Chapter 101: Troublesome Behavior
"Yes, right here!"
"Dig up this tree."
"Okay, dig it up, this cursed tree."
"This tree is probably possessed; it's probably trying to kill us."
Early the next morning, the town mayor, dressed in a black suit, with a receding hairline and slightly overweight build, pointed the way ahead, leading a large group of townspeople to the town entrance.
The excavator and crane lowered their side supports, reversed their cabs, and prepared to dig.
Because under this big oak tree, another person had just died; a passing resident had noticed something was wrong.
Initially, the person crossed the police tape, squatted under the tree, their body in a strange, twisted position, lying on the ground, rapidly carving something with a branch.
They were also muttering a string of incomprehensible words.
Just as the residents were about to go over and ask what was going on, the person seemed to have finished drawing, and then plunged the branch into their own neck.
And kept repeatedly stabbing, leaving several bloody holes in the neck. As blood gushed out, the man remained twisted and stiff in place, maintaining a bizarre posture until he died.
There were witnesses, and the police investigation confirmed it was suicide.
However, the town mayor believed the tree was cursed and that it was the cause of the misfortune.
So he wanted to dig it up.
Fortunately, the previous incidents involved gang members; he couldn't let anything happen to the residents, as it had already caused widespread panic in the town.
"Stop! What are you doing!" a stern shout rang out.
A siren sounded, and ten police cars surrounded the crowd at the town entrance.
Chief Miller, with his stern expression and authoritative presence, stepped out of the lead police car and stopped the action.
The crane and excavator drivers, seeing this, dared not move.
"Chief Miller, this is a town matter. Does digging up a tree require deploying the police?"
The mayor stepped out from the crowd, surrounded by residents. The mayor, with a puzzled expression, asked, somewhat confused.
"This tree is where the drug dealer was hanged. The case is still under investigation. How can you dig it up? You're destroying evidence and disturbing the crime scene,"
Chief Miller replied, his words reasonable and well-founded.
The town mayor hesitated, then said,
"Chief Miller, don't you know this tree is cursed? It will kill people. It has to be dug up. This is also the residents' opinion."
But Chief Miller wouldn't listen to the mayor's explanation:
"I don't care about your concerns about the tree, but disturbing the crime scene is unacceptable. If you want to dig it up, wait until the investigation is over."
The surrounding residents hesitated upon hearing this.
"No, it has to be dug up. We can't let anyone else die. Bobby, Jimmy, get the machines moving! Everyone else, hold these cops back!"
"We're all residents here. You don't want your loved ones to be hanged under this tree, do you?"
The mayor ignored them completely, a red glint in his eyes as he spoke, his pupils turning crimson.
After a moment's hesitation, the crane and excavator drivers resumed work.
"Wow, it really is just as Mr. Davis said."
Chief Miller had been observing the mayor, and he immediately noticed the redness in the mayor's eyes.
An ordinary person might think the mayor was just angry, but Frank Davis had already contacted him and told him about the tree, which had been confirmed by nine spiritual mediums.
This tree was suppressing a foreign demonic entity ten times more powerful than the female spirit from that night; releasing it would be a catastrophe, and he had to stop it.
Mr. Frank Davis told him that if he noticed any change in the mayor, he should immediately use blessed papers on him.
Since the night they encountered the evil spirit, the team members, including him, had each carried a blessed paper, folded into a triangle.
Chief Miller took a blessed paper from his briefcase, walked over, and stuck it on the mayor's forehead.
The mayor reacted as if splashed with acid, making a sizzling sound on his head, and crouched on the ground, clutching his head.
This startled the residents, who all took a few steps back.
"He's been possessed! What are you standing there for? Get back! You know what possession looks like, right?"
Hearing the word 'possessed,' everyone panicked and ran away. The crane and excavator drivers abandoned their vehicles, jumped out, and ran after them.
Chief Miller took out four more blessed papers from the briefcase and handed them to two officers. They pressed the papers against the mayor's wrists, grabbed his arms through the papers, handcuffed his hands, and took him back to the police car.
"I'll make sure you can't escape, no method can expel evil, darkness and death will always follow you."
The mayor muttered incessantly, uttering a series of low, incomprehensible words like the buzzing of flies, cursing everyone.
Chief Miller and two of his officers simultaneously pulled out several blessed papers and stuck them on the mayor's mouth and various parts of his body.
This was a side event in the original storyline where the forced disruption of the ritual ceremony led to later chaos caused by the Soul Collector.
Because Marcus arranged for him to witness a supernatural demonstration, he ended up becoming a defender against evil.
Chief Miller contacted Marcus at St. Michael's and told him about the mayor.
After a brief discussion, and hearing that Marcus would arrive soon to handle the situation, Chief Miller arranged for officers to block off roads within a hundred yards, forcing residents to take detours.
Upon receiving Chief Miller's message at St. Michael's, Marcus knew the Soul Collector was desperate, so he had to speed things up.
At this time, all six colleagues invited by Father Samuel had arrived, making a total of nine people including Master Alex, Brother Kane, and Marcus.
"Esteemed clergy, please look. This was just sent over. It seems this demonic entity has sensed something is wrong. The symbols carved on the corpse translate to curses and threats to transform people."
Everyone craned their necks to look, exchanging glances. They had come up with four plans, but none were perfect.
This was the general situation here; spiritual mediums were always at a disadvantage when facing malevolent spirits, and their usual methods of exorcising evil spirits were mainly through rituals and faith.
"How about we use the fourth plan? Don't worry about weakness causing the formation to break. Brother Kane and I will handle the reinforcements."
"I forgot to introduce you all. This Brother Kane is a person with the Reaper's Chosen destiny."
Seeing that everyone was still undecided, Marcus decisively made the decision.
"Oh? If he's Reaper's Chosen, then it's very likely to be able to suppress it." Father Thompson's eyes lit up.
"Not only that, Mr. Davis's spiritual signature is no less powerful than Kane's."
Master Alex added, making the clergy's eyes gleam.
However, Master Alex hesitated before speaking,
"But this formation requires eight people. Last year, I was severely injured by a female spirit, and my life force was damaged. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on until the end. If Kane and Frank go to reinforce, we'll be one person short."
Everyone frowned again; it was indeed true.
But they had basically found all the mediums they could find. The community was only so large, and there were only so many people; they couldn't just add another one.
They could find younger ones, but if their spiritual power wasn't enough, it would become a weakness, a potential breakthrough, leading to failure.
"Master Alex, are you badly injured?" Father Rodriguez asked.
"I can't even channel my life force anymore," Master Alex said with a bitter smile, shaking his head. For a spiritual medium, not being able to use even the most basic life force channeling was already very serious.
(End of Chapter)
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