After hearing Father Tony's words, Du Wei fell silent.
He felt some resistance, and at the same time, he was reflecting.
Anyone or anything related to an Evil Spirit meant trouble and danger.
Although he had resolved the trouble with Alex, it didn't mean he had gained what could be called experience.
Compared with exorcists who specialized in dealing with these events, he wasn't professional at all and didn't wish to become more so.
After a long while, Du Wei stood up, looked into Father Tony's eyes, and calmly asked, "Can I consider this a deal? I investigate the bus, find a way to restrict its movements, and then you'll tell me the information I want?"
"Yes, Mr. Du Wei."
Father Tony also stood up, speaking earnestly, "You probably can guess my identity, but currently, the church has been slow in sending an exorcist. In the North Brook District, as well as other areas of New York, strange occurrences are happening one after another; I need help."
Du Wei scoffed, "So you think I can help you?"
Father Tony nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Du Wei, you are a very professional psychologist. Among all the people I've met who were troubled by Evil Spirits, you are the most calm and rational. If I didn't know about your situation, I wouldn't even associate you with Evil Spirits."
Du Wei shook his head, "But the payoff isn't proportional to the effort I'd be investing; your sincerity is not enough."
Just telling him how to restrain something that had killed six exorcists in charge of New York—but even if he knew, what use would it be?
There were no exorcists in New York now, was he supposed to take on the role himself?
What a joke!
He was a psychologist, not insane!
Father Tony said through clenched teeth, "I can offer you artifacts belonging to an exorcist, more useful than what I sold you before."
Du Wei said coldly, "I'm quite poor right now."
"For free."
"How useful?"
Du Wei was somewhat tempted, but he still didn't agree immediately.
"About that..."
Father Tony fell silent for a minute, his voice dropping a tone, "Let's put it this way, the Holy Water I gave you before was diluted with water, and the Shroud was one that had been discarded."
Instantly, Du Wei's expression darkened, "What about the silver crucifix dagger?"
Father Tony said awkwardly, "It can definitely be used for self-defense, right?"
Upon hearing this, Du Wei rubbed his forehead with one hand and directly pulled a gun out of his pocket with the other.
The pitch-black muzzle was aimed straight at Father Tony.
"If it's about self-defense, my gun is more useful, don't you think? Father Tony!!!" Du Wei said, grinding his teeth and enunciating every word.
Father Tony's face turned exceptionally pale, and he quickly raised his hands, saying, "Oh, Mr. Du Wei, please don't be rash. It indeed used to have an effect on Evil Spirits, it was just a mistake. Besides, the items I provided you later were helpful to you, right?"
Du Wei sneered, "How do you know that?"
Father Tony replied, "Because the Spirit Vision symptoms you have are getting worse. There's only one possibility; during this period, you've had direct contact with Evil Spirits again."
Du Wei coldly looked at him and said, "Give me what I need, I want the best."
Father Tony breathed a sigh of relief, "Of course, and I will also send the church's information about Spirit Vision to your email."
…
May 18th, Monday afternoon, 13:01.
Du Wei parked his car across from the mental health clinic, took a package from the passenger seat, slung it over his shoulder, and locked the car.
When he reached the door, he looked up at his neighbor Roy's house.
Every window and door was sealed with tape.
The isolation tape hadn't been removed either.
But that was the only thing that could be done; Officer Tom had said the day before that this kind of bizarre murder case could only be archived and left unresolved in the end.
Of course, the investigation would surely continue for a while, so until the matter was concluded, Du Wei might receive a summons from the police at any time.
Pausing for a moment, Du Wei stood at the front door, thought for a bit, tossed the cigarettes Roy had bought into the trash bin, then opened the door and walked into his own house.
Inside, the house remained as he had left it that morning.
Only the Antique Clock on the wall kept ticking, its hands overlapping in a steady rhythm.
Du Wei put the backpack on the sofa and grabbed some food and water from the fridge.
