Liu En was wiping the bronze rhinoceros horn lamp when autumn rain wrapped paper money and ashes floated into the threshold of Yongji pawnshop. The gluttonous animal head carved on the lamp base suddenly rolled its eyes, his hand shook, and the wick soaked in corpse oil "chi" erupted with three blue sparks.
"Close the gate at three o'clock." There was a rustling sound of turning pages behind the counter, and the old shopkeeper's skinny fingers ran across the account book, "Remember, before the glazed lamp turns red..."
"There will never be any living creatures coming to the door." When Liu En answered, he saw bloody handprints appearing on the account book, and the ink words actually moved between the pages like living creatures. He still couldn't figure out why he walked into this pawn shop that was opened between coffin shops three days ago - he clearly went to the east of the city to buy longevity materials that day.
The sound of bangs penetrated the rain curtain, and Liu En counted the times the glass lamp swayed. The seventh lamp had just turned on, and suddenly there was a "click, click" knocking sound on the bluestone outside the door. It's not the sound of footsteps, but like the rhythm of bamboo sticks tapping the ground.
"Pawn." The voice crept up against the edge of the counter.
Cold hairs stood up on the back of Liu En's neck. There was clearly no one in front of the counter, but a rickety black shadow was reflected in the brass mirror. The man was wrapped in a faded shroud, and the jade belt buckle around his waist was in the shape of an ouroboros. The sandalwood box he was holding in his left hand was leaking black water.
"Dealing for life or death?" Liu En touched the cinnabar scale, and the bronze bell on the scale rang in the calm wind. This is his first customer since he took office, but the shopkeeper said that there shouldn't be any customers when the colored glass lamp is not red...
