Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

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Drip...

Drip...

Blood fell from the tip of the dagger, dropping onto the pool of blood on the ground.

The man clad in a raincoat stretched out his hand expressionlessly to grasp the doorknob and, with a gentle pull, stepped out with mechanical stride, one step at a time.

Inside the room.

Harley and Catherine leaned against the wall by the door, one on the left and one on the right.

One with a chest pierced through, the other with a huge slash across the neck.

Swift and decisive, a fatal blow.

And this was just the beginning.

...

At the moment, inside the couple's café.

Du Wei sat by the window, quietly observing the hotel opposite, or more precisely, the window on the fifth floor.

An evil corpse, severed at the waist, clung to the outer side of the window. Due to the angle of the light, the area was very dark, hardly noticeable if one wasn't paying attention.

Du Wei's gaze was somewhat cold. He picked up his coffee, took just a sip, and then set it down before standing up and walking out.

Calculating the time, that evil corpse must have already killed quite a few members of the Veda Sect and should soon confront the bishop.

According to Father Tony, the organizational structure of the Veda Sect was peculiar; apart from the bishop, the others were just ordinary people, unable to establish contact with Veda, the entity they worshiped.

In other words, the bishop was the most mysterious and the most powerful of them all.

Hmm... she should be comparable to an exorcist like James, but probably slightly more formidable.

At the very least, James didn't have the means to create an evil corpse.

If the evil corpse were to confront the bishop of the Veda Sect, Du Wei didn't think it could kill her, and it might not even get a touch before being easily disposed of.

After all, everyone hopes to have complete control over their "weapon."

As Du Wei walked toward the hotel, he silently speculated.

After dealing with the evil corpse, Bishop Ruth would certainly be furious and then check why the corpse had gone out of control.

This was a natural human reaction, inescapable for anyone.

Then, she would discover the surprise he had prepared for her—the photograph of the shadow.

Of course, by that time, some uncontrollable situations might arise.

For instance, if the shadow obtained the dagger after killing someone, it would become ever more terrifying and would undoubtedly not hesitate to strike at him, judging by its logic of action.

If we were to categorize by the degree of hatred,

The evil spirit longing to kill him the most, the shadow, would definitely rank first, followed by the spiteful Annabelle.

After that come the antique clock, Evil Du Wei, and the other evil spirits he encountered on the bus.

That's why Du Wei didn't continue to wait; he had to time it right to prevent the shadow from getting the dagger, while also ensuring that everything would be plausibly explained.

He at least owed Officer Tom a reasonable explanation.

...

Within the hotel.

Bishop Ruth was now very angry.

She stood at the doorstep of a cultist's room, looking at the tragic scene inside, lips pursed and eyes so dark they seemed to drip water.

"Damn it! I'm going to tear you apart alive!" she exclaimed.

Just moments ago, on the floor above, she suddenly felt a palpitation.

And she could sense that the evil corpse had entered the hotel.

She originally thought that the thing had killed the psychiatrist and was returning to her.

So she was in a fairly good mood, enjoying her bath.

But after waiting for a while, she suddenly felt the evil corpse lingering on the fifth floor.

The fifth floor... aside from the three cultists who always followed her, the others lived there.

Then, Bishop Ruth had a bad premonition.

She always felt something wasn't quite right, and a disturbing thought emerged in her mind—the evil corpse had lost control.

So she immediately stepped out of the bathroom, donning a bathrobe, called the others, and went to the fifth floor to check.

What shocked her was...

The doors of the Veda Sect cultists' rooms were either wide open or ajar.

In the rooms, every cultist died miserably; although only by a single stabbing, they were either eviscerated or had their hearts pierced and throats slashed.

Bishop Ruth even saw that the faces of the dead cultists were filled with deep pain.

It seemed the evil corpse was even more vicious when killing them than it was when killing the innocents.

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She felt no sympathy or reluctance, just immense anger.

