Mr. Joyce placed the fried eggs into a bowl and sliced several slices of bread before serving them on the table.
The dining table was an old wooden table placed next to the kitchen. The surface was covered in oil stains and some spots had mildew. Medical students usually had a higher standard of hygiene but Gu Jun's stomach rumbled with hunger. The moment he sat down, he dug into the fried eggs. It was a natural egg from a walking chicken, it was quite delicious.
"Then what happened?" He asked the old man about the incident at Innsmouth 2 years ago.
"The outside world knows very little about it. It was the winter between the end of last year and the beginning of last year. Many people said it was because of alcohol smuggling. But I know that was not the case. Jack tried to find out many ways to make money, including this. There was no bootlegging at Innsmouth. "
Mr. Joyce scoffed at this theory. "Many people were arrested but no one knew where they were taken. There was no trial, there was barely any news. There were some protests but they were quickly suppressed by the Commonwealth government. Something must have happened there. "
Gu Jun frowned silently. Could this be an operation by FBM against Innsmouth …
In his home world, there was no such thing as Innsmouth so FBM would not have done anything like this.
However, it sounded different here. It sounded like the government had captured a lot of cultists and unusual creatures in one go.
"I just want justice." Mr. Joyce chewed on his bread. His voice was muffled like he was sobbing. "I've gone to the police but they ignored me. I've gone to the media but they ignored me as well. My old friends either think I'm crazy or they don't want any trouble. "
"Sir, perhaps." Gu Jun offered, "Perhaps I can help you with some investigation."
"Oh?" Mr. Joyce's eyes glowed.
Gu Jun had to come up with a more convincing explanation to fit his identity. He said, "I've just arrived in this country, I need to find some work to earn some money. I can help you with the investigation at Innsmouth. I'm an Asian, perhaps I can sneak in. "
"Mr Gu, you can definitely sneak in!" Actually, Mr. Joyce had thought of this before, so he said excitedly, "You can pretend to be a follower of Dagon!"
"Yes, but I need more information first." Gu Jun nodded. "I want to know, are there any rumors about witches in Innsmouth?"
In this place, when people talked about witches, their faces would turn pale. If it had been two hundred years ago, they would have been accused of witchcraft and would have been put on trial.
"Witches …" Mr. Joyce widened his eyes and said with amusement, "Let's put it this way, everything here is related to witches. There were only a few eggs left in Old John's house. Were they stolen by the witch? Old Carter's dog always barks at night. Is that because it sees a witch? Things like that. "
The old man said as he swallowed the bread, choking a little. "You see, maybe the witch is eavesdropping on our conversation and made me choke."
Gu Jun felt a chill in his heart. He looked at the old man's reflection in the light, and the sky outside was already dark …
Gu Jun knew this was not entirely impossible. The 'shadow' that Kedou mentioned before.
"I've heard so much about witches since I was young." Mr. Joyce shrugged. "Of course Innsmouth has its share of witches. But I've asked around, it has nothing to do with the Dagon cult. But in Arkham, there is a 'Witch House'. "
Gu Jun was surprised. Arkham, when he heard the name earlier, he thought it was just a normal place but now it sounded like it was not as simple as it seemed.
"Arkham?" He asked.
"Arkham is one of the few cities in this part of the world, you can say that." Mr. Joyce said, "It is also filled with many strange legends. One of them is related to witches. First, I have to tell you about the witch case at Salem. "
Actually Gu Jun had heard about it before but he still listened to the old man. After all, the case here might be different.
However, it sounded the same to him. It was this case, the Salem Witch Trials.
It had been more than two hundred years since 1929. In the town of Salem, Massachusetts, the daughter of a pastor suddenly fell ill with a strange disease. After that, the girls that she usually played with also showed symptoms, and then some of the other girls in the town also fell ill.
"They would scream, sometimes their bodies would twitch and their minds would go crazy. They would make strange noises that sounded like they were chanting spells."
Mr. Joyce described the history that could no longer be verified. "At the time, no one knew why, the doctors could not explain it either."
Gu Jun was silent. In the medical world, the Salem case was also a historical mystery.
Tourette Disease? At least it was not the normal kind because the disease was not contagious and it would not cause delirium. There was a hypothesis that 'ergotism' was caused by ingesting rye that was infested with the fungus' ergot '. However, it did not explain why it started with girls.
Due to the plague, almost everyone in Salem was accused of being either a witch or a sorcerer.
According to the old man, hundreds of people were imprisoned and tortured, more than ten were hanged, stoned and burned to death.
"One of the witches at the time, Keziah Mason." Mr. Joyce continued, "Then for some reason, the witch escaped from Salem Prison and disappeared just like that! The warden at the time went crazy, he said he saw Keziah Mason using curves and angles to open up a space … "
Even though the old man was not a believer in the power of evil, he still found it absurd.
From the old man's perspective, the Dagon cultists did not have any supernatural power, their sacrifice was just a common sin.
This was even more so for these witch legends, they were just exaggerations made by later generations.
If Mr. Joyce believed in the existence of demons, he would not be so kind to the young man before him.
However, the more Gu Jun listened, the more chilled his heart. Based on what Kedou said, they still could not understand how the witch managed to walk out from the corner of the wall …
Now, he knew that the ability to travel through space was not just a legend. However, he did not know whether 'Keziah Mason' had anything to do with it or not.
"In any case, Keziah Mason's old house is at Arkham." Mr. Joyce said, "According to rumors, there are many strange things happening there as well. No one wants to get close to it."
A thought suddenly crossed Gu Jun's mind. He was transported to this dimension …
Could Arkham be a more important place than Innsmouth? Could there be any important clues in the Witch's House?
Could Keziah Mason be the witch or a being with a thousand faces?
While Gu Jun was deep in thought, the few dogs outside the house suddenly started barking fiercely, and a loud noise came from afar.
"Ol 'Joyce, you old bastard, someone saw you bring the cultist home!"
"You old bastard, hand over the Asian man. Are you trying to get us killed? Like how you killed Jack!"
"Get lost, you animal!"
Along with the loud cursing, the dogs' pitiful cries suddenly rang out. The dogs had obviously been beaten, and they immediately fled, their barking becoming even more pitiful.
"Damn it, damn it …" Mr. Joyce put down the bread and stood up. His beard quivered with anger. "The savages are here, damn them!"
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