The Land of Heroes and Spirits in Florida

Midday.

After they parted, Jennifer, feeling emotional, didn't want to go out. She didn't even want to go home and suggest they move in together.

In this situation, the demon would most likely follow. Li Dan slapped Jennifer to make her behave, telling her to check her place first before considering other demands.

And so, the two of them went out under the scorching sun.

The warm sunlight could still provide a great sense of security.

As soon as Li Dan and Jennifer stepped onto the street, they paused for a moment but quickly got used to it. On a small path next to them, a crocodile was leisurely crawling along.

Probably someone's pet, or it crawled out of a nearby lake.

Beside it was a "high street emperor" wearing who knows how many pairs of pants. After being swiped down by the crocodile's tail as it passed, he quickly got up and pointed at the crocodile's nose, starting to rap.

The crocodile didn't understand rap. It retaliated by biting onto the high street emperor's pants and performing a death roll. Good news: it wasn't in the water, and since the high street emperor was wearing many pants, the crocodile stopped moving halfway through the roll.

An Asian person ran out of a nearby store, shoplifting as they fled, shouting "Baka yarou!" Two police officers were in pursuit.

The white neighbor next door, wearing only shorts, was doing push-ups at the public pool. Officer Joe also arrived. Unfortunately, someone had stolen the manhole cover, causing him to fall into the sewer and call for help.

There was also a Black man in a white t-shirt doing high knees in place, looking like an NPC from Grand Theft Auto.

If you didn't know better, you'd think it was some kind of Bermuda Triangle situation.

This might seem astonishing to people from other countries.

But this is Florida, a place blessed with outstanding people and natural beauty. Not to mention, Round Clam Town has always had a reputation for being a place where anything can happen.

So, nothing that happens here is surprising. Li Dan was a bit confused when he first arrived, but he's gotten somewhat used to it now.

Round Clam Town isn't big, but it isn't small either.

It's a typical classical town, with houses and facilities reminiscent of a European town from the last century.

Li Dan's house is only a few minutes' walk from school. Jennifer's house is in the suburbs.

On the way, Jennifer was still a bit reluctant to take Li Dan to her house. Compared to that small villa, her house was clearly a country cottage.

Li Dan didn't comment much on this; he never cared much about such things.

Following Jennifer to the small house in the suburbs, it was sparsely populated compared to the town center. The few surrounding houses were all occupied by elderly people.

A small tree was planted in the yard.

Entering the house, the living room featured a combination of a beige fabric sofa and dark wood furniture. A clock hung on the wall as decoration. Bedrooms or rest areas often used old furniture and artistic tapestries. The kitchen was mostly equipped with off-white cabinets and a wooden island.

A very common setup in American small towns.

Li Dan looked around and sat down. Jennifer asked him what he wanted to drink.

"Tea is fine," Li Dan said, not picky. While Jennifer went to pour the tea, a Ghost Card appeared in his hand. Demons are invisible to the naked eye and often take a long time to reveal themselves.

"Detected traces of contained entity: Demon."

"True name unknown."

Demons usually have a true name. Once their true name is known, they are typically banished back to hell.

Here, the Ghost Card only detected traces of a demon. Li Dan could completely understand. He observed the room for a while but found no abnormal traces.

There was only one possibility: Jennifer had just been targeted, and there were signs of an impending invasion.

This made things very difficult.

Every demon is different. Some demons prefer to pick off lone targets.

Others will attack you even if you're in a large group.

This brings to mind the Conjuring series.

So, being in a crowd doesn't necessarily mean safety.

Moreover, ordinary people can't detect them at all in the early stages. Even if they notice something unusual, they'll just convince themselves it's nothing.

By the time of a real invasion, unless a priest or an exorcist is present, you can only wait for death.

But is there really no way to detect anything wrong in the early stages?

There is. The simplest method is to get a dog.

Animals are very sensitive to the existence of things like demons and evil spirits.

This was demonstrated in The Conjuring 1.

Roger and Carolyn bought a house in Rhode Island. Their pet dog was reluctant to enter the house, which was its way of sensing the presence of a demon.

It even barked frantically to warn its owners, but Roger and Carolyn were ordinary people and didn't understand the dog's meaning.

The dog died in their yard the next day.

Li Dan had also considered getting a dog. After all, dogs are the most loyal animals to humans and can make life less boring.

But dogs are too fragile when facing demons; they usually die upon encountering one.

Li Dan didn't want to get a dog he liked only for it to be killed later due to being implicated. He wasn't a cold-blooded person and would be affected by such an event.

If only the containment could fuse with animals.

Unfortunately, it couldn't.

"Honey, do you want to watch TV or play some video games?" Jennifer asked, sitting next to Li Dan with a cup of tea.

Li Dan nodded, "Sure, let's watch some TV."

He couldn't just wait around like an idiot for the demon to show up.

The two snuggled on the sofa and watched Tom and Jerry, a show Li Dan liked.

The sky gradually darkened.

As dusk settled, the house grew cold.

They had spent the entire day together and hadn't seen any unusual phenomena.

Perhaps this demon preferred to strike when someone was alone?

Eight o'clock.

Jennifer kissed Li Dan. "I'm going to take a bath upstairs and will be right down to join you."

Li Dan grunted, not paying much attention, and continued watching TV. Some shows were quite interesting; although they were variety shows, they were much more daring than domestic ones.

A show testing couples' relationships. The guests on the show were more uninhibited than each other.

"Ah!"

A scream from upstairs startled him.

Li Dan fused with the Evil Spirit Wendigo almost instantly and leaped to the second floor. Jennifer, wearing a thin nightgown, rushed over and hugged Li Dan, pointing at the bathroom.

"I just saw that door open by itself. The windows were all closed, so there couldn't have been any wind. When I came out, it looked like someone was hiding behind the curtain."

Jennifer was finally scared. She had seen the curtain blow up, and when it fell, it had outlined a person's shape, terrifying her into screaming. In the blink of an eye, it had vanished.

Now, she was starting to believe in the existence of the things Li Dan talked about.

It was a fear of the unknown.

Li Dan went to the bedroom and checked the bathroom. There was nothing there. This meant the demon might prefer to strike when someone was alone?

"It should be gone now."

"Why don't we go to the nearest hotel for the night, or maybe to your place?" Jennifer held onto Li Dan, not daring to let go. She had been thoroughly traumatized.

"It's fine. We'll just invite more people over for a party later. You can call your friends, and I'll call some of mine."

How could Li Dan leave? If Jennifer was being targeted, changing locations wouldn't help. The only solution was to invite more people to share the risk, and ideally, to provoke the demon.

When Li Dan first detected traces of the Ghost Nun with the Ghost Card, he had been hosting parties at home every day or going to the liveliest bar in Round Clam Town, gathering a crowd.

There was safety in numbers; that saying wasn't just a simple platitude.

The demon couldn't possibly keep hunting one person, could it?

Hearing this, Jennifer's emotions finally calmed down. Inviting people over for a party meant there would be more people in the house, making her less scared.