Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

The firelight illuminated the cross-shaped passage, and the intense heat caused beads of sweat to slowly emerge on Du Wei's forehead.

He grew impatient and stepped back.

Just as the lighter was blown out, he had smashed the glass bottle filled with Holy Water and brought down the medium of the Evil Spirit girl, her corpse that is, dousing it with the special Bone Powder given by Father Tony and set it ablaze.

For Du Wei, he never acted without preparation, preferring to calmly analyze the situation, find a solution, and keep himself in a state of security.

Only when absolutely necessary or faced with an emergency would he consider skirting the edge of death.

And regarding the Evil Spirit in the cross passage, Du Wei had no intention of coming into much contact with it from the start. Had it not tried to kill him by controlling the scenes set up by the Horror House itself, things wouldn't have come to this point.

"It's time to find the exit and quickly leave the Horror House."

Once certain no fire would erupt, Du Wei stuffed the half-empty bottle of Bone Powder into his backpack and walked away.

His footsteps receded into the distance...

But after he left, the corpse suddenly made a "snap" sound, and flames violently surged up, seemingly wanting to spread elsewhere. However, constrained by the lack of sufficient fuel, they were extinguished.

...

Meanwhile, in front of the Japanese-style haunted house.

Bob and his companion also arrived here.

"What's going on? Why haven't we seen Lisa yet? Moving forward is the area with the Undead Mummy. Could something have really happened to her?"

Anxiety and confusion filled Bob's face, and his tone revealed his immense irritation.

"Should we keep going forward? I'm getting scared."

The speaker was Lisa's best friend, and although they were close, she felt torn in this situation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It wasn't hypocrisy, but reality.

For instance, a person afraid of heights might venture up a 100-meter hill to help a friend in trouble. However, if they realized the distance was actually 1,000 meters, coupled with unknown dangers during the climb and the sight of their worst fear below, most people might weigh the risks and rewards.

Fear and fright are instincts; controlling these instincts and being controlled by them are both normal.

Therefore, when Bob heard her words, he didn't react with anger. He was also considering whether to continue moving forward.

Just ahead was where the bodies of the crew members had been found...

"Maybe... maybe we should..."

Bob licked his lips, a struggle fleeting across his eyes.

Looking ahead at the dimly lit area, shadow-covered corners made Bob hesitate.

He told himself—"You're just a college student, Lisa isn't your girlfriend, and you've done enough. This is something professionals should handle."

Thinking this way, he felt somewhat relieved.

But acknowledging this aloud would be embarrassing, as Bob had talked too tough before. Even though he recognized it was a hasty decision, backing out now was difficult...

So he thought for a moment and decided to pass the decision onto someone else.

"Do you think we should keep moving forward?"

"After all, it's better to leave this kind of thing to the police."

"What do you think... huh?"

There was no response.

With a puzzled expression, Bob turned his head and scanned the area; his face went pale in an instant...

fuck!!!!

Lisa's best friend, who had just been speaking with him, was now nowhere to be seen.

"Hey... this isn't funny, where are you?"

Suddenly, a faint breeze blew by.

Bob couldn't help but shiver, feeling his sweat turn cold and sticky, and his back crawl with goosebumps.

What the hell is going on?

At this moment, Bob also realized that something was not right. Gritting his teeth, he said, "No matter what you want to do, I'm getting out of here... I will call the police... I swear, I definitely will."

After he finished speaking, he started to run.

Yet, just a few steps after he started running, Bob opened his mouth in horror, disbelievingly staring at the road he had come from.

"Where's the road?"

The road that was originally there had simply vanished, and all that could be seen were shadows engulfing everything in sight.

It was as if he had been teleported to an entirely different place, experiencing some sort of spatial displacement.

The spine-chilling sound effects and eerie music that had been barely audible before had completely disappeared, leaving the surroundings in utter silence.

But this kind of silence made Bob feel even more afraid and on the verge of collapse.

The sound effects and bizarre music in the Horror House, however intimidating they might be, were man-made. When you know the truth, you might still find it creepy, but at least there is some comfort in that knowledge.

But now, Bob felt as if he had plunged into an ice cave, losing all his reasoning and ability to think.

...

16:56.

Inside the Horror House, at the entrance of the underground level.

A sign that read 'Ambrose Wax Museum' was covered in aged cracks, with many cobwebs obscuring the lettering, making it difficult to read.

Du Wei stared at the sign for quite a while before he could decipher the letters.

Expressionless and silent, he seemed gloomy.

Annabelle had been placed in the Dead Spirit Doll section, which was also on the underground level. The exit was also on this level, but it was located at the deepest part of Ferocious Ghost Street, where an elevator was available for people to leave.

To get to the underground level, one had to enter the deepest part of the Horror Wax Museum and descend through the entrance. This was also the path visitors had to take if they wanted to leave the Horror House, barring any calls to the staff or unforeseen events.

Of course, under the current circumstances, the entrance they had come through was no longer an option.

All of the Horror House's sections had been replaced with ghosts instead of people, and these ghosts could manipulate the original staging. There was no going back; the only option was to keep moving forward in search of a way out.

His only goal now was to leave.

As for the Evil Spirit Transformation...

If he could make it out alive, it might bring about an unexpected change for himself.

For instance, after taking that bus and getting off, he entered the Third Phase of Spirit Vision directly.

Though there might be some reasons he had yet to think of, accelerating the degree of Evil Spirit Transformation was surely inevitable.

By comparison, whether he could contact Annabelle was no longer important.

In fact, under these circumstances, Du Wei even felt that not encountering her would be the best outcome.

"It probably took three minutes..."

He estimated the time he had spent contemplating, took a deep breath, and then calmly walked in.

This time, he did not produce Holy Water or anything else but drew his gun instead.

As soon as he entered, he detected a peculiar smell.

This persistent odor was distinctive to wax figure creation and would normally fade slowly over time with long-term placement.

Though the Horror House had been around for a while, it clearly refreshed its inventory frequently, bringing in brand new wax figures to scare visitors.

Du Wei scanned the wax figure closest to him, looking a bit strange.

This wax figure was dressed stylishly, much like current college students – jeans and AJ sneakers – but it appeared incomplete, as if its facial features were still wrapped in wax, not yet revealed.

But one could tell that it was a Caucasian male, seemingly young in age.

What made Du Wei feel uneasy was that he thought he had seen this wax figure somewhere before.

It looked very familiar...