Chapter 8: .The mysterious bookstore (middle) (revised)

Mysterious Book House (middle)
When the morning light first appeared the next day, Jiehai got up early, went to the cafeteria and took a few mouthfuls of porridge, and hurried out of the dormitory with a piece of bread in his mouth.
Although he still knows very little about the mysterious work so far, it is never wrong to rush over early, at least it can give the store manager a good impression of diligence. He crossed the school gate and got on a train going east. After sitting for about an hour, he reached the old temple in the east of the city.
No one can tell the history of this temple for a long time, and even the name has disappeared for a long time. People in Beijing just call it the "old temple". In recent years, the emperor has promoted the new trend of "free faith", and the other three countries have been able to open their own altar churches in the capital. The status of the unification religion centered on the holy tower in the eyes of ordinary people is declining. This old prosperous old There are few people in the temple today.
Jiehai passed through the tall mahogany archway at the entrance of the temple, and raised his eyes to look at this weather-beaten temple of gods. The whole temple is still the old pillared brick and wood structure, the pine square pillars are painted with dark red vermilion paint, and the black bricks are covered with the arches, which looks simple and solemn.
He looked at no one on the left and right, walked along the corridor and crossed the narrow arch bridge to the side of the backyard water pavilion. He saw a gray obelisk standing in front of the side hall door at the end of the path.
"It should be here!" Seeing the sign of the agreement, the young man couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. With a little nervousness, he ran to the monument and took a curious look.
The material of this obelisk is indistinguishable. The smooth surface of the stele is filled with light purple lines, which is quite mysterious. In the center of the stele, I don’t know who scribbled a strange flying bird graffiti. The primitive texture is ruined in a mess.
"It's terrible! Which wicked ghost did it..." Jie Hai saw that the good stone monument was destroyed at will, feeling very pity, frowning and wiping the paint on the monument, but to no avail. I could only sigh, and walked around the stele into the hall. But to his surprise, this side hall was completely empty and no one was seen. Only a few shabby colored silks were hung on the roof beams at the door, floating up and down in the breeze.
Came too early? He exited the hall door in surprise and looked around. There was no movement in the hallway. He waited outside the door for a while, but no one came, and he whispered helplessly, "Excuse me...is anyone there? Yes? No one?"
At this time, it was just after early morning, and the side of the water pavilion was silent. Not too strong sunlight shone on the water lilies of different colors in the pond, which was elegant and bright. Jie Hai yelled a few times without receiving any answer. He was a little at a loss while leaning on the door of the temple. He heard a soft falling water from a distance, and he quickly walked to the outer railing and looked there.
On the corner of the lotus pond opposite the stele pavilion was a big stone mountain with a white figure and purple hair sitting obliquely. The man leaned against a golden lotus flower with his back to him. He was dressed in a white jade palace dress with large sleeves and a long dark purple hair bundled thickly behind his head. He held a celadon cup in his left hand and a root in his right. The short and thin purple bamboo fishing rod was tapped lightly one after another, giving it a leisurely appearance.
Just now, Jie Hai walked all the way from the side corridor, and did not find anyone on the rockery. At this moment, he didn't think much about it, grabbed the railing and stuck his head out, and asked softly: "Sir! Excuse me! Do you know where to interview if you want to work here?"
The white-clothed man in the distance didn't seem to hear the question, and still leaned against the stone mountain and shook the bamboo pole, leaving only the young man with a dusty back.
Jie Haijing waited for a while and saw that the person still ignored him, thinking that the other party hadn't heard him, and increased the volume to ask again: "Sir, do you know where to interview if you want to come to work?"
The man still ignored him, drank the sake in the glass one by one, then turned his head slightly and murmured lazily: "Speak down, the fish are scared away by you!"
Jie Hai scratched his head and quickly apologized, only to find that the fisherman had a bad temper and was a little hard to speak. He didn't know that this person had a lot of origin. It was under the crown of Yunxuan Dodge, the high priest of the sacred tower of the country. As the guardian of the empire, he is more than two thousand years old this year. He is indifferent by nature and has always been uncertain. Today It's also a coincidence that you will encounter Jiehai in this old temple.
