Chapter 270 40: Advice
"Let's forget it tonight. It's quite cold outside. Didn't I say that the seafood fried rice in this store is good? Just eat this." Terry was a little reluctant to go out. Blow dry.
When Anna woke up, she thought so. Anyway, she was expected to stay here for a few days, so she was not in a hurry for this night.
The two of them took turns to take a shower and change clothes. The time was already close to seven o'clock. This was because they were afraid that the pub would not provide dinner if they were late, so they finished as soon as possible.
It’s just that as soon as Terry, who was walking in front, opened the door, his body seemed to be under a restraining spell and stopped there. Anna, who was still scrolling through her phone, didn’t notice it for a moment and bumped into her back. He kept sticking his head out and asked: "Terry, what are you doing?"
As soon as the words came out, Anna's breath froze. At the door of their room, old John stood expressionlessly in the corridor, watching them quietly.
No one knows how long he has been standing here. He may have just arrived, or he may have been here since they came up.
Thinking of the latter possibility, the two of them felt horrified, with chills standing on end, and goosebumps appearing one after another. Their moods, which had finally calmed down, were once again suspended.
"Uncle John, do you have anything to do with us?" Seeing that old man John remained silent, Terry finally couldn't help but speak first.
John still had the dead fish face and dead fish eyes, like a fish disguised as a human being, and said slowly: "Let me remind you, the fish feast starts at seven o'clock. If you want to participate, It’s not too late to rush to the beach now.”
"Well, we are too tired today and don't want to go out. Uncle John, do you have anything to eat here?" Even if they had originally planned to go, they had to think carefully about the invitation in this situation.
Old John looked at them with a surprised look and nodded: "Only fried rice."
"Please prepare two portions for us, thank you." Terry hurriedly decided.
John said no more, turned around, walked down the stairs, and disappeared from their sight with a creaking sound.
Anna just didn't speak until the other party left, then she seemed to have held in her breath and let it out, gasping for air: "I didn't realize before that why everyone here smells so fishy. This old man is not a fisherman or a merchant.”
"Maybe because he is also a chef?" Terry explained, then took Anna's hand and walked out, then locked the door and walked down the stairs.
The tavern was empty at this time, except for the chopping sound coming from the back kitchen, and a strange slippery movement.
Did everyone go to the fish feast? There are banquets like this every day. Is it true that everyone will not get tired of it?
Both of them subconsciously felt something strange that they couldn't describe, but they couldn't really express it in words. They could only feel it vaguely in their hearts, and they couldn't even breathe smoothly.
After finding a seat and sitting down, Terry looked out the window. There were no street lights, and even many houses did not turn on the lights. Only the attic of the house opposite had lights on. Behind the window, it seemed that There was another figure moving, as if waving.
"You sit down first, and I'll go to the door and take a look. Don't close the door, just take a few glances." After Terry said this, he walked to the door and opened it, letting in a little cold wind, which cheered him up.
A stronger fishy smell came from all directions, but after a few breaths, you got used to it.
He could even hear the wind blowing a little bit of the hustle and bustle on the coast. Just by listening vaguely, he could imagine the festive beach bonfire party-like scene.
Recovering from these voices, he did not forget his purpose. He raised his head and looked at the attic of the house opposite.
In the light, a figure covered the clean glass with a cardboard, and there was only one word: run! ! !
Terry's mouth opened slightly and he stared blankly for a while.
The black figure seemed to be sure that Terry had seen it, and at the same time it was afraid of being discovered. After holding it up for more than ten seconds, it closed the curtains again, and even the lights were turned off. Everything seemed special. It's like a hallucination.
Terry lowered his head, returned to the tavern, returned to Anna, and told her what he had just seen.
"Could it be the mental illness mentioned in the travel guide?" Anna opened the guide Terry showed her before and pointed to the mental illness content mentioned above.
"Maybe" Terry took out his cell phone uneasily. He had always forgotten to call home, and now he planned to make sure he was safe first.
Perhaps subconsciously, he felt that if he encountered any danger here, his family would know his whereabouts.
As soon as the call was finished, Old John came out holding a dinner plate.
"Seafood fried rice, add whatever fish you have, and beer is included." Old John put the things on their table.
