Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen

Arthur was unwilling to leave Wenning, and neither Susie nor the doctor could make him make any decisions.Neither of them mentioned that night in the grove at Schene, but their minds were filled with the horror of the experience, and they could not for a moment shake off the nightmarish memory, the haunting cries of sorrow. their ears.Arthur was so depressed that he hardly spoke when he was with them.Susie and the doctor tried to distract him, but he stubbornly refused their offer.He spends a lot of time wandering the country alone, and no one knows what he does.Susie was very worried.Now Arthur is in such a mess that he can do anything reckless.She guessed that his hatred for Hador could no longer be restrained by reason. Every cell in his body was full of desire for revenge, so he could do any violent thing.

A few more days passed. Finally, after consulting with Dr. Bojoy, Susie decided to try again.It was late at night, and they were sitting around the open window in the hotel living room. The air was oppressive, like a thunderstorm.Susie hoped it would rain soon, and she thought Arthur's sullenness had a lot to do with the heat of the previous few days. "Arthur, you've got to tell us what you're going to do," she said. "It's no use staying here. We're all too tired and tense to think about anything rationally. The doctor and I hope you'll come with us tomorrow. "

"Go away if you want," he said, "I'll stay here until the man dies." "It's so stupid to say that. You can't do anything, it's only going to make you worse by being here." "I have decided." "Even the law can't help you, so what can you do?" She asked this on purpose, hoping to get some clues from him, so as to understand his inner thoughts.Although she vaguely guessed what Arthur was thinking, she was still taken aback by that cold answer. "If there is no other way, then I will shoot him like a dog." She didn't know what to say, and the two were silent for a while.Then he stood up.

"I should wish you to go," he said. "You're only getting in my way here." "As long as you're here, I won't go." "why?" "Because if you do something, I'm an accomplice and I could be arrested. I think that might give you some scruples." He looked at her without moving.She met his gaze.It was evident from her poise that she meant business.He turned away uncomfortably.The two remained motionless and fell into an endless silence.The room was silent, as if no one was there.The air was getting hotter and hotter, making it suffocating.Suddenly, there was a thunderclap, followed by a flash of lightning piercing through the thick clouds.Susie silently thanked God for a cool downpour.She was very upset, and blaming the weather for her mood was a good excuse.There was another boom in the sky.The thunder was deafening, as if it was right above their heads.Suddenly, the wind picked up.The wind blew through the woods around the house with a long moan, like the wail of a dead man tormented by regret.

The lights went out, so suddenly, that Susie felt vaguely frightened.I saw the light flicker, and then suddenly went out, as if someone leaned on the chimney and blew it out.It was so dark that they could not see the windows that opened onto the yard.Facing the sudden darkness, the three of them sat motionless. Susie heard Dr. Bojoy touching matches on the table, but the matches did not seem to be on the table.Then there was another rumble of thunder, but no rain.The air was so stuffy that the three longed for a little fresh air.Suddenly, Susie's heart beat violently.She stood up abruptly.

"There is someone else in the room." As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Arthur rushing towards the intruder.Instinctively, she guessed at once that it was Hador.But how did he get in?What is he here for?She tried to cry out, but no sound came out of her throat.Dr. Bojoy seemed to have passed out in his chair, unable to move or make any sound.Susie knew that there was a fight to the death between the two men who hated each other, but the terrible thing was that she couldn't hear a sound.The two did not make any sound.Susie tried to do something, but couldn't move.Seeing that the enemy was in his hands, Arthur couldn't help feeling ecstatic.As long as that man is alive, he will never let go.Arthur gritted his teeth and tensed his arms.Susie heard his rapid breathing, but not the other's.She wondered what this meant, feeling utterly terrified.They fought silently at close range, and Arthur realized that his strength was superior to the opponent, so he thought of a countermeasure, and led his enemy step by step to the only ending.His enemies are formidable, but Arthur's tenacity seems to grant him unlimited power.They seemed to wrestle for hours, but Arthur still couldn't bring the other down.

