Welcome to Forge Town

Allen and Simon were on their way to the basketball court.

It was only after six o'clock in the morning, and the sky was still dim.Thomas is always very foggy in the early mornings, and even more so in winter.On this section of the road that passes through the entire dormitory area, it is almost invisible.In addition, it was the snow season, and the two of them walked all the way, like exploring in the sea of ​​clouds.

Even if you are not very familiar with the road conditions - as a math teacher, there is never a need to set foot in the stadium.But along the way, Alan didn't have the leisurely energy of Simon Cat walking.His mind was thinking quickly about the relevance of those hallucinations to the death case.The topic was so heavy that he couldn't slow down.

After all, this situation is unbelievable.

If it happened only once, it might be said that it happened by chance.But this was the second time, and it was the same situation as last time—every time he had hallucinations, students did suffer the next day.Proven by human life again and again, Allen can no longer easily expose the matter with the romantic thought of "pure coincidence".

And when Alan rushed to the scene with Simon, the sports building had already set up a familiar blockade.Several policemen who also seemed to have known each other stood by, taking notes on several students with notebooks and cameras.

One of the sheriffs, Allen, had a slight impression. He seemed to be called Peter Rowan, and he was one of the sheriffs in Fogg Town.Alan had also seen him at the scene of Joanna's death last time.He has a donut-like large tonnage figure, looks very happy, and always likes to take donut pets out for a walk when he appears-but of course, the final destination of those sweet pets will only be in his mouth .

Peter first noticed the arrival of Alan and Simon. "Morning, gentlemen," he said briskly, his voice thick and loud.As if it were just a chance encounter at a party rather than a grisly death scene.

"Good morning, Sheriff Ron." Simon said with a smile, and walked to Peter's side without any burden. "How are you doing?" he asked.His laid-back appearance made it hard to imagine how the police emphasized the seriousness of the situation half an hour ago and asked him to arrive as soon as possible.But this seems to be understandable, after all, Simon's dictionary has never had the difficult word "guilt".

Peter didn't care. He shook his head and sighed, "Oh, I've been short-staffed for half a year, and I've been very busy." He chuckled, and his swollen belly swayed.Then he turned his head and talked to the students who reported the crime.

Allen nodded to Peter first, and then stood beside the scene.Just at this moment, Peter also finished talking, and was about to lift the white cloth of Jersen, and take notes for a while...

In fact, if possible, Allen naturally hopes to escape as far as possible.But he had no choice, because he had to prove his conjectures, those conjectures about the state of Jersen's death.In his subconscious mind, he still hoped that Jersen didn't die like in his dream. After all, titles like prophet or psychic were too heavy.For him, what he is afraid of is not the essence of death, but his status as a witness of death.

However, things don't always go his way.

Jelsson's abdomen was pierced with a hockey stick, just as he appeared in the dream.And because of crossing a low-temperature snowy night, his leather surface was frozen blue-purple.The exposed skin on the face became very sharp due to the low temperature, showing real bruises.He just lay in the soft snow, as if he was deeply trapped in a ball of white cotton wool.The two unrepentant eyeballs are also covered with a thin layer of frost, which at first glance looks like a realistic frozen wax figure.

Allen suddenly felt nauseous.

Crouching on the ground, Peter suddenly cut off Allen's thoughts. "By the way, gentlemen, do you know who Jelsen Torhet has had a grudge with lately?" he asked, his face almost pressed to Jersen's.He was taking notes in his hand, without even raising his head, as if he was just asking casually.

Allen's heart skipped a beat.

He glanced at Simon, but Simon didn't look at him, and he replied in a nonchalant manner: "How do I know? Police officer, you also know that young people nowadays pretend to be dignified during the day, but where do they go to have fun at night?" , whose bed to climb into, I can't make up my mind."

"That's right, there was always no limit to the rave parties in the student days." Peter responded with a chuckle, and wrote something in his notebook.Then he stood up, raised his hands to the others and said, "Okay, everyone, get rid of the corpse first! My God, it's cold enough for this thief..." He closed the notebook in his hand , the tone remains brisk.

■

Looking at the familiar signboard, Allen was in a trance.

It's ten o'clock at night, and it stands to reason that it should be ready for bed.But he didn't know why he got out of bed and came to this bar.This feeling is like sleepwalking, and there are no symptoms.

After all, he had never been an alcoholic, and, furthermore, he hated feeling drunk and out of control.That feeling made him strange and uneasy.It is as if the soul has been disconnected from the body, and has since been deprived of the rudder to steer events.Make him feel helpless.

So maybe trying to relax?Or maybe just remembering that poor kid who died young, Jelson.In short, Allen can be sure: definitely not for alcohol.Speaking of it, things in the world are always unpredictable——the two met here the night before yesterday, and there was a lot of friction.It's only been a few hours, but that person has turned into a cold corpse, no matter how you think about it, it's embarrassing.

