The Demonologist and the Medium

After passing through the deep tunnel from Balason to the Nine Realms, we arrived once again in the Borean Tundra of Mimir Hot Spring Market. This was old Jamie's home.

Seeing Sweet Potato Street and Sweet Potato Square again felt strange. In Xue Ming's eyes, nothing seemed to have changed much. People were still dueling with guns in the streets and alleys, and casually shooting down human-faced birds from the sky to barbecue.

Take a bus to the City Hall in the south of the city, and you'll find a Treeheart Hotel. Old Jamie doesn't own any property and lives in this cheap rental room with his daughter.

Along the way, Xue Ming chatted with the vulture-like old man, exchanging a few words here and there.

Xue Ming looked at the photo on her phone and asked, "You live here?"

Jamie nodded. "Ah."

Xue Ming asked in confusion, "That doesn't make sense, brother. How come someone who works as a gunsmith in the Mimir Hot Spring Market would need a big house after several years?"

Jamie lowered his head in shame. "I can't save any money."

"Is it your daughter's illness?" Jiang Xueming decided to put the weapon issue aside for the time being.

In Mimir Hot Spring Market, cooks and gunsmiths earn very high wages. Judging from the design of this CZ-75, Jamie shouldn't be so poor. He should at least be from a middle-class family with a car, a house, and two children, living a wealthy life where one person works to support the whole family.

You see, relying on the divine power of Fragrant Dream, Xue Ming started an anonymous gunsmith workshop as a brand. Before the expedition, the orders could earn more than 40,000 yuan a month, with ten orders a month and a weapon produced every three days. This efficiency was already very high. Not counting the favor orders from Flash Butterfly Armor, this small workshop alone could earn so much money.

The weapons of the travelers, soldiers and militiamen, and armed employees from all over the country all need to be adjusted and modified. Spending two or three thousand dollars to buy a reliable weapon to save one's life is better than anything else. In the beginning, Xue Ming's exploration missions for the Dead Puppet Agency only paid a little over four thousand dollars, but life safety is paramount. For the new passengers, spending this money wisely is the best risk investment.

Jamie's skills are quite good, much better than Xue Ming's two apprentices. According to the production standards of this CZ-75, even if Fuyanni and Billy worked for a week, they might not be able to make it. There's no reason for him to live in a rented room.

Old Jamie leaned against the car window and told Dr. Feng about the past.

"When I offended someone when I was young and made weapons for them, I would definitely be involved in grudges. You Chinese call this Jianghu, which is like forging iron and making swords for the random bandits who come and go. They use them to kill people. The murder weapons have the steel seal trademark of my Jamie Workshop. I will definitely not end well."

Jiang Xueming perked up. "I'd like to hear more details."

"It was fourteen years ago, when I was making a living in the Hot Spring Market. By then, I had already achieved some success and had my own shop," Jamie said casually. "Everyone used Rhinos. The governor assigned tasks to various gunsmiths, organizing gun-making competitions, and giving these R45 Rhinos as welcome gifts to new travelers— Mimir Hot Spring Market has always been this welcoming, and that's where it all started."

"Although I only have eight fingers, my beastly flesh and blood give me immense strength. I can crush rivets with just my finger strength, and I can also use them to cut screws, plan iron, file copper, and drill holes. My eyesight is also pretty good, so I ultimately won the championship."

"Jamie's Workshop's reputation spread, and my wife was so happy that she told everyone in the neighborhood about it, which made people envious—people's jealousy is a terrible thing. If my wife hadn't boasted, perhaps none of this would have happened."

"A young man carrying a deep grudge came from District 22. This boy had offended the leader of the District 22 war gang and wanted to find someone to forge swords and guns to take revenge. At first, I was not planning to take this job—gunsmiths in Mimir Hot Spring Market usually only take orders for hunting rifles. If the customer is not a member of the military or police and wants to borrow a gun to kill someone, this kind of business cannot be done."

