25 Maple Street.

Open the door and enter the house.

A one-story house similar to Jonathan's house, with slate-colored walls, messy and crowded furniture and appliances.

For half a month, Lucia has been staying in the hospital, the house is uninhabited and cleaned, and a thin layer of floating ash has formed in the space.

"You search the bedroom on the right and find anything suspicious, especially bottles and cans with liquids, squeak."

Dean and Jonathan split up their work and circled the hall, turning on God's perspective and scanning quickly.

No clues in the living room and kitchen.

In the bathroom, well, a few strips of Lucia's private laundry that had been dried hung blatantly in the air, swaying and conspicuous with the cold wind blowing in from the window.

Dean frowned even more, and turned into Peter's bedroom, which was blocked by a green beaded curtain.

The walls are full of eerie movie posters: Frankenstein with puffy and pale skin and scars, vampires with black cloaks and two pale fangs with a vertical collar, werewolves with bristles and bloody mouths, candle men with sore skin and layers of fat...

The room was dimly lit, and Dean looked at it and thought he had broken into a cave with a bunch of deformed monsters.

The poster is surrounded by strange little objects such as garlic, crosses, sharp dentures, nails, helmets, and so on.

On the shelves on the four walls are books..."Doomsday", "Fright Night", "Frankenstein", "Nocturnal Dragon", "Wolf's Kiss"... More than twenty books, all related to monsters, and each book comes with a large section of reading at the end.

Dean took out a copy and opened it,

"Louie, the farmer, was a lucky man, and when he was heartbroken by the loss of his wife, he met Lesstat and was redeemed, and became immortal, untroubled by disease, and moved as fast as lightning, and was not bullied and humiliated..."

"What a lucky person to be out of the day, not bound by worldly morality and law, and no longer subject to discrimination and white eyes,"

Peter thought in his notes,

"When will I wait for my Leschatt? When the time comes, I will leave everything behind, escape this terrible filthy hell, and begin to travel the world and make friends with Claudia. I will be uninhibited, and I will be happy to death! ”

Dean looked at this paragraph in amazement.

"Dude, I found a weird thing in the bedroom drawer over there, look at what it is?" Jonathan walked over to Dean and handed over a box that looked like a cigarette case, but it wasn't a branded Marlboro, Camel, or other cigarette brand.

RATHER, IT IS (JISSBON).

"You really don't know?" Dean had a little nostalgia in his eyes,

Jonathan looked puzzled, "Is this pretending to be 'grass'?" ”

"It's a must-have item for couples to make out with each other, a small umbrella."

Jonathan's gaze under the watermelon's head froze for a moment, and then his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Sorry, I forgot you didn't have a girlfriend." Dean shook his head, "But sooner or later, you will go through this experience, remember to bring a small umbrella, make enough safety preparations, and then go to the clouds together." ”

"Wait, man, don't you think it's weird?" Jonathan hurriedly changed the subject, "Why does Peter have such a box of small umbrellas at home?" Peter was not popular at school, and his only experience was at Maggie's house, which was not going well... It is useless for him to buy so much. ”

"Lucia uses it herself." Dean blurted out,

"But does Lucia have a boyfriend who is in a relationship?"

Dean's eyes quickly turned, and Lucia's confession flashed in his mind, and the other party had not provided this information.

Dean opened the box and checked it again, and eight of the ten small umbrellas had been used.

This is definitely not Peter's handiwork.

Dean turned on God's perspective and began to search for the bed against the wall in Peter's bedroom, but in two minutes, he grabbed several long handfuls of hair from the bed, and opened it in the light to see that the long red hair was the same as Lucia's.

It used most of the small umbrella, plus Peter's long hair on the bed, and Maggie's previous statement that Peter called out Lucia's name in fear when he was intimate with her.

Dean became more and more certain about that outrageous guess, and a terrifying cold light flashed in his pupils.

How dare she?!

"What's wrong with you, man, your face is suddenly so ugly."

"I have a question in mind, and I'm going to ask Lucia in person later."

For the next half hour, the two failed to find the container suspected of containing the toxin, evidence of Peter's suicide, or other clues of interest.

……

The sun rose overhead, and the two rushed back to the hospital with a heavy heart, called Paqui into the ward at the door, and then closed the door and looked at the expectant woman beside the bed,

"Did you find anything?" Lucia asked nervously,

"Yes, but I'd like to ask you a few questions first."

