Washington State is located in the northwest of the United States, with mountains and evergreen trees, and its natural scenery is quite unique. Dusk Town is located on the edge of the continental border, adjacent to Canada, and is remote and not easy to find.
Halfway through the journey, Jian Jing asked several people before she found the road to Huanghun Town.
At noon, the car drove into the town.
After a quick drive, Jian Jing discovered that Huanghun Town was indeed not very big. There were only two main roads, a gas station, three coffee shops, and two bars.
In a word, the countryside.
Jiang Baiyan wondered: "What are you doing in a place like this?"
"Do you still remember the first haunted house we played in? I suspect Qi Tian appeared here." Jian Jing told her findings one by one, and said, "This person is very evil. If you are afraid, don't force yourself."
"I don't feel anything." Jiang Baiyan scratched his face and said honestly, "Compared to that, I'm more afraid that you'll act alone. In a small border town like this, people will see you as a girl and bully you."
Jane Jing sighed.
She knew what Jiang Baiyan said was true.
In terms of physical fitness, she is definitely better than Jiang Baiyan, who has always been thin and photogenic, but now she is walking alone on the street and will definitely encounter whistling hooligans. When she is accompanied by a man, no matter how old he is, his deterrent power is much stronger than her.
Unless she is carrying an AK, that's a different story.
"Okay." Jian Jing was not too worried about Jiang Baiyan. He was smarter than her.
The two pretended to be tourists and settled down in the best hotel in town. They asked the owner, "I heard that we can go hunting here?"
There were mountains and forests near Huanghun Town, and there were many animals. When Jian Jing was searching online, she found an advertisement for hunting guide services, so she asked about it.
When the boss heard this, he thought it was rare for tourists to come to such a remote town, so without saying a word, he called his old friend and asked him to come and pick up the guest.
"Old William is an old hunter here. He has lived here for generations and is very familiar with the area." The boss introduced enthusiastically, "Follow him, you will definitely be able to catch satisfactory prey."
Old William came in very quickly. He was tall and strong, with muscular body and rough tattoos all over his arms. As soon as he entered the room, he glanced at everyone and, relying on his hunter's intuition, he skipped Jiang Baiyan and looked at Jian Jing: "You want to hunt?"
Simple and quiet.
He looked Jian Jing up and down for a while, nodded and said, "Okay."
Jian Jing hinted: "No license."
The boss interjected at the right time: "Five hundred dollars, it's up to you."
Jian Jing nodded and asked, "Where's the hunting license?"
"I can solve this for you." Old William was very helpful, "but there are some things that need to be made clear."
Jian Jing pretended to listen attentively.
"We'll go in the morning and come back in the afternoon. We won't stay overnight in the woods." Perhaps fearing that they would get suspicious, Old William took the initiative to explain, "You have no experience in surviving in the wild. It's too dangerous."
Jian Jing hesitated for a moment: "Wouldn't it be possible to wander around the periphery? This is not what I want. I mean, I have experience in outdoor camping, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Old William said: "We have large animals here, wolves, bears and so on."
"Don't you have a gun?" she asked back, but her attitude was not firm, as if she just said it casually and quickly forgot about it. She said excitedly, "Forget it, let's play for two days first. See you tomorrow morning?"
Old William said: "You need to pay a deposit of 3,000 first."
Jian Jing paid promptly.
Who doesn’t like generous guests? The boss was attentive and recommended two places to eat.
Jian Jing had been in the United States for less than a week and was already despairing of the food here, but she had to eat, so she was really looking forward to going to the place recommended by her boss.
Dinner was coffee, pizza and cherry pie.
To be fair, the food tasted pretty good. She patiently asked the waiter about the town.
But the younger generation has hardly ever heard of any problems with the forest. When asked if it is good for hunting, they just say that someone catches prey every year, so it should be pretty good.
No one mentioned the 1992 case.
She didn't stay long and packed a cup of hot chocolate and pizza to take back for Jiang Baiyan as dinner.
"I've gone to the department store to ask." Jiang Baiyan didn't have dinner with Jian Jing because he had a mission to accomplish. He went to the largest and only department store in town to buy some spare clothes and snacks suitable for outdoor activities.
Of course, it would be even better if you could find out some information "by the way".
Jiang Baiyan held the hot chocolate and drank it slowly, enjoying the happiness of calories: "No one has heard that there is a problem with the forest. When I asked them if it is safe to hunt now, they said it is okay as long as you bring a gun - they sell guns in their supermarket, it's really easy."
"That's right, I feel too insecure." Jian Jing couldn't help but complain.
In China, her physical condition has improved, and she is not afraid to walk alone in the alleys late at night. But when she goes abroad, she has to be more vigilant when walking on the street.
In dire straits, sincerity will not deceive.
But everything has two sides. At least here, Jian Jing can get some self-defense equipment, which will give her more confidence when entering the forest.
She analyzed: "In this closed town, any incident will be spread widely. If there are no rumors, it proves that no one has died in the past two years. But this year is exactly the tenth year."
The cases recorded by Reed contain some inexplicable coincidences in time.
1982, 1992, 2002, 2012, exactly ten years apart.
Although there was a bizarre case in 1992, if that person was really Qi Tian, there must be some hidden story that she didn't know.
