"This place is indeed quite outdated." Peter looked up and said, "The layout of this church must be at least two hundred years old. You can't find this kind of church in New York anymore."
Kate also looked up at the church's dome. But it wasn't really a dome, just a wooden structure built as support. Someone had painted it with faux stone paint and hung decorative structures, seemingly trying to mimic the grandeur of European stone churches, but unfortunately, it wasn't successful. Now most of the paint was peeling off.
At this moment, they were inside the Big Creek Town church, hoping to find some clues here. Kate and Peter had already noticed from Aunt Cain's abnormal behavior that their family was highly likely to be cultists. So the church must hold important clues.
"There's even Jesus here." Peter looked up at the cross hanging at the front of the church and said, "It seems this sect is based on Christianity."
"Let's sort out the clues we've gathered," Kate said. "Aunt Cain leads a very simple life, almost doesn't use any electronic products. Meanwhile, there's no study in the house, so they probably don't read, and there aren't any brewed beverages like tea and coffee. We had to use the excuse that I was pregnant to get her to agree to our visit, proving she's unusually obsessed with childbirth. Also, when you got injured, Aunt Cain reacted strongly to the idea of you going to the hospital for treatment, indicating she's opposed to modern medicine."
Peter exchanged a glance with Kate.
"You've thought about it too, right?"
"Let's say it together then."
"Mormonism."
"Mormonism."
"To be precise, the Mormon Fundamentalist Sect. That's the sect that supports polygamy, forced child marriage, and incest," Kate said. "Their founding place and stronghold are in Utah. It all matches."
"They don't even allow tea and coffee?"
Kate shook her head and said, "Extreme religious organizations generally don't allow believers to use any substances that can cause nervous excitement, like drugs, alcohol, tea, and coffee, or even sparkling water."
"Because they want the believers' happiness to solely come from faith and be under their control, right?"
Kate nodded again and said, "Exactly. This sect not only bans tea and coffee but also prohibits listening to music, artistic creation, reading any books other than scriptures, and engaging in any activities outside religious fellowship."
"Sounds like imprisonment."
"Imprisonment isn't this terrifying; after all, no one in prison forces you to have children," Kate sighed and said, "The founder of this sect was imprisoned for raping underage children and hasn't been released yet. Although over a hundred countries worldwide have listed this sect as heresy, there are still tens of thousands of believers globally, mainly concentrated in Utah."
"It seems Big Creek Town is one of them. Although I know inbreeding has many harms, it shouldn't lead to extinction in just one generation. Something else must have happened for this town to become so desolate," Peter said, looking around. "We have to figure out who killed Aunt Cain and who is still controlling her body."
"I actually think that's not important," Kate said. "What's more important is why the evil spirit wants to control Aunt Cain's body."
Peter looked at her, slightly puzzled. Kate explained, "There's no doubt that the transformation of the town is related to the evil spirit. If it wasn't his doing, it was certainly caused by him. He must have had some reason to devastate this town."
Peter nodded and said, "That's true. Are you suspecting that this evil spirit might have a grudge against some townspeople, prompting this revenge act?"
"Exactly, think about it. If the evil spirit were a high-level member of the Mormon sect, he would wish everyone to be alive so he could exploit wealth from them, control them, and indulge in a life of extreme luxury. Many fundamentalist members are like that now."
"But now, the town has almost no living people, which clearly doesn't align with the interests of those believers. Killing their own people offers them no benefit—they wouldn't do that. So it can only be an enemy of theirs, possibly a woman who was persecuted, turned into an evil spirit, and wiped out the entire village."
"But if he intends to kill, why not kill them all? Even if Aunt Cain and Linda are possessed bodies, why would he continue to manipulate them after killing them, having them perform like this?"
"Could it be to lure more people here to kill?" Peter asked, furrowing his brows. "After all, even if this evil spirit were a victim when alive, it's hard to say if he's still rational now. Maybe he controls others merely to kill more people."
"That doesn't make sense either. Remember, when we first called Aunt Cain, she was strongly opposed to us returning, so much that I had to pretend to be pregnant. She only allowed us to come back once she knew I was expecting. If the intention was to lure people in to kill, wouldn't she have actively welcomed us?"
"It is quite strange indeed," Peter said, rubbing his chin. "Let's look around this area and see if we can find any clues."
