So far, Reed's notebook has mentioned four incidents, namely: Kelly's disappearance in 1982, the murder of five teenagers in 1992, the disappearance of a couple while camping in 2002, the forest fire in 2012, and the appearance of a foreigner suspected of being Qi Tian.
Among them, Kelly and one of the couple were believed to have been attacked by wild animals and ended in an accident. Only the case in 1992 was too bizarre and the truth has not been found out so far.
At that time, Reed was the sheriff of Huangtun Town. He screened out three suspects.
The first one was a drug addict who lived in a trailer, also engaged in buying and selling, and often hung out with prostitutes. The ladies who knew him said that this man was ruthless and would stab people if he disagreed with them. He had a bad record.
On the day of the crime, he was working for a gangster boss, who gave him up after he was arrested, clearing him of suspicion. Of course, this man did not have a good ending, and died at the hands of his accomplices six months later.
The second one was a freak who lived at home on the edge of the town all year round and rarely socialized with others. Someone had seen him dating Theresa, and on the nights when the deceased disappeared, he said he was at home, but he had no alibi.
The police searched his home and found that he was ill and had severe hemorrhage, and was unable to complete a series of complicated rituals.
Six months after the crime, he moved out of Huanghun Town.
The third most suspicious one was Frank. He opened up a farm on the edge of the woods, raising livestock such as pigs, cattle and sheep. He once had a wife, but later his wife could not stand his temper and ran away with the children.
This man was physically strong and violent. As long as he had a gun, he would have no problem subduing five teenagers. But the police searched their farm and found no clues. They also found Frank's cheating partner and confirmed that the two were in the motel on the night the children disappeared.
The owner of the hotel also indirectly confirmed this.
However, although the evidence showed that Frank should not be the murderer, Reed still conducted a lot of investigations on him, and even bought an expensive camera and took a lot of photos of the farm - later, this became the source of inspiration for his grandson Robert's creation.
Jian Jing only took a quick look at Robert's farm and already felt that it was full of atmosphere. But when she arrived at the real place, she immediately realized that fake is fake.
No matter how ingenious the fake farm's mechanism is, it can't be one ten-thousandth as weird as the real one.
Frank's farm has a history of more than 30 years. The house is dilapidated, the roof is even leaking, the walls are full of mold, and the wooden door exudes a rotten smell.
Old William and Old Frank know each other, and after explaining the reason, the owner agreed to let them stay to avoid the rain.
"If it weren't for William, I wouldn't let outsiders step into my place." Old Frank said in a rough voice. He is already very old, with gray hair, cloudy eyes, wrinkled skin, and a weird look.
"Dad, don't say that." The opposite of him was little Frank.
He didn't look like a white man, but more like an Indian. He was very introverted. He glanced at Jian Jing and looked away: "I'll make you some hot tea, uh, and sandwiches, do you want them?"
Jian Jing glanced at Jiang Baiyan.
He immediately understood and said, "Don't bother, hot tea will be fine."
Little Frank quickly brought a pot of hot tea and poured it for them. He said worriedly, "Uncle William, I'm afraid the rain won't stop today."
Old William seemed to feel that his prestige was damaged, and said angrily, "The weather here changes at any time. The TV clearly said it was sunny."
Little Frank smiled and sat aside quietly.
After a while, he seemed to feel bored and started to get close to Jiang Baiyan: "My father has been living in the town and doesn't like people from outside. Don't take his words to heart."
Who is Jiang Baiyan? Actor.
He got into the role quickly and immediately set himself a character who was not very good at English but very cheerful and talkative. He quickly replied: "It's okay, we disturbed him. I wanted to have a good day of hunting, but who knew it would rain heavily."
Little Frank asked curiously: "What did you catch today?"
Jiang Baiyan spread his hands: "Nothing."
Little Frank smiled and suddenly said to William: "It's late, you can stay for dinner. I made chicken stew and vegetable soup."
Jian Jing immediately raised her head: "Dinner?"
Old William looked at her, then looked at the big raindrops outside the window, and nodded in agreement.
Little Frank opened a bag of rice, poured it into the pot, added water and simmered it. When it was almost cooked, he poured in the semi-finished curry and cooked chicken, mixed them, and the hot chicken rice was freshly cooked.
Jian Jing responded with high praise.
Little Frank was even happier and took out beer to invite them to drink.
Jiang Baiyan took it, but Jian Jing refused his kindness on the grounds that he did not drink.
Little Frank was not angry, but just said: "I have always been curious about China. Can you tell me about your country?"
"I am very happy." Jiang Baiyan agreed and started talking about nothing.
As he said this, the sky naturally became dark, and the rain had not stopped. Little Frank patted his forehead and said in annoyance, "It's all my fault for talking for so long and wasting your time." He paused and apologized, "Why don't you stay for one night?"
It was unsafe to travel through the woods in the heavy rain and wind. Jian Jing and Jiang Baiyan nodded without much hesitation.
The guest room was on the second floor of the farm. It was a little old and had a strong moldy smell, but it was very clean and had a bathroom.
Jian Jing turned on the perspective device and walked around the room. After making sure there were no secret passages or hidden doors, he said with confidence, "What do you think the situation is between this father and son?"
Since they were chatting, of course they couldn't be the only ones talking. Little Frank also briefly introduced his family's situation: Old Frank had been ill for a long time, and if Old William hadn't come, he would not show up in person, and he even ate dinner alone in the room.
