At eight o'clock in the evening, Cotton lied to his parents that he was going to go to the movies with his classmates and slipped out early. To kill the extra time, he walked to the door of the library. To his surprise, Sean and Lu Hua actually arrived at the meeting place earlier than him.

Cotton looked at his watch, glared and said, "It's only 8:40, and you two came early?" It's really punctual. ”

"It's 8 o'clock, to be exact." Lu Hua said with a little annoyance, "In order to come out, I told my mother that I was going to my classmate's birthday party - I came out without dinner." Then there is only to go to Sean. ”

"Then you don't have to wait here so early." Kirton said.

"Heh, heh-" Sean smiled bitterly, "I don't want to come out so early, but when I was telling my mother that I was going to Lu Hua's house to play at night, he appeared at my door!" I could only improvise that Lu Hua was here to call me, and I hurriedly dragged him away - and ended up hanging out for more than two hours! ”

"You two really don't have experience lying." Kirton rolled his eyes, "The next time you encounter this situation, you have to discuss it beforehand." With that, he sat down on the stone staircase in front of the library.

Sean clasped his hands to his chest, looked at the dark old library behind Kirton and said, "We stood here for dozens of minutes, and found that this place at night was really a bit eerie - it was pitch black all around, and there were not even many passers-by. ”

"It's close to the suburbs, it's normal." Kirton said disapprehantly.

"And since we came here at eight o'clock, we found that the door of the library was locked from the outside—it can be seen that Lao Luo had already come out." Lu Hua said thoughtfully.

This sentence made Kirton listen a little confused, and he asked, "What do you mean?" Doesn't the library close at six o'clock? Of course, Lao Luo came out a long time ago. ”

"Oh, no—Kirton." Lu Hua suddenly remembered, "I forgot to tell you before - Lao Luo is a single outsider, he has no other residence in this city - he has been living in a small room in this library since he came to work in the library more than ten years ago. ”

"What?" Kirton was surprised and said, "He's in the library?" Alone? Then he wants us to meet in the mountains behind Lishan Park - isn't that redundant? Isn't it just here? ”

Lu Hua shrugged his shoulders and said, "I also feel very puzzled-alas, but is this the only strange and abnormal thing about this matter?" So I don't think there's anything special about it. ”

Sean said: "Anyway, when I see Lao Luo for a while, I can ask anything clearly." ”

The three of them continued to talk for a while, and Cotton looked at his watch again: "It's 9:00, is Lan Xi coming?" ”

Sean said, "Call her and ask." ”

Kirton took his phone out of his pocket and was about to dial Lancy's phone number when he saw a person panting in the distance running over - it was Lancy.

Kirton got up from the stone staircase, and the three of them greeted him together, and Kirton asked with some complaint, "Why are you so late?" ”

"You don't see it...... Did I come here on a run! Lan Xi said without a mouthful, "You don't know...... I snuck out. Still, I guess my mom has found out by now. ”

"Oh my God." Lu Hua sighed, "Your mother will kill you when you go back." ”

"For the sake of the future fate of the earth, I have given up." Lan Xi said righteously.

"Let's go, we'll have to hurry." Kirton said.

Without any further delay, the four of them hurried along the path to the back hill of Lishan Park, which was only a few hundred meters away from the library.

It is a man-made forest park located on the outskirts of the city. During the day, people mostly come here for running, walking or getting some fresh air. At night, this dark and secluded mountain forest is the perfect place for couples to have a tryst. As Corton and the others walked along the trails in the back mountains, they saw a few pairs of intimate lovers in the woods from time to time, or heard a few laughs and curses in the dark—several teenagers felt blushing in the middle of this.

"Damn it!" Lan Xi lowered her head and scolded embarrassedly, "Can't this old Luo ask us to meet at a café or supper club?" You have to come to this kind of hellish place! And in the oak forest halfway up the mountain! Does he want us to walk between couples and light everyone up like a light bulb before he is satisfied? ”

"Stop whining, Lancy - just pretend you didn't see it, it's none of our business." Lu Hua said in a low voice.

