Folk custom: At the beginning of the wedding, the bride takes off her painted skin

As it gets dark, the sky is gradually shrouded in thick dark clouds, and the afterglow that shines through the gaps between the dark clouds flickers on and off like a dying candle.

The surrounding temperature seemed to gradually drop as the light disappeared, bringing a hint of chill.

Li Daoxuan stared at the words on the panel, feeling an inexplicable tension in his heart.

This hint was not shown in the previous inscription on the ferry plaque.

He turned his head and looked at the slightly blurred ferry plaque, wondering in his heart.

Why doesn't this prompt appear on the inscription?

Was it deliberately erased...or did the people on the ferry not want to tell outsiders this secret?

However, these issues are clearly not the most important at this moment.

The important thing is...it's dark!

Li Daoxuan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He walked into the "Drunk Medicine Pavilion" with the open door in a few steps, followed closely by Qin Cun and the dancing girl.

However, as soon as he entered the door, Li Daoxuan said in a very fast tone: "Remember not to talk after dark."

He spoke very fast, and his voice revealed an indescribable seriousness and nervousness.

Qin Cun and the dancer looked at each other, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

Although they didn't know why Li Daoxuan said this, they believed it... very much.

Of course, this is also related to Li Daoxuan signing the oath paper.

As a result, the two of them didn't speak anymore, and just communicated with each other's thoughts with their eyes.

The dancer reached out and made a few gestures, trying to convey her meaning to Li Daoxuan, but Li Daoxuan didn't understand.

Confused.

In sign language, Li Daoxuan only knows one action, which is to put his finger up to his mouth to signal to shut up.

On the contrary, Qin Cun went to pick up the wooden door that Li Daoxuan kicked open and tried to put it back to its original place.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it all the way back into the door frame.

Qin Cun helplessly made a hand gesture, indicating that he was helpless.

At this moment, the dancer took out a delicate wolf-hair pen from her Xumi bag and shook it gently towards Li Daoxuan.

Li Daoxuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said it should be okay.

The dancer then walked up to the counter and wrote on it with a pen: "He can't pretend to go back."

Her handwriting is beautiful and powerful, revealing a unique charm.

Li Daoxuan also took the Langhao pen from her hand and wrote on the counter: "Just put it on."

Then, the Langhao pen was passed to Qin Cun again, and he wrote: "I think we can go into the room inside and stay there. After all, there is a door there."

His suggestion seemed to make sense. After all, on this strange island, having a door and not having a door were completely different things.

Li Daoxuan looked at his words and nodded in agreement.

He turned and walked towards the room, followed closely by Qin Cun and the dancer.

When the wooden door of the room was closed with a bang, the three of them all breathed a sigh of relief. In this relatively closed space, they felt an unprecedented sense of security.

Li Daoxuan took the opportunity to look at the layout and situation in the room, and found that it was no different from what the dancer said at the beginning.

This room is not only simple, but also extremely dirty. There is no place to stay, and the dust on the bed makes people afraid to sit down.

The dancer took the opportunity to write a few words on a table: "Tomorrow at dawn, we will go to the two-story building to have a look."

Li Daoxuan and Qin Cun both nodded.

There's definitely something weird about that place, and it's not small at all.

Then the dancer wrote: "Also, I think we need to find the ghost ship, the captain and the first mate at this ferry. They must be very familiar with this ferry."

Li Daoxuan and Qin Cun nodded again to agree with her idea.

They all know that this ferry and the docked ghost ship hide too many secrets and mysteries for them to solve.

And finding them is undoubtedly the key to unlocking these secrets.

However, just as they were discussing their next plan, there was a knock on the door.

The sound of "dong dong dong——" was particularly clear and harsh in this silent night, as if there was an invisible force beating on their hearts.

"Is there someone new here?"

A voice with a strange accent sounded outside the door, breaking the tranquility of the night.

……

On the deck of the ferry ghost ship, in the faint moonlight.

The grain eaters who had returned from Death Island were waiting silently.

They belong to three cities and naturally form three groups of people, maintaining a subtle distance from each other.

The sea breeze, carrying a slightly salty and moist breath, gently brushed their faces, but it could not wipe away the solemn look on their faces.

Among them, there is only one maid in the Dancing City. She is leaning against the mast alone, with a graceful figure, like a blooming lotus.

It makes people want to hold it in their arms and feel sad after seeing it.

Well...it has absolutely nothing to do with her unreal figure.

Not far away, the fifth sister and Tanxiao stood side by side, their eyes firmly fixed on the island opposite.

The island loomed in the night, like a dormant beast that might break out at any time.

"I don't know how Li Daoxuan is doing..." Wu Shuran said softly, with a hint of worry in his tone.

"You don't have to worry about that. It's safer for him to be there alone than for us to follow him." Tanxiao said, as if he felt something, he suddenly looked back and happened to meet Meng Weilin's eyes.

Meng Weilin smiled slightly at him, with an inexplicable meaning flashing in his eyes.

Tanxiao also smiled back, then turned around and continued: "He asked us to come back, but there is another matter. He wants us to deal with the evil spirits on the ship first."

