73 Chapter 73 (Two in One)
◎Door? Break it open!◎
The customer hasn't responded for over a week since he last contacted the supermarket to check on the ingredients.
Who knows, once we get in touch, it might lead to something big.
The client meeting was scheduled for four in the morning. Ye Ping'an gave up the interesting little video and reminded his employees to go to bed early in the evening to recharge their energy.
The alarm clock rang in the early morning, and I packed up some common seasonings just in case. Ye Pingan yawned and patted the van, "Xiao Cheng, come up and sleep."
The carriage was packed with spices and snacks, stored in a makeshift freezer, ready for immediate use. The carriage was mostly empty, with newspapers spread on the floor and a coat thrown on top, enough space for sleeping in forever.
Cheng Yi opened his eyes wide, "Boss, I'm not sleepy——"
"Just sleep if I tell you to." Ye Ping'an waved his hand impatiently, "You'll be busy today. What if this turns out to be a mess..."
Show respect to customers by spending a lot of money, and stop grumbling behind them.
But based on Cheng Yi's understanding of the boss, it is probably:
"It's better to hire other teams temporarily than to hire your own people who don't need to be paid."
Or: "If you bring one more person, you can get more rewards."
As it turned out, her guess was correct.
Ye Ping'an locked the shop door and didn't rush to turn onto the national highway in the direction of the construction site.
The car circled a few meters and stopped in front of the bookstore. The lights were still on in the early morning, and a white-haired young man could be vaguely seen sitting upright behind the bookshelf.
The bookstore had been renovated long before, with no sign or official opening yet. It became the second shop in the food court with strange rules, after the Xile Restaurant.
Curious customers kept peeking in at the door, but at best they just looked at the handsome, iceberg-like owner, and no one had a chance to greet him.
but……
Ye Ping'an was full of enthusiasm. "Tushan, you haven't slept yet. You're a consultant and do literary research, which is all mental work, so it's easy to get insomnia. Come on, come on, would you like to go to the banquet? Come out and move around!"
The chef will definitely not go hungry during a banquet, and the same goes for the team he leads.
Tu Shansui wasn't an employee, but luckily, he had a good relationship with them. He'd be lucky to find a good, free man with a sharp nose. If Ye Ping'an hadn't known the police officers were busy and unsuitable for helping out at the wedding, he could have also found a few more people to fill the gap.
When Tu Shansui heard the voice, a faint smile appeared at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
He put down his pen and quickly pushed open the glass door. The wind blew and made the wind chimes at the door jingle.
"OK."
After meeting so frequently, Tu Shansui was able to suppress his uncontrollable heartbeat. He naturally unbuckled the passenger seat belt and sat down, placing a shiny gold box in front of the dashboard.
The shape of the Boshan furnace is like flowing clouds and mountains, walking dragons and leaping tigers. It is obviously a new cultural and creative handicraft produced by a museum - a golden remake.
Ye Ping'an's eyes immediately stopped on the box.
Cheng Yi sat in the back and secretly curled her lips.
Humph, you're just pretending again! I'm almost running out, and I've even prepared gifts. What's the point of pretending?
Tu Shansui unscrewed the hollow lid of the box, and a wisp of rich floral fragrance filled his nose. "Aromatherapy."
"Magnolia, jasmine... and osmanthus?" Ye Ping'an sniffed and said in surprise, "Magnolia may bloom for an extra season. It's only the end of June, and I haven't heard of osmanthus blooming in Jiang City. Where did it come from?"
Tu Shansui explained simply: "With climate change across the country, experts have discovered unusual fluctuations in plant flowering. I have some samples."
To be more precise, it was the impact of strange outbreaks across the country. Following the beasts, the plants had also undergone some changes. The bureau had specially sent a batch of plants imbued with a strange aura.
There have been no major changes so far, but Tu Shansui cannot be sure when new strange events will occur.
The strangely changing world affects humans, animals, and will eventually affect plants with low intelligence.
Fortunately, for now, flowers are just flowers.
Tu Shansui carefully put the box away and said, "Besides the aromatherapy 'candle', when I smell the natural fragrance, I want to let you smell it too."
"Thanks." Ye Ping'an nodded. "Smell it carefully. The season is not right, and the fragrance is a little off. I don't need to rush to find the place where the flower jam is produced, or to prepare the materials for drying the flowers."
Fried magnolia, jasmine juice, osmanthus honey... flowers can be eaten in a variety of ways. As a good cook, it is natural to find the best flavor according to the season.