They started searching separately, beginning with the hall, then the confessional and prayer room. Shortly after, in the priest's residence at the back, Peter spotted a rather peculiar book. But it confirmed their suspicions because the cover of this book read "Mormon Scripture."
Peter wasn't interested in the doctrine, but he still picked up the book to take a look. And the moment his hand touched the book, a memory flashed through his mind.
"He's almost here, we don't have time." A voice said, "We have to do this, we have no choice."
"That damn Berg!!! He thought about running away back then. If it weren't for Kane, he would have betrayed us long ago, we should have executed him back then!"
"It's too late to say anything now. That little bastard has already possessed him and is coming to avenge us. Let's go."
Peter saw he was following a man through underground tunnels. No, it looked a bit like air-raid shelters built during wartime. They hurried through the darkness and came to a room, then continued downward. This part appeared to be a tunnel they had dug themselves, completely different from the style above, looking somewhat crude.
Down and down again, this tunnel seemed to traverse the entire mountain. Reaching the very bottom, Peter saw a strange array. But just then, he felt someone push him from the back. He fell headlong onto the array, his vision turning blood red.
He awoke from the illusion as Kate just arrived. Peter said, "There's a clue. Your uncle, Aunt Cain's husband, is his last name Berg?"
Kate nodded and said, "Yes. My aunt is Mrs. Berg. But my mother, my aunt's sister, strongly opposed the marriage and adamantly refused to take her family name."
"I just saw a memory." Peter briefly told Kate what he saw, then said, "The town's downfall is related to your uncle. Do you know when he died?"
Kate shook her head and said, "Maybe a few years ago. But I'm not sure of the details. Our families haven't been in contact for a long time."
"He must know something." Peter said, "Maybe we can check his grave; we might find something."
The two hurried towards the cemetery, and luckily there was only one graveyard here. They quickly found it and began searching among the graves.
"What are you doing?!" They suddenly heard a roar.
Turning around, they saw Linda charging towards them. Peter instinctively drew his gun. Kate stopped him and then said, "Hello, Linda, we want to find your father's grave. After all, I couldn't attend his funeral, and we'd like to pay our respects."
Linda's eyes were cold enough to make people shudder. She said, "You're not trying to pay respects; you're trying to get something from him."
"What are we trying to get?" Peter asked.
"Whatever you're trying to get, you won't succeed." Linda suddenly gave them a strange smile and then ran off. They watched her back and felt a chill down their spines.
"The evil spirit has possessed her," Kate sighed and said, "We should start looking for the grave."
There aren't many intact tombstones left here. They soon found two marked with Berg, one of which had been dug up, leaving only the other.
"Luckily, it was dug from the outside in. If it had been dug from the inside out, I wouldn't sleep tonight." Peter joked.
Kate circled the large tombstone. Her hand touched the top, but she felt nothing. She thought for a moment and said, "We have to dig up the grave. I know this might be very disrespectful, but we have to do it."
"Alright," Peter said, "let's dig it up."
Beside the graveyard, there were storage rooms containing some equipment for removing weeds. They found a shovel and a hoe, and started digging. Peter's head had been hit before and bled a lot, with no stitching, and he was showing symptoms of excessive blood loss. Holding the shovel with force made his body sway slightly.
"Go rest over there; I'll dig," Kate said.
"I'm fine." Peter tightly pursed his lips and said, "I can hold on for a while longer. Let's keep going."
Peter was about to reach out and open the coffin, but Kate stopped him. She said, "If the state's current situation is really related to Berg, we can't take such risks. What if opening the coffin triggers his retaliation?"
"But if we don't open the coffin, we may never know the truth," Peter said. He looked at the already dug grave and said, "If opening the coffin would really anger the evil spirit, someone has already done it."
Peter meant that it's possible someone in the plot had already done so. This means the plot is ahead of them. And they need to strive to catch up to obtain more information before the danger arrives.
Kate was still a bit hesitant, but Peter had begun to move. Peter inserted the shovel into the coffin seam and pried it with force, making a creaking sound; the coffin was opened a small crack.
But immediately, Peter felt darkness in front of his eyes. When he regained consciousness, he discovered he was on a sunny street, the air carrying a faint scent of lily of the valley.