"What does the Taoist mean...Amituo?" Wu Shuran asked with a frown.

"Yes." Tanxiao nodded, "As long as the evil spirits on this ship are not eliminated, we will never feel at ease."

At this moment, Wu Yanran, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Didn't you realize that there is someone missing from our team?"

Tan Xiao was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then suddenly stopped smiling.

He stood up slightly, without even asking the others, but just counted with his fingers.

After a moment, his expression changed slightly and he said, "No, why is that guy Shi Ji gone? I remember he followed us to the island from the beginning!"

Wu Shuran also reacted, with a look of astonishment on his face.

Looking around, I found no sign of Shi Ji.

This directly transformed a human being into a living person, and it also transformed a powerful grain eater into nothing... It was really unbelievable.

While talking, laughing and calculating, I have already gone through all the experiences along the way in my mind.

He suddenly remembered that when he was on the island, the stone table always seemed to hang at the end. He didn't care at that time, but now it seems that he may have already had the idea of ​​​​acting alone.

"He... stayed on the island!"

Tanxiao finally figured out the whereabouts of Shi Ji, but quickly waved his hand, "I don't care, he can't die anyway."

After all, Shi Ji's strength is there, so even if he encounters any trouble, he should be able to protect himself.

However, at this moment, a soldier leaning against the wall suddenly groaned and shouted.

Everyone turned to look and saw that the soldier was dragged into the wall.

Behind him, a strange and huge figure appeared on the wall.

The figure was blurry, but it exuded a heart-stopping evil aura.

Tanxiao stood up, looked at the figure, and said softly: "Isn't this... coming?"

……

"coming!"

This thought subconsciously appeared in Qin Cun's mind, as if a flash of lightning flashed across the silent night sky, making his heart tense instantly.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the panic in his heart, and at the same time kept Li Daoxuan's reminder in mind, and did not speak easily.

The dancer turned to look at him, and their eyes met in the air, silently exchanging thoughts with each other.

They did not act rashly, but were waiting for Li Daoxuan's decision.

Li Daoxuan hesitated for a moment, pointed at the dancer and Qin Cun, and then pointed to the depths of the room, signaling them to stay where they were.

Then, he pointed to himself and then to the door, expressing his intention to go out alone to check.

However, Qin Cun frowned and shook his head.

He had never been cared for like this before, and this feeling of being protected made him uncomfortable.

He is not a person who is accustomed to hiding behind others.

So, he walked to the door without hesitation, opened it, and walked out first. Li Daoxuan looked at Qin Cun's back, feeling subconsciously in a daze.

It was the first time for him to act with such a strong team. He originally thought that he would be the one to take the lead, but now it seems that everyone has their own persistence and pride.

Who will obey whom?

Everyone believes in their own strength!

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to reach this point at the beginning of the second tide.

The knocking on the door still continued. When the three people walked out of the back room, the knocking stopped suddenly.

Although the three of them didn't speak, the sound of footsteps told everything.

Li Daoxuan stood in the middle holding a butcher's knife, Qin Cun held a hatchet on his left, and the dancer wrapped her red silk around her sleeves.

They are all ready to take action at any time.

Li Daoxuan took a step forward and was about to open the door, but the thing outside used force and pushed down the wooden door that was just put up.

"boom--"

As the wooden door fell heavily to the ground, the raised dust filled the air, and the figure outside the door gradually revealed his true body in the dust.

It was a figure wrapped in a black robe and with a hood on his head, mysterious and strange.

Unlike the previous times when he watched from a distance, this time, this figure was right in front of him, so close that Li Daoxuan could even feel the coldness radiating from him.

Li Daoxuan stared at the other person closely and finally was able to see clearly what this person looked like.

His skin was as dark as night, as if blending into the surrounding darkness. His high nose, red eyes, and brown hair were all displayed before Li Daoxuan's eyes.

Not the same race as yourself?

Li Daoxuan suddenly felt this way in his heart.

The corner of his eye glanced at Qin Cun and the dancer unconsciously. The dancer also looked confused.

Qin Cun's eyes revealed a deep thought. He seemed to know who this person was, but he remembered Li Daoxuan's reminder and did not speak easily.

"Are you new here?"

The weirdo asked with poor pronunciation, his voice hoarse and low.

Li Daoxuan nodded and said nothing, just quietly waiting for the other party's next words.

The weirdo asked again: "Do you want to run this shop?"

There was a hint of inquiry in his tone, as if he was curious about the purpose and origins of Li Daoxuan and others.

Still no one spoke, Li Daoxuan nodded again, expressing his affirmation.

"Then...have you got the residence permit?"

The weirdo continued to ask, his tone seemed to be a little more serious.

Residence card?

Do you still need this thing to go to the island?

Li Daoxuan and the three of them looked at each other, and they all saw the confusion in each other's eyes.

None of them had heard of this so-called "residence card", let alone owned it.

The weirdo also saw what they meant and said again: "It's okay. It doesn't matter if you don't have one for now. Remember to get the residence permit tomorrow."

His tone seemed to have softened a bit, but there was still a trace of unquestionable firmness.

