Chapter 147 Running into Someone Just by Taking a Walk?
Queens, New York, Xu Yi stood under the dim streetlight, looking up at the retro apartment building before him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
As the second most populous borough in New York, Queens mostly features modern architecture; it's hard to imagine an old-style apartment like this still standing here.
However, considering this is on the edge of Queens, one can understand why.
Though old and worn, the retro apartment had its own unique charm. With its affordable rent, business was quite good; people bustling about at night would return and light up the apartments, covering the whole building in a warm glow.
But all that changed two months ago.
Now the apartment was pitch-black, only a few corridor lights still flickering on. In this somewhat desolate suburb, it literally looked like a Haunted House.
Xu Yi looked around but didn't see the client.
Since the client was outside New York City, and considering Xu Yi had decided to come on a whim, it would have been surprising for the other party to have arrived immediately.
He didn't wait for the other party to get ready and headed straight for the old apartment building.
There was more than one path leading to the apartment, and they converged like streams into a river at the main road.
A figure emerged from the path ahead, and Xu Yi's body tensed instinctively, his hand resting on the Alchemy Revolver at his waist.
The expression that appeared on his face could be described in three words, "seeing a ghost!"
Evil Gods are extremely rare; many exorcists go their whole lives without encountering a single incident involving an Evil God.
Yet, he had successively encountered the Ram Cult's great Evil God, and the resurrected Evil God, Ratma—all barely understandable.
But why would he come across an Evil God while dealing with a Common Evil Spirit incident?
The person walking ahead of him was a woman, seemingly a bit older than him, draped in a flaxen long trench coat, her face difficult to discern since she was not only wrapped in a scarf but also wearing sunglasses.
But from the contours of her features, one could vaguely tell she must be quite attractive.
Xu Yi stared intently at her back; how she looked wasn't important, what mattered was the aura.
A distinct aura of an Evil God emanated from her.
Normally, the presence of an Evil God is very subtle, even for a Great Exorcist like Father Noting, who didn't realize Ratma was an Evil God immediately.
If Xu Yi didn't willingly reveal his own aura of the Evil God, it would be almost impossible for others to sense it.
Yet, the woman's aura of the Evil God was completely unmasked.
To an exorcist, she was like a burning torch in the darkness, incredibly conspicuous.
There's an unwritten rule in the Exorcism World: if an exorcist discovers an Evil God, it must be reported immediately, because the threat of an Evil God is too great, and no one wants to see an Evil God grow.
For her to reveal her aura so arrogantly, Xu Yi thought of one possibility.
That she was incredibly powerful, indifferent to any assault by exorcists; in her eyes, exorcists were nothing more than chickens and dogs.
Could it be that the Ram Cult was seeking revenge? Xu Yi couldn't help but think.
If it was the great Evil God behind the Church of the Ram, it would indeed have the power to do so.
But something didn't add up, if she had come for revenge, she should have approached him with the look one gives a bug before announcing his doom, rather than walking straight to the old apartment, without giving him a glance.
Xu Yi's brow furrowed so deeply it formed the character "川". Everything about this situation was eerie, so much so that he even doubted whether what he had felt was truly the aura of an Evil God.
Logically speaking, even if it wasn't the Ram Cult seeking vengeance, his blatant presence as an exorcist here should not have gone unnoticed, right?
After the figure had walked away, Xu Yi took out his mobile phone from the toy Treasure Box and dialed the number the government had specifically given him.
On the phone, he didn't mention the discovery of an Evil God but instead reported the discovery of a dangerous place in Queens.
The person in charge on the other end took it very seriously; after all, if a "Great Exorcist" deemed it dangerous, then it surely wasn't a common place.
Xu Yi hung up the phone and breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
No matter if it was an Evil God or not, the government would come to handle the situation shortly, and he wasn't some reckless greenhorn who would barge in without considering the consequences.
Exorcists from City Hall could arrive quickly, and Xu Yi had plenty of Resurrection Coins on him.
The main thing was that it was now 11:35 PM, and midnight was approaching, which meant that the daily limit of Resurrection Coins would soon refresh.
That meant, if played right, he could be resurrected ten times within this timeframe.
This was why he always kept at least ten Resurrection Coins on him; it was a way to exploit a small bug in the system.
With no further worries, Xu Yi was prepared to meet this arrogant Evil God.
The apartment's main entrance was wide open, the security guard was nowhere to be seen.
This was within expectations, as the security guard, earning such a meager salary, would hardly risk his life for his employer.
The empty lobby of the apartment no longer held the woman's figure, and possibly due to the distance, he no longer felt the presence of the Evil God.
However, using the powerful vision bestowed upon him by the Eyes of Obscurity, Xu Yi spotted fresh shoe prints on the ground, which perfectly matched the high heels worn by the woman he had seen earlier.
Xu Yi couldn't help but reflect that exorcism was truly a skilled trade, not only requiring knowledge of exorcism and physical strength but occasionally doubling as detective work.
The old apartment building didn't have an elevator, so Xu Yi followed the staircase up, his footsteps echoing starkly in the silent building.
Following the shoe prints, Xu Yi reached the third floor when suddenly a shadow lunged at him from the dark corridor; he instinctively dodged.
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The shadow fell heavily to the ground, its body covered in blood.
Xu Yi got a clear look at the person; it was a young man, not looking very old, probably around eighteen or nineteen.
He arched an eyebrow in surprise because the youth in front of him was also an exorcist, as Xu Yi could sense the special field emanating from him.
"Brother!"
A piercing scream came from the corridor as another figure rushed over; it too was an exorcist, and a girl at that, her face full of youthfulness.
The exorcist siblings noticed Xu Yi, the stranger, and the girl shouted at him, "Run! It's dangerous here!"
Xu Yi became alert, wondering if the Evil God had targeted these two young exorcists.
The wall paintings in the corridor had faded a bit, with only dim yellow lights every seven to eight meters providing illumination, the old bulbs buzzing and flickering like ghostly fire.
Each light only illuminated a short stretch of the corridor, and between two lights one couldn't see their own hand before their face, the path extending into darkness and light.
In the interplay of light and shadow, a pitch-black figure stood within the darkness, its face completely indiscernible, tall in stature, with long slender arms and sharp nails.
Xu Yi let out a breath of relief, but soon his brow furrowed.
He was relieved because the figure wasn't the woman he had seen earlier; it didn't carry the aura of the Evil God. That familiar icy feeling made it clear that the figure was only an Evil Spirit.
He frowned because, possessing the Eyes of Obscurity, he should have been able to see clearly in the darkness, but he could only make out the outline of the figure, which seemed to blend into the darkness itself.
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