Tang Feng and Han Jiang were shocked after listening to Makarov's narration, "So, this pattern has already appeared?" Tang Feng couldn't wait to ask.

"At least I saw it decades ago." Makarov tract.

"No wonder you're so nervous when you see the tattoos on those men in black!" Han Jiang Road.

"Yes! I couldn't understand how these well-trained men in black could have such tattoos decades later. Makarov said, shaking his head.

"That mysterious organization that has always been our enemy has this kind of tattoo on its body, does the group of students you train also have this tattoo on it?" Don asked Makarov.

"This ......" Makarov hesitated for a moment, then said slowly: "No! I wasn't sure, but I saw it again, and it was a memory of great pain and fear......"

For two weeks, Buldenko did not fulfill his promise to Makarov, who was calm on the surface, but in his heart he was thinking about A711209 and the mysterious pattern.

Makarov did not rush Buldenko, he wanted to see how Buldenko ended up, and in Makarov's mind, he had already made up his mind that if Buldenko could not give him a satisfactory answer, he would stab the matter above.

At noon that day, after lunch, Makarov stayed in the house and wanted to take a nap, but in this hot season, the stuffy tin house was like a steamer, and the hot air from the electric fan could not make people sleep at all.

Suddenly, Buldenko walked in and knocked on Makarov's bed board with a belt, "Since you can't sleep, it's better to go out for a walk." ”

"Get out? Walking? Makarov looked out the window at the sun-scorched Gobi Desert and felt dizzy. What's there to walk around? It is surrounded by the Gobi Desert, and there is not even a single shade of trees. ”

"Don't you care much about that A711209?" Burtenko said flatly.

When Makarov heard this, he jumped up from the bed, "You mean to take me to A711209?" ”

"And that mysterious pattern."

"Oh?"

"I forgot to tell you last time. We buried our A711209 in the valley where I saw the mysterious pattern. ”

"What? Valley! Makarov remembered that Li Guowen had mentioned a valley to him, "No! You said you went to bury it with Li Guowen? But when I asked Li Guowen about the mysterious pattern, he said that he had never been to that valley either, and it seemed that he had deceived me. ”

Buldenko laughed, "Don't blame Li Guowen for this, when he went with me, I didn't tell him what mysterious patterns there were, nor did I mention the name of the valley to him, so he didn't know." This is exactly what I admire about Li Guowen, don't ask what shouldn't be asked, keep your mouth shut, and do things reliably. ”

"What's the name of the valley?"

"Wolf Valley!"

"Wolf Valley?" Makarov didn't know why when he heard the name Wolf Valley from Buldenko's mouth, he shuddered violently.

"I also heard the name from an elderly herder nearby."

"There are a lot of wolves there?"

"Nope! I do not know. I didn't see any wolves when I went, but it was definitely a treacherous place, and the old herdsman told me that all the people or animals that entered the valley did not return, and even the birds did not dare to fly over the valley. ”

"So scary?"

"The old herdsman said that the wolf valley was inhabited by devils, and let out a burst of howls, which frightened people's hearts and ears, in short, in the mouth of the old herdsman, the wolf valley is a forbidden place in the world that cannot be set foot in, and the old herdsman can talk about its terrifying legends for three days and three nights." Burtenko paints terrible tales from old herders.

"Wolf Valley is so terrifying? Didn't you and Li Guowen go in? Is it really that scary? Makarov didn't believe it, he thought it was all nonsense that Burdenko had made up to keep himself from going to the Valley of the Wolves.

"Li Guowen and I have been there, and I have been there more than once, but we only walked around the valley mouth and returned soon."

"Did you see those horrible things?"

"We have not seen the terrible legend of the old herdsman, but when we looked into the valley at the mouth of the valley, we saw the white bones all over the ground, and ...... And there were no people, no livestock, not even birds. ”

"You're all well-trained agents, so you didn't go any further into the valley?"

"No matter how bold we are and if we have enough equipment, we won't be able to get through."

"Why?"

"Because the middle of the valley is the border, if you can cross the valley, you are entering China."

"I see. As soon as you say that, I want to see this Wolf Valley even more. ”

Makarov and Buldenko were ready to leave, Buldenko was dressed neatly and packed up, but when he saw Makarov wearing a short-sleeved military uniform, he sneered: "Don't wear this kind of short-sleeved, be careful that the sun in the Wolf Valley will take off two layers of skin!" ”

"Is that an exaggeration?" Only then did Makarov discover that Buldenko was wearing a set of desert camouflage, and his whole body was tightly wrapped and impermeable.

