Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

Evening time.

Across the street from the psychological consultation clinic.

After Du Wei got out of the taxi, he carried the umbrella and printing machine to the entrance.

However, as he set down the printing machine and turned the key in the lock, his body momentarily stiffened.

"Something seems off..."

During the day, the clinic was indeed very quiet. With the Antique Clock there, the shadow and Annabelle would be much calmer.

Even with an additional Evil Corpse, the Dagger acting as a medium was on him, which shouldn't cause any effect.

It was only at night that they became active.

And now, it was evening...

Du Wei became slightly vigilant, holding the Black Umbrella in one hand, and pushing open the door with the other.

Before him, the Antique Clock hung on the wall, its hands overlapping as they continued to move as usual.

Next to it, the cabinet holding Annabelle was sealed tight; it seemed there was no problem at all.

As for the shadow...
Continue your adventure at empire

Except when it intended to strike, it mostly hid in the darkness, not showing itself when Du Wei was unaware of its corner in the room.

"Seems like trouble; I need to take care of it first..."

Du Wei murmured softly and walked into the room with the printing machine.

He had barely taken a few steps when the door behind him closed automatically.

The light in the entire room gradually dimmed as if swiftly entering the heart of the night.

Whether it was windows or doors, all places that allowed light were quickly consumed by shadows.

An indescribable sense of oppression slowly emerged from the bottom of Du Wei's heart.

And this—was heavier than ever before, second only to when the nun had leaped out of his dreams.

Yet Du Wei didn't show much reaction.

In an inappropriate phrase, it was—habit becomes nature.

So, he set the printing machine on the coffee table, not bothering to use it, and sat down on the sofa, lighting a cigarette for himself.

Huff...

Exhaling a puff of smoke gently, Du Wei leaned back on the sofa with a detached expression, staring at the Antique Clock and Annabelle hanging on the wall.

The atmosphere was heavy...

Du Wei didn't care, speaking to himself, "After getting off the taxi this time, my Evil Spirit Transformation progressed significantly, even leading to loss of control."

"So, I was planning to contact Father Tony again in a couple of days, but unexpectedly, after I got home, the transformation seemed to skip the loss of control phase."

"It's as if, something is helping me? Hmm... that's not quite right, maybe it's more like something is drawing some power from me?"

"From the beginning, I knew I wasn't quite like the other hunters. My Right Hand is completely numb during the transformation, as if it doesn't belong to me."

"Then, at the Goliath Winery, I witnessed the death vision again. I've always been wary of this ability, the more I believe, the easier it is to be led astray."

"And the death vision comes from the Spirit Vision."

"So what exactly do the two of you want to do?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Du Wei pulled out a gun, its dark, hollow barrel pointing directly at the Antique Clock.

He said indifferently, "You should be like the mask, imprisoning the ring by yourself, and only when two masks come together, can they imprison the Golden Brooch."

"Each mask holds an Evil Spirit inside, but you hide very deep."

"Either I force you out, or you come out on your own."

Click.

Du Wei cocked the gun, ready to test the Antique Clock, an object so peculiar that every instance of death vision seemed to hint at something, even with a guiding sense.

It seemed to wish for him to survive, not wanting the Evil Du Wei to take over his body, but in a sense, it wasn't with good intentions.

Evil Spirits, no matter what they do, their ultimate goal is always to kill.

In the face of unknown terror, one should always remain vigilant.

However, to Du Wei's disappointment, the Antique Clock showed no reaction at all, simply ticking away with mechanical regularity.

Du Wei squinted his eyes, but just then, the framed cabinet hanging next to the center of the Antique Clock suddenly trembled.

Click... the spring mechanism triggered.

The lock snapped open and fell onto the wooden floor, yet no sound came through.

Creak...

The door of the framed cabinet opened, and the Evil Spirit Doll Annabelle turned its head; those plastic eyes stared directly at Du Wei.

They weren't real eyeballs, yet one could feel the cold, resentful gaze.

The malice emanating from it was deeper than before.

Or rather, it was now returning to its original state of terror.

The temperature in the room plummeted, and Du Wei felt a chill all over his body, his skin breaking out in goosebumps.

At this very moment,

Beyond the small range illuminated by the lighter's flame, the entire room was completely dark.

Within the darkness...

Rustling sounds could be heard.

Du Wei didn't even need to enter the Spirit Vision to see one figure after another appearing in the room.

There were men and women of different skin colors.

But each had a pallid complexion, their eyes dead and empty.

All were ghosts...

At first, they appeared in many places around the room—by the walls, the door, the staircase, in front of the TV.

Even by the sofa where Du Wei was sitting, there were two ghosts seated to his left and right: a man and a woman, both Caucasian—the deceased Bob and Lisa from the Horror House.

Then, all the ghosts turned their expressionless heads and stared intently at Du Wei.

His Right Hand, too, went uncontrollably into the state of Evil Spirit Transformation, the complexion appearing even paler with a completely alien feeling.

The flame of the lighter shrank in an instant.

Shadows spread out behind Du Wei, and a pair of eyes filled with blood vessels and malice, unbeknownst to when, loomed behind him.

Du Wei stared at his Right Hand, gave it a few glances, and then suddenly smiled.

"So that's how it is... from the moment I first caught you, you've left something on me and nourished it, or should I say you were recovering?"

He was speaking to Annabelle.

It looked like he had underestimated it.

It should not be just an ordinary Evil Spirit Doll, possessing the ability to gather ghosts.

With that thought, Du Wei immediately put on the mask.

Then, he tried and successfully reverted the transformation of his Right Hand, standing up to look at the shadow.

The shadow seemed conflicted, reaching out towards the area under Du Wei's armpit.

Hidden there was the Dagger, wrapped in white cloth.

It seemed very eager to obtain that Dagger...

With his face obscured by the mask, Du Wei's presence became even more enigmatic. Just as the shadow nearly touched his clothes, he produced the Joker Card.

The figure of himself in a tailcoat on the card suddenly turned its head, giving the shadow a sly smile filled with malice.

The next second, the shadow stopped dead, seemingly reluctantly reaching forward but then gave up.

Du Wei shook his head, then walked up to Annabelle who stood on the floor, with all the emotionless ghosts watching him, and softly asked, "Care to make a bet?"