A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

In particular, Xue Li was the most touched. He is the only Chinese here, and as we all know, the biggest hobbies of Chinese people are two—farming and eating.Even if you just see the stove, the pots and kitchen utensils and dishes of this family of five, you already have a sense of happiness that you have something to eat.

Max followed into the door, looked around and patted him on the shoulder, motioning him to look the other way.

Xue Li looked in the direction of his finger, and immediately became excited again.On the side of the kitchen and in the middle of the staff corridor is another door, and he also recognizes the words on that door... cold storage.

"Great, it will be more convenient to hide something in the future." He sighed loudly.

"What do you want to store in the cold storage? It won't be the one-meter-high and over 100-pound thing I thought of?" Max immediately complained, saying such things in front of a former New York police officer, for fear that he would not listen come out?

"Storage, buddy, I said 'storage', you must have heard it wrong."

Xue Li blinked at him, and didn't care whether his Chinese homonyms would sound different to the American ears after being translated by the tavern. He just walked over and opened the door of the cold storage.

Like ordinary cold storage, after passing through a thermal insulation space and opening another door, what appears in front of you are shelves fixed on the four walls and the air supply vent on the top.The cold air permeates downward from the top, keeping the place at minus ten degrees Celsius, which is most suitable for restaurants and bars that require frequent feeding and discharging.

What's even more surprising is that there are already a lot of ingredients on the shelves. At a glance, you can recognize beef, lamb legs, chicken breasts, chicken legs, eggs, various fish, and food near the door with a relatively high temperature. Store broccoli, carrots, leafy greens, and more in high areas.

Although the owner of our tavern can't recognize pea sprouts, he is very familiar with all kinds of ingredients that have been picked or harvested!

"Wait a minute..." He suddenly thought of a question, turned his head and said to Max: "Everything in the tavern will not die and grow old, so the ingredients will not actually spoil, right?... Is this cold storage really Is it necessary to exist?"

"I'm also thinking about this question...but you can think of it as a sense of ritual that must be followed, or we can do an experiment later." Max said.

After visiting the kitchen, the two men came out contentedly, just as they saw the girls surrounding the other side.

"What else?" Xue Li was also very interested and hurried over to ask.

"Your place looks more and more like an ordinary bar, Xue." Amelia said with a smile, moved away, and asked the owner of the tavern to look in the direction that several people were facing.

It used to be a wall... Now there is more than [-] square meters of open space, and there are two billiard tables and two colorful machines.

Daige and Qido had never seen that thing before, so they were very curious; Xue Li recognized it immediately, and said to the ladies: "That's a video game console. It looks quite advanced..."

He must have played it when he was a child, otherwise the impression would not be so deep.However, the machine in front of me looks much smaller, with a larger screen and a more reasonable control area, and the light strip on the coin slot is also flashing.

...How compatible is this coin slot with "currency"?Why don't you try it with a Spanish silver coin?

"... Forget it, let's try the kitchen first. Let's make something to eat..." Xue Li said, but everyone was staring at him.

Max shook his head: "I haven't cooked anything myself."

Daige and Cheetos also shook their heads: "We rarely need to cook our own food."

In the end, Amelia moved her mechanical fingers and said with interest: "...I really want to develop some new foods that use blood as the main ingredient."

Xue Li looked around and finally sighed.

"Okay, friends... we have a very complete kitchen, but today we still have to eat takeaway from Max."

"...That means you can't do it, right?!"

Chapter 1

"Clang! Boom—boom—clang! Boom—boom—"

The watchmen who walked the streets and alleys had already knocked on the watch, and the sky was more than half dark, only a faint yellow glow remained in the west.On the road in the field in the distance, a few farmers were wearing double-breasted short gowns but shaved their heads; while walking back, they talked loudly about the recruitment of "Shuai's Mansion", feeling eager to try.

Not only them, most of the people inside and outside the town are going to close their businesses and go home to rest, but some people are about to go on the road.

In the outskirts, among a willow grove, a small courtyard opened the door.The Taoist priest in a yellow Taoist robe held the altar oil lamp in one hand, stepped on the steps of the door and sprinkled a lot of paper money outside the door, and took out a bell to jingle the bell.

The next scene is a bit scary, one after another, wearing the official uniform of the former dynasty, with paper talismans on their pale blue faces, with their hands drooping, their bodies upright and their feet thumping. Jumped out, lined up, and jumped out of town along the side of the road one after another.

The peasants who were returning home saw it from a distance, and they yelled in their hearts that it was the master who drove the corpse, so they hurriedly avoided it in advance, even the most stunned Lengtouqing did not dare to touch this bad luck.

