The old man waved his hand, tidied up the junk on his stall, and left.
The three of us looked at each other, not daring to linger. I gripped the thing I had just gotten and turned to leave.
At this point, I calmed down a bit, and the joy I had felt earlier gradually subsided, replaced by a sudden sense of lingering fear.
I got carried away and actually made a deal with a ghost.
We walked back the way we came, intending to leave as soon as possible.
But I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like we're being stared at more than before, as if we've become the most conspicuous people in the crowd.
As we passed by those stalls, the stall owners would always subtly turn their heads and glance at us out of the corner of their eyes.
They were expressionless, but I felt a chill run down my spine and quickened my pace again.
"Let's go." Luo Tianhe also sensed something was wrong, lowered his voice, and whispered in my ear.
I felt like crying. Right now, the three of us are like race walkers; if we go any faster, we'll have to start running.
I don't understand what went wrong.
And so, we steeled ourselves and headed out. Just as we were about to leave the ghost market's boundaries, and I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a hoarse, aged voice suddenly reached my ears:
"Young man, don't take things you shouldn't take."
My heart skipped a beat, I stopped in my tracks, and turned to look. The speaker was a stall owner I hadn't paid much attention to before.
She sat in the shadows at the very edge of the bridge arch, her body hunched over, wearing a tattered black cloak; she was almost invisible unless you looked for her specifically.
I don't know if she's here to do business or to play hide-and-seek; she's set up her stall so discreetly, who would see it?
There was no cloth in front of her; several items were simply placed on the ground.
I was in a hurry to leave, so I didn't care what she was selling or if I wanted to buy anything.
However, what she said did catch my attention.
What does it mean to not take things that you shouldn't take?
I obtained this comb honestly through a transaction; I didn't steal it or rob it.
I looked at the old woman and noticed that both her eyes were tightly closed, and she didn't open them at all, even when she was speaking.
Is this old lady blind?
A thought flashed through my mind. I picked up the comb, waved it at her, and said:
"Grandpa, is this what you mean?"
She didn't answer directly, but instead said:
"This stuff smells like river mud..."
The smell of river mud? My heart skipped a beat, and I subconsciously thought of the algae under the old man's fingernails.
That old man, I feel like he might be some kind of water ghost or something, so it's normal that he has a bit of your scent. He took this comb out, so it might have some of that scent on it too.
However, I sniffed hard, but I couldn't smell the river mud.
It was an old woman; she clearly hadn't opened her eyes, like a blind person.
But it seemed to have noticed my movement, and a strange smile curled at the corner of its lips:
"Young man, no living person can smell this."
......
Upon hearing this, a sentence stuck in my throat.
If a living person can't smell it, then how do you smell it?
Luo Tianhe and Li Huai had clearly thought of this, and both of them involuntarily took a step back.
Some things are better left unsaid; it's best to keep them to yourself.
I was too lazy to ask how she smelled it, and gave a vague answer:
"Sir, we were just passing by and bought a few things. We don't want any trouble, so we'll be leaving now."
"Leave?" The old woman made a hoarse sound in her throat, like a leaky old bellows, which sounded extremely unpleasant. "Taking that thing, it's not that easy to leave. There will be marks in the river mud. If the marks don't disappear, the river patrol will find us by following the smell."
River patrol? The river has long since dried up, so there's no way there are any river patrollers here!
Her words came out of nowhere, yet carried a chilling, sinister quality.
"Auntie, what do you mean by that?" Luo Tianhe couldn't help but ask, his tone already carrying a hint of wariness.
The old woman stopped talking, slowly withdrew her hand, and leaned against the wall.
I frowned. This old man was also a riddle teller.
However, her meaning was quite clear: I'd better not take a comb with me when I go out.
But I got this with my hard-earned money, how could I not take it with me?
Then all my adipocere would have been wasted!
I steeled myself and decided to pretend she had farted.
We're practically one step away from the outside of the ghost market now, I really don't believe anything could happen.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
I called out to Luo Tianhe and Li Huai behind me, and then without hesitation or regard for politeness, I turned around and ran towards the outside of the bridge arch.
Just as I was about to step out of the cold light's range, I inexplicably glanced back.
I noticed that the old woman had stood up at some point and was staring at me with a dazed look, though her eyes were closed.
Behind her were the shadowy figures of the stall owners, who seemed to be giving me a stare.
I couldn't help but shudder. I'll never come to such a creepy place again.
Further away, deep within the ghost market, something suddenly made a rustling sound.
It sounded like water splashing.
Damn it, this moat has been dry for who knows how many years, where did this splash of water come from?!
My heart pounded, and I abruptly turned my head away, refusing to look back.
The three of us sprinted as fast as we could, using every ounce of strength we had. Our shoes splashed mud all over us as we trudged through the wet, slippery ground, but we didn't care at that moment.
We only slowed down and gasped for breath when we could see the outline of the van.
"You guys, did you see that just now? I glanced back, and all the stall owners were staring at us!"
I asked, panting heavily, my words barely coherent.
"Nonsense, with dozens of eyes staring at us like needles in our backs, how could we not turn around and take a look? I was almost scared to death."
Luo Tianhe replied, also panting heavily.
"By the way, did you bring the comb?" Li Huai asked me after a moment.
That comb was our only find. If we lost it while running away, all our efforts would be wasted.
Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but glare at Li Huai, and raised the comb in my hand.
"Do I look that incompetent? I can't even run errands without losing something!"
"That's good, but what that old lady said was so mysterious and scary," Li Huai said, patting his chest.
"No, do you guys really have to talk here?" Luo Tianhe opened the car door and urged, "Let's go, let's get in the car first, and talk after we get out of this godforsaken place!"
What he said made sense. We quickly jumped into the car and slammed the door shut. Luo Tianhe hadn't even fastened his seatbelt. He stepped on the gas, as if he wanted to stomp into the gas tank.
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