Suddenly, Arthur felt that his opponent was afraid and wanted to run away, so he secretly tightened his hand-now, there was nothing in this world that could make him let go.He took a deep breath and exerted all his strength.The two swing from side to side.Arthur felt the muscles in his arms almost being torn from the bones, and he couldn't hold on for a second.But when he thought that he was about to fall short, his heart was filled with pain.The pain made him twitch violently.Suddenly, Haddo collapsed, and the two of them fell heavily to the ground together.Arthur's breathing became more rapid.He thought that if he could persist for a while longer, he would be safe, so he threw himself heavily at the rolling meat ball under his feet, and pressed it on the man's arm.With all his strength, he snapped Hadow's arm, and then felt that arm had become limp.Haddo's arm was broken, and Arthur whispered triumphantly.By this time his enemies were in a panic.Haddo struggled frantically, trying only to escape the iron hands that were about to kill him.Arthur grabbed Haddo's bull-like neck and squeezed his fingers tightly around Haddo's throat.His fingers sank deep into the layers of fat.He poured all the strength of his body into his hands, and he was very happy because the enemy finally fell into his hands.Little by little he took away Haddo's life.He wanted the light so that he could see the terrible expression on that huge face at this moment, the utter terror and wide open eyes.Those steely hands were still tightly strangling Haddo.At this point his victim twitched strangely, writhing in dying agony.Those vengeful hands gripped him tightly like a vise, and all his resistance was futile.Then, the continuous twitching of Haddo's body turned into intermittent twitching, and then gradually weakened.Arthur was still strangling his thick neck tightly.He forgot everything, and his mind was full of anger, hatred and sadness.He thought of Marguerite's devilish torment and her pain, and he wished that the man before him had ten lives so that he could take his lives one by one.In the end, everything was calm, and the huge piece of meat remained motionless.He knew that his formidable enemy was dead.He let go of his hands and touched Haddo's chest. His heart didn't beat a beat—he was indeed dead.Arthur stood up.It was still pitch black all around, and he couldn't see anything.Susie heard him, and at last she could speak.

"Arthur, what did you do?" "I killed him," he said hoarsely. "God! What shall we do then?" Arthur laughed hysterically.In the darkness, his ecstasy was terrifying. "For God's sake, light the lamp quickly." "I found a match," said Dr. Bojoy. The doctor seemed to wake up suddenly from a long coma.He struck a match, didn't light it, and struck another.Susie took off the globe, and the doctor lit the wick, held up the lamp, and saw Arthur watching them.Arthur's face was very pale, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, and his eyes were red with bloodshot eyes.His limbs were trembling constantly.Dr. Bojoy took the oil lamp and took a few steps forward, holding the oil lamp forward.Everyone looked at the dead body lying on the ground.Susie screamed.

There was no one on the ground. Arthur was taken aback and couldn't help taking a few steps back.Whether dead or alive, there was no one in the house except the three of them.Susie felt the ground sink under her feet, her eyes went dark, and she passed out.When she awoke, it seemed difficult to adjust to the light, and Arthur pushed her head down. "Bend down," he said, "Bend down." She thought of everything that happened just now, and tears welled up in her eyes.She couldn't help herself, and hid in Arthur's arms and wept sadly, as if her heart was broken.She was shaking from head to toe.The weird scene just now really frightened her out of her wits. If she hadn't fainted, she would have screamed loudly in horror.

"It's all right," he said, "don't be afraid." "Oh, why is that?" "You've got to take courage, we're going to Shane now." She jumped up, as if trying to flee from him.Her heart was beating wildly. "No, I can't, I'm afraid." "We have to find out what's going on. There's no time and we have to be back before dawn." She tries to stop him. "For God's sake, Arthur, don't go. Something terrible awaits you there. Don't risk your life." "There is no danger. I tell you, the man is dead."