"If you don't want to lose your life in Wolf Valley, do as I say." Burdenko said in an unquestionable tone.

Makarov had no choice but to put on desert camouflage and bring a pistol, and was about to set off, but he saw Bultenko take out a sniper rifle from the tin cabinet, take another Ak-47 and throw it to Makarov, and admonished: "Take this, in case of danger, the pistol is unreliable." ”

"Aren't we going to war, do we need this?" Makarov still felt that Buldenko was making a big fuss.

"I'm telling you, you just think it's a battlefield, and if you're not in danger, let's see if we can catch some game, and we should improve our lives." As he spoke, Burtenko loaded himself with four* more.

Look at the two again, one is carrying a sniper rifle with a * stuffed in his waist, and the other is carrying an assault rifle with bullets on his body, and he is alive from Rambo, who is ready to fight on the battlefield in American blockbusters. The two jumped into a military jeep, and Buldenko drove out of the base and rushed into the depths of the Gobi Desert.

2

The scorching sun scorched the endless Gobi Desert, and the jeep drew a beautiful arc on the Gobi Desert, all the way to the west, towards the depths of the Gobi Desert.

Over a small hill, Makarov felt that the terrain here was no longer as flat as near the base, large and small mounds kept appearing, Burtenko drove up a mound, and rushed down a mound, endless mounds, Burtenko was skilled, in the face of these mounds, he still drove the jeep fast, this is no longer the old jeep, otherwise if Burtenko drove like this, the car would have been destroyed and killed.

"Why have I never been here?" As soon as Makarov opened his mouth, he ate a mouth full of grit. 、

"You've been in the base all day, and of course you've never been here!" Burdenko gradually slowed down the car.

"You've also brought students here to train?"

"I've been here. Twenty kilometers of weight-bearing training. ”

"Twenty kilometers of weight-bearing training? Over here? Yours is it! ”

"Do you see the big mound in front of you?"

Makarov noticed that just ahead, a tall mound lay in front of them. "See, this mound is really like a mountain range, tall and long."

"It's not a mountain range, it's a sand dune, a sand dune that moves."

"Moving dunes?"

"I took the trainees to practice, and I never crossed this sand dune, because crossing this sand dune is a dangerous area." Burtenko's speed is getting slower and slower.

"Danger Zone? You're saying it's Wolf Valley ahead. ”

"Nope! Haven't reached Wolf Valley yet. You know that many of the China-Mongolia borders are deserted places, and the boundary survey has never really been completed. ”

"You mean that that is the defense area of the Chinese army?"

"Climb over this mound all the way to the area of Wolf Valley, to be precise, it should be the middle zone, or 'buffer zone', both sides claim this area as their own, but in practice, their respective armed forces never enter this area." Burtenko introduced.

"That's 'no man's land'?"

"Well, that's why I call this area the 'Danger Zone', this area is a good place for wild beasts to live, and besides, the climate here is harsh, and all kinds of strange phenomena appear. In addition to these dangers, it is even more important to watch out for encountering people in 'no man's land'. ”

"Encounter people in 'no man's land'?" Makarov felt a chill in his back, and he felt a chill in this unbearable heat.

After that, Makarov suddenly felt that the jeep flew again, and Buldenko accelerated and rushed up to the big mound in front of him, and then turned over the mound and rushed downward, Makarov clung to the handrail of the car, and the violent bump made his stomach tumble, and he realized that the slope behind the mound was much steeper than in front.

After five minutes of bumpy ride, the jeep finally stopped on a flat ground, everything was calm, there was no roar of engines, no people, no animals, no wind, all quiet on the desolate Gobi Desert, there was no sign of life, Makarov suddenly felt as if they had come to another planet.

3

"Are we still on Earth?" Makarov muttered to himself in front of him.

"Of course. I'm sure we're not riding a lunar rover. Burdenko also humored.

"What if we run into Chinese troops here?" Makarov asked worriedly.

Burtenko thought for a moment and said, "This is a problem, but generally the border guards on the Chinese side will not come here. ”

"Be careful!" Makarov loaded the bullet from the AK-47.

