Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 126 126. Part [-] of Autobiography

Luben’s apartment is not big, with simple decoration, four walls of white, not even a poster in sight, the most striking thing in the whole room is a bed covered with a blue blanket, and a table and chair beside the bed,
Dean found a photo of a man and a woman on the bedside table.

The man is tall and straight in a black coat, with a stern face, which vaguely looks like Marco when he was young. The woman has long linen hair, beautiful looks, a beauty mole on the corner of her mouth, and a graceful figure under the red dress.

"Who is the woman in the picture?"

"This is a photo of Mary and I. At that time, she hadn't given birth to Luben." Marko's eyes revealed memories.

Dean remembered the woman's face, and turned to look at the table again.

The books on the table are piled up in a messy hill. There are novels like "The Old Man and the Sea" that praise the indomitable spirit, and fantasy novels like "Alice in Wonderland". Most of them are "The Great Gatsby", "Jane Love" and other romance novels.

Dean flipped open a copy of "The Creation of Villains", every page was crumpled and full of notes, but the handwriting was beautiful.

"Well, even though Lu Ben doesn't have the talent for writing, he has the ability to work hard to improve his writing." Dean put down the book, and the perspective of God scanned under the bed and in the closet, but unfortunately, they were all ordinary things like clothes. things,
"Don't you have a typewriter in the house?"

"I bought one for Luben, and he sold it. He thinks that pure handwriting is easier to inspire." Marco explained,

"Then where are the drafts that he wrote by himself? He stays in the apartment all day to create, so logically speaking, the drafts of the books he wrote should have piled up into a hill?" Dean asked again,
"Unfortunately, according to Luben's friend Jero, Luben threw all his manuscripts into the Truckee River about a week before he disappeared." Marko looked around the surrounding things, and a trace of sad.

"Why do it?"

Dean couldn't imagine how desperate an author would be to destroy all his years of painstaking efforts. This era is not like the Internet and USB flash drives in later generations, which can back up and keep records.

Gone is gone.

"The work he devoted himself to creating for six years was once again rejected by many publishers," Marko said blankly. "He couldn't accept the reality and made a collapsed move."

Dean's face was a bit serious, and people might be impulsive after suffering severe psychological trauma.

The possibility of Luben falling into the river has increased again.
But in order to prevent Marco from having a heart attack in anger, he did not mention this possibility for the time being.

"What is the new work?" Dean rubbed his sour eyes, and opened another book to check.
"I just remember a boring, bloody love story in Reno," Marco commented succinctly,
This understatement made Dean's investigation progress increase by 20.00% to [-]%.

"Can you tell me more about it?"

"Sorry, I just glanced at it casually at first, and I have a bad memory when I'm old, so I really can't remember it. My only impression is that it is very boring, full of naive fantasies of a middle-aged waste." The old man changed the subject, " Forget about that boring book, do you have any new discoveries?"

"Do you really want to find your son?" Dean put his arms around his chest and warned the old man, "If you keep covering up like this, don't blame me if you can't find anyone?"

"I don't understand what the unpublished work has to do with the disappearance case? It's just a broken book! That's all!" The old man was inexplicably indignant with an old face like an orange peel.

"On the contrary, regardless of whether a work is best-selling or published, it carries the author's ideals and passions, and it may be possible to peek into Lu Ben's inner thoughts."

Dean stared at the stubborn old man for half a minute.

The opponent's face turned blue and pale for a while, and finally gave in.
"Before Luben disappeared, he often communicated with his only friend, Jero Ketton, maybe he had seen it." The old man took out a pager from his briefcase, and opened the door, "Wait a minute, I'll make a call. "

Five minutes later Marco brought back a good news.

"Jero is currently on a business trip and won't be back in Reno until tomorrow morning. I'll help you make an appointment for him to meet at Bibo Coffee on Virginia Street."

"Then I will visit him at that time. You are getting old, go back and rest first, and I will continue to work."

Marco leaves wearily.

