Vol. 13: Chickpeas and the Devil

Back at the inn, Jiang Xueming noticed an unexpected change to the hilt of Berloberg's sword while unpacking his luggage.

It was originally lifeless, but after killing Saint Josh Joris, the broken hilt of the sword emitted a psychic energy tide like breathing and heartbeats. Doctor Maguire's scalpel was restored to its original state, and the spirit of Berloberg had returned to Xue Ming's side—albeit only a small part of it.

This phenomenon greatly puzzled Jiang Xueming. Could it be that Berloberg had other spirit incarnations? Had these children found new hosts and were they tasked with helping them defeat their inner demons in order to reclaim the complete sword spirit?

What kind of weird RPG game is this? There are quite a lot of side NPCs!

Jamie and his daughter had already gone to rest. Judging from the gunsmith's workbench outside the suite, the rocket launcher was still stuck at the stage of loading the rocket propellant into the bullets—this didn't seem like something that could be rushed.

Xue Ming wasn't in a hurry to go to sleep; he went back downstairs to wait for Oscar.

After Getze was captured, Wolf Brother had to cooperate with the military station in the investigation and evidence collection. It wasn't until after six in the morning that Oscar returned to the hotel.

"Hey, isn't that strange?"

The wolf took off his coat and hung it by the door; the thick woolen coat reeked of the stench of a canine.

"This Getze is usually a simple-minded, easygoing guy with a good relationship with the quartermaster. Everyone knows they were classmates and never held grudges overnight. I never expected him to turn on me so suddenly and wipe out the entire family—it's really incomprehensible."

Jiang Xueming immediately told Oscar about Saint Josh Joris.

Getze Saladin was likely also a guest of Hercules and had eaten human flesh.

Guided by Saint Josh, the sergeant unleashed the demons lurking deep within his heart, leading him to murder the quartermaster's family.

Oscar quickly asked, "Is that old bastard still at home? I'll call someone to arrest him!"

"He's already dead," Jiang Xueming said.

Oscar was taken aback for a moment. "Huh? You intervened? I didn't realize that."

Jiang Xueming: "It was Mr. Maquire who did it. While assisting with the investigation at the scene of the quartermaster's death, he sensed the demon within Mr. Getze. He knew that this demon was unleashed by Saint Josh —as a fellow patient of Saint Josh, he was furious and went to kill him."

"Alright. I have to make another trip." Oscar hadn't even had a chance to sit down properly when he immediately dialed the military station. He put on his coat, pulled Dr. Zhang Congfeng into the car, and headed back to the Saint Josh house to investigate and gather evidence.

In the car, Oscar asked questions intermittently.

How did you find out about this?

Jiang Xueming: "I went with Maquire. I gave him a ride on my bike."

Oscar: "You just watched Maquire make the move?"

Jiang Xueming: "Yes, at the time, Saint Josh was dealing with the quartermaster's heart. Maquire was furious. He seemed to have a psionic catalyst on him, which contained enormous power, giving Maquire very strong combat skills. I couldn't stop him at all."

Oscar: "What did he do?"

Jiang Xueming: "Mr. Maquire broke in through the window, took Saint Josh's chef's knife, and first pressured Saint Josh's right hand. Saint Josh couldn't dodge in time, and his right arm was stabbed from the elbow to the ring finger of his hand, rendering him unable to resist. Then he stabbed him in the ribs, then cut him twice more, one of which destroyed his airway, causing Saint Josh to lose his core strength. Finally, he stabbed him straight in the heart."

Oscar gasped, "That's incredible! Did he receive training from the Nameless Ones?"

Jiang Xueming: "I don't know, but there's a legend, I don't know if you've heard it, Brother Oscar, that the nameless sword spirit seems to have wandered around the Elf Holy Land. According to Maquire himself, a few months ago, the hunters and explorers here brought back a runic stone tablet, and Maquire obtained one of them. Since then, his knightly combat skills have improved by leaps and bounds."