"If something happens to you..." She stopped, trying to suppress her choking sobs, not daring to speak any more.Arthur seemed to know what she was worried about. "For you, I will not take risks. I know that my life and death are not an insignificant matter to you." She looked up and saw him staring at her with a very solemn expression.Her face was flushed, and a strange feeling surged in her heart. "Wherever you go, I will go with you," she said humbly. "Then come on." They stepped into the night.The rainless storm had died down, and the sky was full of stars.They walk like flying.Arthur went first, and Susie and Dr. Bojoy followed side by side.In order not to be thrown off by Arthur, they had to speed up their pace.The night is no longer dark and scary, and there is a fresh and pleasant fragrance in the air.The sky is beautiful.Finally, they came to Schene.Arthur led them through the opening in the fence again, this time holding Susie's hand.After a while, they came to a clearing.It was here that they had seen Haddo's house the other day.As before, there was a great shadow against the night where the house stood, and as before, there was a bright light in the attic window.Susie was terrified. She had expected it to be dark. "I assure you, there is no danger." Arthur said softly, "We are going to unravel the mystery of all this now." He goes to the house. "Have you got a weapon?" asked the doctor. Arthur handed him a revolver. "Here. But I'm sure you won't need it. I had other plans, so I bought it." Susie shuddered slightly.They came to the driveway and walked toward the huge porch that adorned the front of the house.Arthur pressed the knob and the door locked. "Will you wait here for a while?" he said. "I'll go in through the window and open the door for you." With that he left, leaving the doctor and Susie standing at the door.They waited quietly, feeling very uneasy, not knowing what they would see.They were afraid that something bad would happen to Arthur.Susie regretted not going with Arthur very much.Suddenly, she remembered the terrible scene before—when the oil lamp was lit, the place where a corpse should have been lying was empty. "What do you think happened?" Susie said suddenly, "Why did he disappear?" "Perhaps we will find out in a moment," said the doctor. Arthur hadn't come back yet, and she couldn't imagine what had happened to him.All kinds of terrible imaginations appeared in her mind, and she felt inexplicably flustered.Finally, there was a sound of footsteps from the other side of the door, and the door opened. "Although I'm sure no one's sleeping here, I'll have to double check. It took a bit of effort to get in through the window." She hesitated to go in.The house was dark and daunting, and she didn't know what horror was waiting for her. "I can't see anything," she said. "I got the flashlight," Arthur said. He flipped the switch, and a narrow, bright beam of light shone on the floor.Dr. Bojoy and Susie went in.Arthur carefully closed the door and scanned the surroundings with the flashlight.They stood in a great hall, and on the floor were scattered the skins of a dozen lions, all made by Haddo during his expeditions to Africa.These lion skins filled the hall with a primitive and barbaric atmosphere.A grand oak staircase leads to the upstairs rooms. "We must search all the rooms," said Arthur. He had no hope of finding Haddo before he reached the attic, but a thorough search of the house was necessary anyway.Through the beam of the flashlight, he saw various weapons adorning the walls, including hand-crafted swords from the East, primitive weapons from Central Africa, and primitive weapons from the battlefields of the Middle Ages.He thought of something, took down a huge battle ax from the wall, held it in his hand and waved it a few times. "follow me." The three of them held their breath and walked into the first room quietly as if they were afraid of waking up the dead.The light beam of the flashlight is narrow and thin, and can only illuminate the furnishings in the house little by little. Coupled with the darkness all around, it is difficult for everyone to see the whole room.It was a large room, the furniture covered with bleached linen, obviously unoccupied.There was a musty smell in the room, suggesting that the windows must be rarely opened.As in other old houses, these rooms do not lead to a corridor, but to another room.In this way they went through several rooms, and at last came back into the hall.A sense of uninhabited desolation pervades every room.All the rooms were very dark because of the oak paneling.Wood paneling also adorns the hall and the staircase leading to the rooms