Chapter 113: Using Them
Marcus withdrew his arm and carried Dodo towards the attic.
Dodo had also witnessed him destroying the arm of the Mother Buddha Deity.
"Uncle, are you here to drive away the bad man?"
In Dodo's mind, if this uncle could drive away the bad man, he must be a good person, so she didn't cry or fuss while being carried.
"Yes, your father asked me to help you drive away the bad man. He'll be here to find you soon, so you have to be good."
Marcus casually used Ronan Chen's name to increase Dodo's trust and prevent her from crying; he really disliked hearing children cry.
The attic in front of them was built entirely of corrugated metal sheets, resembling a storage unit on a construction site.
Marcus pushed the white plywood door, but it didn't budge, as if an invisible force was preventing him from entering.
He kicked it, and the entire metal attic made a loud, drum-like sound. The sheets around the walls dented, but the wooden door remained unchanged.
It was as if the force of that kick had been spread across the entire attic wall.
"Dodo, come help Uncle push the door open."
Marcus originally wanted to take out the blessed papers and then dismantle the entire attic, but seeing Dodo in his arms, he had an idea and tentatively said.
Dodo stretched out her little hand and gently touched the wooden door, which opened a crack automatically.
It was as if it were a pre-programmed sequence.
Could this Mother Buddha Deity have some kind of ritualistic protocol?
Marcus stared intently into the attic.
Orange-red light shone through the palm-width crack in the door, looking extremely eerie.
He pushed open the wooden door, and the room was filled with statues of various sizes: saints, angels, demon guardians, and various religious figures.
But strangely, the faces of these statues were all pitch black, and even their bodies were pitch black.
Where were there such statues? They looked completely corrupted.
Marcus examined them carefully; even the statue of Saint Michael the Archangel was entirely pitch black.
Blood-red lights hung in the room, along with some candles and lamps.
Was this really a shrine used to suppress the Mother Buddha, or was it an attempt to please her with blasphemous and defiled worship?
Using such corrupted statues and worshipping in this way...
if any real divine force were to appear, wouldn't they strike down Li Ronan first?
This woman was too deeply influenced by the Mother Buddha Deity; to be able to select so many malevolent black statues from among so many available in the market was truly remarkable.
It was utter self-deception.
No wonder this old house was permeated with the power of the Mother Buddha.
Marcus looked at the camera surrounded by the many statues.
The camera was wrapped in blessed seals.
These two seals were probably the only useful things in the room.
The moment Marcus stepped into the attic, the cries of infants filled the air, as if an intruder had broken into a nursery.
As Marcus approached the camera, the cries grew even more piercing.
It seemed as if countless infants were accusing Marcus of sins, as if he had committed endless transgressions, and that with one more step forward, many more infants would suffer and die because of him.
"Running out of tricks?"
"What a pointless illusion!"
Marcus ignored these auditory hallucinations, walked straight forward, and picked up the camera.
This camera was one of the sources that allowed the Mother Buddha Deity to manifest her power here.
"Mommy, I want my mommy!"
Dodo in his arms suddenly burst into loud sobs, repeatedly demanding to find Li Ronan.
This isn't right; Dodo was perfectly well-behaved just now.
Marcus's mind raced, and a blessed metal container appeared on the ground. He placed the camera inside and stored the container away.
The cries of the surrounding babies gradually faded.
Besides this camera, another source of power for the Mother Buddha Deity was Dodo.
Before Dodo was born, Li Ronan had signed a contract with the Mother Buddha Deity on her behalf, naturally becoming a node in its power chain.
However, Marcus couldn't solve this unless he killed Dodo directly.
This little girl was quite innocent, and in the upcoming plan, she could also severely damage the Mother Buddha Deity, so she couldn't be allowed to die.
Looking at the distressed Dodo, Marcus gently reached out and pulled open her eyelids. Sure enough, only the whites of her eyes were visible, and diamond-shaped bloodstains seemed to be writhing—this was what was affecting Dodo.
He took out a blessed paper, folded it into a triangle, and placed it in Dodo's mouth, making her purse her lips slightly. At the same time, he placed another blessed paper in her jacket.
The crying stopped abruptly, and Dodo's body went limp; she seemed to have fallen asleep.
This was another child who had suffered; she had been fine for the first six years, until she met Li Ronan again.
Marcus carried the little girl out of the attic and saw Li Ronan, covered in dust and limping, running down the stairs, almost to the first floor.
She kept looking back anxiously as she ran, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth.
In that instant, she saw Marcus, but didn't even acknowledge Dodo, instead hastily quickening her pace.
Ronan Chen had just arrived in his car, which stopped across the street, and he had just gotten out.
"Stop Li Ronan! Don't let her find the Hsu family!"
Marcus shouted from the third-floor railing to Ronan Chen across the street.
Ronan Chen seemed to hear him and hurriedly tried to cross the street to chase after Li Ronan.
"Li Ronan, stop!" Ronan Chen yelled as he ran.
He wanted to question Li Ronan about how she could do such a thing.
The red light on the road, before its countdown had even finished, mysteriously turned green.
Waiting vehicles moved forward, the traffic hindering Ronan Chen's pursuit.
Li Ronan paused, seemingly realizing something, and ran even faster. Her limp seemed to have adapted to the pain, her steps quickening.
She lunged into the road, flagged down a taxi, pointed to her injured mouth, seemingly trying to gain sympathy. The driver immediately let her in and drove off.
Ronan Chen watched Li Ronan's disappearing figure, bent over, panting, and angrily punched his fist.
Marcus, on the other hand, curled his lips into a cold smile.
He could kill Li Ronan at any time, but killing her like this would be too easy for her.
In Marcus's view, everyone has their own value, and this selfish woman also had her uses.
Li Ronan was an excellent guide, whether it was finding the Hsu family members or going to the Hsu family's old ancestral grounds.
His final shout, "Don't let her find the Hsu family," was both a warning to Li Ronan and a warning to the Mother Buddha Deity.
For Li Ronan, finding the relocated Hsu family members might be able to slow down the curse on her.
For the Mother Buddha Deity, with Dodo captured by Marcus and Li Ronan injured, the surviving followers of the Hsu family are her remaining pawns.
The Hsu family, a family capable of using its own children to sacrifice to evil spirits, can hardly be good people.
Although in the story, the Hsu family members never revealed the Mother Buddha Deity's curse and initially refused Li Ronan's participation in the clan's sacrificial activities,
these actions were certainly not out of kindness or goodwill.
(End of Chapter)
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