The time on the diary starts after the year 2000, and the handwriting noticeably becomes twisted and ugly, with numerous scratch marks appearing.
In recent years, the diary has been covered with black smudges so extensive that, even holding the book under sunlight, Sun Yan cannot discern what Madam Lolian had written.
"From resistance to acceptance, finally evolving to anticipation, Madam Lolian's mental state seems to have been severely affected by something, suggesting she might not truly have Alzheimer's but instead has suffered mental contamination."
Sun Yan was greatly shocked by the content in the diary, as through Madam Lolian's writings, he could sense just how disturbed she was back then.
It's just unknown what she experienced eventually, that led to her complete breakdown.
This stirred an ominous feeling within Sun Yan; could the things her husband brought back from Butis Country now be hidden in this villa?
"Hey! Jack, Lorne, come here!"
A shout suddenly came from downstairs. Sun Yan put away the diary and immediately walked out to see the white youth Jason waving at him from the living room on the first floor, his expression excited as if he had discovered some unusual clue.
"What's up?" Sun Yan walked down and asked.
"Basement, there's actually a hidden basement in her warehouse."
Jason pointed to a certain room on the first floor, which was Madam Lolian's storeroom, filled with many daily necessities.
Yesterday, when Sun Yan was alone, he had opened the door to look, but didn't venture in for a closer inspection.
Following Jason into the storeroom, they saw a hinged door had been flipped open on the floor, below which was a narrow staircase leading further down to a basement.
"I accidentally discovered that the floor sounded different from elsewhere, and after exploring, found a mechanism leading to this hidden door," Jain explained, standing beside Sun Yan.
Soon another white youth, Lorne, also rushed over and was quite surprised to see the hidden door on the floor.
"Let's go down and take a look." Sun Yan proactively suggested, seeing the basement entrance concealed as if it blended with the floor color.
This kind of behavior seemed problematic no matter how you looked at it, almost appearing as if deliberately hiding something.
Eager to find their friend, Jason and Lorne immediately agreed to Sun Yan's proposal, and with the flashlight on their phones, they directly walked down the stairs.
Drip! Drip!
The basement was exceptionally damp, the air filled with a musty water odor, and the walls piled with varying sizes of water droplets.
When droplets accumulated excessively, they would slide down swiftly, hitting the ground with a piercing sound.
Splash!
As Sun Yan stepped off the stairs, lots of water splashed up immediately.
Only then did he notice that the entire basement was leaking water, accumulating into a waterlogged area on the ground, and without being cleaned, even moss was growing, with lots of broken snake skins floating on the surface, appearing quite odd.
"Be careful of snakes." Jason, leading the way, turned and nervously warned.
Following the direction indicated by his hand, Sun Yan saw a few slender small snakes entwined around an iron rack a short distance away.
On these racks were also placed many black slender clay pots, immediately drawing Sun Yan's attention.
The pots' surfaces were smeared with symbols unknown to belong to which civilization, instantly reminding Sun Yan of the diary content.
"Could it be that what Madam Lolian's husband brought back from Butis Country is this?"
Just as Sun Yan planned to walk over for a closer look, Lorne also noticed something unusual.
Treading water to a corner of the basement, he stared at the wall and called back, "Quick, look, there's a hole dug out here, very deep, no idea where it leads."
The news Lorne discovered immediately dissuaded Sun Yan from checking the pots, and he joined Jason at Lorne's side.
Sure enough, the wall had a cave approximately 2 meters tall and 1 meter wide, pitch dark inside, unknown where it led.
The cave entrance bore clear excavation marks, suggesting only Madam Lolian and Lady Tina could have done such a thing in the villa.
This brought a cloud of suspicion to Sun Yan; why did they do this? What was hidden deep inside the cave?
"It's Leia's bracelet! Damn it, she must be in there; I need to find her!"
Lorne pointed his flashlight into the cave, when a reflective silver bracelet on the ground immediately caught his attention.
The moment he saw the bracelet, Lorne became extremely agitated, picked it up, and was ready to rush into the depths of the cave.
Sun Yan sensed something was off and quickly grabbed him: "Are you crazy? We don't know what's inside, venturing thoughtlessly is dangerous."
"No matter how dangerous, I have to save Leia; I should have acted with her last night."
Lorne, gripping the bracelet, pushed Sun Yan aside and resolutely rushed into the cave with his phone raised, a reckless move that Sun Yan never anticipated. As his hand slipped, he watched Lorne break free from his grasp and run toward the cave's depths.
"Lorne's had a crush on Leia for many years; he's followed Leia from high school to college, would do anything for her," Jason explained with a long sigh to Sun Yan.
"Fool, such reckless behavior not only fails to rescue anyone but also jeopardizes himself," Sun Yan cursed, gritting his teeth.
Jason hesitantly looked at the cave: "What should we do now?"
"Call the police."
...
Facing the unknown danger, even though Sun Yan had the Ghost Torturing Stick and General Sun Mask, he dared not easily enter the cave, uncertain what lurked inside.
Recalling Madam Lolian biting Ron's face the previous evening, Sun Yan decisively chose to notify the police.
However, he contacted Chief Henry instead of the local sheriffs.
As a city police officer, his overall competence was certainly stronger than those sheriffs in Gospel Town.
Upon learning of an Evil Spirit event in Gospel Town through the phone, Henry immediately drove his team to Madam Lolian's villa.
Led by Sun Yan, Henry and his police team witnessed the bizarre cave in the basement.
"Shit, without being mentally ill, how could any normal person excavate such a deep hole in a basement? It looks like it's dozens of meters long."
Henry shone his police flashlight into the depths of the cave, but still couldn't see the end.
Instead, they saw through the flashlight's glow many wild snakes lying on the cave's ground.
"Let's go in and take a look, stay safe."
Since Sun Yan had forewarned them on the phone, Henry and his officers arrived fully armed.
Equipped from head to toe with gear capable of resisting physical cuts.
As long as they didn't encounter an Evil Spirit, this team could handle any situation, and as the only person capable of exorcism there, Sun Yan naturally joined them inside.
If it were just him and Jason alone, Sun Yan wouldn't risk his life; after all, this wasn't a task from a notebook, unnecessary to fight desperately.
But now, accompanied by a robust police team, Sun Yan felt more assured.
Even if Madam Lolian was hiding in the cave, she couldn't possibly harm Sun Yan.
Guided by Henry, the group quickly vanished into the cave's depths.