I don’t know if it was Anna’s illusion, but she suddenly felt that this old man suddenly became more humane.
Of course, it's still weird. For example, after he delivered the food, he just stood there, his eyes distracted, and he didn't know whether he was looking at something or thinking about something.
Terry awkwardly took out a bill from his wallet as a tip. As for the meal, they only had one meal today, so they probably didn't need to pay extra.
Old John did not take the banknote: "A piece of advice to tourists, don't go out or go to the beach between twelve o'clock and sunrise."
After saying that, he didn't care about the two of them. , picked up the dinner plate and returned to the wine cabinet, silently wiping the wine glass.
Terry and Anna looked at each other and took the other's advice to heart. Anyway, at that time, no one dared to go out if they were unfamiliar with the place. Even in the city, they had to try to avoid early morning. Wandering around outside, they are not the couple in the movie trying to kill each other. They are just curious about something if they are not allowed.
The seafood fried rice looks average, but they didn’t expect anything delicious in this kind of place. As long as it’s not poisonous, Terry asked Anna not to eat it yet and wait for him to be on the safe side. Eat after Anna.
"It's really delicious. It's much better than the restaurant we went to last time." After entering the restaurant, Terry's eyes lit up. Unlike the fishy smell everywhere, this seafood fried rice seemed to have no fish. It has shrimp and crab meat added, and it is well processed without any fishy smell.
Originally, he thought that the specialty here was fish feast, and fish would definitely be added to the fried rice.
The beer is just average and the alcohol content is low, but it is given as a gift after all, so there is nothing much to say.
Terry finished eating for a while, and when he saw that nothing happened, he let Anna, who had been greedy for a long time, start eating.
"Terry, is this a piece of cloth?" Anna spat out a piece of rag disguised as an octopus leg in disgust, and suddenly lost her appetite.
"Wait, there seems to be words?"
Terry slowly unfolded the ball of cloth and saw "Don't eat fish" written on it.
After finishing reading, Terry silently glanced at old John, who was still meticulously wiping the wine glass, and then at Anna.
According to common sense, this strip of cloth can only be added secretly by the old man John, but he had recommended a fish feast to himself before, so why did he tell himself not to eat fish? Isn't this a contradiction?
That means there might be someone else in the tavern who secretly added this banner without John's knowledge? But who could be so unaware of the situation? After thinking about it, the most likely possibility is Old John.
Anna was indeed hungry. Seeing that the cloth did not fall in accidentally, she felt relieved. She slowly finished the remaining fried rice and sat there for a while. It was almost eight o'clock and no one had come to the tavern yet. Probably the fish feast hasn't ended yet.
They came to the wine cabinet and wanted to make some insinuations with John.
"Play?" Old John slowly raised his head and looked at them, "There is nothing to play in a remote place." "Then what should I prepare in advance for the fish feast?"
“You don’t need to prepare anything, just bring your mouth and stomach.” Old John smiled silently, his wrinkled face looking like a rag stained with dry mud.
"Is the only food here to eat fried rice?"
"There is also yusheng, which is only sold to people who have participated in the fish feast. If you want to eat it, try the fish head in the fish feast first. That will be you Delicious food that I have never tasted in my life." The old man's eyes were dark.
Terry really wanted to ask directly if the note was given by John, but if not, would he be alerting the snake by doing so? If so, it means that John may be under surveillance. Impossible to admit.
In desperation, he had to ask another question: "Are we the only outsiders living here now?"
"No." Old John's answer surprised Te Li cheered up, "A teacher came here a few days ago with a few students. He was going to do excavation research in an abandoned gold mining town, but the time was delayed with you."
"Then them?"
"At the beach." John looked towards the stairs, "But there is a girl in 203 who is not feeling well today and stayed here."
The ones at the beach are naturally eating fish. Banquet, this news made Terry think.
If you want to know if there is any problem with the fish feast, wouldn’t you know it by looking at their performance?
Although he still felt deep down in his heart, it was just a fish, so what risks could there be? Besides, many tourists had come before, didn't they leave safely? If a murder really happened here, why would the officials who came here to investigate it sit idly by?
Generally speaking, I scare myself.
It’s no wonder those thrillers are too deeply rooted in people’s hearts.
