"Dr. Du Wei, regarding you, since both Aisha and Roy's death cases are somewhat related to you, please make sure to keep your communication lines open at all times during the coming period,"
"If you encounter any trouble, please remember to call the police or contact me."
"Also, regarding the situation at Roy's house, please keep it confidential, as it relates to your personal safety."
"Besides, are you really not going to invite me over to your place?"
...
As the evening approached, the rain continued to pour.
The professional personnel responsible for collecting the body arrived at the scene, took the body away, and sealed the entire house, prohibiting entry.
All along, Roy's missing head was nowhere to be found.
After giving Du Wei some instructions, Tom and the others packed up and left.
It was then that Du Wei made his way to his brand-new Subaru, opened the car door, and took the antique clock wrapped in a shroud from the passenger seat.
Click...
He turned the key and pushed open the door.
Perhaps due to the continuous rain, the temperature inside the house was quite low, giving off a damp and chilly feel that was quite uncomfortable.
At that moment, Du Wei's brow suddenly furrowed, and he looked up at the second floor.
Tap...
Tap...
At the top of the second-floor staircase, there were unusual sounds as if someone was walking.
With a bang,
The door behind him closed automatically, as if an invisible giant hand had fiercely pulled it shut.
With a snap,
The clock that hung on the wall had tilted and fallen to the floor, shattering its hands and scattering glass shards out in an arrowhead pattern on the floor in front of Du Wei.
"It seems you killed Roy,"
With a calm tone and an unchanged expression, Du Wei spoke as if he didn't care about the abnormal changes happening in the house.
He directly walked to the wall where the clock had hung before. At this moment, the atmosphere inside the house was eerily silent, with faint and barely audible sounds whispering in his ears.
From the corner of his eye, he also saw something mist-like.
Calmly, Du Wei hung the shrouded antique clock on the wall, then untied the death knot, pulling both sides apart, the rotten woman's arm that was stuffed at the bottom also dropped to the floor.
But Du Wei did not pay any attention to it, instead focusing on the hands of the antique clock, his gaze very placid.
Tick, tick, tick...
On the clock face, the hands that had already stopped, overlapping each other, seemed to be infused with a new soul and power the moment the shroud was pulled apart, starting to move again.
At the same time, Du Wei felt something abnormal in the house.
This abnormality was hard to put into words, as if everything in front of him was pitch-black, yet his feet stood on solid ground, creating a sense of contrast as if he couldn't see, but could feel.
In Du Wei's perception, the entire house was filled with traces of Evil Spirits, something he was already aware of and therefore accustomed to, but now, as the shroud was removed and the evil antique clock began turning once more,
The whole house became much quieter and more ordinary.
The so-called balance scale seemed to be tilting toward a positive angle.
But Du Wei knew that even the calmest lake surface often conceals whirlpools and undercurrents.
If it wasn't for the Exorcist responsible for New York taking time to arrive, if he wasn't entangled by two Evil Spirits, if he wasn't searching for a sliver of a chance to survive, Du Wei would not want to deal with these sinister matters at all.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
At that moment, Du Wei's phone began to ring.
```
Pulling out his phone, the contact was labeled Avery.
Du Wei raised an eyebrow and pressed the answer button, "Good evening, Avery."
"Phew, good evening, listen, I just got some news. Something dangerous happened in your area, right?"
"Um... a neighbor died."
"My God, I asked around, and heard it was some kind of psycho killer, the victim was a woman, and she died horribly. It's very dangerous, and I'm really worried about you, you understand?"
Hearing the concern in Avery's voice, Du Wei fell silent for a moment before saying, "Don't worry, the police will handle this."
Avery spoke anxiously on the other end, "But what if something happens? Why don't you come stay with me for a few days? I'm in a high-end district, the security is very strong, much safer than where you live."
"No need, that's not appropriate."
As Du Wei spoke, he picked up a broom and began sweeping up the fragments of the clock, intentionally avoiding the rotting woman's arm.
The appearance of this thing was bizarre.
Evil Spirits normally don't have physical forms, but in Avery's house, this strange Antique Clock had apparently produced a woman's arm.
And it could be taken care of with a single bullet.
Clearly, this thing was not normal. Even the existence of an Evil Spirit seemed more scientific by comparison.
"Alright, Avery, that's enough for today, I'm a bit tired and getting ready to rest."
"Okay... if you change your mind, you can come to my place anytime."
Du Wei hummed in response, and then abruptly hung up the phone.
Incidentally, he glanced at the time.
It was time to eat.
...
Late at night, 10:25 PM.
The rain in North Brook District was growing heavier, and as this city's sewer system was poorly constructed, many streets were already submerged, with water levels rising in lower regions, submerging the majority of parked vehicles.
At a street with less pooling water.
"Damn it..."
A man dressed in an Armani suit was standing under an umbrella, rooted to the spot. A gust of wind made his umbrella-hand jerk, causing him to stumble and get drenched in the rain.
"Cursed weather, cursed taxis, why haven't they come yet."
The man cursed as he wiped the rainwater off his face, shivering involuntarily as the cold wind blew.
At that moment, two beams of light shone from a distance.
A public bus appeared, coming in and out of sight, stopping in front of him.
Instinctively, the man looked up. It was an old bus that seemed like a relic from the '70s or '80s, but it looked well-maintained, otherwise it wouldn't still be in service.
The front door of the bus opened, the interior lighting was dim, and he could vaguely make out a uniformed driver and three passengers, two men and a woman, it seemed.
However...
This doesn't seem like a bus stop, does it?
The man turned his head to look and suddenly noticed, not far to his left, a pole with a bus icon on it.
"Huh, did I miss it just now?"
The confusion only lingered in the man's mind for a moment before he dismissed it. He desperately needed a shelter from the rain, no matter where the bus was going, he didn't want to wait like an idiot in the rain for that even more idiotic taxi.
"Fuck, I'm definitely going to complain about that damn taxi company, just you wait!"
Folding his umbrella, the man stepped onto the bus.
In an instant, the door closed, and the entire interior was concealed by the door, leaving no trace to be seen or sound to be heard.
```