Chapter 100 The Followers of Satan
Harrisville, an outlying and somewhat remote suburb.
Xu Yi stood under the withered tree, its bare branches hung low, stretching out like ghostly hands.
A faint mist enveloped the area around the withered tree, and now, even though it was already afternoon, the mist had not yet dissipated.
"What a unique welcome present!" Xu Yi slightly lifted his head.
Above him, a dried-up corpse swayed incessantly, its hideous face staring straight at Xu Yi, who could sense an extremely dense resentment shrouding the body.
The evil spirits he had faced before never possessed such intense spite; these kinds weren't necessarily powerful but were certainly tricky.
The withered corpse was an illusion conjured by the evil spirit, used at most for frightening people.
The Annabelle doll's eyes rolled upwards, staring intently at the ghostly apparition above.
Amethyst light began to converge in its pupils, a prelude to unleashing the Treasure Box, but Xu Yi interrupted it.
Xu Yi lightly touched the Annabelle charm at his waist, "No need to fuss over such trivial matters."
Since retrieving the Annabelle doll yesterday, Xu Yi had noticed that the intelligence of the doll, Annabelle, had grown stronger and it now had its own "little mood swings."
Annabelle's toy Treasure Box might not have been released, but the evil spirit's apparition hanging overhead still dissipated.
"So, you must be Xu Yi, delighted to meet you!"
In front of the withered tree stood a small country villa, from which a figure, both strange and familiar, walked out and greeted Xu Yi.
"Ms. Rolin, you are really too kind!" Xu Yi recognized her at a glance, often having seen her in the newspapers.
Her full name was Rolin Warren, and Mr. Warren's full name was Ed Warren, both of their names contained "Warren," thus they were known as the Warrens.
Rolin sized up Xu Yi, inwardly surprised.
On the phone, Ed had mentioned that someone would come to assist with the exorcism, and she had expected some elderly priest, not a young man.
Yet she dared not underestimate him. She had also seen the previous phantom of the evil spirit and was impressed by how adeptly he had dealt with it.
What surprised her further was the unknown method he used to make the evil spirit recoil, voluntarily dispersing the illusion.
"Mr. Warren only gave me an overview of the situation, I would need Ms. Rolin to fill me in on the details." Xu Yi walked straight towards the house.
As he passed by Rolin, he deliberately paused.
There was no anomaly, confirming that his psychic resonance with Judy was indeed not due to bloodline reasons.
Rolin disclosed everything that had happened these past days, and Xu Yi nodded from time to time.
"Mr. Xu Yi, do you have confidence in this exorcism?" Rolin asked, her face filled with worry.
Among the evil spirits she had encountered, the one they faced this time, although not the strongest, was definitely challenging.
"I can only say I will do my best." Xu Yi pushed the door open, where a room full of people sat on the sofa, curiously sizing him up.
"These are all Caroline's children; Caroline is the subject of this exorcism. I thought that the children could help maintain Caroline's courage, so I allowed them all to stay here," Rolin explained.
Xu Yi nodded in agreement with her decision.
When someone possessed by an evil spirit gives up the struggle and lets the evil spirit invade at will, no matter how powerful the exorcist is, it is as good as futile.
The clock in the living room ticked; just as Xu Yi stepped in, the ticking abruptly ceased, causing the children to huddle together and stare in terror at the wall clock.
Xu Yi followed their gaze— the clock was frozen at 3:07.
He glanced down at his Swiss watch, the hands also stopped at the same time.
"3:07, that's the time of the evil spirit's death," Rolin explained.
Xu Yi's brow furrowed slightly— this time was significant, as it was said that Satan's gate to hell opens at precisely 3:07 in the afternoon.
There was no doubt that this Evil Spirit was a follower of Satan.
A strong stench suddenly filled the air; often, this was a sign of an Evil Spirit's arrival.
Upstairs, a woman's hysterical laughter erupted, followed by the loud bang of something slamming into a door.
"Damn it, the restraints have failed!" Rolin's complexion changed as she took the lead, rushing toward the stairs.
With Ed suddenly gone, Rolin alone couldn't exorcise the Evil Spirit. They could only confine Caroline in a room and use the Exorcism Artifact they brought to suppress it.
But 3:07 AM was the time of the Evil Spirit's death, and also when it was at its strongest. The Exorcism Artifact was no longer enough to suppress it.
"We just need to hold out until this time passes!" Rolin thought.
Another loud bang echoed through the house, and the door of a second-floor room was smashed open, a gaunt woman charging out from inside.
"Be careful!" Xu Yi suddenly pulled Rolin back.
The woman was holding a pair of scissors, and had Xu Yi not pulled Rolin back, she might have collided with the sharp instrument.
Rolin was still shaking from the close call. She turned to thank Xu Yi, but as the words came to her lips, she froze.
Xu Yi's gaze upon Caroline was not that of observing an ordinary person possessed by an Evil Spirit, but rather like someone eyeing a treasured artifact.
"Miss Rolin, are you okay?" Xu Yi released his grip on Rolin, realizing that his expression had given away his inner thoughts.
The "treasure" was indeed not Caroline, but the Evil Spirit possessing her.
Just now, Annabelle had conveyed a feeling of "desire" to him, a longing for the soul of the Evil Spirit! Enjoy new stories from empire
"I didn't expect this exorcism trip to bring such an unexpected pleasure."
The Treasure Box toy of Annabelle indeed had a way to become more powerful: by devouring the Power of the Evil God.
While the Evil Spirit possessing Caroline was certainly not an Evil God, as a follower of Satan, it was tainted with a hint of the Evil God's aura, though it could not receive Satan's direct response.
Xu Yi was curious as to how the Treasure Box would be enhanced?
"Mr. Xu Yi, quick, stop her! She's targeting the children!" Rolin shouted loudly.
Although Xu Yi was puzzled as to why she didn't attack them and instead headed for the children downstairs, he didn't hesitate and drew his Alchemy Revolver.
After learning about the exorcism target, he had replaced the bullets in his gun with rubber bullets.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
He aimed at her shin and pulled the trigger.
He was a bit lucky this time; his first shot hit the target. Caroline stumbled and fell to the floor.
Taking advantage of this moment, Xu Yi rushed forward, kicked the scissors out of her hand, and tried to use his grappling skills to control her, but when he grabbed her arm, his expression shifted slightly.
Her strength was surprisingly great, almost breaking free.
Just then, an unexpected force came into play, pinning Caroline down and preventing her from straightening up.
Xu Yi used this opportunity to flip her arm over and press it firmly against the ground.
He looked admiringly at the Annabelle doll at his waist; of course, it was the force of possession that had lent a hand just now.
"With Annabelle's assistance, things have become so much easier," Xu Yi couldn't help but sigh.
"Xu Yi, let's help!" Rolin brought some rope, and together they tied Caroline to a chair.
Xu Yi took out the Exorcism Lighter and seared Caroline's little finger with the flame. Caroline's body shuddered violently and she fainted in the chair.
He looked at Caroline's appearance with furrowed brows.
Her face was emaciated, her eye sockets sunken, with severe dark circles; her eyes were also starting to lose focus.
"Caroline probably won't last much longer; we need to start the Exorcism Ritual immediately!" Xu Yi acted decisively.