above.As they went up the stairs Arthur stopped and felt the polished planks. "If it burns, it will be overwhelming," he said. They shuttled through the rooms on the second floor and found that these rooms were also empty and gloomy.After a while they came to the place where Marguerite had lived.There were some withered flowers in a bowl, and her comb was still on the dressing table.The dark oak made the room look so dark and uncomfortable that Susie shuddered.Arthur looked at it for a while without saying a word.After leaving Margaret's room, they went up the stairs again to the second floor.They found that it seemed to be the roof. "How can I get to the attic?" Arthur looked around in puzzlement. He thought for a moment, then nodded. "There must be stairs leading to the attic." They move on.The ceiling here was much lower because of the beams, and there was not a single piece of furniture around the room.The emptiness made everything seem more terrifying.They felt that they were about to unravel a great mystery, and Susie's heart was beating wildly.Arthur carefully inspected each room, looking for secret doors leading to the stairs, but found no mechanism. "What if you can't find your way up?" Susie asked. "I'll find it," he said. They returned to the landing, still nothing.The three looked at each other helplessly. "Obviously, there must be a way." Arthur said anxiously, "There must be a secret door hidden somewhere." He leaned against the railing and mused, the flashlight in his hand casting a narrow beam on the opposite wall. "I think the secret door must be in a room at the end of the house. That's the best place for an upward staircase." They turned back again.Once more Arthur examined the paneling on the wall of the farthest chamber.This room is surrounded by external walls on three sides, only one of which cannot lead to other rooms. "It must be here," he said. After a while, he smiled slightly, and he must have found the small door hidden in the wood carving.He pressed what he thought was a spring, and the door swung open.By the light of their flashlights, they could see a narrow set of wooden stairs.They walked up the stairs and saw a door at the end of the stairs.Arthur pushed and the door locked.He smiled coldly. "Stand back a little," he said. He swung his tomahawk and slammed it at the latch.The doorknob was shattered, but the latch would not surrender.He shook his head.Just when he stopped and there was silence all around, Susie suddenly heard a faint sound.She put her hand on Arthur's arm to get his attention.They pricked up their ears.There seemed to be something alive behind the door, and that thing made a very strange sound, neither human nor animal. The voice sounded squeaky, hoarse, fast, extremely weird, and extremely abnormal, which made the three of them terrified. "Come on, Arthur," said Susie, "let's go." "There are living creatures inside," he replied. He didn't know why that sound frightened him.His forehead was beaded with sweat. "Something terrible is bound to happen to us," muttered Susie, her whole body trembling involuntarily. "The only thing that can be done now is to open this door." Immediately, he swung his tomahawk and smashed at the oak door with all his strength, the horrible creaking and rattling drowned out the noise he made.The heavy blows of the ax rained down on the door one after another, and the whole house resounded with the sound of slashing.With a click, the door opened.They had been in the dark, so the sudden blinding light dazzled them for a moment.When the door opened, a gust of hot air hit their faces, and they instinctively took a few steps back, barely able to breathe.The whole room is like an oven. They went in.Several large lamps were lit in the room, which were made brighter by the reflection mirrors.There was a big brazier in the room, which was very warm.The narrow windows were closed.They couldn't figure out why the place was so hot.Dr. Bojoy glanced at the thermometer and was taken aback by the scale on it.Obviously, this is a laboratory.The wide table was filled with test tubes, white porcelain basins, measuring cups, and various utensils.But the most astonishing thing is that these things are all amazingly large.Neither Arthur nor Dr. Bojoy had ever seen such a large measuring cup or test tube.Rows upon rows on the table were many of the usual pharmacy bottles containing large quantities of chemicals.The three stood silently.Although the room was empty, it was full of enthusiasm—a difference so strange that it seemed mysterious.Susie even felt that the people who were doing experiments here were halfway through their work, maybe they just went to another