Tu Shansui just took out a box of flowers, and Ye Ping'an thought that he was so busy preparing the wedding menu that he didn't even notice the changes in seasons and the latest ingredients.
After picking up the person, Ye Ping'an turned the steering wheel and drove into the dark and hazy night before sunrise.
The trucks that were common on the wide national highway in the early morning were not seen today.
There was darkness except for the street lights and car lights, and then there were car lights and street lights in the darkness, as if there was only one van on the entire road.
Ye Ping'an drove slowly, keeping an eye on the wedding cars hung with red silk, waiting for the clients who would arrive at some point to pick them up.
“No matter how bizarre the weather changes, it’s easier to find patterns than the active thinking of our customers.”
Out of courtesy to the customer, Ye Pingan swallowed back his thoughts, but still couldn't help but complain about the aimless driving.
"We've been driving for over half an hour. If we keep going, the national highway would span the entire Southern Province. Where are we planning to meet? I've seen so many wedding and banquet videos, but I've never seen anything like this. Could this be a new local custom? Tushan, have you seen this?"
Ye Pingan had a lot of questions popping up, and Tu Shansui, who was looking at him expectantly, said: ...
There are so many bizarre weddings these days that even a live search wouldn't be enough to list them all.
The reason given by "Tai Sui" for the banquet in order to set a trap was that the banquet had been postponed many times due to the siege, so there was no logic to it.
Tushan Sui maintained the dignity of the Tushan clan and remained calm, "I haven't seen him. He will come later."
"Are you planning a roadside wedding? Isn't that against the law?"
Ye Ping'an touched his chin, wondering if it was possible to get a reward for reporting illegal activities.
Cooking and part-time job don’t affect each other!
The street lights went out one by one, as if invisible creatures ran out of the darkness not far away and swallowed up the lights one by one.
Squeak—Snap! Bang!
There was a sound in the darkness, like an old and dilapidated iron door being blown open by the wind and shaking constantly in the wind.
Ye Pingan slowed down the car and asked, "What's that sound? Is there a car accident up ahead?"
A red sedan floated out of the darkness. It had a red silk and wooden frame, and it looked antique. It was followed by four pale-faced bearers in front and behind.
The sedan bearers were draped in large red flowers and had their faces painted red. They stared at the van and shouted hoarsely, "The auspicious time has arrived. Happy marriage! Please get in the sedan~"
The cheerful suona tune followed, but the high-pitched tone of the suona, which always dominated everything, was suppressed to a very low level, as if the person playing it was weak, or as if the voice was deliberately lowered.
The suona, which is suitable for both happy and sad occasions, becomes inexplicably eerie in its cheerfulness when played.
Amid the shouts, the red sedan's door curtain swayed, making the same heavy door sound as before.
The swaying door curtain revealed a slight gap. It was dark inside, but you could vaguely see that it was empty.
Cheng Yi squatted behind Ye Ping'an, looked out for a long time, and inexplicably felt like going in and sitting down.
She shook her head sharply.
It’s “divine power”!
If you look closely, you can see that the sedan bearers are not living people at all. Their facial features are delicately drawn but stiff, and they seem to be floating horizontally when they walk. They are clearly a group of strange, light puppets.
Ye Ping'an sighed, "Wow, this client is really generous. This antique wedding, from wedding dresses to the ceremony, is a complete set that costs millions. No wonder they're willing to spend so much money on a chef..."
Ye Ping'an didn't find the group appearing across from him strange at all. He slowly pulled over, lowered the window, and asked, "Are you the hostess of the wedding banquet? I'm Ye Ping'an from the Xile Hotel!"
The sedan chair floated closer, and the bearer walking in front was close to the front of the van.
The sedan bearers repeated in unison, "Please get on the sedan~"
Ye Ping'an waved his hand, "I have my own car, you can just tell me the way. Or I can give you a ride."
"Please get in the sedan~"
The curtain of the sedan chair swayed and the door creaked, waiting for someone to walk in. The sedan chair bearers were still carrying the sedan chair forward, as if they were going to put the carriage on it as well.
The wrinkled face of the person in the driver's seat squinted his eyes with disdain, the shadow of the wheel spread, and a small black hand stretched out from the ground.
Pop.
The sedan bearer in front seemed to have tripped, and fell straight down without even bending his legs.
