In the early morning, the golden sun shrouds Bourbon Street.

In the study room on the second floor of the voodoo shop, Zumby, who was wearing a loose blue coat, was looking at the dazzling tome on the shelves, and gave orders to the two teenagers behind him, "Katie, help me find "Zombies in New Orleans" and Scott, and bring the "Priests of Voodoo" on the rightmost bookshelf. ”

Scott reluctantly dropped the book on the desk.

The black man's eyes widened at the boy when he heard the noise,

"Tap, boy, these books are valuable antique documents, some are even out of print, and if you break any of them, you can't afford to sell them!"

Scott looked rebellious, "Come on, profiteer liar, I don't believe a word of you." ”

"Don't be so grumpy, Scott." Katie handed "Voodoo Zombies" to Zumbi, "Do the task assigned by Dean well." ”

"I'm not reconciled," said Scott, gritting his teeth with an ugly face, "why should the old couple and the noisy blonde girl who faint at every turn go to the swamp hunter to help, and I should stay and rummage through these books that I can't read at all?" ”

Katie thought of her father's advice and shook her head, "It's not to help, they have something to leave." Don't bother, come and flip through the book and find the root of that monster. ”

……

On the street across the street from the voodoo shop, an elderly couple stood under the sign of "Bourbon Dynasty" with blank eyes, and one of them, an old man with a broomstick, asked, "What did we do yesterday?" ”

His old but gentle wife took him by the arm and "sat on the garden bench and watched the moon all night." ”

The old man sighed, "It's a pity, I can't remember those wonderful moments at all. ”

"It's okay, I'll talk to you more when I get home."

The two husbands and wives left Bourbon Street arm-in-arm, completely oblivious to yesterday's bloody night.

On the other side of the road, by the guardrail, another blonde woman woke up from her daze, rubbed her temples and fell into deep thought, and for a while a picture that made her mad came straight to her mind.

"That pair of shameless sluts, leave me alone to open a room in the hotel, and the old lady will not accompany her when she returns to Los Angeles!"

She took off her nose ring and threw it on the ground, stomped on it, and left the Bourbon Street in a huff...

Confirming that the three people involved had been fooled away by false memories, Dean was relieved to be observing from the street corner.

After many experiments, he found that it is more difficult to delete a recent continuous memory than to delete a memory related to a single recent event.

But the most difficult thing is to delete a long-term memory that existed a long time ago, even with the blessing of the divine realm, with Dean's current level of telekinesis suggestion, it can't be done.

He looked at the system.

After last night's Red Dragon Meditation, Life Energy Cleansing, and Divine Realm Cleansing, the attributes of the Hatchet Demon Killer were reduced from 10 percent to 9 percent, and the curse was not unbreakable in the face of the negative state resistance provided by his super physical will and Iron Man expertise.

"So you not only have telekinesis, but you can also change the minds of ordinary people?" Next to her, Gretscher had a slight dark circle around her eyes, and after experiencing a night flight last night, she didn't sleep all night, but finally accepted the fact that the other party was an outlier and began to learn to adapt.

"No, this is a manifestation of telekinesis, which allows them to forget the memories of the last two days and return to normal life honestly." Dean explained,

Gretchen stared into his eyes, "Don't use it on me!" ”

Dean nodded, walked to a Chevrolet on the side of the street, opened the door, and sat in the back.

Faraghi in the front driver's seat glanced through the rearview mirror, "Done?" ”

"Okay, the irrelevant ones are gone, let's do our best to solve the incident."

"The three of them won't go to the police to leak the secret?" Jacob, who was in the passenger seat, asked more uneasily,

"Absolutely not." Dean was steadfast.

Jacob clenched his grip on the cross and said worriedly, "Three lives have been lost on the island, and the family of the deceased will not come to the door one day in the future?" ”

"Unlikely." Faraghi said with a gloomy face, "The dead Fran and Corrie are both from Utah, and going missing so far away in New Orleans will not attract attention at all, and it will be very difficult to investigate and collect evidence across state lines." ”

Uncle Alfred, who was beheaded in the guise of a revived, was a homeless man who lived alone in a holiday home on the island, supporting himself from Zumby's ghost-hunting business. No one but us cares about his whereabouts. ”

"In other words, there is no possibility of leakage." Gretchen breathed a sigh of relief, "But did they die in vain?" ”

"Nope." Dean muttered, "Completely solve the short-handled axe maniac, and then ask Pastor Jacob to give these innocent souls a resting service, and everything will be over." ”

……

Chevrolet drove through the French Quarter of New Orleans, past the city's many canals and ditches, to the home of a swamp crocodile hunter in the Lower Garden District, and stopped at a green lawn a quarter of an hour later.

The four of them got out of the car and walked outside a two-aisle house, where Faraj knocked on the wooden door.

"Uncle Trent, it's... Faraj. ”

Crunch...

The wooden door opened, revealing a man in his forties with a large shoulder, a round waist, a bald head, and a white beard as thick as a bush at the chin.

