Chapter 115: Heading Out
"Let's go find Master Yuan."
Seeing Ronan Chen carrying Dodo with a worried expression, Marcus gestured and turned to leave.
Dodo remained asleep.
Clearly, Ronan Chen's prayers had no effect.
Leaving Saint Michael's Cathedral, they reached the car by the roadside.
Ronan Chen secured Dodo in the passenger seat and drove Marcus to Master Yuan's residence.
The car drove out of the city and onto a country road.
The narrow, winding asphalt road was lined with dense brush, taller than a person.
Visibility was limited to a few dozen yards ahead, with the rest of the way blocked by the overgrown vegetation.
Driving was fine, but walking on the road would make anyone worry about wild animals leaping out of the brush.
This road was unsettling even during the day.
Every hundred yards along the roadside was a telephone pole, weathered and covered with old flyers.
Along the way, under the poles, there were metal drums filled with burnt-out black ash.
Ronan Chen rubbed his eyes, feeling the sky slowly darkening.
A black mist seemed to rise around them, and the ash in the drums suddenly reignited.
He suddenly noticed a little girl in dark clothes running out of the brush ahead of the car, trying to cross the road.
Ronan Chen quickly swerved and slammed on the brakes.
The car, however, veered sharply, heading towards the telephone poles.
Marcus, who was checking his phone, instantly reacted, forcefully grabbing Ronan Chen's arm and straightening the steering wheel.
The car grazed the poles and came to a stop on the side of the road, its tires crushing a foot of weeds.
"What did you see?"
Marcus noticed Ronan Chen's panicked and shaken expression, something seemed off, so he asked.
"I..."
Ronan Chen looked closely, but there was no little girl. He rubbed his eyes; the light seemed to return, and the road was empty.
"I think I just saw a girl almost get hit. I feel like I'm being affected, Marcus!"
Ronan Chen also realized something was wrong with him.
He was about to explain further when the surrounding environment changed.
This time, the sun seemed to be truly obscured by dark clouds, the light dimmed again, and the surroundings became gloomy.
Cries filled with anguish rang out from the brush on both sides, as if a large group of tragically deceased people were watching the vehicle from the bushes.
This made Ronan Chen feel his hair stand on end, and an inexplicable panic spread through his heart.
The country road in front of him seemed to have turned into a road to hell.
Accompanied by the rustling sound of grass being pushed aside, it seemed that something was approaching.
"It's getting desperate!"
"I'll drive, you rest for a while."
Marcus used his spectral eyes to look at the surrounding environment. He saw through the deity's illusion; the surroundings were still a normal road.
The two switched places in the car.
Ronan Chen had just sat down, still shaken, when the sound of banging came from around the car again.
"Tap tap. Tap tap tap."
It sounded like something was tugging at the car door handle, trying to open it and get in.
"Marcus, what do we do!"
Ronan Chen, sitting in the middle of the back seat, stared in horror at the handprints pounding on the window.
The tapping sounds and the faint crying made his head spin more and more, and he was about to faint.
"Two options."
"The first is to damage your own ears until you can't hear anything."
"The second is to put on headphones, play some music, close your eyes, and don't look or listen."
After Marcus finished speaking, he tossed Ronan Chen a pair of over-ear headphones with some heavy metal rock music he had downloaded.
Ronan Chen quickly loosened his clenched teeth, put down the car key he was about to use to hurt himself, and silently took the headphones Marcus handed him.
He had something on his mind, but he didn't know how to say it.
"Remember, no matter what happens next, no matter what you feel, just stay still like you're playing dead, don't make any movements."
Marcus instructed, but received no response. Somewhat puzzled, he glanced at the rearview mirror and found that Ronan Chen had already put on the headphones and closed his eyes.
At the same time, Marcus also saw what was outside the window.
They were children of different ages, from toddlers to teenagers. Their bodies, formed from condensed gray mist, were pounding on the car, trying to get inside, and were even crying.
These children were not real.
Marcus glanced at the roadside bushes, where a gray object flashed by.
He recognized it as a clay vessel, a clay container shaped like a child.
Many such things were placed in the Mother Buddha Deity's cave.
It seemed the deity was truly desperate, even bringing these offerings here.
This was all the work of the Hsu family.
After sacrificing their innocent children to the deity, she transformed them into beings similar to bound spirits.
These children's remains were sealed in clay vessels, unable to find peace even in death.
Unfortunately, Marcus wasn't Li Ronan; he wouldn't be so frightened as to chant the cursed incantation.
He concentrated, his spectral eyes piercing through the fog, his vision fully restored.
After correcting the car's direction, he continued along the planned route towards Master Yuan's temple.
After leaving this overgrown country road, the illusions disappeared.
Dodo was now like a tracker, constantly sending signals to the Mother Buddha Deity; it would eventually find her again.
After another fifty minutes of driving, Marcus finally arrived at Master Yuan's place.
It was a three-building compound arranged in a U-shape.
From the outside, it looked like an ordinary rural property, with plain white siding on the walls.
Only the outer wall of the central building was decorated with patterns of nature and wildlife.
The two wooden doors, painted red and adorned with protective symbols, had a sign above them that read "Master Yuan's Temple."
On the walls on either side of the sign hung two wooden plaques, and in the open space in front, a stone statue crouched on each side.
The temple wasn't large, only about four hundred square feet inside.
In the center hung religious imagery, below which was an altar covered with a red cloth, laden with candles, offerings, flowers, ritual implements, and other items.
The sound of Marcus's car startled Master Yuan and his wife.
Master Yuan, with white hair and beard, wearing a white shirt and a dark vest, came out of the courtyard and peered out to see who was outside.
He was holding a wooden spoon covered in batter, seemingly cooking.
Mrs. Yuan, dressed in traditional clothing with a vest over it, followed closely behind.
"Master Yuan, Mrs. Yuan!"
"I'm Ronan. I came to see you yesterday. This is my daughter, Dodo."
Ronan Chen, holding the still-sleeping Dodo, bowed to Master Yuan and his wife.
When he came to see Master Yuan yesterday, he had already explained his daughter Dodo's situation. Master Yuan had said he needed to see her in person to determine the true nature of the affliction.
After all, many locals, despite having sick family members, brought them to him as if possessed; most of the cases Master Yuan encountered were like this.
Each time, he had to kindly persuade them to take the person to the hospital.
(End of Chapter)
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