Chapter 215: Discovery in the Cellar
William looked at the bloodstained clothing on the ground; the evil aura attached to it had only been consumed by a small fraction.
Not even a quarter.
Yet Lynne's fingertips had already turned pitch black.
Obviously, this skin reshaping attempt had failed.
Lynne took quite a while to recover before standing up.
"This... the evil on this is too dense, far exceeding ordinary remain materials." She had lingering fears.
Just now, the moment she touched the clothing, agonizing howls rang in her ears.
That heart-rending scream, Lynne never wanted to experience it again in her life.
William raised an eyebrow. He squatted on the ground and hovered his palm over the clothing.
The evil aura immediately drilled toward his palm.
But it was then blocked by the Holy Power flowing on the surface of his skin.
At an angle Lynne couldn't see, the Commandment Text on William's palm was rapidly being written.
Seeing this, he immediately withdrew his palm.
And the evil aura on the clothing had already been consumed by half.
William pondered secretly, summarizing two experiences.
First, the density of the evil aura also affects skin reshaping.
Second, for William, direct contact with evil could quickly reshape the skin, but this was only a special case.
If an ordinary Holy Clergy Member did this, it would be no different from seeking death.
"Put it away; this was yours anyway." William stood up and looked at Lynne.
This nun had been observing just now but hadn't actually seen anything.
However, at the moment William reshaped, Lynne indeed felt a fluctuation of power.
"Could it be that Father William has already tried it?" She was puzzled inside.
Under the circumstances just now, she indeed thought William was going to personally contact the evil aura.
But no anomaly occurred afterward, which was obviously not normal.
That's why Lynne had suspicions.
But if her perception was not wrong, it meant that this priest in front of her had completely suppressed the backlash of the evil.
Lynne was secretly alarmed.
If it really was as she thought, then what kind of strength did this Father William possess?
Lynne had come into contact with many Holy Clergy Members who styled themselves as experts, even including those from the Vatican.
But she had never seen anyone who could do this.
"What are you blanking out for?"
William's voice interrupted Lynne's thoughts.
"So... sorry." She hurriedly took out a wooden jar and then put the bloodstained clothing from the ground into it.
There was still some time before dawn.
William came in front of Old Ronald again: "Tell me your demands; I won't break my promise."
The latter said viciously: "When did I agree to cooperate with you!"
William touched his nose: "Let the past be the past; we have to live in the present."
"You!!"
Before the other party's spirit body disappeared, William spoke again: "Where are those Indian dead spirits?"
"I know your hearts are full of hatred, but only by purifying them can you obtain true rest."
The DeFeo family fell silent upon hearing this.
But William saw a faint gray aura in their spirit bodies.
"This is... Pain." He was surprised inside.
Pain can contain many emotions.
Physical pain, mental pain, even inner resistance and fear.
So he probed again: "Could it be that you have already forgiven?"
In the next second, Old Ronald immediately roared: "No! I will never forgive those executioners for all eternity..."
It stopped halfway through its sentence.
Then murmured: "It's no use... no one can fight against them."
"Also dead spirits, but they are full of resentment. Just looking... Ah!"
Old Ronald seemed to be strangled by the throat; its limbs twisted and turned outward backward. At the same time, dense totem symbols surfaced on its spirit body.
Its face showed extreme pain, looking at William with a pleading gaze.
Mrs. DeFeo aside, as well as the several children, all knelt on the ground.
Lynne looked surprised; she had never encountered such a scene.
The Lutz couple also had some uneasiness in their eyes, hurriedly shielding the children.
Judy stepped forward to pull William's sleeve, whispering: "Those patterns seem to be releasing some kind of power."
William looked solemn and nodded.
From his perspective, he could see more. At this time, those totem symbols were eroding Old Ronald's soul.
This erosion directly touched the Origin Power.
Once completed, Old Ronald would completely turn into an energy cluster, losing the chance to reincarnate.
Golden patterns emerged outside William's pupils.
He tried to find the source of power for these symbols, but found nothing.
Then, he projected Holy Power onto the symbols.
This indeed worked, but the consumption was also very high.
In just a few seconds, William's Holy Power drained by one-thousandth, comparable to the combined consumption of his two previous exorcism commissions.
So he stopped the Holy Power projection and took out a 30-year vintage ritual offering.
At this time, Old Ronald suddenly spoke: "Follow me; I'll take you to them."
William narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.
He quietly opened a bottle of Holy Water, then pulled Judy to slowly step back.
