Da da da, the carriage drove for a long time on the muddy road, far away from this remote town, and arrived at an even more desolate suburb.
It was evening now, the sky was dyed red by the sunset glow, night would soon come, and the birds returning to their nests chirped and flew back to the woods.
As the old man yelled to stop, the brown horse pulling the cart stopped, and some fodder fell on the pallet. "Mr. Gu, you can come out now." The old man said, "Welcome to my farm. I am the only one here, and there are some cows, chickens and dogs." Those dogs have already surrounded him enthusiastically.
"Thank you, Mr. Joyce." Gu Jun got out of the grass, took out his backpack, and scanned his surroundings.
This is not that kind of big farm, but in front of a two-story house, there is some land surrounded by fences to plant crops, and there are wooden warehouses and barns beside it. Mr. Joyce’s cows and chickens are Being circled there also made the air smell of animal excrement.
But this place is not too small, and it is not an easy job to take care of it alone.
"It wasn't just me before." Mr. Joyce seemed to be able to see his doubts, and he said in such a bright tone: "My wife, my son, are all dead, just the past few years .My son had an accident; my mother-in-law couldn't bear the blow and died of illness."
Gu Jun frowned, "I'm sorry." Under the old man's hearty tone, it must be hidden sadness.
The old man moved the fodder down, and after a busy work, he walked into the house, "Let's make dinner, how about fried eggs and fried bread?"
"Okay." Gu Jun was actually very hungry, his stomach was rumbling. He only had one breakfast "today". here. The lack of physical strength also caused his mental decline.
He followed the old man into the house. Although Citigroup in 1929 was already very developed in a city like New York City, in a remote place like Chicktown, in a poor family like the old man, the interior of the house was very plain and simple. There are no electrical appliances, such as TV and telephone.
"My son," said Mr. Joyce, self-consciously, "Jack, a fine lad, was twenty-six when he died, over there in Innsmouth. He wanted to go there and see There was no way of making money, and as a result, on the road in that town, I encountered a frightened horse. The horse knocked over several people, Jack was one of them, he was particularly unlucky, he was trampled in the chest by the horse, and died on the spot."
Gu Jun was silent, and followed the old man to the kitchen, where there were gas stoves and other things.
"Horse frights are a common occurrence in Innsmouth," said Mr. Joyce. "There are too many queer things to tell. We are remote enough here, but Innsmouth is remote enough." Well, it is an old seaport. I heard that it used to be as prosperous as a city more than a hundred years ago, but now it is completely a wasteland. It was like this when I was a child. There is no railway or train. You can go there by bus. Go to Arkham first."
Only then did Mr. Joyce sigh, "My poor Jack, he was always thinking of getting rich, thinking that he could make use of the abandoned houses there, but he died."
"Aren't there many residents there?" Gu Jun added a word.
"Not many now." Mr. Joyce said while turning on the gas stove, taking out eggs to make fried eggs, "they are fishermen who go out to sea, and there is a gold refining factory. It is strange that a decaying place remains It's the old people who can't walk, it's true, but in Innsmouth, you don't see any old people, even the older ones, it's all young people, It’s like at a certain age, they’re going to get out of there.”
Gu Jun pondered, leave? Where did you go
"People in Innsmouth are queer and closed." The sound of sizzling fried eggs sounded, and Mr. Joyce was busy with a spatula. There are many legends. But sometimes you can't blame these rumors, because the beliefs of the people there... are different from ours. Mr. Gu, I just want to ask you a question about this, maybe you can answer me."
"What?" Gu Jun asked suspiciously, "Please tell me."
Mr. Joyce turned his head to look at him, his old red face pulled down slightly, "There is a saying that people in Innsmouth worship demons, and they often hold many sacrificial ceremonies. I have always suspected that Jack's death It's not that simple, I suspect he was sacrificed to the devil."
Gu Jun felt that the old man's eyes were not all friendly...
"It is said that the people of Innsmouth believe in a demon named 'Dagon'." The old man said, "It is a pagan religion imported from the East."
Hearing the name "Dagon" suddenly, Gu Jun felt a little headache again, but he understood a lot in his heart.
Dagon, of course Dagon, one of the forces Seabird was looking for. If the people of Innsmouth believe in Dagon, they may be transformed into deep divers... This kind of transformation does not seem to happen when they are young, but only when they reach a certain age, so there are no middle-aged and elderly people there...
Imported from the East
This should also be the reason why those men expelled him excitedly when they saw him, shouting about the devil, heretics, to kill them all...
"Mr. Gu, I want to ask you." Mr. Joyce's voice was also a little heavy, "How much do you know about the Dagon Sect?"
Gu Jun didn't know how to answer for a while. He did understand a little bit, but it wasn't because he was from the East.
However, if there is Innsmouth in this world that does not exist in his hometown world, then he really doesn't know what his hometown, the East, has.
After all, the leader of the Raliyah Order, the "Immortal and Immortal Taoist", is also there.
Facing the old man's eyes, Gu Jun knew that he couldn't just lie, he still needed to find out more information.
And in this day and age, in this place that is especially hostile to Orientals, it is not easy to meet such an old man.
"Mr. Joyce, I don't believe in Dagon." He said first, speaking earnestly and sincerely, "In fact, Dagon's followers are my enemies."
"So you do understand Dagonism?" Mr. Joyce became excited, his white whiskers trembling.
"I once fought with several Dagon believers on the boat that came to this country." Gu Jun continued, "Sir, I can tell you that in my hometown, people also hate Dagon religion. A wicked secret society, which in our country was said to be a pagan religion imported from the West. But now it seems that it came from the abyss. Mr. Joyce, I am sorry to say this, but I think your son's death is indeed Very suspicious."
"I know, I just knew..." Mr. Joyce gritted his teeth immediately, his old face became redder with anger, and his eyes were a little moist, "The coroner couldn't find Jack's heart, saying it was trampled to pieces by a horse, but I and these animals Having dealt all my life, I know being trampled to death by a horse isn't like that..."
Thinking of Tian Yiqing, Xie Yiman and others, Gu Jun sighed deeply, if it was really a sacrifice, those evil believers would do anything.
"I knew..." the old man was still muttering, "In the past two years in Innsmouth, many people were arrested by the federal police, and many old houses by the pier were burned down."