Those who followed the group out of the door shook their heads and sighed.

Everyone says that death is like life, and death is like survival, but when this kind of thing really happens, most people feel unlucky, let alone driving corpses, even his Yizhuang rarely visits the door .Only those who have to do business at home will respectfully invite him, and most of them will not talk about things here, preferring to spend money on pubs and restaurants.

"Junior brother, be careful on the road." He instructed.

In the middle of the line, the yellow-robed Taoist priest who was ringing the bell turned his head, stroked his mustache, and revealed mischievous eyes under his round glasses, and said with a smile: "This journey is short, and it only takes about a month to go back and forth. Just work harder, don't need to be careful. There is a lot of chaos, and there is a lot of business, maybe I will come back soon to bother my brother."

"Hey, we brothers are still talking about whether to disturb or not." The senior brother patted the junior brother on the arm, stuffed a gourd into the cloth bag hanging on the side of his Taoist robe, and said, "Save it for drinking on the road."

"Wow, the wine is good, brother, you are really willing to part with it. I won't be polite to you!" The younger brother laughed and took out the gourd, opened the lid to smell it, and winked at the older brother.

Even though he has reached middle age, he still looks so lively in front of his senior brother.

But when he said goodbye and looked back, he became serious and professional again, sprinkled paper money in handfuls, rang the bell, and hummed in his mouth:

"...the heaven and the earth have righteousness, mixed with manifolds. The lower part is the river and the mountains, and the upper part is the sun and stars.... The dimension of the earth depends on it, and the pillars of heaven depend on it. The three cardinal principles are life, and morality is the root. ...Sorrowful and sad, I am happy for my country. Is there no other way, Yin and Yang can't be a thief....My heart is sad, and the sky is extremely beautiful. The philosopher's day is far away, and the punishment is in the past. The wind and the eaves show the book Read, the ancient road shines in color.... Yin people go on the road, and Yang people avoid it! Hey... hurry like a law!"

The art of expelling corpses originated in western Hunan, and it is a terrifying art that makes people who have died in a foreign land return to their hometowns, burrow into the soil for peace, and return fallen leaves to their roots.Although it is a good deed to help people return to their hometowns for burial, firstly, the actions of the dead on their own are really appalling;

In the eyes of practitioners like the Taoist priest in yellow, this is just another tiring job.First of all, jumping around with two legs together is almost as fast as a normal person walking; second, in order to prevent these big brothers from being exhausted and unable to move anymore, he has to go out at night; finally, he has to walk while walking. Sprinkle paper money and ring the bell to guide them.

Since he started this job, his legs have never been sore and sore; after a few business trips, he has to go home for a month or two to recuperate before starting again.

Bitter, tired!

But then again, how can you get rich in the world if you don't work hard?Over the years, he has saved more gold and silver than ordinary big bosses.

Seeing the younger brother take this "client" all the way far, the senior brother finally felt relieved, turned around and closed the door, intending to find something else to drink.

The last jug of wine at home was given to the younger brother just now.Although he is not a heavy drinker, he sometimes needs a drink or two to get through a wet night.

He walked through the long street that had gradually calmed down, and walked all the way to the center of the town.

Before he could reach the place full of shops and bright lights, another wall on the side of the road attracted his attention.

Take a closer look, isn't that the door of a restaurant?Although it is a wooden door with no windows, it is weird, but there is indeed a blue flag with the word "wine" hanging on the door.

"Newly moved in?"

Thinking so, he walked over to hold the handle of the wooden door and pushed hard.

There is no courtyard inside the door, it is directly a rather big room.There are dozens of sets of tables and chairs on the wooden floor, a long table facing the door, and a cabinet displaying various wine bottles behind it. It looks like the "Western-style bar" in the provincial capital. The wine flag outside the door is somewhat out of tune.

"Welcome! Please sit wherever you want."

Behind the long bar, Xue Li greeted him like this.Looking at the gray-haired, bushy-eyed guest, who was wearing a blue-and-black double-breasted jacket and cloth shoes, he secretly sighed, finally a foreigner came!

The guest on the opposite side also had similar emotions in his heart. He looked around and murmured to himself: "Why are they all foreign devils? Where are there so many foreigners in this town?"

It's not that he is afraid of foreigners, but that in the era he lives in...foreigners are more difficult to mess with than Chinese.Their warships can sail into your rivers to show off their power, and their nationals will attract a large number of diplomatic notes if they lose their hair in your place. They don’t need to pay for eating out in the city. If you have the kind, you can go to the embassy or consulate to ask !

For this situation, many people have adopted the same coping method as facing Yizhuang: "Respect ghosts and gods and keep them away."

