'm Huo Minghai!!!"

Huo Minghai was anxious, and unconsciously, his voice was very loud. All of a sudden, the passing neighbors looked at him.

It was interrupted abruptly, there was silence over there, and it took a while before the sound came.

There is only one simple word: "Oh."

Huo Minghai was afraid that he would hang up the phone, so he hurriedly asked: "What can you do with me?"

Bu Tianxiang let out a chuckle: "What's the matter? Huh, it's too late!" After finishing speaking, no matter what Huo Minghai's reaction was, he hung up the phone, and Huo Minghai called again, but the other party set up a voicemail...

In the evening, when Bu Tianxiang went out of the gate after a busy day, he saw two men running towards him, one of them bumped into him ignorantly, apologizing, and kept walking towards the company.

Bu Tianxiang wondered in his heart, these two people don't know each other very much, is there something urgent to do?

The company was his father's property. Although Bu Tianxiang was named the general manager, he actually took care of the entire company. The more he thought about it, the more worried he became.

"Ah, this is it." The security guard said to them, and then turned to Bu Tianxiang, "Manager Bu, Mr. Huo and Mr. Du came to you and said they have a contract to discuss."

Talking about the contract is false, but looking for someone is true. Bu Tianxiang didn't expect Huo Minghai to come to the door, and couldn't help but look him up and down. The man has sword eyebrows and starry eyes, a tall and straight figure, and he shows extraordinary temperament just standing, Bu Tianxiang pondered This person doesn't look simple, and I'm afraid he has a lot of background, so he stretched out his hand and said with a smile, "Mr. Huo, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Du Jiajun pointed to his side: "He is."

Bu Tianxiang turned to him cleverly: "Oh, hello, hello."

Huo Minghai: "..."

In the reception room, Bu Tianxiang made a pot of Tieguanyin himself, and the three of them drank half of the pot silently. Seeing that they were silent, Bu Tianxiang put the empty cup away, and said seriously, "Mr. Huo came to see me, what's the matter?"

"What... what's the matter?" Huo Minghai was suddenly at a loss, he was about to ask Bu Tianxiang this question, but he didn't expect the other party to ask him instead?

The three looked at each other, Du Jiajun put down his cup and said, "A year ago, you went to see him?"

Bu Tianxiang nodded, and looked at Huo Minghai with a puzzled look: "But my father died a year ago."

"...Your father?" Huo Minghai felt a little pain in his head.

"That's right." Bu Tianxiang also looked blank, looking at Huo Minghai's appearance, he seemed to know nothing?

Du Jiajun's thinking was clear, and he quickly figured out a clue: "Your father, let you go to Huo Minghai?"

Bu Tianxiang nodded, refilled the cup, and then continued: "Originally, my sister should have gone there, but she couldn't be found, and was scared back by the residents."

Huo Minghai and Du Jiajun thought of the vicious father of the little boy at the same time.

"Then I went over and chatted with him. He said that the last batch of residents were a young couple, probably Huo Minghai and his girlfriend, but they moved away early." Bu Tianxiang said, looking at Huo Minghai, "Later , I went to the landlord and read the records, only then did I know that the couple was not you."

Huo Minghai's cold sweat dripped down his chin.

The previous residents of the little boy and his son were a couple. Who were the previous residents of the couple?

Are there his and his mother's names in the guest list?

In other words, which batch of residents did his and his mother's names appear in?

As time went by, the so-called house had changed several batches of residents, and Huo Minghai didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Bu Tianxiang sighed deeply: "Unfortunately, it's useless for you to come back now."

"Why did your father look for him?" Du Jiajun asked.

"I don't know." Bu Tianxiang spread his hands, "My dad was dying at that time, and he only said that he came over to talk about something, and I didn't ask much."

Huo Minghai was curious: "Your father knows me?"

"Of course I do!" Bu Tianxiang looked at him strangely, "Don't you know my dad?"

"His name is...?" Du Jiajun asked.

"Bu Qiankun." Bu Tianxiang replied.

Bu Qiankun was diagnosed with a terminal illness in the early years, relying on precious medicinal materials to hang his life. Even with the medicine, Bu Qiankun's health was getting worse every year. Just a year ago, Bu Qiankun seemed to have a premonition, and while he was awake, At this time, he ordered his children to look for Huo Minghai, and told them to bring him to the ward, but before he could be found, Bu Qiankun let go and went west.

Du Jiajun looked at Huo Minghai, who was frowning and thinking deeply.

"Mr. Huo, Dad must have something important to look for, but unfortunately, Dad is no longer here. As for what, I don't know. If it's a debt or something, it's fine." Bu Tianxiang laughed softly, Looking at the wall clock and looking at them again, it seems to be the end of the conversation.

