Xiping Garden actually has two floors, but the structure is very strange.

Generally, this kind of double-story shop has a storefront on the first floor, and the second floor is either used as a residence or as a warehouse. There are also some poor and sophisticated people who will have a particularly elegant reception room.

But Xipingyuan is not like this.

Its second floor...is mainly used for dining.

Why do you say mainly? Because it is also like a small botanical garden——

There is a tree growing against the wall in the northwest corner. The species cannot be identified, and it is difficult to tell whether it is dead or alive. It is bare and the height just reaches the roof. The branches are winding and interlaced along the intersection of the walls.

There was also an empty bird stand hanging on the branch.

There is an artificial landscape under the tree, with two little tortoises paddling in a shallow pool. In addition, there are rocks, fresh flowers and plants everywhere, and there are a few nests of unknown things.

The square table for eating was placed among the flowers and plants. It was very... nondescript.

Lao Mao placed a large copper pot on the table, filled it with charcoal, and a pot of thick, milky-white broth was boiling, and white mist spread with fragrance.

Thin and tender lamb is rolling in the pot, and the juice can overflow between the textures.

There was still hot wine on a small stove next to it. The alcohol content was unknown, but it was quite strong.

Anyway, I was already drunk without even taking a sip when I smelled it——

When summer came, he wore short sleeves and sat in a room with hot air, facing a table of nourishing and warming things, his stomach growling.

What does he want?

Maybe it was because his expression was too dull, but Xia Qiao felt quite distressed when he knew the inside story.

In fact, in Xia Qiao's understanding, judges also eat normally, such as Shen Qiao, and all kinds of people he has seen and heard of.

Wen Shi is the only one who doesn't eat human food. Maybe it has something to do with his life-or-death situation.

Xia Qiao watched for a while and couldn't help but asked in a low voice: "Brother Wen, are you okay?"

"What do you think?" Wenshi held the chopsticks without looking at him. After two seconds, he closed his eyes as if reflecting and sarcasticly said to himself in a low voice: "I'm really out of my mind."

Xie Wen asked him to stay for dinner, why did he just nod without thinking?

Now it's better, it all depends on self-control.

He looked at Xia Qiao's bowl full of meat and asked quietly: "Is it delicious?"

"..."

Xia Qiao didn't dare to speak.

To him, this was a really good meal. Thanks to the waiter, the meat and vegetables were sourced from nowhere. They were fresh and tender, the sauce was particularly fragrant, and the craftsmanship was really impressive.

Moreover, it was raining heavily today and the temperature was cooling down. He was feeling cold and it was just right to eat something warm. He really couldn't empathize with the ancestor named Wen, so he could only comfort him.

"Brother, what do you mean, do you want me to take a few bites?" Xia Qiao whispered while Lao Mao and the others were feasting, "It's good to have a cushion, it's better than nothing. Have you ever tried this kind of copper pot-shabu-shabu pork? It -

—”

"I've eaten it." Wen Shi interrupted, "I've eaten it many times."

There is nothing wrong with this to ordinary people. After all, he looked like a young man in his mid-twenties when he heard it. It would be strange if he had never eaten it.

But Xie Wen cast a surprised look, as if he knew Wen Shi had only been alive for a few days.

"What are you looking at me for?" When Wen Shi noticed it, the surprise in Xie Wen's eyes had faded away.

"That's a good question. You have to look at me first to know that I'm looking at you." Xie Wen poured a glass of hot wine without haste and didn't drink it. He just held the glass as if feeling the contents of the glass.

Wen Wen: "How about you first tell me why you are looking at me?"

When hearing: "..."

roll.

Xie Wen smiled and dropped the topic, then asked, "Where have you eaten this?"

Wen Shi originally didn't want to talk to him, but after a while he still said: "I used to be in Beijing."

At that time it was still called Peking.

"Oh." Xie Wen thought thoughtfully, nodded after a moment, and pointed to Wen Shikong's empty porcelain plate: "Then you don't like eating it now, or their soup is too unpalatable and you can't eat it.

Chopsticks?"

Lao Mao and the twin girls immediately raised their heads and looked over innocently.

