Midnight Bookstore

“Boss, are you alright?”

The old Daoist priest sat at the back and pointed at the old man who was lying on his lap.

The old man was still in a semi-conscious state, but he could already open his eyes. However, he only opened them for a while before closing them. His speech was also intermittent.

He woke up.

She was indeed awake.

However, this kind of awakening…

Strictly speaking, it could be considered a final glimmer of hope.

He woke up.

They were about to leave.

He had been alive the whole time, holding on to his last breath. Previously, Zhou Ze had thought that it might be because he had a strong life force, or because his medical conditions were better, or that he had been blessed by the heavens, but now that he thought about it, perhaps there was something that he could not let go of. This matter made him unwilling to close his eyes just like that.

Xu Qinglang was driving. He drove very quickly and steadily. He had to be steady as well, because if he made a sudden stop or made a big turn, the old man behind him would carry him over in one breath.

To kidnap a patient from the sanatorium, and it was a patient who had been unconscious for a long time, that was a crazy thing to do. However, Zhou Ze did not regret it, and he did not feel burdened at all.

Although the old man did not explain, his att.i.tude was already clear.

Sanxiang Village.

It had always been in his heart and had never been erased.

Actually, humans were forgetful creatures. Everyone would subconsciously try to erase the memories that they did not want to see.

Many people were unperturbed and unmoved by the departure of the old women who had been consoled in the past. They did not know that their departure was equivalent to slowly sealing up that part of history.

Some things could not be forgotten.

When they reached the streets of Xingren Town, Xu Qinglang got out of the car and carried the old man out with the old Daoist priest.

“Brother, hang in there. We"re almost there.”

The old Daoist priest encouraged his 99-year-old brother.

Xu Qinglang felt the old man"s hand on his shoulder and exerted some force.

The old man"s half-opened eyes also looked at Zhou Ze. His eyes were turbid, like they were covered with a layer of gauze. His body was already exhausted. He needed to go down and rest.

“The villagers are all here,” Zhou Ze said seriously. “I don"t know what they"re waiting for, but since you woke up after hearing me say the words" Three Village ", it means that I didn"t find the wrong person. You"re also worried about them.”

Then,

Zhou Ze reached out and tidied the old man"s hair. Then, he helped the old man b.u.t.ton the patient"s clothes.

The old man was already on his deathbed.

Whether it was due to merit or not, there would be future generations to explain.

It was difficult for modern people to be immersed in the turmoil of the past and evaluate it.

At least, there was one thing that could prove that the old man had not been a deserter or a traitor when he was a soldier in the Tongcheng Security Regiment. When a j.a.panese Regiment landed in the harbor near Tongcheng, there was no Chinese regular army in Tongcheng.

However, just relying on the spontaneous resistance of the local armed security forces and residents made the j.a.panese military pay a lot of losses. In fact, the local armed forces had more than once planned a counterattack against the city gates. When the main force and the center of gravity shifted to the southwest,

In this isolated area, there were still people resisting, and there were still gunshots.

The old man was still looking at Zhou Ze. As he looked, he started to cough. His teeth were about to fall out, and when he coughed, he looked weak, but he was smiling.

Then…

He reached out with difficulty, as if he wanted to reach Zhou Ze.

The old Daoist priest was worried as he watched from the side. He thought to himself, “Brother, you should be more at ease. Don"t ruin yourself outside before you even enter.”

Zhou Ze stood there without moving.

He allowed the old man"s skinny hand to gently grab the clothes on his chest.

The old man grabbed it with great difficulty.

Then, Zhou Ze felt his chest being gently pressed twice.

There,

It was the position of the heart.

After the old man did that, he lowered his head like he had been drained of all his energy, and his breathing became uneven.

“Let"s go in. We have to hurry.”

After saying that, Zhou Ze started to circle around this spot. Then, he rushed towards the road and disappeared.

Xu Qinglang took out a talisman and stuck it on his forehead. For a moment, his forehead started to turn black. Then, he followed the pattern and circled around a few times before rushing over.

The old Daoist priest followed him around a few times before charging forward.

