Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 332 322. David’s family, half a year ago

Time enters the junction of afternoon and evening.

The light in the environment began to dim, but the snow stopped.

Dean walked along the lakeside path next to the old lady's house towards No. 102 Lakeside on the east side.

Small wooden piers and boat docks appeared along the lakeside.

Dean could imagine the pleasant scene of the lake thawing, small boats wandering in the vast blue water, tourists fishing, lying on the boats looking up at the sky, and jumping into the lake to swim.

"After I rescue Lu Guangming, I will find a lake area with great scenery to buy a lakeside villa or a seaside villa." Dean couldn't help but have an idea in his mind, "Another boat, fishing tools, family, Beloved woman…”

With a relaxed reverie, Dean arrived at Villa No. 102. It was much more elegant than the old lady's house in Medina. The main body was white and the gable top was black. There were three floors in total. It should have been repainted not long ago, and it was shiny new.

The yard in front of the villa is equipped with flower beds, swings, climbing poles, children's slides, and even a tree house on the pine tree.

Standing in the porch is a middle-aged man in a gray down jacket, facing the direction of the ice lake, depicting the snow-covered lake and the outline of the black distant mountains on the drawing board.

This is just a simple oil painting, but with his superb skills, the lake in the painting seems to come alive, with white mist surging and reflecting the colorful sunset, which is fascinating.

It makes people stare at the mountains in the white mist unconsciously and guess what is living in them.

The man put the brush on the paint tray, rubbed his chin with his left hand and made a serious face, obviously dissatisfied with the painting.

"Brilliant, this is an absolute masterpiece."

A sudden sigh of praise came from behind.

The painter was startled. He turned around and saw a completely strange man standing behind him at some point.

"Hello, Mr. David Drayton, I am Kenny Fantasy, a reporter from the Portland Daily News..." Dean showed his ID to him,

"Reporter?" David looked at the ID carefully for five seconds. "I don't remember anything major happening in my family recently that warrants a reporter's visit. Also, sir, do you walk without making a sound? You just entered a private building without permission." It’s really not a polite thing to do in the yard.”

"I'm very sorry, that's the case. I just visited old Mrs. Fanny Medina and conducted an exclusive interview about the unfortunate death of her granddaughter Martha." Dean was not embarrassed and took a step back to continue explaining, "And You are neighbors and maybe you know something about what happened that night? Can we chat?"

"Martha, a beautiful and sensible child. Unfortunately, fate was unfair to her. Her wings were broken before she could spread her wings." David's eyes flashed with sadness, and his chin was covered with green stubble, which looked a bit casual and friendly. The look on his unruly face became unkind, and his tone implied displeasure, "But this matter has long been concluded. This is an accident that no one wants. It has been a month and it will be buried in the long lake. You should not have dug it out again at this time, opening up Mrs. Medina's healed scars and breaking her heart."

Dean raised his eyebrows, looked directly into the other person's eyes, and gave a psychological hint before continuing to speak.

Clang.

The door behind the porch opened, and a slender woman wearing a tight white sweater came out.

"David, why are you so loud? Did you choke the paint in your mouth? You are almost scaring Billy." The woman turned to Dean, "Who is this gentleman?"

"A reporter, Kenny Fantasy..." David was affected by the suggestion, his voice lowered a few notes, "want to interview us about Martha."

"Oh, Mr. Fantasy...I am David's wife, Stephanie. Please forgive his bad temper. He couldn't control his emotions while painting." The hostess smiled apologetically, stretched out her fingertips and touched Dean. Peng, whose attitude was much gentler than that of her husband, "Everyone is very sorry about Martha. When it first happened, my Billy was so sad that he didn't go to school for two days and almost got sick."

"We don't want to rub salt into his wounds, so I'm sorry, sir, we can't be interviewed. But you can go to the Qiaodun Town Police Station to interview the police officers in charge of the case. Their speeches are more authoritative and representative."

"That's right, man, it's getting late," David glanced at the dim sky, "You can drive back to town now just in time for dinner."

"That's a pity," Dean said meaningfully as he looked inside the house through the glass window, "I'm leaving now, but please make sure to take care of the children."

"What do you mean?" David grabbed the paintbrush and took a step closer to Dean with a body as strong as a football player. "Are you threatening me, sir?"

"Don't get me wrong, I've learned about similar incidents elsewhere...death in the fog." Dean glanced at the two people with tense faces, and said seriously, "Marsha also happened to be up that night. It's foggy, right? I don't think this is an isolated incident, not just one, and you and her are neighbors, so take care of Billy,"

Dean turned around and headed for the stairs.

"Wait a minute, sir..." Stephen suddenly waved to him, "Why don't you come inside, have a cup of coffee, and continue chatting?"

