A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

In front of the bar, Selene was taking out a diamond from the pocket of her leather coat and handing it to Gibb with a troubled face.

"Why is it a diamond, it's still an illegal diamond, and it's so big! Where can I sell it and exchange it for money?" the girl said.

Selene shrugged her shoulders like Xue Li and Max's laziness, shirked responsibility and said, "You have to ask Elder Amelia... Her main property is these things, and a small amount of cash has been spent on herself last time. It's over, other human currency assets are being managed by the foundation..."

Amelia also giggled on the other side, gloating, "Girl, you're a vampire, don't tell me you can't handle a diamond, it's too shameful."

"Thank you, I still want to roughly abide by the rules of human society... and I don't want to get into something that might expose my identity!" Gibb scratched his hair and said discouragedly, but still took the diamond.

Amelia has a point too... just a diamond, it's done.Jason probably didn't have time to kill that guy Miles last time, right?Gee, what a pity.But this time it will be of use to him...

Ikab, who had just entered the door, immediately retreated when he heard the conversation of these women, especially after seeing them hear the door knock and look back together.

So these three are all vampires?Isn't this place a haunted place?

Uncle Jiu's performance was much calmer. He walked straight behind the three ladies, drew out the mahogany sword in the bag, and stopped his movements again.

"What are you doing?" Gibb asked in confusion.

Selene was much clearer. She stared at Uncle Jiu and explained his actions: "He wants to use that wooden sword to deal with us, and try to see if it is really impossible to attack or hurt other people here. .”

"That's right... now it seems that it's really not possible." Ninth Uncle took the mahogany sword back generously, sat down on the bar chair next to Amelia, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I'm relieved too. Xue Boss, bring me a jug of wine."

Chapter 5 The boat passes through the old country and the time changes

"Wow, people from 1799."

When Uncle Jiu was drinking in front of the bar, Gibb and two other vampires surrounded Ichab, looking at him with great interest.

Following Gibb's voice, Selene also said: "In 1799, I forgot what I was doing at that time, probably hunting werewolves somewhere."

"Ha, haha, ladies, it seems that you are also from a different time." Ichab tried his best to suppress the fear in his heart, blinking his eyes nervously.

Gibb nodded: "Yeah, my world is 2003. So is Selene's."

"I think his feeling is probably the same as when I just woke up from a round of hibernation." Amelia smiled and said, "You know, when I woke up, I found that human beings can fly into the sky now, but put me Surprised. There are other inventions in the past 100 years, television, telephone, rocket, satellite, atomic bomb..."

"Wait, wait a minute. People can fly into the sky? So the world you live in is indeed advancing in science and technology... and at the same time, supernatural things like vampires and werewolves also exist?" Ikab immediately asked questions.

As if hearing something very interesting, Amelia raised her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth, and said with a smile: "Why do you think these two things are opposite? As far as I know... science is only used to describe The "ruler" of the laws of the world, not the truth itself. Even those scientists who first learned of our existence will only actively verify our existence and try to explain our origin with existing theories, and will not subconsciously Deny."

"Of course it is because science is empirical and logical, while supernatural power fundamentally denies material evidence and turns to blind speculation. Doesn't the so-called 'supernatural' mean 'not produced in a natural environment'," Possess unnatural powers'?"

When it came to this topic, Ichab's words immediately became fluent, as if he was not afraid at all, and even began to refute the vampire with steel arms in a slightly fiercer tone.

Amelia raised her legs, moved the index finger of her mechanical prosthetic hand, tapped her side face, and continued: "...Is there any more effective proof than 'actual existence'? You saw our In a flash, our existence is no longer just blind speculation, is it? ... But if it makes you feel better ... there are studies that can explain this. 'Genetics', is science enough?"

"Uh...what's 'genetics'?"

The science expert from 1799 touched his head and asked.

Of course he didn't know that the concept of "hereditary factor" was not first proposed by the geneticist Mendel until the 19s.Scientists didn't name "genes" for the first time until the early 60th century.

At the bar on the other side, Uncle Jiu frowned at the glass of wine in front of him.

