"I'm sorry you had to see such a... uh... bloody scene..." Penny said as she led everyone down the street. "It's a tradition here to kill chickens for friends. My husband, Dot, is the best chicken killer in town. What happened just now was just a... a small accident."
Constantine, the staff member of the program crew, smiled politely. "Thank you for your enthusiasm, Ms. Penny." He turned his head. "Mr. Mayor, it's a pleasure to work with you. I hope I can talk to you about the location in detail later …"
"Of course, of course. The Battle of the Psychics has been very popular recently. We also hope to cooperate and let the filming go smoothly. This way, more people will know about Little Hangleton." Mayor Gray took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Although it sounded ridiculous to use ghosts as a gimmick to attract tourists, there were actually people who liked it.
"That would be great." Constantine nodded. "About the Liddell family, we need to film you sitting in a tavern and talking about them while drinking. Mayor, please prepare in advance."
"I'll do my best to cooperate," Mayor Gray promised. He was silent for a while as the two walked down the asphalt paved street.
The mayor looked at the old water heater and suddenly remembered something. "Oh... Speaking of which, you might meet a stubborn old man in the wooden house behind the Liddell villa. You should stay away from him."
Constantine wrote down in a small notebook. "He's a resident here?
Grumpy neighbor, right?
There are always weird old men like that in the community. "
"Yes, a weird old man... In fact..." Mayor Gray paused. "He was previously thought to be the real murderer of the Liddell family..."
"What?!"
Constantine almost dropped the book in his hand. He looked around and lowered his voice. "Wait a minute … We didn't know about this before …" He took out a copy of the case record. "Mayor, the record says that three members of the Liddell family committed suicide on the same day in some unknown way. Suicide!
There's no mention of any suspected murderer in the records! "
"This …" Mayor Gray hesitated. "Oh … maybe. Maybe the record … is wrong?"
"Oh my God, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, this news has messed up our plans." The final challenge of the Battle of the Psychics was for the shaman to sense what had happened to the Liddell family, which ultimately led to the deaths of the three of them. The program team had already arranged the final outcome. The muscular diviner, Mr. Strong, would lift up a wooden plank and find the cursed item that the program team had placed in the cave below. From there, he would solve the mystery of the Liddell family's deaths and become the champion of the season.
But now, if there was really a psychic who predicted that the old man living in the wooden house had something to do with the case, then Mr. Strong's championship would not be so convincing. "Who else knows about this?" Constantine frowned. He had to discuss this with the director.
Mayor Gray paused. "Erm, the whole town, basically, knows …"
Constantine patted his head. "Sigh, we have to discuss this again. I hope it doesn't affect the original plan." He looked around. No one else had heard his conversation with the mayor. Only a little girl was walking not far away with a baby carriage. She looked around curiously, and then her eyes were attracted by the candy shop. "She probably didn't hear it," Constantine thought.
But in fact, Anna heard everything. She was so focused on the conversation that she almost pushed the baby carriage into a small mud puddle. Elvin snorted in dissatisfaction.
"Anna!"
Hermione and the other two ran over. Ron handed a lollipop to Anna. "There was an old man who looked like a skeleton giving out candy. We got one for you too." Harry handed a lollipop to Elvin. "Elvin has one too."
"Thank you." Anna pulled open the candy wrapper and then frowned. Sure enough, Little Hangerton was really strange. The lollipop in front of her was in the shape of a human head. The mustached man grinned wildly.
"This is a famous person in Little Hangerton." Hermione came online. "I saw it on the flyer at the door. Luther Hobbs. He's a great doctor. He came to Little Hangerton in 1942 and lived here. His medical skills are excellent. I heard that he can solve any difficult and complicated disease and saved many people."
"He would give the patients a magical potion that tastes like milk and is dark purple." Hermione shrugged. "I don't know what it is. It doesn't sound reliable now. Maybe the patients at that time were able to recover, mostly because of psychological effects …"
"I think that Hobbs is a wizard." Ron thought that everyone was a wizard. "The old man looked like a wizard just now. It's really hard to imagine how he could stand up. When you get close to him, you can hear the sound of bones rubbing together."
Anna put the human head lollipop into her mouth. "Hmm, not bad. It tastes mint. It doesn't taste as strange as it looks."
A drop of water landed on Anna's face. She lifted her head and realized that the clouds had covered the sky without her noticing. The air was damp, and it was about to rain. The mayor noticed this as well. He started running and called for everyone to come to Hanged Ghost Inn to take shelter from the rain.
The Hanged Ghost Inn was built on a slope. There were many patches on the wooden signboard. The most conspicuous one was a cloth patch that changed the word 'pub' to 'inn'. It seemed that the building had been around for many years. The honey-colored stone walls looked weathered and the brown roof was covered with a lot of straw. It was unclear whether it was for aesthetic reasons or to fill in the holes.
The inn was' embedded 'in the middle of two renovated brick houses. It looked like a child squeezed by adults. It was particularly petite. The path at the entrance was paved with gravel, and flowers were planted beside it. A scarecrow in a green plaid skirt was planted in the soil, adding a bit of eeriness to the rustic atmosphere of the inn.
"Oh!
Boss Dot's scarecrow won the first prize in the previous' scarecrow competition '. "Mayor Gray patted the scarecrow's big straw hat." We call it the flirtatious lady in the plaid skirt. "He looked at the children and winked." I heard that Dot made it according to his wife Penny when she was young. "
Anna looked at the lady in the plaid skirt seriously. The straw almost burst her skirt. It seemed that Penny was a little plump when she was young.
Harry smiled and approached the scarecrow. He felt that it was very interesting. As a boy with a limited range of activities, this was the first time he saw a scarecrow in person.
"… People … So many people …" A hoarse woman's voice was heard. It was intermittent and sounded very creepy. "I'm so hungry … So hungry …"
Harry stopped and his smile froze on his face. He rubbed his ears. "What?"
Ron looked over while eating his lollipop. He looked at Harry and then at the lady in the plaid skirt. "What's wrong, Harry?
Are you fascinated by the lady in the plaid skirt? "
"No …" Harry frowned. "Ron, did you hear anything strange just now?
It's … the lady in the plaid skirt … "
Ron stepped forward and approached the plump belly of the lady in the plaid skirt. He raised his eyebrows and showed an unfathomable expression. "Oh!
I think I heard … Hmm, wait, what did you say … "
"What did she say?" Harry was very nervous and also came over.
Ron put his arm around his neck. "It said that it's pregnant with a girl!
Hahaha — Harry!
You don't really believe it, do you?
It's just an ordinary scarecrow — how can it talk? "
"Ron!" Harry smiled helplessly and relaxed. He thought that he might have heard wrong.
"Come in quickly, it's going to rain soon!"
Hermione stood at the door with her hands on her hips and greeted them. Anna stood beside her and looked at the ordinary scarecrow again.
"Coming, coming!"
Ron and Harry rushed into the Hanged Ghost Inn playfully. The wooden door slowly closed, and soon it started to rain.
The scarecrow personality, the lady in the plaid skirt, stood in front of the window of the inn. The rain dripped along the eaves and hit her straw hat. For a moment, it seemed that the whole world was only left with the sound of the rain dripping. Suddenly, an irregular hissing sound was heard. It sounded like a bug was calling, but also like the whisper of a devil.
"So hungry … So hungry …"