Chapter 69

The Last Case 1, The Bizarre Case

That evening, Leila prepared a rather lavish dinner for everyone, consisting of bread, salad, some ham and beef, and a bowl of egg soup.

For those times, it was considered a feast, so little Jack ate happily. Mo Fei put his portion of beef and ham onto Jack’s plate, encouraging him to eat more – not so much for acting but out of a subtle feeling of sympathy for the child.

Jack seemed very affectionate towards his father, though his relationship with his mother appeared more distant, for reasons unknown.

After dinner, Mo Fei intended to wash up, but Leila quickly took the dishes to clean. It seemed a traditional household, where men worked outside and women were homemakers, taking care of the house.

Around eight o'clock that night, someone knocked on the door.

Anger and Jiu Yi, sitting on the sofa, were curious about how Black JK recreated the past, including these unknown clues, which seemed puzzling.

Jiu Yi rested on the sofa with his eyes closed, while Elisha groomed herself on his lap.

Leila opened the door to find three middle-aged men entering. They looked like sturdy farmers, flushed, possibly from drinking.

They came to invite Mo Fei for drinks and a card game.

They were playing a very old card game, not with simple numbers, but with cards depicting peasants, kings, knights, soldiers, Death, generals, and the like.

Anger picked up some of the cards and looked at them. He recognized these cards from early books. They were popular in some European towns, known as Knight cards, a rather romantic game. Each player had twenty cards, including one princess and one knight. The player who got both cards in hand would win.

The card game was quite simple; each round involved drawing a card, then another round and another draw.

Initially, Mo Fei didn't quite grasp how to play these cards, but once he understood, he began to win.

They used special chips for the game, small black stones resembling obsidian, carbon alloy, or perhaps just coal. These stones, it was said, could be used as a form of local currency in the town.

Mo Fei won quite a lot.

The men played until about ten-thirty and then left.

Leila had already gone to bed at nine.

Jack watched Mo Fei play, and after everyone had left, he asked, "Dad, can I have two of those?"

Mo Fei nodded and handed all the stones to him.

Jack seemed surprised, saying, "I want to buy some candy, two is enough."

Mo Fei nodded, giving him four, "Keep the other two for later use."

Jack was exceptionally happy as he pocketed the black stones.

Mo Fei patted his head and told him to go wash up and sleep.

Jack obediently did so.

After he left, Mo Fei turned to look at Anger and Jiu Yi.

Jiu Yi was at the window, observing the outside, as the lights in the town dimmed one by one. People retired early to their dreams, as there wasn’t much entertainment back then, and they had to work early the next day.

Anger was watching Mo Fei from the sofa.

"What's wrong?" Mo Fei felt Anger's gaze was somewhat strange.

Anger smiled and said, "Mo Fei, you would make a good father."

Mo Fei chuckled awkwardly, shrugged, and asked, "Did you notice anything unusual?"

Anger smiled and asked, "Mo Fei, did you bring my black tea?"

"I did," Mo Fei opened his small travel bag, took out Anger's tea-making tools, brewed three cups of aromatic black tea, and set them on the table for them to sit and drink together.

"Didn't Black JK say he barely remembers anything about the village? If it's reconstructed from fragmented memories, why are the details so vivid?" Jiu Yi asked, puzzled.

"Maybe he only remembers the details," Anger said nonchalantly. "Human memory is interesting; it's often the details that are most easily remembered."

"Is that so," Mo Fei nodded and then asked, "Did you notice anything unusual?"

"Well, to be precise, it's more like everything is unusual," Anger yawned. "Mo Fei, I'm feeling a bit sleepy. We should rest and make the most of the limited relaxation time we have now."

"Uh…" Mo Fei looked at Jiu Yi, who nodded, feeling that Anger's words were credible.

That night, for safety, Mo Fei, Anger, and Jiu Yi stayed together in one room.

Ais lay by the door...

Jiu Yi and Elisha slept together on the sofa. Mo Fei lay on the double bed staring at the ceiling, while Anger, who initially was lying next to him, suddenly got up and walked to the bed's edge, gazing towards the distant village.

"What's wrong, Anger?" Mo Fei asked.

"The lights in the distance," Anger suddenly said.

"Lights?" Mo Fei, somewhat confused, sat up and joined him, asking, "What about the lights?"

"They're starting to come on slowly," Anger whispered.

Mo Fei also noticed that in the once dark and quiet village, lights began to shine in each household.

Anger frowned, "Something's not right."

"Shh." Just then, Jiu Yi suddenly whispered a "shh."

Everyone looked at him perplexedly, only to see him pointing towards Ais at the door.

Turning around, they saw Ais standing up, fixating on the shut door, its ears and back fur bristling, tail hanging low, as if sensing danger.