"What kind of wine is this?" He sniffed it, then put down his glass and asked.

"Bourbon whiskey, American wine... Are you not used to it? I'll find you a bottle of Chinese wine." Xue Li replied.

Uncle Jiu sniffed it again, looked back at Ikab over there, and shook his head: "That's not necessary, I drank a lot of double-steamed wine, three-flower wine, and Wujiapi wine, so it's okay to drink fresh ones." good."

As he said that, he raised his glass and took a sip of the liquid in the glass. To his surprise, he felt that it was not bad, so he took another big sip.

There is also a plate of pickled olives provided by Boss Xue on the bar counter.Uncle Jiu took a sip of the wine and an olive. When he ate happily, he talked more.

He said to Xue Li: "Boss Xue's tavern is really good, no wonder it is so popular in other 'worlds'."

"That's not to say... there are still a little fewer customers." Xue Li looked up, and saw that the dozens of tables in the tavern were more than half empty.Is it welcome to have no more than five regular guests?Daig and Cheetos are free enough to go to Sao Paulo to apply for driving school.

"Oh? People can enter, ghosts can also enter, so there will be fewer guests?" Uncle Jiu smiled, and glanced at the vampires intentionally or unintentionally.

"It's different. The guests are chosen by the tavern itself. In a world, only one or a few specific people can see its door. Although you may not understand, but I think it currently chooses the 'protagonist'. "Xue Li replied.

"I also love to listen to Cantonese opera. How can I not understand what the "protagonist" means? But this time, Boss Xue, you may be wrong. I, Lin Jiu, have never done anything important in my life. I am nothing more than an incompetent Taoist priest. A little bit of Taoism... It's not my job to guide alchemy, and it's not my job to harvest yin and yang. Only the art of talismans and seals may be a little bit familiar to me. Even if I try my best, I can only work for a town. Who in the city still knows me, Lin Jiu? Let alone a world..."

Uncle Jiu shook his head, and took another sip of wine.

He is not dissatisfied with his own life... There are tens of millions of people in the world, and there are only a few who can achieve great things. Most people travel all day for three meals and one night.

His board and lodging was not a problem, he didn't freeze and starve to death like the poor people outside the town, and his body was not collected. In terms of career, he accumulated a lot of virtue and was respected by the whole town; Either way, he can be said to have lived a complete life.

But people are like this... want to have it when you don't have it, and want more when you have it. Even Taoists are not exempt.

"That's not how the 'story' is written." Xue Li pointed at Gibb, "That young girl is just an ordinary high school student, just because she stood in the way of a murderer, she was killed. Forced into the 'story'... Now that she is no longer a human being, she looks a little special, but I'm sure there must be more special things happening in her world. Do you know that your Ninth Uncle didn't become the protagonist in any special story?"

"Huh? She used to be human? Then how did she become a 'vampire'?" Uncle Jiu didn't seem to focus on the main character, but quickly turned to another matter Xue Li mentioned, his body Leaning forward, he asked in a low voice.

Xue Li shrugged: "She was killed by hell demons... she had to accept the blood of a vampire to survive. But from then on, she can only be a vampire forever."

Hearing this, Uncle Jiu fell into deep thought, and answered after a long time: "Suck blood for a living, and turn people injured by them into the same. It sounds like a first-class zombie...but the mind is still there, and the behavior As usual, it is clear that the soul is still intact, difficult to understand, difficult to understand."

Over the years, as a Taoist priest, he has experienced many incidents that are difficult for ordinary people to understand, and it is not uncommon for him to see zombies.

In Taoism, people have three souls and seven souls, the soul is clear and the soul is turbid, the soul is stupid, the soul is good and the soul is evil; the three souls are in charge of the spiritual wisdom, all thoughts are from the three souls, and the seven souls are in charge of the body. , What you want and what you want are determined by the seven souls.After death, the soul has been separated from the body, but the breath will not stop after death, the seven souls will not dissipate, and the body can still move, so they prey on humans and animals according to their instinctive thirst for blood and yang, and they are called zombies.