There were no fatalities in the fire, which could mean the matter was over. More likely... they were waiting for another decade.
And this year is 2022.
"Let's ask William tomorrow," she said. "He insists on coming out before dark, so he must know something."
Places like Huanghun Town are remote and close to the border, so the management is not strict.
The innkeeper helped her get a gun license, and old William got a hunting license. Of course, according to the regulations, her hunting license only allowed her to hunt small animals, such as pheasants, hares, and wild deer.
These small animals reproduce very quickly and will interfere with the normal lives of residents, so hunting is allowed to control their reproduction rate.
Jian Jing pretended to be curious: "Since small animals reproduce so quickly, there shouldn't be any large beasts, right?"
Old William said gruffly, "There were many in the past." He was impatient with her asking questions and said loudly, "Okay, you have no hunting experience, so I'll teach you from the beginning. Listen carefully and I'll tell you again."
He is very experienced, and although the content he teaches is not as professional as formal courses, it is very useful.
How to identify the footprints and claws of prey, how to judge the wind direction and distance, what is the best way to protect your own safety... There are so many things to learn, and I benefited a lot from it.
For a moment, Jian Jing even forgot the purpose of coming and concentrated on listening to the class.
At noon, the three of them stopped teaching and made a fire to cook.
Old William used the pheasant he had just shot to demonstrate to them how to roast a chicken.
Jian Jing thought that after hanging out for a while, the two sides were familiar with each other, so she asked tentatively: "We have learned a lot from you. Can we really not camp here?"
Old William said without even looking up: "It's too dangerous."
"Where is the danger? You said that large wild animals existed in the past, but are rare now." Jian Jing would not give in easily, and slowly retorted, "You said, we have guns."
Old William sneered: "If you want to stay here, just stay. We will leave when it gets dark anyway."
He was not worried about Jian Jing making trouble. How could she dare to stay alone in the wilderness without him leading the way? However, Jian Jing suddenly asked, "Are you afraid?"
Old William: "Provocation doesn't work."
"No, no, you misunderstood. I'm just curious," she said. "I know people have died here. Are you afraid that their ghosts will haunt us?"
Old William paused in his action of removing the chicken bones and asked, "What dead person? Killed by a wild animal?"
"Roger, Theresa, Xu, Lola, and George." Jian Jing called out their names.
Old William's expression changed. His facial muscles trembled and his thick eyebrows twisted, as if he was ready to crush her throat at any time: "Who told you that? What is your purpose?"
"Reed," she said half-seriously, "he mistook me for Kelly and told me a lot of things."
Old William was stunned. Kelly's name seemed to trigger his memories, and his expression became strange: "Reed? I haven't heard of this name for a long time."
"Do you know Reid?"
Old William looked at her and turned his face away: "You are not like Kelly. He is really old and confused."
Jian Jing was stunned.
Jiang Baiyan poked her arm and whispered, "William's nickname seems to be Bill."
William? Bill? What's the relationship between these two names? Jian Jing asked inwardly, "Are you Kelly's boyfriend Bill?"
Old William exerted force with his hands, pierced the plucked pheasant with a wooden stick, clamped it on the wooden fork, stuffed it with a kind of small mushroom picked on the road, and sewed it up with thread.
The flames rose, roasting the freshly baked lunch, and the wonderful aroma wafted out.
He lowered his head and said calmly: "That was a long time ago."
"Do you believe that Kelly got lost and trapped to death?" Jian Jing asked.
"What's the difference between believing and not believing?"
"I don't think you believe it," she said. "Kelly doesn't like the woods. Why would she go into the woods alone? You want us to leave before dark. Is it related to the rumor that 'you can't go into the woods at dusk'?"
Old William turned the stick to evenly heat the chicken: "Don't mind your own business. You are here to hunt."
Jian Jing saw through his guard and thought for a moment before asking any further questions.
In the afternoon, William spoke much less, and all the topics revolved around hunting itself. Jian Jing also temporarily put aside her thoughts and immersed herself in the fun of hunting.
But maybe God is helping her.
William's plan was to leave at five o'clock, but by four o'clock the sky was overcast and gloomy.
The storm is coming.
"Damn it, let's get out of here." Old William made a prompt decision and returned immediately.
It's still too late.
After a while, it started to rain heavily and all three of them were soaked.
Jian Jing asked: "I remember there is a farm nearby, can we go there to take shelter from the rain?"
William said, "Frank's farm? Are you sure?"
“Sure,” she said. “It beats being in the woods.”
William was persuaded and led them to the farm covered by dark clouds. At first, the light was dim and Jian Jing hadn't noticed anything, but the closer they got, the more familiar they felt.
The continuous rows of houses, the tractor parked at the door, the smell of animal feces, grass and rain mixed together to form a strange stench.
Jiang Baiyan spoke out her real thoughts: "This looks like a haunted farm."
Jian Jing nodded gently: "This is a real farm."
Robert's inspiration came from Reed, who had conducted a very detailed investigation of the farm.
The moment you step through the door, the system goes online.
[New mission released]
[Mission Name: Frank's Farm]
[Description: 30 years ago, five teenagers were brutally murdered. The suspect is ****. The **** secret of the farm. In the depths of the forest, who is calling ******?]
[Note: Special sub-item, all card drawing costs are doubled, please be careful]