Chapter 240: White Orchid Rain Festival (Twenty-two)
I originally thought it was just a simple combat mission, but now it seems that it is not that simple, and there are some unexplainable mysteries involved.
"Let's go to the pawn shop first, maybe there will be some clues there."
While the three of them were discussing, Bei Xi had already locked onto the unknown of the pawn shop.
Although this was not the Bai Lan City they were familiar with, the location of the pawn shop was not too far away, so they found the somewhat shabby store located in the troubled area without much effort.
"The business of this pawn shop is definitely not as good as the one we have there," President Alice stood at the door and looked around for a moment before coming to a conclusion, "It's been such a long time, and no one passing by has even glanced at it."
"At this time, Bailan City has not yet reached the end of its rope, and naturally no one who lives and works in peace and contentment will come here."
Nan Huan seemed to have anticipated this situation and his tone was neutral.
This time, after they entered through the main entrance, there was no screening space like before, but they went directly into the relatively bright hall.
Different from the shocking scenes they had seen before, the pawnshops nowadays were much more plain, and the antique shelves were not that high, at least not at a height where you could see the top. However, the number was also astonishing. At a glance, there were dozens of densely packed shelves filled with pawn tickets rolled up and piled together.
As if to show that no one had been here for a long time, Nan Huan and her companions' small steps stirred up the dust in the air, causing the pawn tickets that were wobbling on the top of the nearest shelf to fall to the ground.
Finally, it caught the attention of the man who looked like the boss, who was dozing with his head on his back at the counter.
Nan Huan was a little disappointed. At that time, the owner of the pawnshop was not a beautiful woman, but a thin man who looked unremarkable. Whether from his body shape, appearance, or temperament, he seemed to be just an ordinary person.
The pawnshop was still filled with black air as before, but the difference was that the man's body was blocked by the counter, and Nan Huan could not tell whether his range of movement was controlled by iron chains like Yizhihua.
While Nan Huan was looking at each other, the man was also looking at them.
It seemed that he didn't expect that someone would come to the pawnshop at this time, but after a moment, his nose moved, as if he smelled something, and his eyes suddenly became brighter.
"I said that the country is peaceful and the people are safe, why would anyone come to me?"
The man smiled and walked out from behind the counter very attentively, looking back and forth between Nan Huan and Bei Xi.
"Do you two smell like you've done business with a pawnshop?" He said as he approached. The distance seemed to affect his judgment, so that he was confused and finally locked his eyes on Bei Xi. "Could it be that you signed a pawn ticket with the previous owner?"
But he soon realized that something was wrong, because the other party's breath seemed a little strange, and he didn't seem to have felt it in the pawnshop.
Bei Xi did not answer, but asked in return, "Can you tell that we have done business with the pawnshop? Is this a unique skill of the pawnshop owner?"
She cared so much about this issue that she deliberately ignored the other party's somewhat impolite behavior and actions.
The man misunderstood Bei Xi's meaning, thinking that she had tacitly agreed with him. He stood a few steps away from them and waved his hand. "That's not the case. It's just that my sense of smell is quite sensitive. Anyone who has done business with a pawnshop has a smell on him. I can tell it apart. However, the owner of a pawnshop will have an impression of the people he has done business with. I'm sure I haven't done business with you. As for the other pawn tickets in this pawnshop, although I haven't seen them all, I won't mistake their smell. There shouldn't be any from you two either."
After saying this, Nan Huan couldn't help showing disappointment on her face. She originally thought that the owner of the pawnshop would have some additional abilities, but it turned out that this was just his personal skill.
Not to mention that she had never done any business with customers since she became the owner of the pawnshop. Even if she had looked through the massive amount of pawn tickets before, she didn't have that special sense to leave any impression.
"We did deal with the pawn shop, but it was a bit of a unique situation."
Nan Huan didn't get the answer he wanted, so he changed his mind.
"May I ask your name, boss? How long have you been the owner of this pawn shop? You just said that although you haven't seen all the pawn tickets here, the smell is still familiar. Is there anything that you think is wrong?"
Nan Huan and the others didn't have any clues about either this unknown entity or the other party's pawn ticket, so when asking the person in front of them, they had to use such ambiguous words.
Nan Huan considered carefully and did not tell them the truth about the fact that they came here from Bailan City a hundred years later.
However, the moment Nan Huan opened her mouth, the man seemed to sense something and moved a little closer to her, squinting his eyes. It seemed that he did not hear what Nan Huan said at all, but was carefully judging something.
After a while, he clapped his hands suddenly, with an expression of shock and disbelief on his face.
"Oh my god, I said the aura was a little different. Although you have done business with the pawnshop, you have the aura of the pawnshop owner. But how is this possible?"
The expression on the man's face suddenly became a little crazy, and he was about to pounce on Nan Huan regardless of anything, as if he wanted to get a closer look. However, before he got close, he was blocked by Bei Xi with an iron axe.
Nan Huan didn't know what basis the other party's sense of smell was based on, that he could even feel that he had become the owner of the pawnshop, but she could see clearly that the man in front of her was like a flower, trapped in the pawnshop by an iron chain made of black air, unable to leave.
only……
Nanhu was not worried at all that the other party would pounce on him, but instead looked down at his empty fingers.
