Mermaid Reef

Doctors failed to find the cause of Reverend Conor's sudden madness.

Perhaps the existing medical knowledge of mankind can deduce from many aspects that the priest's mental problems erupted due to poor health and brain decline, but this cannot explain how the hoarfrost in the church was formed.

"It's a rare weather phenomenon."

Dr. Abel is a staunch supporter of the scientific school. While he was busy dispensing medicine, he expounded his views, "I heard that in areas close to the Arctic Circle, it is very common for entire villages to be covered with ice and snow overnight...why? Is the clinic next to it okay? Oh, that might be an air current. Its core temperature is very low. I think it might be a spherical thing rolling on walls, furniture and other objects like ball lightning. It's all frozen."

The nun tightly held the small cross bracelet, chanted Bible verses, and then sprinkled salt and washed the walls and floors with holy water, thinking that this would drive away evil spirits.

"It must be a demon," insisted the nun, evidenced by the rapid melting of the hoarfrost.

Dr. Abel: "..."

Hoarfrost, ice, and snow will melt if they touch salt grains.

The views of the schools of science and the schools of theology could not be unified. Dr. Abel subconsciously went to find the stranger. Although he had known him not long ago, the doctor felt that he was very unusual.

John was standing in the middle of the chapel with a magnifying glass in his hand, carefully observing the frost on the floor.

Dr. Abel took a look and found that the magnifying glass looked familiar, as if it belonged to the old pastor.

"Sorry, I took it from the table, and I will return it when I run out." John didn't want to be accused of being a thief.

The main reason is that the old pastor's magnifying glass is exquisite, with a gold-inlaid handle, and a circle of strange symbols and letters engraved on the frame, the meaning of which is unknown.

If it wasn't a magnifying glass, I would have thought it was an antique at first glance.

The thing was frozen too, and John pried it out intact, thanks to the nun's holy water and salt exorcism formula.

"Are you studying the trajectory of frozen snowballs?" Dr. Abel asked.

"what?"

John didn't understand.

Dr. Abel repeated his inspiration from ball lightning, and announced that he would write this new discovery as a paper and publish it in a European scientific journal.

Seeing the doctor's high spirits, John decided not to interrupt his speech.

John looked down and continued to observe the hoarfrost.

A floor plan of a church appeared in his mind.

On this map, the places where the frost is thicker are marked, and a clear trajectory can be seen when connected.

"...its source, is a man who walks like us."

So the hoarfrost is thicker on the floor and the walls near the ground, and thinnest on the ceiling.

"It, or he, went through the front chapel, entered the side door into the hallway...and stood at the door of Reverend Conor's foyer, and he put his hand on the door? No, more like announcing his arrival , let the chill seep into the room along the crack of the door.”

John could almost imagine—

The old pastor was processing documents on his desk, holding a magnifying glass in his left hand and a pen in his right hand. He suddenly felt a biting chill, and shiveringly pulled up his coat on the back of the chair. After rubbing his eyes, he found that the fire in the fireplace It went out.

The old pastor stood up puzzled, and went to the door to call the nun, asking if it was snowing outside.

As a result, halfway through, I saw hoarfrost spreading rapidly on the wall.

Because of the thick carpet on the floor, it was not obvious at first, and the old priest didn't catch it in time.

When the pastor sensed the strange situation and opened his mouth to shout, the door opened without a sound.

The man was standing at the door.

Dressed like a traditional British gentleman, he may also be wearing a black top hat and a cloak. A slender gold watch chain can be vaguely seen in the clothes. His handsome and cold outline seems to be carved out of ice knives.

Distorted shadows surrounded him, the cold wind brought a biting chill, and invisible black vortexes began to spread in the corridors and rooms.

The priest looked terrified, and he began to scream.

But no one could hear it, or he couldn't make it at all, because the nuns in the other room in the corridor didn't hear it.

Then, what did the pastor say?

Who held that photo before throwing it on the ground?

The photo wasn't frozen, and it certainly wasn't the priest.

——Pick up the photo with pale and slender fingers, and flash it in front of Priest Conor. The mysterious visitor is like a death messenger from hell. He has been looking for this old priest, and he may have been looking for it for many years.

The picture is interrupted because I can't imagine it anymore.

John pressed his aching forehead.

This is not hallucination, nor fantasy.

There is tangible evidence of everything (where the chairs in the lounge are drawn, the direction the old priest fell), and John's own experience in the tavern.

John didn't expect that when he heard the name Jason again, it was from Pastor Conor.

Unfortunately, he didn't get any more clues, just some key-sounding (informative) words.

He's Coming, Vengeance, and Ghost Ships...

Obviously, Pastor Conor knew Jason, at least he had seen Jason at sea, otherwise he would not have mentioned the ghost ship.

John thought of the black sailboat in the thick fog, and there was a weird scene of the ship disintegrating for no reason, and countless black thin strips of shadows were ejected in all directions.

"Well."

John frowned in pain, he couldn't recall the sight.

As long as I think about it, my headache will suddenly intensify, and double images will appear in front of my eyes.

Are the sequelae of a concussion so severe?

John staggered against the wall, when a vague human face appeared, the facial features were not in the correct position, it looked weird and frightening.

"Sir? Are you all right, sir?"

Good, the voice is normal, John closed his eyes.

When he opened it again, the scene returned to normal, and he saw the worried nun.

"I'm fine, I just...didn't eat."

