"Is now really the time to watch TV?" Gray mist said, "It's pretty obvious this house is haunted, I even saw the phantom just now."
"But that's not important. What I want to know now is the structure of the farm's barn," Shiller said, hammering at the television screen, "If there really is a ghost in the TV, then it'd better recite that previous program to me, or it's dead meat."
Shiller was clearly irritated. Even ordinary people can't stand being interrupted during the climax of a TV show, and Shiller was an obsessive-compulsive, who found watching TV reminiscent of the most regulated period of his youth.
Back then, no one would have interrupted his television time, not even if there was an inspection later; he could finish an episode first and then go. Doctors and nurses could wait for the TV, so who did this ghost think it was?
A wisp of fog drifted into the television, and after Shiller fiddled with it for a long time, he found the TV wasn't broken. It seemed like a problem with the electrical contact, but checking the wires in the wall didn't reveal any issues; it was just that the current was fluctuating, causing the television to malfunction.
Checking the electrical problems was going to be a bit of a hassle, as Shiller didn't have the knowledge of an electrician. Even with Gray Mist's help, finding the source of the problem would be difficult.
As Shiller was contemplating whether to fix the television himself to finish the program, the chandelier behind him suddenly started to sway. Turning around, he saw another shadow flit across the window.
He looked up at the chandelier and concluded that it wouldn't fall anytime soon, so he walked under it; but this time, he didn't sit on the sofa, instead heading to the chaise longue at the side of the sofa.
He leaned in for a closer look, then went back to his car to fetch a flashlight. With the light beam on, Shiller reached into the joint between the chaise and the sofa, and felt a fragment stick to his forefinger.
It was a piece of chip. Shiller wiped his hands and went around to the back of the sofa, crouching down to shine the flashlight under it. Whoosh, the phantom zipped past the other side of the sofa again.
Shiller was not at all flustered. He reached under the sofa, feeling something brushing against his hand, but he didn't think of withdrawing it; instead, he continued forward until he touched a strand of hair.
After pulling the hair out, it was a long straight red hair without the follicles, indicating it had fallen out naturally. Judging by the hair's texture and form, it seemed to belong to a female.
Shiller could understand a ghost watching television, but a ghost eating chips felt a bit abstract, didn't it?
This indicated that the series of paranormal activities in the room were not purely spectral but indeed, with Spirit Vision activated, Shiller did feel an energy fluctuation when the phantom flashed by, suggesting that the house had at least one human and one ghost.
Shiller then walked towards the dining room, where things escalated—utensils and dishes on the table levitated and even flew towards him. Shiller didn't dodge, but instead caught a floating cup with his hand.
In Spirit Vision, some sort of energy filaments were causing these objects to hover mid-air, but this energy was unstable and, in Shiller's experience, the kind of energy with such a state and color was usually quite malevolent.
After catching the cup, Shiller could clearly feel a force wrestling with him, constantly tugging the cup in one direction, and the strength was considerable. Without Gray Mist's assistance, Shiller certainly wouldn't have been able to hold onto the cup.
Now, Shiller understood why those who had come to see the house had fled in panic; they weren't afraid of ghosts per se, but a ghost with the capability to kill was different. Mere noises were insignificant, but if a force was strong enough to lift things and potentially kill someone with them, then the house wasn't fit for living.
And so far, Shiller had found no corporeal entity, meaning even if he used a gun to shatter the objects controlled by the energy, the entity could just control something else. The entity causing trouble in the villa was not afraid of physical attacks, which made it all the more troublesome for ordinary people.
But since the house was so valuable—that the real estate agent wanted to sell it at a third of the price, and sounded as if he was bleeding money doing so—it shouldn't be too hard to spend a little money to have someone cast a spell, right?
Thanks to the establishment of the Gotham Magic Academy, there were quite a few mages operating in the city, some even taking public commissions. Even if it was impossible to enlist big names like Lady Shangdu or the Lady of the Lake, getting a regular mage to check things out wouldn't be too difficult, right?
Shiller continued indoors, reaching the house's back door. The front yard wasn't big, but the backyard was quite spacious, adjoining the lawn and artificial lake that he had seen before, effectively making the entire expanse of lawn his backyard.
There, Shiller found more traces—in the grass of the yard, there appeared to be remnants of materials used to inscribe an array. He walked over and saw the charred ashes of crow feathers scattered on the ground, with a half-intact feather beside them.
Picking up the half-feather, whoosh, a strong wind blew. Shiller quickly turned around and saw a red-haired woman in a black cloak, hooded, floating behind him.
"Don't touch it."