Heh.

They did not enter.

Hehehe.

The old Daoist priest smiled until his entire face was wrinkled like a chrysanthemum. He was truly elated.

The little monkey looked at the old daoist"s silly look from the side and turned his body slightly, indicating that he did not know this old pickle.

Entering Sanxiang Village again, Zhou Ze raised his head and realized that the moon in the sky had almost turned blood red. It was not like this when he had been traveling for half a day.

From the looks of it, perhaps the ma.s.sacre in the ancestral hall had stimulated something, making the situation even more pressing.

Therefore, if the old man on Xu Qinglang"s back could not resolve the situation here, Zhou Ze, as a devotee, would probably have to call the little loli to guard the exit together.

At that time, would he be able to successfully keep these ghosts from wandering the world?

It was hard to say.

Xu Qinglang entered with the old man on his back. As soon as he entered, Xu Qinglang felt the person on his back sink. Xu Qinglang"s eyes immediately widened in disbelief.

No way.

Dead?

Grandpa, don"t scare me. You haven"t even lived to a hundred?

Xu Qinglang anxiously wanted to turn around to look at the old man on his back, but he suddenly saw Zhou Ze looking behind him with a calm expression.

“Put it down,” Zhou Ze said.

Xu Qinglang slowly put down the old man"s body. He turned around and saw a young man standing behind him.

The young man was wearing a black military uniform with a rifle on his back and a hat.

It was a typical security uniform. Some parts of the uniform were even patched up, making it look old and worn. This outfit was very common in the latest anti-war movies.

He was dead.

This was his soul?

Old man,

Oh no.

The young man looked at Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang and nodded slightly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He seemed to be reminiscing and reminiscing.

Two streams of tears fell from his eyes.

He was dead.

But the tears did not flow because he was dead.

Actually, death was a form of release for him. He had been lying on the bed for too long. Before he lost consciousness, he had been holding on for too long.

He did not know what he was holding on to. The comrades who had walked out from the flames of war had left one by one, and in the end, he was left alone.

He was almost a hundred years old, but he did not live to be a hundred years old. He still had people he missed, promises he missed, and…

A debt of grat.i.tude.

What the old man did not know was that nine years ago, before he fainted, a man named Li Shi had planned to drive to the sanatorium to look for him. He could have come here nine years earlier.

However, the creator of the thread was no match for his own fate. The fact that he was able to enter San Xiang Village meant that he did not have much time left.

In the end, Li Shi could not escape from his fate.

Perhaps the villagers of this village nine years ago had not gone so crazy. There were still people… who could talk and communicate.

They told Li Shi some things, and Li Shi planned to help them find the person who had been waiting for them.

At that moment, Zhou Ze saw the old grandpa and little girl walking over from the village entrance.

The way the old man and the young man walked was a little stiff. The little girl pinched her sugar figurine and kept pulling it. The old man carried the hoe, and his face turned green.

There was a red glow at the corner of their eyes, and drool kept dripping from their lips.

It was getting worse.

Here.

The young man walked forward and walked along the fields.

He was not afraid because there was no need for him to be afraid.

The debt that he had kept in his heart for nearly eighty years.

Today…

It was relief.

The young man was almost a hundred years old, but he still took off his hat and waved it around as he shouted,

“Grandpa Xu, Ah Hua!”

Just like 80 years ago!

The old man was stunned when he heard the voice.

The little girl suddenly stopped.

One old and one young.

It stopped.

Xu Qinglang stood beside Zhou Ze with his hands on his hips and asked worriedly, “Will he be alright?”

“We can only try,” Zhou Ze said.

After a while,

The redness in the old man"s eyes began to fade as he shouted, “Xina Kangzi! Little Chenzi, you"re back!”

The girl"s expression changed from vicious to innocent. She ran happily toward the young man. “Uncle Chen, you"re back!”

The old and the young ran to the young man"s side, unable to contain their joy.

The young man turned around and glanced at Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang, who were standing far away. Then, he looked at the old and young man before him and nodded heavily.

“Yes, I"m back, I"m back!”

