Dusk fell on the lamp at the return bayonet. The lamp had just been lit and the flame was still small. The lamp rope was swinging on the beam and the knot was very tight.
The team was shorter than when we arrived. There were not many people at the end of the team, and there were also few packs. Most of the goods on the pack racks had been unloaded.
He stood at the end of the line. The soles of his shoes were worn thinner, and there was a line of dirt on the uppers.
The team returning was shorter than when it came, and the packs were smaller. The lamps had just been lit, and the flames were still small. There was a circle of whitened seals on the edge of the stone that pressed the booklet. The booklet was placed on the window sill, and the stone had not moved. Everyone in the team looked at their own manifests, and no one looked in the window. The lamp in the window illuminated a small area of the window sill.
After walking for a while, the soil crust on the sole of the shoe cracked, and the crack was on the outside of the sole of the foot. It was a bit eccentric when I stepped on it, so I had to change my foot after walking for a while.
The bayonet window is still the same window, the stone pressing the book on the window sill has not moved, and an old paper corner is pressed under the stone.
Someone looked up under the lamp, and the officer on duty glanced at him.
I took another look and recognized it, very reliably.
"Sunagakure, the boy who asked questions on the road."
That sentence was said very calmly, but when it fell to my ears, it was like a line in a chanting book.
When there was no response, his hand stopped in his arms and pressed the card.
Without stopping, he took a step forward and touched the ground with his heels first.
The first time I heard someone read out my price, the price came out of someone else's mouth and fell on him.
It's not the words in the book, it's the mouth of the Word.
... the word of mouth spreads faster than the written word.
It also spreads farther than the book.
The team of people under the lamp each looked at their own manifests, but no one raised their head or gave up their position.
The sky in Bayou was darker than when we arrived, and the wind came from the other side of the road and lowered the lanterns by half a finger.
There were wooden fences standing on both sides of the bayonet. The wooden fences were faded by the sun, and fallen leaves were piled at the feet of the fences.
The window is a familiar window. I stood in front of this window last time.
That time the question at the window was the price, this time he wanted to see the volume.
There is another small table beside the window. There is a person sitting behind the table, half of his face is outside the lamp.
The man was wearing the Forehead Protector. The Forehead Protector was held down low and he did not raise his chin when looking at people. Only one eye under the Forehead Protector was exposed.
There is an inkstone placed on the corner of the desk. There is a little ink left in the inkstone, and there is a layer of dust floating on the ink surface.
The box was taken out from the side of the body, and the mouth of the box was sealed with a strip.
The box is not big and can be held in one hand.
The seal is new, the edges of the paper are not evenly torn, the glue marks are still there, and my fingers are a little sticky when I press it.
The box was pushed onto the window sill, with the seal facing the official on duty.
He pressed the seal with his hand and pushed it to the right place before releasing it. When he let go, he pressed his finger on the seal a little more.
The officer on duty put the box into the window without opening it.
The two people exchanged half a sentence on the window sill, and they were talking about the village's font size.
Only half of that line was heard, and the other half was cut off.
The cuts are neat, they were cut with a knife, there is no hair on the edge of the paper, and the half line that was cut is not left.
When I saw that half line of words, my eyes didn't stop for long.
... that half of the business is not his to take over.
No need to pick up either.
The box went into the window, leaving an empty space on the table. The smell of the seal was still on the table, smelling a little sticky and sour.
The lamp illuminated that small area very brightly, so brightly that you could clearly see the wood grain on the surface.
Someone at the back of the team changed their feet, and the pack bell rang softly.
The team moved forward, it was their turn, and their feet were on the edge of the line.
Without handing over the card, he put his hand down from his arms.
I'm asking about the book.
"Ask about the volume that I paid the price for."
The official on duty raised his eyes and turned the pen half a circle on his finger.
"That volume is not for anyone to read."
"If you ask about the price of the book, you can read it after asking."
The officer on duty looked at it for a long time, then put down the pen and placed the pen holder across the edge of the book.