room to see the progress of other experiments, and might come back at any time.There was silence all around, and the vague and weird sound just now disappeared because they walked in. The door to another room was closed, and Arthur opened it to find a low attic with thick rafters.It was just as bright and hot here as the previous room.Retorts, heating equipment, giant test tubes, and various utensils are also placed on the spacious table.A burning brazier keeps the room at a constant temperature.Arthur scanned the tables, wondering what experiment Haddo was doing.The air was very stale, and there was a peculiar smell--not the musty smell of the previous rooms, but a sickly, acrid smell.Arthur silently pondered where this smell came from.At this time, he saw a huge container on the table beside the brazier, covered with a white cloth.He tore the cloth off.The terrarium was about four inches high, round, somewhat like a bathtub, and over an inch thick.Inside the container was a round object, a little bigger than a football, showing a peculiar blue-gray color.The surface of that thing is flat, but there are many grains, and it is covered by dense blood vessels.The scene in front of them reminded the two doctors of the huge tumor in the hospital museum.Susie felt an unspeakable nausea.Suddenly, she screamed. "My God, it's moving!" Arthur immediately took her arm and tried to calm her down, bending over with irresistible curiosity.He found that it was a mass of flesh, but it was not human flesh.The thing pulsated regularly, rising and falling, like a woman's chest rising and falling in deep sleep.Arthur held out a finger, touched it, and saw it shrink back slightly. "It's warm," he said. He turned the thing over, only to find that it was still the same as before, as if there was no beginning and end.But on this side, the thing had short, irregular hairs like human hair. "Is it alive?" Susie murmured.She was amazed and terrified at the same time. "yes!" Arthur seemed so fascinated by it that he couldn't take his eyes off the disgusting thing.He watched intently the even pulse of the thing. "What the hell is this?" he asked. He looked at Dr. Bojoy, pale and shocked.A possibility occurred to him, but the speculation was so unnatural, exaggerated, and terrifying that he instinctively stretched out his hands and pushed the idea away, as if it were something real.At this moment, the three of them were startled and turned around quickly—they heard the chirping sound hitting their eardrums again.They forgot everything and were preoccupied only with guessing what that repulsive mass really was.The voice seemed very close to them, and Susie instinctively backed away because it seemed to be coming from beside her. "There's nothing here," said Arthur, "and it must be in the next room." "Arthur, let's go!" shouted Susie, "I'm terrified God knows what the hell is going to happen again. It's none of our business, but what we've seen has the potential to poison our dreams forever .” She looked earnestly at Dr. Bojoy.The doctor was pale and very nervous.His forehead was dripping with sweat from the heat. "I've seen enough and I don't want to watch any more," he said. "Go away, then," said Arthur. "I don't want to force you to see anything, but I'm going to keep going, and whatever it is, I'm going to find out." "What about Haddo? What if he's waiting for you inside? Maybe you're walking into his trap." "I'm sure Haddo is dead." Then they heard the harsh, incomprehensible chattering.Arthur stepped forward, and Susie followed immediately.She was ready to go anywhere with him.He opened the door and the sound suddenly died away.Whatever it is that makes the sound, it's here.This room occupies all the front positions on this floor, so it is much larger and more open than the other rooms.Bright oil lamps illuminate every corner of the room, but the beams of the open ceiling are all hidden in shadow.There was also the strange smell just now.The smell was so strong that it was unbearable, and they couldn't even enter it for a while.The air was indescribably foul, and even Arthur felt sick.He looked at the windows in the wall, wondering if they could be opened, but they were all firmly sealed.There were four braziers in the room, all of which were lit with fire.In order to make the fire burn hotter and last longer, all the sealed doors on the front of the brazier were opened, and the coke inside was burning blazingly.The extreme warmth made the air even more stale and unbearable. The layout of this room is the same as other rooms, except that besides various chemical instruments, there are many electrical appliances on the wide table.There are