Thirty years ago.

At the age of thirty-nine, Abel boarded a fog fishing boat heading to the depths of the ocean under the lure of money.

The fog fish is a highly prized species that can only be found in the fog of the ocean, and a large fishing boat can make an entire ship rich overnight.

Even though he knew that fishing fog fish was extremely dangerous, Abel still embarked on this desperate road of no return.

The entire harvest is scheduled for two years.

Among the people who boarded the fishing boat with him were gangsters who fantasized about getting rich overnight, experienced fishermen, poor children who were tricked into getting on the boat, the sons of wealthy businessmen who boasted that they wanted to make a career, and hidden criminals who boarded the fishing boat to escape pursuit.

However, all the crew members, including him, underestimated the loneliness and panic of being in the ocean for a long time and the horror of the fog of the deep sea.

Inhaling the nasal fog is confusing, and the stress of the hard work of catching fog fish in the fog builds up little by little.

The people on the ship began to quarrel for various reasons.

From the uneven distribution of benefits to simply looking at you unhappy, the quarrel gradually escalated into a brawl.

Until the night of nearly a year at sea, the son of a wealthy merchant, who was almost driven crazy by the environment inside the ship, attacked the captain and first mate with gangsters and criminals, trying to hijack the fishing boat and return home.

The brawl, which originally had a bottom line, took this as an opportunity to escalate into a bloody and brutal melee fight.

A gray fog enveloped the ship, and Abel passively took up arms in order not to be killed by the crazy crew.

When the fog cleared, there were only a few people left on the boat, each with blood on their hands, and Abel suddenly woke up, only to find himself lying on the pauper's body, the slender neck pinched between his hands completely twisted.

He strangled a child with whom he had lived for almost a year.

He had also played games with the child, counted the stars, and talked about the affluent life after the return voyage.

……

"Tim, forgive me......"

Say this last prayer with difficulty.

Able took his last breath.

The thirty-year-long confession has finally come to an end.

……

Lily seemed to feel that Abel's life had completely withered, and her eyes gradually moistened.

Aunt Mei walked over, but she just stood next to her like Su Xian, watching quietly.

The older people are, the more thoroughly they see the separation of life and death.

It is sad when people die, but those who are alive must continue to live.

The people around them also gradually quieted down, the night wind blew through the purple veil-shrouded night, and the cursed moon gazed high in the sky.

Lily suddenly wiped away her tears, slammed herself to her feet, and asked, "Sir Gannon, can you tell me what happened?" ”

Su Xian said: "Of course there is no problem. ”

……

The chains on Joanna and the others were unfastened, and the servants dragged their tired bodies into the room and covered them with white cloths.

There was no cremation custom in the Kingdom of Longne, where the dead would be put in a coffin and buried in a cemetery.

Abel has no relatives here, and the Frederick family will arrange a funeral for him.

Because the windows of the study room were damaged, the students gathered in the cafeteria, and a few maids barely brought food and water, but no one was in the mood to taste the delicious food.

Going back to the study alone would have scared them, so the students lay on their tables in the cafeteria, frowning and falling asleep.

At this moment, Su Xian was in a relatively spacious room on the other side of the reading room.

He sat down in his chair, sipping his refreshing coffee while talking to Lily, who was sitting across from him.

There are some things that there is no need to hide, such as the color ball, such as the eye.

As for the matter of "clown", Su Xian did not say it directly, but guided Lily to recall it herself, after all, he didn't want to expose himself too much.

After listening to the cause and effect, Lily pursed her lips and was silent for a long time before she whispered, "You mean, that colored ball is the culprit that caused all this to happen?" ”

"No, that's not the culprit." Su Xian held the "funny colored ball" in his hand and played, "Even if there is no such colored ball, there will be something else to replace it, and the real culprit is the person behind the colored ball." ”

Lily: "The Joker? ”

Su Xian shook his head slightly: "Maybe it is, maybe not." ”

Until you really find out, you can't simply characterize the clown as the ultimate or the only enemy.

Lily gritted her teeth: "But no matter what, he's at least one of the participants!" I'll let him know that the Fredericks are not easy for anyone to provoke! ”

As soon as the words fell, she suddenly raised her head and stared at Su Xian's eyes, and asked very solemnly, "Sir Ganon, can I trust you?" ”

Su Xian bowed slightly: "You need to judge for yourself." ”

Lily pondered for a moment and then spoke, "Perhaps, I have always misunderstood you. If there is a waltz recital, would you like to accompany me to see it? ”

Su Xian smiled slightly: "Of course I do." ”

"Okay."

Lily restrained her expression, she felt that she still couldn't see through this classmate who had known each other for a long time.

So she turned to say, "Mark, do you know anything about that clown?" ”

Su Xian shook his head slightly: "I also learned about the clown from you, but according to your description, I do know that there is such a group of strangely dressed people." In fact, their deeds have appeared in the newspapers more than once, and I have even investigated them. ”

Lily suddenly came to her senses and said, "Huh? ”

Su Xian bent his fingers and tapped on the table, pointing out two words: "Today's morning newspaper, masquerade ball." ”

Lily recalled carefully, and suddenly said, "I seem to have seen you say this, but I haven't paid attention to it. You wait. ”

Then she pulled the wind chimes hanging next to her, and Aunt Mei walked in through the door.

Lily said, "Aunt Mei, go and help me go to the reading room and bring all the "Today's Morning News" for the past three months. ”

"Okay, miss," Aunt May was ordered to retreat.

Su Xian chatted a few more words with Lily about this masquerade ball.

Soon, Aunt Mei came back with a stack of newspapers.

She placed the newspaper on the table and retreated to the door.

Lily picked up a newspaper and asked, "Mark, do you remember which issues?" ”

"There are still some impressions."

Su Xian looked at it and picked out two of those newspapers: "There were two reports in July, both of which were here. There are many more and more frequent reports ahead, but there has been no information in recent days. I commissioned a detective to investigate, in fact, because no one in the newspaper dared to investigate this incident. ”

Lily wondered, "Why?" ”

Su Xian did not hide it: "Because those witnesses who provided information to newspaper reporters are all crazy." ”