The red silk of the sedan chair moved without wind, and before the cold air filled the air, he stretched out his leg... The black little hand that had stretched out its hand to trip him had shrunk without a trace.
"Why can't you understand what I'm saying..." Ye Ping'an's mouth twitched, and he grabbed the sedan chair carrier to prevent him from falling against the car window.
"You insist on squeezing in. You might fall down, right? What era is this? Cars can run faster than your two legs."
The sedan bearer was lifted up with one hand and was completely unable to move.
As if it had finally discovered that its prey was not prey, its rigid facial features remained unchanged, but its dark eyes were clearly filled with fear. If it were not for the limitations of its facial features, it would have probably become the masterpiece "The Scream".
A figure flashed in the seemingly empty sedan.
"What's going on... Is the C-rank [Puppet Show] resisting control? Is it starting to backfire? I haven't even met Ye Ping'an yet! Weird, really weird! If I had known even strange creatures would get into trouble if they touched her, I wouldn't have come! Tai Sui, just wait, I, the puppeteer, will make you suffer when I get back!"
The puppeteer gritted his teeth.
The puppeteer looked at the billowing curtain of the sedan chair. The seemingly soft silk cloth outlined the contours of the door frame, but there seemed to be something separating them.
The C-class monster [The Door That Can't Be Closed] is not as dangerous as other C-class monsters. It is said that it was classified as C-class by the Investigation Bureau only because it also contains micro-ghosts.
The end of the door that opens must be connected to a weird or strange thing, and it can only be used twice before the weird thing is revived. It is extremely difficult to close the door after revivification, and it is rarely used even in the True Spirit Society.
But... passing through it, one can directly reach another area. This is its special ghost cave.
The puppeteer was not afraid of meeting Ye Ping'an outside. It was impossible for Ye Ping'an to pass through the [unclosed door] and fall into the sedan chair.
But the puppet's loss of control really made him uneasy.
The puppeteer couldn't help but stare at the body that was rapidly becoming identical to the puppet, so he broke off a wooden finger and threw it at the sedan chair.
The wooden finger hit the soft red silk sedan, making a slight sound of hitting wood, and instantly disappeared between the red silk.
The sedan bearers are puppets, and so is the sedan chair.
"If only she could come in... come in."
The sedan bearer, frozen in Ye Ping'an's grip, shuddered, the lines on his stiff face stained with blood. He slowly stood up.
"Are you okay?" Ye Ping'an was kind and enthusiastic. "Come on, show me the way."
The captured sedan bearer raised his hand stiffly and pointed inside the sedan.
Ye Ping'an followed the direction he pointed and saw a downhill fork in the national highway.
Looking at the map, there are small villages and towns ahead.
"We're really going to have a feast in the mountains."
Fortunately, Ye Pingan was mentally prepared. He didn't say much and let go of the sedan bearer. "We are all colleagues today. Do you want me to take you away?"
The sedan bearers all shook their heads.
Ye Pingan: ...
It was a well-intentioned invitation, why is it so hurtful!
Ye Ping'an curled his lips and said, "Alright then. Can you guys just carry the sedan chair on the road? Hurry up, are you responsible for delaying the wedding banquet?"
Ye Ping'an stepped on the accelerator and the van drove straight in the direction the sedan bearer pointed.
The puppeteer in the sedan was stunned for a moment.
No? Where did this person go? He said he had to hurry, so why did he drive away?
The shadows on the car windows rose, and the empty road under the wheels spread out in the blink of an eye, making a 360-degree turn on the way to the downhill fork.
Just as the puppeteer was about to take the sedan chair to continue stopping people, he saw a familiar van emerging from outside the sedan chair.
Shadows rolled under the car, and ghost hands were like a forest, like a group of evil ghosts released from a cage, roaring towards them with the momentum to crush everything.
Bang! Clank, clang—
The front of the car hit the sedan, and the fluttering curtain of the sedan instantly made a sharp explosion like an iron door being broken.
The van didn't slow down at all and crashed into the sedan door like a drill, deforming the sedan and causing the invisible door to shatter in an instant.
A miserable wail came from the curtain of the sedan chair, and the old door frame appeared out of thin air. The coldness just began to erupt and then stopped abruptly.
The door frame looked like it had been smashed by a dump truck and torn into pieces by countless hands, breaking into pieces as soon as it was touched.
Ghostly hands grabbed the flying fragments, and a creepy swallowing sound came from nowhere. The road of nothingness had spread deep into the door frame.