several books on the table, one of which is open and turned upside down on the table.The most eye-catching thing in the whole room is the row of huge glassware on the table.The terrariums were the same as they had seen in the next room, each covered with a white cloth.Everyone hesitated for a while, they knew that at this moment they were about to uncover a huge mystery.Finally, Arthur lifted the white cloth from a container.None of them spoke, but their eyes widened in surprise.Although there was also a mass of meat in the container, the frightening thing was that the mass of newborn-sized flesh had gradually taken on a human form.It was shaped like a baby, with its legs twisted together like a mummy wrapped in an oilcloth.It has no feet and no knees, and the torso is piled together, with no definite shape, but with strange bumps on both sides, as if a sculptor had wanted to make a pair of arms bent softly at the side, but hadn't finished it. Just let it go, so the arms are still connected to the body.Above the torso is what resembles a human head, covered with long blond hair.But this "head" is terrible, without eyes or mouth, just an ugly ball of meat.It was a sickly, almost transparent pink, and throbbed slowly and rhythmically—it was alive, too. Then, except for the last container, Arthur lifted the white cloth covering the other containers one by one.One after another, creepy and strange things flashed before their eyes.Susie clenched her fists hard to suppress the urge to scream.There is a monster whose limbs are close to human form.It is very bloated, with fat and small arms, bulging legs, and a short and fat body, just like a ceramic doll in ancient Chinese official clothes.The body of another monster has evolved into the appearance of a child, but it is covered with red and gray spots.Its frightening thing is that its neck is forked into two, and each bears a huge and deformed head.There are faces on both heads, but that face is definitely a satire on human beings, which makes people unbearable to watch.When the light hit it, it slowly opened the eyes on both heads.The eyes had no pupils and were pink like the eyes of a rabbit.It stared at Arthur strangely for a moment, then closed its eyes again.Oddly, its eye-closing movements were out of sync, with the eyelids on one head closing faster than the eyelids on the other.There is another monster that is simply the devil in the nightmare.It has four arms, four legs, and seems to be formed from the fusion of two bodies, and it can crawl.Affixed to the bottom of the giant terrarium, it is wriggling toward its viewers, seemingly wondering who they are.It stood up on all fours and tried to touch them, and Susie flinched back in horror. Susie turned away in a hurry.She couldn't look at them, and she was terrified and ashamed by the horrific fakes masquerading as humans. "Do you know what that means?" Dr. Bojoy asked Arthur, his voice full of awe. "It means that he has discovered the secret of life." "Did Margaret die for these ugly monsters?" The two looked at each other silently, their eyes were sad and full of surprise. "Do you remember when he said he made life? These deformed things are his work," said the doctor. "There's one more I haven't seen," said Arthur. He pointed to the largest container, still covered with a white cloth.He had a hunch that it contained the most terrifying monsters.He carefully lifted the white cloth.The moment the white cloth fell, something jumped up, and Arthur stepped back instinctively.Then the monster let out a piercing cheeping sound—just the sound they had heard before.The monster was not talking, but barking wildly.Although its voice was hoarse, it was very piercing, up and down like a dog barking, and it sounded terrible.It screamed continuously, the tone full of anger, as if the sound was made to express its will in the language of fury.It clenched its fists and frantically knocked on the glass wall of the cage it was in.Its hands have five distinct fingers, which is what a human hand should look like.It had the shape of a newborn again, but was much larger, standing about four feet tall.Its head was badly deformed, with a distended skull so smooth that it looked like hydrocephalus, and a horribly protruding forehead.The features on the face were still unformed, tiny in contrast to the huge forward-protruding forehead, and exuded a demonic sense of evil.The slightly deformed face twisted with violent anger, white foam kept coming out of the disgusting mouth.Gradually it raised its voice, screeching meaningless gibberings angrily.Then, it began to slam into the glass wall frantically, beating itself on the head.It seemed to suddenly