"Whatever you ask, I'll say anything as long as I can save Peter!"

Dean stared into the woman's eyes,

"You and Peter have always been dependent on each other?"

"That's right."

"Recently, have you invited colleagues or friends to your home?"

Lucia shook her head, "I have a general relationship with my colleagues, and I don't have any particularly good friends, so in the past two or three years, except for me and Peter, there have been no outsiders in the house." ”

"Why do you ask? Didn't I go back for half a month, and my family was robbed? ”

Dean shook his head,

"If you think about it, have you brought home any men you've dated recently?"

"What do you mean?" Lucia glared at Dean as if insulted, "I spend all my time working to earn money and taking care of little Peter, where do I have the energy to find a boyfriend." ”

She looked at the unconscious patient,

"As long as Peter is well, I will be satisfied."

Dean bowed, and only now was he sure why he felt weird.

The subtle expression of the woman, the eyes are rippling, and even the wrinkles are full of tenderness, which is clearly an expression of love.

It's not the expression of looking at a junior.

Di An's guess became more and more determined, and he suddenly spread out his hand and showed the box of Jieshibang, "This is from the drawer in your room, what is the person you haven't dated using it for, blowing up balloons?" ”

Lucia opened her mouth for a moment, a hint of panic flashed across her face, and she explained in a slur manner, "Sorry, I didn't make it clear. I had a boyfriend two years ago and then broke up, yes, I bought it two years ago and put it away before I used it up. ”

"Bad lies. Keep your eyes peeled and see that the production date on it is May 1981, that is, two months ago," Dean threw the box on the woman, "will you still travel through time and space?" ”

Lucia was utterly speechless, her hands nervously clutching the corners of the quilt, a blush of shame on her cheeks, and her eyes twinkling to look left and right, as if looking for a crack in the ground to get into.

"What kind of dumb riddle are you guys playing, why can't I understand it?" Paqui on the other side of the bed yelled loudly, and Jonathan leaned into the big man's ear to explain in a daze.

"I can see why Peter has psychological problems and depression," Dean shook his head at Lucia with disdain, "not only because his peers ostracized him and regarded him as a freak, but also because even you, the only relative, are hurting him." ”

"Nope! It's not like that! Lucia explained with flustered hands and looked at the patient obsessively, "I just want to be close to him, to be closer to him, to take care of him forever." ”

The middle-aged woman said stupidly,

"I treat him as everything in my life, I give him everything, how can I be willing to hurt him?"

"The spirit of the ancestors is above!" The Indian man at the door widened in surprise with a pair of bull's eyes, his gaze repeatedly swirling between Lucia and Peter.

"Who are you?" Dean said with a calm face, "You are Peter's elder and guardian, but what have you done to him?" You have abandoned the vows you once made to his parents and used him as a toy for exploitation, your personal belongings! Not only are you breaking the law, but you are shameful! ”

……

"But I'm not related to Peter by blood!" Lucia completely torn her face, her red hair fluttering, tears glistening, "I'm only twenty years older than him, but age can't stop true love." ”

"He loves me too, yes," Lucia stammered, "otherwise I wouldn't have been allowed to be close." ”

"He didn't want to hurt you, so he endured it in silence for all these years." Dean shook his head, "He held all his thoughts in his heart and took it alone." ”

"But for the sake of selfish desires, you deliberately ignore his painful feelings and hurt him repeatedly." Dean paused and stared at Lucia's tearful eyes, "You are the straw that crushes everything, what you did made Peter completely dead, and he would rather end himself and meet death than continue to live and face this cruel world!" ”

Dean's voice landed, the system vibrate, and the progress of the investigation skyrocketed to forty percent!

"No, you're lying!" The woman threw herself on the hospital bed in a panic, grabbed Peter's shoulder and cried to explain, "Don't listen to his nonsense... I don't want to hurt you! ”

Crying echoed in the hospital room.

It's like a signal.

Didi Di Di –

The ECG monitor next to the hospital bed emitted a screeching alarm, and the red lines that had been jumping regularly on the screen turned into straight lines.

"Doctor! Doctor! ”

"Help!" Jonathan yelled and rushed into the hallway,

"Woo... Peter, don't leave me... Whining... Don't leave me! ”

……

The ward was a mess.