"This is what they asked me to do."
Old Ronald stood up. Its expression was full of refusal, but its spirit body was uncontrolled.
William pondered for a moment, then turned his head: "You guys go back to the car first. Judy, I leave them to you."
There might be danger next; these people following would only be a burden.
The pickup truck had multiple layers of isolation magic arrays arranged by William. As long as they stayed inside and didn't run around, ordinary dead spirits would find it hard to invade.
But Judy shook her head: "We have been outside for a long time, and there is some distance from here to the car. Maybe something has already sneaked into the dark."
Lynne also chimed in: "In past commissions, situations where everyone separated and were targeted by evil spirits often occurred. I also suggest we go together."
The Lutz couple listened, completely confused, but they didn't want to leave William either, so they nodded repeatedly: "Yes, let's go together."
The "Safety Awareness" of these people was very high. Normally, William would definitely look approving.
But at this moment, he frowned deeply.
"Judy is very right, but how could I overlook this matter..." He always felt something was wrong.
William checked his own body, and then investigated the people beside him one by one, but found no anomalies.
He could only give up temporarily, looking at everyone and saying: "Alright, then you must follow closely; don't act alone."
The few nodded seriously.
William turned around: "Lead the way."
Old Ronald had been waiting aside, and the other members of the DeFeo family had also recovered their calm expressions.
Just like that, the group walked straight to the porch eaves.
Just as they were about to enter, William stopped.
"Wait a minute, I need to make some arrangements."
He took out a holy statue from his bag, then placed it at the steps.
When no one noticed, Old Ronald frowned but didn't stop him.
Soon the group moved forward again.
This time, right after entering the living room, William stopped again.
"Wait."
He placed another holy statue on the ground again, hesitated for a moment, and even arranged a circle of magic arrays around it.
But when he stood up, he felt a bit uneasy inside.
"What exactly is wrong? I clearly made arrangements." William frowned even deeper.
At this time, Judy spoke: "What's wrong? How about we go outside and rest for a bit?"
William shook his head: "It's nothing, let's keep going."
Just like that, the group stopped and started along the way, finally arriving at the cellar.
During this time, William arranged at least a dozen holy artifacts, but his heart didn't feel the slightest bit at ease.
"They are inside here." Old Ronald pointed to a wall and spoke.
"The other side of the wall is also a cellar. It was once transformed into a prison, but was later sealed off."
William looked scrutinizingly: "You want us to break this wall?"
Old Ronald pointed to its body: "Young man, I want to help you too."
William narrowed his eyes: "How do I know this wall isn't some kind of seal."
As soon as he came down to the cellar, he probed the surroundings multiple times, but found no abnormal energy.
Old Ronald laughed out loud: "The Church wouldn't use such inferior methods."
"The Church?"
"Yes, young man. The Church also participated in the construction of this cellar."
Old Ronald said as it sat on a chair, even though its spirit body directly passed through the cushion.
"You can decide for yourselves whether to break this wall."
William's eyes flickered, constantly pondering the previous details.
At this time, Lynne stepped forward proactively: "William, leave it to me! If anything happens, you guys run first."
William hesitated for a moment, feeling this might be the safest choice right now, so he nodded: "Okay, thanks for your trouble."
Lynne immediately found a sharp axe nearby, then stood in front of the wall.
Bang... Bang...
A hole was soon broken in the wall, revealing the pitch-black corridor behind.
A stale, rotting smell drifted out from inside, and everyone present wrinkled their noses.
Passing through the hole, the group stepped into this prison.
The corridor behind was about a dozen meters long, and the cells on both sides added up to almost twenty rooms.
Cramped space, damp floors, and a gloomy environment with no sunlight.
It was hard to imagine what it felt like to live here long-term.
William looked at the dungeon on the left.
Many marks were chiseled on the ground with stones, varying in length, seemingly recording some numbers.
Another cell on the other side.
A few torn little clothes remained on the ground, and on the wall were some totem drawings, looking crooked, like a child's graffiti.
"They were born here, and they died here too."
Old Ronald came to William's side.
"Before taking their last breath, what they wanted to know most was what sunlight looked like."
"Poor children." Kathy shed a tear.
George hugged his wife.
Judy and Lynne also lowered their heads.
"May the Lord protect them." William made a cross on his chest.
"Hehe, the Lord..." Old Ronald was noncommittal.
Immediately after, it said: "Blessing the dead is also a priest's job, right?"
William nodded: "Of course."
