"Yes, I remember scrubbing it vigorously with soap nuts, and washing out a lot of blue blood stains. Then I soaked it in ginger water to remove the odor. Didn't you smell it?" Bai Lu asked.

I picked up my black cloak and smelled it. Sure enough, there was no fishy smell, but a smell of freshly dried clothes and a faint smell of ginger.

This surprised me. If there was no fishy smell, then what did I smell in the tunnel? This reminded me of the scratches embedded in the cave wall. The scratches were so deep that the fingers must have bled. I just didn't look down to see or search. I clearly remember that when I went down the tunnel yesterday, there was no smell at all, and I guessed there was no trace either. From this, I can judge that it might have been left between last night and when I came back today.

But the ugly monster is dead, and I have buried its body at sea. Could it be that it is still alive even though it looks like that? But if it really became a water ghost, a dirty thing between life and death, since it can return to the tunnel, it must be able to return to the post station, but it clearly did not. So I have another conjecture, and I think this conjecture is the most likely, that is, there are other mermaids.

The so-called mermaids are a race, just like humans. If one exists, there must be two. If one dies, there may be a second, third, or fourth...

I didn't dare to think about it any further. I just hoped that this matter would come to nothing. I also hoped that even if it was as I thought, the mermaids should figure out the situation. It was the beasts outside that killed the ugly monster, not us, so they should not come to seek revenge on us.

"Brother Zhou Bo, what's wrong with you? Why are you standing there motionless? Is it because you feel embarrassed to comfort Yingchun?" Bai Lu asked.

I woke up from my thoughts and immediately waved my hands and said, "No, no, it's not a big deal, I'll just go up there."

"Thank you." Bai Lu smiled immediately.

I took a deep breath, went up the stairs to the second floor, passed two rooms, and arrived at Room Ju. I saw that the door was closed, and indeed I heard a clanging sound from inside. I cleared my throat and was about to knock on the door and shout to open it. But before I could shout, the door opened, and I saw Yingchun wearing a linen cloth with a lot of sawdust on it, looking at me listlessly.

"Oh, the sun is rising from the west. You actually came to see me when I was feeling unhappy. It's such a magical scene. I am so moved that I am about to cry." Yingchun said.

I accidentally glanced at what she was tinkering with, and saw that it was a puppet frame with various parts connected by mortise and tenon technology. However, only the upper body was made, and the rest were just parts. A lot of gears and bearings could be seen, which showed that a lot of effort had been spent. Although the wooden head had not been made yet, the prototype could be seen.

Looking at the length of the arms and the shape of the carving, you can tell that it is made according to the shape of a mermaid. It is made very carefully, and all the joints have movable axes. I think if a heart was placed inside, it might really be able to survive.

"You think I'm wasting time and not doing serious work, right? You can say whatever you want, but I really want to finish this before the New Year. I hope, hope... I hope that the ugly monster can spend this year with me and celebrate the New Year with me, as if it were still alive, as if it was always by my side, doing everything for me, afraid that I would be sad, afraid that I would be unsafe, always caring for me and protecting me at all times." Yingchun said, tears in her eyes, covering her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I reached out my hand and gently wiped her tears. She couldn't hold back any longer and hugged me, crying at the top of her lungs, just like the time when she thought she had lost her sister. She cried and howled non-stop.

"Why did you throw food on the ground for it to eat?" I asked.

She sobbed, and after a while she said, "I thought I didn't care about it. I thought it was just my dog. If I fed it, it would continue to do everything for me. But it wasn't until I knew it died, and died so tragically, that I realized how painful it was in my heart. I felt so painful that I couldn't breathe. I could only use these broken wood to solve my guilt. I really regretted not treating it well! It's a pity that there won't be another chance."

I held her in my arms, letting her find some comfort in my chest. I patted her back and comforted her. She hugged me tightly, her tears soaking my clothes.

"One day, I will take you to the seaside, where it is buried. Perhaps you can confess to it, and it will hear you and feel comforted. There is really no other chance. When a person dies, it is like a light goes out. But as friends, we should treat each other with sincerity. Even if it dies, sending it on its way can show our sincerity, isn't it?" I said.

She nodded while crying, and said in a tearful voice: "Take me there someday. Aren't you here to blame me for not doing my job?"

"To be honest, our mermaid friend is very capable and has done us a favor. I don't know how to thank it. Since you have this skill, just do it. Just concentrate on this in the next two days, and I will do the other work for you. This can also be considered as me doing something for our mermaid friend to express my gratitude." I said.

Yingchun looked up at me seriously and nodded rapidly.

"Brother Zhou Bo, this is the first time I feel that you are so warm and handsome." Yingchun said infatuatedly.

"Hehe, you're not serious again. Let's get it done. It's only a day and a half away from the New Year. Tomorrow night at twelve o'clock will be New Year's Eve." I said.

"I know. Thank you, Brother Zhou Bo, you are so nice." Yunwen said, wiped her tears, stood on tiptoe to leave a kiss on my face, then went into the Ju room and prepared to close the door. I was about to leave, but saw her waving at me seriously, smiling sweetly. She was quite pretty, like a little princess among the people. I couldn't help but stare at her for a little while.

After I realized what was happening, I waved to her. After she closed the door, I went downstairs. I saw that the pickled fish and pork were already prepared and hung outside the door to dry. Yunwen and Bailu were squatting on the ground fiddling with something. I took a closer look and saw that they had dismantled the boards of the wooden table and were carving with a dagger.

Originally there were five octagonal tables in the inn, three of which were converted into our current beds, one was kept as a dining table, and the other was idle and temporarily unused, but it was used today.

But Yunwen had already written the words with charcoal to make a shape, and the two of them were working together to use the sharp part of the dagger to carve it out bit by bit. Unfortunately, although the words were good, the craftsmanship was poor and the carving was extremely uneven.

"Zhou Bo, can you do this? We can't do it." Yunwen said hurriedly when she saw me coming.

They moved away and I could see clearly that there were two wooden boards with "Full of blessings and peace every year" written on them with charcoal.

I know a little bit about engraving techniques, at least they are better at it, but when I saw these eight words, I felt nervous. If I didn't know the situation under the tunnel today, maybe I could have carved these eight words as a matter of course, but I clearly predicted certain signs, and looking at these eight words again, I felt more and more uneasy.

However, fortune and disaster are unpredictable. It is hard to say whether these eight words can really bring us some blessings and peace, and offset certain disasters.

I forced a smile and said, "Of course, just leave it to me. However, a craftsman must have sharp tools before he can do his job well. This dagger is definitely not easy to make. I'll go to Yingchun to borrow her tools. I remember when she was making a stone mill before, she made a special chisel. That one is more accurate and faster for engraving. Bailu, go to the backyard and find a bigger stone. I'll use it to smash it later."

So Bailu went to look for stones, I went to borrow a chisel, and Yunwen took out a bag of variegated grass roots, rhizomes and tree barks. I recognized some of the things called madder among them. If you make madder plain dyed cloth, it will turn red. Could it be that she wanted to make dyeing pigments, the so-called plant dyeing?