Exorcist in America

York's decision stirred activity in the usually quiet town of Lost, as Thomas and others worked to disperse the residents, unable to contain their excitement.

This excitement reached deep into their hearts, causing a surge of emotion.

At last, with Sister Gillian and Father Clifton leading, the core group from Lost Town gathered to watch the Wrangler slowly drive off, disappearing down the main street, all the while harboring a heartfelt hope that the young bishop would return successfully.

Yet, there was one person filled with concern—Rose, who York had persuaded to stay. For the sake of her daughter's illness and for Sharon, as a mother, she had no reason to refuse York's suggestion.

In the spacious Wrangler:

"Uncle York, where are we going?" Sharon, gripping the safety belt in the passenger seat, asked curiously as she looked at the bridge appearing before them.

Hearing this, York turned to look at her.

The ten-year-old girl, her face and eyes full of curiosity, showed no sign of fear.

This reminded him of a phrase often mentioned online.

The adventurous behaviors of children can indeed make some adults feel embarrassed.

Like playing in high buildings, jumping around at heights, or even climbing to the rooftops.

Many adults might not dare to do any of these, yet they recall engaging in such risky behaviors as children.

The reason is simple: children are unaware of the dangers behind these actions, whereas adults are.

Considering this, York chose to keep the truth hidden from Sharon. Perhaps Alyssa behind the scenes also knew this, which is why Sharon was unaware of her sleepwalking and the drawings she had made.

"We're going on a big adventure game, how about that?" York smiled and gently patted Sharon's head.

At these words, Sharon's eyes lit up like a dragon dazzled by gold coins seeing a cave full of treasure.

"Really? What kind of adventure game, Uncle York?"

"Let me think," York chuckled, driving the Wrangler towards the only one of the two entrances to Silent Hill that was nearest, a bridge linking Lost Town to Silent Hill.

"A princess treasure hunt?"

Given the ties to the Silent Hill movie, and the characters remaining the same, this world's Silent Hill might also host similar monsters from the movie.

Bird-crawlers, cockroach-like creatures in droves biting and eating flesh, monsters that spit corrosive fluid, a swarm of half-meter-tall creatures, nurses resembling zombies with two blobs of flesh, and perhaps even a heavyweight muscle man with a triangular steel frame on his head.

This too qualifies as an adventure, albeit of a different kind. The 'treasure' in this hunt might be the monsters mentioned, but he wouldn't tell her that.

"A princess treasure hunt?" Sharon shook her safety belt excitedly, not understanding why she was so thrilled, but York figured, what girl doesn't love playing the role of a princess? Otherwise, Barbie dolls and princess dresses wouldn't be so popular.

"Am I a princess, Uncle York?"

"Of course, you are." York smiled, allowing Sharon to indulge in her imagination as he drove into the area belonging to Silent Hill.

Looking at the road stretching into the mountains, unclear from this distance, York activated the music control on the central console and selectively muted Sharon's hearing.

He recalled from the Silent Hill movie that when Rose took Sharon to Silent Hill, the radio would suddenly emit a harsh noise as they drove through the mountain roads—a sign of magnetic interference and a prelude to entering Silent Hill's outer world.

Unfortunately, despite driving for a while, the radio remained unchanged.

"This is blatant discrimination," York muttered to himself, eyeing the road sign that read [Welcome to Silent Hill].

"Why could Rose, and even the policewoman Sybil who stumbled in, enter the outer world so easily?"

Despite his complaints, York then looked at Sharon sitting beside him. At some point, she had become quiet, simply staring ahead as if she had lost her soul.

"It seems we've truly arrived in Silent Hill," York remarked, narrowing his eyes.

"Uncle York, this place feels so familiar. I feel like I've been here before, that I've lived here..." Sharon suddenly turned to him and said.

"What is this place?"

"Silent Hill," York replied gently.

"Sharon, you were born here."

Sharon paused, then continued to look ahead, her small brows furrowing slightly as she pondered silently.

York turned his attention back to the road, driving deeper into the town.

However, there was no change in the radio, no harsh noise.

Just a quiet town filled with a pungent gas.

This was a toxic gas harmful to humans, emanating from an ever-burning subterranean fire.

York observed the gray sky and the buildings ahead that looked charred by flames, and made a transparent filter for Sharon.

He had reached a stage where he could see even particles, so creating a filter to

 cleanse the air with his mind was certainly within his capabilities.

After ensuring her safety, York stepped out of the car, walking toward the smoke-shrouded town, and opened the passenger door.

"Let's get out and start our treasure hunt, Sharon," York said gently to Sharon, who still clung to her safety belt.

Perhaps due to being in Silent Hill, the usually lively and innocent Sharon had grown quieter. She nodded slightly.

York helped her unbuckle her safety belt and gently patted her head, looking into her slightly retreating eyes.

"Don't worry, with Uncle here, no matter what happens, I will protect you."

Sharon looked up at Uncle York, her eyes clear but confused, reflecting his calm and confident face. She nodded again, then stepped out of the car with his help.

"Let's go, start our treasure hunt." York took Sharon's right hand and smiled down at her.

"Okay," Sharon crisply replied.