But soon the white coat arrived, cleaned up the scene, extracardiac compression, injection, and rescue.

……

Dean and the others waited anxiously outside the ward, and the ants on the hot pot were silent and kept circling.

But soon after, they ushered in bad news,

"Unfortunately, we've done our best," the doctor said, shaking his head, handing a death certificate to a stunned Lucia, "but Peter's condition is too serious. ”

The woman trembled and took the certificate and looked at it twice, her eyes turned black for a while, and then she rushed into the ward, threw herself on the cold body covered with white cloth, and broke down and shouted,

"You're just leaving, leaving me alone?" The woman leaned on the corpse's shoulder and shrugged and wailed, and a desperate scream echoed in the ward, "Why are you so ruthless! ”

Dean stared coldly at the scene, undisturbed or comforted.

This woman took care of Peter for many years, but also hurt the other person because of her selfish desires.

Dean can't measure the right and wrong, but Peter has made his own choice-

The face in the dim light, sickly pale and emaciated in childishness, but the expression was like a calm lake, and it should not have suffered before leaving.

Dean even had a faint feeling that the corners of Peter's mouth were slightly upturned in celebration.

This outright eccentric, not accepted and understood by his peers, and has been "exploited" by his loved ones for a long time, and his first experience with his girlfriend has become a nightmare, and perhaps death is another relief for him.

Just a pity for my incident.

The first time it failed.

Di's peace of mind sank into the system.

Incident - Coma

Investigate the cause and effect of Peter's coma, save him, and ask for clues about Lena and Light.

Event difficulty: Unknown → medium

Progress (40/100)

Duration: one week

Rewards: 30 points→ 120 XP + special rewards

Failure Penalty: None

……

What?

Dean rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen the flowers.

Peter is already dead, and the body is in front of him, why is the incident not a failure, and it is still ongoing?

Dean quickly walked over to the bedside, recalling the knowledge from his detective training, and used his fingers to check Peter's pupils.

Both pupils have been fully dilated, meeting the criteria for death.

"Offended, man."

He lifted Peter's body into a supine position, supported Peter's knee with his forearm, and struck his patellar tendon area, repeating several times without seeing the calf straighten, and he lost the knee reflex.

Dean then checked, and his breathing, heartbeat, and pulse were all gone.

It stands to reason that he is 100% dead.

"What are you doing? What do you want to do to Peter? The woman pushed Dean hard like a madman, but it was as if she had pushed against a copper wall, and she didn't move.

"Sorry, I'd like to make sure."

"What do you mean?" A glimmer of hope ignited in the woman's desperate eyes, "Is Peter still alive?" ”

"Guys, I understand your grief at the loss of a loved one." At this time, the doctor observing at the door of the ward said in a firm tone, "But we have used the most advanced equipment to rescue and examine, Peter's bilateral pupils are dilated, the heart and breathing have stopped, the electrocardiogram is straight, and he is dead." ”

"I'm having nightmares, everything is fake, you are all fake, the corpse is fake, Peter is still waiting for me at home, I'm going back to prepare breakfast for him." Lucia burst into the door of the ward, crying and laughing madly, and suddenly held his forehead again, shook his body violently, and fell straight down.

Paqui and Jonathan hurriedly helped her sit down and handed over the tissues.

She stared straight at the corpse and didn't speak, her eyes gradually losing their brightness...

"Mourn, Lucia," Paqui comforted the woman with a complicated face, "a man cannot be resurrected from death, you are his only relative, take care of your health, so that you can have the energy to prepare for Peter's death and send him on his last journey." ”

At this time, Dean looked at his uncle,

"What about the 'amulet' I gave you?"

Dahan took out the board from his arms and handed it back.

Dean eagerly checked it out, and then fell into shock and surprise once more—the inside of the board was empty, and not a single soul had been absorbed.

"What's the situation, Peter died nearby, why didn't the squirrel suck his soul?"

"And the incident did not fail."

The two situations appeared at the same time, Dean pondered for a long time, and looked at the corpse under the white cloth with a strange look,

"Could it be that Peter is now in some state of suspended animation that cannot be detected by medical means, and he can still be saved?"

"Yes, that's the only way it makes sense!"

"But how can I save it?"

……

Dean's brain was running at high speed.

