The deserted first floor of the psychological counseling clinic.
Du Wei hung up the phone, his face calm, betraying no hint of the unusual emotions within him.
He had just called the police of the North Brook District only to learn that a man with the ID named Conan Doyle had suddenly gone missing.
The explanation given by the other side was vague, using only words like "disappeared" without confirming whether Conan Doyle was dead.
Under such circumstances.
Whether he was dead or had simply disappeared, the distinction was no longer significant.
…
The knocking sounds were just as eerie.
The same post and image seen online.
The only difference was that Du Wei did not peer through the peephole to check outside.
In his conversation with Father Tony, some information about the Evil Spirit had been revealed.
Firstly, encountering an Evil Spirit always involved a trigger, either a Spirit Summoning Ritual or coming into contact with some medium related to the Evil Spirit. Evil Spirits didn't arbitrarily kill, otherwise the world would have been in chaos long ago.
After carefully reflecting on his experiences over the past two days, Du Wei came to a conclusion.
Then, he took out a pencil and a clean sheet of paper, and started writing.
[Name: Du Wei]
[Age: 25]
[Gender: Male]
[Occupation: Psychologist]
[Symptoms: Suspected presence of two Evil Spirits at home, has encountered unexplainable supernatural events]
[Prescribed medication: None]
[Recommendations: None]
Afterwards, Du Wei looked at the paper, a flicker of thought and doubt crossing his eyes, "Firstly, the presence of the two Evil Spirits in the house can basically be confirmed. The first one is likely brought by the dead Aisha, with the medium only conjectured to be after she shared her experiences with me, thus marking me for the Evil Spirit."
"As for the second Evil Spirit, the triggering medium should be the photo from yesterday's online post. When someone sees the photo, they get marked by the Evil Spirit, specific details unknown."
"However, there are two doubts that I cannot explain."
After some thought, Du Wei wrote down the names Aisha and the ID Conan Doyle on the other side of the paper.
Under their names, he wrote dead and missing.
Aisha faced the most severe situation with the Evil Spirit because she was dead. Whether she would become an Evil Spirit after death was unknown.
It was highly unlikely!
Otherwise, the number of Evil Spirits in this world would keep increasing, and the current peace would be impossible to maintain.
After encountering an Evil Spirit, Conan Doyle had completely disappeared, and his fate was no better.
If Aisha's death was due to being haunted by an Evil Spirit for a long time, leading to the Spirit's power growing stronger until it killed her, then Conan Doyle's disappearance was rather unusual.
Because the Evil Spirit he encountered started to act immediately.
Du Wei had a headache, his mind full of scattered thoughts and images.
He lit a cigarette and smoked thoughtfully, trying to piece together an answer.
Instinct told him, if he could find this answer, he might be able to create a chance for himself to escape from the Evil Spirits.
The current situation was that both Evil Spirits were after him, yet he was the one who had survived best, which was clearly odd.
"Whether it's Aisha's or Conan Doyle's situation, both are a bit different from what I've encountered."
"Both Evil Spirits obviously have the power to strike at me."
"It can't be that I'm more special than others, so the Evil Spirits let me safely get through the night, only to attack others instead."
"The only difference between me and others may be just one thing."
"That is, I'm targeted by two completely different Evil Spirits."
"One after the other…"
"There is no concept of who came first among Evil Spirits, otherwise I'd be dead already, so is it… balance? Opposition? Competition for a target?"
Du Wei's index finger trembled, burned by the cigarette butt.
…
May 16th, Saturday, late night at 22:59.
At home, on the first floor.
After mounting the new television on the wall, Du Wei connected the satellite dish's signal cable and pressed the remote control.
The next second, the television screen displayed the words 'Auto Searching.'
Channels flashed by one after another.
The television was functioning normally.
Du Wei set the remote control down and sat on the sofa, his dark eyes a pool of calm.
"As long as I wait until midnight, my theory can be confirmed. If everything is as I suspect, maybe I can hold out until the arrival of the exorcist."
"But there is another problem. As the Evil Spirit claims more victims, its power only grows stronger. Clearly, the logic behind the actions of the two Evil Spirits is not the same."
He told himself this and touched the crucifix dagger that was close to his body.
It was somewhat strange. No matter that it had been close to him for nearly 10 hours, it remained ice-cold, seemingly unaffected by his body temperature, without the slightest sign of warmth.
What Du Wei had to do next was wait…
He started watching a program at random…
…
Late at night, 11:59 PM.
The clock hands on the wall halted at this moment.
Suddenly…
A faint buzz of electricity sounded.
All the lights dimmed at this instant.
It was clearly perceptible to Du Wei that there was something indescribably different about the room.
It wasn't a difference in temperature one could feel, but rather an unsettling intuition.
This sensation was like something had been added to the room, but you couldn't immediately detect where it was, only instinctively feeling an indescribable irritation.
Taking a deep breath…
Du Wei said to himself, "It's here!"
Then, he turned to look at the television.
As expected…
The screen's brightness was very dim at this time, and it started changing channels on its own.
The images flashed by like slides in a projector, sometimes reversing as if searching for something.
Following that…
Du Wei stood up and walked to the second floor.
Normally at this time, he would be resting upstairs.
The staircase was mostly shrouded in dim light, but it was clear enough to see and ensure he didn't miss a step.
One step… Two steps…
In its due course…
The sound of running water came from the bathroom.
As Du Wei reached the second floor, he saw under the dim light, the bathroom faucet facing him.
The tap was on, and the basin was gradually filling with the water pouring out.
It was as if an invisible person was there using it, making one feel as though someone unseen had appeared in the home.
Du Wei's expression remained unchanged, as if he had seen nothing, and he walked straight into the bathroom.
Then, he did something just as he had done before.
Standing in front of the basin, he first looked at his reflection in the mirror.
Slightly long black hair, fair skin, a well-defined face, a standard handsome guy.
What stood out the most were his cold and calm eyes, as if they would never waver.
He washed his face and turned off the faucet.
Then, he used a towel to dry his face.
Following that, he bowed his head toward the bottom of the basin.
A face appeared there, startlingly upon it.