Chapter 90: The Evil Spirit Appears
The sound of bells rang out.
Five acolytes, each dressed in ceremonial robes, emerged from the chapel, clearing the way.
The priest playing the Reaper followed closely behind.
He held a white ceremonial fan in his right hand, inscribed with the words "Harbinger of Death," and with each step, he made various ritual gestures for banishing evil spirits—a practice known as "Chasing the Five Demons, Cleansing the Five Paths."
The procession reached the outer gate.
The acolyte carrying the sacred urn began to lead the way, followed by three guardian angels—Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael—on the left, and on the right, two figures dressed in elaborate angel and demon costumes standing two meters tall, protecting the priest.
The altar boy helped the priest by holding up a long-handled ceremonial cross covered with blessed papers.
With the Reaper's robes swaying back and forth, the procession set off towards the riverbank.
A string of firecrackers exploded behind them.
Marcus, seeing that the procession had departed, contacted Old Lamp.
Doctor: "Old Lamp, have you arrived?"
Old Lamp: "Yes, Doctor. It really is the other three Keepers. After experiencing so many storylines, I only admire you, Doctor. How did you find out?"
Doctor: "This isn't the time to talk about that. Remember what I said. If they don't attack each other, don't attack either; if things are hopeless, don't attack either."
Old Lamp: "Okay, I understand."
Doctor: "Have you spotted any police around?"
Old Lamp: "Yes, they're observing from a distance, undercover."
Marcus instructed Old Lamp to disguise himself well and not reveal his identity before ending the conversation.
He had anonymously tipped off the local police.
He said there would be a drug deal by the river at 1 a.m. tonight.
Marcus didn't expect these local cops to do anything; mentioning a 1 a.m. deal was just to prevent them from making any rash moves and to keep them undercover.
In the storyline, the narcotics officers in this area suspected that the ritual ceremony was to destroy the murder weapon used to kill the drug dealer Andrew, and thus arrested Brother Kane, who was playing the Reaper, and the entire group performing the exorcism.
Then the ritual failed, and things spiraled out of control.
Marcus simply let them see the real evil spirit first. The evil spirit does exist; it's just to broaden their horizons and conveniently resolve a minor problem in the plot.
This group of local police officers can be considered his summoned audience. A play needs an audience, after all!
In this world, he didn't use the skills of a curse apprentice. His current identity is a disguise, with the inner layer still being the Crimson Silver Barrier of the Dark Forest Sect, which is relatively safe.
However, if he wore an ordinary skin over this identity, he was a little afraid that if he accidentally encountered the real body of some evil spirit while walking, it wouldn't be easy to explain.
At this time, the procession had already reached the halfway point. The priest no longer followed ritual patterns but instead walked with a swaying gait, moving forward.
The actors playing the Five Acolytes continuously scattered blessed salt and holy water along the way to cleanse the evil spirits they passed through.
The bells sounded continuously, announcing the location of the procession.
The horn section played a deep, resonant hum, somewhat like Gregorian chants or throat singing, but with only one tone.
"Stop looking, you might get cursed!"
In a house by the street, a little boy had opened a window a crack and was watching.
His mother saw this, quickly covered his eyes, and closed the window.
Many residents along the way, hearing the bells, noticed that their doors and windows weren't properly closed and quickly got up to shut them.
They turned off their lights, went back to bed, covered themselves with blankets, and pretended to be asleep.
Some young people waited until the bells faded away before turning on their lamps again and continuing to scroll through their phones. Some were watching James and Greyson's livestreams.
Greyson kept moving back and forth along the procession, following the requests of the comments.
He would snap a picture of the Reaper, then a picture of the guardian angels, and even took a handful of blessed salt from an acolyte and tried scattering it on the road.
The scrolling speed of the comments increased.
In comparison, James's livestream was much quieter.
Having experienced the horrors before, he was very respectful of such matters, simply staying in the middle of the group and obediently following along as they filmed.
Marcus checked the time; it was already 12:12 AM. He got up, poured himself a cup of hot water, and sat back down on the sofa.
He drank it down in one gulp, the warmth flowing down his throat and into his stomach, warming his entire body.
"The show's about to begin!"
Marcus thought to himself as he watched the livestream.
Two timed anonymous text messages, forwarded countless times online, were sent to the two men's phones at that moment.
In a bedroom with a simple, cream-colored interior,
Sarah, heavily pregnant, was watching her husband James's livestream.
Because she was alone at home, she didn't pretend; her face was expressionless, her eyes dull and lifeless. The livestream reflected in her eyes, but there was no recognition.
Suddenly, her face showed expression because a text message popped up at the top of the livestream screen on her phone.
"Lily, I know this evil spirit has possessed Sarah's body. I've already told Mr. James Webb, and I've asked the priest performing the ritual tonight to send you away as well."
Upon seeing this text message, Lily's expression instantly turned ferocious.
Large, pinkish scars, like welts, appeared on her smooth face, and two streams of bloody tears flowed from her eyes.
"Ah—!"
She leaned forward, letting out a long, shrill scream.
Then, Sarah's body fell heavily to the ground, her eyes tightly closed, as if she had been dead for a long time.
A pool of blood mixed with tissue flowed beneath her.
A white shadow floated from her body, smashed through the window, and flew out.
James, who was filming in the procession, heard his personal phone, which was in his pocket, suddenly buzz. Curious, he took it out to check.
Who would message him so late? The production company should be closed by now. He wondered if his wife was worried about him, after what had happened last time.
As soon as he turned on his phone, the lock screen displayed a message. James, who had been reading it silently, turned ashen-faced, completely terrified.
"Mr. Webb, your wife, Sarah, died long ago. She was possessed by the evil spirit Lily. You should have noticed she started acting strangely!
You've been living with an evil spirit for almost a year. If you don't believe me, you can find a priest to verify it; it won't cost you anything."
James stared blankly at the message on his phone, even forgetting to move, as the procession passed him one by one.
"Hey, we're falling behind! What are you spacing out for!"
Greyson, who was at the back of the group, saw James's dazed expression and grabbed his arm, pulling him back into the procession.
James was like a puppet, being dragged along, subconsciously moving forward, his face growing increasingly grim.
His wife, Sarah, had indeed changed a lot since being harmed by the evil spirit Lily, and she didn't remember many things.
He had even taken her to see a psychiatrist, who said it was temporary amnesia caused by trauma, and recovery would depend on her condition.
Sarah's daily life seemed fine, so he didn't pry too much, only hoping his wife would recover soon.
But this text message sent a chill down his spine. He instinctively wanted to deny it, unable to believe it.
Yet, a voice inside him seemed to be telling him it was true!
He was completely unable to control his unease and fear; the depth of his fear and sorrow matched the depth of his love for his wife.
"Hey, are you scared?" Greyson, seeing James's panicked expression, deliberately shouted loudly to attract the attention of some people in the procession.
He had always been resentful of James; both made these kinds of videos, but James's views far exceeded his, and even his benefactor called him "Boss."
Greyson had always harbored the thought: he could take James's place!
Startled by Greyson's voice, James regained his senses, his whole body shuddering. Ignoring Greyson, he saw the priest playing the Reaper, and a glimmer of hope seemed to appear.
(End of Chapter)
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