Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

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Thud, thud, thud...

The footsteps inevitably sounded.

A group of people, continuing to walk forward.

James and Homier kept a close watch on the bandaged female Evil Spirit at the rear.

But as time ticked away, the Evil Spirit never made a move.

The other Exorcists, despite being aware of the Evil Spirit behind them, were running low on resources and could only quicken their pace in an effort to leave.

Only by doing so could they be of any help to James and everyone else.

At the back, James caressed his flintlock gun, feeling the cold that was slowly creeping into his skin, and an inexplicable irritation settling in his heart.

Suddenly, when they reached a rather enclosed area.

The team stopped, and James almost bumped into the Exorcist in front of him, staggering involuntarily.

"Why have we stopped?"

Nobody answered...

The silence was as though death itself.

James immediately fell silent, guarding against the female Evil Spirit behind him with his peripheral vision, while observing what was happening in front.

The next second.

His face turned extremely grim.

The team was now on a street, flanked by high walls on both sides.

At the front was a crossroads.

The surrounding light was dim, yet, the sight that should have been blurred was crystal clear—there stood a tall man swathed in bandages from head to toe in the middle of the intersection.

Behind them, a profoundly deep malice burst forth, enough to drive one to despair.

James instantly felt that undisguised malevolent glare.

He sharply turned around, only to see the female Evil Spirit embedded in the bandages waving at him with a sinister smile.

At the same time, the other corpse it was dragging also raised a hand and waved.

It looked like they were greeting someone.

James felt a chill run down his spine, his forehead beading with cold sweat.

He suddenly realized another problem, the Evil Spirit wasn't greeting him, but the Evil Spirit blocking their way ahead.

The two Evil Spirits were actually connected to each other...

As he came to this realization.

Both Evil Spirits moved.

One in front, one in the back, sandwiching James and his group in the middle.

The two Evil Spirits approached the group from front and rear, and everyone's expression at that moment was filled with despair.

However, when they got about 3 meters from the group, both Evil Spirits stopped.

In front, Bishop Thompson held the candle with an exceptionally unsightly complexion.

The candle's burning rate was accelerating—it would only be minutes before it was completely extinguished.

Then, everyone would fall into an unsolvable predicament.

Unable to move forward, unable to retreat.

The two Evil Spirits had them completely trapped...

Oddly, Thompson thought of an Eastern term—trapping turtles in a jar.

...

Meanwhile.

Du Wei didn't find himself in much better straits than James and the others.

After entering Massas City, sensing the rough location of another Joker Card, he found an old bicycle and began riding along the city streets.

However, upon reaching an area filled with dilapidated houses and a deserted street, Du Wei's face stiffened.

Around the street, there were some rusty lampposts.

Beneath the lamppost closest to him stood a man in a black suit, pinned at the chest with a golden brooch crafted entirely from gold.

He wore a white mask on his face devoid of features, and leaned on a cane in his hand, the desolate surroundings failing to evoke a sense of discord with his presence.

It was as if he belonged there.

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Du Wei's complexion was very ugly as he forced himself to calm down.

He was all too familiar with this scene. In the initial death imagery, he died right here, except that it was during a downpour.

Later, on the bus, he encountered the Masked Evil Spirit wearing the Golden Broach twice at the same location.

The rundown neighborhood, the broken streets, the streetlight pole...

Could it be that he had taken the bus and come to Massas City twice before?

That was absolutely impossible.

Although what he saw on the bus was similar to his current surroundings, it was desolate with nothing resembling Massas City.

It was just a similar location...

But the presence of this Evil Spirit here definitely meant something he couldn't comprehend had happened.

Last time, he and the Masked Evil Spirit, along with other malevolent spirits, were all forced off the bus together.

There were no bus stop signs around.

Which means, according to the rules of the bus, they could not return to their original place.

And now, he had encountered the Masked Evil Spirit from among them in Massas City. Did that mean the other spirits had also made it to this city?

If that was the case, then there was big trouble!

Those spirits weren't much of a threat on the bus because the bus was restraining them.

But once off the bus, not a single spirit was weak.

As it happens...

More than a dozen spirits bore personal vendettas against him...

Du Wei couldn't afford to keep thinking. He turned around without hesitation, got on his bike, and rode away.

Behind him, the Masked Evil Spirit did not react at all but just stood there, silently watching Du Wei leave.

It wore a white mask without features; one couldn't see the face underneath the mask, but the more that was true, the creepier it felt.

...

Ten minutes later...

Du Wei abandoned his bicycle, his eyes cold as he stared at the Masked Evil Spirit before him.

The environment hadn't changed at all.

It was still

The abandoned road and the rusty streetlight pole.

He was back to where he started.

"I tried three times, but each time I couldn't leave, and you were always standing here. I don't think we can coexist peacefully, so does that mean you're trapped here too?"

Du Wei asked himself, as if he were also asking the Masked Evil Spirit.

He really didn't want to confront the Masked Evil Spirit, because of the Golden Brooch.

Two masks, one of which was on him, creating the entity known as Evil Spirit Du Wei.

Facing Evil Spirit Du Wei, he still had some confidence, as no one understood him better than himself.

But the Evil Spirit before him was different.

He was Mike Stowe, who, after donning the other mask, had not been killed by the residing Evil Spirit before getting on the bus.

The Evil Spirit that originally inhabited the mask had possessed his daughter and wife in turn.

And he himself had died on the bus, later becoming an Evil Spirit for reasons unknown.

Evil Spirit Du Wei was special, while this one was simply an Evil Spirit, and that was all.

With that thought in mind.

Du Wei hesitated for a moment then, holding the Black Umbrella, walked toward the Masked Evil Spirit.

He intended to verify his theory—If he wasn't wrong, then it wasn't the Masked Evil Spirit who was preventing him from leaving; something was inherently wrong with this place.

Under the streetlight, the Masked Evil Spirit watched Du Wei and suddenly reached out to grab him.

Yet, it couldn't even step forward.

Seeing this, Du Wei stopped two meters in front of it, a strange look in his eyes.

"It seems I'm right, you're trapped here too, and possibly because you're an Evil Spirit, you're even more restricted than I am, unable to move at all."

He immediately opened his backpack, took out Bone Powder, and the lighter he always carried.

This was a good opportunity...