"But my neighbors knew about this and went to the town center to find the young man. They boasted to him about how precise and deadly Jamie's guns were, saying that revenge couldn't be done without Jamie's guns, and that no one but me could make those guns."

"I was momentarily soft-hearted, and my wife is easily swayed. After hearing the neighbors praising my shop's signboard, she was suddenly bewitched, talking to me about justice and morality, as if not providing this young man with a weapon would make me heartless and a heartless person who would abandon him to his death."

"My daughter was only four years old at the time, and I didn't dare take the business. The young man I had a grudge against stared at me and my family with a fierce look. He squatted down in front of the shop and would follow my daughter for several hundred meters every day when he saw her go out, and then come back."

"I couldn't take the pressure, so I called the Red Stone Rock Band militia to come and chase people away, but it always came to nothing. The neighbors and my wife then tried to reason with each other about morality, but my wife couldn't stand the cold shoulder. She seemed to think I was spineless and was using this as an excuse to force me to divorce them."

"Now I'm panicking."

Jamie started sweating profusely and became nervous.

"I am a hybrid of a monster and a calamity beast, so finding this Homo sapiens wife was no easy feat. It is extremely rare for our genes to combine successfully. She has already suffered two miscarriages for me, and we finally have a daughter—I only hope that my child can grow up healthy."

"So I agreed to the deal, didn't take the young man's money, and made guns and weapons for him to help him take revenge."

"And then, and then..."

Jamie looked dejected, unable to stop crying as he thought of painful memories.

"That young man had no ability to take revenge. He ran headlong into the Zhan Gang's iron plate, and the monster ripped out his heart and intestines. I only feel regret. If I had held firm and not let go, he wouldn't have gone to his death."

"That was the era when the Madness Butterfly Sect was at its most rampant. The War Gang in District 22 tracked down a gunsmith like me. Even though I didn't stamp the weapons, they still knew that I had helped this young man."

"These thugs and bullies came to my door, kidnapped my wife, and are trying to harm my daughter by casting a curse on her—to use her as a prop in a spirit medium."

"She is cursed; part of her soul is no longer in her body, allowing all sorts of demons and monsters to possess her naturally."

"I took her with me and fled to the pig-man boss's shop to hide for several years, working in the basement every day. Later, after Governor Zhao Donglai took office, the security in Mimir Hot Spring improved a lot. I was able to go back to the shop and work hard to earn money for my daughter's medical treatment."

"But how can this wound to the soul be healed? I didn't know. I could only keep scraping together travel expenses and taking her everywhere, seeking medical treatment in various cities. I was cheated out of a lot of money, and many kind people helped me, but I just couldn't get better."

"The leader of the War Gang who first cast the curse on her is dead, and this kind of incantation may have been lost for a long time—these beasts want to turn my daughter into a key element of a sacrificial ritual. The medium can store the souls of evil spirits to complete the [reincarnation] ritual, or to contain a large number of spirits and turn them into a psionic enrichment to be fed to the cultists of the Madness Butterfly Sect."

"I've also sought help from the BOSS, from anonymous individuals, and even scholars in the Arcane Library, especially those specializing in psychic and demonology, who started a separate research project specifically for my daughter's case—but after all these years, there's still no progress."

"Every now and then, she would go insane, her personality would change drastically as if she were a completely different person—a new spirit had taken over her body."

Jiang Xueming roughly understood Jamie's family situation. The curse on his youngest daughter was extremely rare, a spell that directly attacked the spirit itself. Even in his expeditionary career, this kind of attack method was extremely unusual.

There are countless and bizarre methods to destroy the physical essence.

The abnormal spiritual pressure neurotoxins that destroy spiritual essence are also diverse and varied.

The things that destroy the essence of the soul are often only Soul Power and a series of wicked concoctions churned out by demon scholars. They possess very profound knowledge of psychic energy. For example, Pellegrini Tuan's application of essence allows him to enchant the Wings of Light, bestowing Soul Power upon his subordinates—a kind of "combined" power.