"I have that impression." As a local VIP in Saladin, Oscar had naturally inquired about this matter, "However, this is the first time I've seen Homo sapiens without Inspiration brutally kill Blood-giving Monster, a knightly combat technique."

Wolf gave Doctor Congfeng a meaningful look.

"How amazing!"

"Stop being sarcastic," Jiang Xueming said immediately. "If you doubt me, you can ask me directly."

Oscar then asked, "Dr. Feng, if Maquire killed Saint Josh in a fit of passion, if it was an impulsive act, why did you follow him?"

"I wrecked Maquire's car and gave him a ride on a shared electric bike." Jiang Xueming spoke the truth without hesitation, "Besides, I think this Saint Josh deserves to die. If Maquire can't beat this monster, I'll go help him. At least I can't let this surgeon die in vain."

Oscar: "You didn't do anything?"

Jiang Xueming: "We can go to the scene to investigate and collect evidence. Maquire entered through the window and exited through the main door. There were no other footprints of the person who broke the window."

Oscar: "Okay."

After saying this, Wolf Brother didn't press the matter further. After all, the deceased was a cultist from the Hercules, a genuine cannibalistic demon. It would be impolite to continue questioning the heroes who slew demons.

Upon arriving at Saint Josh's mansion, Oscar called the military post and did not immediately disturb the scene.

When the good brothers from the outpost arrived and sealed off the villa, Oscar took Jiang Xueming's phone and compared it with the photos on the refrigerator, confirming Saint Josh Joris's cannibalistic identity. Even though Sergeant Havana had a thousand thoughts and ten thousand reluctances, she had to swallow her pride and bear it all—she had no other thoughts, and couldn't even shed a single tear. She could only join her colleagues in cursing Joris.

A human silhouette was found in the snow in the backyard; it was there that Saint Josh Joris's body was burned. The forensic team, unable to find further clues, could only examine the human organs in the refrigerator.

The interrogation team from the military post was going to summon Maquire Copenhagen, and Oscar had some free time. At this moment, Jiang Xueming found Wolf Brother again.

He led Wolf Brother to the villa's gate, where the two squatted by the curb. By the light of the streetlights, Xue Ming pointed to a book in the journal containing Saint Josh's academic research on the topic of demons.

"Oscar, look at this, do you recognize it?"

"This is..." Oscar's wolf-like eyes widened as he stared at the bright red inverted pentagram magic circle on the logbook.

It differs from the simple semiotics found in typical religious rituals; it incorporates many additional elemental symbols and chemical equations, much like a series of formulas for synthesizing elements.

For example, if the devils of hell also have different brands and slogans—as Saint Josh Joris wrote in his book—it's as bizarre as Suning + JD. com = Alibaba.

This cultist, seemingly obsessed with the Madness Butterfly, appears to be solving math and chemistry problems, attempting to use elements of the material world, along with the flesh and blood of Homo sapiens, as currency to summon the legendary devil.

Jiang Xueming had actually seen this kind of high-level evil spirit before.

John Berger, who once tried to make a comeback as Terror Artist, is the devil.

According to the racial classification in the Arcane Library, John Borg's demon race should be called the Tanaris. In ancient myths and legends, this great race called themselves the Tanaris, and included spirit-eating demons, succubi, and dragon demons, originating from the first otherworld from the abyss.

The Arcane Library has a scientific and systematic classification of the spirits born after the natural death of Homo sapiens. These are wandering spirits, tower spirits, guardian spirits, and evil spirits. Once an evil spirit obtains enough primordial essence, it can use flesh and blood to create a golem, thus recreating a new physical body for itself. At this point, the evil spirit becomes a demon or devil.

John Borg once ventured deep into the Original Seed, and was later summoned back to Earth by the Warband through a ritual. His physical essence comes from Earth Mother, and he can also use the power of the Flash Butterfly to transform other creatures.