However, if he turned into a zombie, he would basically deny his relatives, understand human language, and even lose his mind; how could he be like the three female vampires over there, who would still be interested in molesting young handsome men?

This foreigner's zombie is really interesting, and people can't help but want to find out.

"Uncle Jiu, you don't seem to like vampires very much?" At this moment, the tavern owner asked again.

Uncle Jiu came back to his senses, his eyes were lightning-like under his thick and thick eyebrows, he slightly raised his head, and said, "You call them 'vampires'... have they ever sucked human blood? Human food?"

"Two of them must have smoked, and the other is not sure." Xue Li said, "This is their nature, just like tigers in the mountains hurting people, crocodiles eating people in the water, when there are new users upstream of the food chain That’s when it happens.”

"Then you must have heard two idioms, 'seek skin with a tiger' and 'work for a tiger'." Although he didn't understand what a "food chain" was, Uncle Jiu could understand what Xue Li wanted to express, and immediately responded tit for tat.

"Not to mention anything else... the 'tiger' in these two idioms does not necessarily refer to a real tiger." Xue Li thought of an old guy in the wasteland world who liked to wear talcum powder, and couldn't help shaking his head. Poured another cup for Uncle Jiu.

Uncle Jiu was also at a loss for words, but after pondering for a long time, he still shook his head: "Manpower is limited, and after all, I am still an individual."

"...It's up to you. I didn't expect all the guests in the tavern to maintain a good relationship. But..." Xue Li screwed up the bottle, and also stared straight at Uncle Jiu: "I said it before , now I have to say it again...all the guests in the tavern are my friends. Even if you may have any disagreements with each other, I hope that at least the 'guests' will not act hostile to each other, otherwise I can only let The person involved will never be found here again."

"Haha...you're not young, you have good manners. That's fine, Boss Xue, I really want to make friends with you." Uncle Jiu laughed and raised his glass to the owner of the tavern.

He thought, sorry friend.If these vampires really did something in his world or the world of the little foreigner Ikab...then even if he never came here again, he would have to do something serious.

That was the price he was willing to pay for it.

On the other side of the table surrounded by beautiful vampires, Ichab, who was sitting on pins and needles, had completely forgotten the threat of these fangs to him.

He read Gibb's high school biology textbook in high spirits, exclaiming "it's amazing" from time to time.

The development of science in the past eighteen centuries is nothing compared to the next two centuries.It turns out that in the next two centuries, human beings have begun to analyze themselves, analyze the world, and even enter the so-called "god's domain", and begin to manipulate the generation, growth, aging and death of life.

This is the greatness of science!This is a triumph of science!

Gibb watched the expression on his face and shook his head slightly.

I have to admit that what Amelia said is correct... There is really a dreamy sparkle in this man's eyes, which endows his already handsome face with an extra special temperament.

It's just too gloomy, not her style... Why does he always feel gloomy than a vampire!

Chapter 6 Frost Falls Cold River Waves

It seemed to Ichab lately that everyone in the town seemed to know him well.

When he went out this morning, even the small fish vendor didn't avoid his sight anymore, he was still smiling at him, and greeted him, "Mr. Ke, are you going out?" He had to stop and salute seriously.

Not only ordinary people on the street, but also the local "nobles"...that is, the "squires" in Uncle Jiu's mouth, they always like to talk to him and ask him questions that have been asked so many times that they already know the answer : Did you eat, what did you eat, did you eat well?Where do you live now?After he said, "Now I live in Uncle Nine's", he nodded knowingly and said a few words in half-baked English: "Uncle Nine! I see, I see."

After knowing what "forensic science" he was doing, most people were surprised that this foreigner actually likes to do scribbling. Isn't this a lowly slave?It made him have to explain for a long time. In this day and age, forensic science is a serious science in the West, and the people who study this science are also upper-class gentlemen.

Of course, he also saw these things in the books that Gibb found for him. He is not sure about the status of forensic medicine in the 20th century...

Besides the townspeople, Uncle Jiu couldn't hold back his talkativeness anymore, and asked him when his vacation would end.It's been more than a month, and I haven't seen you go back to handle the case!