Buldenko restarted the jeep and headed west, and along the way, they didn't see a single figure, not even a single animal, "It seems that your hunting plan is going to fail!" Makarov said.

"It doesn't matter! I happen to be interested in Wolf Valley and want to come and see it again. Burtenko looked relaxed.

"Since this place is deserted, where did the tribe leave strange patterns?" Makarov looked at the endless Gobi in front of him.

"The old herdsman told me that in ancient times this was also a place of abundant water and grass, and there was a very powerful tribe living here."

"Can you believe it?"

"Who knows? Maybe the weather changed and it became drier and drier! ”

"Then the tribe moved away, and the civilization became barren, and it was all the same old routine."

"You don't believe in those legends, do you?"

"I'll believe it when you let me see it."

"Alright! I'll let you see you. Soon! ”

Buldenko sped up the car, and Makarov suddenly remembered something: "I still don't understand one thing about that A711209, since this A711209 has distracting thoughts and doesn't want to work for us, why did he cross the border and come here?" ”

Burdenko snorted lightly, "Chinese, it's just that the idea is too complicated, who knows?" I knew that this guy was so vulnerable, so I didn't keep him in the first place and sent him directly to prison. ”

"Do you mean you're all for their good?"

"That's it. If they don't join us, they're going to spend the rest of their lives in prison. If you were replaced, what would you choose? ”

"I ......" Makarov never thought about this question.

While Makarov was still thinking nonsense, the terrain in front of them changed again, and a red mountain appeared in front of them.

"What's that?" Makarov looked at the red mountains in the distance with some consternation.

"We're coming." Burtenko muttered.

"Wolf Valley?"

"Well, Wolf Valley is hidden in that red mountain range."

As he spoke, the jeep had already driven under the Red Mountains, and many large and small pieces of rubble appeared under the mountains, and Burtenko skillfully played the steering wheel to bypass the rubble on the ground. Makarov didn't know how Buldenko was going, and soon their car turned between two dirt mountains.

4

There are red mountains on both sides, but the bottom of the valley is fine yellow sand, such a strange scenery makes Makarov feel like a world away.

Burtenko drove the jeep under a boulder and jumped out of the car, "The car in front of us can't get in, we can only enter here on foot." ”

"Walking? How far to go? Makarov also jumped out of the car.

"It depends on how far you have to go, you have to go through the Wild Wolf Valley, I haven't walked it, I don't know how far, I only walk in it for twenty minutes at the farthest."

"Twenty minutes away? How far is that? ”

"It's only two or three kilometers!"

"Twenty minutes, you've only walked two or three kilometers?"

"What? How far do you think you can go in twenty minutes? ”

Makarov shook his head, "I don't know. ”

"Take my words to heart and be careful every step you take. These two or three kilometers are just the mouth of the Wild Wolf Valley, and further inside, I don't dare to enter it at all. ”

"Is it so mysterious?" In Makarov's heart, Burdenko has always been the master of omnipotence.

Burdenko stopped talking, the two resisted their weapons, and walked slowly towards the Wolf Valley, there was a dead silence in the valley, only the footsteps of the two, Makarov looked to both sides, and did not find any magic in the Wolf Valley, the mountains on both sides were gentle, and the sand under their feet may have been left by the drying up of the riverbed in the past, and it was very soft to step on.

Buldenko walked in front, and Makarov judged in his heart according to the distance and time that Buldenko said, twenty minutes away, they had already walked for ten minutes, there were no special circumstances, everything was normal.

Suddenly, Buldenko, who was walking in front, stopped, and Makarov hurriedly followed, "What's wrong?" ”

Buldenko looked at Makarov, and then slowly raised his right foot, and Makarov realized that under Buldenko's right foot, there was a long section of something that had been broken into several sections by him.

Makarov picked up one of the sections, and with a single glance, Makarov's heart suddenly tightened, "Human bones!" It's the ribs of man! Makarov handed the bone to Buldenko.

Buldenko glanced at it, threw the bone away, and said, "It's nothing, the further you go, the more bones there are." ”

It was only then that Makarov really felt the horror of the Wolf Valley. The two continued to walk forward, and sure enough, more and more white bones appeared, both animal and human, and Makarov and Buldenko stepped on these white bones almost every time they took a step forward.