This time, three kinds of devil symbols appeared in Saint Josh Joris's Devil's Notebook.

One type is the Battanali, a race of fearsome demons.

One type is the inferior demon race, the Bart ancestor.

One type is the Mobat ancestral race of mythical beasts.

These three types of demons are also the source of Hercules' power, and are the source of Saint Josh Joris's supernatural ability to control patients through psychological suggestion.

Fear is his weapon to intimidate patients; he exploits their psychological weaknesses and incites their base emotions. These are all ways that Joris gives orders to his patients.

Finally, there's the carnivorous nature represented by the magical beast. Maquire was almost transformed into a Wendigo (a man-eating antler demon) by Joris. Saint Josh was an excellent cook, and this pleasant taste experience could eliminate the guilt associated with cannibalism and make patients believe that the process of cannibalism was reasonable and comfortable.

After Oscar explained the symbols used by these demonologists to Jiang Xueming, Xue Ming asked a question out of curiosity.

"Does worshiping these demons and monsters really work?"

Oscar: "It definitely works, otherwise how would Joris have so many die-hard fans?"

As he spoke, Wolf pointed to Ms. Havana at the crime scene—although Havana still looked indignant, seemingly hating Saint Josh Joris and acting as if she were mortal enemies with the Blood-giving Monster, she seemed to have tears welling up in her eyes from the freezing wind, still sympathizing with the charred corpses in the snow.

Oscar: "Havana definitely has designs on the Madness Butterfly cult members. Come to think of it, I met this psychiatrist a few times when he was still alive and kicking—he was quite handsome, and he even hosted a cannibalistic feast at home. How outrageous and arrogant! But he didn't dare to lay a hand on me."

"Does this demonic magic circle have any other functions, Brother Wolf?" Jiang Xueming pressed, fearing that Joris, like John Berg, could return from hell. "Is he trying to summon something from hell? Or..."

"There are other features," Oscar explained. "Look here."

The wolf's thick knuckles jabbed at the additional formula of the magic circle, which had three pond-like bottom symbols, like baskets, catching many "currencies".

"He wants to create a magic pool, and also..."

Oscar points out the right path--

"--The Arcane Library has emphasized several times that there is no hell in this world, only [Lingbo] or [the Spirit Realm]. It is an intermediate zone between life and death."

"The term 'hell' in myths and legends is not accurate, because the idea that sinners go to hell is not quite right."

"Demons always try to create a source of power for themselves, from which they can be reborn. Ancient wizards and magicians called this source of power the 'Demon Pool'—demons are very difficult to destroy; they are like natural disasters and plagues, a natural phenomenon."

"If the Flash Butterfly also has a demonic pool, then this demonic pool comes from Mother Earth, from the Original Seed itself."

"The Flash Butterfly can be destroyed again and again, but that doesn't prevent it from being reborn."

"Saint Josh Joris wants to create a magical pool for himself by unifying the three demonic entities into one, thus achieving holiness and unity—gathering the essential characteristics of inferior demons, fear demons, and strange beast demons—to create a new physical avatar for him."

Jiang Xueming pressed further, "Is that even possible? Did he succeed?"

"I don't know." Oscar, a well-informed scholar, immediately identified the specific location from the structure of the magic circle. "Besides, Father, your knowledge of demons should be stronger than mine; you are a legitimate exorcist. Why?"

"Oh! I'm a bit unbalanced in my studies," Jiang Xueming quickly explained. "When I was studying at the church and the seminary, the teachers always taught me to use firearms to solve problems, because it's more convenient that way."

"Let me put it this way, if you have time, come with me now." Oscar looked around, opened his phone's navigation, and brought up a map of Saladin.

Wolf Brother pointed to Saladin's public facilities.

"This Saint Josh Joris did indeed build a demonic pool using scraps left over from killing people, for his own use; this Hebrew passage recounts his glorious history."