Peter was exploited by those closest to him, and for good reason.

He took the initiative to say goodbye to Jonathan and Maggie before he fell unconscious, which also meant that he must have known in advance that something would happen to him.

But if this kind of change is just suicide and death, he can use a variety of normal methods such as hanging himself and swallowing a gun to make himself die quickly, instead of tossing himself into this strange coma that even doctors can't help.

Peter didn't have the power and means!

Now, the event has become medium again, and there is a supernatural element.

So, there must have been some kind of supernatural force that made some kind of deal with Peter to help him "commit suicide"!

Dean deduced that at this point, the progress of the investigation jumped to forty-five percent!

"Who helped Peter?"

Dean recalled all the targets he investigated, and Monica, a charismatic magician wearing a magic top hat, immediately came to mind.

"This unaccounted woman can trigger a change in progress, the most likely, but it could also be something else."

"Whoever it was, why did they go to such lengths to put Peter into a weird state of 'suspended animation'?"

Dean pondered, then remembered Peter's eccentric hobby that most of his peers criticized for his love of monsters.

A passage that I saw in Peter's house that left a deep impression on him after reading - the longing and yearning for freedom and a new world.

I see.

Peter waited for his fate in Lestaat, and all this was justified.

"Paqui, Monica's side..."

"What's the news in just one day? And Peter is dead, even if it is useful to find Monica? ”

"No, we have to keep looking!"

"OK, you're up to the cracks."

Paqui shook his head and sighed, looking at Lucia, "What will I do with Peter's body later, whether to send it to the morgue or send it back to your home." ”

"Go home."

The woman clasped the corpse's arm,

"I'm going to take him home."

Jonathan's eyes were red and his fists were clenched, his face tangled and painful.

……

In the middle of the preparation, two days passed in a hurry, and in the middle of the way, Dean sneaked into Peter's death ward and tried the mediumship ritual, but still failed to summon Peter's soul, and he became more and more sure of his inference.

On the third day, the funeral home's funeral attendants examined Peter's body, took off his clothes, and examined the cold body repeatedly.

He had no visible injuries, so the staff applied a little makeup to his white and transparent face, which made his cheeks appear moister.

Then a group of people moved Peter to a table covered with a white cloth in the house, and the guests said goodbye to the body.

Dean stood in the corner and looked around,

Many residents of Hawkins Town: the mustache in the movie merchandise store, the clerk in the bookstore who dreams of being a millionaire, some teachers and students at Hawkins Middle School, Maggie all came to say goodbye.

Jonathan came with his mother and brother, and came to him, and said sadly and unwillingly,

"Dean, we've failed."

"You did your best, no need to blame yourself and be sad,"

Dean looked at Jonathan and said meaningfully,

"And death was not a good thing for Peter, nor did it mean that it was all over."

Jonathan stood stunned for a long time, and just wanted to ask a question, but was called away by Joyce.

At this time, Paqui leaned into Dean's ear, "There is still no news from Monica, the female magician, she wanders around like a gypsy, and her whereabouts are unknown. We're probably planted this time, and as soon as Peter dies, the clues of your parents are completely broken. ”

"Don't be so pessimistic, it's not over yet."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out then."

Dean calmly turned his attention back to the farewell ceremony in front of him.

The house was full of people.

Peter was unpopular during his lifetime and was met with much malice.

But after his death, people finally gave him some mercy and kindness, blessed a beautiful heavenly life, and wept and sighed.

Lucia cried very sadly, recounting her original plan, waiting for Peter to be admitted to college, moving with him to the vicinity of the university, and she had even worked frantically to prepare Peter's college tuition.

But all good expectations have come to naught.

She cried in front of the guests, screaming out in a terrible gaffe calling for Peter to wake up.

But it didn't work.

The weather in the town was gloomy on this day.

……

At the end of the vigil, the body was moved into a coffin and transported by a Lincoln hearse to the cemetery north of Hawkinstown, after a Mass by the pastor.

Peter was buried in the earth along with the coffin, sinking into darkness and dead silence.

Wait until the crowd in the cemetery has dispersed.

Dean checks the weapons and equipment in the fantasy space.

Creeping in the distance in the shaded bushes, he is mimicking a fair-skinned young man with flexible eyes, staring at the newly erected tombstone from afar.

Wait like a hunter.

(End of chapter)