Strange Tales of the Ghosts

Wangchuan shook his head gently. He didn't know the reason why the woman was wearing a mask, so he looked at Luo Yi in front of him. Luo Yi crawled by the courtyard wall and looked in, but saw that the people inside seemed to have opened up a little bit. Door, looking out.

"Did we scare her?" Luo Yi felt that the people inside seemed to be scared.

Li Wenyu was splashed with water all over his body, and he was full of anger: "She splashed water on me, and we still scared her? Funny, are we ugly? It is possible that she is ugly, otherwise why would she wear a mask? Be a human being!”

"Shh." Luo Yi turned around and reminded: "This is other people's territory. Please speak politely and don't be clueless."

"Sister Luo, don't pay attention to him. He is just a big idiot and deserves to be splashed with water!" The little parrot jumped to Luo Yi's side and peeped with Luo Yi.

This family was the first one Luo Yi and the others met after arriving in the Mask Country. The woman just now was also the first person they saw. Luo Yi didn't want to just give up the good opportunity, so she wondered who would knock on the door. To explain, at least find out something. Looking back and forth, Luo Yi couldn't think of a suitable one. Wangchuan was too cold, with a cold face, as if someone owed him money. Snow Fox was too beautiful. Luo Yi thought that the woman wearing the mask really didn't look very good. It would hurt other people's self-esteem. What about Xiaoying? It was too rash, and he might talk nonsense. As for Li Wenyu, he didn't want to think about it anymore. He was also rash and spoke without thinking. After thinking for a long time, Luo Yi decided to take action personally.

After Luo Yi confessed to Xiaoying, she walked into the yard. When she went in, she saw that the things in the yard were very simple. The objects placed seemed to be from ancient times. She couldn't figure out which dynasty they belonged to. These things were very important to Luo Yi. There were all questions for Yi, and the best person to answer them was of course someone who lived here, so she gently knocked on the wooden door.

"Sorry to bother you, we are passing by and we are a little thirsty. Can you give us some water?" When Luo Yi spoke, she tried her best to follow the tone of ancient people. She was too modern and she was afraid that the people inside would not be able to listen. Understand. The people inside didn't seem to react. Luo Yi pressed against the door and didn't hear any sound. So, Luo Yi hurriedly explained: "Don't worry, we are not bad people. We are from another country. This time we are here to meet the Mask Country." The Queen’s.”

When the people inside heard the words 'Queen of the Mask Country', they gently opened the door a crack and asked cautiously: "Is what you said true?"

"Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, you can take a closer look to see if we look like bad people." Luo Yi waved his hand and motioned Wangchuan and the others to come in. After Wangchuan and the others came in, there was still no one inside. Say something. Seeing this situation, Xuehu took out a piece of silver and walked towards Luo Yi's door. He handed out the silver and said softly: "Please don't worry, we are by no means robbing people. We are just passing by and want to ask for a bowl of water." Drink, this little money is used to buy water from you, please accept it."

Xue Hu's words were still valid. Just after he finished speaking, a hand stretched out from the crack of the door and took the silver in. The person inside bit it with his teeth and verified that the silver was genuine before opening the door. After the door opened, Luo Yi saw the woman who splashed water on Li Wenyu just now. The woman's face was under the mask. She didn't know if she was smiling or something, but her voice sounded much kinder.

"You guys sit inside."

"Thank you, ma'am." Xuehu nodded and walked in first.

Only then did Luo Yi understand why the masked woman didn't believe her, because the clothes she was wearing were too unfamiliar to the masked woman, and Xuehu's appearance was similar to that woman's, so it was Xuehu's fault. Thanks to their blessing, Wangchuan and the others were able to enter. After sitting down, the woman took out a few tea cups, poured tea in them, put them in front of everyone, and said with a smile: "I thought you were bad people just now, so I closed the door. It was really disrespectful, but I didn't know that our guests Where are you coming from?"

"We come from a far away country. Even if you tell me, aunt may not have heard of it." Xuehu replied with a smile.

After the little parrot took a sip of tea, he exclaimed: "It smells so good."

"Yeah, it's very fragrant." When Luo Yi smelled it, she thought the tea was incredible, so she asked, "Madam, what kind of tea is this?"

"We poor people don't have any good tea to entertain you. This is made from the leaves of 'Fruit Fruit' that I picked on the hillside in spring. You can just drink some of it." After the masked woman answered, she put the kettle on. Arrived at the table.

Luo Yi was stunned for a moment and became even more curious. She had never heard of such a thing as an annoying fruit, so she asked: "Auntie, what is an annoying fruit?"

"It grows on the hillside opposite." The masked woman pointed with her hand, but she pointed at the hillside where Wangchuan and the others rested last night.

