Chapter 324: The Reckless Haunted-House Explorers
Gideon turned his head and saw John once again standing there with his eyes closed, sniffing the air like some kind of bloodhound.
Left with no other choice, Gideon stepped forward to handle the situation himself.
"May the Lord bless you."
He drew a cross over his chest.
"Our identities are somewhat sensitive, so it would be best if you edited us out during post-production. We aren't suitable for appearing in adult-rated films."
"Uh... alright—hm??"
Mia had just been about to tell Simon to lower the camera when she suddenly froze.
A moment later, her face turned bright red.
"N-No! That's not what you think!"
She frantically waved both hands.
Gideon smiled gently.
"There's no need to feel embarrassed. Every profession is sacred in its own way. All paths are guided by the Lord."
"Guided my ass!"
Mia inhaled sharply and clenched her fists.
"We're online content creators! Not that kind of actress!"
Gideon nodded with an innocent expression.
"I see."
"You absolutely still think that's what we are!"
Mia nearly exploded.
Gideon spread his hands helplessly.
"You truly don't need to explain. Whatever content you choose to film is your freedom."
"However, as a member of the Church, I should remind you that this place was once the scene of a gruesome murder."
"It's not exactly suitable for... overly exciting activities."
Mia's mouth twitched.
"What do you mean 'overly exciting activities'? We're here to film a paranormal investigation!"
"So... professional suicide enthusiasts."
Gideon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"What was that?!"
"Nothing."
He smiled calmly.
"But while it's still early, I'd advise you not to stay here too long."
Mia's eyes immediately lit up.
"Wait—you're from the Church? Does that mean ghosts really exist?!"
Nearby, Nakamura quietly glanced over.
"So they really are Church people..." he thought.
"I heard some clergy disappeared here before. These two are probably investigators."
"But local churches usually just put on a show. That young guy's probably useless... though the foreigner behind him might actually know something."
Then Nakamura frowned.
"No good. I can't let these guys steal the spotlight."
With that thought, he immediately stepped in front of Mia.
"Kid, this residential district doesn't belong to the Church. You don't have the authority to order us around."
"Of course not."
Gideon maintained his polite smile.
"I'm simply offering a friendly warning."
Since they were determined to court death, he had no intention of wasting further effort.
"Hmph."
Only then did Nakamura turn away.
"Miss Mia, I still need your help reenacting part of the material. Let's begin immediately."
He straightened his collar and turned around with deliberate coolness.
Mia clasped her hands apologetically against her chest.
"Thank you for the warning! I'll be careful!"
Faced with the rather eye-catching sight before him, Gideon merely gave it a casual glance.
Nakamura, meanwhile, paused mid-step and used the absolute limit of peripheral vision to admire the scene.
Simon captured it as well.
With practiced professionalism, he adjusted the camera focus and recorded the perfect angle before flashing a thumbs-up.
Only then did Mia straighten up and tug the neckline of her shirt back into place.
Afterward, she hurried over to Simon.
"If there are stairs later, remember to get a close-up shot of my feet too. I'm using those thumbnails to attract weird fetish viewers."
Simon nodded solemnly and raised another thumbs-up.
"So it's all staged..."
Gideon's mouth twitched slightly.
He had almost considered sincerely warning them earlier.
Still, at least he now understood what this group was really after.
Recently, many people had become obsessed with exploring haunted locations.
Under normal circumstances, Gideon would've happily given them a very thorough lecture on survival and safety.
But this mission was unusual.
If the evil lurking inside the house couldn't be found through conventional means, then these thrill-seeking idiots might actually become useful bait.
"Mm... I'd better keep an eye on them."
At present, the man in the suit seemed particularly suspicious.
And according to classic horror-movie logic, if anyone in this group was most likely to attract the attention of evil...
it would definitely be him.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Gideon turned around—
only to discover John was still standing there sniffing the air.
Curious, Gideon asked,
"Did you find something?"
"Hm? Hm?"
John seemed to snap back to reality.
Then a dreamy look appeared on his face.
"I smell resentment. Such beautiful emotions... It must be waiting for me somewhere."
Gideon's expression immediately turned strange.
Leaving aside how insane it was to describe evil energy in the tone one might use for a lover...
just look at the environment.
He glanced around.
Dark skies.
Empty streets.
And a deeply unsettling house sitting only a few meters away.
No matter how he looked at it, the word beautiful had absolutely no place here.
Gideon rubbed his forehead.