John Borg, once an adversary, delved into the Original Seed and was then dragged out of Hell by the cultists of the Madness Butterfly Sect, returning to the human world in spirit form. He was a true demon incarnate. His method of transforming Homo sapiens into fleshy monsters also altered Homo sapiens spirits, a kind of "abnormal" power.

Like Jason Megan's Soul Power [Windmill] - capable of shattering and reassembling the three elements together, this is the power of "splitting".

Jamie's daughter had a part of her spirit separated and permanently destroyed, resulting in a vacuum in her essence. This vacuum consisted of an unclaimed body and spirit, like an empty reservoir. External water would always rush into the low-lying areas of the reservoir, occupying parts of her body and spirit.

Upon arriving at the Tree Heart Hotel, Jiang Xueming immediately saw a huge tree towering along the mountainside.

As its name suggests, the Tree Heart Inn is a hollow tree. Its location is not ideal; the pyroxene from Mimir Hot Spring brings scorching hot air to the upper town, raising the temperature to 30 degrees Celsius. The high-rise apartments of this ancient tree are no exception, with the temperature increasing the higher you go.

"Doctor, could you please take a look at my daughter?" Jamie didn't have high hopes; he simply accepted Dr. Feng's request to listen to her—he never believed that a psychiatrist could handle such a complex Spirit Calamity.

Xue Ming stopped in front of the hotel entrance. "Shall we talk about this gun later?"

"What kind of gun?" Jamie replied awkwardly, "It's a prototype. It's very important to me, but it's not working well—there are still many problems that haven't been solved."

When Xue Ming bought the weapon, the pig-man shopkeeper only dared to ask for five hundred. This shopkeeper wasn't someone who didn't know his stuff. The kind of bargain-hunting that happens in fantasy novels didn't happen to Xue Ming; the material cost of this lump of iron wasn't even worth five hundred.

For Jamie, this rocket launcher was a significant experimental engineering machine. He wanted to gradually perfect this ammunition system, which was originally designed for underwater combat environments—both Eureka and Red Star Hill, these routes to Shambhala required naval police and frogman forces.

Naval equipment is extremely rare in the underground world. If this rocket launcher succeeds, Jamie might make a fortune, gain the attention of the anonymous, and receive assistance from the Arcane Library Weapon Design Bureau, so he'll never have to worry about not having money to treat his daughter's illness again.

"It's nothing, I was just looking. If you have an extra one, you can give me one too," Xue Ming, brushing it off.

The two squeezed into the elevator, but Jamie was still worried and reminded Dr. Zhang Congfeng, "My daughter is often possessed by evil spirits. If you get hurt..."

Xue Ming: "It's alright, I was prepared. I'm still an exorcist."

"An exorcist?" Jamie was suspicious. "You didn't mention this before."

Fortunately, Zhang Congfeng's false identity also included a Christian label; Wood Plark had left a Bible in the file folder, which came in handy at this moment.

"I am this...this...this..." Jiang Xueming adjusted his glasses, took out the Bible, and read aloud from the church on the title page, "A priest of the Thirty-first District of the Gospel of John Church, so I am also a priest who performs exorcisms."

"Oh," Jamie thought for a moment—isn't a psychiatrist just a dumping ground, having to listen to patients' ramblings every day? It's the same with priests, having to accept the spiritual garbage vomited up by believers in the confessional. Having this part-time job is quite reasonable.

Upon reaching the twenty-second floor, looking down into the courtyard of this hollow tree-shaped building, one sees the clothes of the neighbors. There are also two basketball courts on the first floor. This enormous treehouse seems to support many impoverished households.

Follow the semi-circular corridor to room 2218, which is old Jamie's room.

Just as Jamie reached for his keys to open the door, a bloodied, mangled hybrid of a calamity beast rushed out from the next room.

