The chandelier on the ceiling fell down, shattering into pieces on the living room floor, and some glass beads flew in all directions. Father and mother sat on the sofa, their faces full of terror. The sudden change left them at a loss, and they jumped up as if stung by a scorpion when the whole building shook for the second time.
The two of them moved in unison to Luna's door, knocked hard on it and shouted Luna's name. Luna's room was quiet, so quiet that the old couple looked at each other, puzzled, and then knocked on the door even harder. The voice of the old lady calling her daughter's name was already tinged with sobs.
Luna was actually squatting by the door just now, when she was lying in bed, the floor had shaken twice and really scared her. Her first reaction was to jump up, but when she got out of bed, she moved too hard and fell down. She crouched at the edge of the bed for a moment and waited until the shaking stopped before getting up and running to the door. Just then came the sound of knocking on the door and the old man and woman calling her name. Luna heard the sound and quieted down instead. She leaned against the door and crouched down slowly, with a determined look on her face.
The old man was even more anxious, not knowing how Luna was in the room, but at the moment they could do nothing but slam the door hard. At this moment, the building began to shake again. This time the shaking was continuous, and outside there were already broken glass and wailing sounds. More things in the room were moved, and hanging items from higher places fell and shattered all over the floor. The old couple were even more terrified. The father, in despair, kept banging his body against the door, but could not break through it.
Then there was another knock on the door. The old man and woman exchanged glances and stopped knocking, but the knocking from outside grew louder. Father hesitated for a moment, then rushed to the door and opened it. He stepped back, his expression instantly stiff and somewhat frightened.
It was Rowan who knocked on the door.
Rowan - The father subconsciously stepped back two steps. Faced with the young man, he was momentarily at a loss. He had never expected Rowan to come straight at the door. The young man was now full of trepation, with a flinching look in his eyes, but the old man knew that within him there were some powers that you could not perceive. Those powers were beasts that could pounce on you at any moment and tear you apart.
And Rowan was shrinking at the moment. He had no intention of standing in front of the old man because he knew that the old man knew everything about him. In his eyes, he was like a man without clothes, and all the ugly scars on his body were visible to the old man. He decided to leave the city for that very reason. It was his weakness, and the old man found it, so he had no strength to fight against the old man, even though he loved Luna deeply.
But now it was different. There was an earthquake, and he was worried about Luna's safety. He had to see Luna unharmed before he could leave at ease. And just now, when he rushed upstairs against the crowd, there was a force in his heart that gave him the courage to face everything.
Rowan entered the door and at a glance, he understood the situation inside the room. He wanted to greet Luna's father, but the old man refused to make eye contact with him and turned his face away. Rowan strode to the door of Luna's room. Luna's mother, looking terrified, stepped aside, but then trembled and said, "Luna is inside. Why don't you open the door?" Rowan nodded, pounded hard on the door and shouted, "Luna, it's me, open the door." The door opened almost at the same time as the sound, and Luna stood by the door with an expectant look on her face. All words would pale here, and Rowan did not really leave her at this critical moment. The sudden tenderness in her heart made her almost forget the environment and the panic of the earthquake.
And Rowan seemed not to notice her tenderness at the moment, but grabbed her arm and said, "Hurry up, there's an earthquake." There was an earthquake, and all the people in the building rushed out. The corridor was noisy, with some people in disheveled clothes and some carrying and holding unknown objects. Shouting mixed with the crying of children, and some things were thrown to the ground with a loud bang. The light in the corridor was also broken, and people were moving around in the darkness, indistinct and no one could see clearly. Luna's mother slipped and fell down as she went downstairs and twisted her ankle when she got up. Without a moment's hesitation, Rowan grabbed the old lady with both hands and carried her on his back. Luna's father followed behind, wanting to say something, but ended up saying nothing, just holding up his wife behind him and going downstairs with Rowan and Luna.
The open space of the community was more chaotic than the corridor at the moment, with dozens of buildings' residents all rushing onto the small dirt road towards the gate of the community. Not far from Luna's home, there was a football field. When people were fleeing their homes, they all thought of it at the same time. It became the ideal refuge from the earthquake. Rowan, Luna, along with the old men and women, joined the fleeing group.
About a dozen minutes later, they entered the football field, which was already packed. Those who arrived first spread out their things or their bodies as much space as they could. Those who come later try every possible way to find a foothold and keep arguing with those who come earlier. People kept pouring in through the four gates of the football field, and the density of the crowd grew. Later, some police officers joined in and began to maintain order.
When Rowan dropped Luna's mother, a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead. He searched around and, with a cold face, kicked a pile of scattered bundles to one place with his feet. The owner of the bundles stared at him as if he wanted to say something, and he responded with a provocative look. The fat man muttered to himself, bent down to sort out his things, and his gaze stopped touching Rowan. Luna's parents sat on the floor, the old man and the old woman looked at each other, and neither could speak.
They knew in their hearts that they wouldn't have known what to do without Rowan just now.
And Rowan was the devil, the one they would have avoided at all costs, and the thought of him would fill them with terror. At this point, there was no way for them to avoid him, so the old couple were both in a state of confusion, not knowing what would happen next.