York continued smiling, leading Sharon through the smoke-shrouded, unclear town.

The two of them, one big and one small, seemed particularly small in this deserted environment, as tiny as ants.

With the long-burning underground fire nearby, the ground was barren, devoid of any vegetation, with buildings looking like dead objects.

So this was a world of utter silence,

Their already soft footsteps were amplified in this moment.

Thump, thump. Two pairs of feet, one big, one small.

But as the larger pair took a third step, this world of dead silence underwent a drastic transformation.

The town, originally enveloped in smoke from the underground fire, stirred without wind.

A thick swirl of smoke suddenly became violently active, forming a massive vortex, then spreading outward as if pushed away by invisible hands, disappearing and revealing the true face of the town.

Sharon was stunned; she felt something and looked up at York.

York, his face calm, noticing Sharon's gaze, simply smiled at her and continued to lead her forward until they truly stepped into the town.

"True to the name of Silent Hill, I've finally witnessed it." York led Sharon along the main street of the town, looking at each building and the various shops beside the street, feeling somewhat nostalgic.

From this perspective, the scale of this town was actually no different from the bustling areas of New York; if one ignored that it was just a town, it would be hard to distinguish between the two.

If there was one difference, it was in the signs, which revealed the passage of time.

"Interesting." York, with a sightseeing mindset, led Sharon through the silent town of Silent Hill, taking his phone out from his pocket.

The screen showed there was still a signal.

"There's a signal, which means we are still in the real world." York shook his head internally, thinking he might have overprepared, but then remembered something.

When he decided to enter Silent Hill, messages had already come from outside.

The message stated that the nearby civilians had been dispersed, and the barriers had been set up according to the locations, asking if he needed anything else.

Interestingly, perhaps because Silent Hill might house a deity, Bishop Josephine had even requested military assistance from the authorities, with troops accompanying the clergy for protection.

So it was funny that someone asked him if they should bombard Silent Hill to cleanse it.

Thinking this, York really didn't know what to say. Looking around, he could imagine what a bombardment would look like.

A waste of time and money, without any effect.

"After all, this is still the real world, not the inner or outer world."

York looked left and right, seeing Sharon truly engaged in the treasure hunt, then closed his eyes.

"If that's the case, then I'll find it myself."

The concept of mental space and the soul is mysterious. Some say the mental space is the deep manifestation of a person's soul, others say both are extensions of reality based on imagination, and some link it to human thought and emotions.

But for York, it was a tool for searching, to some extent, Sharon was indeed the key he brought, the key to entering Silent Hill, which is why he brought her along, even though he could have gone alone.

York's eyes suddenly opened.

The change in consciousness led to a change in the imaginary space.

For York, what appeared before him was Sharon's deep soul or mental state.

The town was no longer visible in his eyes; what he saw was a vague, gray world devoid of anything.

"This is…" York, tapping into Sharon's soul power, directed himself toward a certain direction, feeling a pull and a familiar soul force coming from there.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, in the next second, York's surroundings changed entirely.

He looked down, flames like fire rising in his pupils, but at the center of this fire was a little girl sleeping on a white bed.

Her face identical to Sharon's, as if carved in a perfect one-to-one scale.

But their auras were entirely different. If Sharon

 was lively and innocent, the girl sleeping on the bed exuded a calmness akin to Eileen's temperament.

"I've found you, Alyssa."

York's thoughts settled, he took a step forward, holding a confused Sharon by the hand.

Terrifying and surging power erupted from York, the previously dim sky instantly cleared, and the space trembled violently.

York channeled this immense force, following the soul's pull, focusing it to a point and piercing through.

A light snap sounded.

The space around them instantly showed dense, bursting fissures, like glass about to shatter.

As his shoes touched the ground, a pristine white surface appeared.

Under Sharon's gaze, bewildered by the sudden change in surroundings, she tilted her head, not understanding why the world had transformed in the blink of an eye.

Sharon sneaked a glance at York, unable to think of anything to say, just staring blankly, her confused eyes asking a single question.

"Uncle York, what's happening? Where is this place?"

"This is another face of this town." Looking into Sharon's clear yet puzzled eyes, York smiled gently.

Sharon instinctively looked around; the environment had changed. In her eyes, it was a world of gray and white, the once charred buildings now all gray-white, her vision extending into a white void as if enveloped in fog.

She looked down, the street beneath her feet also covered in a gray-white layer, which to her seemed like a snowy road.

Suddenly, she saw snowflakes falling from the sky.

"Uncle York, is it snowing?" Sharon asked.

She reached out to catch them, but York stopped her.

"This isn't snow, Sharon, it's ash, so don't touch it, okay?" After stopping her, York said with a smile.

"Otherwise, if you get your hands dirty, Uncle will have a lot of trouble."

He also set up a protective circle around them to block any potential sneak attacks and the ash falling from the sky, which looked like snowflakes but was actually gray-white ash.

Perhaps because of York, Sharon obediently withdrew her hand, nodding and then staring curiously at the falling 'snowflakes', tilting her head.

"This is ash?"

York watched this familiar world, the outer world of Silent Hill as depicted in the movies, surrounded by snow-like ash, continuing to lead Sharon deeper.

"Let's go."

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