Patrick Farm.
Peter found the magic book he had previously put aside, compared it, and quickly determined the type of magic circle Ms. Nancy had drawn.
'Summoning magic Circle,' through which one can summon creatures from hell and gain extraordinary power by signing a contract with them.
However, the host himself could be backlashed by the hellish creature at any time.
Closing the magic book, Peter frowned and fell into deep thought.
Could it be that Ms. Nancy's psychic abilities were obtained by signing a contract with a devil from hell?
Then, was her Death related to the backlash from a hellish creature?
After a long while, he shook his head with some regret, threw the magic book onto the table, and stood up to look out the window.
Unfortunately, he didn't understand magic.
If only he had a magician by his side.
Night fell, and the entire farm gradually became enveloped in dark gloom.
The next day, in the early morning.
After Clark got on the school bus, he glanced at the back seat.
Lana was sitting alone in the back row, resting her chin on her hand and looking out the window, appearing youthful and beautiful.
And not far from Lana, Mark sat alone in his seat.
After a moment of hesitation, between Lana and Mark, Clark ultimately chose to walk towards the empty seat next to Mark and sat down.
Clark, who plopped down, quickly glanced at Lana, then looked straight ahead.
Although he and Mark had some conflict yesterday, they had made up this morning with the intervention of his godfather.
Even now, he still didn't quite agree with Mark's extreme views.
"You should have sat over there, Clark."
Mark's observation skills were very sharp, and he immediately noticed Clark's small gesture.
Clark awkwardly placed his backpack in front of him and whispered, "I'd rather be with you. I mean, I don't have experience interacting with Lana."
As he spoke, he quickly glanced at Lana again, as if afraid his words would be overheard.
Mark thought Clark was clearly being disingenuous.
"You're lying, Clark, you simply lack courage."
"No, of course I have courage, it's just... it has nothing to do with courage."
Clark's tone lacked a bit of confidence.
Mark felt he needed to encourage Clark to take the first step.
After so long at school, Clark didn't seem to have ever actively chatted with Lana.
"Haven't you watched the recent romance dramas, Clark? The protagonist in them said: 'Love is a flower growing on the edge of a cliff; if you want to pick her, you must pay a little courage.'"
"Uh..."
Clark was a bit bewildered.
He didn't expect Mark to know such things?!
But he quickly explained, blushing, "This isn't love, John, I just think Lana is a very nice person."
But his words, to Mark, were as unconvincing as a baby not liking Mother's Milk.
Mark's eyes rolled, and he started giving Clark advice.
"Indeed, there are many good girls in this World, and I believe your reason, Clark, but if you want to talk to her, you have to take a brave step. If you actively sit next to her and greet her, it's a good choice."
"No, I can't."
Clark waved his hand excitedly, then said dejectedly, "I'm too nervous."
Mark patted Clark's shoulder, "You'll never have a chance if you don't try."
"Really?"
"Really, I believe you'll succeed."
"Alright."
Clark finally mustered his courage, stood up, and walked towards Lana.
As Clark walked towards Lana, who was sitting by the window, Mark patted the black student in the front row—Little Sam Jones.
He triumphantly said to Little Sam, "I guess five steps, the bet is five dollars."
Little Sam looked at Clark's stiff steps and said confidently, "I guess seven steps, my luck has always been good."
The two were betting on "how many steps Clark would take before falling while trying to chat with Lana."
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
As the two whispered the numbers, Clark's steps became increasingly steady.
A smile appeared on his lips, and he repeated the words he would say to Lana in his mind several times.
"Five!"
Just as Mark counted to five, Clark's legs suddenly went soft, and he took a flat fall, his body uncontrollably tumbling forward.
With a "bang," Clark fell awkwardly in front of Lana's seat.
His backpack hit the ground, and the books inside were flung out, scattering at Lana's feet.
The sudden sound attracted the attention of all the students on the school bus.
Seeing Clark's disheveled appearance, everyone burst into laughter.
Lana saw Clark fall in front of her and quickly helped him pick up his books.
Picking up a thick book and seeing "Nietzsche" written on it, Lana felt a bit surprised.
She didn't expect Clark to like reading Nietzsche at such a young age.
Well, she was about the same age as him, after all.
"Are you alright, Clark?"
Lana handed him the Nietzsche book and asked with concern.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine."
Clark was so embarrassed at this moment that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into, completely losing his initial confidence to chat.
On the other side, Mark snatched the five dollars from Little Sam's hand.
"Looks like I won."
