The moment the doll came out,
Lorraine sensed the evil lingering on it. It was not particularly strong. Its master probably had not awakened yet, but the signs were there.
She touched the doll. She was clearly familiar with the nursery rhyme, too.
"Can you seal this doll?"
Li Dan shook his head.
"The doll already has a master."
Lorraine understood.
"Then we'll take the doll back for now. We'll investigate, but not right away. If possible, I hope you'll help us once you've passed the Church's assessment."
Li Dan asked, "May I ask what it's about?"
Lorraine glanced at her husband, and Ed Warren took over.
"We've been investigating a case involving a doll. Have you heard of Annabelle?"
Of course Li Dan knew Annabelle. That doll was part of one of the series he knew best.
"I heard a couple missed their daughter, who died tragically, and tried to summon her soul back through some kind of witchcraft. But the so-called daughter was actually a demon in disguise."
Ed Warren looked surprised. "You know about that?"
"I'd heard a little about the dolls. The Hundred Dolls series was very popular back then."
Ed Warren nodded, then began recounting the story.
"After a long investigation, we found that it began with a man named Anthony in the western region. He was a renowned dollmaker who made every doll look lifelike."
"The Hundred Dolls series was very popular at the time. But Anthony's daughter, Annabelle, was killed in a car accident when she went onto the road to pick up a discarded doll."
"Over time, Anthony and his wife missed their daughter so much that they turned to evil forces to place her soul inside a doll."
"Summoning a spirit is highly unpredictable. The soul inside the doll wasn't Anthony's daughter. It was a cruel demon skilled at disguise."
"The demon had no name, but everyone later came to call it Annabelle."
"That was Anthony's daughter's name."
"And that was"
"how Annabelle was born."
At some point, Emma had entered the living room. She listened intently to Ed Warren's story, her big eyes fixed on him.
Lorraine glanced at the little girl and thought she was adorable, only a little older than her own daughter.
Only then did Li Dan understand the full story. He knew Annabelle existed, but certainly not as much as the Warrens did.
"The doll later disappeared, but we discovered that someone bought it and gave it to his wife as a gift." Ed Warren paused there.
Clearly, that was as far as their investigation had gotten.
Lorraine and Ed Warren felt somewhat ashamed. Li Dan was only a newcomer who had yet to pass the Church's assessment.
Yet they were asking for his help, and that could put him in danger.
"No problem. I'd be happy to help you, Mr. Warren and Ms. Lorraine. Call me anytime you need me."
Li Dan sounded eager. Annabelle was dangerous, but he had ideas of his own. He just needed to make a few preparations before the Warrens began investigating in earnest.
After all, he had no way to deal with demons.
Ed Warren stood and offered his hand. Li Dan shook it.
"Thank you, Li Dan."
Lorraine offered her hand as well.
"Thank you for having us. Things have been so hectic lately that we've barely had a moment to breathe. Once we have some time, we'll be sure to invite you over for tea."
After completing the assessment and their investigation, the Warrens left.
They had plenty to do.
Emma watched them go, lost in thought, then turned to Li Dan.
"Annabelle? Is she even stronger than Mary Shaw?"
"I'm not sure about that." Li Dan could not answer. He had never fought either of them. Perhaps one day he would know.
Emma's curiosity got the better of her, and she asked another question.
"Could the monster that was at your house that day beat them?"
"Probably."
Li Dan's answer was perfunctory, and Emma could tell. She did not press him.
She was not one of those unruly children who never knew when to stop.
If Li Dan so much as frowned, she would drop whatever she was doing and try to win him over. She would cry, pout, or act cute—whatever it took.
That was why Li Dan did not mind the little girl playing in his yard.
Emma was almost frighteningly considerate.
For the moment, the matter was settled.
Jennifer returned on the fourth day.
She had just finished dealing with all those aggravating problems and came back hoping to spend some intimate time with her boyfriend.
But the moment she walked in, she saw a little girl in the yard and froze.
Was this Li Dan's secret daughter? Why had he never mentioned her?
Emma glared at the busty, empty-headed woman in front of her and demanded,
"Who are you?"
Jennifer was not sure who the little girl was, so she kept her tone as friendly as she could.
"I'm Li Dan's girlfriend, the lady of this house. What's your name?"
Emma eyed Jennifer skeptically, as if she could hardly believe Li Dan would like a woman like her.
"No, you aren't. You don't deserve him."
Jennifer's composure cracked.
"What would a little girl like you know? Where's Li?"
"Jennifer, you're back?"
Jennifer looked up at the sound of his voice. Li Dan was sitting upstairs, basking in the sun.
"Who's this little girl?"
Li Dan said, "Our neighbor David's daughter."
"???" Jennifer could hardly believe a neighbor's daughter had the nerve to act so high and mighty in her home. She almost thought she had misheard.
But once she confirmed that Emma really was David's daughter, she was speechless. Where had this obnoxious little brat come from?
She immediately tried to send Emma away.
"Go play at your own house. I'm the lady of this villa now!"
"No way."
Those two words made Emma's resolve clear. If Jennifer laid a hand on her, she would cry.
Jennifer was not one to back down. She grabbed Emma by the collar and tried to drag her outside.
But Emma was quick. She darted into the house, dodged from place to place, and even taunted Jennifer to her face.
Jennifer was so furious that she went to complain to Li Dan.
Li Dan had no time to deal with the quarrel between the two of them.
With the Warrens' wholehearted recommendation, Li Dan registered as an exorcist with the Holy See the next day.
He owed them a favor now.
If the Warrens asked him for help later, he could hardly leave them to die.
To prepare for Annabelle, he could not wait for supernatural incidents to come to him. He had to seek them out.
He might run into them in everyday life, but a website that brought together most of North America's horror enthusiasts would be a hotbed of supernatural activity.
There were plenty of posts asking for help there. Li Dan planned to pick a few that seemed suitable.
He was mainly looking for cases involving evil spirits, demons, vengeful ghosts, and other supernatural threats.
Even a promising case could go badly wrong.
Something that looked utterly ordinary might conceal an evil powerful enough to swallow Li Dan whole.
So he screened unfamiliar pleas for help with extreme care.
He had no intention of being caught off guard by something that looked harmless.
Before you continue