The guest walked to the bar, looked left and right, sat on the raised bar chair, and bowed politely to Xue Li: "The shopkeeper, I haven't seen it before, he must be new to town, right?"

Seeing that he was not in a hurry to drink, Xue Li was also happy to chat with him: "I haven't moved, and I'm not in the town... You're welcome, sir. My surname is Xue, what's your name?"

"Miangui, my surname is Lin, Xingjiu, the folks call me 'Uncle Nine'... Wait, Boss Xue, what do you mean by 'not in town'?"

Suddenly, Uncle Jiu's eyes cleared up, and he turned his head to look to the left.

There, Amelia just lifted up her skirt and sat gracefully on the bar chair, stretched out her gray-black metal prosthetic hand to pick up a glass, and poured herself a glass of red wine before Xue Li entertained her.

"This... she is not human!"

The guest surnamed Lin shouted in his heart.At a glance, he found that the woman's face was pale, full of yin, sharp teeth, and pale shadow, she was clearly a ghost zombie; but she was acting as usual, her eyes were bright, she showed a satisfied expression when drinking, and her heartbeat was also loud. It is more powerful, as if it has more vitality than anyone else.

He came out this time just to drink, and he didn't wear a charm, what should he do...

Xue Li in front of him saw that he hadn't spoken for a long time, so he had no choice but to follow the previous words and say: "...Of course it is literally. Uncle Jiu, our tavern is not in your world, nor is it in the world of any other guests here; you are all Just got picked here for a reason."

"Oh, so why was I picked? I wasn't even the best of my classmates. Thanks."

Another person came over and politely thanked Xue Li who poured him a glass of wine.

Xue Li put down the bottle, and said helplessly: "...I also said, Mr. Keruien, I don't know exactly what the 'reason' is, at least for the time being."

He really didn't know until the problems of these two new guests were solved, and he could only guess according to the established rules that they both had special meanings in their respective worlds.

If they are the protagonists, then they probably have a tragic past that they don’t want to recall. Look at Max’s wife and child, Max’s wife and child, and even Mike’s wife. Yang up.Lori, the protagonist in another world, lost her mother when she was young. It is the same for her good sister Gibb to have parents or not. Only Kia can be regarded as a happy and complete family, which may be the reason why she was not drawn into the illusion by Freddie before.

Uncle Jiu also turned his head to look to the other side, and saw a thin black-haired young man taking off his tall western-style top hat, revealing his slightly curly black hair.Although the hair color and eye color are similar to those of Chinese people, the high nose bridge and deep sunken eye sockets still reveal his blood.In terms of appearance, although this person has a square face, his cheeks are sunken and the corners of his mouth are downturned, which is a standard of hard work; his brows are straight and almond eyes, big double eyelids and long eyelashes, he has an innocent and pure temperament.

As soon as he sat down, he held his glass of wine and began to chatter: "If there is anything special, it is probably that I am particularly annoying. When I was in school, I was obsessed with combining what I learned with crime. I think this may become a new discipline..."

"Here we go again..." On another table behind him, Gibb, who was reading with his head down, rubbed his temples and closed the book helplessly.Well, anyway, she was going to go home and study again, so just listen to this broken-mouthed guy talk for a while...

"...Sir Newton's theory of mechanics, Dr. Paley's surgery, and Dr. Fidelis' theory of doctor-physician relationship are the most important parts of criminal analysis. My colleagues also said that in the previous case they actually said Vampires did it. Vampires, as police officers in New York City, they believe in vampires instead of science!"

Mr. Corian continued talking, completely oblivious to the fact that several people in the tavern looked up at him, and then looked down again.

Chapter 2 Mooring a Lonely Boat Deep in the Reed Blossoms

Like everyone else in the tavern, Uncle Nine could not understand what this "Mr. Keruien" said.However, since the person sitting at the other end was obviously not a person, he still turned his head to Mr. Corinne, hoping to hear if there was anything that could support the tavern owner's statement.

Soon he regretted it, because this foreigner is really a talker.

Mr. Keruien soon began to talk about the doubts he found in the "vampire murder case" to support his view that "science should be applied to crime investigation and identification".Although he carefully avoided those scenes and pictures that were too bloody, it is obvious that his description is still too much...

Soon, everyone avoided him except Uncle Jiu who was too embarrassed to get away in time.

Only Amelia has been listening with interest, sipping the red wine in the glass, smiling and nodding from time to time.

Mr. Corian, who was encouraged, became even more interested. He simply jumped over Uncle Ninth in the middle to greet Amelia, jumped off the bar chair and walked over there, saluting her as a gentleman.