"I'm starting to believe in the legends of the herders." Makarov said, staring at the white bones on the ground.

"You should have believed it a long time ago."

"What age are these bones?"

"There are ancient and modern ones, this is not our specialty, we should let the government organize a scientific expedition team to investigate."

"Expedition team?!" When Makarov heard this word, a strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart, he thought of the scientific expedition in China, where the terrain is very similar to here, maybe this place is connected to the desert Gobi on the Chinese side! Makarov thought wildly.

5

Twenty minutes of travel were fast coming, Burdenko stopped, and Makarov looked at the scene in amazement, the bones in front of them were almost piled up into a wall, and they could not get their feet down at all, so they had to stop there.

"I've come as far as here, and it's hard to get through." Burtenko said, pointing to the white bones in front of him.

"Maybe you can climb over these bones from the red clay mountain next to it." Makarov looked at the not-so-high red mountains on either side.

"Forget it, it's useless to turn over, I estimate that if you go five or six kilometers further, it will be the border, and besides, there may be a more terrible scene waiting for us when you turn over!"

Makarov nodded, and suddenly thought of business, "What about the ancient totem found here?" ”

"Hehe, haven't you seen it yet? It's everywhere! Burdenko laughed.

"Where?!" Makarov was startled and looked at the cliffs on both sides, and sure enough, he saw a huge pattern on the red cliff on the right side, and he didn't know what white paint was made of, and a wolf was drawn on the entire red rock wall, and an eagle with wings spread on the wolf's body.

Makarov didn't know why, when he saw the pattern on the cliff wall, a cool air rose behind him, but what frightened him even more was still behind. I saw Buldenko bend down and pick up a goat skull, hand it to Makarov, and say, "There is still here." ”

"Here?" Makarov took the goat's skull in confusion, his eyes widened suddenly, and in the center of the goat's skull, the mysterious pattern stood out. Despite years of wind and sand, the pattern on the goat's skull is still clear and eye-catching, a strange dark red, much like the color of the red clay mountains on both sides of Wolf Valley.

While Makarov was surprised, Burdenko handed him another bull skull, and this mysterious symbol appeared in the center of the bull's skull, and then Buldenko picked up another horse skull, which was also engraved with a mysterious symbol in the center of the horse skull. In the end, Buldenko handed Makarov a human skull.

Makarov took the human bone with both hands with a little trembling, and the position in the center of the skull eyebrows was still this mysterious pattern, this mysterious pattern was so eye-catching, so dazzling.

"You believe me now!"

"This skull looks like it's hundreds of years old." Makarov judged.

"Not bad! I think most of the bones here are hundreds of years old, especially the bones carved with ancient totems, which are hundreds of years old. ”

"Who do you think this is all about? Could it really be that the devil in the Valley of the Wild Wolves ate these people and animals and carved this mysterious pattern? ”

"Hehe, we are materialists, of course we don't believe in ghosts and gods. Do you know Genghis Khan? Burtenko suddenly asked.

"Of course I do! Conqueror of Eurasia. ”

"Do you know where Genghis Khan died after his expedition to Europe?"

Makarov shook his head, he didn't know much about the history of the East, but in an instant, a familiar and unfamiliar face suddenly flashed in his mind - Liang Yunjie! Makarov suddenly remembered that in the scientific expedition team, Liang Yunjie once told him about the history of Western Xia, "Oh! I seem to have the impression that Genghis Khan died in Western Xia in the end. ”

"That's right! The land on the other side of the border is the territory of Western Xia hundreds of years ago, and to the north of the national border is the Mongolian Plateau, and the wild wolf valley where we are now is located between Western Xia and Mongolia at that time. ”

"What do you mean, when Genghis Khan attacked Western Xia, he marched from the Valley of the Wild Wolves?" Makarov exclaimed.

"I'm not a historian, I can't say that, but I speculate that it is very likely that Genghis Khan's army and the Tanguts fought fiercely here."

"So these mountains of white bones are all left over from the fierce battle of that year."

"That's what I thought. But who knows? Orient? For us Westerners, it's always mysterious. Burdenko threw away the bone in his hand and said.

"But what about the mysterious patterns on these skulls?"

"Maybe it's a mysterious ritual of the local tribe!"

Makarov carefully lowered the human skull in his hand, and then took two steps back, he didn't know how he could have retreated, perhaps out of awe of the warriors in front of him.