"The sheriff didn't say... Anyway, this is not the first time. I can go back whenever I want." Ikab said triumphantly.

Uncle Jiu hummed and smoked his pipe, thinking that this kid is still young, but in fact, isn't that just "if you don't want to go back, it's better not to go back"...

The reason why I suddenly brought up this topic today is because his junior brother has arrived again... In addition to people, there is also a pile of "luggage" that also arrives, occupying all the rooms in the small courtyard as soon as he entered.If Ikab still doesn't go back, he can only squeeze the two of them together, or ask his junior to sleep in his room.

Fortunately, his junior brother didn't care, and even took the initiative to ask the foreigner to sleep in a room.

It wasn't until the next morning that the younger brother who came out with dark circles couldn't help but regret it.

Ichab was still behind him and said excitedly: "Master Dao, I think you should use spells, sounds and special smells to trigger the stress response of the corpse's nervous system. I have read the Italian Galvani's " On Electricity in Muscle Movement", and agreed with him that bioelectricity is the signal that drives animals to move their limbs to perform various behaviors. Move the muscles. The limbs of the corpse can’t move too freely, and can only jump, which should be the reason, because the nervous system gradually dies as the corpse decays, and the corpse that is too corrupted can’t move the corpse..."

"Yes, yes." The junior brother wearing glasses replied with blank eyes. He usually thought that he had a lot of words... Unexpectedly, there is a sky beyond the sky, and there are people beyond people.

Uncle Jiu, who was drinking tea in the front hall, couldn't help laughing at this scene, and quickly asked the two to sit down and drink tea.

The scalding tea finally blocked Ikab's mouth. Following Uncle Jiu's example, he used the cup lid to push away the broken leaves and froth, and sipped while blowing lightly.

Seeing the foreigner like this, Uncle Jiu and Junior Brother looked at each other and smiled.

Different from other foreigners in China in this era... This Mr. Ichab Keruien finally looks like a human being, rather than a high-ranking "foreign master" who treats Chinese people as another species.He is willing to learn about Chinese culture, and will not classify it as "ignorant" and "backward"; even if the act of expelling corpses appears directly in front of him, he is just curious to explore the principles behind it, without shouting "The Chinese engage in barbaric witchcraft".

Such a young man is liked no matter what country he is from.

"What's the matter, are you still not used to drinking?" Uncle Jiu waited until Ikab put down the glass before asking him.

Ichab breathed out a breath of heat, and smiled with his teeth showing: "...I've gotten used to it after drinking it for so long, and I'm slowly able to taste the fragrance."

It was the first time for the younger brother to meet foreigners. At this time, he drank a cup of tea to relieve the fatigue from sleepless nights, regained his energy, and asked curiously: "What do you foreigners usually drink?"

"A lot, besides the English brewed tea, there are also coffee, hot cocoa, milk, soda and so on."

Uncle Jiu also listened carefully to Ikabu's words, and slapped his legs: "It's just right, Master Ren invited me to the western-style teahouse in the town tomorrow to talk about things, why don't you come with me, Ikabu, so I won't be ashamed. "

His junior immediately laughed and said, "Ah, senior brother, you still have such a good face."

"What's so strange? A person has a face, but a tree has a skin. But you have four eyes. You are already at the age of being a master, and you are still so unprofessional." Uncle Jiu didn't feel that there was anything wrong at all, but turned around and scolded Junior brother is here.

The four-eyed Taoist adjusted his glasses and shook his head: "Don't tell me, I went to Qian's Village this time and saw a child who had no father or mother, and lived on the aid of his neighbors. He was clever and immobile. He is crooked, willing to work and not rigid, just the material to learn this trade. If he goes well this time, I will take him back to the thatched cottage as an apprentice, lest there will be no popularity there all year round."

"You, when you become a master, you have to be like a master. Don't mislead your disciples!"

Uncle Jiu shook his head and said seriously.He knew that his junior brother still had a sense of proportion in major matters, so he would naturally keep it in mind when he said it so seriously.