Seeing this, the dancer stepped forward and gestured for a while.

Li Daoxuan couldn't understand and didn't know what she was making.

The weirdo could obviously read the dancer's sign language. He nodded repeatedly, "So you don't know where to go yet, right? Come on, I'll tell you."

With that said, he turned and walked towards the door.

Li Daoxuan followed him to the door with a puzzled look on his face, and saw the strange man pointing to a house, "That's the 'Affairs Office' at our ferry, you can just go there and handle it."

The house he was referring to was the two-story skull house that Li Daoxuan and the others wanted to go to before.

There is the ferry's affairs office!

The eyes of the three people all showed surprise... Is it such a coincidence?

It seems like you really have to go to that place!

Li Daoxuan thought to himself, and at the same time he became more curious about the identity of this weirdo.

Seeing that this weirdo was about to leave again, Li Daoxuan hurriedly pulled the dancer's arm.

Their eyes met, and the dancer immediately understood what Li Daoxuan meant.

She made gestures again, her slender white fingers dancing in the air.

Compared with the previous ones, the gestures this time were obviously much more complicated. She made them for a while before the weirdo could barely understand them.

But after understanding this, the weirdo's face changed drastically. His originally gloomy face was now like a dark cloud. He suddenly shouted: "Get out of here, we don't welcome you here, get out!"

When Li Daoxuan saw this, his eyes became stern and he immediately raised the butcher's knife in his hand.

The sword light flashed a cold light in the air, reflecting on the strange man's face, making his expression even more ferocious and terrifying.

Seeing this, the weirdo took a step back in horror, but tripped over the threshold and fell down.

He screamed strangely, got up on his hands and knees, and then ran away without looking back.

His figure gradually disappeared in the night, leaving only a series of messy footsteps.

Li Daoxuan stood still, with a hint of chill in his eyes.

He knew that although this weirdo had left temporarily, the matter was far from over.

He didn't move, but Qin Cun chased after him with a hatchet in hand, walking very fast.

Li Daoxuan didn't stop him, because he knew that everyone had their own thoughts and actions, and when they reached this point, they didn't need to persuade them.

Everyone will be responsible for their own actions.

The moment the dancer saw Qin Cun chasing after him, she also raised her legs to follow him.

But when she saw that Li Daoxuan was not moving, she struggled for a moment and finally chose to follow Li Daoxuan.

She always felt that Li Daoxuan was more reliable, maybe because she had been beaten by Li Daoxuan?

But Qin Cun's strength was similar to hers, so she chose to follow Li Daoxuan.

Or... it comes from the deepest foundation of a grain eater - intuition!

As soon as the two left, the street became quiet again.

In the night, only the evening wind blew through the stone surface, making a rustling sound.

Li Daoxuan stretched out his hand towards the dancer and made another gesture of writing.

The dancer understood what he meant and handed out the wolf hair covered with thick ink.

After taking it, Li Daoxuan squatted on the ground next to the gate. With a stroke of his pen, he wrote a few big words: "This store has an owner. Please pay the entrance fee before entering. 1 merit!"

The handwriting is vigorous and powerful, revealing an unquestionable momentum.

After finishing writing, he pushed up the two door panels and returned them to their original positions.

At this point, the door closed, and everything seemed to be calm again.

The dancer was still waiting here, while Li Daoxuan went directly to the back room to rest.

He needed to be mentally prepared for whatever might happen next.

I don't know if it was because of these words written by Li Daoxuan, but for the whole next night, no one knocked on the door.

Until a little light seeped into the outside, and text popped up on the panel.

[It’s dawn, you spent your first night on Death Island without any danger, your survival points +5 (blue). 】

When he saw this message, Li Daoxuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Although there were some twists and turns last night, at least they managed to survive the first night.

Moreover, the increase in survival points also made him feel a sense of relief and accomplishment.

[But don’t let your guard down, because your reputation has also spread on this island. I wish you... good luck. 】

This piece of information made Li Daoxuan frown slightly.

The reputation spread, but I don’t know where it went.

Li Daoxuan opened the door, and the dancer was waiting at the door.

When she saw Li Daoxuan coming out, she immediately went to greet him.

"Why, didn't he come back all night?" Li Daoxuan asked knowingly.

"No...how do you know you can't talk at night?"

Li Daoxuan glanced at her coldly, and then said: "It seems that the contract only said that I should inform you of the information, but it never said that I should also tell you how to know it, right?"

His words stunned the dancer for a moment before she reacted.

She realized that she had talked too much, so she quickly apologized: "I was the one who talked too much."

As she spoke, she leaned forward slightly and bowed to express her apology, which made her already plump figure look even more attractive.

But Li Daoxuan just looked at her lightly and walked out from her.

There is already a glimmer of light outside the door, and a new day has begun.

Li Daoxuan looked at the two-story affairs hall. The door that was closed last night was actually... opened!

-

ps: I have been working on the kiln chicken for a whole day today, so the update is late... I'm sorry, but I have to say that it was a success the first time I made it, it's so delicious! The picture is on the Easter Egg Chapter, you can find it by scrolling back. (End of chapter)