David also lowered his head and remained silent, suppressing his dissatisfaction out of concern for his son's safety.

"my pleasure."

……

The lights are bright.

The hot steam from the coffee filled the small table next to the sofa, blurring Dean's eyes.

David, who was just opposite him, was holding a cup and said, "Sorry about what happened just now. I have no inspiration to create valuable new works... Without works, there is no income..."

David looked at the stairs leading to the second floor. His wife was accompanying Billy in the bedroom on the second floor.

"Without income, Stephen can't buy clothes as much as he wants, and my child Billy can't enjoy those expensive and exquisite toys. I was so anxious that I spoke a little too hastily."

Dean looked at the studio behind David, where a picture frame was placed in a mess, "I understand that when artistic creators are exhausted, they suffer more painfully than various addictions, so can we talk about that night? ?”

After receiving recognition, David's eyes softened slightly when he looked at Dean.

"At around nine o'clock that night, I sat in front of the porch, looking at the water under the moon and emptying my mind, waiting for a flash of inspiration to emerge in my mind. But it gave me a ball of fog, which looked like a ball of fog under the moonlight. Yun, I thought I was blinded by the cold and had hallucinations."

"The lake was frozen that night, and the temperature was extremely low. There shouldn't be fog. This went against common sense, but it did appear. It looked like it was drifting from Shiling Town, Harrison Town, or Naples Town. When I looked through the telescope, it was extremely white in color, just like the white snow that had just fallen against the pure and flawless sapphire sky in winter."

"But it's not reflective at all, and it's expanding incredibly fast, expanding in all directions, as if something in the mist is blowing it along."

Dean nodded and found that the progress in the system jumped from 25% to 26%.

David continued,

"To be honest, I grew up by the Changhu Lake. When I was nineteen, I went to another place to study at university. When I was thirty, I came back to settle down and devote myself to my creation. The total time I lived by the Changhu Lake was more than twenty years," David said firmly. , "I have never seen such a strange fog. It feels like it is not a natural product."

The progress jumped to 27 percent.

"After watching it for a long time, I felt panicked. I felt for some reason that something bad was going to happen, so I walked back into the house from the porch."

David paused, "The next morning, my premonition came true. We saw police cars and a group of people surrounding Mrs. Medina's house."

……

"But I don't understand," David looked at Dean, "Is this fog necessarily related to Martha's accident? Why do you think it's not an isolated incident?"

"In the case outside Portland, a ten-year-old boy drowned in the creek next to his house on a foggy night." Dean put down the notebook in his hand and rambled, "The river is only half a meter deep, and the boy and Martha can also swim, which is totally unreasonable."

"But the police couldn't find anything, so they characterized the case as an accidental death by falling into the water."

"I have reported on many criminal incidents. I have experience in this area and precise intuition. My intuition tells me," Dean stared at David and said word by word, "Some serial killers like to smoke in the fog." committing crimes at night.”

"That boy, and Martha, were all victims of his men."

"Serial murderer? God?! Who could it be?" At this time, Stephan, who was coming down the stairs, leaned on the handrail and cast nervous eyes at the two of them.

"It's not clear yet, I'm still investigating." Dean analyzed, "I think the murderer has probably been around Martha for a long time, and after observing her for a long time, he got to know her and her family so well that he can't know who she is. Complete the crime unnoticed and leave no trace for the police. Did you see any suspicious people in the town during the time of the crime? "

Stephen walked up to David and hugged his arm, "That period was not considered the peak tourist season until now. There were almost no outsiders in Shiling Town. We don't remember any suspicious persons. As for the townspeople, they are all A warm and kind person would never hurt Martha.”

"Mr. Kenny, you are a bit alarmist," David patted his wife's trembling arm comfortingly, looked at Dean and said, "The more credible theory now is that that night, Martha was blinded by the unusually thick fog. The little girl lost her footing and fell into the water. The temperature was too low and she had cramps, so the accident happened."

"Then why did she leave home alone at night and go to the lake?" Dean glanced at the second floor. The couple thought of their son, both of them looked worried, "I want to ask Martha's friend about your son. Billy, he might know something."

……

Billy inherited his mother's blond hair. He was thin and small, and his big eyes were very flexible. He seemed to be thinking about whether to climb a tree or go fishing at any time, but David and Steph squeezed him into a sofa. In his arms, he was unable to succeed.

"Hello, Billy," Dean took out a chocolate candy from his arms and stuffed it into the little boy's palm, looked into his eyes and gave a comforting hint, "I have something to ask you about Martha, Martha. Before the accident, were there any special people around you?"

Martha?

Billy couldn't help sniffing when he thought of the good friend he had lost forever, but the strange uncle opposite him seemed to have a healing light in his eyes, which instantly made him forget his uncomfortable mood.