have an incomprehensible hatred for the three strangers in front of it.It tried to pounce on them.From time to time, it opened its toothless mouth fiercely and made all kinds of terrible grimaces.This nameless, aborted fetus-like monstrosity is the most human-like cyborg Oliver Hadow has ever created. "Come on," said Arthur, "can't read any more." He quickly covered the altar with a white cloth. "Yeah, for God's sake let's go," Susie said. "It's not over," Arthur said. "We haven't found the creators of these works." He looked around and saw that there was no way out except the door they had come in.He took two steps forward, let out a cry, and knelt on the ground. Oliver Hadow lay dead on the floor beyond the long table.There was a lot of utensils piled up on the table, so they didn't see him at first.His eyes widened and looked bigger than ever.His eyes still retained the pain and panic before he died, and his fat face was also distorted and deformed by extreme fear.His face was black and purple, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Death of suffocation," said Dr. Bojoy softly. Arthur pointed to Haddo's neck, which clearly bore the finger prints of the vengeful hand that took his life bit by bit. "As I said, I've killed him," said Arthur. Then he remembered something, and grabbed Hado's right arm.He was convinced that Hador's arm had been broken in that mortal struggle in the dark.He examined it carefully.He clearly heard the sound of two bones rubbing against each other—the arm of the dead man on the ground was indeed broken, and it was at the position at that time.Arthur stood up and took one last look at his enemy.The compost was horribly messy on the floor. "Now that I found it, can I leave now?" Susie's words brought him back to his senses. "Yes, we have to hurry." They turned quickly away and strode across the bright attic to the landing. "Go down first and wait for me at the door." Arthur said, "I'll be right there." "What are you going to do?" Susie asked. "Don't ask, just do as I say. I have work to do." They went down the oak stairs and waited for Arthur in the hall, wondering what else he was going to do.After a while, he ran down in a hurry. "Go!" he yelled. "There's no time!" "Arthur, what did you do?" "I don't have time to explain to you now." He hurried them out and closed the door behind him.He shook Susie's hand. "We must run. Come on." She didn't know why he was in such a hurry, only that her heart was beating wildly.He dragged her along, with Dr. Bojoy following closely behind.Arthur jumped into the bushes. "Quick! Quick!" He didn't let them breathe for a moment. At last they came to the opening of the fence.He helped them through the entrance they had come from, and carefully replaced the boards in their original positions.He grabbed Susie's arm and walked quickly to the hotel. "I'm so tired," she said, "I can't really walk that fast." "You have to go if you can't. You can rest as long as you want later." They walked quickly, and Arthur looked back at Shane from time to time.The night is still very dark, and countless stars are twinkling in the sky.Eventually, he slowed down. "You can walk more slowly now," he said. Susie saw his smiling eyes, full of tenderness.He wrapped his arms around her shoulders tenderly, letting her lean on her. "Poor thing, you must be exhausted," he said. "I'm sorry for pushing you so hard." "It doesn't matter at all." She leaned comfortably against him.The arm that protected her made her feel like she could take any weariness.At that moment Dr. Bojoe stopped. "You must let me have a cigarette," he said. "You can do whatever you want," Arthur replied. His tone was completely different from before, showing a good mood that he had never felt in the past few months.He looks very relaxed.Susie was more than happy to forget all the terrible past and let herself be blissed with happiness that seemed long overdue.They strolled leisurely in the countryside.现在的他们，终于可以享受夜的美妙了。四周的空气非常柔和，充满了石楠花的芬芳。夜晚那迷人的静谧极好地舒缓着他们的疲惫。夜虽然仍旧浓黑，但他们知道黎明即将到来，这让祖西感到非常喜悦。东方的墨蓝渐渐变成了淡紫色，树木也逐渐从黑暗中显出极其优美的形态。突然，周围的鸟儿唱起了美妙的乐曲。脚边的一只云雀扑棱着翅膀一跃而起，一边唱着快乐的乐曲，一边骄傲地飞向天空，迎接即将到来的新的一天。三人爬上了一座小山丘。 “我们在这里等日出吧。”祖西说。 “悉听尊便。” 他们静静站着，祖西快乐地深吸了一口气，黎明的空气清爽极了。整片土地在她脚下展开，笼罩在太阳未升前朦胧的紫色晨光里。那份美丽让祖西内心一阵狂喜。但她注意到，亚瑟并没有像她和医生一样凝视着东方，而是紧紧盯着他们来时的方向。西边漆黑的天空有什么可看的？她环顾四周，忍不住惊叫起来——漆黑的天空被深红色的火光照得耀眼极了。 “看起来像是着火了。”她说。 “是的，谢讷此时正在猛烈地燃烧着。” 就在他说话的时候，又蹿起了一大片火焰，直冲云霄——屋顶似乎坍塌了。三人看到，他们刚刚离开的房子正在被烈火焚烧着。他们站在远处的山丘上，观望那气势恢宏的场景，只见火焰起起落落，如泰坦巨人般的火舌横扫而过，吞噬了一个又一个房间。谢讷正在燃烧，正在不可挽回地沦为灰烬。不用多久，一切可怕的怪物与犯罪痕迹都将灰飞烟灭。现在的谢讷是一片熊熊燃烧的火场，看上去就像一个远古时期供神明创造空前奇迹的火盆。 “亚瑟，你做了什么？”祖西问道，声音细弱得几乎听不到。 他没有直接回答。他再次用手环住她的肩膀，迫使她转过身去。 “看，太阳升起来了。” 只见一道长长的光束爬上了东方的天空，地平线上出现了一轮金黄而滚圆的太阳。