However, Rowan didn't even give them a chance to face it. The old couple sat on the football field in a state of shock, only to find that Rowan was gone. Not only Rowan, but Luna was nowhere to be found.
The old couple immediately realized a reality: Rowan had taken their daughter away.
-- Luna!
The old couple had only their daughter's name in mind, and they began to stumble around the football field and shout out her name loudly. There were too many people on the football field that night, and no one cared about an old couple who had lost their daughter. Even the police who were maintaining order, after impatiently listening to the old lady's wailing, just frowned and told them to find a place to sit and wait until dawn.
So many things happened that night and so many things the police had to deal with.
The old man and woman ended up sitting on the grass, leaning on each other's bodies. The old lady was still weeping, unable to speak. Luna's father had a sullen look on his face. Though he tried his best to appear calm, the occasional helplessness in his eyes revealed his inner terror.
-- Rowan!
There was a time when Luna's father could just close his eyes and see the surging color of blood. The color of blood spread through the night, accompanied by some strange sounds, the crisp sound of the blade rubbing against the bone at the moment it was cut.
What kind of scene was it? Luna's father still can't imagine it.
The blade flutters freely, rising and falling non-stop over a middle-aged couple. The heart-rending screams did not disturb the cold face of the knife-wielding man at all. There must have been some blood splashing on the knife-wielding person, or on his face, and the moment the blood came into contact with him, it was still burning, but the knife-wielding person was not aware of it. He is more professional than a butcher.
That night, many people heard the wailing of the middle-aged couple in the middle of the night, and many people never let go of the fear of the night from then on.
Even though Luna's father had a military background, he still felt a shudder as he looked through the materials. When he saw the bloody and mangled photos, his stomach cramped and he tried to hold it back, but when he went outside and took a breath of fresh air, his stomach was churning and he could no longer bear it.
That time, Luna's father vomited for a long time by the roadside.
The blood haunted the old man day and night. On one occasion, he dreamed that the knife-wielding man, covered in blood, stood before him. The blade was soaked in blood, and it swung with a sharp blade wind. He stumbled into the depths of darkness, but the blood-stained knife remained by his side, and every time he turned his head, he could see it close to him. And he finally fell to the ground, and could no longer take a step forward, and the man with the knife stood in front of him. He looked up and saw that the knife-wielding man was covered in blood and could not make out his face at all. But the knife-wielding man stared at him, and suddenly there was an expression on his hideous face - he was laughing. The laughter made the muscles of his face tremble, and the blood trickled down little by little, and his face gradually revealed its true form.
Luna's father opened his eyes wide with terror, and what frightened him more than the blood-stained blade was that he finally saw the appearance of the knife-wielding person.
- Rowan!
In fact, when Luna's father was looking through those materials, he knew that all those things were done by Rowan. However, seeing Rowan's fierce face even with a smile in his dream, that kind of deep-seated fear was enough to shatter all the will of an old man.
Luna's father did not remember whether Rowan's knife had fallen in the dream, but in many more dreams that followed, he saw his daughter crying alone in the dark, and the surging bloodstains were approaching her little by little. By this time he had no time to worry about the terror in his heart. He saw his daughter's relationship with Rowan growing closer and Rowan doing everything that was smooth and easy for her every day - all of this was an illusion, Rowan had deceived Luna with his appearance. At this point, in addition to the terror, Luna's father had an extra layer of pain.
Because he really didn't know how to show the unknown side of Rowan to Luna.
If he tells Luna all this, it will surely tear open the already healed wound in Luna's heart. Those nightmarish past events that no one wants to mention again. That's why Luna's father feels pain beyond terror. But because of his fatherly love, he knew that in any case he had to save his daughter who was in distress, and by whatever means he had to keep Rowan away from Luna.
He had tried to give Rowan some money and had several of his former subordinates who were now at the police station warn him that when none of these worked, he had to resort to his last resort, threatening that if Rowan stayed with Luna again, he would tell her all about his past. That's why Rowan is determined to leave Luna, and that the past has once again exposed the hidden dangers in his heart, and that's why he decides to leave the city.
Luna's father, who was on the football field, saw Rowan running hard with Luna's mother on his back that night. At that moment, he felt a slight unease in his heart, and the thought of whether he was wrong flashed through his mind. But now that Rowan had taken his daughter away, his anger flared up uncontrollably again.
Rowan loved Luna deeply, and the old man knew it very well.
But that doesn't give the old man any peace of mind. Some people often hurt those closest to them.
One sunny morning, Luna's father drove to Qinglongshan Cemetery in the western suburbs of the city, where he stood in front of two tombstones for a long time without saying a word.
Behind the tombstones lay a middle-aged couple. Their age remains forever in that night when the knife-wielding man went wild. Luna's father came to see them not only because of the tragic cause of their death, but also because now the two strangers had a close connection with him.
Luna's father suddenly felt close to the middle-aged couple and thought that if he couldn't stop Luna from being with Rowan, he would end up with the same fate as the middle-aged couple.
Some people tend to hurt their closest ones.
Luna's father looked at the two names on the tombstone again as he left the cemetery.
The husband of the middle-aged couple, whose surname was Tan, was Rowan's father.