May 16th, Saturday, 11:09 AM.
New York, North Brook District Church, reception room.
Sitting opposite Du Wei was Father Tony, dressed in plain clothes, with a silver cross pendant hanging from his chest.
"Dr. Du Wei, you mean to say that you have encountered some inexplicable, bizarre events, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Good, then do you still remember the specific manifestations?"
Du Wei took a deep breath, his eyes calmly looking at Father Tony, and slowly said, "I remember clearly, it was after midnight, the room's lights became very dim, and at the same time, my laptop also went black. At 2:08 AM, I heard knocking sounds outside the house on the second floor, and the faucet in the washroom turned on by itself."
"I have had the maintenance personnel check, and no electrical faults were found. After reflecting, it's not possible that I turned on the faucet, and as for the knocking sounds outside, the security camera showed no one."
"Father Tony, I suspect I may have encountered something unclean."
Father Tony, who was over fifty years old, knitted his brow upon hearing this and then slowly relaxed it.
He made the sign of the cross in front of his chest, then opened the Bible, looked at the young and handsome psychologist, and asked him, "Dr. Du Wei, before I provide an explanation, I want to ask you a question. Do you believe in God in this world?"
After a moment of silence, Du Wei calmly said, "I am a firm believer."
Father Tony nodded, then with a solemn tone, said, "In that case, Mr. Du Wei, bearing in mind the issues you have described, I suspect that an uninvited guest has come to your home."
Du Wei's body stiffened for a second, and then he asked, "Do you mean, a ghost? Or an evil spirit?"
"Yes, but please do not be afraid, I am just suspecting it for now, after all, you are a psychologist, um... you should understand what I mean."
There was silence for a moment...
"I am very certain that there is no problem with my psychological state."
"Also, I would like to ask, if it's as you say, and an evil spirit has appeared in my home, what should I do?"
Du Wei looked at Father Tony with utmost calm, his mind constantly pondering the events he encountered, which were almost identical to what Aisha had mentioned the previous afternoon, except that the TV changing channels did not happen since he never watches TV and didn't own one.
If what she was saying was true, and the Evil Spirit was real,
the Evil Spirit he encountered was very likely brought by her.
Father Tony rubbed his forehead and slowly said, "If it really is an evil spirit, the best solution would be a complete Exorcism Ritual, which has a high chance of destroying it or binding it within a certain medium to ensure your safety."
Du Wei frowned, "Exorcism Ritual? Can you perform it?"
Father Tony shook his head, "I am only a priest. The Exorcism Ritual requires a professional Exorcist, and presently, there are no Exorcists in New York."
Du Wei asked in confusion, "Why is that?"
Father Tony replied, "Due to some special reasons, I am not entirely clear about the details. I only know that the previous Exorcists responsible for New York died in succession, and the Church is still gathering people. It won't be possible for someone to come in the short term."
"Moreover, even if there were an Exorcist available, in order to conduct an Exorcism Ritual, it would first need to be confirmed that you genuinely encountered an Evil Spirit, and after obtaining permission from the Church, the procedure could proceed, which would take at least a week's time..."
Du Wei narrowed his eyes...
Which means, by the time the responsible Exorcist arrives in New York, I would first have to confirm that I genuinely encountered an Evil Spirit, then wait at least another week to perform the Exorcism Ritual. And before all this, I still have an indeterminate amount of time to wait...
He remembered the state of Aisha when she had come to the clinic yesterday, haggard, weak, and her mental state had seemed very abnormal…
And she had transformed into this within just one week from being a normal person.
The situation in his own home, for some unknown reason, seemed to be much more serious than what Aisha had encountered.
Thinking of this, Du Wei couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is the Evil Spirit?"
After a moment of thought, Father Tony opened the Bible and explained, "The Evil Spirit has been present in this world for a very long time, and we don't have many solutions for it. They are eerie and terrifying but also closely related to us. Often, their objectives are chaotic, which might be to kill a person, possess someone's body, or simply to do something. However, regardless of the reason, to us, Evil Spirits are always malevolent."
Feeling that this explanation might be hard to comprehend, Father Tony used a metaphor.
"You can think of Evil Spirits as viruses! Except that the former thrives on human emotions like fear and dread."
"The more fear and dread, the faster they grow, and the stronger they become. Once they reach a certain threshold, they will act."
Saying this, Father Tony commended Du Wei, "Your ability to remain calm throughout has been impressive. That Evil Spirit clearly cannot draw much power from you, and this might suffice until a new Exorcist arrives."
Du Wei shook his head and said, "I feel that I might not make it until then."
Father Tony assumed his words had made this young psychologist feel desperate, so he comforted him, "Rest assured, as a servant of the Lord, I will guide you."
With that, Father Tony stood up, turned his back, and struggled to pull a book from the shelf, fumbling behind it for a moment.
Then, he took out a ten-centimeter long silver crucifix coated with green rust.
This crucifix appeared very ancient, its surface covered in dust, seemingly left untouched for many years.
"Beyond the Exorcism Ritual to combat the Evil Spirit, there isn't any effective solution, but in a sense, we can resist it marginally."
"This is a weapon left by an Exorcist, once used in Exorcism Rituals, it has absorbed some of the Evil Spirit's essence. For just a thousand dollars, it could be yours."
As he finished speaking, Father Tony shrugged like the younger people do, then with both hands on either end of the silver crucifix, he pulled with effort.
A scraping sound.
Its true form was revealed: a dagger.
"Besides resisting the assault of Evil Spirits, it can also serve as a weapon for self-defense in case you encounter ill-intentioned people."
Du Wei looked deeply at Father Tony, then took out his wallet from his pocket. Having been a psychologist for so long, he had plenty of money.
"A thousand dollars is nothing, but I need to know why it can resist the Evil Spirit, and why you would sell me something that seems so precious?"
Father Tony coughed and said, "This crucifix is an item distributed to the clergy by the church. You know… We have many such items, so in a sense, it isn't that precious."
"As for your other question, it's actually quite simple. Because it has the essence of the Evil Spirit, another Evil Spirit will feel it is competing for its target. Only when one suppresses the other will they make a move against you."
"Of course, this crucifix dagger likely won't hold off for long, maybe a day or two, maybe longer, maybe shorter."
Du Wei nodded, took out his bank card, and handed it to Father Tony.
"By the way, I have another question. Has a lady named Aisha Kleeman visited the church?"
"No, she hasn't."
…