"Welcome! I haven't seen her for half a year, and my niece is even more beautiful. The big man opened his hands and hugged Faraj warmly, "Is Zum tougher than that old guy?" ”

"There's nothing wrong with that. But he's in a bit of trouble with his travel business, so he has to ask you for help. By the way, these three are Dean, Gretchen, and Jacob. ”

"Come in and sit."

The big man welcomed everyone to the couch and served hot tea and desserts, and Dean turned his head to look at the crocodiles and elk specimens hanging on the walls around him.

"Say, niece, what's the trouble? The crocodiles in the swamp are flooding again, biting your visitors? ”

"It's worse than that." Faraj took a sip of his hot tea and glanced at Dean inquisitively, and when he nodded, he said, "We had a ghost-hunting ritual in the Honey Island Marsh last night... As a result, an accident happened, and the tourists were attacked by a madman and were terrified. ”

"Crazy?"

"He's six feet six, he's stronger than you... Dressed in blue denim bib pants, covered in scars from burns healed..."Faraghi squinted his eyes and recalled the scene with palpitations, "Plus, he has a misshapen face that looks like a monster... Have you ever seen this guy? ”

The bearded man first looked at him blankly, then tightened his brows and thought, as if he had thought of something, opened his mouth slightly, and lowered his head.

Dean noticed that the horizontal flesh on his face trembled, and extreme shock and confusion flashed in his eyes, so he added,

"He chased tourists with a short-handled axe specially used to chop wood, and almost cut people."

The bearded man held his breath, his eyes changed a few times, and he quickly returned to normal,

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of such a person in the Honey Isle Swamp, and it's likely that he's a madman who has only recently wandered to the island. But it's more dangerous than crocodiles, enough to stir up swamp tourism. ”

"It's a pity that I'm only good at dealing with crocodiles, not people, so I can't help you."

Dean spoke suddenly, staring into the bearded eyes, "Are you sure you've never seen this deformed person?" ”

The bearded man's expression stiffened, he didn't answer the question directly, and his eyes made a trigger pull motion with displeasure, "Boy, dare to talk to me like this, not afraid of being shot?" ”

"I don't want to cause trouble, but I want to know the truth." Dean got up, looked directly into the bearded eyes, the pupils reflected a milky white light, and the index finger of his right hand struck a crisp tap on the tea table, like a bullet, "Who is the deformed person?!" ”

The beard sitting on the sofa was like being hit by a bullet, and beads of sweat the size of beans were visibly drilled on his forehead, and his back was pressed against the sofa, clutching his chest, and his mouth hissing and shriveling, revealing an expression of pain and struggle.

But he only struggled with the divine realm for two seconds, sighed and slumped back, "I say, I know this deformed man with a short-handled axe. ”

Faraj and Jacob swallowed, and the superpowers really couldn't be disobeyed.

Gretchen couldn't contain the shock in his heart, and leaned into Dean's ear and asked, "What did you do to him?" ”

"Telekinesis." Dean lip-sucked and continued to order, "What's that deformed man's name?" ”

"Victor Crowley."

Event progress jumps to seven percent.

"Crowley?" Faraghi propped his chin with his right hand and interjected, "What does he have to do with Thomas Crowley, who drowned on the island after being drunk last year?" ”

The bearded man looked at several people and explained, "He is Thomas's adopted son." ”

Faraj questioned, "How did I never know that Thomas had such an adopted son?" ”

"Because this adopted son Victor died more than 20 years ago, the time gap is too long, almost all the residents on the island have moved away, and not many people know."

Several people on the sofa exchanged glances when they heard this—Zumbi had awakened a man who had been dead for more than twenty years by his summoning ritual last night.

Dean looked at the bearded sweaty face, "It seems that you know him well, so let's start from the beginning, how this Victor Crowley was born, grew up, and died, the more detailed the better!" ”

The bearded man glanced at him fearfully, recalled for a moment in silence, and began to explain honestly, "About thirty years ago, I was still living on Honey Island, and I was still a child. A few of my best friends and I like to run around the few houses on the island. ”

"Once, we passed by the house of our new neighbor in the woods, Thomas Crowley, and met Victor Crowley for the first time, who was very timid and shy, hiding in the window and secretly looking at us..."

The bearded man's rough voice paused,

"I could see the desire in his eyes, Victor wanted to be close to us and play together. But that can't be, he's so scary, he's like a monster! Not to mention a child, even an adult, seeing his face will be scared to nightmares all night, let alone staying with him. ”

"Thomas Crowley knew that his adopted son was ugly and unpopular, so he kept Victor at home after moving in, and almost never let him go out.

"As far back as I can remember, the father and son lived in isolation, and Victor was honest and never did anything bad."

When Dean heard this, he had already vaguely seen the direction of the story.

And the two sympathetic policewomen and priests had a bad premonition, and their faces became nervous,

The bearded man continued, his voice full of regret, "At that time, I was only a boy of seven or eight years old, curious, mischievous, and energetic, and when I encountered things that were different from myself, especially things weaker than myself, I would always treat them as enemies and toys, and I liked to bully them. ”

"My friends and I often take advantage of Thomas's absence to sneak in his windows, yell, throw bugs, dead rats, and scare, tease, and tease Victor in the house."

