American Exorcism Male God

The carving knife scraped against the puppet, emitting a grating noise, and Xu Yi's brows furrowed slightly. Although he had long been acquainted with the toughness of the puppets, this was taking it too far, wasn't it?

He was now struggling to even carve a single stroke, and at this rate, who knew how long it would take to engrave a complete set of Necromantic Spells?

The material used to make the puppet was just common fir wood, which shouldn't be this hard. It must have become mutated from being continuously washed over by malevolent thoughts and feelings.

Xu Yi set down the carving knife and gripped the glass cup of floral tea to warm his hands.

As he prepared to carve, the puppet suddenly turned ice cold and bone-chilling, as if he were holding a solid block of ice.

This sensation of cold wasn't real; it was an illusion, but it still affected him.

"It seems the other party isn't so calm after all!"

Xu Yi was well aware that it was Mary Shaw playing tricks, but he didn't know why she hadn't continued to "scare" him.

Since she didn't show up, he didn't bother with it and continued to focus on his carving.

"Finally..." Xu Yi exhaled a breath of turbid air.

A strange symbol had appeared on the puppet's body. Perhaps due to the wood, Xu Yi felt like the symbol was tinged with a trace of blood.

To engrave the first spell, it had taken a full ten minutes!

Xu Yi shook his somewhat sore hand, and as he picked up the carving knife, ready to engrave the second spell, he suddenly let out a soft exclamation, "Why does it feel different now?"

The carving knife easily cut into the puppet, and even the sensation of cold had vanished, as if the puppet had truly become just another mundane toy.

It took only 30 seconds to engrave the second spell.

"It looks like Mary Shaw has given up on this puppet!" Xu Yi thought to himself.

Items imbued with malevolent spirits are considered the "personal belongings" of an Evil Spirit. Xu Yi carving Necromantic Spells on them was like leaving personal marks on someone else's property.

In this regard, Evil Spirits display extreme fastidiousness and are indeed likely to give up, especially since the spirit had more than just one puppet.

The reasoning was sound, yet Xu Yi couldn't shake the feeling that there was something odd about this analogy.

In the time that followed, Xu Yi became completely engrossed in carving the Necromantic Spells.

Thanks to his background in drawing, his hand was steady. Although it was his first time using a carving knife, he managed it skillfully.

As time passed, the puppet known as Billy was covered with dense Necromantic Spells, appearing even more eerie.

[Necromantic Spells +13, Current Progress: 13/100.]

The experience was so abundant! Xu Yi's eyes lit up.

Having gained experience with Psychic Entries, he knew that if he found the right method, it wouldn't be difficult to max out such entries.

Xu Yi grew excited, for if the information given by his butler was accurate, besides the puppet he was working on, Mary Shaw had 62 more left.

If he could find all the puppets, even if the experience from engraving thereafter wasn't as much as the first time, it would be enough to max out the Necromantic Spells!

Xu Yi casually tossed the puppet Billy aside.

It was undoubtedly a useless item, offering nearly no enhancement to Spiritual Perception, let alone move on to the second step of "Soul Sealing."

He would have to wait until the Entry was maxed out before he could create a perfect Soul Seal item.

There was no need for him to burn the puppet.

The Necromantic Spells on the puppet were ineffectual, but Mary Shaw didn't know that. Seeing the dense spells on it, she was probably already terrified, getting nowhere near daring enough to try to manipulate it again.

If she really was that reckless, it would be even better, as after all, the Necromantic Spells were engraved by his own hand. Maybe he could use them to pinpoint her location later on.

Xu Yi walked to the window and looked out, the hotel beneath the night sky was as quiet as a graveyard.

The workers at the hotel, who were visible just the previous night, had now all disappeared, with only occasional lights on at the entrance. These were smart lights that turned on automatically when it was time.

The three who returned late saw the steaming dishes in the restaurant's food warmer and the warm reminder note stuck on the box, and thought they had simply come back too late and that the staff had gone to rest.

But only Xu Yi knew that, apart from the three exorcists and one expendable mercenary, there were no other people left in the hotel.

He had personally witnessed the butler leading the staff as they quietly slipped away through the back door.

This was within Xu Yi's expectations.

Without running away in advance, were they supposed to stay and wait for death?

If it weren't for the high price offered by James, these people wouldn't be willing to stay here at all.

After serving several waves of "exorcism tour groups," they likely figured out from experience that they must leave before nightfall once they returned from the old theater.

"But this is too quiet!" Xu Yi still had some doubts.

He had made such a commotion in the room just a moment ago, slamming and stomping on the puppet Billy.

And the mercenary and the exorcist couple were indifferent?

This was definitely not normal; he had been busy earning Necromantic Spell Entries experience, and now he finally had time to investigate.

Xu Yi stood in front of the door, forcefully turning the doorknob, a click sound indicated the door was unlocked, but even with all his strength, Xu Yi could hardly open the door.

"So that's how it is!"

It was no wonder no one came to check; it turns out the room had been put into "Isolation" by an evil spirit, somewhat similar to the ghoul traps in a funeral parlor, but not as severe.

Xu Yi pulled out his Exorcism Lighter, lit it, and used the flame to scorch the door.

If someone with keen Spiritual Perception were here, they would notice a thin layer of resentment clinging to the door, which was now being burned through by the Ethereal Flame, creating a large hole.

Xu Yi turned the doorknob again, this time without any resistance.

The door opened, and a tidal wave of noise rushed toward him, Xu Yi was taken aback, then sighed leisurely, "It sure is lively!"

To Xu Yi's left was the direction of the mercenary's room, filled with continuous gunfire; to his right, in the direction of the exorcist couple, roars mixed with the ping-pong sound of objects hitting the floor.

The sounds from both sides rose and fell intermittently, echoing each other, feeling like listening to a kind of symphony.

But the next second, the gunfire suddenly stopped, and the room of the mercenary became eerily quiet.

"Anyone home? Your delivery is here!" Xu Yi stood in front of the mercenary's room, knocking on the door.

There was no response.

"Open up! Water meter inspection!" Xu Yi increased the force of his knocking.

"Hurry and open the door! Your boss has run off with his mistress!" Xu Yi went from knocking to slamming the door.

The door banged loudly under Xu Yi's pounding, but there was not a whisper of movement inside the room, prompting Xu Yi to take out his Exorcism Lighter and break the seal on the door.

He pushed the door open with a thrust, then hid behind the wall, listening intently for any sound from within the room.

His caution wasn't out of fear of a sudden attack by Mary Shaw; it was purely to avoid getting shot by the highly tense mercenary on reflex.

He would have died an unjust death, and he certainly didn't want to waste a Resurrection Coin like that.

Since it was dangerous, why was he still keen to investigate inside?

Of course, it was for those puppets—in his view, the puppets were not substitutes for the evil spirits but walking "Necromantic Spell Experience Packs"!

After waiting another two minutes to ensure he wouldn't get shot unexpectedly, Xu Yi peeked inside and was momentarily stunned.

The mercenary lay in a pool of blood, completely motionless, with a face still showing the terror of his last moments, grotesque, his pupils filled with fear and regret.