Dean sat on a chair, took out a copy of "Divorce City: Reno" from the pile of books, and began to read. He wanted to read all the books to see if he could get some clues from the notes.

……

The next morning.

Dean woke up from the red dragon meditation, opened his eyes, he was exhausted from yesterday, and he was extremely energetic.

He jumped out of bed, twisted his limbs and joints, stretched his muscles and bones, and went to the bathroom to rinse his face with cold water.

The experience of last night flashed back to my mind.

Those notes add up to millions of words. Judging from the notes, Lu Ben is a person who is cold on the outside and hot on the inside and has an extremely rich imagination. He will mark every expression of the characters in the novel, blink of an eye, and touch their hair. A long period of meticulous psychological analysis, plus my own imaginative brain supplement.

For example, he forced a restaurant waiter to smile politely at the protagonist, and wrote a wonderful background of unrequited love for the protagonist for several years.

……

And Luben is just as stubborn as his father, Marco.

In the notes, he boldly wrote his strong yearning for a long-lasting love.

Once he meets the muse who makes him fall in love at first sight, he is willing to give his life.

So he made up hundreds of plots in his notes, fancy heroes saving the beauty, such as fierce battles against gangsters, bone marrow transplants to save terminally ill lovers...

Seeing Dean's head slightly uncomfortable.

But the progress of the investigation has also increased from 20.00% to 30.00%.

Dean thus marked the latest clue——

4. Luben is addicted to longing for love and cannot extricate himself.

……

Nine in the morning.

The morning light is lazy, and the small town of Li Nuo is still sleeping in the remnant dream of last night, clean and leisurely.

Dean met Jero Cayton at a coffee shop in the middle of Virginia Street, as agreed the night before.

Jie Luo was wearing a black wool coat and carrying a black handbag. He was of medium build and fair complexion. He had short hair and a well-groomed beard. His eyes were soft behind glasses, making him look elegant and handsome.

"You are the new detective invited by Marco, you are really young and promising."

"Dean Lu, from Las Vegas." Dean reached out and shook him lightly, then ordered a cup of black coffee and a caviar sandwich, "I heard Marco say you are Luben My best friend, so I want to ask you about something related."

"Lu Ben is also my college classmate, a good brother for life, as long as you can help, feel free to ask." Jie Luo nodded solemnly, looking very enthusiastic,

Dean pondered the other party's temperament,
"So you're an editor at a publishing house?"

"Yes, for the local press in Reno."

"Has Lu Ben ever submitted a manuscript to your publishing house?"

"I have recommended his works to the higher-ups many times, but unfortunately," Jie Luo threw a piece of sugar into the coffee, regretting, "I am not a high-ranking person, and my words have no weight, and the publishing house always thinks that Lu Ben's works are not good enough. It has commercial value and refuses to accept it."

"So what's your opinion, how about Luben's works?"

"To be honest, the writing is excellent and the imagination is rich, but the plot is a bit old-fashioned." Jie Luo shook his head and regretted, "If he can follow my advice, refine the writing, and delete some content about love, there is still a certain potential. .”

"Then Luben?" Dean grabbed the caviar bread, took a big bite of half of it, chewed it up and swallowed it.

"Stubborn, not good at communicating with strangers, likes to think quietly alone, sensitive, emotionally unstable." Jie Luo's dark eyes behind thick glasses flashed the light of memory, "But he has more advantages, willing to help friends, once Borrowed money several times to help me through difficult times. He is sincere and almost never lies or cheats."

"In addition, he is dedicated and enthusiastic about his work. When he chose the path of writing, he devoted himself to it without interference from external objects. I have only seen this precious quality in the biographies of famous people in history." Jie Luo said seriously, "I always think that as long as Luben keeps focusing, in ten or 20 years, sooner or later he will be able to create a miracle of becoming famous for a book."

Dean couldn't help but be surprised that this evaluation was not low.

"That's not what Marco said."

