Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 252 242. Crowley and Son

In the early morning, the sun shines brightly like gold over Bourbon Street.

In the study room on the second floor of the voodoo shop, Zumby, who had changed into a loose blue coat, was examining the dazzling array of tomes on the bookshelf and giving orders to the two teenagers behind him, "Katie, help me find "Zombies of New Orleans" ", Scott, take "The Voodoo Priest" from the bookshelf on the far right."

Scott threw the book on the desk reluctantly.

When the black man heard the noise, his eyes widened at the boy.

"Be gentle, kid. These books are valuable antique documents, and some are even out of print. If you damage any one, you can't afford to sell it yourself!"

Scott looked unruly, "Come on, profiteer and liar, I don't believe a word of your words."

"Don't be so grumpy, Scott." Katie handed "Voodoo Zombie" to Zumby, "complete the mission assigned by Dean."

"I'm not willing to accept it," Scott said with an ugly expression on his face, gritting his teeth, "Why can the old couple who faints easily and the noisy blonde girl go visit the swamp hunter to help? I'm going to stay and look for these. A completely incomprehensible bible?"

Katie thought about her father's instructions and shook her head, "I'm not going to help. They have to leave for something. Stop dawdling, come and read the book and find the root of the monster."

……

On the road opposite the voodoo shop, an old couple stood under the sign of "Bourbon Dynasty" with blank eyes. The old man with a broomstick beard asked, "What did we do yesterday?"

The old but gentle wife held his arm and "sat on the garden bench and watched the moon all night."

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

"It's okay. I'll talk to you in detail when I get home."

The two couples left Bourbon Street hand in hand, completely forgetting yesterday's bloody night.

At the guardrail on the other side of the road, another blond woman woke up from her daze, rubbed her temples and fell into deep thought. For a while, a scene that drove her crazy came straight into her mind.

"Those shameless bitches left me alone to book a hotel room. I won't be accompanying you when I return to Los Angeles!"

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

After confirming that the three related persons were fooled away by false memories, Dean, observing from the street corner, breathed a sigh of relief.

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

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, Dean cannot do it with his current telekinesis level.

He looked at the system.

After last night's red dragon meditation, cleansing of life energy, and cleansing of the divine realm, the attribute weakening suffered by the Hatchet Maniac was reduced from [-]% to [-]%. This curse is in his super strong body and will. and the negative status resistance provided by the Ironman feat are not unbreakable.

"So you not only have telekinesis, but you can also change the minds of ordinary people?" Gretchen next to her had slight dark circles around her eyes. After experiencing a night flight last night, she couldn't sleep all night, but she finally accepted him. It is a strange fact, and I have to learn to adapt to it.

"No, this is a form of telepathy that allows them to forget the memories of the past 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 street, opened the door, and sat in the back seat.

Farage, who was in the front driver's seat, glanced through the rearview mirror and said, "Done?"

"OK, the irrelevant ones have left. Next, we will do our best to solve the incident."

"Won't the three of them go to the police and leak the secret?" Jacob in the passenger seat asked worriedly,
"Absolutely not." Dean said firmly.

Jacob held the cross tightly and said anxiously, "Three lives were lost on the island. Will the family of the deceased come to visit us one day in the future?"

"It's unlikely." Farage said with a gloomy face. "The dead Fran and Corrie were both from Utah. Their disappearance in such a far away place as New Orleans would not attract any attention at all. It would also be very difficult to investigate and collect evidence across state lines." .”

"Uncle Alfred, who was dressed as a resurrected corpse and had his head chopped off, is a homeless man. He usually lives alone in a holiday house on the island and supports himself with the ghost hunting business run by Zumby. No one cares about us except us. His whereabouts."

"That means there is no possibility of leaks." Gretchen breathed a sigh of relief, "But did they die in vain?"

"No." Dean said in a deep voice, "Completely deal with the hatchet maniac, and then let Pastor Jacob give these innocent souls a resting service, and everything will end successfully."

……

The 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 on the edge of a green lawn a quarter of an hour later.

The four got out of the car and walked outside a double-porch house. Farage knocked on the wooden door.

"Uncle Trent, it's me... Farage."

crunch...

The wooden door opened, revealing a tall man in his forties with a round waist, a bald head, and a thick white beard like a bush on his chin.

"Welcome! I haven't seen you for half a year, and my niece is even more beautiful." The big man opened his hands and gave Farage a warm hug. "Is Zum stronger than that old guy?"

