Chapter 124 Thirty-nine. The end of Shadow Town

  The old woman is not a qualified answerer, although she has a very good grasp of the suspense of the story - but until now, the two suspense she has thrown have not been explained.

   Anna, whose curiosity killed Anna, has begun to lose control of her emotions.

   "So let's talk about things outside the window first."

   Fortunately, Lu Li is a man with a firm will and will not be moved by external objects.

   "The thing outside the window is related to the thing deep in the swamp, you can directly ask the second question." The old woman said slowly.

  Lu Li didn't say a word, his calm black eyes stared at the old man's eyes.

"Don't look at an old man with a weakened memory." The old woman smiled, showing her mouth with a missing tooth, then waved her hand and said, "Well, I'm too slow. Then you come to Shadow Town again, you're a detective. , you must be familiar with some rumors in the town, right?"

   Lu Li asked, "Yingchuo and the Sasquatch?"

   "Yes, but don't think of them as guys just like us just because there are people in their names..." The old woman resumed her reminiscence and said slowly.

   "No one knows what they are... Just know that after the town was built, these guys appeared in every dark corner of the town like a shadow. They hid inside and spied on the passing residents."

   "Those people didn't plan to build it somewhere else."

"I'm afraid you have to ask the families and the mayor in the town." The old woman leaned into the back of the wooden chair and said sarcastically, "It may be that the people and nobles at that time thought that it would be expensive to establish a town in another place. It’s just that people disappear and die often, so how can it be serious to change places.”

   "They came from Shadowswamp?"

"Most people said that at the time, because only Shadow Town had these things, and it wasn't until someone saw Ying Chuo from the edge of the swamp. Sometimes being poor is more scary than those scary guys."

   The old woman sighed with emotion, took out a lady's pipe from the pocket of the red sweater, and raised it at Lu Li: "Do you mind?"

"mind."

The old woman picked up a crude oil lamp by the dining table, poured out a pipe and ignited the cut tobacco, sucked a few times until smoke came out of her mouth, and then sat back in the seat with satisfaction: "My mother is one of the people who stayed, Later they found out that shamans, savages, or whatever came out of the swamps only move at night and hate bright places, and they found out that these guys are just scary, as long as they don't break into the swamp Deep down, they don't seem to actively harm people."

"So I'll remind out-of-towners to draw the curtains at night. We may be used to it, but not you guys. If you startle them with loud screams, there's no guarantee what will happen. You can pretend they're a bunch of deadly jokes. mischievous child."

"Although they knew it wasn't that dangerous, people were still worried. Until one day, Shadow Town became a famous town for no reason. At first, there were some adventurers who heard that there were monsters in Shadow Town, so they came to explore. Then government officials and self-proclaimed Scholars who study animals, more and more people came later. There are nobles, rich people, and young people. The things in the swamp that frightened the town residents were novel and exciting. At that time, many people came to Shadow Town every day, which is also the reason The reason there are so many pubs out there."

"and after."

   "Later..."

  The old woman paused for a while and didn't answer Lu Li immediately.

   The cut tobacco in the pipe was bright red, and the next moment, thick white smoke came out of the mouth and nose, and it rose in the air, covering the squinted eyes.

   "After several decades, until the disaster of the night came not long ago, there were no more tourists in the town. As you can see, the foreigners now are businessmen passing by."

   Having said this, the old woman laughed a few times, induced a cough, and coughed a few more times and said, "Perhaps the current disaster of the night came from the Shadow Swamp."

  The smoke gradually dissipated. The old man knocked out his pipe, put it back in his sweater pocket, stood up slowly and said, "The food is almost ready, I'll go and serve it."

  The old woman returned to the kitchen behind the bar, and Anna's voice sounded in her ears: "It sounds like the people here are using the things in the swamp as a tool for making money... Could it be that they are secretly peeping at us."

"perhaps."

   At least in the bright hall of the tavern, he didn't feel the sense of being watched before.

  Anna didn't speak, because the old woman was walking around the bar with a steaming pot.

  .

   A pot of bubbling broth was brought to the table. The old woman picked up the spoon and placed a bowl in the wooden bowl in front of Lu Li. There was rabbit meat cut into pieces, and light fruit that had turned brown and was rotten and shriveled by cooking.

  The rising heat is filled with a wonderful aroma that makes you appetizing.

   "32 shillings will be included in your room rate."

   A bit expensive, this pot of broth is cooking up the shillings an adult would earn after 12 hours of hard work. But this is the price of Lu Li's question.

   "If you need bread, I can provide it normally, but only black bread."

"no need."

   "Okay, whatever you want." The old woman took off the towel that rested her hands on the edge of the pot. "Oh, by the way, if you're not sleepy after eating, you can go outside for a walk."

   Hearing this, Lu Li looked up at her, and the old woman said indifferently, "It's very bright and lively outside. Since the installation of gas lamps, everyone is used to strolling around at night."

  Lu Li turned his head and looked out of the window. Outside the window, there were pedestrians passing by on the wide street with street lights on.

   "Get together, everyone will be less afraid."

   After the old woman finished speaking, she turned around and went back to the back kitchen.

   Looking back, Lu Li picked up the spoon beside the wooden bowl, filled the broth, blew waves and sent it into his mouth.

   "How does it taste?" Anna asked curiously.

"is acceptable."

   The broth is slightly sour, perhaps the sour taste brought by the light fruit.

   The pot is only the size of two palms together, so there is not a lot of broth in one pot. After ten minutes, Lu Li drank the last bowl, and there were only a few boiled fruits left in the pot.

   He got up and left his seat, planning to go out for a walk.

  …

  The constant heat from the stomach helps Lu Li to withstand the cold at night.

   The faintly bright gas lamps on both sides of the road are not too short, but because the streets are relatively wide, Sansan Street is not as bright as expected.

   There are many pedestrians on the street, including local residents, motorcades and businessmen who stop here for the night. Compared with the daytime, there are more vendors selling on both sides of the road, which dispels the desertedness brought by the darkness.

   As usual, Lu Li went straight to a newsstand not far from the Big Wave Tavern.

   "Sir, what do you need?"

  The young newsboy who was sorting out old newspapers put down the newspaper, turned around and laughed.

  Behind him, in the stack of old newspapers, on a protruding page, a bold headline flashed by.

  【Shadow Town Scam—】

   (end of this chapter)