It took less than a blink of an eye to smash the car door, and the van sped away.
When leaving, the ghost hands that stretched out from under the wheels did not forget to tear off the fragments that fell from the sedan chair, and also pulled the sedan bearers who were holding on to it outside into the car.
The door of the sedan chair was torn apart and the wheels rolled over the puppeteer's head. He stared blankly at the front and didn't even react.
A breeze blew from the dark sky, making his head feel cold.
In the blink of an eye, the sedan chair and the puppet were gone. The remaining strange puppet huddled behind him, faintly trembling.
...Isn't the [Hearse] also a C-Class? ? How did it devour the [Door That Can't Close] so quickly?!
It seemed, as if, probably, that the car was not tricked to the destination by Tai Sui's ambush, but still rushed in happily and impatiently!
Unbelievable shock and panic blocked his brain, and the puppeteer was terrified and dared not think about what would happen.
He hurriedly stood up by supporting himself on the ground, shook his forehead which was almost on the rut of the wheel, and quickly grabbed the strange object.
Before he could drive the creature to take him away, a strange chill spread from the puppet.
The puppet had lost most of its strange aura, becoming weakened. The Terror Master, in great fear, could not bear the price it exacted.
The devouring... has begun.
Several cars came from both ends of the road. Yan Mingyue looked at the scene in front of him and immediately frowned and threw out the hemp rope.
"He's not affected by Tai Sui. Hurry, control the creature and prepare for interrogation!"
Yan Mingyue pressed the button on her earphones. "The information department's analysis was correct. They did use a relocation artifact."
Yan Mingyue recalled the scene of the [hearse] running rampant, and the pain of trying her best to stop the [hearse] came to her mind.
When [Hearse] creates them and arrests people en masse, it's dangerous and terrifying. But when [Hearse] creates the True Spirit Society, scrapes the ground and packs up the strange things away...
The world is so wonderful. A few months ago, she could never have imagined that one day she would like a hearse so much.
It has to be Boss Ye.
Yan Mingyue suppressed his wandering thoughts and continued sharing intelligence. "I'll handle the scene here. You can notify the traffic police stationed at the checkpoint to withdraw. Judging from the situation at the scene, it seems like a [door that can't be closed]. After interrogation, we should be able to further narrow down the location..."
Zhou Xing's voice came through the headset, a hint of fatigue from staying up all night. "Expand the scope of the [door that can't be closed] a little bit. There are five suspicious and strange incidents near this road recently. I've led the team to confirm the safety of two. You can go while you interrogate them. After the interrogation, go directly."
Several other strange incidents have local investigators involved, and Tushan Consultant is also with them. Even if the B-level strange creature [Tai Sui] is revived on the spot, it should be fine."
The investigators were busy setting off again. The van driving along the road of nothingness suddenly bumped, and the world ahead had changed.
Ye Pingan gripped the steering wheel. "Eh? Looks like we hit something?"
The shadows on the car windows rose and fell like the tide, and the face of the person huddled under the driver's seat was grinning.
Before Ye Ping'an could turn his gaze, the shadows on the car windows had all retracted into the car. Only the headlights continued to shine, illuminating the road ahead.
After looking around, Ye Ping'an didn't see the unlucky victim.
"It should be a stone? It's okay as long as it's not a stray cat, dog, or person falling on the road." Ye Ping'an felt relieved. He looked at the empty road behind the car and shook his head helplessly. "I said they were carrying the sedan slowly and couldn't even catch up with us..."
It was quiet outside the car window, and in the rearview mirror I could see a large archway that I had just passed.
On the top of the archway were five large characters: "Mountain Resort," and colorful lights flickered in the still dark sky.
Colorful balloons and flower light strings together formed the ceremony platform. On both sides of the platform, rows of round tables, armchairs and red carpets stood quietly in the darkness.
The signboards hadn't been lit yet, but a large photo of the bride and groom stood at the top of the platform. One was smiling, looking outward, the other draped in a red veil. Both were wearing Chinese wedding attire on the upper half and Western suits on the lower half, creating a strangely intertwined look.
Despite the clusters of flowers and the colorful lights, it seemed particularly gloomy and dead, like a false bustle decorated with large wreaths and paper flowers.
The tables and chairs stretched out into the darkness in the distance, where the lights could not reach. It seemed as if there were dark shadows sitting on them, spying on outsiders.
