Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

First floor.

Du Wei stared at the four women's heads lying on the floor, his face extraordinarily indifferent.

Each head seemed to have been yanked off by some immense force.

Their facial features were twisted in a gruesome snarl, and although the blood had coagulated, the trails of blood spread across the floor indicated that when the heads had come into the house, they must have been drenched in fresh blood.

"Why are there so many heads in my house?"

Du Wei muttered to himself, then looked up again, his face full of confusion.

This was a crucial question, one that carried deadly consequences.

Evil Spirits are contagious; the more people they kill, the stronger they become, fueled by fear and terror.

The Evil Spirit brought by Aisha spread through knowledge of its existence.

The Evil Spirit from the posts spread through sight and hearing, with no other methods of transmission found so far.

On the first day, the two Evil Spirits were in a state of balance, neither overpowering the other, so everything was safe.

On the second day, the Evil Spirit from the posts killed Mrs. Mina's brother—Luke Conan Doyle, and the scales of balance began to tilt.

If it weren't for the addition of the even more sinister Antique Clock thereafter, there might not have been any 'after' to speak of.

Thinking this, Du Wei's heart sank slightly as he turned his head to gaze at the Antique Clock and Annabelle hanging on the wall, lingering especially long on the former.

Annabelle itself had been corroded by Bone Powder and was now locked in a cabinet; if it still had the ability to leave the house to kill, then its target last night should have been himself.

The Antique Clock had not shown many aberrant signs so far; although it was the most mysterious, it was not very likely.

There was also that ring engraved with the letters 'val'...

Du Wei couldn't help but laugh a little; he felt like he was clutching at straws, unable to stop himself. A single slip and he wouldn't even know how he died.

"It shouldn't be them."

He calmed himself down. Taking a deep breath, he made his judgment.

The Evil Spirit brought by Aisha was tightly restricted by Du Wei; as long as he didn't speak of it, it couldn't leave the room.

Remaining was only the incredibly contagious Evil Spirit that could go online and make posts.

Having thought this through.

Du Wei walked to a doorless cabinet on the first floor, took out a roll of trash bags, and began to clean up.

He detested the smell of blood and corpses, a problem that arose in his junior year of college after dissecting a particularly unusual corpse.

That's why he switched to becoming a psychologist.

Each head was separately bagged by Du Wei, who then meticulously cleaned up the bloodstains.

Although calling the police was the best option at this time, in reality, Du Wei had no way of explaining why there were inexplicably four heads in his house.

Even Officer Tom, who was aware of the Evil Spirits, would likely harbor suspicions and think that he was involved in the incident.

Moreover...

There were just too many inexplicable things in the house.

A rotten woman's arm brought about by the Antique Clock, and Roy's missing head.

All these things, if discovered, would lead any sane person to conclude that Du Wei was an incredibly cold-blooded, terrifying serial killer.

However, while Du Wei was wiping the bloodstains with a disposable towel, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller was Officer Tom.

Looking at the phone screen, Du Wei was silent for a while before he finally pressed the answer button.

"Good morning, Tom."

"Actually, it's not a good morning at all, Mr. Du Wei. Do you know? I am currently putting up quarantine tape at the Sofitel Hotel, and you would never guess who the deceased is."

"I truly don't know."

"It was those cultists, four women died at once, each wrapped in a sheet, twisted to death like wringing out a towel, and the room was covered in blood, I almost puked! Fuck!!!"

"Damn, I'm about to lose it, it's been a month since I've been to the Red Light District, I... I... Fuck!!!"

"Hello? Mr. Du Wei, are you listening?"

"Uh... yes, I'm listening."

Du Wei glanced down at the four garbage bags at his side and asked in a calm tone, "Let me guess, are their heads missing?"

"Uh... yes, how did you know?"

"... Just a guess."

"Well, I suggest you be careful, because I got the surveillance tapes from the hotel staff. There were 20 of them in total, and now there are just 4 dead, the rest are probably still in the North Brook District."

"Right, I will send some information to you now. I suspect this is an evil spirit incident."

...

After hanging up the phone, Du Wei carried the four garbage bags upstairs.

The house he rented included a small half-floor attic, mostly used for storage.

Although, there really wasn't much to store.

When he reached the far end of the second floor, Du Wei looked up and saw the handle on the ceiling.

He then casually took a hook that was placed to one side, hooked it on the handle, and pulled gently.

Creak...

A grating sound of wooden structures rubbing against each other filled the air.

Then, a simple ladder dropped down.

No dust...

Because Du Wei had already been up in the attic a few days before.

The attic wasn't very spacious, with a vertical height of only two meters, and directly opposite was a windowpane, even though mostly obscured by old curtains, it still allowed in a faint light.

Scattered around were some discarded furniture, a sofa, a table, a bed, and a few broken table lamps.

Beyond that stood an old-fashioned chest freezer about a meter high, with the lid on top.

It was left by the previous homeowner, apparently for storing food.

A few days earlier, Du Wei had fixed the freezer, and it was working properly.

Rustle...

The lid of the freezer was pulled open, revealing a black plastic bag inside.

"Maybe, I should find time to dispose of all this stuff, just need to be a bit careful,"

Du Wei said to himself, as he tossed the rest of the garbage bags in as well, and after pulling the lid shut again, the faint smell of blood had dissipated quite a bit.

...

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Mrs. Mina's house was in complete disarray.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The furniture was overturned, and the floor was littered with broken cups, plates, and some small appliances.

The family portrait that hung on the wall had also fallen to the ground, the glass shattered, exposing the photo inside.

Mrs. Mina, her husband, and their daughter Kelly, who had been possessed by the Evil Spirit.

It looked like a scene from after an earthquake.

Mrs. Mina sat on the floor, staring in terror at her daughter standing opposite her.

Kelly's childish face was utterly expressionless, her eyes pitch black, oozing malice.

"Mommy, why did you take me to see that psychiatrist again?"