He had barely eaten in the last two days, and facing a haunted bus required him to be in top condition; otherwise, he could encounter very troublesome situations, even if Father Tony had provided something for an escape, it wasn't guaranteed to be safe.
Sitting on the sofa, after eating, Du Wei took a sip of warm water, opened his backpack, and took out the case files for consultation.
He flipped to his own entry.
[Name: Du Wei]
[Age: 25]
[Gender: Male]
[Occupation: Psychologist]
[Condition: Suspected presence of two Evil Spirits at home, has encountered unexplainable paranormal events]
[Prescribed Medication: None]
[Suggestions: None]
Below that, he added more information:
[Current Status: Severe Spirit Vision phenomenon, entangled by an unknown curse, extremely dangerous]
[Resolution: Counterbalance the power of the Evil Spirits, wait for the arrival of the Exorcist]
[Pending Tasks: Investigate the information about the unknown bus, find a way to restrict its movements]
…
Having finished writing, Du Wei placed the medical record in the cabinet. According to Father Tony, he needed to board that bus; when the time came, he would not bring anything with him except the items in his backpack and his cellphone.
Because anything else would only cause trouble.
2:20 PM.
Du Wei received a text from Alex, reminding him to keep his promise for tomorrow. In the message, the other party also playfully used the word "date."
After replying with an okay, Du Wei put down his phone and started to think about what he should do next.
When facing a matter, he liked to have both the foreseeable and the unforeseeable under control and then analyze to find a solution.
When he first graduated, he had worked at a medical institution, and it took him only half a year to climb to the position of deputy director. This was mostly due to his way of doing things.
…
Toward evening, the rain lessened a lot.
But the sky was still overcast, obviously brewing something.
Occasionally, lightning flashed, carrying a hint of oppression that made it hard to breathe.
Du Wei stood under an umbrella at the dilapidated street corner, by an abandoned bus stop sign.
[The strange phenomena caused by certain items and matters are collectively referred to as Evil Spirit events. Most of these are far less dangerous than actual Evil Spirits, but there are very few exceptions.]
[People who are eroded by Evil Spirits and enter the stage of Spirit Vision are more likely to directly see these things. And yet often, regular people can't see anything.]
[As the erosion of the Evil Spirit worsens, Spirit Vision will advance to the second and third stages. In the second stage, the Evil Spirits can be seen more directly; in the third stage, certain phenomena will occur that are incomprehensible to ordinary people.]
The above was from the internal information about Evil Spirit erosion obtained from Father Tony and the church.
As Du Wei contemplated this in his mind, he lit a cigarette for himself.
He drew slowly on his cigarette, sending out rings of smoke.
On the ground, the cigarette butt, having burned out, was gradually washed away by the rain.
When the time reached 8:00 PM, Du Wei took out a small mirror, the size of a baby's palm, from his pocket.
Its style was ancient, and it was full of cracks. If thrown on the ground, probably no one would pick it up.
However, it was once a medium for the presence of an Evil Spirit, but later on, it became relatively harmless after an Exorcist from the church eliminated the Evil Spirit within it.
Holding the mirror in front of him, Du Wei's face was reflected in the cracked mirror, creating dozens of distorted faces of various sizes.
And the eerie part was that every single face carried a faint smile.
The real Du Wei, outside of the mirror, had a calm expression. Then he heard a sharp buzzing in his ears and felt a faint pain in his heart.
Putting away the mirror, Du Wei exhaled a puff of smoke; by now, he had grown able to endure the anomalies brought about by Spirit Vision.
At that moment, in the night, amidst the veil of rain, two beams of light shone through, growing closer and closer.
An old-looking bus gradually came to a stop in front of Du Wei.
With a squeak...
The front door of the bus opened while the back door remained still, as if no one was going to come down.
Du Wei glanced at the driver's position but could only see a back silhouette because this old-style bus had a special isolation window to protect the driver from harm.
He tossed the cigarette butt on the ground.
With his backpack on and the umbrella retracted, Du Wei boarded the bus.