Chapter 21: Night Attack
Luen was startled and instinctively loosened his grip on the puppet.
The puppet fell to the ground.
"What's going on..."
Luen recalled the events of the day.
After the funeral, he and Jamie went to the hotel where Jamie was staying.
After picking up the puppet, the two took tools and headed to the cemetery.
When they dug up the grave, they found it was filled with puppets.
Luen was initially dismissive, having always assumed that some cultists were using Mary Shaw's name to do evil.
He expected to find at least some tokens of a demon buried in the grave.
But it turned out to be just a restless evil spirit harming people in the town?
Luen almost wanted to laugh.
Such things were low-level existences in exorcism; even a 1-year-old holy artifact could purify them.
But Luen also remembered his father's words: "Don't underestimate the enemy."
He curled his lip, put away the 1-year-old holy artifact, and took out a 3-year-old crucifix.
After that, he had Jamie open all the coffins.
Then, Luen performed a standard exorcism ritual in the cemetery—chanting exorcism scriptures and suppressing the evil spirit with the crucifix.
As the ritual proceeded, all the puppets in the cemetery spontaneously caught fire, and a woman's scream could be faintly heard.
Jamie watched from the side, stunned; he had never seen such a scene before.
Half an hour later, Luen completed the ritual.
He kept the puppet named Billy, intending to bring it back to the Diocese as a souvenir.
With everything done, Luen and Jamie left the cemetery.
But after they left, the cemetery was suddenly shrouded in a black mist.
Following that, the flames on the puppets gradually extinguished.
Instead, the crucifix Luen left behind burst into flames.
At the same time, in the dense forest next to the cemetery, there was a charred corpse.
Judging by the clothes, it was Mary Shaw.
At the moment the crucifix burned, Mary Shaw opened her eyes again.
...
Back to the present.
Seeing this scene, William knew Luen had screwed up.
He didn't hesitate. He immediately took out the amulet Olivia gave him.
Then he picked up the puppet Billy and stuffed the amulet into its mouth.
Billy was about to say something, but only muffled sounds came out.
His neck immediately twisted 90 degrees, staring diagonally behind him in a very bizarre manner, wanting to see who had interrupted him.
But in the next moment, a cloth covered his head.
This cloth was something William grabbed from the shoe rack; Henry had just used it to polish his shoes before dinner.
"How dare you!"
With a roar, all the light bulbs in the room shattered, plunging the house into darkness.
At the same time, many "figures" suddenly appeared outside the window.
Everyone looked and saw that they were puppets.
At this moment, they were actually floating in the air.
"How is this possible! I clearly burned them all," Luen said with a look of shock.
William narrowed his eyes. The puppets in Mary Shaw's memory didn't seem this strong.
Using [Night Vision], he saw that each puppet was connected by a spiritual thread.
Following those threads, William found Mary Shaw hiding in the dense forest.
But there seemed to be a huge shadow behind her.
Combined with the diary he saw in the church during the day.
"Could it be..."
Olivia was calmer. She immediately took out her scripture and crucifix, reaching the window in two steps.
"In the name of the Lord, I summon holiness to surround me and banish the darkness of this world..."
She chanted the exorcism mantra, pointing the crucifix out the window.
But as she chanted, Olivia realized something was wrong.
The puppets outside were actually repeating her words.
They even had mocking expressions when repeating the word "Mary Shaw."
How was this possible!
A trace of panic rose in Olivia's heart.
During exorcism training, the teacher had said that due to their own dark nature, evil spirits found it difficult to exist in the human world.
Therefore, exorcism mantras had a natural suppressive effect on them.
Moreover, what she was holding wasn't a fake, but a 5-year-old holy artifact from the Vatican.
How could an evil spirit resist it?
Was there a more evil existence outside the window?
While Olivia's thoughts were in chaos.
The puppets were getting closer and closer, about to enter from the outside.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats.
"Please spare us." Henry looked helpless, hugging his wife tightly.
Marion had just recovered during the day, and he had planned to take her on a trip after the funeral.
Luen was sweating profusely. Although he had also undergone orthodox exorcism training.
Theory was different from practice.
Moreover, with his father's protection, he had never encountered real danger.
Coupled with the failure of the previous exorcism, Luen was a bit confused at this moment and stood frozen on the spot.
Jamie managed to stay calm; he ran around the room, trying to find a way out.
But the puppets had surrounded the place.
Ren clung tightly to William's arm, his legs shaking: "I'm done for."
At this time, the puppets spoke again.
"Fear, pain, despair."
"What you did to me."
"I will return it all to you now."
"Let me hear your... SCREAM!"
At first, the puppets' tone was just a bit agitated.
But they almost roared the last word.
Then they rushed towards the house together.
But in the next moment.
Bang!
All the puppets hit an invisible barrier.
A rare look of surprise appeared in their eyes.
In the dense forest, Mary Shaw couldn't hide her shock either.
Right now, her power had been enhanced.
If that priest came to the cemetery again during the day, Mary Shaw could tear him to pieces instantly.
So, she controlled the puppets to change direction, planning to break in from underground.
But the puppets had only traveled a few meters underground when they ran into an extremely pure force, leaving them nowhere to hide.
Mary Shaw behind them was also affected, almost losing connection with the puppets.
Inside the room.
Everyone also noticed the anomaly outside.
"Ms. Olivia, your exorcism seems to be working!"
William spoke first, guiding everyone's thoughts.
At the same time, he handed the diary from the day to Olivia.
"Please try this name."
She picked it up and saw "Cimeies" written on it.
Olivia realized something, nodded immediately, and chanted the exorcism scripture again.
William also took out the crucifix Luen gave him and called on the latter to join the fight.
While everyone was unprepared, he took out the crucifix he made himself, hidden in a secret pocket in his sleeve.
So the three fought side by side.
And Olivia also found that the power of the exorcism mantra this time was unexpectedly strong, even comparable to her teacher!
A few minutes later.
The puppets groaned in pain and retreated into the dense forest.
And Mary Shaw was also severely injured, disappearing into the black mist behind her.
At the same time.
The oppression shrouding the house vanished.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Father William, thank you!"
Olivia came over and handed back the diary.
"If not for your reminder at the critical moment, we would have been in danger."
After this commission, she realized how naive she had been before.
Real exorcism was complex and changeable. Evil spirits wouldn't be expelled by a set process like in books.
If not for this priest's adaptability, they might all have been in danger.
Beside her, Luen's face felt a bit hot.
He thought he had completed the exorcism, but unexpectedly almost harmed himself and others.
William looked like he was drenched in sweat.
"I was just lucky. If you two weren't here, I'm afraid we wouldn't have lasted until now."
He glanced at a corner of the room.
"It seems the two escape plans I prepared won't be needed."
Hearing this, Olivia also felt more favorably toward this priest.
But everyone knew this wasn't over.
"We must burn all those puppets!"
So, the next day.
The group came to the cemetery again, but the puppets inside had disappeared.
"Could it be that Mary Shaw didn't come back last night?"
"Impossible. For an evil spirit to exist in the human world, it must attach itself to a place with a strong connection to it," Olivia explained.
"Items from when they were alive, relatives, or graves. Otherwise, they will soon dissipate in the world."
Hearing this, Henry suddenly spoke: "The theater by the lake."
So the group immediately changed direction.
But William said, "I'll stay here."