He reached into the window and pushed the booklet out of the window, not very quickly.
The book is facing up, and the corner of the paper is turned soft, which corner is the softest.
There was a little dust on the edge of the book, as if it had been pulled out from the back of the shelf, and there were other people's fingerprints on the corners.
I took the book and held it in both hands, my palms sweating a little.
The booklet is hard and the corners are wrapped with cloth, and the cloth edges are frayed.
Open the first page and see someone else's name.
Turning back further, the names are line by line, with creases at the bottom of each line.
Turn pages from back to front.
Turn to the page with the name and stop.
That column said, "Sunagakure" in the destination column, and another nail in the price tag column, which was nailed deeper than the others. There was an old seal next to the nail hole.
The old seal was round, with half a legible word inside.
The top line of that page is someone else's name, and the bottom lines are also other people's names.
There is only this line, with the price nailed at the end.
He turned the book upside down again and stopped at the page with his name on it. It looked like someone had turned the page more than once, and the corners of the paper were the softest. There was a little dust on the foot of the page, and the areas on the paper that had been touched by fingers were darker than other places. The edge of the left half of the page was also hairier than the right side.
Read that box back.
I read it word by word, and paused when I read the name.
The name was written by someone else, and the strokes were tightened very tightly, as if they were afraid of writing it crookedly.
After reading, press the page flat.
The soft corner of the book paper was pressed under the fingers.
Close the book, the sound of closing is very soft.
Push the book back to the windowsill and its original position.
The man at the window took the book and turned the page to confirm.
The person on the side of the case said something, which was a procedural explanation.
He was talking about the whereabouts of the book. After saying that, he put the half of the seal into his sleeve.
After listening, he nodded.
Everyone was watching under the lamp, but no one said anything.
Everyone's eyes fell on the window sill, on the book, and on his hand turning the pages.
... The public eye is also a kind of album.
"Sunagakure, I'll check that road."
It's very simple to say, as simple as reporting a destination. That destination has already been written down in the book.
The official on duty stopped writing.
"You reported your destination."
The clerk on duty rubbed the tip of his pen against the edge of the inkstone.
"That's where to go."
"Nothing else to report."
"Nothing else to report."
The official on duty dropped this sentence into another booklet, and the ink flashed on the page.
The pen tip fell very lightly, as if it didn't want to leave any mark on the paper.
The bidder is not in this sentence, but remains in the original book.
Neither sold nor recognized.
The lanterns stabilized, someone in the team coughed, and then there was the sound of turning paper again.
The voice of reporting whereabouts was not loud, and someone in the team turned around.
Those who turned around turned back again.
The clerk on duty closed the book and placed it on the shelf inside the window.
The shelves are layered, and this book is placed on the bottom level.
As the sky faded, another lamp was added behind the bayonet lamp.
Walking back, I walked the way I came, and the soles of my shoes turned over toward the way I came.
The shops along the road were all lit up, one next to another, and the shadows of the lights fell on the road in a row.
Someone was driving a car on the road, with lights hanging on the shaft.
As the car passed by, the shadow of the lamp slid on the wall for a while, then returned to darkness.
The shadow of the door of the store at the first stop is still there, leaning on the road.
Walk towards the shadow of the door, and walk slowly.
The dust fell behind my feet, fell on my shoulders, and fell back on the road.
There is no looking back.
The bayonet lamp is behind you, slowly shrinking to a little bit, and then shrinking again to the size of a wick.
That box has been read.
... the price is still going up.
What you want to test is the path, not the price.
The wind on the road came from behind, causing the lamp shadow to sway and stand upright again.
Didn't stop.
He remembered the store where he first stopped. There was a stone step at the door. The stone steps had rounded edges, as round and as white as the stone at the bayonet.
The store's door is half closed.
A little light shines through the crack in the door.
Walk to the door shadow and stop.
There was no one standing under the lamp.
He raised his hand, but before he knocked, his knuckles were still just shy of the door panel.
The dust on the road settled around my feet, and after it settled, it didn't move.
Another layer was stepped on.