The priest glanced at Jiehai with his left light, then turned his head back to stare at the fish float, and laughed coldly: "Boy, this is a temple. Which temple have you ever heard of recruiting workers?"
Jie Hai was taken aback when he heard that, the stone tablet in the backyard of the old temple, as Shun said, should be correct! He patted his head with a bitter face, and thought of his friend’s last instructions. He took out the silver badge from his trouser pocket and shouted to Yunxuan: "Sir! I also have a badge, which is a proof of entry. You know how to use this. ?"
badge? The priest paused slightly, flicked his right hand to close the fishing rod, got up and leaped lightly, floating in front of the sea like a cloud. The boy looked up at him. The angler looked like he was about 20 years old, with exquisite features and unusually delicate appearance. The crooked willow leaf brows and the slanting phoenix eyes slightly raised, giving a touch of aloofness.
He leaned close to the young man and didn't ask much. He took the insignia and took a closer look. Jie Hai only felt that this person was surrounded by countless clear air, and the whole spirit was refreshed while breathing.
Yun Xuan held the badge forward and backward. After seeing the word "Shun" in the center of the badge, he felt a little interesting, and then gently threw the badge back with his fingers, and pointed to the square in the pavilion. Boy, just take the badge and put your hand on the monument."
"Oh...Thank you!" Jie Hai looked at the stele half-believingly, thanked the guide, and walked to the stele and looked at it carefully.
Could it be said that there are still institutions in this stele? The young man felt a little nervous, and inexplicably felt being teased. He opened his eyes and looked at the monument again. He didn't find anything suspicious, so he swallowed his saliva, held the badge in his hand and slowly stuck it on the monument. As soon as the badge hit the stone surface, a dazzling purple divine light suddenly appeared from his hand. The young man could not help but close his eyes with an exclamation. At this moment, his figure was no longer seen in the pavilion.
The priest still stood by the pool thoughtfully. When he woke up this morning, on a whim, he suddenly thought of this old temple to sit down. He didn't expect to meet this young man who was introduced there by the future successor of the empire... He waved his fishing rod into his belt, and took it from his waist. He took out an old copper coin from the small cyan cloth pouch and threw it high, and suddenly grasped it in his palm. He opened his palm and looked at it. The copper coin had a big "Yes" written on it.
He stared at the word, frowning slightly in surprise, and after a moment of silence on the spot, he put away the copper coins and porcelain cup, turned around and walked out of the hall unhurriedly.
Jiehai was dazzled by the intense purple light, and he felt the sky spinning around again. When he rubbed his eyes dazedly and stood still, there was already a different situation around him. He is now in a wide ashlar tunnel. The light gray stone walls are full of gleaming fluorescence, like stars. In front of the tunnel is an arcade wooden ladder that slopes upwards, and at the end of the stairs stands a purple-red carved wooden door.
This transient time-space transition made Jie Hai unbelievable for a while. He had never had such a miraculous experience before, and he couldn't help standing upright and frightened. He shook his hands subconsciously, only to realize that the silver badge had been flying unsuspectingly, and he was panicked again.
Where did my badge go? He was clearly holding it in his hand just now... he lingered at the entrance for a long time before he took a deep breath and calmly walked along the weird tunnel carefully. He took a closer look at the wooden door everywhere, but didn't see anything unusual, so he boldly knocked on the door gently: "Is anyone there?"
There was no response from the silence inside the door. The boy knocked hard and shouted: "Excuse me! Is anyone there?" After waiting for a while, there was still no movement inside the wooden door, so he coughed and interrupted, using both hands. Pushed the door open and walked in.
A clear breeze rang, and Jiehai was finally able to see the true meaning of this mysterious place: the light inside the door was unexpectedly bright, and the room covered with ochre mahogany boards looked like a small restaurant with a warm style, facing the door. It is a semi-circular brown wooden bar counter with several swivel chairs in front of the counter. The tall display cabinets are filled with various wine bottles. It seems that the owner has a unique preference for wine collection. A piece of blue and white square cloth with the word "kitchen" hung on both sides of the bar, colorful flower vines crawled on the top of the counter, and a few small chandeliers attached to the floor, which looked very fresh and elegant.