They walked along the winding path up the mountain, and the higher they went, the fewer couples there were in the surrounding woods. When they came to the oak forest designated by Lao Luo, they were surprised to find that there was no one in this forest.

Stepping into this dark oak forest, Lancy couldn't help but shudder and said, "Here...... No one is dating? ”

"If it were me, I wouldn't have chosen to date here." Kirton looked around and said, "It's too quiet here, and there's no light, so it looks eerie." ”

Sean also looked around and said, "The question now is, where is Lao Luo?" ”

"Maybe he's waiting for us in the depths of the woods?" Lu Hua frowned, and couldn't help but scold, "This old Luo must be crazy!" What is there about him that he has to say here? I hope what he's talking to us about in a moment will be worthy of our visit to this place! ”

Kirton said, "It's all here, what else can be done?" Let's go in and find him. ”

"Wait," Lancy shrank back, "are we really going in?" ”

"Are you scared, Lancy?" Kirton said, "Why don't you go back first?" ”

Lan Xi glanced back at the dark mountain road and swallowed, "Forget it, I'll go with you." ”

"Let's go, look a little bit underfoot." Lu Hua reminded.

The four of them walked deeper into the oak forest, their feet stepping on some dead woods or small stones, making all sorts of strange noises. In the silence of the night, it sounds creepy. Lancy's hand unconsciously grabbed Kirton's arm.

After walking for a short while, Lu Hua first saw a figure under a big tree not far ahead. He walked over quickly and asked, "Is it Lao Luo?" ”

The man turned his back to them and didn't turn around, Lu Hua got closer and shouted, "Old Luo? ”

This time, the man turned around. Only then did a few people see clearly that this was not a person at all, but a young couple under a tree, but the man's body was completely blocked, so they mistakenly thought that it was a person standing under the tree.

"Oh, oh-" Lu Hua waved his hands awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry to disturb you." ”

After the lovers were disturbed, as if the atmosphere had been ruined, the two of them left the place with their shoulders in disappointment.

Lan Xi scolded in annoyance, "What the hell! We shouldn't be tricked by Lao Luo, right? ”

"There's no reason—" Lu Hua frowned and said, "Kirton, what time is it?" ”

Kirton looked at the time on his phone and said, "Nine-thirty-five, the time is just right—what's going on with this old Luo?" ”

Sean asked, "Are we still going forward?" ”

"We can't go any further, or we'll lose our way back—it's no joke to get lost in the woods," Kirton said. ”

"So what should we do, we just give up and go back?" Sean asked reluctantly.

Kirton was also out of idea for a moment, just when a few people hesitated. Lan Xi suddenly saw a person walking from the right side of the forest, and she said to everyone, "Look, is that person Lao Luo?" ”

Lu Hua raised the frame of his glasses and observed it carefully for a while, judging from his figure: "It should be Lao Luo." ”

"I really want to scold him!" Lancy said angrily, "He asked us to come here to experience the horror movie set!" ”

As he spoke, the man approached. Lu Hua stepped forward and asked, "Lao Luo, what the hell are you doing?" Call us here, you're ...... again."

Halfway through his words, Lu Hua stopped. This time, he saw clearly that this person was not Lao Luo at all, but a strange man, because the light was too dim, he couldn't see the age and appearance of this person clearly—and this person was dressed strangely - black clothes and black pants, and a black peaked hat on his head. What's even more bizarre is that in this dark night, he actually wears a pair of dark sunglasses.

Lu Hua was about to tell the man that he had recognized the wrong person. The man in black suddenly spoke, "Are you Lu Hua?" ”

Lu Hua was obviously stunned by this question, he opened his mouth and stared at the man blankly, and the other three people were the same as him. After a long time, Lu Hua asked sneeringly, "Who are you?" How do you know me? ”

The man in black said in a deep voice: "I am a friend of Lao Luo, and he can't come here tonight because of some things, so he entrusted me to come here to meet you." ”

Several people were stunned for a long time. Kirton asked, "What happened to Lao Luo, why can't he come?" ”

"He's sick." The man in black said hoarsely, as if his mouth had become very dry, "It's a sudden illness, so I can't come." ”

Lu Hua suddenly stared at him suspiciously and said, "Really? Then why didn't he call me? ”

"He's so sick he can't make a phone call." The voice said faintly.