"You're finally here, lady. How have you been lately?"
"Did you come looking for me? Who sent you? Constantine?"
"Thank you for giving me so much information in just one sentence," Shiller sincerely said, "It seems you're quite powerless against Constantine, and he hasn't done much to you either."
"Put that thing down first." The other person's voice was so cold, devoid of any emotion. She said, "That mage's apprentice's pathetic array..."
"Let me guess, someone hired a mage to set up a sealing array here, but it affected you, causing some loss of control. Constantine sensed the anomaly and hurried over. He said he could solve your problem, but he isn't able right now, so he'll call a friend to help later..."
Ding dong!
The doorbell rang, and Shiller saw a figure through the window near the entrance hall from the back door. Then, the person pushed open the unlocked door and walked into the living room.
Amidst the dim light, Shiller saw that it was Zatanna. Who else could Constantine have called?
"Raven? Are you there?" Zatanna called out.
The girl known as Raven descended to the ground, turned to look at Zatanna, and by the time she turned her head back, Shiller had already disappeared.
But she couldn't worry about that now, only saying to the newcomer, "When are you planning to fulfill the promise? My abilities have started to affect the things around me, and I can't control it."
"Don't be hasty," Zatanna soothed. "Some blind eye techniques Constantine had set up before have already scared away any ordinary humans and neighbors bold enough to come close. Even if your power is minor, it won't harm anyone should it burst out."
"I'm talking about the demon I said would descend. By then, the whole city, the whole country, even the entire world..."
"I know, I know. I told you not to worry. After Constantine returned to the school, he called a meeting with the heads of various academies, but we were missing one important professor..."
"I can't wait any longer," Raven said.
With a click, a sound came from the living room; both turned their heads only to see Shiller turning on the television again. Unfortunately, the program was already halfway through, and the dilapidated house had been repaired.
Shiller sighed and shook his head, throwing the remote on the couch. After a moment of thought, he still got up to pick up the remote and placed it back on the table.
"Professor Shearer???" Zatanna appeared very surprised, but she quickly adjusted her attitude because she knew that it would not be strange for Shearer to appear at any event. It was even possible that he caused the incident, or simply directed it.
"I think you should explain what's going on," Zatanna hinted wildly at Raven, saying, "This is one of the most respected professors in our academy. The one I mentioned was absent before is him, because we've been waiting for his opinion, so we haven't been able to give you..."
"The Sanguine Demon is going to descend!" Raven whooshed into the room, landed steadily on the ground, and said, "My mother Angela Ross was seduced by a demon and gave birth to me. I am naturally connected to him, I can sense his approach, and someone needs to fight him."
Zatanna spread her hands and said, "This lady found us about a month ago, to be precise, she made a stir and was discovered by Constantine."
"Her powers are extremely unstable, with a great evil force contained within her body. We're not sure if she's genuinely worried about the demon's descent, or if she's merely a pawn of the demon."
"I'm not," Raven denied. "I can't help it; I can't control the power I was born with, and one day it will go out of control."
As her tone grew anxious, all the furniture in the room began to shake, Zatanna took a surprised step back, but Shiller tapped the ground with an umbrella.
With a bang, the trembling subsided.
Raven looked up at Shiller, surprised, and Shiller sighed lightly, saying, "I'm still planning to buy this house, miss. You can't wreck things here."
Raven regained her cold demeanor and said, "I'm sorry, but I must find a place to stay, or I will end up destroying more things."
"Did the haunted rumors stem from you?"
"Actually, no," Zatanna said. "When Constantine found her uncontrollable, he used some props nearby to create the illusion of hauntings with blind eye techniques, to scare away any ordinary people who got close. Otherwise, if this big bomb exploded, many people would definitely die."
"Does it have to be here?"
"Please, Professor, this is already the residential area with the lowest density in Gotham. Do you want us to take her to the East District? If she bursts there, the Gothamites would be wiped out."
Shiller made a gesture as if reevaluating the situation, while Raven stood straight, her arms crossed over her lower abdomen.
Her posture was very graceful, resembling those statues in God's Temple with an indescribable air of coldness and restraint, yet her inner emotions were clearly not so calm.
"You've been trained," Shiller said. "To eliminate your emotions, to restrain the fluctuations of your heart. It's best to be oblivious, living like a walking corpse."
Raven's lips moved as she said, "My emotions trigger my powers. The High Priest told me it's best to do this."
"But she didn't tell you that the more you suppress your emotions, the more violent they'll erupt when they do," Shiller shook his head. "That is the consequence of studying magic and not psychology."