"It's getting late, we have to catch the car, so we're leaving." Du Jiajun got up tactfully, seeing Huo Minghai in a daze, he secretly teased him.

Huo Minghai seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly asked: "Is he... from a small mountain village?"

Bu Tianxiang nodded and said the name of the village.

The Bu surname is relatively rare, not to mention the fairy-like name of Bu Qiankun, it's hard not to be impressed.

But Huo Minghai had no impression of this person.

Even Lushui Village, where Bu Qiankun lived before, was the first time he heard of it.

Intuition told him that Zheng Chuanchuan and the others were also from Lushui Village.

Zheng Chuanchuan and the others died of illness, and Bu Qiankun was no exception.

On the return train, Huo Minghai stared out the dark window in a daze.

Du Jiajun pushed him: "Go to sleep, I have to go back to work."

Huo Minghai shook his head, took out his phone to check the map, and when he wanted to search, Huo Minghai remembered that he forgot to ask which province and which city the village was located in.

Why don't you ask Bu Tianxiang in the morning?Huo Minghai thought to himself.

Du Jiajun glanced at the phone screen, then looked at Huo Minghai's unpredictable expression, immediately guessed what he was thinking, and said with a smile: "If you ask him, you might as well ask Zheng Chuanchuan."

Speaking of Zheng Chuanchuan, Huo Minghai was still a little afraid of him. This doctor made him feel like a scientific madman. Huo Minghai always had the illusion of a guinea pig in front of him.

Huo Minghai spread his hands and looked at the short lifeline. If the lifeline could represent a person's lifespan, then Huo Minghai should have died when he was a child.

Recalling the scene in the dream, Huo Minghai only felt his scalp go numb.

The lifeless child lying on the kang at that time was himself!

But, this is just a dream.

There was a sharp corner on the iron frame of the window glass. Huo Minghai stretched out his finger and scratched it hard. After a burst of burning pain, bright red blood beads appeared on his finger.

There is pain, blood, and temperature.

As if to prove something, Huo Minghai heaved a sigh of relief, in a daze, Du Jiajun picked up his hand, put the injured finger on his lips and licked it lightly, scraped the wound with his wet and hot tongue, wiped away the bright red, the blood gradually stopped Yes, Du Jiajun folded the paper towel into a long strip and wrapped it around Huo Minghai's finger, then tied it tightly with transparent glue.

"Paste the delivery note and you can send it." Huo Minghai blushed and shook the big stick.

"Send it."

"Will anyone want it?"

"Have."

"Who?"

"I."

"Hey, take it, you can still roll the noodles, and return it to me when you get tired of playing."

"Okay." Du Jiajun took a picture of the big stick with his mobile phone, and Huo Minghai secretly logged on to Weibo, and he found out about Du Jiajun's latest news.

Handsome Jun: Look, big stick! (laughing out loud)

Facts have proved that the quality of the fans to see the essence through the phenomenon is very high. In addition to the big stick to steal the scene, the hands held by the two became the focus of discussion.

To be precise, it's not a handshake. Huo Minghai's hand was just held by Du Jiajun to take a photo. In the eyes of fans, it became a symbol of passionate love. It was even reposted on the official Weibo of a corrupt woman. The number of fans rose steadily, and he didn't dare to read the comments anymore, so he silently closed Weibo and continued to search Lushui Village online.

All clues point to Lushui Village.

The search results are almost all the place names made up by the author of the novel. Huo Minghai clicked on a few articles and read them quickly.

After modifying the keywords, Huo Minghai found more things. Huo Minghai read them one by one, and finally clicked into a post of "Talk about your supernatural experience".

Among them, one of the latest replies was pushed to the front page: "Last week's experience was horrible. I went on an adventure with a few buddies and camped in the wild at night. I was sleeping soundly when I was suddenly woken up by my buddies and told me to watch it. Xiaoxi, when I ran over, the water turned green! I looked carefully with the flashlight and found that it was not the water turning green, but a section of green stuff buried in the mud. I was afraid it was a boa constrictor, so I dare not Going to touch, when we were about to go back to the camp, a white fog suddenly appeared in the creek... There were many people walking towards our camp in the fog, a fire was lit outside the tent, my buddies and I ran back and sat by the fire Watching, the group of people saw the fire, instead of avoiding it, they walked straight towards us, but when they came to the edge of the fire, the figures faded, like a transparent fog, passing through us and the tent and walking forward... …I went back to the city and got seriously ill, and the sorceress said that I encountered something unclean, and I found out later that I encountered a ghost soldier to excuse me!"

"It's too mysterious, writing novel jokes?" Du Jiajun was curious.

"Hey, who knows." Huo Minghai glanced again and closed the post.

At that time, Huo Minghai did not associate this text with Lushui Village. He never thought that he would meet something even more terrifying soon...

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