Even though new believers could be recruited, she would face an awkward situation with no available personnel for a long time.

The Veda Sect required sacrifices, or else they would abandon their followers.

And Ruth knew just how miserable the fate of those abandoned by the Veda Sect would be.

It was a pain more desperate than death itself, as both the body and soul would gradually decay, turning to sludge, and during this process, one couldn't even commit suicide; they could only watch helplessly as it happened.

Beside her, the faces of the three cultists were also panicked as they asked in unison, "Bishop Ruth, what should we do now? Someone will soon discover what happened here; should we leave this place first?"

Ruth's gloomy gaze fell upon them as she said in a low voice, "Wait a moment. I can sense its location."

The cultist's voice trembled as she asked, "Where?"

Ruth closed her eyes, turned around, and spoke in a vague, yet chilling tone, "It is right here."

Snap...

Her words had just fallen.

At the end of the corridor, a man wearing a raincoat and wielding a dagger stepped out of a door.

Ruth, too, opened her eyes and looked at him, her gaze filled with anger and confusion.

"You want to kill me? Why? Did something go wrong with the ritual?"

The man, of course, did not answer her; he just gripped the blood-dripping dagger and walked step by step towards her.

The lights at the top of the corridor seemed to short-circuit, going out one by one.

And in the eyes of Ruth and the three cultists, there was a feeling of being devoured by the darkness, eventually dying at the hands of the Evil Corpse.

The three cultists instinctively wanted to run, but when they turned their heads, they found themselves completely engulfed in darkness.

Next, they heard footsteps coming simultaneously from both sides.

An eerie alteration appeared at both ends of a single corridor.

Even Ruth had lost contact with the Evil Corpse, and she suddenly realized she might have entered a dead end.

Without knowing where the Evil Corpse would emerge, a single misstep could lead to her death.

Ruth thought for a moment, allowing a flicker of obscure complexity to pass through her eyes.

She turned to the remaining cultists and said in a calm tone, "You three, run to the left, head to the backup stronghold. I'll stay here to deal with it and follow shortly."

The cultists exchanged glances and reluctantly lowered their heads, saying, "Bishop, we are not you; what if that thing..."

Ruth of course knew what they meant and felt a surge of displeasure inside, yet her face remained calm.

She approached them and said softly, "Do not be afraid. The Veda Sect will protect you, and all terror will stay away from you."

The next second.

She violently pushed the three of them into the darkness.

The three cultists, even if they realized something was amiss and prepared to defend themselves, couldn't react in time.

No one expected that Bishop Ruth would take such decisive action.

Then, the sounds of a knife plunging into flesh echoed from the darkness.

Before the Evil Corpse acted, Ruth could not determine its precise location, yet when it acted, that fact would be revealed.

Therefore, Ruth didn't hesitate and rushed into the darkness.

One minute later.

There was the sound of a snap...

The dagger fell to the floor.

The lights at the top of the corridor came back on once again.

Bishop Ruth held a straw doll in one hand and pressed it onto the head of the Evil Corpse.

Beside her, one of the three cultists had already fallen into a pool of blood, stabbed from the lower back upwards, leaving a large slash across her back.

And the Evil Corpse itself began to tremble as if losing strength, crashing heavily to the ground.

Ruth glanced at the two remaining cultists who were still alive, said nothing, and turned her gaze to the chest of the Evil Corpse.

There were traces of stitching that had been redone, the work of a professional—at first glance, it was clear.

She narrowed her eyes and picked up the dagger, lightly slicing at the stitched area.

The sharp blade cut the threads, and the inside of the corpse's chest was exposed before Ruth's eyes.

It was the photographs that Du Wei had printed.

"Did the psychiatrist do this? Damn bastard!"

Ruth angrily pulled out the photographs and looked at them one by one, her expression turning extremely ugly.

However, upon seeing one of the "special" photographs, Ruth's expression froze.

"One eye?"