"Father!"
At Ed's cry, everyone present looked at York.
Looking at them, York nodded in response. He knew that once he arrived, he had already taken center stage.
"You all come over here."
Children aren't suitable to hear these things, York said, walking towards the dining room on the other side.
All the adults exchanged glances and then stood up.
The Roger Family stroked their daughters. "You stay here."
"Mom!" The eldest of the five girls said with some concern. She was the protagonist in the tablet video, and the events of the night before had truly given her a great fright.
Karen smiled, trying to speak in a gentle voice: "We'll be fine."
The girl pursed her lips and nodded seriously.
Karen also nodded in response to her husband, whom she had been waiting for, and together they walked towards the dining room under the children's gaze.
"What does Father intend to do?" Ed had now walked over to Lorraine's side.
Lorraine calmly said, "Drive out Bathsheba tonight."
Ed breathed a sigh of relief. What Father York said always came true; if it couldn't be done, it couldn't be done; if it could, it could.
This house was still quite large.
In the middle was a staircase leading upstairs, connected to a path on the side, which extended to the backyard. To the left and right of the stairs were the living room and dining room, respectively.
Compared to the living room's decor, the dining room was simpler, with a clean kitchen and a set of dining table and chairs.
York naturally sat at the center of the dining table, waiting for everyone to take their seats one by one.
Ed and Lorraine were inseparable as always, sitting together on York's right, while The Roger Family also sat together, directly opposite York. As for Officer Brad and Drew, they sat to the right of The Roger Family.
Once everyone was seated, York didn't beat around the bush. Looking at their gazes, he calmly said,
"There is indeed evil here, not just one, but several."
When this sentence was uttered, no one present was surprised; they had already experienced various incredible things before.
"In the church, supernatural events have always been divided into two broad categories: those that can be exorcised and those that cannot."
York's words didn't stop. As he continued, except for Ed and Lorraine, The Roger Family's hearts instinctively tightened. They stared intently at the Father before them, all afraid of hearing the answer they didn't want to hear.
Fortunately, York's next sentence both invigorated them and made them feel somewhat exhausted and powerless, like seeing a glimmer of light in an ocean of pain.
"This place meets the requirements for exorcism. I will perform the exorcism ritual tonight."
The Roger Family's voices trembled slightly.
"Thank you!! Thank you so much!!"
Hearing such words again, York glanced at them, seeing the couple clinging tightly to each other, tears welling in their eyes. York sighed inwardly; this couple must have been tormented severely.
"This is what I must do," York responded simply, standing up.
"Night is falling. We must act now. All evil spirits must be driven out tonight."
Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions full of seriousness... The church's traditional method of exorcism has always been the same: confession and prayer, then using the Lord's power to suppress the demon's strength with Holy water and holy oil, and finally chanting scriptures in reverse to drive it out.
On the surface, it's like this, but the correct way is to use the Lord's power to torment the demon, like interrogating a criminal, to force out the demon's true name.
Due to the demon's inability to lie about its true name, a demon unable to withstand the dual torture of Holy water and the cross might reveal its true name.
A true name represents the demon's essence and power. If the true name is exposed, even the weakest Father, with the Lord's power, can exorcise it as easily as drinking water.
Of course, the premise of this torture also depends on the Father's own power. If the power is insufficient, it might enrage the demon instead, making the situation even more dangerous and leading to the victim's death... As the saying goes, when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you, and what you keep in mind will eventually echo, only the abyss has become a demon.
Chanting a demon's true name is also akin to summoning. The Father will naturally endure the erosion of the dark power associated with the demon's true name, so the Father's power and faith must become stronger to resist the demon's erosion... Traditional exorcism is like this, but York has never encountered a demon that required him to do so. He always crushed the demon's power with his own magic, forcibly driving it out.
So this time was no exception. Under everyone's gaze, York first opened a backpack. As the zipper was pulled open, a large pile of items appeared inside.
Layers of crosses and bottles and jars, as well as coils of string soaking in a bottle of water, and so on.
Although Ed and Lorraine had seen Father York's exorcism methods before, seeing so many items, they still exchanged glances, both showing helpless yet understanding expressions.
If Ed and Lorraine were like this, there was no need to mention the others; they were all a bit bewildered.
Drew looked at York, who was searching, and subconsciously said, "Uh, Father, do you need so many things for exorcism?"
York took out the coils of string, soaked in Holy water for ten days and effective for two, and ten crosses. He first handed them to Ed, calmly saying,
"Exorcism is dangerous, of course it's needed."
While responding, York then looked at Ed and said, "Ed, use this coil to encircle this entire house, and hang the ten crosses on the four corners."
Ed nodded, then patted his assistant Drew.
"Let's go, Drew."
With that, Ed walked out. Drew scratched his head and could only follow. He had never seen this kind of exorcism method; it wasn't the exorcism he had imagined.
Seeing Ed and Drew leave, York continued to search under everyone's gaze.
But Officer Brad couldn't help but ask, "Father, will encircling this house with string have any effect?"
York didn't even lift his head, "To prevent these evil spirits from escaping."
"Uh..."
This was said so openly that Brad was stunned, looking at York and unable to utter a single word.
Lorraine smiled from the side. When they first met Father York, they were just like Brad.
"Each of you wear one. When evil spirits try to do something to you, the effects attached to these crosses will cause them pain. This will let you know when evil spirits appear around you."
Next, York again distributed a cross to everyone, including the children and Karen, who were most easily targeted by evil spirits, and at the same time sprinkled some consecrated Holy water on them.
Finally, York also used the remaining Holy water to draw a safe zone in the living room, instructing The Roger Family to stay inside, to prevent the evil spirits from performing a final possession during their desperate struggle.
These meticulous, seemingly professional actions gave everyone except Ed and Lorraine a strong sense of security.
Especially when York took out his shotgun from another backpack, his tall and mighty physique combined with the strongly present shotgun made everyone dumbfounded, while their sense of security also surged again.