At last, he finally understood why Sid constantly carried the exhausted aura of an overworked office employee.
"Ahem... Since that's the case, let's inspect the surrounding area first. Maybe we'll find something."
John took one final deep breath before nodding.
"Alright."
The two walked toward the haunted house's front yard.
The gate was already open—Mia's crew had gone inside ahead of them.
Gideon didn't enter immediately.
Instead, he walked toward a nearby utility pole.
Numerous notices had been pasted near its base.
"...Missing child from Setagaya District. Surveillance footage last captured her entering a park late at night..."
"...Mr. Yamada was seen heading toward Shinjuku Station after dining at a tavern..."
"...Seven young people disappeared overnight in Shibuya District..."
After reading them, even Gideon felt startled.
He immediately checked another utility pole nearby.
Just as he expected—
every single notice was a missing-person poster.
And they covered districts all across Tokyo.
Judging from the contents, numerous disappearances had already occurred throughout the city.
That explained why the streets became nearly deserted near evening.
"Could all of these be connected to supernatural activity...?"
Gideon frowned thoughtfully.
Yet according to the Church's mission database, this haunted residence was currently the only location in Sakura District displaying obvious paranormal abnormalities.
If the disappearances really were caused by some evil entity...
then there was a high probability the thing inside this house was responsible.
With that thought, Gideon returned to the front gate.
He had already observed the building from afar earlier.
Wild vegetation covered the outer walls.
The house itself was old and decaying, portions of the wood already showing signs of mold.
Yet through the windows, parts of the interior remained perfectly preserved.
Furniture and decorations still sat exactly as they had before the murders—as though the owners might return home at any moment.
That eerie contradiction made the entire building feel even more unsettling.
Only the bright filming lights from Mia's crew added any trace of human warmth to the place.
And yet—
despite how obviously cursed the house looked, there wasn't the slightest trace of evil energy around it.
Exactly as described in the mission files.
Unable to make sense of it, Gideon sought out John again and asked how he detected the resentment.
John's answer was simple:
"It's a feeling."
Gideon could only look elsewhere for clues.
Then suddenly, something caught his attention.
He raised his head toward the second floor.
There was no light up there, making visibility extremely poor.
Even so, he could vaguely see a shadow standing behind the curtains.
With Gideon's enhanced eyesight, ordinary darkness meant nothing.
But whenever he tried focusing on the figure—
all he saw was deeper darkness swallowing everything else.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
A faint trace of evil energy seeped from the gap in the window.
Golden rings instantly appeared within his pupils as he activated Divine Eye Restraint, attempting to control the nearby spiritual particles.
But in the next instant—
the evil aura vanished completely.
As though it had never existed at all.
The Holy Power he released immediately lost its target.
"AHHHH!"
Just as Gideon was preparing to investigate further, a scream erupted from inside the house.
His expression darkened.
In the blink of an eye, he rushed into the yard.
"Oh my God! That's disgusting! I seriously can't handle this!"
Mia stood there waving her hands frantically, face full of horror.
Then she suddenly remembered something and turned around.
"Simon! Did you get that on camera?! That was premium reaction footage!"
Simon was already switching camera angles.
At her question, he simply gave a confident thumbs-up.
"Whew... thank God we didn't waste the material."
Mia let out a relieved sigh before immediately clutching her cheeks again.
"Nope! I still can't do it! Mr. Nakamura, is there another option?"
Nakamura Tsuna was holding a slab of fresh raw meat in his hands.
Blood dripped steadily from it onto the wooden floorboards, leaving streaks of dark crimson behind.
"Miss Mia, this is a crucial part of the ritual."
He glanced toward Gideon, who had just entered, and frowned slightly.
"The souls of the dead are influenced by the power of Heaven. Under normal circumstances, the living cannot perceive them."
"So the only way to attract them is to taint yourself with the aura of death."
Hearing that, Gideon nearly lost control and punched the man unconscious on the spot.
Carrying blood-soaked raw meat into a clearly haunted murder house—
and then deliberately trying to lure spirits over—
this level of suicidal talent was unbelievable.
In a horror movie, people like this usually died before the opening credits even finished rolling.
But what happened next nearly broke Gideon's brain entirely.
A black camera lens slowly moved closer to the meat.
The cameraman, Simon, had somehow already knelt on the floor and found the perfect filming angle.
Nearby, Mia took several deep breaths before squeezing her eyes shut.
"Alright... let's do this."
Only then did Nakamura smile in satisfaction.