Kirton's eyes quickly turned twice in his sockets, and said, "Then forget it, let's visit him another day, and we'll talk about it when he recovers - Lu Hua, let's go." ”

"Please wait a minute." The man in black said, "Lao Luo entrusted me here to ask you to give me that book. ”

"Book...... That book of poems? Lu Hua felt that something was wrong, "But...... Why should I give it to you? ”

"Besides, you didn't bring it either, did you, Lu Hua?" Kirton stepped forward and pulled Lu Hua from behind, "You put that book at home, right?" ”

"You brought it, I know you did." The man in black said coldly. Although he couldn't see clearly in the dark, Kirton could clearly feel that he had just sneered, "It's on you right now." ”

Lu Hua unconsciously took a step back: "It doesn't matter if I bring it or not...... This is my stuff. Why should I give it to you? Even if Lao Luo himself came, he couldn't force me to give him the book. ”

The man in the darkness was silent for a few seconds, then put his hand into his coat and touched something out, saying, "In that case, I'll exchange something for you." ”

Kirton's heart trembled, and his subconscious alerted him, and he stared at the hand that the man in black stretched out into his coat - the moment the thing was taken out, Kirton's scalp seemed to explode, he stepped forward, grabbed Lu Hua's hand and dragged it back, shouting: "Run!" ”

Lu Hua was completely stunned when he saw the sharp knife, if it wasn't for Kirton's quick reaction to pull him up and run away, I'm afraid he would have forgotten the role at that moment. And Lancy seemed to have some foreboding like Kirton, and she screamed as soon as the man felt for the knife. But as soon as she screamed, she was dragged by Sean and Kirton at the same time, and fled behind her.

The four of them ran wildly for their lives, not even daring to look back to see if the man in black had caught up. They quickly ran out of the oak forest and then rushed down the hill. Perhaps it was the nervousness and panic that stimulated the human body's potential, and they were swept down the mountain road for nearly twenty minutes when they came—and it was not until they ran onto a bright road with pedestrians that they could finally stop and catch their breath.

It was as if the 1,500-meter run had just been completed, and everyone was so exhausted that they couldn't say a word for a long time. Kirton and Sean leaned over with their hands on their knees, gasping for air; And Lu Hua and Lan Qian had already collapsed on the side of the road, one holding his heart with his hands, and the other with his hands on his waist, so embarrassed that he attracted the sideways glances of the passers-by around him.

After a few minutes, their strength had recovered somewhat, and Lu Hua took Lan Qian to get up from the ground and asked in shock, "...... You should get rid of that person, right? ”

Kirton shook his head and said, "I don't know, Ben and I haven't looked back...... However, this is the street, and he doesn't dare to chase him here. ”

"My whole life...... Never...... Experienced ...... Such a thrilling thing. Lan Xi hadn't relented yet, and said breathlessly.

"You think we've been through it?" Kirton said with a glare.

"It was so dangerous just now!" Sean looked in the direction he was running and said, "I knew I would run into a murderer, I should have called Jack to come along!" ”

"Who is Jack?" Kirton asked.

"My dad hired a personal bodyguard from the United States. Ten ordinary people are no match for him. ”

"Ahh Lan Xi exclaimed, "Why didn't you think of calling this person all the way earlier!" ”

"How do I know this is going to happen?"

"Leave this alone, let's call the police!" Lu Hua took out his mobile phone from his trouser pocket.

“…… If we call the police, the police will definitely notify our parents - then we will be all in trouble if we lie and run away. Sean said worriedly.