Seeing that Old John was not interested, Terry did not continue to ask questions, but took Anna back to the room.
"Don't we have some medicine? I'll knock on the door of 203 later and get to know the girl." After returning to the room, Anna rummaged through her backpack.
Terry also has this plan, and it is better for Anna to come forward.
Arriving at the door of room 203, which was right next to them, Anna did not knock on the door immediately. Instead, she raised her finger to her lips towards Terry, and then slowly put her ear to the door.
Terry looked around, fearing that old John would appear again without anyone noticing.
After listening for about ten seconds but not hearing anything, Anna knocked on the door lightly.
Behind the door, a voice came out after a while.
“Nia, is that you?”
"Hello, we are new tourists. I heard that you have been here for a few days. Can we chat?" A girl with a bad look appeared in front of them.
She glanced at Anna and Terry behind her, smiled, and opened the door without seeming to be wary: "Come in first."
Anna was not polite and took the After taking the medicine, he walked in: "I heard from the tavern owner that you are not feeling well. Is it diarrhea?"
"Ah, how do you know?" The woman was a little surprised.
"Because I travel a lot, and sometimes I get stomach upset when I go to certain places. I usually take this medicine. You can try it."
Under Anna's enthusiastic self-made offensive, they The three of them quickly had a basic understanding of each other.
The woman's name is Peilan, a college student, a little younger than them. This time, the teacher came here because he heard that there was an unrecorded gold mining town here, so he brought his students here to record it, and he did it by the way. subject.
Originally they set a time to solve the problem within three days, but unfortunately, the car broke down first. Although they had someone who could repair it, it was delayed for a day. In the evening, there was a fish feast and drinking. , it was too late to play, and they were delayed for another day. When they were finally about to set off, a sudden snowstorm came and they were trapped here.
“I heard from them that the fish in the fish feast is really delicious, and it is the most delicious food they have ever eaten in their lives. But I don’t like eating fish, and I feel uncomfortable, so I haven’t eaten it.” Peilan Explain it this way.
"Then there's nothing wrong with them, right? I just heard that they're all raw fish and they're afraid of parasites and the like." Terry asked.
"No, it's normal. On the contrary, I haven't eaten and I've been feeling upset." Peilan smiled sheepishly, "I'm also scared, so I don't plan to eat. I just have to be alone every night. Wait, it’s not pleasant to have no one to talk to. Of course, after all, they all said it was delicious, so I also recommend you to try it. Our teacher has always been very picky, and he said it must be delicious. Delicious food that you can’t usually eat.”
“By the way, are they coming back very late?” Anna continued to ask without saying whether they wanted to eat.
Perlan thought for a while and nodded slowly: "The first day was fine. I came back at about nine or ten, but after I came back, I drank downstairs, and it got later and later, but it was okay. They were drinking loudly down there, and it would be easy to wake them up if they slept lightly.”
Although he already knew almost the information he wanted, Perrin seemed to be much better after taking Anna’s medicine. , the desire to talk arose, and they didn't want to just say goodbye, so they started chatting.
"Queensland? I haven't been there yet. We are in Melbourne."
"Uncle John is actually quite nice, but he doesn't talk much."
"The house opposite? I rarely pay attention to it. Is someone peeking? ”
“We also know that the abandoned gold mining town may be dangerous, but the teacher said that he asked the official who searched it last time, and he also asked the sheriff here to accompany him. , I just never had the chance to set off."
Unknowingly, they chatted for two or three hours. Anna glanced at the sleepy Terry and found an opportunity to leave.
"I feel like it's pretty good here. Nia, who lives in the same room as me, is usually very lazy. Now she goes out for a run before dawn and doesn't go to bed until one or two o'clock."
These words made me happy. Terry, who was almost asleep, felt something in his heart.
Based on John’s previous advice, it is not advisable to go out in this town from early morning to dawn.
“It’s not appropriate to go out? Maybe we are afraid that we outsiders will encounter some danger, but Nia and the others went out together, and they are all familiar with the locals, so they should be fine. She even asked me to go out with her, but I can’t run away now.”
Perrin expressed his opinion.
Terry didn't say much and followed Anna back to his room.
(End of this chapter)