It felt more like a scene from a horror movie than a wedding.
Ye Pingan didn't feel anything was wrong at all. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. It looks like everything is ready. I don't need to call anyone to organize the on-site procedures."
Taking a closer look at the scene, she couldn't help but twitch her lips.
"An antique sedan chair, an open-air wedding, and European-style white floral decorations... forget about this hodgepodge of aesthetics that's neither Chinese nor Western, neither ancient nor modern. It's all red and white, and it's lively, right?"
I have seen all kinds of underworld art that are popular among people. It’s just open-air weddings with a mix of styles. As long as the customers like it, it’s fine.
But no matter how I look at it, I really can't figure out what kind of banquet style the customer wants from the on-site layout.
In order to get the chef order worth five million and for the reputation of Xile Hotel, Ye Ping'an contacted the store's suppliers overnight.
Wedding banquets are usually held in hotels, so there will be no shortage of ingredients.
But considering how much this customer spends money and how inexplicably he chose to pick people up in a designated area...it's not impossible that the wedding could be held in some remote corner of the mountains, on an island, or even on the riverbank.
Sure enough, she guessed it right. So, isn't this an outdoor wedding at the resort?
The scene was set up, which meant it wasn't the worst mess. But I had to see for myself to know how the kitchen was.
Ye Pingan raised his voice and asked, "Is anyone there?"
Before the voice fell, a woman in a pink dress suddenly appeared.
Her eyes were one large and one small, her skin was pale, and she leaned against the car door and stared at Ye Pingan, "Did you see me?"
Ye Pingan was confused, "What else?"
With such a big person standing there, you must be blind to not see it, right?
Judging from their attire, they should be bridesmaids or family members of the newlyweds. In short... they must be capable of taking charge.
When I rolled down the car window, a strange, pungent smell wafted in the wind, mixed with the fragrance of flowers, which was nauseating.
...Were the decorations brought here fresh from the factory? No wonder they didn't have an indoor wedding. The formaldehyde and phenol are so concentrated, holding an indoor wedding would surely poison several friends and family.
Ye Pingan frowned, ignoring the client's wedding arrangements, and asked directly, "Excuse me, where is the wedding kitchen?"
The woman in the pink dress grinned from ear to ear, revealing her sharp teeth. "Look at me, am I pretty?"
Ye Pingan: ...
Ye Ping'an shed tears of sympathy for his clients.
No way, no way, on the wedding day, the relatives and friends who came to the door to greet the guests were actually trying to outshine them? If they were trying to outshine them, they should have some self-awareness of their appearance and the occasion, right?
"You think I'm ugly too?"
Ye Ping'an's silence made the pink-dressed woman's expression even more distorted. She screamed and grabbed her cheek with one hand. One grab caused her skin to burst, and another grab caused her skin to burst, revealing her bones.
A chilling chill erupted in front of the car door. The black eyes on the bloody skull face were staring at the living person. It was hard to say it looked good, but it was extremely terrifying.
But in front of the woman in the pink skirt, Tu Shansui's expression was as cold as ice, and Ye Ping'an remained calm.
The car was filled with the rising chill, and screams came into the car. Cheng Yi bit her sleeve and resisted the urge to scratch her cheek like the woman in the pink dress.
The woman in the pink dress didn't scare anyone, but instead looked like a crazy farce.
"You think I'm ugly too, right? Ugly? Ugly?!!!"
Amid the screams, Ye Pingan rubbed his ears and said, "It's important for people to know themselves. It's okay if they are ugly."
Whether it looks good or not, you know it in your heart.
If you insist on asking, then there's nothing I can do. Since she's such an honest and trustworthy little boss, of course I have to tell the truth.
Woman in pink skirt:?
"You don't have to wear makeup if you don't know how to do it. You could run a dyeing factory on your face. It would be scary if you painted it on a sunny day."
Ye Ping'an said sincerely, "It's okay. If you really want to change your appearance, I can recommend a plastic surgery clinic! There's a diner who does this. Mention my name and you'll get a 20% discount."
Woman in pink skirt:? ?
Ye Ping'an pushed aside the woman in a pink skirt who was crowding the car. "Let's not talk about this anymore. After all this time, your family is the first one to ask me to book a banquet. I will definitely not let you down! Have you eaten breakfast? Where is the kitchen? I'll make you something to try. What are your family's dietary restrictions?"
A series of questions came out in a row, and the woman in the pink skirt stood there blankly:???
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