"Dear guest!"
The puppet jumped off the counter, nearly fell apart when it hit the ground, and had to squat down to put its right leg back.
It jumped up and down and wanted to get close to Jenkins, but it saw the cat sticking its head out from between the buttons, and the latter pretended to touch its paw, so the puppet stopped.
That pair of button eyes can actually make the expression of "flattery" so vivid.
"What do you need? Just ask."
The puppet's hands are two bear-like cotton gloves, which are rubbed back and forth when it speaks.
Jenkins didn't care to answer him, and was still looking around, afraid that a girl would suddenly come out from the corner of the shelf and ask him to buy flowers.
"What are you looking for?"
The puppet waited a little impatiently, and the paper with a bloody mouth turned into a mouth curled up.
"A little flower girl."
He said nervously.
"Oh, this way please!"
The puppet took the initiative to walk into the aisle between the third and fourth rows of shelves. Seeing that Jenkins hadn't followed, he poked his head out to greet it.
"Shelf? Could it be packed in a cardboard box?"
He swallowed, guessed, and followed the puppet on tiptoe. The two didn't need to go too far inward, in fact, the girl was on the third floor of the fourth shelf.
It was a small filigree enamel doll, the size of a palm, with the finest milky white skin, and the worn clothes on her body were extraordinarily bright because of the bright colors of the enamel paint.
It is only the size of a palm, standing quietly on a black base. In other words, it's a...
"Handmade?"
Not only that, but on the shelf to the left of the enamel little girl is the equally lifelike A-11-2-3301, the enamel doll of the malicious coachman.
The black horse and the burnt half of the coachman's face seemed real, but it was also just a dead thing.
"this… "
"Guest, have you heard of our shop?"
"heard about it."
He nodded hesitantly.
"Then you should know that this store only sells fakes, so the quality will inevitably deteriorate."
"It's not degraded anymore, it's not at all..."
"No, no, it still works."
As he said that, the puppet shook its body, and the wooden planks that made up the legs grew rapidly, only enough to make it level with the items on the shelf.
"This is no ordinary doll. Dear guest, look, this is blood..."
It seemed to have taken out a test tube directly from the space, and inside was scarlet **. With a slight push, the lid of the basket in the hands of the puppet girl was lifted, and the blood was carefully poured in. A few seconds later, a bright red rose was "squeezed" out of the narrow mouth of the basket.
"Look, it still has some effect."
"..."
The reason Jenkins risked his way into the counterfeit shop was for an item that could potentially defeat the Thousand-Eyed Priest in one hit. He found the item after a few laps in the store, and after asking about the role of the puppet's deterioration, he got a very satisfactory answer.
As the time of entering the store becomes longer, the faint headaches increase little by little. After all, this is a numbered monster. Although the owner of the store looks hospitable, it is actually an extremely weird existence.
To be on the safe side, Jenkins just bought the item that might defeat the Thousand-Eyed Officiant, but after thinking about it, he took the flower girl doll off the shelf as well.
At some point, the puppet had returned to the back of the counter. Jenkins let out a long breath, and brought those two things to the front of it.
"Dear customer, would you like to pay the bill?"
"Yes."
He nodded, put the item on the counter, and reached out to stroke the soft fur on the chocolate cat's head.
"Okay, there are two stories in total, you can check out."
The black button's eyes changed shape again, and the look of anticipation filled the puppet's face.
"Who Killed the Mockingbird
it's me, said the sparrow,
I killed the mockingbird,
With my bow and arrows.
Who saw him die
…
Interested parties please note,
This notice,
Next time the birds judge,
The person on trial is a sparrow. "
After reading this nursery rhyme in one breath, Jenkins couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. I recited the English version of this nursery rhyme in English class. When I wrote Stranger Stories, I also considered including it, but because the content of the story is somewhat inappropriate, and the style of painting is very different from other stories. I gave up, so this time I had a chance to read it out.
"A nursery rhyme?"
The puppet is thoughtful.
"Yes, this should also be considered a story, right?"
Jenkins asked.
"Of course, of course it's a story, a very good one! Does it have a name?"
"Who Killed the Mockingbird"
"Okay, okay, very apt. It's a short story, but it's a good one."
The puppet muttered to himself for a while before signaling Jenkins to start the next story.
"Ten little black children, running around for food; one can't be saved from choking to death, and only nine of the ten are left.
Nine little black children, sleepless late at night are really sleepy; they fell asleep and died of sleep, and there are only eight of the nine.
…
Two little black children, sighing a lot under the sun; sunburned to death, roasted to death, sad, only one of the two is left.
A little black child, there is only one person when he returns; Hang Liang committed suicide in this life, and there is no one left. "
These were memorized by Jenkins while reading detective novels. There were many such famous dark nursery rhymes in the previous world, but these two were the only ones he could remember. In order not to damage the reputation of the "fairy tale writer", such nursery rhymes cannot be spread outside, and it is just appropriate to pay the puppet as a reward at this time.
"Another nursery rhyme? That's good, very interesting."
The paper on which the puppet's mouth was drawn changed again, and now it was a crescent-like dark red line.
"Very interesting, what a great story. Alright, guest, you've paid for the merchandise and they're yours now!"
Jenkins didn't say much more, the mental pollution caused by counterfeit shops has become more and more intense. He picked up his things and walked quickly to the store door.
“Looking forward to your next visit!”
The puppet still did not forget to say so behind his back.
"I'm not looking forward to it at all."
Pushing open the door and going outside, the officiant of Qianyan still looked like he wanted to eat Jenkins just now.
Still maintaining the naked upper body, the inlaid eyeballs on the back also protruded from the body and crawled to the shoulders. The man opened his hands and rushed towards Jenkins who was under the stairs, and dozens of eyes opened to the limit.