“Where"s the army? Is the army back? I heard yesterday that the East Sea Ghost was still killing people in the city. His body was hanging on the city wall.”

“The army, the army is back,” the young man shouted. “We"re ready to fight the j.a.panese!”

“Okay!” The old man waved his fist and said, “Come, before you left, you told us that you would help us collect food. When the main force comes back to feed the troops, we will collect all the food in our village and hide it under the ancestral hall. The j.a.panese came here a while ago, but they didn"t find it.”

“Does the big guy have anything to eat at home?” the young man asked worriedly.

“Heh, it"s all voluntary. Let"s make some wild vegetables to fill our hunger. We won"t die even if we starve for a while. Of course we"re hungry, but that"s nothing.”

The old man held the young man"s hand and walked into the village. The little girl was happily carried by the young man.

Zhou Ze heard this conversation from afar.

Somewhat moved.

The Old Master said that it was fine to starve for a few days.

But they had been starving for eighty years.

Hungry for a while was indeed fine for humans.

However, the hunger that lasted for eighty years was something that even ghosts could not bear. This was an unimaginable torture!

“Xiao Chenzi is back, the main force is coming back!”

The moment they entered the village, the old master shouted.

The entire Sanxiang Village was in an uproar.

The old woman, who had been drooling at the door while holding the soles of her shoes, jolted. She stood up and shouted,

“Little Chenzi is back!”

The widow who was drinking water by the well and chewing on her hair immediately spat out the hair in her mouth.

With spring in her face,

She revealed her unique charm as she twisted her waist and shouted,

“Xiao Chenzi, if you don"t come back soon, I"m going to get hungry. If I can"t find a man, you"ll have to take me in!”

In the tiled house, the man who was boiling water immediately threw away the firewood in his hand and rushed out of the house with his wife.

The villagers gathered.

They escorted the young man to the ancestral hall.

The blind old man who was sitting at the door of the ancestral hall stood up shakily. He heard the noise and movement. Xiao Chenzi, who had been injured in the village, had returned.

He had said that the main force would return soon.

He had said before that the Jabanese wouldn"t last long.

He asked everyone to help him prepare the food and use it when the main force returned.

The blind old man threw away his walking stick and kneeled on the floor of the ancestral hall. He touched the tiles with both hands before lifting several bricks.

He reached his hand under the magnetic brick. When the crowd reached the entrance of the ancestral hall,

The blind old man picked up the white rice in his hand.

He shouted:

“Little Chenzi, food!

The villagers prepared food for the army.

We kept it hidden.

The j.a.panese did not find it.

I"m just saving it for the main troops!

Have you all eaten your fill? You"re so good at fighting the j.a.panese! ”

The young man stood at the door of the ancestral hall and looked at the rice grains that kept slipping between the blind old man"s fingers.

She slowly raised her head.

He cried.

Initially, he was full of confidence. When he was recuperating in the village, he told the villagers that the main force would return soon.

The villagers believed him.

But in reality,

The main force only returned after seven years. The villagers did not wait for seven years. In fact, when he had just recovered and went out to look for the main force, the news that the village had taken him in was leaked.

The j.a.panese army and the Collaborative Army rushed here and slaughtered the entire village as a warning to others.

This was also the reason why he did not want to fight the civil war.

Some people

Still waiting for him.

Waiting for him to return.

The j.a.panese had already been chased away, so he should return.

“Really…?” Xu Qinglang was shocked.

“There has to be an external factor.”

Zhou Ze looked up and saw that the blood moon in the sky was slowly becoming clear. The murderous aura in the village was also slowly dissipating.

At the same time, a crystalline object fell from the sky and landed on the pile of straw.

Zhou Ze walked over and looked around. He found a bronze ring among the pile of straw. The patterns on it were strange. When he held it in his hand, it felt heavy.

He did not finish his sentence.

Zhou Ze picked up the ring and continued,

“However, external objects are external objects after all. Some obsessions are deeply ingrained in one"s bones. Even external objects cannot stop them.

Otherwise…

Eighty years ago, our country was already destroyed. ”