"Oh my God......" Lan Xi turned frightened, "if my parents knew that I slipped out at night to go to the 'Lover's Grove' with the three of you, I don't know what it would be like to misunderstand - they would really kill me!" Or lock me in my house for the rest of the summer – that's killing me! ”

Lu Hua's eyes widened and said, "Are you still worried about this? We almost lost our lives just now! If we don't call the police and let the police catch the murderer, maybe he will come and kill us again one day! ”

Kirton frowned and said, "But it may not be useful for us to call the police." First, the incident was so bizarre that the police wouldn't necessarily believe us. Second, the killer was dressed in sunglasses, a hat, and it was pitch black, so it was impossible for us to remember any of his features - how would we describe the murderer to the police? And how can the police catch the murderer when they are not at all scratching their heads? ”

Lu Hua slowly put down the hand holding the phone and asked, "What should I do then?" We're just going to let it go? Then we will be living in danger every day! I guess the murderer didn't succeed this time, so he won't give up. ”

"Actually......, when you think about it," said Kirton grimly, "the identity of this murderer...... Or the identity of his behind-the-scenes manipulator is simply obvious. ”

Lu Hua gasped: "You mean...... Lao Luo? Is it someone he hired to kill us? ”

Lancey and Sean were stunned for a moment, and then they came back to their senses from their panic - they had just run for their lives, and they hadn't had time to find out about the problem. Sean said: "By the way, that man said that Lao Luo entrusted him to 'see' us - as for Lao Luo was suddenly ill or something, it was nonsense - his purpose was to kill us from the beginning and take that book of poems!" ”

Lu Hua subconsciously touched the poetry book sandwiched between his clothes and his body, and exhaled: "Fortunately, I kept an eye on it before I went up the mountain, and I didn't hold it directly in my hand, otherwise it might have been snatched away." ”

Lan Qian stomped her foot fiercely: "It seems that we guessed correctly before, this poetry book must be an important item belonging to Lao Luo!" Otherwise, how could he have hired someone to kill us in order to reclaim this thing? ”

Lu Hua frowned and said, "Don't be so sure, maybe this murderer has nothing to do with Lao Luo......"

Sean looked at him, "This can't be. Come to think of it, when Lao Luo said that to us at the entrance of the library this morning, there was no one else around at all - if it weren't for him, who would have known that we would be going to the oak grove in the mountains behind the park tonight? ”

"That's right! He deliberately tricked us into the gloomy oak woods in order to create the best place and opportunity for the murderer! Otherwise—as I said before—why didn't he ask us to meet at some café or supper club? Lan Xi said excitedly and indignantly, "Let's tell the police about this, and let them go directly to arrest Lao Luo!" ”

"Don't be stupid, Lancy." Cotton shook his head and said, "We have no evidence to prove that Lao Luo asked us to go to that place, and as long as he denies it, we can't do anything about him." Moreover, even if he admits it, we can't prove that the killer has any direct connection to him – the police don't arrest people based on our guesses or one-sided words. ”

"So what the hell are we going to do now?" Lancy asked.

Kirton looked around vigilantly and said, "Let's stop standing here and continue talking, God knows if the murderer will still be hiding nearby!" We're going home now, and we're definitely not going out again tonight. I'll talk about it tomorrow during the day. ”

Lu Hua said: "If we are targeted by the murderer, we may not be safe during the day." ”

"I don't think he would have dared to do it in plain sight—or he wouldn't have invited us to the oak grove in the evening. And we're going to do it early tomorrow morning! Kirton said.

"What are you going to do?" Sean asked.

"Don't talk about it now." Kirton looked at the time on his watch, it was almost half past ten, "Let's take a taxi home, and call tomorrow morning." ”

"Kirton......" Lancey said a little crampedly, "can you ...... Will you send me back first? ”

Kirton nodded, "Okay." At this time, an empty taxi happened to drive from the left side of the street, and Cotton raised his hand to beckon it, and said to Sean and Lu Hua, "Why don't we all take this car together, and let it send us home separately, so that it will be safer." ”

Sean and Lu Hua nodded together, and the four of them quickly got into the taxi, and the car sped away towards the other side of the street.