Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

After talking with Du Wei about the mental hospital, James and his companions left the psychological counseling clinic.

They needed to go back to get ready and to deal with Harry's arm issue in passing.

The agreed time for departure was three in the afternoon; they would meet up at the mental hospital then.

First floor.

Du Wei sat calmly on the sofa, his gaze fixed on the antique clock.

The hands overlapped, moving at the same speed as before, neither fast nor slow.

He was pondering the current situation and the next steps to take.

Too many things had happened from yesterday to today.

First, the heads of four cultists appeared in his home; it goes without saying that these people must have been to his house, and there were other cultists still alive.

These people were a threat to Du Wei.

"Perhaps I should take down the warning sign at the door?"

"But it seems like cultists are not the kind of people who would deliver a package to my door."

After thinking it over, Du Wei took out the medical records, flipped to his own page, and added a new line beneath it.

[1. Cultists: Unknown purpose, pose a significant risk, to be addressed]

[2. T...N: Medium is the head? Need to go to the mental hospital, to be addressed]—meaning the nun.

[3. Evil Spirit in the house: Currently low risk, to be addressed]

Having written this, Du Wei frowned, closed the medical records, and put them away.

"The mask now has many cracks; perhaps the number of times it can be used is not many. Its function is more about another identity, rather than ability, but perhaps it can be used in the mental hospital."

"Besides, the antique clock is not easy to carry, and I always feel that it is hiding something too deep. If it is the same kind of thing as the mask, however, the evil spirit inside has never shown any abnormalities, and it is even possible that the Evil Spirit does not exist at all."

"This is an uncertain factor that can be temporarily set aside."

While saying this, Du Wei placed the mask into his backpack and went through all his possessions.

A mask that could grant him the identity of an Evil Spirit, two bottles of Holy Water, one and a half bottles of Bone Powder that could counter evil spirits, a silver cross dagger from Andrew, and a lighter that would only light up in the presence of an Evil Spirit.

Hmm… and there was that ring.

As well as the handgun he always carried with him.

As for the Inverse Cross ornament that Du Wei had torn from the nun's chest, which was suspected to be a medium, it had strangely disappeared from the house.

After getting everything in order, Du Wei prepared to eat something to replenish his strength.

Yet for some reason, he kept feeling like he was forgetting something.

"It seems unrelated to the Evil Spirit…"

…

Noon, 12:00.

Du Wei took a shower and, wearing a relatively thick overcoat, sat down on the sofa.

The antique clock and Annabelle in a display cabinet were hanging on the wall.

In front of him was the laptop that was already on the first floor.

At that moment, Du Wei was browsing through the files Alex sent to his email.

The content was about the batch of auctioned antique clocks and the information between the mental hospital and its former church.

The first half was not relevant to what Du Wei needed to do, so he went straight to the information on the mental hospital and the church.

Well…

This mental hospital had always been ordinary, with no abnormalities reported. In the records of the past year, the only incident recorded was an odd piece of news;

A mental patient believed himself to be a doctor and attempted to treat other patients in the mental hospital, miraculously curing several of them.

"This looks like it's straight out of a play..."

Du Wei frowned, scrolling down with the mouse wheel to continue reading.

This time, it was about a church.

[In 1993, a fire broke out in a church located in the suburbs of New York, claiming the lives of half of its clergy. Suspected arson, but no information could be found after investigations, and none of the survivors knew what happened, so the matter was dropped.]

[In 1998, the abandoned church was demolished, and on its site, a mental hospital was built with a former female clergy member as its director.]

At the bottom, there were comments by Alex: The director is a clergy member, are these people kidding? Do they plan to chant Hallelujah every day to mentally ill patients? They're like imbeciles!

Upon reading this, Du Wei couldn't help but imagine Alex's cold snarky comments, leaving him somewhat speechless.

"However, this is indeed abnormal... Perhaps this director can tell me something."

Having said this, Du Wei closed the laptop.

Out of the blue, he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

Well...

Last night, after finishing the conversation with Alex over the phone, he had said he would call her back.

Du Wei had always felt that women were complicated, and dating even more so.

Which is why he had never dated.

But this kind, beautiful woman had indeed given him a lot of help.

Well... both materially and informationally.

So he took out his phone and dialed Alex's number.

Continue your journey on empire

Unexpectedly, as soon as the call was made, it was instantly picked up.

Then, a derisive chuckle came from the other end of the line: "I've been waiting for you all morning, and now you deign to call me? Are you busy? Huh?"

"Er... yes."

Du Wei didn't expect Alex to have been waiting by the phone the whole time, and his expression grew complicated.

What's the point?

Alex snorted coldly, "Fine, considering you didn't stand me up, I choose to forgive you."

Her tone softened, "Next time, you can call me earlier, mm... babe, you know, we don't need so many formalities between us."

After a pause, Du Wei said, "Okay, I'll try to do so next time."

"You..." Alex said helplessly, "You know, you're very good at killing a conversation dead."

"I don't think so," Du Wei replied calmly. "What should I say then? Have you eaten?"

"Not yet, actually I found that I've gained a pound, so I'm planning to lose weight."

"Okay, good luck with your weight loss. I might be a bit busy the next couple of days."

An immediate silence fell on the other end of the phone.

After a while, Alex's troubled voice came through: "Why are you so busy every day?"

Du Wei replied lightly, "I don't want to be, but that's just the way it is."

Alex spoke in displeasure, "So, my dear Dr. Du Wei, might I ask if you're free next Tuesday?"

Du Wei thought for a moment and said, "If things go well in the next two days, I should be free next Tuesday. So what are you implying? A date?"

Alex spoke helplessly, "Next Tuesday is my birthday, but my parents probably won't have time to come over, they sent me some money to celebrate it on my own."

Du Wei's eyebrows rose slightly, and he said, "I think I get your point, I'll be there."

"You won't stand me up?"

"Mm... I shouldn't."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om