The Vanishing Arts

L City was once an ancient capital, but following the Reform and Opening-up, it failed to keep pace with the times due to certain policy reasons, and furthermore, a vast amount of resources were diverted to the development of neighboring provinces and cities.

As a result, after so many years, the city has only managed to climb to the standard of a second-tier city by relying on its tourism industry.

The old town cultural street, which has been vigorously developed, is hung with red lanterns on both sides. At night, this place becomes a famous red-light district—ahem, no, that's not right; it's a snack street.

Whether day or night, the place is bustling with people, though the adjacent street appears cold and desolate.

On a shop along the street hangs a sign with the character [Longevity], with wreaths placed beside the door and three or five old men sitting at the entrance, drinking tea and chatting.

Business is sluggish, with only the occasional customer coming and going, always for the same routine, mostly settling the bill in a hurry before leaving.

Old Zhou sits in his chair, watching the news on his phone, occasionally laughing as he chats with the old men beside him about trivial matters, such as which vegetables have become cheaper or how housing prices have started to rise again recently.

As they chat, Old Zhou suddenly raises an eyebrow, his gaze fixed on the young man approaching the shop. Seeing the youth walk up to the paper wreaths and stare at the Paper Dolls, Old Zhou immediately stands up from his chair and walks toward him.

"Young brother, our wreaths and Paper Dolls are all the latest styles. We offer home delivery and fair prices. Are you looking for a senior in your family, or..."

Old Zhou stands behind him and asks in a low voice; in this line of work, one must not stand in front of the customer, and certainly must not greet them with a smiling face.

Xu Tong doesn't answer Old Zhou, but instead points at the Paper Doll in front of him. With a light tap of his finger and a soft "pop," a hole appears in the doll's head.

Seeing this, Xu Tong shakes his head in disappointment, drops a hundred-yuan bill as compensation, and walks toward the next shop.

After visiting several shops in a row, Xu Tong still hasn't found a Paper Doll that satisfies him.

He feels that the paper crafts in these shops are practically child's play—just a few pieces of paper glued together and sprayed with paint. It's not just fooling people; it's practically fooling ghosts.

Looking ahead, he sees the Drum Tower, the old city gate of L City. It is said that the Japanese invaders attacked it for a long time but could never take it. Now, only this Drum Tower remains, and the city walls on both sides have long since vanished without a trace.

Just as he intends to look elsewhere, he turns around and sees Boss Zhou standing not far behind him with a beaming smile.

Seeing his gaze, the man hurriedly trots over: "Young brother, are you looking for someone or something? We know all the shops in this area. Tell me, and I'll help you look."

Xu Tong looks at him suspiciously, and after confirming that Boss Zhou has no malicious intent, he takes out a paper flower he made himself and hands it to him: "Take a look and see if anyone sells this."

"Oh my!"

Seeing the paper flower in his hand, Boss Zhou's mouth hangs open, unable to speak for a long time. He carefully takes it, rubs it gently with his fingers, and shakes his head: "Geez... I haven't seen such beautiful paper flowers in years."

As he speaks, he returns the paper flower to Xu Tong and pulls him to sit on a chair by the roadside: "I've been in this business for over twenty years, inheriting it from my father's generation. This paper flower of yours is an old craft; nobody makes them like this anymore."

Boss Zhou isn't lying. In the past, the old masters had strict standards for every fold of a paper flower. If an apprentice dared to use paper pulp to slap together a flower, they wouldn't have the face to say who taught them.

Not to mention, the Paper Dolls made back then, once their eyes were dotted, looked just like living people. Standing there, anyone who saw them would feel a chill down their spine.

But the result was that they were incredibly expensive; unless it was a wealthy family, who could afford to buy so many Paper Dolls?

Later, times changed, and people didn't care about such details anymore; cheap was the only truth.

The wreaths in his own shop are all imported wholesale, and if you look closely, they are all tied together with wire at the back.

"I heard that in a few months, the city won't allow wreaths to be burned anymore. We old folks are all discussing clearing out our stock and changing trades. By then, I'm afraid you won't even be able to find these common goods."

Boss Zhou is a very honest man. He doesn't hide his motive for approaching, but after learning what Xu Tong is looking for, he speaks his mind clearly.

"I see. Thank you, Boss."

Hearing Boss Zhou's words, Xu Tong's heart sinks. He had been inspired by the news and decided to find an old master to learn from, hoping to find a breakthrough.

He didn't expect the result to be like this. Unable to hide his disappointment, he bids the boss farewell and turns to leave.

It seems that if he wants to achieve deep appraisal, he will likely need to find it within a Script World.

But the problem is, even if he completes the main mission in a Script World, how much time will he have to explore? Even if he finds it, he can't just be kicked out of the Script World before he's even said two words.

The more he thinks, the more annoyed he becomes. He can only blame this era for progressing too fast—so fast that things that should have been preserved have completely vanished into the long river of history.