Sure enough, Simu nodded, restrained the unscrupulous expression on his face, and agreed: "Don't worry, brother, if I teach my disciple Wufang, how can I have the face to see Master and his old man?"

The two of them, as well as another younger brother with relatively poor skills, joined the family of the previous generation when they were very young. It can be said that they have developed their current character and outlook on good and evil under the master's hand-in-hand teaching.The master always said that Maoshan technique is not afraid of students being stupid, if they are stupid, they can learn less, and it is enough to deal with ordinary trivial matters; but they are afraid that students will be bad and use this thaumaturgy that ordinary people cannot guard against to harm others and commit crimes.

He thought that Uncle Jiu, who is a senior brother, must also be strictly following the teachings of his master, otherwise, why would he accept such two foolish boys in the door...

Just as he was thinking about it, he saw Wencai come out of the room, stretched his waist, and started doing aerobics with his buttocks pouted.I heard that he learned from the "kindergarten" run by the country gentry, that he can grow taller... As an uncle, in fact, he just wanted to persuade him that it's a bit late to think about growing taller at this age.

Ikab, who had finished his tea over there, came over again and sat next to him, insisting on explaining his "bioelectric theory".

The two Taoist priests had nothing to do left and right, so they decided to just listen.But the more I listened, the more fascinated I became, because I found that after the theory was explained in a simple way, it seemed to be able to find a lot of evidence in reality...Nerves and electrical signals, it sounds difficult to understand, but no one has seen it after working in this industry for a long time What about the yellow-white meridian?

Uncle Jiu had also seen a black cat jumping over a corpse. He clearly remembered that day when a thin arc of light jumped from the black cat's long fur, which hit the nose of the corpse like a small lightning, causing the corpse to squeak. raised his hand.

It seems that there is a scientific explanation behind all of this... Science is so exciting!

Amid Ichab's spitting explanation and the two apprentices' nonsense, the day passed much faster than before.If it weren't for the two silly apprentices playing with the four-eyed Taoist client at night, causing zombies to jump all over the room, Uncle Jiu must have been very happy after learning something new.

The two Taoist priests had finished their dinner and were returning to the living room to light the kerosene lamp. They asked Ikab to explain in detail what was going on in "On Electricity in Muscle Movement", when they heard a sudden pinging sound from the courtyard. noise.

Uncle Jiu and Daoist Simu jumped up, and before they could say anything, a loud shout came from outside the window: "Help! Master, help!"

"It's broken, it's over there at the morgue!" Uncle Jiu said, and hurried out with his junior brother.

"The morgue?" Ikab was puzzled. Aren't there dead people there?But seeing that the two Taoist priests were facing a formidable enemy, he didn't dare to neglect, dropped the cup in his hand and ran out.

Before reaching the morgue, Wen Cai crawled out in a frenzy, and reported bitterly: "Master, a stiff zombie!!"

The four eyes could not help but turn pale with shock, seeing the situation in the mortuary, his face turned ashen, and he sighed: "Oh, my client!"

I saw many zombies jumping into a ball in the room, one of them rushed towards the door, and was knocked down by Uncle Jiu and Taoist Simu together, and then shouted: "Master, I am Qiusheng!"

"...not going out yet!"

Uncle Jiu scolded him, picked him up and threw him to Ikab behind him, and then rushed into the room with Simu to deal with those crazy zombies.

[23. No. 23]

"What, what's going on here?" Ichab asked, his lips trembling in fright, and he grabbed Qiusheng's arm tightly.

Qiu Sheng was also quite frightened, but at least he had seen the world with his master, and he was quite sharp-tongued. He hugged his foreign friend and said regretfully, "... I didn't expect that, if I accidentally knocked off the talisman, the zombie would die." It's out of control!"

Ichab's eyes changed suddenly, and he frowned and said, "So the spell didn't provide an electrical signal to make the corpse move. ? And how do the charms tune the signal just right so that they follow bells and lights?"

"Is now the time to think about this!" Qiu Sheng was about to go crazy, and quickly pulled Ikab back, but before he took two steps, the room was already taken care of by the two masters.