Volume 2: A sudden change in the prison, a red-clothed man goes out to find a thief Chapter 225: The Strange Old Man Likes Red, Red Like Blood
Li Si persuaded Zuo Liangping to hand over the investigation of the monster to himself. He knew that the problem of the strange old man was half solved.
Of course, he didn't think Zuo Liangping would stop there, so he had to go find the strange old man and tell him not to make trouble again during this period. If he really wanted to play with the puppet, he could go to the back hill outside the city to play.
So, after buying the things and returning them to the store, Li Si went to the strange old man’s doll shop first.
Today, the puppet shop was still run by He Tian, who was sitting at the counter alone, looking at a puppet in silence. Recently, his aura has become more and more stable, and it seems that the strange old man has taught him a lot.
But it was really hard for him to just sit in the shop like this every day.
Seeing Li Si coming in, He Tianshou immediately stood up and bowed.
"Mr. Li."
"Yeah." Li Si responded by waving his hand, then stood in the shop, looked around and asked.
"Where's your husband?"
I have to say that the business of the puppet shop is really quiet. This shop has been open for a few months, but there are still all the puppets on the shelves. If it were a normal shop, it would have closed down long ago.
Because the strange old man had told him that except for the fact that he could speak, nothing else should be hidden from Li Si, so in response to Li Si's question, He Tianshou hesitated for a moment and answered truthfully.
"Mr. Li is working in the backyard. If you want to find him, please follow me."
"Well, that's troublesome." Li Si nodded and followed He Tianshou, but then asked in confusion.
"But speaking of which, when did your shop have a backyard?"
If he remembered correctly, this shop should not have a backyard.
"Oh, originally there wasn't any, but the master was buying new dolls recently, and there wasn't enough space in the shop, so he bought the room at the back."
As He Tianshou spoke, he made a gesture of invitation to Li Si.
Hearing Wada Mamoru's calm answer, Li Si's eyes twitched.
It turns out that these old guys are all rich people. They can buy a house just by saying so.
He felt more and more that the five taels of silver were a loss, and he should have received more.
After bringing Li Si to the backyard, He Tianshou bowed and left.
Li Si walked into the yard on his own and saw from afar a strange old man wearing a loose robe, sitting there carving a doll's head.
Oh, it looks like the one from last night. It seems that the connecting joints were not adjusted to the right size, so the head couldn’t be put on. I don’t know what it looks like now.
Seeing Li Si coming in, the strange old man's eyes showed some surprise, and then it turned into a smile. He sat there and waved.
Li Si sighed helplessly, walked slowly to the side of the strange old man, stood aside and watched him carve the doll for a while before asking.
"Why do you always send puppets out on the street late at night?"
The strange old man did not rush to answer with gestures, but explained Li Si's question with his actions.
He just raised one of his fingers and pointed it at a puppet in the yard. A faint silk thread was gently pulled in the air, and then the puppet began to move freely.
The strange old man was demonstrating his newly developed puppet technique to Li Si, and explained that he had been sending puppets out on the streets recently in order to practice this new method.
"Not bad." Li Si walked to the front of the doll and squatted, looking it up and down, touching his chin and exclaimed in admiration.
"You always come up with some weird things."
It is undeniable that if this method can be used on multiple puppets at the same time, the strength of the strange old man will be greatly improved.
"Click." The strange old man who was controlling the puppet smiled and reached out to pat Li Si's head.
Suddenly, he must have thought of something. He controlled the puppet to walk into a room beside the yard, took out a set of clothes, and walked back to Li Si.
It was a golden-red dress made of the finest fabric, with fine cloud patterns embroidered in gold thread at the collar and belt. The dress was divided into two parts, the inner lining and the outer robe. The style was quite grand and rich, looking solemn, but also revealing a bit of overly gorgeous seduction, which was very consistent with the aesthetic taste of the strange old man.
"Is this for me?" Li Si was stunned for a moment, touched his nose and asked.
To be honest, he was a little embarrassed because he didn't like red clothes.
But the strange old man still nodded with a smile, and asked the puppet to lift up the clothes and spread them in front of Li Si.
In the sunlight, the satin reflects a slight luster, making it look even more noble.
"Made with leftover materials?" Li Si hesitated for a moment and then asked.
If this kind of silk was used to make only one piece of clothing, then the gift was really too heavy and he felt unworthy of it.
But the puppet immediately shook its head and pointed to a groom puppet not far away, indicating that its piece was made of leftover materials.
"Well, okay then." Li Si reluctantly withdrew his gaze. At least it wasn't just one set of clothes, right? Thinking so, he reached out to touch the fabric, and then said jokingly.
"Why do these clothes look so much like the groom's? Are you making them for my wedding?"
He was just joking, but who would have thought that the puppet in front of him would actually smile and nod in affirmation.
"Well, then I probably won't be able to use it." Li Si quickly loosened his clothes, waved his hand with a wry smile and said.
But strangely, the old man didn't listen at all. He just continued to control the puppet, putting the clothes on Li Si for comparison.
Looking at his burning eyes, I guess he is looking forward to the day when Li Si wears this dress.
What he didn't tell Li Si was that he wore the same dress when he got married.
Unfortunately, his wife died in an accident later, and the clothes were placed among his deceased wife's belongings and burned to ashes.
After confirming that the size was appropriate, the puppet refolded the clothes and stuffed them into Li Si's hands.
Li Si held the clothes and knew he couldn't refuse, so he could only sigh quietly.
After a while, he remembered the important matter and looked at the strange old man again and said.
"Recently, the head of the police in Mingzhou City has begun investigating the puppet issue. You should stay out of the spotlight for now. If you want to practice puppetry, you can go to the back mountain outside the city to practice."
The strange old man had no objection to this. He nodded and agreed.
Li Si continued to sit with him for a while, watching him make another bride doll, before he stood up and said goodbye and left.
When I was with the strange old man, there was always not much noise, and everything was very quiet, as if the words I imagined to say had been integrated into every subtle movement, whether it was picking up a brush, dipping in paint, carving eyebrows, or engraving eyes.
Li Si didn't hate this feeling, he had been like this since he was a child. If he didn't have to go back to Qianjialou to work, he could even sit here for a whole day.
Li Si always thought that the puppets the old man made could speak, and he would carve what he wanted to say into the puppet's eyebrows and eyes.
Just like that bride doll, her eyes and brows were filled with lingering admiration.
…
In the following days, the strange old man's puppet did not go out to the streets to cause trouble again. Seeing that things seemed to have calmed down, Zuo Liangping thought that it was all Li Si's credit, and his attitude towards Li Si became much more respectful.
However, I heard that the graveyard in the back mountain seems to be haunted recently. It is said that someone saw a team of faceless sedan bearers carrying a bride's red sedan in and out of the mountain. But whether it is true or not, no one knows.
In the blink of an eye, it's almost April again.
Li Si asked Zhang Susu for leave, using the excuse of going home to visit relatives, but in fact, he just wanted to go to Jinshan to listen to the sutras.
It has been another year since I last saw the old monk. I don’t know whether he has passed away when I went back this time.
In short, you will know the answer when you go back and take a look.