John covered his stomach and made an excuse for himself.

Dr. Abel, who finished feeding the old pastor, heard the nun's cry, and ran over in a few steps, still holding a stethoscope in his hand.

John's scalp was numb, and he was afraid that the doctor would find out some mental problems, but he couldn't directly refuse the doctor's kindness.

"It doesn't matter, as long as there is a piece of bread."

John tried to appear physically fit.

Dr. Abel listened to his heart and lungs, but found nothing wrong. The dizziness and unsteady standing may be due to hunger, and John is indeed stronger and more powerful than ordinary adult men.The other six people lying in the clinic with a high fever can prove it from the side. Of the people in the whole boat, only John is still alive and kicking.

"Didn't old Jack make breakfast and lunch?" Dr. Abel asked in surprise.

"I slept until noon, and then a little accident happened."

John felt that this was a good opportunity to test, so he told the story of his meeting with Officer Arson, and the rise of the strange reef, Officer Arson and the tavern owner changed their faces and ran out.

"Snapped."

The cross in the nun's hand fell to the ground without clenching it tightly.

She was pale and her lips trembled.

Dr. Abel's expression was also a bit ugly. He forced a smile: "A reef rising from the bottom of the sea? That may be volcanic activity. Although this kind of thing is rare, it is not uncommon. I read it in an academic journal, It happened in the Atlantic Ocean."

The nun picked up the cross, went to pray in front of the altar without saying a word, then stood up and continued to clean the church with salt and holy water.

Doctor Abel could only leave the medicine bottle behind, and told the nun's back: "If Pastor Conor wakes up, please notify me immediately."

After speaking, he picked up the medicine box and motioned John to follow him to the clinic next door.

"I still have some leftover baked potatoes from lunch, by the way, you are..."

"Please call me John, a detective from London."

"detective?"

"Yes, one of my clients was in a little trouble, and he wrote to Reverend Conor for help."

John chose to tell the truth, because he needed someone to help him prove the shipwreck, and his excessive attention to the old pastor would also arouse suspicion from others. For the sake of convenience, he simply revealed some commissioned content, and maybe he could find out something.

Sure enough, Dr. Abel immediately said, "Is your client also a lover of theology or an explorer?"

"Theology...well, it's about theology, but what about explorers?"

John is deliberately vague, and the date of birth is written on the baptism certificate. Does baptism have anything to do with theology?Related, not lying!

"Oh, I heard that Pastor Conor boarded a ship with an expedition team when he was young, and traveled around the Atlantic Ocean and the icy sea. Pastor Conor has profound knowledge, and I respect him very much." Doctor Abel said earnestly , "He is a respectable person. Other pastors are unwilling to preach in this remote place for a long time, but he has lived here for decades."

John nodded, and then asked seemingly unintentionally: "I walked all the way from the tavern and found that the atmosphere in the town is very strange."

"This..." Doctor Abel looked hesitant.

"Is this related to the strange reef? I'm sorry, I see that everyone is very concerned. I think there should be something other than the volcanic eruption?" John asked pretending to be curious. At this time, he revealed the advantages of his profession. Yes, the detective will never let go of the doubts in front of him.

Dr. Abel took a deep breath, and then smiled wryly: "It is a legend. Many years ago, a huge reef suddenly rose on the seabed near Black Reef Town. The heavy rain flooded the town, and many people disappeared... Rumor has it that this is the sea god. The anger of the sea god, the sea god is sleeping in the nearby bay, if someone wakes the sea god, the disaster will come again. Now everyone is very panic, because it is similar to the situation in the legend, first it rained for three days, and then the monsters Jiao, if someone goes missing next, everyone will be even more flustered."

Dr. Abel obviously didn't want to talk about the strange reef. He hurriedly brought up the topic, and turned to ask John: "I thought you would be interested in the 'revenge' and 'ghost ship' that Pastor Conor said."

"Mr. Conor has mental problems, symptoms of delirium, doesn't he?"

John acted to believe in science more than Dr. Abel, and said frankly, "Patients have hallucinations and see strange things, which is normal."

Dr. Abel: "..."

The detective was implying that the rest of Black Lagoon's residents were not normal.

It can't be that the whole town is mentally ill, talking nonsense, behaving abnormally, right?

Well, the logic is reasonable and there are no loopholes.

Dr. Abel's eyes flickered, and then he talked about mental illness along the topic.

John studied the doctor after he had turned away.

John was sure that Dr. Abel knew about the "ghost ship", at least he had heard it from Pastor Conor, otherwise he wouldn't have taken it out to test it out.

Dr. Abel said the old priest was a respectable man.

So why would a respectable pastor be "revenged"?

Pastor Conor knew the truth himself. When he was mad, he didn't say "he's coming to harm people, he's coming to kill me", but "he's coming for revenge". The causal relationship is obvious.

Only "what have you done" will you be afraid of being approached by Jason.

However, the ghost ship Jensen and the Neptune of the Strange Reef should be two unrelated events.

Since the old pastor is afraid of Jason's revenge, he will not hide in the place where the enemy has appeared. The old pastor probably thinks that the sleeping Sea God can cover the "eyes" of the ghost ship, making Jason "not able to see" the town , That's why the old pastor ran to Black Lagoon to hide.

In the end, I don't know what happened, and now two things broke out together?

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The author has something to say:

Investigators can't have a low IQ, how can they find the truth?

The ability of investigators must be high, if it is low, how can they survive to the end?