Chapter 206: "Exorcism"
Backlund, Empress Borough.
Luo En, whose appearance was altered by the Disguise Cufflink, arrived in front of a seemingly secluded ordinary house, according to the location Mrs. Griffin provided.
According to Mrs. Griffin, a Beyonder gathering was held here every week, and the convener of the gathering was a very powerful figure.
Luo En raised his hand and gently knocked on the thick wooden door with the special three-long, two-short intervals that Mrs. Griffin had taught him.
"Creak—"
The main door slowly opened inwards.
Luo En saw many people sitting scattered inside the room. Some of them concealed their true appearances in various ways, such as using large hoods and cold masks, while others didn't care and openly displayed their facial features.
Luo En subconsciously cast his gaze to the deepest part of the room, on the man in a black robe who was sitting alone on a single sofa.
This man also wore a large hood, completely hiding his face in the shadows. But even so, he exuded an aura of looking down on all beings from a superior position.
That must be Mr. A...
"A dangerous fellow—" Luo En recalled Mrs. Griffin's instructions before she left.
His strength—is indeed stronger than mine. He's probably even more powerful than the Captain, Luo En thought, making a rough assessment after sizing up the other party.
Feels like a Lunatic.
At the front of the room stood two large blackboards, on which rows of words were written in white chalk.
[Dust from lingering vengeful spirits, 165 pounds.]
[Tentacles of a Black Centipede...]
At this moment, a waiter walked over, indicating that Luo En could tell him anything he wanted to buy or sell.
Luo En immediately wrote down the main ingredients for the Instigator potion he needed—the heart of a demon-throated bee and the poison sac of a Dark Lurker—on a slip of paper and handed it to the waiter.
Since it was his first time at this gathering, Luo En chose not to immediately sell the Beyonder materials he had, to avoid attracting too much attention.
Suddenly, a newly written commission on the small blackboard caught Luo En's attention.
Purify an evil spirit?
This—I seem to be able to do this. I still have a large pile of Sun domain talismans in my possession—
After Luo En indicated that he was willing to take on this commission, the waiter led him to a small living room on the first floor.
A moment later, the waiter returned with two ladies, also wearing hooded robes.
Not very strong Beyonders. One of them seems to be a minor? Luo En silently observed the two figures, one tall and one short, in front of him.
"Ahem," Xio deliberately lowered her voice and looked at the somewhat cold-looking black-haired young man in front of her, "
Are you the one who took my commission?"
"It is I," Luo En said solemnly.
"Are you a Sun Pathway Beyonder?" Fors, who was beside her, asked curiously.
Luo En shook his head: "No. But I have some Sun domain talismans. These talismans were all made by a very knowledgeable scholar, and their effects are excellent."
"Exorcism is not a problem."
This...
Upon hearing this, Xio's face showed a hint of disappointment. She and Fors exchanged glances, then she said:
"Sir, what I want is a professional exorcism. If you yourself are not a professional, then it might not meet our requirements."
Seeing her seemingly dissatisfied expression, Luo En did not get angry.
"I also know exorcism rituals. I will use them in conjunction with the talismans. "
"If you feel that there is no effect in the end, then you don't have to pay any remuneration."
"How about—let him try?" Seeing the other party's confident look, Fors, who was beside her, persuaded Xio in her ear.
"Alright."
"Miss, is it you who is entangled with the 'evil spirit'?"
"That's right," Xio nodded, "What? Did you notice something?"
Honestly, from the perspective of his Spirit Vision, Luo En did not see any traces of evil spirit possession on her.
"Well—let's just start," Luo En said, taking out some spiritual materials he had prepared beforehand from his backpack and setting up a simple purification ritual in front of Xio.
Then, he took out a talisman, glowing with a faint golden light, made by Edwina herself, from his pocket.
"Light!"
Accompanying this ancient Hermes word, a pure, warm golden light emanated from that talisman!
It continuously transformed into a golden tide, surging towards the three people in the room, submerging them all in that warm and sacred light.
After about half a minute, the dazzling golden light gradually faded.
Xio and Fors only felt an unprecedented sense of comfort, as if the fatigue and tension of the past few days had been swept away by this warm light, leaving their entire bodies feeling warm.
On the other side, Klein, who was sitting on the sofa, was reading the newspaper, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
He was in a very good mood now. He had successfully reimbursed his rent for last month. Along with some daily travel expenses, they were also reimbursed.
He even received an additional dozen pounds as so-called basic salary.
He followed Irin's advice and talked to Charles about "reimbursement." Originally, he had only asked with a "just trying my luck" attitude, but he didn't expect the other party to agree directly.
And the guy in charge of auditing was also very kind. Seeing that it was his first time, he enthusiastically taught him how to exploit some loopholes in the rules and include some daily miscellaneous expenses in the reimbursement form.
Old Neil seemed to have taught me the same way back then, Klein suddenly thought with emotion.
Just as he was turning to the next page of the newspaper, he felt the back of his hand slightly warm—
?
Someone is praying to me?
Above the Grey Mist, Klein sat on the high-backed chair belonging to the Fool, watching the scene before him.
The petite girl named Xio Derecha, whom he had tried to pull above the Grey Mist, and another lady who looked like her friend, with long, slightly curly brown hair, were standing in front of a somewhat crude ritual.
And opposite them stood a black-haired young man, holding a talisman exuding the aura of the Sun, creating a warm golden light.
Is this an exorcism?
Klein almost laughed as he watched this scene.
It seems I've been taken for an "evil god"—
He sighed, wanting to get a closer look.
Oh, this black-haired young man, how—why does he feel so strangely familiar?