"There's nothing wrong with him. But he ran into a little trouble with his travel business, so he had 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 sofa and served hot tea and desserts. Dean turned his head and looked at the crocodiles, elk and other animal specimens hanging on the walls.
"Tell me, niece, what's the trouble? The crocodiles in the swamp are overflowing again and biting your tourists?"

"It's more serious than that." Farage took a sip of hot tea, looked at Dean for permission, and said when he nodded, "We held a ghost hunting ceremony in Honey Island Swamp last night... and an accident happened. The tourist They were attacked by a madman and were terrified."

"madman?"

"He is six feet six tall and stronger than you... Wearing a pair of blue denim overalls, with scars from healed burns all over his body..." Farage squinted his eyes, recalling the scene with lingering fear, "In addition, he has a deformed face. The face looks like a monster...Have you seen this guy?"

The bearded man's eyes were blank at first, and then he frowned and thought. He seemed to have thought of something, opened his mouth slightly, and lowered his head.

Dean noticed that the flesh on his face trembled, and extreme shock and confusion flashed in his eyes, so he added,
"He chased tourists with a hatchet specially used for chopping firewood and almost injured people."

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

"I'm sorry, I have never heard of such a number one person in the Honey Island Swamp. He is most likely a lunatic who recently fled to the island. But the danger is greater than that of crocodiles, and it is enough to disrupt the tourism industry in the Yellow Swamp."

"Unfortunately, I am only good at dealing with crocodiles, not people, so I can't help you."

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

The bearded man's expression stiffened for a moment, and he did not answer the question directly. He made a trigger-pulling motion with his eyes displeased, "Boy, you dare to talk to me like this, are you not afraid of getting shot?"

"I don't want to cause trouble, but I want to know the truth." Dean stood up, looked directly into the bearded eyes, his pupils reflected the white light of the Milky Way, and tapped his right index finger crisply on the tea table, like a bullet Firing, "Who is the freak?!"

The bearded man sitting on the sofa looked like he had been hit by a bullet. Beads of sweat as big as beans were visible on his forehead. He pressed his back against the sofa, covered his chest, and hissed in his mouth. Gasping, showing an expression of pain and struggle.

But he only resisted for two seconds in the divine realm, sighed slumped, and slumped back, "I said, I know this deformed man carrying a hatchet." Farage and Jacob swallowed, and surpassed As expected, those with ability cannot disobey.

Gretchen couldn't hold back the shock in her heart, and leaned into Dean's ear and asked, "What spell did you cast on him?"

"Psychic power." Dean mouthed and continued to give orders, "What's the name of that deformed man?"

"Victor Crowley."

Event progress jumps to seven percent.

"Crowley?" Farage put his chin on his right hand and interrupted, "What does he have to do with Thomas Crowley, who was drowned after being drunk on the island last year?"

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

Farage asked, "How come I never knew Thomas had such an adopted son?"

"Because this adopted son Victor passed away more than 20 years ago. It was such a long time ago that almost all the residents on the island have moved away. Not many people know about it."

Several people on the sofa exchanged glances after hearing this - Zumbi's summoning ceremony last night awakened a man who had been dead for more than 20 years.

Dean looked at the sweaty face of the bearded man, "It seems that you know him very well, so let's start from the beginning, how Victor Crowley was born, grew up, and died. The more detailed it is, 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 lived on Honey Island and was still a child. A few good friends and I liked to go around the island the most. There were only a few families running around."

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

The bearded man's rough voice paused,
"I can see the desire in his eyes. Victor wants to be close to us and play together. But that's impossible. He looks too scary. He's like a monster! Let alone a child, even an adult. Look If you touch his face, you will be frightened to the point of having nightmares all night long, let alone staying with him.”

"Thomas Crowley knew that his adopted son was ugly and unpopular, so he kept Victor hidden at home and raised him after he moved here. He almost never let him go out. When someone asked, Thomas said he picked Victor up by himself. Adopted children.”

"In my memory, the father and son lived a secluded life. Victor was also honest and had never done anything bad."

When Dean heard this, he could vaguely see the direction of the story.

The two sympathetic policewomen and priests had a bad premonition, and their faces became nervous.
The bearded man continued, with regret in his voice, "I was just a seven or eight-year-old boy at the time. I was curious, naughty, and energetic. When I encountered something different from me, especially something weaker than me, I would always treat it like a boy. They treat them as enemies, as toys, and like to bully them."

"My friends and I often secretly knocked on Thomas's window when he was not at home, yelled, threw bugs and dead mice, and frightened, teased and teased Victor in the house."