"Young brother, young brother..."

In a daze, Xu Tong suddenly hears someone calling him from behind. He turns around and sees it is Boss Zhou, who has chased after him.

He runs up, catches his breath, and pats his forehead: "I forgot, I forgot! There's no one selling this kind of paper flower, but there is an old master who used to work in this trade. You can go and look for him, though if he's still alive, he must be at least eighty. It depends on your own luck."

As he speaks, Boss Zhou points toward the Drum Tower: "After you pass the Drum Tower, go forward and cross the intersection. Look for the house with a pomegranate tree in front. The man's surname is Song, called... well, Old Master Song. I saw him once a few years ago. If you go to see him, remember to bring some spiced meat."

Hearing Boss Zhou's words, Xu Tong is overjoyed and thanks him repeatedly. Naturally, he slips a stack of cash into Boss Zhou's hand.

Boss Zhou is beaming with joy.

Following Boss Zhou's directions, he walks east along the pedestrian street. After crossing the intersection and walking a short distance, he truly finds a house with a pomegranate tree planted in front.

Even though the old town has undergone street renovations several times, and every household's entrance has been painted with neat, new walls, this dilapidated entrance still looks out of place.

He tries pushing the door; it isn't locked, which gives Xu Tong a glimmer of hope. However, as he pushes the door open and enters the courtyard, that hope immediately cools by half.

The courtyard is still a dirt path overgrown with weeds. Inside are a few single-story houses and a small yard with a few sparse poplar trees.

He doesn't know what's in the water vat nearby, but it is emitting an indescribable odor.

Seeing this, Xu Tong's heart cools even further.

This place looks like it has been abandoned for many years. The glass on the houses on both sides is covered in dust, and nothing can be seen inside.

Xu Tong tries pushing the doors a few times, but other than shaking off dust, he gains nothing.

Holding onto the "since I'm already here" mentality, he walks to the door of the main room and pushes it.

"Hum..."

As the door was slowly pushed open, a thick, musty odor wafted out, causing him to wrinkle his nose instinctively.

Even though it was daytime, the room felt hazy and dusty, obscuring everything within and making it impossible to see clearly.

The light from outside shone in, but the sunlight seemed to be blocked and diffused by the dust hanging in the air.

However, when he saw the furnishings in the room clearly, he stood frozen in place, his face filled with shock and pleasant surprise.

Like a boy who had discovered a treasure, he walked through the doorway, his face full of curiosity.

The two rows of grand master chairs in the room were actually filled with people.

An old man held a pipe, a child beside him held a match to light it, and a young girl on the left held a kettle to pour tea for everyone, though one of her feet was stepping on the instep of the young man beside her, making him wince in pain.

Amidst the hazy smoke in the room, he felt as if he had traveled through time to a distant past, arriving in a bygone era and listening to the echoes of that history within these walls.

The lifelike expressions of every person were so exquisite that even the wrinkles on their faces looked completely natural.

If one didn't look closely, it would be difficult to even notice that these people before him were actually Paper Dolls made of paper.

He paused in front of the old man, observing the beard on the old man's face and the fingernails on his hands; every layer of paper pulp was wrapped seamlessly, with details pushed to the absolute limit, making it hard to distinguish truth from illusion.

"Dong!!"

The clock on the wall chimed, and Xu Tong followed the sound, discovering that it was already six in the evening.

Just as he was about to speak, his wrist suddenly tightened. He saw the Paper Doll sitting before him slowly open its eyelids, its two black-and-white eyes glancing sideways at him, and a hoarse voice echoed through the empty room: "Young man, since you've come, don't leave. Stay and keep me company."

"Hiss~~~"

Looking at the old man before him, Xu Tong's pupils constricted, his eyes staring straight ahead. Suddenly, the whites of his eyes rolled up, and after swaying a few times, his body went stiff and fell straight backward, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.

"Clang!"

The heavy sound of the fall caused the smile on the old man's face to freeze instantly, and he stared at Xu Tong in a daze.

"Clatter!"

His grip on the pipe loosened, and the jade bowl of the pipe shattered into pieces on the floor.

"Young man, young man!!"

When he placed a trembling hand under his nose to check, the old man was stunned. He sat on the chair, dumbfounded for a long while, before slapping his thigh.

"Oh dear, what kind of mess is this! Young man, you... if I had known, I wouldn't have tried to scare you. You're making this old man commit a sin."

He let out a dry howl, and unwilling to give up, he checked for breath again. After confirming there was truly no breath, his expression grew even more panicked, and he hurriedly fumbled about his person.

"Call 120, call 120! Young man, hold on a little longer! My phone, where is my phone?"

He searched frantically, but the phone that was usually kept right by his side could not be found today. In his anxiety, he tore off a thick layer of paper pulp from his body, sweating profusely in his haste.

At this moment, a hand reached up and pointed to the phone sitting right on the table, saying: "It's right here!!"