She just wanted to absorb the black energy from the other person out of common sense, but failed.
【bite--
Players are reminded that this is not a real dungeon world. For the basic parts that cannot be changed, players are requested not to try to break the balance in the special side quests. 】
Perhaps it was still frightened by the commotion Nan Huan had caused in the pawnshop before, so before Nan Huan could try a second time, the system spoke up to stop him.
Nan Huan already knew that this was not a real copy world, but she didn't quite understand why the system emphasized the "basic part that cannot be changed". Did it mean that this pawn ticket world that happened in the past could not be changed at all, or some situations could be avoided?
The man was stopped by Bei Xi from moving forward. Due to Bei Xi's weapon and the cold aura emanating from his body, he did not dare to get close to Nan Huan. However, he still refused to give up. "Are you really the owner of the pawn shop? How did you leave the pawn shop? There is no sign of your aura, which means you are still the owner of the pawn shop. But how did you do it? I..."
When he said this, he realized that he almost leaked out very important information, so he quickly stopped talking, but this also brought the stunned Nan Huan back to his senses.
Nan Huan knew that they needed to get some information from the man, so after thinking for a moment, she walked out from behind Bei Xi.
"I am the owner of the pawn shop. I still am now, but it is a hundred years later. We came here for some reasons. For us, this place is equivalent to the past. We cannot change what has happened in the past. Do you understand this?"
She had described their situation as briefly as possible in words that the men could understand.
If any other resident of Bailan City heard these words, they would definitely think that Nan Huan and the others were liars. However, the man in front of him was not sure whether it was because of his special identity, or because of his sense of smell and ability to distinguish truth from lies. In short, after hearing what Nan Huan said, although he looked disappointed, he did not question it.
"I was wondering why someone would come to the pawn shop at this time of the day."
He responded with self-mockery, finally not being as crazy as before.
"My name is Passerby A, and I am the current owner of this pawn shop. What do you want to know?"
He accepted it well and introduced himself.
It was just this casual and somewhat exaggerated name that made President Alice's mouth twitch. "You repeated it twice. Why do you think no one will come to the pawn shop at this time?"
"Not at this time, but since I took over the pawn shop, this store has not had any customers for decades."
Now it was Nan Huan's turn to be shocked. "No customers for decades? Have you ever handled any particularly strange pawn tickets? Are there any particularly strange pawn tickets in the pawn shop now? Or are there any customers that left a deep impression on you?"
The man seemed to think they were making a fuss out of nothing, and spread his hands helplessly, "You also know that this is not a normal pawnshop. Even if ordinary people want to come, they don't have the money. As for what you mean by weird, the wishes of the customers who come to my place are all weird. What is your standard for weirdness? From my standard, my customers are all impressed. After all, they all come here with the intention of exchanging something. Only when people are desperate will they place their hopes on wishes."
Well, that's not wrong.
However, Nanhuan was unable to provide more accurate information for Passerby A to identify the object.
"Can we look through the pawn tickets ourselves?"
The president of the Workers' Union is a pragmatist. When there are no other clues for the time being, he focuses on the most primitive method. If the pawn ticket has been formed at this time, then it is most likely here. Why not look for it?
Passerby A was amused by her amateurish words and extended his hand to them, "I don't know how long you can stay here, I'm just giving you this opportunity to look for it. Do you know how many pawn tickets there are in the pawn shop? Even if you search day and night, it will probably take a hundred years."
After Passerby A gave the answer for the first time, Nan Huan realized that their direction might be wrong.
As the background sound of the discussion between the Workers' Guild President and Alice was playing, she rolled her eyes, as if she had thought of something, "Has anything strange happened in Bailan City recently?"
This seemed to be a completely unrelated question, but it made Passerby A pause and reveal an unnatural expression.
Bei Xi, who was closest to him, saw that the other party's expression clearly showed that he knew something.
Due to Bei Xi's threatening look and the iron axe in his hand, Passerby A was silent for a moment before lowering his voice, "It's not a big deal, it's just that there are some rumors about the dragon clan in Bailan City recently."
He waved mysteriously at the remaining four people.
The president of the workers' guild didn't quite understand why they had to gather together and communicate in such a low voice in such a big pawnshop when there wasn't even a single customer. But it didn't matter because she was pulled back by President Alice.
"Although the dragon clan was completely wiped out a long time ago, and it is still a taboo in the entire Bailan City, there have been rumors since a month ago that many people saw a dragon flying in the air above Widow Liu's house in the south of the city in the middle of the night."
Nan Huan raised his eyebrows, reached out and pressed down a flower that was irritated by some of the words, to prevent her from continuing to mess with the back of his neck.
"How did the dragon race disappear so long ago?"
They had already heard part of this story from Old Man Zhang, and Bei Xi continued to ask, wanting to see if she would hear a different version.
Passerby A looked at Bei Xi in disbelief, "Could it be that the people of Bailan City have forgotten the glory of their ancestors a hundred years later? Of course they were exterminated by humans? If the dragons had not run into Bailan City without permission, there would not have been such a tragic battle..."
