"Squeak-squeak-"

Under Richard's gaze, the gates of the black castle slowly opened, followed by an incomparably piercing sound, which made people feel creepy to the ears, and one couldn't help but imagine some scenes: fingernails scratching glass, chalk scratching blackboards, keys scratching the bottom of rusty iron buckets......

Richard furrowed his eyebrows, well aware of the reasons for this.

Obviously, the sound of the door opening contains a special frequency of sound that stimulates the human brain to produce an inherent response.

The reason why the human brain has this inherent reaction is due to the instinct of ancient times. In the period of Homo erectus, which did not yet have a language, humans used this specific frequency of sound to warn their companions of approaching danger and flee quickly.

As evolution has progressed, humans have used this instinct less and less, and it ends up deep in the brain and rarely stimulated. However, some close human relatives who have not evolved, such as chimpanzees and apes, are 100% preserved.

This information flashed through Richard's mind, and he tried to suppress his physical discomfort and looked into the castle door with vigilance. After all, according to the current situation, no matter how you look at it, what comes out of the castle gate does not look like a good thing. Maybe it's because of his temptation at noon that angers the Joker, who makes some settings in retaliation.

So what could it be?

"Let me see!" Richard said in a deep voice, his arm slowly leaned forward, and the energy storage short staff in his sleeve slid out little by little, and at the same time, the free energy element in the magic source in his body began to operate, ready to attack at any time.

And at this moment—

There was a "pop" sound, and the gate of the castle, which had just been opened, suddenly closed quickly.

Before Richard could react, he heard a voice behind him: "Passerby, I'm here! Hehe, you keep surprising me, I think I should surprise you too." Well, it's clumsy, but seeing that you're nervous, I think it's a success. ”

Richard turned his head sharply and saw the clown standing behind him on a stone on the side of the road.

Richard raised his arm slightly, and the sliding of the short staff in his sleeve stopped, but the free energy element was still running, and he looked at the clown vigilantly, and said slowly: "Mr. Clown, what a coincidence, we meet again." According to what you just said, are you ready to admit that some things were arranged specifically for me?"

"By the way, you should have always known that I was there for you, right?" said the Joker.

"But you know, I know you're arranging it for me, right?" said Richard.

"Well, it seems, you know it too, and I know it, and you know that I'm arranging it for you. "The clown's face does not change.

"We seem to be able to go on and on. Richard spoke.

"Hah!" the clown laughed, "it seems like we could go on and on." ”

"But it didn't make sense. Richard spread his hands, "Just figure it out, we both know each other know each other 'know each other' and make sure we're ready for a showdown." ”

"Makes sense. The clown nodded.

"What the hell is Mr. Clown going to say about a showdown with me?" Richard asked, "It shouldn't have been Mr. Clown's intention to have been carefully arranging so many things for me for so many days, controlling my schedule, just talking once, playing a game, and then helping to solve the theft?"

"You're quite right. The clown looked at it seriously, agreed, and suddenly thought of something, and asked aloud, "But before I answer everything, don't you wonder what the outcome of the circus will be after you leave at noon today? You should be able to think of what the ending will be, but you're not sure, are you?"

"So, let Mr. Clown tell me. ”

"Yes. The clown said, "At noon, after you dropped the money, the circus people started fighting in a short time." First, the hunky Tyne killed the regimental leader Oliver, and then the lame McGee attacked Tyne, causing Tyne to bleed to death.

The animal trainer Thor then released his lion and killed the lame Mackie. After McGee's death, Thors prepares to deal with Amy, and has evil intentions, ripping off Amy's clothes and trying to force a relationship with Amy. Out of desperation, Amy pretended to be obedient, and then, at a critical moment, bit off an important part of Thors's body and swallowed it.

Tsk, poor Thors, bled to death, and Amy was also killed by a lion. When the lion drags Thor's body away, I'll come to you. ”

Richard looked at the clown, blinked his eyes, and exclaimed, "What a tragic end." I have a doubt, though, Mr. Clown. ”

"What?"

"Are you a member of the circus?" asked Richard, "did you temporarily disguise yourself as a member of the circus in some particular way, or did you actually live with each other for several years?" I don't think the latter is likely, right?"

"Huh. The clown laughed and said, "You'll have to find out for yourself." ”

Then the clown said in a straight tone: "Let's get down to business." ”

"Well, okay, please. Richard made a gesture of please.

The clown said, looked at Richard and said, "You should know that all this time, I have been trying to contact you and then put some tests on you. ”

"Hmm. Richard nodded.

"And I'm doing this because you're trying to explore some of the secrets of the former Black Spirit Empire, which has caught the attention of me and the members of my organization. For safety reasons, we had to get our hands dirty and do some testing on you. "It's not that this secret is not allowed to be explored by anyone, but for some purpose, the organization behind me and I must ensure that the people who explore it are not enemies." ”

"Enemies? who are your enemies?" Richard asked, "Also, is the organization you are talking about related to something in the private library of the King of the Ten Thousand Kingdoms of the Black Holy Mountain, in other words, are you from the so-called Holy Mountain?"

"Stop, stop!" the clown said solemnly, making a pause gesture, "Passerby, there's so much you want to know, and there's a lot I can't tell you, you can only try to figure it out by yourself." I'm telling you only things you should know, you know?"

"Alright then, Mr. Clown, you go ahead. Richard said.

The Joker continued: "From the topic above, my original purpose in testing you was to determine your identity, but in fact, before the first test, I had a guess that you were most likely not an enemy. The reason is simple, you are much better than the enemy.

So I made some adjustments to the content of the test, and in order to get to know you better, I specially designed three levels. That is, we started with the educational talk, then the clown chess competition, and the theft at noon today.

I have standards for passing these three levels, and I want to score you through your performance to see how good you are. But when I played the first level, I realized that I was wrong: you are not better than the enemy, but much better, and the degree of excellence is beyond my highest estimate. ”

In other words. The clown didn't seem to be joking at all, and said seriously to Richard, "Your existence is indescribable with excellence, you ...... It should not exist in the evaluation system. ”

"Uh......"