"Don't you think that's excessive?" Jacob interrupted, staring at the bearded man solemnly, like judging a sinner, "Victor has nothing to do with these childhood shadows, you should go and repent to God!" ”

The bearded man poured a sip of hot tea into his mouth, and was so hot that he grinned and quibbled, "I was just a child at the time, and I didn't have any sense of good and evil, so I couldn't help but do it when I thought about it." ”

"No, criminals or policemen, they are destined from childhood." Dean stared at the bearded man calmly, causing the latter's heart to chuckle, until he said "continue" and he exhaled as if he had been pardoned.

"Victor has been bullied a lot, but he has a good temper and never resists..."

"After many years, Victor grew into a teenager, and although he was kept in a house and rarely went out, he was more burly and tall than the lumberjack who cut all day, and with a hump-like forehead and twisted features, you can imagine that he was a living humanoid monster."

"Except for Thomas Crowley, everyone hated him, hated him, and drove him away."

"Just because of his looks?" Gretchen took a deep breath and pinched Dean's arm, suppressing his anger,

"Looks are enough," Mr. Faraj said, "and nine out of ten people in this world are judged by their looks, including us." ”

"You are right in God's name," the pastor added, "but ordinary people at best hide their bad impressions in their hearts, rather than turning into violence and harming innocent people, and if they do so, they will go to hell!" ”

……

"Quiet!" Dean interrupted the pastor's tirade and looked at the bearded man,

"Most of the residents hated Victor, and just over twenty years ago, on Halloween night, three young men with animal helmets came to the outside of Victor's house and threw fireworks at the windows in an attempt to scare Victor out of the house with a prank."

"But they accidentally set the house on fire."

The beard trembled, and the hunter's eyes flashed with fear,

"The three perpetrators fled, the flames in the house spread rapidly, and Victor screamed in horror and cried for help in the blazing fire..."

Fire.

Dean suddenly felt that the monster was covered in burns and scars because he had been burned by the flames before he died.

"He was burned to death?"

"No, the ending is even sadder. Thomas Crowley rushed back at this critical moment, heard the child's cry for help, grabbed the hatchet on the stake in front of the door to chop wood, and tried to split the door and rescue Victor. ”

"But Victor, surrounded by flames, heard his father's voice outside the house, and instinctively approached the wooden door, and then the accident happened..."

"When Thomas split the wooden door, the hatchet also struck Victor in the head behind the door, killing him in one fell swoop."

Call... Suck...

There was a dead silence in the hall, except for the sound of the heart.

The white smoke of the tea blurred the tense faces of several people.

"The deformed Victor died so tragically." The bearded man sighed and broke the silence, "And Thomas, who killed him by mistake, lost the only light in his life, his heart was completely broken, and since then, he has locked himself in the house all day and drunk heavily... After more than twenty years of loneliness, misery, and alcohol, he drowned in the lake last year after getting drunk. ”

"Fack!"

The priest couldn't help but burst into a foul mouth, and said with a blue face,

"Victor Crowley has not hurt anyone, just because he was born with an ugly appearance, he deserves to be discriminated against and bullied? A tragic death at the end? ”

"Fate was too harsh on him." Gretchen choked the back of Dean's hand, "His adoptive father, Thomas Crowley, was a poor man, too. ”

"Now we know that Victor was extremely unhappy since he was born, dying a painful and desperate death." Dean said in a deep voice, "Although he didn't do evil when he was alive, the resentment accumulated in his heart is absolutely immeasurable. And most of the terrible monsters are born because of a sad past. ”

"So, this poor worm, Victor Crowley, who has been dead for more than twenty years, was reborn as a perverted murderer under Zumbi's ritual," Faraj said, "to kill everyone who sets foot on Honey Island with a short-handled axe that has cost his own life, and to vent his resentment?" ”

Dean looked at the progress of the increase to twenty percent and raised his eyebrows, "It's not that simple, maybe there is also key information that we haven't been exposed to." ”

"Wait, ritual?" The bearded man suddenly interrupted everyone and asked with a glare in his brass bell-like eyes, "Did Zumbi summon Victor's ghost?" ”

"Yes, it's a crooked mistake, but now the resurrected Victor is much more terrifying than before..."Dean looked at the bearded man with a sharp gaze like a falcon, "Your story also misses a key point, who are the three young men who accidentally set Victor's house on fire on Halloween night more than twenty years ago?" ”

Gretchen urged, "These three bastards are the source of the tragedy!" ”

Several pairs of eyes in the hall turned to the bearded man.

He lowered his head, clenched his fists, and struggled for a long time, but he couldn't resist Dean's mental oppression, "The three young people who caused the accident are Samson, Bob, and-"

He met Faraj's surprised gaze, spread his hands, and paused bitterly, "Trent, I admit it, I was one of the three people who killed Victor by throwing fireworks in the first place. ”

The system has jumped to 25 percent.

(End of chapter)