Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 16 Xiao Ji Shoucheng Shop

"Buzz...Chi~~~"

"We have arrived at Zhuangyuanhong Road. Passengers who are getting off please get off from the back door."

After getting off the last bus, the cool night breeze blew away most of the drowsiness that Xiao Ran had felt along the way.

He stretched, took out his cell phone and saw that it was almost 11pm.

"Luckily I made it in time, otherwise I would have lost a lot of money by taking a taxi in the middle of the night!"

Xiao Ran, carrying a backpack, crossed the empty intersection and turned south into an alley. The dim street lights along the way and the red word "demolition" that appeared from time to time on the old wall next to him formed a bright contrast.

On the street, several white-haired old men sat around a worn wooden table, concentrating on playing chess under the streetlights. The sound of the chess pieces hitting the chessboard made a crisp sound, but it was inconspicuous on this street.

The further you go inside, the more lively it becomes.

Various small stalls stand on both sides of the road, and fried and cooked snacks of all kinds emit tempting aromas.

From time to time, you can see couples wearing Hanfu, running hand in hand in front of the snack stalls.

After walking around the alley for ten minutes, a four-meter-long single-story shop appeared in front of him.

There was a sign hanging under the eaves of the store, with white characters on a black background, and four big characters written on it: [Xiao Ji Shou Cai].

Occupying two-thirds of the storefront on the lower right side of the plaque is a rolling shutter door that is closed from top to bottom, while occupying the lower left third of the plaque is a glass display window that is also closed.

There is an A2 colored paper pasted on the inside of the window, and the content on it can be vaguely seen through the light from the street lamp.

"Introduction to Fee Items"

Funeral director: 200-500
Restoration of remains: 400-negotiable
Body cleaning: 500
Divination and dream interpretation: 50-1000
Lost property search: 200-10% of the item's value
Surveys and other matters: Price negotiable.

(A 50% deposit is required for all projects. If the firm fails to complete the work within the agreed time, the deposit can be fully refunded to the employer after deducting the work costs.)
(During the work process, if there are losses caused by the firm's mistakes, you can negotiate with the firm for compensation, and the maximum amount of compensation shall not exceed 10 yuan.)
He stood in front of the window for a while, admiring the contents on the paper. These were the modifications he made after his grandfather passed away a year ago and he officially took over the store.

There are some more things than before, such as investigations and other matters. My grandfather is a leisurely person and generally doesn't want to cause himself more trouble, but he doesn't care. It may be because he is still young, so he can't sit still. He always wants to find something interesting to do when he has nothing to do. Or, in other words, he has to live.

Taking out the key and opening the rolling door, Xiao Ran walked straight through the door, turned around, closed the rolling door, and went straight up to the second floor.

The house is not big, but it is the family business that the old man worked hard to earn during his lifetime. The first floor is a shop and the second floor is where he lives.

Xiao Ran summoned a backpack from the maze city and left everything inside, only throwing the clothes that needed to be changed and the backpack on the sofa.

With the ability to summon a special space, I'm afraid this backpack will no longer be useful.

I went to the bathroom to wash my face and hands, took out a needle and thread and a pair of tweezers, and looked at the wound on my back in the mirror.

However, to his surprise, after tearing off the gauze, the wound on his back had already scabbed over.

"Is it because of the strengthening of physical fitness?"

Xiao Ran thought about the 5 points of physical fitness added by [Corpse Stitcher]. He originally thought that the physical fitness and endurance would be better, but he didn't expect that it would be better than he expected.

But if it heals naturally like this, I'm afraid there will be a scar left on my back.

Xiao Ran thought about it and decided to let it go without worrying about it anymore.

After lying on the bed and playing with his mobile phone for a while, Xiao Ran wanted to sleep, but he was somehow too excited and tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, he thought of the scene of his cousin's family being bullied by relatives today.

Turning sideways, he thought about what he had encountered and seen in the maze city. There was nothing in the diary, or rather, there was something written in it before, but it had been torn off. When he turned to the end, he saw only the word "go home" written in blood.

He recalled that when the old lady was knocked to the ground by a group of people, she looked at him and did not blame him for smashing her golden toad. Instead, she said with all her might, "Run!"

"Alas, human heart..."

After Xiao Ran sighed, he found that he couldn't sleep at all, so he simply got up from the bed, walked to the entrance of the store, and pulled out a drawer under the window.

There was an envelope in the drawer. It was used for customers to submit their requests when he was not in the office. Some were familiar or anxious, and some would just put their requests and deposits directly into the envelope or brown paper bag and submit them.

Xiao Ran did not leave his cell phone number on the promotional leaflet outside the window because he did not want to be harassed by phone calls all day long.

I opened it and took a look, and unexpectedly there was a note inside.

The note looked like it was torn from a homework book, and there were two photos and a hundred-dollar bill inside.

Xiao Ran first picked up the paper, on which a paragraph was neatly written.

“Dear Mr. Xiao:
Hello! We are fifth-grade students from Zhuangyuanhong Primary School.

We heard from classmates that you have a project of finding lost items here. We found an injured white cat near the pavilion in Cuiyun Park. Unfortunately, half of its ear was bitten off and its hind legs also seemed to be injured. We felt deeply distressed and discussed whether we could send it to a pet hospital for treatment.