The snow fox and the parrot looked at each other and asked quickly: "But that tree with only one apple?"

"What is an apple?" the masked woman asked Snow Fox in turn.

Luo Yi understood. Maybe apples were not called apples in this place. If her guess was correct, the apples on the apple tree on the hillside were what the woman called annoying apples. No wonder they were so fragrant. "Auntie, why is that fruit called the annoying fruit?"

"The Queen said so."

"Queen?" Luo Yi glanced at Wangchuan and asked with a smile: "Why does the queen call it an annoying fruit?"

"The queen said that when people are alive, there will always be unpleasant things that go wrong, just like the fruit on the annoying tree. Once you pick it, it will grow back endlessly." The woman wearing a mask answered.

Xuehu asked hurriedly: "Do you have many annoying trees in your mask country?"

The masked woman shook her head and replied: "There is only one tree next to the Lake of Tears."

"Auntie, don't be offended. We outsiders have little knowledge. Things in your mask country are not suitable for us.

For us, it's a little new, so we ask so many questions. "Luo Yi had a smile on her face, fearing that this woman would be careless and drive them out again.

After Li Wenyu finished drinking tea, he looked at the furnishings in the room and asked boredly: "Are you the only one living here?"

"Yes, I'm not married, I'm an old girl, so I live here alone."

"It's strange. This place is so big, but no one seems to live nearby. What's going on?"

"What you don't know is that the water in this Lake of Tears rises every year. You can't tell when it will rise. Once the water overflows, all the people nearby will run away in fear, so no one wants to live here, except for me." People with no relatives or friends can settle down here.”

Luo Yi nodded, said oh, and then asked: "Then why is this lake called Lake of Tears?"

"We ordinary people don't know that much about the name the Queen chose."

"Oh." Luo Yi looked at the masked woman and couldn't tell that she was lying. According to what the woman said, the names of things in this country seemed to be related to the queen of the masked country, completely according to her thoughts and wishes. Come on, there are very few countries like this. From ancient times to the present, countless dynasties ruled by emperors who have their own way will fall. Luo Yi is really curious. Don't these people resist? So he smiled and asked: "This time we are here to meet the Queen, but we don't know the Queen very well. We don't know what kind of person the Queen is?"

"The Queen is a very good person. She is also very easy-going towards us common people and rarely loses her temper." The masked woman said as she stood up and took down a wooden sign hanging on the wall. "Look, this is what the Queen gave me."

"What brand is it?" Li Wenyu took the wooden sign and looked at both sides. He didn't find anything special. There was no engraving or shape. It looked like a piece cut off a tree trunk.

Seeing Li Wenyu's rough hands, the masked woman hurriedly took back the wooden sign and said stingily: "Don't break it for me."

"Auntie, what does this wooden sign represent?" Luo Yi intuitively felt that this wooden sign must represent something. Even if it didn't, she could understand why the woman wouldn't let Li Wenyu touch it. In a country, to a common person It is said that the things leaders reward themselves are extremely precious.

After the masked woman hung the wooden sign on the wall, she looked at Luo Yi and replied: "This is a tax-free sign. In our country of masks, all orphans and widows can get a tax-free sign given by the Queen. With this brand, we don’t have to pay taxes.”

"That's it." Xuehu couldn't help but take another look at the wooden sign.

Luo Yi felt a little thirsty after talking so much. After drinking all the tea in the tea cup, she filled the tea cup with water. At this time, Wangchuan asked coldly: "Auntie, why are you wearing a mask?"

"..." Luo Yi and Li Wenyu looked at Wangchuan. They both wanted to know but couldn't bear to ask. Instead, Wangchuan asked. Luo Yi thought the woman would be very angry, but she actually acted like nothing was wrong. He sat down and replied softly: "Our country of masks is like this. Everyone wears a mask on their face."

"Then how do you distinguish everyone?" Li Wenyu choked on his tea. The thought of seeing people in the city wearing masks gave him a headache.

The masked woman listened and laughed: "You outsiders don't know this. Every mask in our Mask Country is painted by the queen herself, and they are all different, so it is not difficult to identify them."

"Do you wear such a mask when you are born? Or do you reach a certain age?" Luo Yi had many questions in her mind at this moment. Not to mention whether the queen was very hardworking, but in terms of quantity, one person is responsible for the people of a country. Mask drawing is a workload that may take a lifetime to complete. Moreover, the country is so big, how can the Queen count them all? Luo Yi felt that the Queen of the Mask Country was becoming more and more magical. In the eyes of women, the Queen of the Mask Country seemed to be impeccable, but as far as Luo Yi was concerned, that was not necessarily the case.