Vol. 17 - Possessed

For the veteran hunters of the Silver Helm Hunter's Guild, psychic rituals were nothing new.

Liliya has performed many psychic rituals throughout her life. At crossroads in the wild, in ambiguous labyrinthine passages, and in cases of sudden disappearances in settlements, psychic rituals are a good way to probe the past and ask the deceased predecessors what happened there.

So when this mother learned of her son's actions, she was not angry. Instead, she took the initiative to come to her children and set an example—even though psychic rituals are dangerous.

For ordinary people, anything related to psychic energy is potentially fatal. Because without psychic perception Inspiration spiritual insight, any spirit summoned during a ritual is an object that ordinary people cannot resist.

Unseen, intangible, and impossible to physically interfere with, this is the absolute advantage that spirits have over the human body.

Liliya's mother was prepared. She was a devout Christian and an excellent pathfinder in the hunting party. To better facilitate her Inspiration, she branded herself with cross-shaped scars on her chest and back—her stigmata for evil spirits, used to repel uninvited guests during psychic rituals and frighten mischievous goblins.

When Liliya grasped the wizard's golden arm, she stopped joking around. From that arm, she could feel her "non-existent" Inspiration returning to her once more.

The surrounding environment became noisy, and all sorts of rustling sounds began to become jarring.

The young people crouched around the table, observing Aunt Liliya's eyes—she had very beautiful eyes, like sky-blue gems, which contrasted beautifully with her orange-red hair; she must have been a great beauty in her youth.

"Speak, son," Liliya Maddens asked, "What incantation should be recited for the spirit-raising ceremony?"

The psionic probe has already reacted; it spins on the dashboard, sometimes pointing northeast, sometimes northwest, scanning Moon River Lake. It seems that the spirits in the lake have begun to gather at the lakeside cabin.

Ek Maddens said in Hebrew, "I want to see you."

Liliya's mother repeated, "I want to see you."

Ek: "Hold my hand."

Liliya's mother then said, "Hold my hand."

The next second, the woman's face turned noticeably pale, as if she had been startled.

The younger brothers and sisters squatting nearby involuntarily shivered. The temperature suddenly dropped, and they all shivered, feeling goosebumps rising on their skin.

"Aunt Liliya, what did you see?"

"I can't recognize him, he's practically rotten to the core." Liliya's expression was contorted, as if she had seen a drowning ghost.

The other young people lacked Inspiration; they held up their phones to take pictures, but still couldn't capture anything.

In Liliya's eyes appeared a bloated, obese vengeful spirit. The man was about six and a half feet tall, with broad shoulders, wearing work clothes, his jeans were bound by a chain, and a large stone was hanging on his leather shoes.

She held hands with the vengeful spirit, their eyes locked, showing no fear whatsoever.

"Dickens?"

Liliya called out tentatively.

The vengeful spirit responded immediately, gurgling water from its throat and nodding incessantly.

Ek Maddens was pleasantly surprised, happy, and curious that his mother was having a smooth conversation with an unseen "thing".

"Oh! He's Uncle Dickens?"

Dickens disappeared four years ago; he was a lumberjack in town, and the military post had searched for him for a long time without success. It's unbelievable that he'd reappeared in Moon River Lake.

Liliya followed up, "Brother, who killed you? Was it the former forest ranger? Damn it. He was playing cards with you? He lost so badly he tried to kill you? That damned bastard! I'm calling the guards at the outpost to arrest him right now! You just wait."

The supernatural phenomenon of spirits cannot be used as evidence.

Because no one can guarantee whether what these wandering spirits say is true, but they can provide some clues that allow the militia and warbands to find a suitable entry point. This is the advantage of spirit communication rituals: they are simple, direct, convenient, and easy to use.

"Tell me the incantation to send the spirit away, Ek." Liliya's mother was sweating profusely. It seemed that close contact with the spirit was making her mental state worse and worse. Yellow spots had appeared at the corners of her eyes, and her discharge was increasing.

Ek immediately began to sing a lullaby, a tune the wizard had loved most in his lifetime, a Scottish folk song.

Liliya's mother hummed along, and the water ghost's spirit gradually dissipated, the eerie spiritual pressure vanishing from the house.