He tore chunks from the meat and smeared the bloody flesh across Mia's clothing.
"Urgh—"
Mia instantly covered her mouth, struggling not to vomit.
But the moment she faced the camera again, a bright smile reappeared on her face.
"Hey everyone! I just completed a mysterious ritual! According to legend, this is the only way to attract—"
Gideon was stunned.
Compared to encountering actual evil spirits—
filming content apparently mattered more.
At this point, he genuinely had to admire her professionalism.
Unfortunately, the next scene nearly made his scalp go numb.
Mia suddenly produced a rope from somewhere and tied it around the staircase railing.
Then she stepped beneath it and posed as though she were being hanged.
"I heard staircases are common locations for deaths," she said mournfully.
"Maybe one of the victims here died like this."
"That person must've suffered terribly."
"I really wish I could understand that feeling."
Why would you wish for that?!
Couldn't you empathize with something positive instead?!
And please stop planting death flags inside a haunted house!
Gideon took several deep breaths, desperately calming himself.
Stay calm. I still need them alive long enough to attract the spirit. This is all part of the job...
"Huh? Why didn't anything happen?"
Mia looked around in confusion.
"Maybe this method doesn't work."
What none of them noticed was that the bloodstains on the floor had already faded considerably compared to earlier.
Meanwhile, Nakamura had been secretly observing the room as well.
The moment he heard her complaint, he quickly straightened up.
"Ahem... Miss Mia, you're rushing things."
"There are too many living people here. Spirits naturally dislike crowded places."
"Later, you should try staying alone in one of the upstairs rooms."
Then he reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of red high heels.
"At that time... you can wear these."
Simon's camera instantly zoomed in.
Mia blinked in confusion.
"Ghosts... like high heels?"
Nakamura smiled mysteriously and deliberately raised his voice.
"In the folklore of a neighboring country, red shoes possess an extraordinary attraction toward evil spirits."
"According to paranormal research, many extremely dangerous ghosts are associated with red shoes."
Mia's eyes widened with admiration.
"Mr. Nakamura, you truly are an expert in the supernatural."
Nakamura nodded coolly.
What actually flashed through his mind, however, was the memory of binge-watching horror VHS tapes at home for research.
Outside the doorway, Gideon had gone completely still.
His eyes locked onto the pair of red heels.
At this moment, nothing unusual was happening.
There wasn't even the slightest trace of evil energy nearby.
And yet—
that vivid color filled him with overwhelming unease.
Even when facing demons, Gideon had never experienced such instinctive dread.
This fear seemed etched directly into his blood.
"Uh... about that."
Unable to hold back any longer, Gideon finally spoke.
"High heels are extremely inconvenient in a place like this. If danger appears, escaping quickly would become very difficult..."
He intentionally used the most reasonable explanation possible.
But Nakamura had been watching him the entire time.
The moment Gideon opened his mouth, the man immediately seized the opportunity.
"Father, instead of interfering with other people's work, perhaps you should focus on locating your missing colleagues first."
His gaze carried obvious meaning.
"Otherwise, I may have to file a complaint with the local press."
Gideon narrowed his eyes.
So he's trying to threaten me using the recent clergy disappearances...
Unfortunately for Nakamura—
Gideon didn't care in the slightest.
"To be blunt," Gideon said calmly, "if you continue this nonsense, you're practically committing suicide."
"Oh?"
Nakamura immediately latched onto the statement.
"So even the good Father believes evil spirits are attracted to high heels."
"Heh. I never said that."
"Then why did you react so strongly the moment I brought these shoes out?"
Nakamura sneered.
"Could it be that after seeing a true professional at work, you realized you no longer had a chance to shine?"
Gideon's eyes narrowed further.
The problem was—
he genuinely couldn't explain himself.
His fear of red shoes came from memories of his previous life.
Seeing Gideon remain silent, Nakamura assumed he had won.
He immediately turned away.
"Miss Mia, let's stop wasting time with irrelevant people."
"We should proceed immediately."
Mia glanced at Gideon one more time.
For some reason, she had a strange feeling that the priest wasn't lying.
But the thought of her rapidly declining channel statistics quickly smothered that hesitation.
"Understood, Mr. Nakamura."
Just as the three prepared to head upstairs—
John's voice suddenly echoed from the doorway.
"Gideon is right."
"You are all in extremely dangerous circumstances."
Everyone inside turned around.
John was kneeling on the floor.
One hand held his iron chain aloft while the other repeatedly groped across the ground.
Then, suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Found it!"
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