There are half-open small private rooms along the wall, a row of cotton sofas are placed next to the smooth square wooden dining table, and flowers are surrounded by greenery. Two long wooden ladders extend from the left and right sides of the bar to the roof. Obviously There is another layer of heaven and earth upstairs.
It's so mysterious, it doesn't seem to be weird... Jie Hai looked at it for a long time before remembering the purpose of this trip. He moved his feet and walked forward slowly, and asked in a low voice, "Excuse me... Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" He whispered as he walked, hoping to get an answer, but in this strange little restaurant, only his voice reverberated, and no other noise was heard.
The young man stood in front of the bar and waited for a while, then turned his head and looked into the kitchen. The thick square curtain blocked the entire entrance so that nothing could be seen. Just as he looked around in a daze, a figure suddenly emerged from the kitchen, knocking him out of the blue and sitting on the ground.
"It hurts..." Jie Hai rubbed his stomach and looked up, feeling dumbfounded at the moment.
The one who knocked him to the ground in front of him was a half-human-tall oval metal puppet. The arc-shaped head has white feathers like an antenna in the center, and two gray-blue crystal wafers are set on the side. The barrel-shaped body is covered with a white apron, and two retractable robotic arms wearing white gloves are attached to the left and right. , Underneath is a silver pulley, moving silently.
"Guest! Guest!" The little puppet didn't care about Jiehai's sluggish expression. It mechanically made a sharp voice with a unique hum, and the blue crystal eyes were full of pulsating fluorescence.
"You can talk!? That's amazing!" Jie Hai has never seen such a puppet. In his impression, those iron bumps are ugly and cumbersome. They are definitely not the exquisite appearance in front of him. He patted excitedly. He squatted up, staring at the little puppet and kept looking.
"Guest! Guest!" The little puppet was still waiting on the spot, shouting instructions dumbly.
Jiehai watched for a long time, suddenly some hands owed to the ground and gently touched the white feather on the top of the puppet's head, but didn't want the little guy to be hairy instantly, flashing red light from the blue chip and loudly warned: "Intruder! Intruder! "
Jiehai was taken aback by the red light, reflexively bounced up and backed up a few steps and waved at it, panicking and explaining: "No, no, no! I'm not... not an intruder!"
"Invader... deny... guest! Guest!" The little puppet retreated and slowly calmed down, and greeted him again.
"Yes! It's a guest... a guest!" Jie Hai breathed a sigh of relief. He patted his forehead and found that there was some cold sweat. He wiped his sweat and tried to ask the little puppet: "Is your master here? ?"
"Guest! Guest!"
"...I didn't understand it!" Jie Hai sighed with regret, turned around and sat on the swivel chair in front of the bar, muttering to himself somewhat helplessly, "Why is there no one...I came here? Is it too early? A Shun didn't tell me the specific time...The badges are gone, and I don't know how to leave here..."
The little puppet obviously couldn't respond to the boy. It waited for a long time but didn't receive a follow-up instruction, so it turned around and slipped back towards the kitchen.
Jie Hai guessed wildly for a while, feeling a little depressed, lying listlessly on the wooden platform, staring at the fine lines in a daze. At this moment, a crisp wind bell suddenly came from behind him, and he turned his head to look at the condition of a start when he was shocked.
Countless bright lights were shining from the wooden windows in the private room on both sides of the porch. In contrast, the entrance to the room seemed a bit gloomy. Jie Hai squinted his eyes and could only see a thin figure standing sideways. He jumped off the swivel chair and walked a few steps to meet him. The man also happened to pat his coat and walked into the hall.
Lai Ren is a very young boy, and Jie Hai feels that he is even younger than himself. He was wearing a snow-white shirt over a thin camel cashmere sweater, and his light gray breeches were very hot, and he was connected to a pair of dark blue riding boots, exuding a low-key elegance. He has short golden curly hair, thin eyebrows and big apricot eyes, and a little baby fat on his cheeks, revealing a green beauty.
The man was surprised when he saw Jiehai standing in the hall, raised his eyebrows and said softly: "There are guests so early? Please sit down."