"Two students died tragically, and six other students who attended the dance were injured and are currently receiving treatment in the hospital. Fortunately, the critically injured are now out of danger."
Jonathan, as a representative of the parents of the students, attended the "Smallville Town High School Dance Accident Discussion Meeting" organized by the government and told his family about the information he knew during lunch.
Due to such a major accident at the school, classes have been suspended for two days.
This is also the reason why Eric and Clark did not go to school.
"So, Jonathan, what exactly happened?" Martha asked with a furrowed brow.
"Clark mentioned before that a football player named Dan Brown was killed, and the suspect who killed him is the culprit behind the tragedy at the dance."
Jonathan explained to Martha while picking up his coffee, "The culprit's name is Jeremy, but he disappeared three years ago. I don't know why he suddenly came back this time."
"Did the police catch him?" Martha continued to ask.
"In fact, Jeremy is already dead."
Jonathan shrugged, raised his coffee cup and took a sip, then quickly frowned.
Whether it was because of the bitterness of the coffee or the incomprehension of the topic being discussed.
"Jeremy's body was found on the high school campus, dead from a broken neck. Although he was the culprit, if he were alive, he would definitely have provided the police with a lot of information."
Hearing Jonathan say that Jeremy died from a broken neck, Clark immediately cast a suspicious glance at Eric at the dining table.
Besides Eric, there was no second person in Smallville who could have killed Jeremy without alerting anyone.
"I heard that both the unfortunate deceased and the injured are members of the football team. Is that true?" After digesting Jonathan's words, Martha asked about the information she had heard.
"Jeremy did have some conflicts with members of the football team, but I think this is something the school and Coach Watts should consider more."
Jonathan didn't want to discuss this topic further, so after replying, he didn't say much more and instead brought up other things.
"Clark, the tractor is not working. Help me repair it later. I suspect it's a problem with the high-pressure oil pipe wearing out and leaking oil. I hope we don't have to replace it this time, or it'll be another expense."
"Okay, Dad."
Clark nodded to his father and then began to eat the fruit salad on the table.
Eric, sitting opposite Clark, began to consider how to launder the money he obtained from the gang so that his parents would accept it.
"Clark."
Jonathan, covered in grease, wearing worn-out work clothes, asked Clark who was standing beside him, "Were you involved in the dance incident?"
Clark was lost in thought, but when he heard his father's words, he paused and then shook his head.
"No, I tried to stop Jeremy, but I failed."
Clark sounded a bit dejected, "If I were more mature, I could have prevented this tragedy, but I messed everything up."
"No one is perfect, Clark."
Jonathan wiped his hands with a cloth, patted Clark's shoulder, "If you try to shoulder everything, you'll find yourself full of holes in the end. Learn to push back at the right time, whether it's pressure, responsibility, or others' blame."
"I thought I could change some things, but..."
Facing his father, Clark spoke his mind, "Like Eric, I tried to change some of his views, but in the end, nothing changed."
"Maybe you and your brother need to have a good talk."
Jonathan offered his suggestion and talked about his own experiences.
"When I was in high school, I had a dispute with my cousin Barry Lee Jones over the ownership of a boxing glove. Do you remember him? He visited our house last year as a guest. We had a fight back then, and neither of us backed down."
"Later, your grandfather locked us both in a corn storage warehouse, a place that could only accommodate the two of us. After half an hour of boring madness, we started talking. Because we couldn't do anything else besides talking."
Jonathan paused and said, "So after two hours of non-stop talking, we reconciled."
"Clark, sometimes what you need to do is create an environment where you can talk undisturbed, listen and speak, until you completely understand each other's thoughts."
After listening to his father's enlightenment, Clark nodded thoughtfully.
"I understand, Dad."
After helping Jonathan repair the tractor, Clark washed his hands and decided to have a good talk with Eric.
But what he didn't expect was that at this moment, his brother's room welcomed an unexpected visitor.
Lana Lang stood in Eric's room, looking surprised at the paintings on the wall.
The black-and-white cross-hatched chiaroscuro, drawn with pencils or charcoal, depicted terrifying monsters in an indescribable starry sky, grotesque creatures devouring everything in a hungry and greedy manner.
Tools like crayons created a huge monster sleeping underwater. With a terrifying body and wings covered in scales, it was drawn against a sticky and dark background full of green moss, and the words "Atlantis Carson" were written in the lower right corner of the painting.
There was also a vividly painted picture that left a deep impression on her. The colorless black night, as if crimson blood mixed with black mud, dim yellow lights shining on it, a building vaguely labeled "Arkham" hidden in the so-called "black" night.
"Is this Arkham?!"
Lana remembered reading about it in a book introducing the history of American cities. There was an "Arkham Asylum" in Gotham City.
Could this painting depict "Arkham Asylum" in Gotham City?!
Many thoughts flashed through Lana's mind, and beads of sweat dripped from her forehead.
Staring at these paintings in front of her made her feel like she was staring into an abyss, and the abyss was also staring back at her.
Fear, strangeness, and a hint of indescribable terror emanated from these strange paintings.
It felt as if her soul was being sucked away by these bizarre paintings, and her mind was somehow contaminated by something inexplicable.
"Lana Lang?"
A voice pulled her back from her daze.
Lana, who had been pulled from her strange thoughts, turned around in surprise to find Eric frowning at her from behind.
"Eric!"
Realizing her outburst, she immediately apologized to Eric, "Sorry, Eric, Mrs. Kent asked me to come to your room to find you. I saw the door open and thought you were inside."
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