Because the cat is too timid, we can't catch it. We hope you can lend a hand and help us catch this cat.

I wish you a happy life and all the best! ”

Commission time: The sooner the better.
Requester: Little Pioneer team member Zhang Xiaofang, Little Pioneer team member Hu Shaohua, team member Xu Da Contact number: 150399*****
The clients turned out to be a few little kids...and shouldn't catching stray cats be entrusted to cat and dog charity organizations?

Looking at the contents on the note, Xiao Ran was speechless. He put the paper down and picked up the two photos next to it that were printed out by three elementary school students.

The pixel of the mobile phone is not high, and because it was a quick shot, the effect is not very good, but you can still see clearly that it is an adult white cat with wounds all over its body, dirty, skinny, and fierce eyes.

It's really tragic. I don't know if the hind leg can be saved, and I don't know if these little brats can raise the medical expenses...

I'm free anyway and I can't sleep anyway, so I might as well take a walk.

After returning to the store and finding an empty box, Xiao Ran grabbed a handful of ghost money and ingots from the shelf beside him and threw them into the maze space before leaving the store.

Close the door and scan for a shared bicycle. Cuiyun Park is very close, only five minutes' ride away.

Once your physique and strength improve, riding this kind of bike won’t feel strenuous at all.

Zhuangyuanhong Road is adjacent to Beimang Mountain, and Cuiyun Park is a free park built on Beimang Mountain in recent years.

It is said that people were born in Suzhou and Hangzhou and buried in Beimang, but nowadays it is no longer possible to bury graves in Beimang Mountain.

Xiao Ran parked the car at the entrance of the park and walked slowly inside carrying the suitcase. The park was neither big nor small, but there was only one pavilion. It didn't take long for Xiao Ran to find the place.

There were several figures sitting inside the pavilion.

In the dark, these figures are very interesting. Some are holding a book, some are playing the open-string erhu, and some are sitting on the table pouring tea. But upon closer inspection, all they pour out is sand.

The remaining two just sat there in silence.

Xiao Ran didn't come here often, so he walked up and said hello: "Hey guys, I'm here to find a cat with a missing ear and a broken leg. If anyone has seen it, please show me the way."

As soon as Xiao Ran finished speaking, several figures in the pavilion raised their heads at the same time. His facial expressions could not be seen, but Xiao Ran could feel that they were staring at him. They seemed surprised that someone could see them.

But after a moment, these figures withdrew their gaze and no longer paid attention to Xiao Ran.

Instead, the shadow sitting at the stone table fiddling with the teapot waved towards Xiao Ran and pushed all the teacups and teapots on the table in front of Xiao Ran.

If it were someone else, they would be stunned when seeing this, but Xiao Ran grinned and thought to himself, "I didn't expect that he is still an old ghost."

Sit down, put the teapot and teacups on the table in a row, and fill the first teacup on the left with sand.

This is called a tea formation. In the past, when people traveled around, they didn't know each other. Setting up a tea formation was a way to avoid the embarrassment of speaking out and the easy loss of information.

On the other hand, it is also a temptation to filter out those who are not in the underworld.

These old ghosts in front of him were obviously teasing him, but he didn't expect Xiao Ran to actually understand the rules in this regard.

In fact, it is more than just tea formations, underworld jargon, southern spring and northern classics. Xiao Ran has been learning them from his grandfather since he was a child. Although it is of little use, the old man means that it is always good to have many skills. Besides, he makes a living in the underworld, so he can ignore many rules, but he must understand them.

Xiao Ran set up a single whip formation, which meant asking for help from other comrades. Those who could save him would drink their tea, and those who couldn't would spill the tea.

Seeing this, the old ghost in front of him looked up at Xiao Ran, and then placed a teacup upside down on him.

This is a case of holding back. According to the rules, there is a special set of excuses, which is actually to ask for benefits.

However, it is unknown how long these old ghosts have stayed in Beimang Mountain, and they can no longer speak.

Xiao Ran put his hand under the table, took out a stack of paper money from the space and placed it on the upside-down teacup.

The other person looked at the ghost money and nodded, then took down the upside-down tea bowl and took away the ghost money on it.

Then he pointed towards the woods in the east.

"Thanks."

Seeing that he had found the direction, Xiao Ran thanked him and turned to walk towards the grove.

A few minutes later, Xiao Ran's voice came from behind the woods again, "Excuse me, old man, have you seen a cat? Yes, yes, thank you very much!"

Half an hour later, Xiao Ran rode back home slowly, humming a song, holding the white cat that was screaming miserably.

I put the cat in a pet cage, put dried fish and water in it, then gave it a bath. While wiping it, I checked my phone. It was already two o'clock in the morning. It was really time to go to bed this time.

After a walk outside, although finding a cat was not a big challenge for him, it also made him feel more relaxed.

I lay on the bed and fell asleep in a short while.

He slept until the next morning. When Xiao Ran opened his eyes, it was already 11 o'clock. He cooked himself a pack of instant noodles and put it on the counter. He opened the rolling door. As the door opened, there was a gurgling sound and a figure raised his head and rushed in.

Xiao Ran was startled. Before he could see clearly, he saw someone grabbing his arm: "Xiao Ran, save me, save me, this time, only you can help me..."

(End of this chapter)