Nan Huan did not listen carefully to what Passerby A said later about the battle. It was nothing more than exaggerating the correctness of humans launching this battle.
And all her attention was used to stop the flower on the back of her neck from going crazy.
Now we can be 100% sure that Passerby A is just an ordinary human being, otherwise he would not say such words.
Nan Huan didn't know what selection criteria the owner of the pawnshop had, but he knew there were definitely no strict requirements for the identity of the controller. After all, there was already a dragon, a human, and a player present.
"Besides the fact that someone saw a dragon, was there anything else weird?"
Nan Huan stopped Passerby A's wandering thoughts and brought the topic back to the topic.
"Of course there was. Not long after the dragon appeared, Widow Liu's belly grew big. Her husband had died of illness several decades earlier, and Widow Liu had never remarried. She was called a widow, and now she was half buried in the ground, but she suddenly became pregnant. What could be stranger than this?"
Um, this turn is a bit steep.
What was just a fantasy adventure story suddenly turned into a bloody family ethics drama, shocking the four people so much that they were speechless for a while.
Then, before Nan Huan could react, that familiar feeling of dizziness came over them, and everyone's eyes went dark.
When I opened my eyes again, there was no pawnshop or passerby in front of me. Instead, there was a not-so-big house. Although the house was not renovated, it was not shabby.
This scene change was a little unexpected. Nan Huan blinked and said, "This is..."
Bei Xi stood there, took a look at the layout of Bailan City, and then said, "South of the city, if I'm not mistaken, this should be the home of the woman surnamed Liu."
As if to confirm Bei Xi's words, as soon as she finished speaking, she saw an old man and a doctor with a medicine box running into the house in a hurry, followed by many aggressive Bailan City residents.
"The current timeline is about a month later than when we just met Passerby A."
Bei Xi narrowed his eyes and made a judgment.
"How do you know that?"
President Alice felt her scalp tingling as she looked at Bai Lancheng, which seemed almost the same to her, and didn't understand how the president made such a judgment.
"The humidity in the air is a little higher than before," Bei Xi explained patiently, "and the clothes they are wearing are a little thin..."
The working people's guild president was stunned. For a moment, she felt that she was not worthy of the title of guild president. It turned out that the president was so powerful.
Nan Huan acted like he was used to Bei Xi's superhuman observation and perception, and soon discovered something strange. "Let's calculate based on one month. Passerby A just said that the old woman was only pregnant for one month, so it would only be three months in total. How can I see this situation..."
But before Nan Huan could finish his words, the huge crowd of residents crowded into the yard.
"It's only three months before the baby is born. There must be something fishy going on. What do you think will come out?"
"Other people give birth to normal babies after ten months of pregnancy. How could she be a normal human fetus in these three months? Didn't you see the dragon-shaped appearance before? Didn't many fortune tellers say it was an abnormal fetus?"
"Our Bailan City has been peaceful and stable for so many years. Is it possible that we will repeat the same mistakes again?"
"What do you mean by repeating the same mistakes? Do you know how to speak? We won in the early years. Why should we be so nervous and cautious now? Even if that thing is here to take our lives, we will kill it directly."
"I think so too. Maybe the dragons are not extinct, and now they are making trouble again. No matter what they are, we can't let them live..."
"But after all, it is the flesh and blood of Widow Liu. What if she doesn't want to do it later?"
"That's not up to her. Could it be that the names of everyone in this entire city are not as important as that monster?"
…
When Nan Huan heard this, she silently moved her steps back a little. After all, there was a real dragon on her neck.
Although it may seem a bit noisy with everyone talking at the same time, the main idea is nothing more than two meanings.
This child is unknown, and must be related to the dragon clan. He cannot be kept, and it is best to cut the weeds and eradicate them completely.
After hearing these words, the four of them fell silent at the same time.
From what happened on the street just now, Nan Huan discovered that as long as they did not deliberately disturb the residents of Bailan City, or what happened in the past, they could keep it like watching a movie and no one would notice them.
The situation is still unclear, so everyone remains silent for the time being.
The situation in the house was not good, and the woman's painful voice could be heard from time to time.
The rest of the people gathered in the yard to watch the excitement, as if they were waiting for that life to come and preparing to do something.
Nan Huan noticed that only the old man who had brought the doctor in at the beginning was standing closest to the door, looking in the direction of the house with some worry.
About ten minutes later, the doctor's frightened voice was heard from inside the room.
ah--
Everyone pushed the door open and entered the house, and several tall and strong men came in with tools such as hoes and sickles.
Nan Huan and the others followed in, until they could see the situation inside the house clearly.
The elderly woman did not survive the childbirth, but she died peacefully and with dignity.
Next to her sat a baby. Unlike other newborn babies, she was not dirty. Instead, she was wrapped in a bundle by the doctor. Her fair face showed a clever look.
No matter how you look at it, he looks like a normal human child.
This should be the voice of everyone present at this moment.
But what I didn't expect was that the next second, the child opened his mouth and cried, and along with the cry, out of his mouth came a dragon-shaped wooden sculpture as long as half of his little finger.
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