Li Huai, somewhat exasperated by my sarcastic remark, retorted, "Then tell me, is he a good person or not?!"
I didn't answer him directly. Instead, I walked towards the front hall, saying as I went, "It's a bit too early to talk about this now. Believe me, we'll see him again soon."
We walked back along the corridor we came from. We hadn't noticed it when we came, but when we went back, we saw that the shadows of the ivy on the walls on both sides of the bluestone path were stretched long by the setting sun, looking like ghost claws.
Several red lanterns hung at the corner, their light flickering and casting distorted shadows on the wall.
Sometimes it stretches into a tall, thin ghostly figure, and sometimes it curls up into a ball.
"This lantern is a bit eerie; it sounds like a person breathing."
Li Huai shrank back, no longer daring to look at the shadow on the wall.
"Look at you, you coward, all you do is overthink things."
Luo Tianhe scolded him with a hint of disappointment.
I ignored them and looked at them carefully.
The halo of light from the lantern did indeed expand and contract rhythmically, much like the breathing of a living creature.
Just as we were turning the corner, we suddenly caught a glimpse of a person standing in the shadows. It was a waitress in a plain-colored cheongsam, her back to us, facing the wall, motionless.
She was standing in a very tricky spot; we wouldn't have noticed her at all if we hadn't gone around that corner.
We instinctively paused, and Li Huai even took two steps back, almost tripping.
The waitress noticed the noise and turned around very slowly.
Her face was somewhat blurred in the shadows, but it was still clear that she was smiling, just as I had seen in the front hall before—standardly sweet, with the corners of her mouth still perfectly turned up.
The waitress stared at us intently, her eyes unblinking for a long time.
My heart was pounding. When did this woman get here? How much did she hear?
Did she hear everything we were saying to the man in the Zhongshan suit?
Luo Tianhe narrowed his eyes, his hand already touching his lower back.
This time I didn't stop him, but was prepared to confront him. After all, this guy was staring at us without moving, which was really creepy.
"Three gentlemen."
Just as we were about to make our move, she spoke. Her voice was soft and gentle, the kind that could make a boy in a game call her "Mom."
However, after learning about this person's background, we always felt that her voice was very strange, flat and without any inflection.
"The salon tasting session is about to begin in the Fragrance Pavilion. Please follow me."
She didn't move after she finished speaking, but simply extended a pale hand and made a gesture of invitation.
Her fingers were long and slender, and her nails were neatly trimmed, but the color was an unhealthy bluish-white.
"Oh, okay, we just went to the restroom and we're looking for Pinxiang Pavilion now. Lead the way."
I tried my best to keep my emotions calm and make my voice sound normal.
The waitress maintained her stiff smile, turned around, and started walking.
Her walking posture was also very strange. It wasn't a normal person's walking, which is a natural swaying. Instead, her waist and hips hardly moved, and her legs moved forward alternately like two straight sticks!
Moreover, their footsteps were so light that they made almost no sound.
I couldn't help but frown. They walked normally during the day, but now, as night approached, they were gradually changing.
I suddenly remembered what the man in the Zhongshan suit had said before: this place is a different place during the day and at night.
He wasn't lying to us.
We followed behind her, keeping a few steps away. Suddenly, Li Huai leaned closer to me and said in an almost inaudible voice, "Brother Yan, this waitress isn't human at all. Look at her heels!"
My heart skipped a beat, and I secretly glanced down.
Her cheongsam hem swayed slightly with her movements, revealing a small section of her equally pale calves.
And her heels were on tiptoe when they left the ground!
With toes touching the ground and heels slightly off the ground, this is the way ghosts or people possessed by evil spirits walk, according to old folklore.
Cold sweat instantly poured down my forehead, and Luo Tianhe obviously saw it too, his breathing becoming heavier.
We exchanged silent glances, all of us seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes.
The waitress led us through a moon gate on one side of the main hall to another connected room.
This should be the Fragrant Pavilion she mentioned before. It's slightly smaller than the main hall, but more elegant.
In the middle of the room was a huge long table made of rosewood, on which a dozen or so incense burners of different shapes were arranged in a staggered manner, including tripod-shaped, Boshan-shaped, and lotus-shaped ones.
Wisps of smoke rose from the incense burner, a mixture of various fragrances filling the entire room.
The scent initially invigorates, but after a few more sniffs, the cloying sweetness returns, leaving a feeling of tightness in the chest.
Twenty or thirty guests had already gathered around, most of whom were familiar faces. Seeing so many people gathered around us, we couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The worst thing is when there isn't a single familiar face left, and they're all strangers staring at us. That would truly be a hellish start!
At this moment, Professor Tan, the traditional culture practitioner surnamed Wu, and the fat man were all present, but the man in the Zhongshan suit was nowhere to be seen. That's right, he didn't come from this side at all.
The waitress who brought us there led us to the edge of the crowd and then quietly retreated into the shadows in the corner.
She stood with several other waitresses, all dressed in cheongsams and with expressionless faces.
They looked like a row of lifeless, exquisite dolls.
"These guests are acting strangely; they've all been affected, and they haven't even noticed the unusual behavior of the waiters!"
I whispered to Luo Tianhe and Li Huai.
Although we could notice something unusual about these waiters when we first arrived, upon careful observation.
But unless someone has a special purpose like us, they probably won't notice!
Now, anyone with eyes can see that something is wrong with them.
But none of the guests reacted at all. Mr. Wu continued his eloquent introduction: "Ladies and gentlemen, please look at this nine-aperture exquisite cauldron. It has nine winding passages inside, where incense burns. The smoke flows out through the openings, and the aroma from each opening is subtly different. When the smoke gathers from one opening, it becomes the Hundred Souls Incense, which has the wonders of calming the soul, relieving anxiety, and gathering spiritual thoughts..."
I had no interest in listening to him. This guy was just like a salesman, talking big.
Moreover, he has no real skills or knowledge, and his purpose in coming here is probably to swindle people.
It's not surprising that if someone like that could sneak in, it's also not surprising that the three of us, posing as independent creators, could get in.
"Next, please enjoy this Resurrection Incense."
Wu's voice rose again, carrying a deliberately created air of mystery.
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