Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

The fifth-floor corridor of the hotel, where Ruth, the former bishop of the Veda Sect, had dealt with the Evil Corpse, was now well-lit again.

But when she saw that photograph, the surroundings instantly plunged into darkness.

Within the dark, a line of sight filled with malice locked onto Ruth relentlessly.

She was not an ordinary person, having encountered some Evil Spirits in other cities before.

But never had any Evil Spirit given her such a terrifying sensation.

This malice was too intense, and she could faintly sense a cruel, bloody odor.

It was as if people often died at the hands of this Evil Spirit.

Ruth's first instinct was to run.

But surrounded by darkness, she had no idea where to flee.

A sense of direction... at this moment, was completely useless.

With light, there are shadows.

Enveloped in darkness, it can appear anywhere.

The next second.

Ruth heard a strange, rustling sound in the darkness.

The sound was very close, just to her left.

It was where the two remaining Cultists who had not died at the hands of the Evil Corpse were positioned.

Squeak... spurt...

A warm liquid splashed all over Ruth.

What her nose detected was a strong scent of blood...

She suddenly realized a truth.

The previous Veda Sect members must have died at the hands of this Evil Spirit, and the direct cause was that damned psychologist.

Why was this happening? How could he control the Evil Spirit?

Ruth no longer had time to think about the answers to these questions because, at this moment, she suddenly felt something.

A doorknob...

With a surge of relief, she quickly turned the handle, pushed the door open, and rushed in.

Behind her, that strange sound echoed again in the dark.

Ruth knew that all of the Veda Sect members who had come to New York, except for herself, had died at the hands of the Evil Spirit.

This was an absolute disaster.

Even now, Ruth had no knowledge of Du Wei's identity beyond that of a psychologist; she knew nothing else about him.

Click...

She pressed the light switch.

The room was instantly flooded with light.

It seemed untouched by the event.

But when she turned to look back at the doorway, Ruth discovered, to her terror, a vague silhouette with bloodshot eyes standing quietly at the door.

In its hands, it held two heads.

Blood dripped down in streams toward the floor, and although the scene wasn't as gruesome as the deaths Ruth had caused, the oppressive feeling it brought her was even more intense.

Killing and being killed are completely different.

The former comes with a vain sense of control over life, while the latter brings nothing but an instinctual tremor.

She didn't want to die.

So, she immediately took the doll made of straw and aimed it at the dark figure outside the door, chanting incomprehensible sentences in an almost murmuring tone.

These sentences had no logic and didn't even belong to common syntax.

The most frequently appearing word sounded a bit like Veda...

The dark figure outside seemed to sense something, staring at the Scarecrow doll in Ruth's hand, and did not come in.

Ruth breathed a sigh of relief, but then, she noticed something strange.

The figure in front of her, although it did not enter, fixated its gaze on the Dagger in its left hand.

"Do you want this dagger?"

A glint of light flashed in Ruth's eyes as she suddenly remembered something.

Certain evil spirits, when they obtain some special medium, become even more terrifying and powerful.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the medium must fit the evil spirit's killing mechanism, and such cases are extremely rare.

Ruth had only heard about it from other bishops.

It could be understood as something that existed only in the speech of others; no one had ever seen it with their own eyes.

For a moment, Ruth's expression turned ugly; she really didn't want to throw the dagger to the shadow because she was certain it had set its sights on her.

If she let it have the dagger, her chances of survival would be even slimmer.

However...

Feeling the scarecrow doll becoming hotter and hotter in her hands, her eyes filled with struggle.

This scarecrow doll was the bridge of communication between her and the Veda Sect, and it could also fend off the power of the evil spirit, but if she couldn't get away, it would eventually self-combust.

By that time, she would die just the same.

A decision had to be made...

After giving it some thought, Ruth picked up the dagger and prepared to throw it.

But just then, something incomprehensible happened.

For no apparent reason, footsteps approached from a distance.

And as if sensing something, the shadow suddenly stepped deeper into the darkness and completely vanished.

However, the shadows did not disappear; instead, they became even more profound.

With a gaze full of undisguised malice, it continued to stare at her relentlessly.

"Damn it, something even more terrifying must be coming; what on earth is going on? Can someone tell me what happened!" Ruth didn't think twice before she immediately closed the door and ran to the window, trying to figure out a way to escape.

She glanced out the window; the height of the five-story building meant a certain death from falling and shattering to pieces.

Suddenly...

Thud...

Thud...

Thud...

The knocking, methodical and mechanical, began.

A chill gripped Ruth's heart, and so intense was the creeping cold that she involuntarily shivered.

In her hand, the scarecrow doll instantly burst into flames, but even with her palm getting scorched, she dared not drop it.

Ruth couldn't help screaming, and she immediately threw the dagger toward the door; but her strength wasn't great, and the sharp dagger only left a slight mark on the door before bouncing to the floor.

The sound was crisp...

Suddenly...

The knocking stopped.

The eerie sound of the door opening slowly filled the room, as the door gradually opened...

To Ruth's disbelief, standing there with a black umbrella and wearing a mask was a man.

As the man took off his mask, Du Wei's cold face came into view.

Grinding her teeth, Ruth said, "Why are you knocking at the door... wasn't it supposed to be a more powerful evil spirit?"

Du Wei replied calmly, "If I didn't knock, you probably wouldn't have thrown the dagger away, which would have made things a bit more troublesome, and I hate trouble."

Ruth asked darkly, "So after closing the door just now, you were standing outside all the time?"

Du Wei's gaze was a bit strange, but he still answered, "Yes, through the peephole, I could see that you were in a very unstable mental state, which I found quite odd, considering you cultists, who murder without blinking, seem even less resilient in the face of death than normal people."

Ruth sneered, "But you are human..."

As she spoke, she advanced toward Du Wei.

But Du Wei seemed not to care at all, even wrapping the dagger with a white cloth and picking it up.

Seeing this, Ruth suddenly froze; she looked at Du Wei, and said with an inexplicable tone, "That's not right, if you were outside, then where was the evil spirit?"

Du Wei stretched out his hand and pointed at her, more precisely at the spot behind her.

Then he answered, "It's right behind you..."