"Ron, are you sure that Lady Tina isn't in danger? I just have a bad feeling about coming to this town."
"Don't worry, opportunities always come with risks, right? As long as we capture the paranormal phenomena surrounding that old lady, we can amass a huge following on YouTube, X, TikTok. Just think of Jason's sports car and your designer bags."
"Perhaps."
Sun Yan got out of the car and happened to overhear their conversation, his eyes immediately showing a hint of curiosity.
Paranormal phenomena? These college students seemed to know something he wasn't aware of.
The group was made up of three men and two women. A blond guy with glasses noticed Sun Yan eavesdropping and quickly warned his companions to zip it.
The group shot a cautious glance at Sun Yan, then headed towards Madam Lolian's house.
The yard featured neatly trimmed lawns, a mermaid-shaped fountain, and embedded path lights.
As someone who had lived the good life in San Francisco in her early years, Madam Lolian's family was quite well off.
Her villa was considered 'old money style' in all of Gospel Town. But as decades passed, if neglected in maintenance, even the finest things started to age and decay.
Sun Yan followed the group of college students towards the villa. Before they could even approach and press the doorbell, the door was already opened in advance, and a well-kept woman stepped out enthusiastically to greet them: "Are you Mr. Ron? Thank heavens, you've finally arrived."
"Lady Tina, the place you live in is really far away. These are my colleagues, all experts in brain neurons. Please take us to see the patient first." Ron, the leader of the five, said with perfect seriousness.
"This is wonderful, please follow me." The woman gestured with her hand, about to invite the experts into her home.
At this moment, she also noticed Sun Yan, who was standing at the back of the group: "Mr. Ron, didn't you say there were only five of you this time?"
Ron turned around to discover that Sun Yan, whom he had met at the door, had somehow followed them in, and he didn't have a good impression of this East Asian stranger.
A month ago, as a soon-to-be-graduating student from the neurology department of the medical college, Ron stumbled upon a post on a forum.
The poster was Lady Tina, who complained in the post about some troubling occurrences, all originating from her mother who had Alzheimer's disease.
The medical name for senile dementia is Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder whose early symptoms include confusion, memory decline, and diminished calculation ability.
In later stages, it may progress to abnormal behavior, aphasia, and memory confusion.
It was a common case, but Lady Tina mentioned in the post that her mother exhibited bizarre phenomena far beyond what Alzheimer's could explain.
The Lolian family had originally owned a four-year-old Schnauzer, but on one particular night half a month ago, Madam Lolian ran into the yard and bit it to death herself.
When Tina, hearing the commotion, rushed to the yard to check, she found her mother crouching on the ground like a mindless beast, cruelly tearing and devouring the dog's bloody flesh.
Madam Lolian was then already unconscious, only incessantly eating, not intending to stop even as her stomach bulged.
That night, she was rushed to the hospital for gastric lavage and managed to survive by sheer luck.
Many more strange events occurred with Madam Lolian, each filled with an air of eerie menace.
It nearly drove Tina, who cared for her, insane, forcing her to seek help online.
When Ron saw the post, he found it incredibly intriguing and realized it was his golden opportunity to strike it rich and embark on a glamorous life.
In today's globally networked age, becoming a major influencer on YouTube, X, TikTok can effortlessly bring extravagant earnings.
It surpasses traditional elite professions like doctors, lawyers, and engineers.
Even Ron, a medical school student, couldn't help but fantasize about fame, and the bizarre events surrounding Madam Lolian were his best chance.
If what Tina recounted in the post was true, capturing genuine footage and sharing it online could propel him to instant stardom, attracting endless fans and traffic.
This was why Ron led his companions all the way from San Francisco to Gospel Town.
Upon seeing the sudden appearance of Sun Yan, he instinctively felt a tinge of reluctance, wary that Sun Yan might be there to snatch the scoop as well.
"Lady Tina, I'm Stephenson's grandson, staying in Gospel Town recently, specifically here to visit Madam Lolian today, if that's convenient."
Seeing everyone staring, Sun Yan introduced himself.
"Stephenson? The graveyard keeper?" Tina's eyes showed a bit of surprise as she looked at Sun Yan.
Everyone in Gospel Town knew about the graveyard at the town's edge, where families interred their deceased elders for convenient annual tributes.
But as for contact, Tina was truly not acquainted with the graveyard's caretaker, only aware of his name.
Now that this grandson of the graveyard caretaker had come for a visit, given that they all lived in the same town, she really couldn't refuse him.
If Madam Lolian were to pass away one day and needed burial, they would need his help afterward.
Tina could only nod, "Please come in, thank you for your concern for my mother."
With the hostess' consent, Ron and his group naturally had nothing more to say. Led by Tina, Sun Yan and the others proceeded to the second floor of the villa.
In the master bedroom at the end of the hallway, they saw Madam Lolian sitting by the window, basking in the sun.
She was an elderly gray-haired white lady, her posture bent, skin wrinkled and sagging, yet still bearing an elegant aura.
Sun Yan quietly opened the Celestial Eye and immediately saw a half-human, half-snake Evil Spirit coiled around Madam Lolian.
It had no arms, covered entirely in gray Snake Scales, with only parts of the chest and face retaining human skin, while the facial features were already transforming into those of a snake, causing an uncomfortable visceral reaction.
It would indeed be strange if a common person didn't suffer any physical toll being haunted by such an Evil Spirit.
"Could this Evil Spirit be connected to that special corpse?" Sun Yan pondered internally.
His primary objective in coming was to find the corpse, not to perform Exorcism for Madam Lolian. Acting prematurely could alert the Evil Spirit, so Sun Yan suppressed the urge to strike it with a blow.
"Mom, these gentlemen are doctors specializing in brain neurology from the San Francisco Medical College. I invited them here to help check on you," Tina softly introduced from the doorway.
Ron exchanged glances with his companions, and they promptly entered the room, conducting an examination of Madam Lolian with Tina's cooperation.
Throughout, Madam Lolian behaved like an unconscious doll, sitting quietly in the chair, utterly motionless.
Seeing this, Sun Yan quietly exited the room and began wandering around the villa, determined to find traces of the special corpse Madam Lolian owned that was hidden there.
Relying on the Celestial Eye's power, he was certain he could find its existence.