Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

However, this strange discomfort did not lessen as time went by, but became stronger and stronger. He looked back at the alley, and could no longer see the old man selling chestnuts. There was only the silent air and the gradually cold wind. Li Xiangqian almost subconsciously walked into the house, holding the chestnuts tightly in his hands, and suddenly a sense of inexplicable fear rose in his heart.

He sat on a chair in the room and tried to regulate his breathing. Time seemed to be extremely long at this moment, and every second of silence made him more anxious. His mind was in a mess, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Could it be that the chestnut... was there something wrong with it?

As soon as this thought came to mind, Li Xiangqian couldn't help but become more alert. He even began to wonder if there was something wrong with the chestnuts he had just eaten. Although the old man's face looked normal, his words and that overly gentle smile made Li Xiangqian feel very uneasy.

He stood up again, walked to the window, looked out through the window, and swept his sight across the alley, but still did not see the figure of the old man selling chestnuts. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, carrying the smell of fallen leaves and dust, mixed with his indescribable anxiety. That emotion made him touch his neck involuntarily, and felt a chill.

"Chestnuts...what's inside chestnuts?" Li Xiangqian began to have all sorts of thoughts, even some strange ones. His heartbeat started to speed up, and his blood seemed to become a little stagnant.

"Are you overthinking it?" He whispered to himself, his voice trembling slightly. "Maybe the chestnuts have too much sugar and made you dizzy."

However, this comfort did not calm Li Xiangqian's heart, but made him more anxious. He suddenly thought of something: the chestnuts were roasted so well, and the aroma of the flesh was so fragrant, could there really be some unknown secret?

He did not stay in the house any longer. He quickly put on his coat, opened the door, and walked towards the alley. The alley was still quiet, without even a shadow of a person. He walked faster and faster, his heartbeat quickened, and he could almost feel his breathing becoming faster. The silence around him seemed even more obvious, and the coldness in the air became even more biting.

Li Xiangqian walked out of the courtyard and stopped at the corner of the alley, looking around anxiously. He knew that he shouldn't just stand here and imagine these unrealistic things, but the increasingly strong uneasiness seemed to push him into an abyss from which he could not turn back.

Suddenly, his eyes stopped at a figure in the distance. The figure seemed a little blurry, and it seemed to be an old man, still carrying the chestnut basket, walking slowly towards him. Li Xiangqian's heartbeat accelerated involuntarily, and his steps stopped. Every inch of his body was sending out warning signals.

is it him?

The old man walked slowly, as if he was deliberately dragging his feet, with a leisurely smile on his face, as if time was not important to him. Li Xiangqian could almost sense a sense of familiarity in that smile, with a hint of strange indifference. He took a deep breath, and the feeling of uneasiness in his heart became even stronger.

"Selling chestnuts..." The old man still shouted in that soft tone, his voice was like the cold wind blowing in winter, with a strange and strange feeling.

Li Xiangqian stared into the old man's eyes, as if trying to find some clues. But in those eyes, there was only a deep calmness, as if there was nothing and nothing was needed.

He suddenly felt dizzy, and the scene in front of him was a little blurry, like an unclear hallucination. Li Xiangqian reached out to hold the wall next to him, trying to steady himself. The old man in front of him smiled slightly, and the smile was still gentle, but it also had a little bit of weirdness that was difficult to detect.

Li Xiangqian stood at the entrance of the alley, his heart inexplicably filled with confusion. His eyes kept scanning the old man in front of him. The smiling face was particularly clear in the cold wind. The air seemed to freeze, and he felt that the silence around him was gradually oppressing him and making him breathless. The aroma of chestnuts was no longer so tempting, but became pungent, as if there was some unspeakable malice hidden behind the sweet fragrance. His appetite gradually shrank, and he became more and more clear in his heart that the feeling of something wrong was no longer groundless.

"Selling chestnuts..." The old man was still smiling, and his smile didn't change at all, as if he didn't notice his indifference. He didn't stop walking, and walked slowly towards Li Xiangqian, his steps light, as if he was familiar with this alley.

Li Xiangqian suddenly felt that he could no longer stand still. His steps unconsciously retreated, his heartbeat became rapid and disordered, his mind was blank, and only a strong sense of uneasiness spread. He subconsciously touched his pocket, feeling nervous, trying to find something, but he couldn't find anything to rely on. He suddenly realized that he seemed to be pulled by some force and was unable to break free.

"Aren't you going to buy it?" the old man asked again, with a strange gentleness in his voice, as if he was waiting for Li Xiangqian's response, but also seemed not to be in a hurry to get an answer.

Li Xiangqian's sight drifted to the ground, where a few peeled chestnut shells were still scattered. His eyes fixed on the chestnuts again, and his eyes twitched slightly. He remembered clearly how the aroma of the chestnuts just now made him relax his vigilance a little, and even subconsciously took a few and ate them. But at this moment, along with the sweet aroma, a feeling of emptiness surged in his stomach, as if what he ate was not just chestnuts, but the coldness and loneliness of the entire winter.

"Why..." He murmured to himself, asking in a low voice, but received no response. The air around him seemed to become frozen, and even his own voice seemed distant and unfamiliar.

"Don't you think my roasted chestnuts are delicious?" The old man was still smiling, his voice soft, with a sense of calmness and patience.

"Where are you from?" Li Xiangqian finally couldn't help asking the question that had troubled him for a long time. Just now, he subconsciously felt that this old man seemed to be no ordinary person, but at this moment, doubts had already surged into his mind like a tide.

The old man paused for a moment, as if thinking about something, and then smiled more gently, "I have traveled a long way and visited many places, and this is a temporary stop. You know, selling chestnuts can be done anywhere."

Li Xiangqian frowned, his eyes still fixed on the basket. The chestnuts were steaming and fragrant, but he suddenly felt a chill. The old man's words seemed to linger in his mind, echoing endlessly - "You can do it anywhere" - this sentence sounded a little wrong at this time, as if there was some deep meaning hidden behind it that he couldn't understand.