Soon, they heard hurried footsteps at the door, followed by a 'thud,' as if something had hit it.

Anger and the others exchanged glances. Mo Fei approached the door, with Ais stepping aside but still watching Mo Fei, its expression seemingly perplexed.

Mo Fei slowly opened the room door, and just then… a small figure tumbled in.

Mo Fei instinctively caught him, and Anger and the others saw it was Jack.

"Jack?" Mo Fei gently shook Jack, noting he was unharmed, dressed in pajamas, but with his eyes tightly closed, seemingly asleep.

"Jack? What happened?" Mo Fei carried him inside and laid him on the sofa, gently shaking him.

But Jack didn't respond, as if he had fainted.

"Ahh..."

Just as everyone felt bewildered by the bizarre and inexplicable events, a piercing scream came from outside... Yes, from outside the window, specifically, from other houses.

Jiu Yi rushed to open the window... and saw people running out of their houses, many covered in blood, with expressions of agony, mostly women and children, some already lifeless.

Anger also approached the window, and then they heard heavy footsteps and coughing from upstairs, "Dear... what happened?"

Leila ran in, looking at Mo Fei in confusion, "I heard something outside... Ah!"

Leila caught sight of Jack lying on the sofa and rushed over, "Baby!"

Jack remained unconscious, prompting Anger to frown slightly at Leila.

"Let's call the police," Anger suggested.

"Are there police here?" Jiu Yi asked, somewhat perplexed.

"This place exists within the real world," Anger spoke softly. "Those people definitely came out covered in blood."

Jiu Yi immediately took out his phone, but found no signal when he tried to call, checking his screen to see it was out of service.

"There's no signal here, probably due to interference," Jiu Yi turned to Anger, "What should we do?"

Frowning, Anger asked Leila, "Who maintains law and order here?"

"To the east of the town, there's a police chief living there," Leila said. "The police station is quite far from here; we have to drive to reach it."

"What's the chief's name?" Anger inquired.

"His name is Simon, he has a gun," Leila responded.

"Is it near the village?" Anger asked.

"It's close, the village is very small," Leila nodded.

"Should we go look for him?" Mo Fei asked.

Anger slightly shook his head and said, "Since the village is small, he must have heard the commotion. That means if he could come, he would have already."

At that moment, they heard people running out of their houses, young men, crying out in terror, holding their deceased loved ones and weeping inconsolably.

"I didn't expect this scene," Anger slightly raised his eyebrows, glancing at Leila, then at Jack on the sofa.

"So, does that mean that in the entire village, only this household hasn’t suffered any loss?" Anger asked.

Everyone paused, looking towards Mo Fei.

Mo Fei furrowed his brows as he saw chaos enveloping the village, with men in grief, starting to ask each other... what had happened.

The expressions of these men seemed like they had woken from sleep to find their wives and children dead, more fearful than bewildered. Soon, someone shouted, "It's the Grim Reaper! The Reaper!"

Angler stroked his chin, musing, "I wonder if I could ask them what happened."

"But you don't exist to them, they won't talk to you," Jiu Yi noted. "Same for me."

"I’ll go ask," Mo Fei said, moving towards the door.

"Wait," Anger raised his hand slightly, "You’re not to go alone, Mo Fei."

Mo Fei was anxious, but then Anger turned on the lights and asked Leila, "Do you have tomato sauce in your kitchen?"

Leila nodded, "Yes."

"Good," Anger then said to Jiu Yi, "Do you still have those sedatives?"

Jiu Yi was surprised, asking Anger, "How did you know I have them?"

Anger smiled slightly, "As a master thief, you should have such things," he said, glancing at Leila.

Suddenly, Jiu Yi darted behind Leila, swiped under her nose with his hand, and she fell... unconscious.

Jiu Yi caught Leila and, following Anger's instructions, moved her to the bed and also placed the unconscious Jack there.

They found tomato juice, but the old version obviously lacked the redness of modern food coloring.

Fortunately, they found oil paints in Jack's room, which he used for painting…

With his extraordinary painting skills, Anger made the crime scene look incredibly realistic, even adding fake bloodstains to Mo Fei's hands…

Just as they finished preparing, a banging noise came from the door.

Mo Fei looked at Anger.

Anger instructed, "Open the door, and act with a mix of grief, confusion, and fear."

Mo Fei nodded and asked, "Do you think it'll fool him?"

Anger smiled faintly, "Otherwise, how do you think Black JK and his mother survived that ordeal?"

Mo Fei and Jiu Yi both looked stunned.

"Indeed…" Jiu Yi said, "It's the only way."

"So, Black JK's father had already prepared the drugs… He knew what would happen tonight?" Mo Fei asked.

"There’s no other explanation," Anger motioned Mo Fei to quickly open the door, "We'll talk about the rest later."