Chapter 48: When Magic Artifacts Aren't Enough, Technology Steps In
The mercenary Ryan had died, but his tongue had not been pulled out.
In Xu Yi's view, the Evil Spirit Mary Shaw was someone who greatly valued "ritualistic sense", and so far, everyone who had died at its hand had their tongues pulled out.
The exception now was not because Ryan was anything special, but purely because his mouth had been wrapped in thick black tape, sealing it shut.
"That's quite clever! You shouldn't be called Ryan, you should be called Morphy," Xu Yi exclaimed.
He could probably guess the other's thought process. After hearing about Mary Shaw's method of killing, Ryan's clever little head started working.
If screaming and opening one's mouth would lead to the tongue being pulled out, then wouldn't keeping one's mouth shut solve the problem?
Therefore, Ryan had his mouth sealed with tape almost all the time, and even, as a precaution, he mandated that his meals should not exceed two minutes.
Unfortunately, against a truly terrifying Evil Spirit, such tricks were of limited use.
Seven apertures of Ryan's head were bleeding, his face showed a peculiar purple-red color, which was due to extreme congestion.
In other words, Ryan's heart had exploded!
Mary Shaw seemed to kill by pulling out people's tongues, but that was just a facade, her real method of killing was through fear.
Ryan had died because of extreme fear, which caused his heart to burst.
Xu Yi moved past Ryan and started searching the room. After a moment, he sighed, somewhat disappointed.
He had not found the Puppet; the "Necromantic Spell Experience Pack" was gone.
At this moment, the noise from Hunter and Laura's room also ceased, and the hotel fell back into silence.
Xu Yi had just come to the doorway of Hunter's room when the door creaked open, and a weary Hunter stepped out. Seeing Xu Yi, he paused, startled.
"You... You're alright?" Hunter asked incredulously.
Xu Yi was too clean, not to mention wounds, his clothes didn't even have dust on them.
He didn't understand how Xu Yi had managed it, as they had spent considerable effort to drive away the Evil Spirit.
Did Mary Shaw not lay her hands on Xu Yi? Hunter speculated in his heart.
"This thing, you have one in your room too?" Xu Yi didn't know what Hunter was thinking, but he stared at the object in Hunter's hand, eyes gleaming.
In Hunter's hand was a small girl's Puppet, the excessively red cheeks making it look eerie.
Hunter and Laura exchanged looks, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.
If there was a Puppet controlled by the Evil Spirit in Xu Yi's room, that meant Mary Shaw had made a move on Xu Yi as well.
But why did he seem so at ease?
When they took on the commission, they were full of confidence; they were from the Lopez family of exorcists, how could they not deal with a mere common Evil Spirit?
But after facing Mary Shaw, they realized how naive they had been.
If they had not had numerous Exorcism Artifacts, they would probably have become two cold corpses.
Could this Asian fellow be a disciple of some Great Exorcist?
Xu Yi could probably guess what they were thinking, but he didn't care; he was more concerned with the Puppet in their hands, "This Puppet, how do you plan to deal with it?"
If it had been before, the two would have ignored Xu Yi, but now they had to take his words seriously.
Laura hesitated for a moment and then said quietly to Xu Yi, "We plan to throw it away."
Logically, coming from the Lopez family of exorcists, they would definitely know that if they threw the Puppet away, the other party would surely come back; the best course of action was to burn it.
Xu Yi thought for a moment and understood their plan.
You're planning to play the long game to catch a big fish, huh!
It seemed they must have made some secret arrangements within the Puppet, so when Mary Shaw retrieved it, they could use the arrangements inside the Puppet to find her lair.
Between one "Necromantic Spell Experience Pack" and a group of "experience packs", Xu Yi decisively chose the latter.
"Then just throw it away! There's a trash can at the hotel entrance," Xu Yi replied softly.
Their conversation was deliberately vague, in order to avoid eavesdroppers, since no one could be sure if Mary Shaw had truly left.
Hunter carried the puppet to the hotel entrance, casually tossed it into the trash can, and then turned to leave.
A few minutes later, when they checked again, the puppet had vanished without a trace.
"With that ability, it's such a waste not to be a delivery guy!" Xu Yi exclaimed admiringly.
Hunter and Laura offered a smile in response to Xu Yi, but their smiles were too stiff, almost like a forced smile.
They were well aware that maintaining a relaxed mindset like Xu Yi's was the right approach when facing an evil spirit like Mary Shaw.
But recalling how they had nearly died at Mary Shaw's hands, they just couldn't relax.
"Mr. Xu Yi, let's stick together!" Hunter offered proactively.
He had initially thought Xu Yi was just a side character, but now realized that Xu Yi was the ace James had called in to deal with the evil spirit.
"No problem," Xu Yi certainly wasn't going to refuse.
He still wanted to use the other's painting to farm entries experience, didn't he?
Besides, being able to lock onto Mary Shaw's location seemed like an advantage for him.
Tonight, there wasn't a shred of moonlight; the darkness around was as dense as thick ink, illuminated only by the headlights of cars. Without the mood for conversation, they drove in silence for over ten minutes before reaching their destination.
Xu Yi got out of the car and gazed ahead.
The old theater hadn't felt this way during the day, but at night, it seemed like a monster opening its massive jaws in the darkness, waiting for its prey to enter before swallowing it whole.
Hunter took out a golden wind chime from a metal box; tinkling crisply as the wind blew through it.
Xu Yi was very interested in Hunter's exorcism artifacts, but he didn't inquire aloud. After all, they were the other's family heirlooms, and asking rashly would only lead to embarrassment for everyone. Enjoy new stories from empire
"Need a flashlight?" Hunter asked, taking a few flashlights out of his backpack.
"Thank you, no need, I came prepared!"
Hunter thought Xu Yi had already taken one from the hotel and didn't think further, but then he heard the "click" of Xu Yi turning on his flashlight.
Hunter was facing Xu Yi, and just as Xu Yi switched on the flashlight, Hunter happened to look up.
And then...
"Ah!" Hunter screamed in agony.
"I'm terribly sorry! Terribly sorry!" Xu Yi apologized repeatedly, quickly moving the flashlight away.
Hunter covered his eyes in pain, the world a snowy blank before him; it took a long time before his vision gradually returned.
"I almost thought I was going to go blind!" Hunter said, looking at Xu Yi with a resentful expression.
Laura looked at the thing in Xu Yi's hand, dumbfounded, then glanced down at the flashlight in her hand and quietly turned it off.
In Xu Yi's hand was an oversized flashlight, ten times bigger than a normal one, and the intense light it emitted could have been believed to be laser light.
The strong beam illuminated the theater's entrance so brilliantly that it was brighter than staying in the hotel.
Knowing that the exorcism was taking place in an abandoned old theater with no lighting, how could Xu Yi not have prepared in advance?
This flashlight had been custom-made for Xu Yi by Ailent, with brightness and battery life far beyond any ordinary flashlight.
He had initially wanted a model that could illuminate an entire building with one switch, but limited by the technology of the era and his budget, he had to settle for this downgraded version that could light up an area within ten meters.
Hunter and Laura exchanged glances, feeling that inviting Xu Yi was an exceedingly correct decision.
Not to mention anything else, just the sight of this bright light significantly increased their sense of security and reduced their fear of Mary Shaw.