He subconsciously peeled off the candy wrapper and tried to swallow the chocolate into his stomach, but his mother snatched it away and whispered a warning: "Aren't you afraid of toothache?"

Billy curled his lips and showed his messy baby teeth towards Dean.

"What special person?"

"Maybe it's the strangely dressed people who show up outside school, or the new friends Martha makes, or the weirdos who are always following Martha."

Billy tilted his head and thought carefully, shook his head, and said in a clear voice,

"I don't remember anyone like this."

"Before Martha fell into the water, she had been very quiet at school. Apart from chatting with me and Wanda, she basically didn't communicate with other classmates, because other classmates would call her an orphan and a wild girl, saying that she had no parents to protect her, and push her , pinch her."

"God...how come I never know about this? Doesn't this damn school care?" Stephan's motherly eyes turned red instantly, and she kissed her son's little head, and David hugged her tightly. Living with his wife and children, his whole body overflowed with a strong desire to protect him.

"But now Martha will never be bullied again. She has gone to heaven, right?" Billy looked at Dean expectantly. "There are endless fun games there, with her parents, and grandpa."

"Yes, Martha went to heaven." Dean nodded solemnly, and then asked, "You often play with Martha, have you ever heard her mention that she would secretly leave the house at night after grandma falls asleep and go to a nearby store? Go to the lake, swing, fish, and play games?”

"Going out at night?" Billy's light eyebrows twisted up like caterpillars, then relaxed, and his small face shook his head firmly, "I never said that. And Stephen asked me to go to bed before nine o'clock in the evening, even if she goes out I don't know either." "Billy, this is for your own good!" Steph heard the complaint in her son's tone and quickly turned his face to face her own searchlight-like eyes, "If you want to grow up, If you are tall, you should go to bed early, otherwise you will become the shortest boy in your class!"

Billy snorted softly.

David, the painter next to him, couldn't help but smile helplessly.

Dean rubbed his temples, asking questions would be too uncomfortable.

"Billy, did Martha have any abnormal behavior some time before she fell into the water, such as suddenly becoming silent, having insomnia, talking to herself, etc.?"

"No." Billy answered decisively, "But I remember that starting half a year ago, Martha changed a lot."

"Speak carefully."

"A year ago, her grandfather passed away. She was very sad. When playing with me and Wanda, she often secretly wiped her tears and missed her grandfather. Sometimes she even looked at my parents with envy. But half a year ago, she didn't When I talk about grandpa again, there is no such envy in the eyes he looks at me. He becomes cheerful and happy, and she no longer trusts even the idiots who bully her in school."

Dean's eyelids jumped after hearing this. The progress of the incident jumped to 30%, so the improvement of Martha's mentality half a year ago was very important.

"Idiot?" At this moment, Steph suddenly turned to Billy's face again like a cat with explosive hair, "Explain clearly, who taught you to say dirty words!"

Billy shrank his neck and retorted, "I can't say a single curse word. It's so uncool. No boy in school will want to play with me."

"Damn it, I'm going to have a good chat with the principal and find out who taught my precious son bad things."

"Stephen, relax, relax..." David hugged his wife and kissed her pink cheek, "Isn't it just a curse word that makes you so excited?"

"What do you know? You hide in the studio all day, imagining your own great works, and never take care of Billy's study. You don't understand how hard it is for me to discipline him, and how naughty he is. You still don't understand me now, Do you have to drive me crazy..."

"I have to make money to support my family, I have artistic pursuits, and I'm under a lot of pressure."

David retorted in a low voice, turning his head to avoid the woman's gaze, with an expression of resistance to communication.

Billy felt the fire between his parents and trembled with fear.

"Ahem, you two, can you let me finish asking?" Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Dean quickly interrupted Stephen's complaint loudly and looked at Billy, "What important event happened half a year ago that changed Martha's life?" manner?"

"I don't remember," Billy looked at his mother who shut up and turned her head in anger, and gave Dean a very grateful look, "but I feel like Martha encountered something happy that made her so happy that she got rid of her heart. Finally, I forgot my parents and grandpa who left early, and became a child like us."

The progress jumped to thirty-three percent.

Dean was lost in thought.

What kind of event can make a little girl who has lost a loved one break out of the mire of pain in the past and become happy again?

Dean couldn't think of it for the time being, but some major event must have happened six months ago that changed her, and this event was also related to her death.

"I hope the other child, Wanda, knows something."

……

"Thank you very much, David, Steph, and little Billy. You have given me a lot of help. Today's interview is over." Dean glanced at the wall clock in the living room, which pointed to eight o'clock in the evening, and stood up suddenly.

"Kenny, if you find anything, can you tell us?" David stared at Dean's eyes.