"Don't you think this is too much?" Jacob interrupted, staring at the bearded man seriously, as if he was judging a sinner, "Victor's current appearance has nothing to do with these childhood shadows. You should repent to God. !”

The bearded man suddenly poured a sip of hot tea into his mouth. He grinned and said, "I was just a child at the time. I didn't have any concept of good and evil. I couldn't help but do it when I thought about it."

"No, criminals or policemen have been destined since childhood." Dean stared at the bearded man calmly, which made the latter's heart skip a beat. It was not until he said "continue" that he took a long breath as if he had been granted amnesty.

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

"After many years of this, Victor grew up into a teenager. Although he was always locked in the house and rarely went out, his body was burlier and taller than the workers who spent all day logging. He had a tall and twisted forehead like a hump. With his facial features, you can imagine that he is a living humanoid monster."

"Everyone except Thomas Crowley hated him, hated him, and drove him away."

"Just because of his appearance?" Gretchen took a deep breath, squeezed Dean's arm, and suppressed her anger.

"Appearances are enough," Farage said. "Ninety-nine percent of people in this world judge people by their appearance, including us."

“In the name of God, you are right,” the pastor added, “but ordinary people can at best keep their bad impressions in their hearts instead of turning them into violence and hurting innocent people. If you do this, you will go to hell after death! "

……

"Quiet!" Dean interrupted the pastor's tirade and looked at the bearded man.
"The vast majority of residents hate Victor, and just over 20 years ago, on Halloween night, three young men wearing animal helmets came outside Victor's house and threw fireworks into the window, trying to scare Victor out with a prank."

"But they accidentally set fire to the house, which was made entirely of wood."

The beard trembled, and fear flashed in the hunter's eyes,
"The three perpetrators escaped, and the flames in the house spread rapidly. Victor screamed in terror and asked for help in the blazing fire..."

Fire.

Dean suddenly realized that the monster had burn scars all over its body because it was burned by flames before it died.

"He was burned?"

"No, the ending is even more tragic. Thomas Crowley happened to come back at this critical moment. He heard the child's cry for help, grabbed the hatchet used to chop wood on the wooden post in front of the door, and wanted to chop down the door. Open and rescue Victor."

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

"As Thomas split open the wooden door, the hatchet also struck Victor on the head behind the door, killing him instantly."

breathe…

Except for the thumping of the heart, the hall was completely silent.

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

"The deformed child Victor died so unfortunately." The bearded man sighed and broke the silence, "And Thomas, who accidentally killed him, lost the only light in his life. His heart was completely broken. From then on, he spent all his life Locked in a house and drunk... he suffered in loneliness, pain, and alcohol for more than 20 years, until he drowned in the lake last year after being drunk."

"Fake!"

The pastor couldn't help but uttered a curse word and said with a livid face,
"Victor Crowley has never harmed anyone. Just because he is born with an ugly appearance, he deserves to be discriminated against and bullied? And finally die a tragic death?"

"Fate is too harsh on him." Gretchen squeezed the back of Dean's hand tightly, "His adoptive father Thomas Crowley is also a poor man."

"Now we know that Victor has lived an extremely unfortunate life since he was born, and died in pain and despair." Dean said solemnly, "Although he did not do evil while he was alive, the resentment accumulated in his heart is absolutely incalculable. And Da Some of the terrifying monsters are born from a sad past."

"So, the poor Victor Crowley, who had been dead for more than 20 years, was reborn as a perverted murderer under Zumbi's ritual," Farage said, "using the hatchet that cost him his life to kill everyone. People who set foot on Honey Island vent their grievances?"

Dean looked at the progress that increased to 20.00% and raised his eyebrows, "It's not just that simple, there may be key information hidden that we haven't accessed."

"Wait, the ceremony?" The bearded man suddenly interrupted everyone and asked with his eyes like bells, "Did Zumbi summon Victor's ghost?"

"Yes, it can be considered a mistake, but the resurrected Victor is much scarier than before..." Dean looked at the bearded man with a sharp gaze like a falcon, "Your story also missed a key point. More than 20 years ago, Who were the three young men who accidentally set Victor’s house on fire on Halloween night?”

Gretchen urged, "These three bastards are the root 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 could not resist Dean's mental oppression. "The three young men who caused the accident are Samson, Bob, and -"

Facing Farage's surprised gaze, he spread his hands and said bitterly, "Trent, I admit that I was one of the three people who killed Victor by throwing fireworks."

The system progress jumped to 20.00% five.

(End of this chapter)