"Ma'am, I can see that you are interested in science, which is a rare quality. People in America are mostly in a superstitious frenzy these days, relying on self-righteous 'faith' to combat their fear of the unknown, rather than committing themselves to In science, with research and exploration to unravel the mysterious veil."

He said that when he took Amelia's hand, he seemed to be giving a kiss, but when he looked down and saw the shiny metal back of his hand, he didn't know what to say.

After thinking for a long time, he still lightly kissed the back of the steel finger, feeling a chill as expected.

"Good boy..." Amelia said with a smile, "I'm not that interested in science. What interests me is the other side. Tell me, have you ever seen a vampire?"

"Have you ever seen it? Ha, how can there be in this world... sucking, sucking blood..."

Mr. Corian, who raised his head, saw the teeth in this elegant lady's mouth, and was so shocked that he didn't even finish his sentence.

Uncle Jiu who was sitting there stood up abruptly, grabbed Mr. Corian's wrist and walked out. Before the bar owner Xue Li could say anything, he opened the door and disappeared into the darkness.

"...What should I do?" Max in the corner stood up and said, this has never happened before, a guest was taken away by a guest from another world?

Xue Li also shrugged, and said: "At least the tavern believes that this behavior is not an 'intentional injury', even objectively it will not cause any damage to Mr. Ichab Keruien... It should be fine, maybe the two When each guest interacts with each other, they can finally find out that what I say is true, thus building a deeper trust in us.”

"You're really looking for the best..." Amelia said slowly.

"How dare you say that! Why scare him!" The bar owner immediately retorted, "...do you vampires have any evil tastes?"

The always elegant and calm vampire elder really thought about it, and then nodded: "... yes, we usually prefer innocent children, the kind of eyes that still retain the color of dreams no matter what. people..."

On the other side, Ichab Corian, whose eyes were like dreams, was dragged out of the door by Uncle Jiu in a daze, before he even had time to ask any questions.

"...My God, a vampire, alive."

After standing for a long time, he said so.

Uncle Jiu kept staring at that door, and after seeing that no one else came out of it after a long time, he was relieved and said to this foreigner who didn't know what he meant, "You also just came to Renjia Town?"

"...What Renjia Town? Oh, isn't this New York?" Ichab touched his head, only to realize that he had left his top hat in that strange bar just now.

"Where is New York?" Uncle Jiu was more surprised than him. What the foreigner said seemed to be a foreign place name... It's not surprising, but he behaved as if he just came from that place called "New York". Arrived in China.

As a traditional Chinese who has lived in the southern province near the sea for decades, the closest country or region he knows to China is Nanyang, and it is at least necessary to take a boat from the provincial capital to Xiamen and then to Nanyang. a month.

In any case, it is impossible for a young foreigner to be in "New York" before entering the house, and come to Renjia Town after leaving the house.

Uncle Jiu stroked his chin, thought carefully, then raised his head and asked, "... You were here before, weren't you?"

"No...I was recently put on long leave by the sheriff because of the 'vampire' case. My dormitory was also taken by them. I have no place to live in New York. I was looking for a house...just then I found out This bar, so I'll spend the night here for the time being." Ikab straightened up and looked around, and found that this was indeed not the city that was bustling all the time.

The atmosphere here is also not like his hometown... Although he himself did not stay there, he came to New York to become a disappointing police officer, but his father was once an authoritative person in the local area, and he was quite wealthy.

The courtyard walls on the side of the road, the blue tiles on the eaves, the stone road under the feet, and the distant yelling and selling sounds, everything is so fresh and strange.

Even the seasoned Uncle Jiu couldn't help but blush a little at this time. In order to relieve the embarrassment, he pointed to the door again and asked, "How many times have you been here? Before, you can go back to, uh, 'New York normally. '?"

"The third time... before I opened the door, it was New York. I thought it was an underground bar in New York."

As Ichab was speaking, he suddenly clapped his hands, opened his eyes and shouted, "The boss said it was true! He said that the bar is not in this world, and he also said that 'Only the guests agree that other people can go to the guest's world'." Category."

"...Did he say anything else?"

"...I should have said it, but I only thought he was joking..."

[21. No. 21]

For this reason, Uncle Jiu also realized that he might have lost his mind.For the safety of this young foreigner, he thought for a while, then followed the other person's words and said, "Come with me, and I will send you back when I go back to get the talisman."

Thinking about the vampire with steel arms in the bar, Ichab couldn't help but shudder, forced a smile on his face, and said in a low voice: "How about...wait a little longer? I didn't like it very much at first. That hat."

"That hat is pretty good." Uncle Jiu responded, beckoning him to follow: "Since you don't want to go back...you can stay with me for now, after all, I am also responsible for you falling into this situation."