"No problem, I already have some clues, but I still lack effective evidence." Dean solemnly glanced at the eyes of the painter and his wife, "Finally, I will give you a piece of advice, don't quarrel in front of Billy, and don't remain silent and refuse to communicate. , if you have any disagreements, put them out in the open, explain them clearly, understand them, you can even ask Billy for his opinion, he is more mature and smarter than you think."

David and Stephen blushed and lowered their heads.

Dean turned and went out, looking at the moon in the sky, thoughts flashing through his eyes. It was too late now to ask the widow Lucia's daughter Wanda.

It's better to search the lake area at night, maybe you can encounter the fog and catch the murderer directly.

He casually opened a space node in front of him.

roaming.

The next second, he was far away from Lakeside Villa No. 102 and appeared on the ice in the center of the long lake one kilometer away.

An afterimage of a man running so hard that his whole body was covered in sweat suddenly stopped. Sean turned to look at Dean, surprised and puzzled.

"Man, why did you show up suddenly without making any sound?"

Dean smiled and changed the subject, "How is it? Is the training effective?"

"You're right. The wolf just wants to run. Running is more enjoyable than sucking grass. I feel much better." Sean wiped his sweat, and a cheerful smile appeared on his face covered with large amounts of salt and frost. " Have you made any breakthroughs in your investigation?"

Dean threw the notebook where he had recorded the clues, and Sean immediately opened it to examine it.

"There are several important clues at the moment."

"The real culprit was accompanied by an unusual burst of white mist, and the mist was not a natural product."

"Martha's death is related to a major incident she encountered half a year ago."

……

"Okay, I admit, I misunderstood Carmody. There may be something ominous in the lake." Sean mused, giving a thumbs up to Dean with sincere admiration, "But so much was investigated in half a day. Clues, you are the real witcher, and that Serent rune should be under your control!"

"Next, let's work together to catch this crazy monster that killed the little girl!"

Dean nodded, took out two pieces of chocolate-like high-energy protein, stuffed one into his mouth, and threw the other to Sean, who bit off one and frowned in disgust.

"What the hell is this? It doesn't taste like blood at all. It tastes really bad."

"But it is rich in nutrients. A small piece can carry hundreds of pounds of flesh and blood." Dean chewed the high-energy protein and summoned his mind power to shape an elliptical shield with a radius of ten meters around his body to cover himself and Sean. The voices inside and outside the isolation unit met, and he hooked his hand towards Sean, "Now let's start the second adaptive training, transform into a snake and wolf form, and attack me!"

"Are you kidding me? I would never attack a friend!" Sean shook his head in defiance.

"Besides running, the second instinct of snakes and wolves is to fight and hunt." Dean twisted his neck and pulled - a stream of white-gold flames rushed out from all over his body, outlining a set of white-gold armor.

Sean instantly bent his back and knees like a wolf under great threat, hissing and growling. Driven by his wild instinct, mysterious white mist sprayed out from his mouth and nose to wrap around his body. In the mist, the human body grew again. There are fangs, claws and scales.

It transformed into the shape of a strange beast with a green face and fangs.

"Come on, wild dog, treat me as your mortal enemy and kill me at all costs." Dean opened his hands and yelled, "Come on!"

Sounds burst through the air.

The snake-wolf alien species shot at Dean like an arrow and swung a claw at his neck.

boom!

Sparks burst!

The crisp sound of fracture.

The next second it bounced back at double the speed it came in, crashed through the ice like a basketball, and fell into the lake.

Wow…

Water splashed everywhere, and a wet wolf claw crawled out of the hole in the ice. A strange creature covered in ice jumped up from the lake and fell to the ground. The skin and flesh of its right arm rolled up, revealing broken bones.

Click, it reluctantly straightened its arm bones.

"Sorry, I forgot to turn off the mirror shield's rebound function."

Dean smiled apologetically, turned on the zero-gravity mode, crossed his legs and floated into the air half a meter away from the ice, as still as a Buddha, "I won't fight back, treat me like a fighting target and hit me hard. When will you hurt me? The training is over." .”

Not fighting back? What an insult!

"Roar!"

Sean's blood-red pupils widened, and he flew towards this extremely contemptuous enemy, clawing, biting, and attacking with all his strength.

Under the moonlight, silvery-white paw prints rippled across the ice, sparks flew like waterfalls, and the sound of metal collisions echoed repeatedly.

But no matter how Sean attacks, the target suspended cross-legged in front of him remains motionless, like an insurmountable mountain.

Dean just let Sean bombard him, and he comfortably turned on his God's perspective and began to scan the bottom of the lake.

And Ying also quietly sneaked into the ice cave, searching for the target in the cold lake water, while controlling the fish in the shallows.

A three-pronged approach was taken to hunt down the "evil" that might be hiding in the lake.

Amid the frenzied training and search, the night passed quietly.

(End of this chapter)