[Strange stories of rules + intangible inheritance + national power + micro-terror]
Lu Zhou inherited a box of dusty shadow puppets left behind by his grandfather. There was a line of small words engraved on the box:
"At midnight, when no one is around, set up a stage and sing an opera. If there are guests in the audience, don't stop, don't ask, don't look back."
I thought it was a folk legend until the first night, when he sang "Zhong Kui Marries His Sister" into the air.
The shadow puppets moved on the curtain, as if there were real ghosts getting in.
What's even weirder is that from the empty bench under the stage, there was a vague sound...
"Reward."
A Kangxi Tongbao engraved with the word "Fengdu" fell at his feet.
The next day, someone from the Cultural Relics Bureau came to the door: "Comrade, where did the copper coins in your hand come from?"
Before Lu Zhou could think of an explanation, he was taken into a mysterious compound overnight.
Here, he saw the gentleman who used storytelling to "kill" evil ghosts, and the embroidered lady who used embroidery to "seal" evil spirits.
The person in charge handed him a red-headed document:
"Comrade Lu Zhou, the National Intangible Cultural Heritage [Office of Emergency Protection and Abnormality Handling] welcomes you to join us. From today on, please use your shadow puppets to sing a 'sending immortality' to those unclean things."
When extraordinary people abroad are struggling with the help of genetic medicine,
Lu Zhou was singing to an old rice dumpling with a thousand years of experience:
"This is not a guest house. I'll see you off to the end—"
After hearing this, the old Zongzi wiped his tears and gave him all the bronze ware that had been buried with him as a reward.