Seeing his pocket money so easily won by Mark, Little Sam said unconvinced, "I just had bad luck, I'll definitely win next time."
At this moment, Clark still didn't know that his embarrassing incident was being used by Mark and Little Sam as a betting topic.
After the disheveled Clark fled back, Mark and Little Sam exchanged glances, each seeing the expression of barely suppressed laughter in the other's eyes.
Smallville School.
Mark comforted the downcast Clark, "It's just one failure; maybe you'll succeed next time."
To continue earning Little Sam's pocket money, he cheered Clark on.
Clark, unaware that he was being played, gratefully thanked Mark.
"Thanks, John."
"No problem, Clark, we're brothers, aren't we?"
As they spoke, they walked forward, and near the flowerbed, they saw a group of girls surrounding another girl.
Clark recognized her as a fifth-grade classmate—Allison Mack. He had seen this girl near Lana's house.
Allison was a bit chubby and had acne on her face.
Because her body was wet, her damp hair clung limply to her face, devoid of luster.
She just stood there, her head slightly bowed, letting the Water splash on her body, the droplets rolling off, looking like a sacrificial lamb.
The older girls surrounding her giggled and splashed the water from their cups onto her.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
Seeing the girls' malicious behavior, Clark's blood pressure immediately surged, and he shouted at them, "Stop!"
Hearing Clark's voice, the girls turned their gaze towards him.
Clark walked in front of them, glaring at the ill-behaved girls.
"This is none of your business, kid. If you don't want trouble, get lost!"
Being stared at with angry eyes by Clark, who was a head shorter, the older girls felt their pride was hurt and threatened him.
Seeing Clark in trouble, Mark immediately stood next to Clark and said to the girls, "If you want to fight, I can try!"
Although they were women, Mark indicated that if they were insensible, he wouldn't mind laying his hands on women either.
Some of the older girls recognized Mark. They whispered a few words to each other, then glared fiercely at Clark before turning to leave.
"Are you alright?"
After the bad older girls left, Clark asked the disheveled girl who was lying on the ground.
"I... I'm fine, thank you, thank you both."
Allison, trembling slightly, thanked Clark gratefully.
After Allison left, Mark watched her retreating back and said, "You shouldn't have interfered, Clark."
"Why not?"
Clark didn't understand why Mark would say that.
"Bullying among girls is different from boys. You helped her this time, but I think next time she'll be bullied even worse."
Clark asked in confusion, "How do you know?"
"I just know. I also know her name is Allison Mack, I've heard of her."
Mark shrugged and said, "It seems everyone here likes to bully her. They hide snakes in her shoes, push her into Water, pinch her, stick out their legs in the school hallway to trip her; knock books off her desk, and many, many more."
"And most recently, she fell asleep in class, and her classmates smeared peanut butter in her hair."
Listening to the girl's experiences, Clark felt a pang of sadness, "Why... why would those people do that?"
"Dad said that people have a destructive mentality towards things they dislike or don't understand."
Clark listened to Mark's words and exhaled. He thought of his argument with Mark yesterday.
"Don't they have any sympathy?"
Mark thought for a moment, "Probably not. Dad said humans never truly empathize."
Allison, who had walked far away while being discussed by the two, suddenly stopped, her eyes hollow as she took a shattered mirror shard from her backpack.
Clutching the shard tightly, blood from her cut palm slowly flowed into it.
Night.
Smallville Salon Club.
"Todd!"
Officer Chandler said, tapping the rim of his glass, "I need you to put another Long Island Iced Tea into this damn drink, and this time, I want you to make it a notch better before you give it to me."
Todd was the bartender at this restaurant.
"No problem."
He said, walking over to prepare a drink for Chandler.
Peter, sitting next to him, watched the bartender mix the drink and asked him, "Have the police found out the cause of Charles Boone's Death?"
Charles Boone was the farmer whose body had been cut in half earlier.
"No, not yet."
Chandler shook his head, "His wounds certainly don't look like they were made by a human; it looks like he was torn apart alive. There are many suspicious points."
"Also, we investigated his financial situation; his farm was in a significant debt crisis. Although I don't know why the murderer targeted him, one thing is certain: the perpetrator's motive was not money."
Peter nodded, "Do you have any leads on Ms. Nancy's Death?"
"No, no clues at all. There were no traces at the scene, as if she was killed out of thin air."
Chandler put down his glass and looked at Peter suspiciously, "To be honest, I'm a bit curious, how did you discover Ms. Nancy's Death?"
"I just wanted to go to her for a fortune-telling."
Peter explained, casually glancing at the door, then his brows immediately furrowed.