Speaking of the dispute the day before yesterday, Allen suddenly thought of Simon and the conversation with the sheriff just now.Yes, according to his understanding of Simon, it doesn't make sense to be as smart as Simon, just because he "forgot about this", he didn't mention his connection with Jersen.He didn't know why Simon protected him, and he didn't know if he should be grateful for it—whether he should be grateful for not being implicated by the student's death.

But he was sure that if Simon hadn't clarified their connection on the spot, and then let Peter know about his dispute with Jelson, things would definitely not be so easy.Therefore, when Simon dismissed the matter perfunctorily, Allen did not deny that he was actually relieved.

But he felt ashamed of himself for having such a mentality.

So, it was bound to be a sleepless night.He couldn't forget Jelson's uncontrollable smile in the dream, nor could he forget Jelson's cold eyes in the morning.It seemed that as soon as he closed his eyes, they would turn into tangible pressure and cover him overwhelmingly.But there was no pharmacy open at night, and he didn't have a way to get sleeping pills, so he couldn't force himself to forget those images.So he thought of Mr. Bull's bar, and the street rumors about alcohol as a cure for insomnia.

Allen walked into the bar.With the crisp ringing of the doorbell, he sat in the same corner of the bar as last time.

Without Simon's guidance, the silent Mr. Bull really didn't even lift his head.Allen looked around, except for him, there was only a strange man sitting in the corner of the bar.He has black hair and sits with his back to Allen. Apart from his tall stature, he can't see clearly.

Mr. Bull appears to be busy studying bartending.Alan didn't understand its ingredients, but he could only see its warm and mellow color, which glowed warm red in the yellowish light—since the last incident, he hated any brightly colored drinks, as if they were bound to It is linked with the hateful drunken word.Therefore, when Mr. Bull silently pushed the wine in front of him, he did not refuse.

He wasn't sure how many "appearing safe crimson drinks" he drank that night.The slightly sweet taste is always easy to numb the senses and further blind his thinking-so he forgot to think about the question: "How to go home if you are drunk"; In the town of Fogg where the two deaths occurred, there is still the possibility of encountering a "robbery case".

Therefore, when a flash of light stabbed in the shadow of the moon, Allen almost couldn't dodge it.

There are no street lights in the dark alley near the bar, and the moonlight is almost invisible through the thick fog.Seeing the light suddenly appear, Allen subconsciously turned to the left, and at the same time raised his leg and kicked the opponent's hand holding the knife.

Fortunately, his sixth sense was not bad, and the knife in the opponent's hand flew out and landed on the ground with a thumping sound.But Allen also staggered and fell halfway to the wall because of his unstable center of gravity.

He looked down at the black ditch cover on the ground, his head seemed to be injured by the impact, which made his head dizzy for a while.The right half of his face felt a warm liquid, and when it flowed to the corner of his mouth, Alan tasted a mouthful of blood.His left shoulder also seemed to be dislocated, and he was half-hanging and unable to use his strength for a long time.But before he had time to think, Alan's head was covered by a cloth item again.The field of vision changed from the darkness of the night to complete darkness.

Allen struggled hard, trying to push away the person behind him, during which he received a few punches for no apparent reason—he didn't know what the other party intended, and if he wanted to grab money, why did he use a knife to kill him?

Helpless, the brains of drunkards have always been bad, and the injured drunkards' brains are even worse and defective products, so he can't figure out the reason for the time being.Even his skills were also restrained by chaotic thoughts, so he couldn't make the best judgment.He could only take advantage of the moment when the gangster's knife fell to the ground and was no longer pressing tightly, he touched the wall and half-trotted, and tried to break free of the hood covering his upper body with one hand.

But there was a rattling sound not far away—in this quiet night, the sound of metal seemed particularly chilling.Allen knew that the other party also took advantage of this gap to pick up the knife again.O Lord, the all-knowing and all-powerful!Allen shouted in his heart, because it meant that he was about to lose his life.He wants someone to come to his rescue, even in the middle of the night in this remote town!

Perhaps, his expectations really fell into the sky.The moment the gangster picked up the knife, he also heard a strange voice shouting in front of him: "Hey! Dude, put down your knife!"

It was the voice of a grown man, with a hint of insomnia.A sound of footsteps approaching from not far away, passing Alan's side brought a gust of wind.Accompanied by a few curses as they drifted away, Allen guessed that the man seemed to be trying to chase the gangster who attacked him, and he didn't know if he caught him.

But at this time Allen was unconscious.The sticky warmth on his face was still there, and his traumatized head was buzzing even more, as if 1000 million bees were tossing about in his brain.After finally seeing reinforcements coming, Allen was finally able to relax.So his feet went limp, and his consciousness could no longer hold on.

Before passing out, Allen only remembered that he collapsed in a warm embrace mixed with the smell of alcohol and tobacco.

The author has something to say:

Dangdang, the attack is on the stage! !