Chen Yu glanced at Mrs. Michelle who had fainted on the ground. With her unconsciousness, the place she had been covering was now exposed—a hideous wound on her neck that looked quite scary.
However, having seen many injuries on the battlefield, Chen Yu could tell at a glance that although Mrs. Michelle's wound appeared frightening, it was relatively minor—a superficial cut on the neck that had not severed any blood vessels, otherwise blood would have been spurting out by now.
"Mr. Lawrence, perhaps you should take care of your wife first?" Chen Yu said to the still dazed Lawrence, giving him a reminder. Without a prompt, Chen Yu worried that the man might continue to be unable to cope and then faint.
The human brain has its mechanisms of self-protection. If one encounters something difficult to accept all at once, the severe emotional fluctuations might lead to the brain crashing and the person fainting.
"Alright.. alright.." In a flurry, Lawrence busied himself with stopping the bleeding for his unconscious wife, while Chen Yu observed the black filth on the ground. The dirt continuously absorbed some Energy Points, which greatly pleased Chen Yu.
Although imposters like these could not provide too many Energy Points, at the very least there was some income, which could later be exchanged with Radiance for other items.
"This...," Lawrence had just disinfected his wife's wound and applied gauze, as he held his unconscious wife, then his gaze fell on the spot where his 'son' had disappeared, before he hesitantly looked towards Chen Yu.
"Chen Yu, professional Exorcist," Chen Yu said as he took out his M29 and wiped it down. There was no need to replace the bullets just yet, before finishing the five remaining Magnum rounds.
The identity of an Exorcist obviously wasn't something Chen Yu had casually made up; after all, if he wanted to operate in America and incidentally save enough Energy Points to arm himself, an associated identity was essential.
Being an Exorcist was directly related to his profession, and eventually setting up an office and building a reputation would allow him to wait for clients to come to him.
After all, Chen Yu knew that some people do not believe in curses; even if a knife flew up and fell to the ground in their home in the dead of night, they would find all kinds of ways to forcibly explain it away, saying it was a psychotic episode, until a demon showed its face outright—they would never admit it was the work of demons.
And they would not concede that it was the demons causing mischief.
"..Chen.. Yu? What do you mean by saying my son is dead?" Lawrence struggled with the name but felt a sense of relief after hearing that the other person was an Exorcist. No wonder he could easily deal with that monster.
But then Lawrence remembered the words Chen Yu had said before.
A sense of unease wrapped around Lawrence's heart, his fists clenched tight, and outside the window, the red and blue police lights pierced through the dense night.
Chen Yu glanced at Lawrence, hoping the man could be stronger inside.
"You must have realized by now that your son Jamie is not your son," Chen Yu said. Instinctively, Lawrence nodded.
He had previously noticed something off about his son Jamie; although he looked the same, everything about him seemed to have changed, including his eating habits. The former Jamie used to love fried chicken, especially chicken drumsticks.
But recently, Jamie had suddenly lost interest in such food, showing little enthusiasm for eating every day. But this wasn't the reason for Lawrence's suspicion towards his son.
Until three days ago in the morning, Lawrence, who rarely rose early, had planned to exercise but ended up accidentally seeing Jamie gnawing on raw beef in the kitchen.
Lawrence could never forget that day, the strange smile Jamie had shown when he realized he'd been discovered, still chewing the raw meat with big, ravenous bites.
That bizarre smile, and the fact that Jamie completely denied the incident, smiling at him from a dark corner afterward, filled Lawrence's heart with chills.
It was then that Lawrence realized something was wrong with his son, and he had called the police, but unfortunately, the police ended up thinking that it was the parents who had mental issues.
They even recommended a psychiatrist to them.
And then today, Lawrence had been woken up in the middle of the night and had opened his eyes to see his son Jamie cutting his wife's throat with a fishing line...
"Your son has been replaced, replaced by a demon. This type of demon likes to kill the person they want to impersonate first; devour them alive and skin them, and then pretend to live with their families," Chen Yu said succinctly.
There was no time to delay, as the police cars had already arrived, so soon the police would come.
The residents of this apartment building must have been woken up by the two gunshot sounds in the middle of the night, and although some might continue to sleep, thinking it was none of their business, there would certainly be people who would call the police.
Lawrence might not understand overly technical terms, so Chen Yu used the term "demon," which most Americans could comprehend, to convey his point.
Lawrence's once rigid spine collapsed instantly, and tears flooded his reddened eyes. Was his son dead?
For a moment, memories flooded Lawrence's mind: from the shock and surprise of learning his wife was pregnant, to the anxiety of her labor, and the joy and motivation that came with having offspring. Emotions overwhelmed him.
Although a part of Lawrence had braced himself for something being wrong with his son, he still held out hope that his son wasn't dead, but merely affected by something.
But now, that slim hope had been shattered.
Seeing the grief-stricken Lawrence, Chen Yu shook his head. Many families of victims deceived by impostors struggled to accept the truth, with some even absurdly wishing the impostor could continue to exist, to take the place of their family members.
But according to existing research, impostors and humans are two completely different creatures. To impostors, humans are merely food, and coupled with the vile nature of hellish creatures, the prospect of harmonious coexistence with humans was even harder than ascending to heaven.
Chen Yu opened the door and quickly stepped out, leaving the door open behind him as he could already hear the elevator moving.
And just as Chen Yu walked into the stairwell and vanished, the elevator doors opened, and a team of fully armed police officers slowly approached the door left ajar, weapons at the ready.
"NYPD! Drop your weapon!" With the roar of the police officers, the sky also gradually began to show the first light of dawn.