"Marco is a strict father. He has high hopes for Luben, so naturally he has higher demands." Jie Luo took a sip of his coffee and said,
"And Marco is not good at expressing. He obviously cares about Luben, but he doesn't know how to comfort him softly other than putting on his father's airs."

"Very appropriate evaluation," Dean wiped the bread crumbs on his hands, recalling Marco's performance of bean curd with a knife mouth, and thinking of his father in the previous life, and countless fathers in the Celestial Dynasty.

They are the same, silently busy with work, bearing the burden of family and life.

I don't know how to communicate with my children at all, and I don't want to communicate.

The gap between father and son is getting deeper and deeper, and they don't talk much when they meet.

……

"I heard from Marco that after Luben was rejected by the publisher again, he threw all the previous manuscripts into the Truckee River." Dean asked, "Have you read these works?"

"As his best friend, I've had the good fortune to read most of it." Gero then drank the last sip of coffee and moistened his throat. "Most of his works describe love stories that happened in the history of Reno, and added Some special fantasy."

"What fantasy?"

"For example, the legendary vampires, werewolves, and various legendary monsters attacked a single lady on the street under the charming night of the small town, and the protagonist turned out to be a hero to save the beauty, and the two performed a romantic love story."

"Imagination is rich." Dean swallowed dog's blood and reluctantly complimented, "What did Lu Ben write in the latest work?"

"The latest work is his painstaking work." Jie Luo's face sank, and he shook his head rather aggrievedly. "It is a master of his thoughts and writing. It is also his last stubbornness as a writer, and he has fully reached the point of publication." Level, unfortunately, my group of colleagues rejected this masterpiece."

"The book is called "Ruben Van Helsing", and it is an autobiographical work. Well, no matter whether it is famous or not, the last stubbornness of every writer is to write an autobiography."

Dean wiped the crumbs from his hands, "But Luben is only in his 30s, has no wife and children, and hasn't lived the rest of his life, so why write an autobiography?"

"So a lot of fantasy is added." Jie Luo introduced while stirring the coffee, "In the book, Luben described the first half of his life experience of being born and growing up in Reno from the No. 1 perspective. The preference of history, the longing for a perfect love."

"It's a pity that the protagonist's work in the book could not be published for a long time, and he became a poor and lonely freelance writer in his 30s."

"But God doesn't always give people bad luck."

"One day, Lu Ben's time finally turned around, and he waited for the love he had been looking forward to for a long time."

Jie Luo said word by word, turned his head to look behind him and asked,

"See that bridge over the Truckee River?"

"Of course, the Virginia Street Bridge." Dean raised his eyebrows, a little uncomfortable with the other party's sudden change of topic,
"Then do you know the significance of the Virginia Bridge in the history of the small town?" Gero asked,

"Women who are successfully divorced will stand on the bridge and take off their wedding rings and throw them into the rushing Truckee River. This represents the end of a marriage." Dean recalled Marco's previous introduction and replied,

"Then, meet a handsome cowboy in the divorce tent, near the Yinzhou hut? Start a wonderful new love?" Jie Luo took his words, changed his tone, and shook his head sarcastically,
"Say goodbye to the past and embrace the future, how beautiful and glorious. Unfortunately, this wonderful fantasy is just a gimmick used by the Reno government to attract tourists."

"Not all women can start a new relationship happily and freely after throwing away their wedding rings. Some women are still addicted to the past, deeply feeling that they have changed their heartlessness and wasted a lot of youth. The complicated mood gave birth to the idea of ​​committing suicide , they stepped over the guardrails of the Virginia Street Bridge and—jumped.”

"Pfft!"

Jie Luo looked at the bridge, and the five fingers of his right hand closed and separated like splashing water.

Dean's heart skipped a beat.

"The story in Lu Shu starts here."

"One late night, this depressed writer left drunkenly from the lover's bar. When he returned to the apartment and passed the bridge, he accidentally saw a woman sitting on the guardrail preparing to commit suicide. It was just the back of a red dress. You can see her graceful figure and snow-white skin."

