Operation Red Book

It was late at night. Ivy, wearing a white linen nightgown, tiptoed to the hallway with an oil lamp in her hand. Joshua also groped his way downstairs in the dark.

Because of his obstructed vision, Joshua accidentally missed the last two steps and fell to the ground, almost knocking over the kerosene lamp in Ivy's hand, and his thick glasses also tilted to one side.

"Shh!" Ivy quickly gestured to Joshua.

"Be careful, this thing is much more dangerous than a flashlight!"

"Excuse me." Joshua hurriedly climbed up, holding his glasses. "Holmes fell asleep."

"Mrs. Hudson is asleep too. Luckily there's an Indian restaurant not far away, and luckily she likes fried rice with eggs." Ivy said as she walked towards the sofa in the living room.

"It's really delicious. I remember that your lunch box is always the one everyone looks forward to the most at lunch time."

"Don't even mention the lunchbox. Every time I bring the lunchbox, I'm never full. There are so many people eating one mouthful at a time."

"But I see you always happily share it with your classmates..."

"Actually..." Ivy deliberately turned around and looked for another sofa.

“I really feel happy when someone praises my cooking!”

Joshua raised the corner of his mouth, looked at the profile of her face in the firelight, and said softly, "I am very happy to be able to eat the meal cooked by classmate Ivy."

"Found it, who sat down in the crack of the sofa."

Ivy pulled the red book out from under the sofa and sat down on the steps in the hallway with Joshua.

In the firelight, the two men put their heads together, and four eyes stared at the cover of the red book. After a long time, no one dared to open it.

After all, they were wrapped in the ink of the red book and traveled here more than ten hours ago. Who knows what will happen when they open the book again, whether they will travel back to the Roman era or prehistoric civilization.

"It should be okay not to turn to the last page." Ivy recalled the details of flipping through the book.

"How about turning to the first page and trying it?"

Joshua received a hint from Ivy's eyes and slowly reached out to open the cover.

The English and Chinese characters printed on the pages of the book suddenly came into view, and they were no different from the pages of the book in the classroom before.

Ivy shook her head, and Joshua turned to the second page. The pages were so old that they creaked, sounding particularly noisy in the quiet night.

After seeing the words on the second page clearly, Ivy and Joshua opened their eyes wide at the same time and both put their heads close to the pages.

Black ink smudged the upper left corner of the page, and beautiful and neat English words were arranged in lines on the yellowed paper.

The above content records in detail how the two people traveled from the classroom to a train to London in the 19th century, and also records their experiences on the train.

Including encountering Fumo, encountering two vampires, Dalton and Walter, encountering Victor and the SCO organization, and three problems are listed in sequence in the blank space below:

1. Why didn’t the Grim Reaper come to claim the soul in advance?

2. Why does Dalton need a soul if he is a vampire?

3. What do the letters on the dagger mean?

Further down was a small strip of torn paper with a note next to it - Mr. Moriarty, please tear off the note and give it to Inspector Lestrade.

Joshua finished quietly, processing the information in silence.

Ivy kept stroking the long-dried ink and muttered, "Why does this handwriting look so much like mine?"

Joshua couldn't wait to turn to the next page. Unlike the first page, the text on the second page was only half a page, and the content was still the life they were experiencing.

The first thing the two saw was the eye-catching sentence in the middle: Sherlock Holmes is behind you, don't be scared.

The two men slowly turned their heads, and a large face was sandwiched between them, only a few centimeters away from them.

Although they had been warned in advance, they were still frightened.

Joshua lowered his head and patted his heart, while Ivy closed her eyes and covered her mouth tightly.

"James actually saw this, and it really contains a lot of information."

Holmes sat on the steps up, his long legs wedged between the two of them.

"No more? Ah, there's a pattern that looks like a spider on the last page."

Ivy's face suddenly changed and she jumped up. She looked seriously at the red book in Holmes' hand, which had been turned to the last page.

It was quiet for a long time. When nothing around him changed, he sighed and sat back down.

"It seems there is no going back. Even if I turn to the last page, there will be no spiraling ink."

Ivy supported her face and said with a pout.

"It seems like I can only stay here for now. I don't know what the world over there is like."

Joshua also supported his head with both hands, looking depressed.

"Will grandpa and grandma be very sad and lost?"

"In fact, I don't have to go to school, I don't have to deal with Melissa, I don't have to see Teacher Zhu anymore, and I don't have to see my mom anymore!" Ivy became more and more excited as she spoke.

"It's nice to be here, isn't it?"

Seeing Ivy's big smile, Holmes grabbed her face.

He frowned and said dissatisfiedly: "And then you come to trouble me? How much trouble have you caused me?"

Letting go of Ivy's face, Holmes grabbed Joshua by the back of the collar and lifted him up. He yawned.

"Instead of looking for these useless methods, it is better to fall asleep and have a good night's sleep. At least I have a place to live temporarily. Tomorrow is a new day, isn't it?"

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged, then went straight upstairs.

The fire gradually dimmed. Joshua grabbed Ivy's wrist before she left. He seemed to have made a great decision and said, "If I stay in this world, I will be very happy."

Ivy was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then she shook off Joshua's hand, said "Who cares about you", and turned and left.

The whole of London was sleeping in the silent night, horses were snoring in the stables, babies were sleeping soundly in their cradles, and the lake was gently rippling.

Constable County on the outskirts of London was no exception. The town was shrouded in darkness, except for the bright lights of Waite Manor on the distant hillside.

"Thank you, my Lord Earl. Thank you, my Lord Earl."

A couple dressed in sackcloth, holding a baby, were standing in front of the iron gate of the manor, bowing to Count Waite.

"As long as the child is okay, you don't need to thank me."

Earl Waite took the bag of coins handed over by the butler Sean and stuffed it into the man's arms despite the man's obstruction.

"If you are in any trouble, feel free to come to Waite Manor. Our lights are on all night long."

Count White watched the couple leave, then turned around and walked into the magnificent mansion with his hands behind his back.

"Sorry for the wait, James."

Moriarty was staring at the wine glass in a daze. It was only after Count Waite called him several times that his pupils focused again.

"So these two people are...time travelers."

Moriarty nodded, and Count Waite leaned back gently on the sofa, raised his hand to take a sip of black tea, his green eyes became deeper.

"I'm very curious about them, James. Especially the girl."

"I know your reaction is what I expected."

"I expected you to say that, James. So guess what I'm thinking now?"

"Have you agreed to Mrs. Emerson's ball?"

"I intend to go with you and am now awaiting your reply."

"Can I bring a companion with me?"

"You can have a female companion."

Moriarty crossed his legs, the red wine in the glass rippled in his deep blue eyes.

He said casually: "And bring two gentlemen."

There was still a smile on Waite's face, but the gloom in his eyes had not dissipated at all, and seemed to have even become more fierce.

He walked slowly to the huge French window with his hands behind his back, and said in a much more serious tone: "Mr. Holmes seems to care a lot about this manor."

"I promise you, Lord Earl. As long as I'm here, he will never find the key evidence." Moriarty smiled.

"Then you are welcome."

Count Waite turned half of his face to the side, his green eyes looking into the distance through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the emotions beneath the green waves were unfathomable.