Before the Guanyin Statue

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When Gu Xi reached the vicinity of the Heavenly Dao White-Robed Great Guanyin, the crowd that had been watching the spectacle had already dispersed.

Gu Xi looked up at the Great Guanyin Statue, which was hundreds of meters tall, took a deep breath, and prepared to walk inside.

Unexpectedly, a security guard stopped Gu Xi in front of him. "It's 4:30, we've already closed for the day. Please come back tomorrow for your visit."

"Closing so early?"

Gu Xi was speechless. He had walked for most of the day to get here. They wouldn't not let him go up and touch the Heavenly Dao White-Robed Great Guanyin, would they?

"There's no other way. We have to clear the place before 6 o'clock, so we naturally have to close at 4:30."

The Security Uncle was just an ordinary person. Seeing that Gu Xi wasn't strange, he naturally started talking.

Upon hearing this, Gu Xi raised an eyebrow. Clear the area before six o'clock? Could it be that the Heavenly Dao White-Robed Great Guanyin has some other destination after six o'clock?

Seeing the Security Uncle's serious expression, Gu Xi knew he wouldn't be able to get in.

However, Gu Xi didn't want to rush back; he couldn't let this trip be in vain.

So Gu Xi asked, "Are there any taverns nearby where I can see this Great Guanyin Statue? I'd like to find a place to have a couple of drinks."

"Yes, there are roadside stalls in the alley over there. Make sure to look for the cart with the white lantern and sit down."

Upon hearing the White Lantern again, Gu Xi felt a sense of doubt.

Previously, Wudou Meina also mentioned that if it's too late to go back at night, you can call a carriage, but it must be a carriage with White Lantern lit.

Could it be that these White Lantern hold some special meaning?

Despite having such doubts in her heart, Gu Xi did not ask any further questions. Perhaps in the minds of ordinary people in this world, the White Lantern meme is common knowledge.

Gu Xi followed the direction the Security Uncle pointed and turned to walk into a nearby alley.

Sure enough, some people had already pushed their carts out into the alley.

Gu Xi noticed that after they secured the cart, they didn't take out the food or anything else first, but instead hung up the lanterns.

In addition to the White Lantern mentioned by the Security Uncle, Green Lantern and Black Lantern are also hung at the nearby stalls.

Gu Xi glanced at the stalls, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to Courting Death on the first day. In the end, he sat down at a stall with White Lantern hanging on it.

The owner was arranging the ingredients when he saw Gu Xi sit down and immediately went over to ask.

"Guest, what would you like to eat? Here is the menu."

Gu Xi glanced at the menu and found that the most expensive item was only 150 yuan, while the cheapest was about 30 yuan.

Gu Xi thought for a moment, then took out a 10,000 yuan banknote and placed it on the table.

"Give me some food and drinks. I'll probably be sitting here until after six o'clock. You can decide what to serve."

Seeing Gu Xi's actions, the boss thought for a moment and finally put the money away.

"Please wait a moment, I'll serve you your food right away."

As the owner spoke, he turned around and Gu Xi three small dishes of pickled vegetables.

Afterwards, he poured a dish of sake for Gu Xi before starting to prepare the other ingredients.

Gu Xi smelled the wine and found it to be very weak, almost like drinking plain water. The food that was served was normal and tasted alright.

If you don't have high expectations, you can easily spend an hour or two eating here.

However, Gu Xi was more curious about what the other two types of lanterns were selling.

Without getting up, Gu Xi glanced at it from afar.

At the stall with Green Lantern hanging down, the owner was grilling octopus tentacles that had human eyes on them.

As for the stall with the Black Lantern hanging there, Gu Xi couldn't see it clearly because it was too far away. The only thing he could see was a watermelon with pink pig brains that could be scooped out.

Gu Xi felt that these two stalls were not for ordinary people to eat and drink; it was just a matter of which one corresponded to the eeriness of the daytime and which one corresponded to the soldiers at night.

While Gu Xi was considering this matter, the owner had already brought up the first serving of food.

It was a piece of saury about the length of an index finger.

Looking at the grilled saury that could be eaten in one bite, Gu Xi couldn't help but shake his head.

No wonder this thing only costs 30 yuan; it turns out the head itself isn't very big.

Gu Xi held the saury to his nose and smelled it. Just as he was about to take a bite, he noticed a woman sitting down at the green stall next to him.

The woman was wearing a mask and a long trench coat, the kind that would scare people on the street if she just opened it.

After sitting down, she pointed to the freshly grilled tentacles and said, "Boss, one skewer, please!"

"For you."

The owner placed a skewer of freshly grilled octopus tentacles in front of the woman. The woman slammed her hand on the table, and a green light fell down. Gu Xi then realized that he could no longer see the woman's actions.

"Boss, what's going on?"

Gu Xi pointed to the green light and asked.

While grilling food, the owner said with a smile, "You customers don't usually come out to eat, do you? The Green Lantern is a strange food stall. Some of the strange things will trigger taboos if you see their faces, but you can't eat without showing your face."

So every stall will have such lanterns, and there's one in front of you too. If you don't want anyone to see you, and you don't want to see the eerie things outside, you can tap the white button on the table.

But you have to be gentle; my buttons are old stuff, they've been repaired several times already.

Gu Xi looked down and found a white button on the table. After thinking for a moment, Gu Xi looked up at the lanterns on the stall and found that there were five White Lantern hanging there, corresponding to the five positions in front of the stall.

Having understood something, Gu Xi didn't say anything more. He put the saury in his mouth, took a big bite, and began to eat it heartily.

As time passed, Gu Xi noticed that after five o'clock, many strange things came from all directions toward the Heavenly Dao White-Robed Great Guanyin.

They seem to completely ignore some bans now, appearing directly on the streets.

When Gu Xi looked at them, they also looked at Gu Xi, but they had no intention of attacking Gu Xi. They just glanced at Gu Xi for a moment and then entered the park area of Heavenly Dao White-Robed Great Guanyin.

The Security Uncle had previously stopped Gu Xi didn't even bother with these strange occurrences and let them in.

This situation puzzled Gu Xi greatly. Even if the people who went in were strange, you're still on duty, okay? Where's the aura you had when you blocked him earlier?

"This is Grilled Lantern; it's best eaten while it's hot."

At this moment, the shop owner brought the freshly baked food to Gu Xi. Seeing that Gu Xi was looking near the white-robed Great Guanyin Statue, the shop owner asked a question.

What are you looking at?