I shouldn't have seen him before—
Just as Klein was pondering, the black-haired young man in the scene suddenly looked up, as if he had sensed something.
!!!
On Luo En's side, this small purification ritual had been going smoothly.
The warm and sacred sunlight was steadily dispelling all the gloom in the room. He hadn't felt any abnormalities either.
Who would have thought that just as the ritual was about to end, Luo En suddenly felt an extremely subtle, high and mighty gaze, as if from beyond the world, falling upon him!
This... this feeling, it's somewhat familiar!
So familiar that he subconsciously looked up at the ceiling!
Is it for them? Or is it... for me again?
Luo En's gaze quickly swept over Xio and Fors, but both were immersed in the warmth, their faces full of comfort, showing no abnormalities.
Could it be... just my imagination?
After forcibly calming himself down, he immediately took out another identical talisman from his pocket and activated it again!
I don't care if you're that peeping fellow from before.
And I don't care who you're here for.
In short, just—get lost!
"That glance just now—was it just a coincidence?"
Above the Grey Mist, Klein looked at the black-haired young man's sudden upward gaze in the scene, a little puzzled.
But a moment later, he saw that the other party had actually taken out another identical talisman and continued a new round of "purification."
Warm sunlight once again filled the entire room.
Strange? Is a typical exorcism ritual this long-lasting?
The light from the second talisman had just faded. He then saw that the other party had actually taken out a third talisman from his pocket, continuing to fill the entire room with golden light.
Seeing the other party's "cost-no-object" brute force, Klein was a bit bewildered.
Could it be... the other party really sensed something?
"Sir, is it not done yet?" Xio, who had been continuously exposed to the warm sunlight for a long time, finally couldn't help but ask.
At first, she did feel that such purification was quite comfortable, like sunbathing.
However, everything has its limits, and prolonged "exposure" gradually made her feel hot and her mouth increasingly dry.
"Yes, this is—it's been too long," Fors echoed from the side, raising a hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Luo En didn't speak, and hadn't stopped the purification.
Just as he was about to pull out the fourth talisman, he felt the sense of being watched, which had been lingering in his heart, disappear—
Gone? Was it driven away by my cost-no-object purification? Luo En fell into deep thought.
Xio and Fors had just been "freed" from the warmth, and before they could even be happy, they saw Luo En looking displeased.
Xio asked somewhat worriedly, "What's wrong, Sir? Is—is there a problem with the purification?"
"No," Luo En shook his head, and said in a very solemn tone: "The purification—was very successful. Indeed, 'something' was driven away."
Driven away? Really... there really was an evil spirit on me?
However, before Xio could breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Luo En say again:
"This time, it was driven away. But—Miss, I suspect you may have been targeted by some special existence."
"Some—existence that cannot be completely expelled by a single purification."
"What?!" Xio gasped, stepping back, her voice suddenly rising.
"What was attached to you just now was not an ordinary spirit, nor an evil spirit. It seems to be…" Looking at Xio's somewhat flustered expression, Luo En carefully chose his words, saying in a very subtle way: "Some—higher-level special existence…"
"You mean—an evil god?" Fors, who was beside her, also changed her expression and asked directly.
Luo En did not deny it and nodded.
It might also be an evil god who likes to peep at people bathing.
He added in his heart, but did not say it out loud, for fear of further irritating the two ladies.
"Oh my goodness! How—how could this be—" Xio's face instantly turned pale. Because she knew very well that she had indeed recited the honorific name of a suspected "evil god" a few days ago!
"Don't panic," Luo En comforted, "This is just my guess. At least you are absolutely safe now." Now that it's safe, then—what about later? Xio thought in despair.
Clearly, Luo En's words did not provide any comfort.
"Sir, are—are you sure? Is there really an evil god targeting us?" Fors still asked with some disbelief, "But I didn't feel anything at all just now."
"Me too," Xio also chimed in.
"I'm not sure," Luo En said, comforting them, "That's why I said it's just my personal guess."
He pondered for a moment, then continued: "Honestly, I'm also very interested in this phenomenon happening to you."
"How about this, this purification will only cost you fifteen pounds."
"If you find any abnormalities later, you can come back to me—"
"What should I do, Fors! I won't—really be targeted by an evil god, will I?!"
Leaving the reception room, Xio was still immersed in the immense fear brought by Luo En's words just now.
Originally, she had come to this gathering for an exorcism merely to seek peace of mind. Who would have thought that instead of comfort, she would find despair.
"Don't overthink it, Xio," Fors comforted her from the side, "I feel like that person just now was a swindler! There's actually nothing wrong at all!"
He just deliberately made things sound so serious, so that we would actively seek him out again in the future. Then, he could swindle our money again and again!
"But—his exorcism ritual just now didn't seem to have any problems. And in the end, he only charged us fifteen pounds—"
"Perhaps that's just one of his strategies! First, he wins our trust with a low price, like Emperor Rosell said, 'casting a long line to catch a big fish.'"
Xio still wanted to say something when the waiter who had led them in earlier suddenly walked over and handed her a small note.
"Miss Arbiter, who bought the Sheriff formula, would you like to chat in the study? I might have something you need."
On the other side, Klein finally emerged from the washroom.
He came to the living room and saw Irin lazily lying on the sofa, holding the newspaper he had just been reading.
Seeing Klein arrive, she parted her cherry lips and teased, "It seems the rumors in the guild are indeed true. Our great detective's stomach really does have serious problems."
Upon hearing this, Klein's face instantly darkened. But he didn't explain much, and was about to return to his room.
"Don't go," Irin called out to him, her tone languid but with a hint of warning.
"When I came back, I noticed some unfriendly gazes nearby~ They seemed to be your colleagues."