Maybe the subordinates are afraid of the boss. Anyway, these three people are very scared.

He felt strange when he heard it. He remained silent for two seconds under the stares, then stretched out his chopsticks to pick up a piece of mutton.

Lao Mao breathed a sigh of relief again and continued to devour. He almost didn't chew the food and gulped it down. It looked particularly fragrant and made people feel particularly appetizing.

Xia Qiao followed up and ate two pieces of meat on the spot.

When smelling...

Going crazy when I smell it.

But he didn't show it at all on his face. Instead, he looked very cold. He swallowed the meat tastelessly, and in order to divert his attention, he said to Xie, "You haven't even eaten a few bites."

"It's okay." Xie Wen said, "I like hot things, but I'm not interested in this kind of thing."

"You don't like that they still do this?" Wen Shi looked strange.

"Get used to it." Xie Wen said.

He caught a glimpse of Wen Shi's questioning expression, thought for a moment and added: "I've received one before -"

He paused, seeming to consider his words.

After Wen Shi glanced at him, he continued: "I brought a child back, and he was quite greedy for these."

"What about others?" He asked again when he heard about it.

"No more." Xie Wen said without raising his eyes, holding the cup, "It happened a long time ago."

When I heard it, I still felt strange. Since it happened a long time ago, how could it still be called a habit now? Didn't you live well in those intervening years?

He still wanted to speak, but Lao Mao took out a large bowl with a slotted spoon. He ate it so deliciously that he couldn't ignore the sound of slurping.

When hearing: "..."

His stomach responded quietly, and finally he couldn't sit still anymore.

"Where is the sink?" Wen Shi asked with a straight face and calmed down, putting down his chopsticks.

"Over there." Xie Wen pointed to a short corridor on the east side and said, "What's wrong?"

"It's stained with sauce." Wen Shi made up an excuse casually, got up and walked towards the short corridor.

There was a separate sink at the back of the short corridor. He leaned in front of the sink and poured two handfuls of cold water on his face. The feeling of being hungry and dizzy finally eased a little.

As soon as he stood up straight, he felt wind coming in from the side. When he heard it, he turned around and found that the short corridor on the second floor was connected to the back door. The door was ajar, and the wind slipped in from there, wrapped in the rain, moisture and

Another...indescribable strange smell.

It's very light, not unpleasant, but a little familiar.

I was a little puzzled when I heard it, so I walked over and opened the door.

Outside the door is an iron staircase that connects the back of this commercial street.

The back door of Xiping Garden is very clean and wild, facing a long wall. Within the wall are the man-made lakescape and small bamboo forest of Wangquan Mansion.

It was raining heavily, and the smell was hidden in the rain. Sometimes it was there, sometimes not. When I smelled it, I held my hand on the stair railing and sniffed for a while, and finally recognized it——

That's Huigu's smell.

The night before Shen Qiao was buried, he killed one of the three trumpeters who turned into Huigu, and two of them ran away. He left a tracking device on the escaped Huigu, and eventually chased her to Xiping Garden.

In fact, I took the initiative to come to Xiping Garden today for this purpose.

When he first entered the store, he quietly paid attention, but he didn't find any trace. He didn't expect it to be at the back door.

When I heard this, I braced myself, condensed my breath and closed my eyes. The scene in front of me became quiet. A trace as thin as a trace of water meandered to the wall, and then slipped into Wangquan Mansion. After that, it became so faint that it was difficult to find.

So it actually has nothing to do with Xie Wen, but Wangquan Mansion?

After Wen Shi opened his eyes within a few seconds, he frowned and started thinking.

Until the door behind him creaked.

"Why are you standing outside so stupidly?" Xie asked.

When hearing: "..."

Why is there food chasing him?

"Let's see if the rain has stopped." Wenshi turned around and entered the short corridor.

His hands were stained with rust from the railings, so he had to go to the sink to wash them again.

Xie Wen also seemed to have just washed his hands. He was not in a hurry to return to the table, he just closed the door and took out a piece of toilet paper while sniffing.

The movement brought up a very light wind, which obviously contained nothing, but when I smelled it, I felt that the strong evil spirit surrounded me.
To be continued...