The bright sun in the sky suddenly dimmed for a moment, and a cold wind whistled down Virginia Avenue.

Brushing the back of Dean's neck, he couldn't help but tremble all over.

In the dark night, a drunk Lu Ben, a woman in a red dress sitting by the bridge and ready to jump into the river.

Why is there something wrong with this style of painting.

He interrupted Jie Luo, his face was serious,
"Mr. Jie Luo, is what you just said a story, or Luben's real experience?"

"If it were real, Lu Ben would have shared it with me a long time ago. So this is 100% a fictional story," Jie Luo noticed the solemn faces of the audience, and continued,
"Stimulated by alcohol and sex, Lu Ben broke out with unprecedented courage. While the woman was not paying attention, he rushed to the bridge, hugged her waist, hugged her down the guardrail, and pulled out of the abyss of death."

"When Lu Ben saw her face, his whole body went out of his body, and he forgot everything else."

Jie Luo's eyes were blank, as if seeing the scene at that time,

"Isn't that face the muse that he dreams of?"

Dean raised his eyebrows, he had an impression of the beauty mole on the corner of his mouth.

"Lu Ben fell in love with the woman at first sight on the spot, comforted her gently, and asked her the reason for her suicide. The woman was blown by the night wind and woke up from her previous impulse. She was extremely grateful to her savior."

"The two of them had mixed feelings, leaning against a short tree by the bridge and talking to each other... When they learned about each other's past life experiences, the more they chatted, the more speculative they became."

"By the Virginia Street Bridge, under the warm night."

"Two bruised souls approached slowly, licking each other's wounds."

"A beautiful love begins here."

The narration ends here.

"Go on," Dean urged. "Are they together? Where did they go?"

"Sorry, this is all the content of the first half of "Luben Van Helsing", and I have only read the first half," Jie Luo shook his head regretfully, "The second half, Luben plans to wait for the review by the publisher Pass, show me again."

"It's a pity that he didn't wait until that day. Because he refused the manuscript, he threw all the manuscripts into the Truckee River under the bridge, and then he disappeared."

"No copy?" Dean asked.

"I do not have."

"Then do you think the editors Luben found still remember the content of the book?"

Jie Luo shook his head firmly, "The reviewer does not need to read the entire book, and half a year has passed, and the editor has to review a large number of other manuscripts every day. How can I remember the eliminated ones?"

breathe…

Dean held back his unwillingness and glanced at the system.

After Jero's half story, the investigation progress jumped from 30.00% to 40.00%.

Luben's disappearance is 100% related to the plot of his autobiography!
……

"I've told you everything I know." Jie Luo glanced at the wall clock on the wall of the coffee shop, and the time came to eleven o'clock in the morning without knowing it.

"I have to go back to work." He handed Dean a business card and put down the coffee money. "If you have any questions, feel free to call me or call me."

Jie Luo stared into Dean's eyes and nodded solemnly,
"As long as I can find Luben, I will do my best."

"Ah."

……

Looking at the back of Jie Luo going away.

Dean rubbed his temples and began to trace the clues he had found in the past two days.

1. Luben van Helsing is a poor writer who lives on the relief of his father Marco.

2. Reno, the "Divorce Capital of the World," has a long history of poignant romances, and the Virginia Street Bridge is a significant part of that history.

3. Luben has always been determined to find a perfect girlfriend like his mother, the dead Mary Van Helsing.

4. Luben is addicted to the vision of love and cannot extricate himself.

5. Luben wrote an autobiography for himself, in which he rescued a beautiful woman who committed suicide on the Virginia Street Bridge, and fell in love at first sight.

……

Dean checked these clues several times.

An idea came into my mind, but it was like a cloud in the sky, invisible and intangible.

"There is still a lack of key clues. I have to find a copy of Luben's autobiography, at least a copy of the first half."

The stubborn old man's face and his attitude of extreme resistance to Luben's autobiography came to his mind again,

"Marco must know something inside, he must be told!"

(End of this chapter)