He swept one hand across the Demon Notebook and pointed the other towards the vicinity of the Hunter's Guild meeting place in the town.

"Judging by the town's functional facilities, the elemental attributes are as follows: there's a weather station and a wind power station nearby. The other two corners are the Elf Holy Land and Saladin's Mother River. The symbol representing life force in the middle is Saladin's hunting party's meeting place; the magic pool should be built here."

"Saint Josh Joris wants to become a more traditional, more orthodox Deva, and also a Pratapa Deva (Pher Grey Butterfly) that is different from the Flash Butterfly. An individual like him who has lived for so long without any Soul Power will try to use other means to obtain strong spiritual energy."

"The root of this word in Indo-European languages means 'god'."

"Beyond the Elf Holy Land, trolls and all sorts of demons roam. These beings are born from Mimir/Mim's corpse—they are older and more powerful than Homo sapiens, and they leave behind more potent ritual catalysts; even a troll's excrement is considered a sacred object."

"I think that old bastard Joris has some skills; he might actually have created the magic pool. If we rush over now, he probably won't have time to get back from Limbo yet. We can guard his respawn point and beat him up at his fountain!"

Oscar couldn't fight, so he only hoped that Father Zhang Congfeng might have some exorcism abilities.

After finishing his business with the people at the outpost, Oscar drove off again, taking Jiang Xueming to the hunting party's meeting place.

After a half-hour drive, the two arrived at a dilapidated old building.

Wolf first went to the grain depot next door and found some medium tools, nothing particularly rare, just some rice and beans.

Speaking of these beans, the big wolf started bragging again.

"Whether in the East or the West, the grains that feed tens or hundreds of millions of people are the divine beings elevated to their divine status through the collective karma of all living beings. Father, if you want to exorcise demons, you can try a bag of chickpeas—"

"--These three demonic avatars borrowed by Saint Josh Joris are all afraid of chickpeas."

"I don't know why, but it seems that these demons have a serious illness when they come to the human world. They seem to want to keep track of every single business transaction. After signing the contract with Homo sapiens, they just wait and wait and wait."

"When you get bored, start counting beans. You can only continue after you've counted all the beans."

"These chickpeas can be controlled, like the Japanese using rice to ward off evil spirits. After you splash them on, they start screaming in fear, their hearts trembling—that's what they're saying."

"It's performance review time again, performance review time again, KPI review time again... damn it, it's almost the end of the month again."

This Wolf Bro's chatter is just like Sixty-Three's; it never stops.

The two greeted the night watchman at the assembly hall and entered the council hall.

Oscar's keen sense of smell detected the scent of human blood beneath the sixteen pillars of the empty hall. According to the symbols in the Devil's Notebook, this place had been modified by Saint Josh. If there was an underground level, it should be Saint Josh's dumping ground for corpses.

This cultist from Hercules was extremely picky about food. Every time he killed someone, he would only take the most valuable organs, such as the heart and liver, and send the rest of the scraps to the assembly hall to fill his demonic pool in preparation for his resurrection as a demon.

Oscar took the lead, completely forgetting how terrible his combat skills were. He dragged Dr. Zhang Congfeng to the side of the indoor landscape of the fountain in the lobby, where they found the entrance to the sewer system, with a hidden door leading directly underground.

"Let's go."

What should have been a thrilling underground adventure turned into a completely fearless experience for Wolf, thanks to his night vision. He made his way forward through the narrow passages.

But soon things went wrong--

"--Wait a minute! Hey, fucking bastard!~"

Oscar shouted.

The damp underground passage was hot and humid, and had an unpleasant mushroom smell.

Jiang Xueming quickly asked, "Have you found the venue for the ceremony? Oscar?"

Oscar: "No, no. You grabbed my tail."

Jiang Xueming: "What's wrong?"

Oscar replied awkwardly.

"I'm stuck."