"Could you please recite scriptures for them? These children have stayed here too long."
Old Ronald raised its hand as it spoke, and then a pile of remains appeared on the floor of the corridor.
"In return, you can take these things away. I guess you should need them."
Lynne widened her eyes, looking incredulous: "These... are Saint's Remains?"
The remains exuded pure Holy Power, and the surface was covered with dense text.
"Those should be the contents of the Gospel of John. Only after practicing to the fourth-stage Holy Art of the Bone path—Bearing Hardship, will such a phenomenon occur."
She exclaimed constantly, passionate light shining in her eyes.
"Another priest who practiced to the third part of Theology..." William pondered secretly.
He had also learned about the "Bearing Hardship" Lynne mentioned.
This Holy Art allowed the Holy Clergy Member to bear the "Sins" of others and transfer them to a third party.
The mistakes everyone made in life would turn into "Sins."
It only exists in the soul. When death comes, every human must undergo the judgment of "Sins."
It will bring down punishment on extremely evil people and also open the gates of Heaven for kind people.
From this, it can be seen that such rules maintain the balance of the human world.
But the Church possessed Holy Arts that tampered with the rules, which also surprised William very much back then.
And to practice high-stage Bone Holy Arts, one could only use Saint's Remains.
But today, with many of the Church's inheritances lost, finding a Saint's Remains was very difficult, not to mention this pile of bones in front of them.
Therefore, Lynne was a bit out of sorts.
If these remains were taken out, she would definitely be heavily reused by the Church.
She immediately looked at William, constantly signaling with her eyes.
William, however, rubbed his chin: "I can get these just by reciting scriptures? This seems a bit unfair to you."
Old Ronald chuckled "Hehe."
"It might be very precious to you, but to us, it's just some bones that won't get moldy."
"Just like you would never cherish 'Sunlight'."
William couldn't help but shrug: "You are very right."
Old Ronald stepped aside and said calmly: "Then are you willing to help these children?"
"I seem to have no reason to refuse." William said.
"Just stand outside the cell; they will hear your voice. The key to salvation is in your hands."
William immediately stepped forward, then took out a Bible from his bag.
At this time, an energy fluctuation appeared in the cell.
Immediately after, two children wearing Indian ethnic clothing sat on the ground.
Their faces were clean and tender, their eyes full of curiosity.
At the same time, William also opened the Bible.
"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I release holy power with words, completely purifying the evil spirits trapped here..."
He didn't recite the gospel blessing the dead, but loudly read the exorcism scripture.
Everyone present—humans and spirits alike—were startled!
"William, why are you doing this?" Judy looked puzzled.
Lynne blocked in front of William: "Those are Saint's Remains!"
The Lutz couple also advised: "Mr. Priest, don't the encounters of those children deserve your sympathy?"
But William's movements didn't hesitate at all.
While reciting, he threw down holy artifacts around.
He then also splashed a bottle of 30-year vintage Holy Water on the ground.
At the same time, inside the cell.
Accompanied by William's voice, the faces of the two child spirit bodies began to distort.
The previous innocence and tenderness disappeared, replaced by ugliness and ferocity.
An extremely powerful resentment instantly rippled out.
Everyone present felt a palpitation.
William also stopped reciting, staring seriously inside the cell.
At this time, Old Ronald aside had already disappeared.
And a hoarse voice also came from inside the cell.
"The dirty things of the Church are still so despicable."
A mass of muddy, pitch-black spirit body floated in the air, with two scarlet spheres on it, like eyes.
William also spoke: "When it comes to tricks of deceit, you are no better."
"Interesting. Since when did you see through the falsehood in front of you?" The evil spirit laughed sinisterly.
William sized up the surroundings.
Just after this mass of dead spirit appeared, Judy, Lynne, and the others collapsed on the ground.
They looked pained, seeming to experience tremendous torment.
And William also perceived a trace of evil aura growing on their bodies.
At the same time, the entire dungeon was shielded by a powerful force, and the way back disappeared.
For a moment, everyone fell into danger.
But William quickly calmed down.
Since the evil spirit opposite didn't rush to attack, but spent so much effort to set up a scam, it meant the other party also had some scruples.
So right now, William had to stall for time as much as possible.
In this way, he might be able to find a way to break the deadlock.
Thinking of this, he responded to the dead spirit.
"Oh, you want to know?"
His tone was quite confident.
"Of course I can tell you, lest you be a confused ghost when you are purified later."
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you