Burdenko turned around and wanted to go back, but Makarov suddenly grabbed him, "What about the A711209?" ”

"Don't worry! You'll see him right away. With that, Burdenko led Makarov up to the small mound on the left.

6

Makarov followed Burdenko to the small mound on the left, and after a while, Makarov found that there was a spear stuck in the mound, the tip of which was pointed downward, deep into the dune, Makarov pulled out the gun in amazement and looked carefully.

"How can there be an AK-47 here?"

"Look closely, it's not an AK-47."

Makarov was stunned, and Buldenko explained: "This gun is very similar to the AK-47, but to be precise, this is a Chinese-made Type 56 semi-automatic rifle. ”

Makarov also noticed the difference between the gun in his hand and the Ak-47 at this time, "How can there be a Chinese gun here?" Could it be that Chinese troops have been here? ”

"Maybe, like we're here today."

"Nope! Didn't you say that no one could cross the Wolf Valley? ”

"Maybe they crossed the border from somewhere else and got here." Burtenko speculated.

"Why are they here? Is it like us, out of curiosity? Why did you drop this gun again? Look at this gun, it hasn't corroded much, maybe it's left over recently! Makarov said, instinctively tense, and he looked around, but found nothing unusual.

"Don't be nervous, you have to know that there is no rain in this place all year round, so anything will corrode slower than anywhere else, and it is very slow, very slow." Burtenko explained.

"Where's A19711209?"

"It's right at your feet."

"Oh!" Makarov took a step back in shock.

"Li Guowen and I buried the A19711209, and we happened to pick up this gun in the valley, so we stood the gun here and left a mark." Burtenko said.

Makarov took out the small sapper shovel he had brought with him from his backpack and prepared to dig through the sand dunes beneath his feet to make sure that A19711209 was indeed buried here.

But at this moment, Burtenko shouted: "Wait! Before you dig, I have two things to warn you about. ”

Makarov looked up at Burtenko, "Say it! ”

"First, after you are sure that the A19711209 is indeed buried here, you are not allowed to mention this matter again, and you will not let the rest of the base know, let alone report my complaint to the above." Burdenko's words were unusually firm and completely commanding.

Makarov thought that he was going to hide this matter for Bultenko, and he felt a little annoyed, he knew that this was the case, it was better to ignore it! But the matter has come to this, looking at Bultenko's appearance, if he does not agree, I am afraid that he will ...... Thinking of this, Makarov nodded, "Okay! I promise you. What about two? ”

Seeing that Makarov had agreed to him, Buldenko showed a strange smile on his face and said: "Two! Don't blame me for not reminding you, there is no rain here all year round, and people's corpses may not decompose for many years, although A19711209 has been buried for more than half a year, but what kind of horror will he become, I can't say it, you'd better be mentally prepared. ”

"Thank you for the reminder, Yuri, we're all agents, are you afraid of seeing a dead body?" Makarov seems to be mentally prepared.

After only a few digging with the sapper shovel, Makarov found some broken clothing in the gravel, which he carefully identified to confirm was the uniform worn by the cadets. Digging a little further, soon a dried corpse that had not completely decomposed appeared in front of Makarov's eyes.

Although he was mentally prepared, when Makarov saw the terrifying dried corpse with his own eyes, his stomach couldn't help but turn over the river, and finally he took a bite, and Makarov vomited all the food he ate at noon.

7

Buldenko hurriedly helped Makarov up, Makarov waved his hand, and took another look at the terrible dried corpse, the hollow eyes, the face was no longer faceless, the dried flesh was dried and tangled, a deep hole appeared in the back of the neck of the dried corpse, Makarov vaguely saw the mysterious pattern on the skin around the hole that had not completely decayed, his heart sank suddenly, and he didn't dare to look at the dried corpse again.

"I warned you that you had to see it." Buldenko helped Makarov up and said, with a hint of contempt in his words.

Makarov ignored Buldenko and stumbled towards the bottom of the mound, behind him, Buldenko hastily reburied the dried corpse and hurried to follow Makarov.