"He is very curious about us." Jiang Baiyan held his head. Several cans of wine could not make him drunk. "But I can't see anything wrong."
Jian Jing nodded: "I observed the kitchen and the restaurant, and there were indeed only traces of one person eating. There is nothing wrong with cooking potato soup for old Frank alone, but..."
She said slowly: "This place is very wrong."
Jiang Baiyan lowered his voice: "Could it be that we entered the home of a murderer?"
"What if it is?" she asked back.
"You have to believe it intuitively. Those who don't believe it in horror movies all die. But you can't escape by running away. It will also arouse their vigilance." Jiang Baiyan lived up to his profession and knew the routine like the back of his hand. "Generally speaking, the danger at the beginning is not fatal. We took the initiative, tied them up, and tortured them severely..."
Jian Jing: "Then we were arrested by the FBI and started to perform "The Shawshank Redemption"?"
Jiang Baiyan shook his fingers and said mysteriously: "Teacher Jingjing, don't forget that we are in a free country. As long as we have enough money, we are free."
As he spoke, he opened his arms and made exaggerated movements, which was full of comedy.
"That makes sense." Jian Jing couldn't help laughing, "You can go to a talk show."
"No, I have to maintain my status. I still have to fight for your next movie." Jiang Baiyan showed his loyalty in a subtle way, but she rolled her eyes, so he immediately became serious, "What should I do, wait?" Jian Jing
shook her head. She originally considered waiting and watching, but he kept joking about the routine, which really sparked her inspiration: "Art comes from life. Since all stories start with the protagonist committing suicide, why can't we do one too?"
Knowing there is a tiger in the mountain, but still going there, this is also a strategy.
"It's 8:15 in the evening." She looked at the watch and said, "Let's go and commit the first big death."
The first step to committing suicide is to take the initiative to find something.
Jian Jing found William and claimed that she wanted to ask about tomorrow's hunting plan. But old William seemed very sharp: "You are asking more than just this."
"Well," she said nonchalantly, imitating the American way of expression, "I want to discuss something with you. This place is close to the woods, but it is not part of the forest. If you can stay here, it will be much more convenient to travel."
Old William said coldly: "I don't think this is a good idea."
"I thought you were so familiar with Frank and his son, they should be trustworthy." Jian Jing immediately followed up and asked a question, "Is everything Reed said true?"
Old William refused to communicate: "Less asking, more hunting, see you tomorrow."
He slammed the door.
Jian Jing returned empty-handed, but she believed that if Frank and his son really had problems, just a few words of conversation in the corridor just now would be enough to make them wary and suspicious, and then take the next step.
The second step to committing suicide is to wander around.
Jiang Baiyan walked along the corridor, went down the stairs, and turned into a dark and remote place. After twists and turns, he actually found the back door on the first floor. Stepping out, there is a small path with only a roof and paved with gravel, leading to the sheepfold at the back door of the farm. The
lights are on inside, but there is no one.
Groups of yellow sheep are standing or lying, looking at the strange intruders, with a strong smell of rancidity on their bodies, mixed with feces and hay and rushing towards the Tianlinggai, which is extremely smelly.
Jiang Baiyan held his breath and almost turned around and left.
But soon, he felt someone was looking at him.
Who?
He looked around the sheepfold and suddenly found a pure white lamb among a group of dirty yellow sheep. Its wool is pure white like snow, which is completely different from other sheep.
"Baa~~" it cried.
The other sheep seemed to be awakened and looked at him.
Jiang Baiyan took a deep breath and his whole body was covered with hair.
At this time, footsteps sounded behind him.
Little Frank came in carrying a bag of feed. When he saw him, he asked in surprise: "What are you doing here?"
Jiang Baiyan pretended to be flustered for a moment, then calmed down: "I was just looking for you. Can I borrow the kitchen? I want to prepare some food for tomorrow's hunting."
"Of course." Compared with the "guilty" guest, Little Frank was a hospitable landlord and agreed readily.
Jiang Baiyan asked him to buy eggs, bread and pork to make burgers.
Shelling, chopping, and cutting bread were all done in an orderly manner.
Little Frank left.
Jiang Baiyan began to check the knives in the kitchen
one by one, as if he suspected that there was a murder weapon hidden there. However, no suspicious items such as bloodstains and hair were found, but some strange things were found. At the bottom of the cabinet, there were a large number of thin and long roots like hair, which were entwined and climbed, as if there was a huge tree nearby that extended its roots to the foundation.
But Jiang Baiyan clearly remembered that the area around the farm was very open, with only a few shrubs and no strong trees.
Jiang Baiyan squatted down and touched the roots.
Cold, hard, and moist, this was not the texture of a handicraft, but alive.
Since Teacher Jingjing wanted to "do something big", he certainly didn't mind being the first "unlucky egg".
Jiang Baiyan picked up the steak knife, weighed the weight, and decisively cut it. The
root fell to the ground, like a bug twisting, and then fell there hard, no different from a dead branch on the roadside.
Jiang Baiyan took a plastic bag, picked it up, put it in, rolled it tightly, and stuffed it into his pocket as if nothing had happened.
Then, "dudududu", he continued to chop the stuffing.
The evenly fat and lean pork was rolled into a pancake, and the grease sizzled in the pan, and the aroma filled the air. He was busy seasoning and cutting vegetables, and didn't notice that the plastic bag stuffed in his trouser pocket shook slightly.
The black and sticky roots quietly poked their heads out.