Jamie! Your daughter's had another attack!

She was an older woman with features resembling a lemur on her face, long arms and legs, and grayish-white fur all over her body. She could pass censorship even without clothes on.

She was wearing a white apron, covering the wound on her forehead with a towel, and said with a terrified expression, "Look quickly! I delivered lunch there at noon, and I was hit as soon as I opened the door! There were strange, chattering noises coming from inside! I'm a scaredy-cat! I threw the lunchbox inside, and my palms and the backs of my hands started to get cold. I ran back to my room, and my son said to me—'Oh my god! Your head is bleeding!'"

Aunt Lemur pointed to the wound on her forehead and loudly reminded her.

"You need to give me an explanation for this! I'm disfigured! What if..."

Without saying a word, Xue Ming took some cash out of his bag.

"--Hey hey hey." The old lady immediately smiled, took the money, and went home.

Jamie looked at Dr. Zhang Congfeng awkwardly, his face full of apology. "I'll pay! I'll pay! Put it on my tab!"

Xue Ming didn't care about the money; he was more concerned about the people in the house. If the lemur aunt wasn't lying, Jamie's daughter was still possessed.

He reached out and pressed his hand against the door number, feeling a strong surge of psionic energy; the temperature had noticeably dropped.

Amen.

Jiang Xueming pretended to hold the Bible and made the sign of the cross.

What is your daughter's name?

Jamie replied, "Benni. Benni Igor."

The moment the real name was called out, a gust of cold wind blew out from inside the room.

It swept in like a tidal wave, accompanied by a sharp, piercing whistle and the pitiful cries of a girl.

A sudden gust of cold wind ruffled Mr. Jamie's feathers, making him lose his balance and nearly tumble over, crashing hard into the corridor railing.

Xue Ming didn't move an inch. His bald, buzz-cut head seemed to offer no wind resistance; like a rock, he grabbed Jamie's clothes and pulled the old father back.

Give me the key.

He wanted to confront this evil spirit.

Jamie obediently handed the key to the psychiatrist, unsure whether it was a good or bad thing, or if it would kill this innocent Homo sapiens.

Jiang Xueming peeled off the cross decoration from the Bible cover; it was a gleaming bronze sculpture, which became a vanity project for his exorcism skills.

He held the sacred object aloft with one hand and opened the door with the other.

When I pushed open the door, I saw a disheveled girl covered in strange scars, lying face down in the hallway.

This is Jamie's daughter, Benni. She is extremely afraid of light. When outdoor light shines into the dark room, she begins to let out strange howls. Her vulture genes make her look even more terrifying. Her body has many dense, round, red holes, as if she has plucked all her feathers. Her two arms are pressed against the carpet, and she tilts her head back in a strange posture, sticking out a six-inch bright red tongue.

Her eyes had turned completely black as she roared at the guests at the door.

"Hahahaha! Jesus? The cross? You think you can subdue me with this? Hehehehe! I'm going to have this little vixen's body! Even God can't save her!"

Xue Ming's eyes gradually turned into a pair of vertical pupils, and the radiant light of Fragrant Dream flashed by.

The evil spirit hidden inside Benni suddenly changed its expression—

"--Oh, it's nothing, you go ahead with your work, I won't bother you."

A thick, black mist shot out of the girl's Barry, and before Xue Ming could do anything, it rushed into the toilet and disappeared into the stinking sewer.

Jamie was stunned. "This... this is a ghost."

"It is the God power of God!" Xue Ming exclaimed. "It is the power of God that drives the demons out of the bodies of these suffering souls!"

He waved the cross, spouting nonsense with an air of authority.

"Okay, does Benni have any other symptoms?"

Before Jamie could speak, Benni had already regained some consciousness.

She was dazed and confused, wriggling on the ground and murmuring.

"If... if I didn't marry the gunsmith!"

"If I don't marry that man..."

"My beautiful soul is about to be tainted!"