The two returned to the valley of the wolf, Makarov stood at the bottom of the valley, stunned, he looked back at the white bones piled up like a hill, shook his head helplessly, suddenly, from the valley of the wolf rose a burst of mist, the mist from the depths of the valley of the wolf, fluttering towards the mouth of the valley, Makarov looked at the white mist that was drifting towards him in surprise, "This...... How can there be fog in such a dry place?! ”

Burtenko also stared in horror into the depths of the Wolf Valley, "I've been here a few times, but I've never seen this...... This white mist. ”

As the white fog advanced, there seemed to be the sound of people shouting horses from the valley bottom, and Buldenko's hand instinctively took out the * on his body, and the white fog got closer and closer, and the sound of people shouting horses became louder and louder, and Makarov and Buldenko involuntarily retreated.

Buldenko threw two *, and after two loud bangs, he shouted to Makarov: "Run! ”

The two of them ran away and galloped out of the valley, and when they looked back, the white fog subsided, and the sound of people shouting and horses was gone, and the two leaned against the jeep, panting heavily, they didn't know if it was * to blow up the demons and monsters, or was it just their hallucination? The two returned to the base in a daze.

……

"When I got back to the base, I fell seriously ill and had nightmares about the horrible corpse and this strange pattern. Strange to say, though, since I left the base, I haven't dreamed of these horrible sights, and I thought I had forgotten those horrible pasts, but I didn't expect the nightmare to come back now. Makarov finally finished talking about his horrific encounter in the Valley of the Wolves.

Han Jiang's brows were tangled together, "Ancient totem?!" Could this be the totem of the party members? ”

"Perhaps, that's why we're seeing this disturbing pattern here again." Makarov tract.

"Hearing you say that, your colleague Buldenko is very problematic!" Han Jiang Road.

"You mean he tattooed this pattern on disobedient students?"

"Yes! Cruel or not, let's leave it alone, why did he tattoo this pattern? Could it be that just seeing that pattern in the Valley of the Wild Wolf made it a whim? Han Jiang asked rhetorically.

"I thought about this question at the time, and I didn't think about it deeply after listening to his explanation, but then I met those men in black with this pattern tattoo on their bodies, and I had to rethink this question."

"Can I speculate that the team you trained had tattoos like this in the first place? Is this a symbol, the sign of a secret society? Maybe it's your KGB that created a secret society! Han Jiang boldly speculated.

"What? You mean those students have tattoos like this? Makarov was shocked, "secret society ?! No, it can't be, if the KGB did it, I can't be unaware. ”

"In short, I think this is very important, I suddenly feel that the situation you just said has some kind of internal connection with the Stephkin, Brenin and others that Yelena investigated before!" Han Jiang continued to reason.

"I've thought about this issue since Stephkin escaped from prison and Brynin was burned to death, and now it's certain that there must be a problem within the KGB, but it's hard for us to investigate this problem from the people of the day, Isakov died in Afghanistan, Burdenko crashed, Brynin was burned to death, and many people involved are gone."

"There is also a Stepkin, it seems that we are going to solve the mystery inside the KGB, and we can only find this Stepkin!" When Han Jiang said this, he kicked Tang Feng, who had been silent, "Hey, what do you want?" Haven't been talking? ”

Tang Feng came to his senses at this time, "Just now I listened to Lao Ma tell about the experience of Wild Wolf Valley, and I suddenly thought of a question, is this Wild Wolf Valley the Hanhai Mi City we have been looking for?" ”

Tang Feng's words made Makarov's eyes light up, and Tang Feng said again: "Before, Lao Ma told us about the situation of the scientific expedition team, and Liang Yunjie also said some situations. ”

"Yes, when I saw Wolf Valley, I felt a sense of déjà vu in that place. However, I can tell you unequivocally that the expedition team never went to the Wild Wolf Valley back then, because I have too deep memories of the last few days of the expedition team, although we entered the depths of the Badain Jaran Desert, but it is certain that we did not come to the Wild Wolf Valley. ”

"In any case, the Wild Wolf Valley must also be related to Western Xia, and it is also very related to the disappearance of the scientific expedition team." Tang Feng insisted on his own judgment.

"It's true that it has something to do with Western Xia, but whether it is the so-called Hanhai Mi City, whether it is the place where the scientific expedition team was killed back then, it is still difficult to determine."

"That's it! Don't say it's useless, that's for the future, we're still stuck here! Han Jiang interrupted Tang Feng and Makarov's discussion.

All three fell into a terrible silence again.