The young people were initially too afraid to even breathe, and then began to doubt the authenticity of the spirit communication ritual—after all, none of them had ever seen a ghost with their own eyes. Finally, someone shouted something, and everyone started cheering!

It seemed as if he had done a great deed, clearing the town's lumberjacks' name and giving him a great sense of accomplishment.

The small class on the psychic ritual quickly attracted even more eager students, who took turns lining up in front of Ek, excited about the recreational product brought by their good brother during the closed season.

Six young people in a row saw six different ghosts.

There is a female ghost who died in childbirth 51 years ago.

There was a farmer who was eaten by a Spuantong in his beehive four years ago.

Some autistic children who can't speak will give the middle finger and make faces at these psychics, and even gouge out their own eyeballs to play with.

A guard dog placed its paw on the psychic's hand and refused to leave.

An explorer who fell to his death in the cave, his head still stuck in his chest, just happened to come and join the fun.

When it was Ek's turn to talk to his fiancée, Sophia, everyone started egging Sophia on to be braver—after all, Sophia was the first one to back down.

"No, please." Sophia hesitated. She had yellowish-black hair and looked malnourished, unlike Liliya's mother who was healthy. She was frail and as thin as a bamboo pole.

Only a healthy physical constitution can support a strong spirit. Sophia has never liked anything related to psychic energy because she is physically weak and timid—and she has recently discovered that she is pregnant.

Just then, Liliya's mother once again pushed aside her future daughter-in-law.

"I'll do it! I'll do it! She's pregnant and can't touch these psionic catalysts."

Not wanting to spoil the guests' fun, Liliya's hospitable mother prepared for a second round. She put in some eye drops and felt her eyes were feeling better, and she gradually regained her energy.

Ek Maddens excitedly replied, "You're going to be a grandma!"

"That's right! I'm going to be a grandma!" Liliya's mother grasped the wizard's golden hand.

At that moment, the lights in the house began to flicker.

The windows were blown open by the gale. After six rounds of psionic rituals, the commotion this time didn't seem to frighten the young people, no matter how fierce and intense it was.

People simply took out their phones and continued taking pictures, sharing their new experiences on social media accounts.

Liliya suddenly froze, seemingly unable to move.

"Mom, what did you see?" Ek Maddens asked. "Why aren't you saying anything? You need to recite the incantation!"

Liliya's body twitched unnaturally, a muscle stress that was different from a nerve reflex, more like being whipped and lashed, the pain causing her skin and limbs to tighten.

She remained silent, her face growing paler and paler, her eyes becoming increasingly vacant, her pupils dilating as if she were experiencing blackouts.

Ek: "Mom?"

Liliya: "I saw it."

Ek: "You haven't cast the spell yet, Mom."

Liliya: "I see myself."

In Liliya's eyes, it was as if she had gained another mirror.

The person sitting across the table had become herself. The woman looked exactly like her, her face also filled with confusion. She grasped her hand and spoke almost simultaneously with her.

Such a strange thing had never happened in Liliya's psychic rituals—it was impossible for a person to see their own spirit except through psychic powers.

Their clothes, makeup, expressions, and complexions were all completely identical.

When Liliya's mother came to her senses, she looked down at her arm and realized that it was very different.

"What's going on? This..."

This arm had become "pinkish," devoid of skin, and covered with twisted, barbed thorns. The back of the hand was covered in bumps, and the Five Fingers had turned into sharp claws. Looking further down at her body—this was no longer her flesh! It was clearly a twisted and terrifying demonic form!

The young people present were unaware of the changes that had occurred to Aunt Liliya; they continued filming as usual.

Just then, the light bulb in the room broke, leaving only the light from the cell phone. People were thrown into a brief moment of chaos until Sophia turned on the backup fluorescent light.

Liliya's mother was still sitting there, completely changed. She still held the wizard's hand tightly, her other hand seemingly stroking something. She pressed her temples and gently stroked outwards from her forehead, as if repairing the "horns" she couldn't see— Saint Josh Joris had entered her body and taken over her mind.

"Mom, are you alright?"

"Never been this good." Liliya blinked hard a few times, the color of her pupils changing rapidly, flashing several times before finally returning to blue.

A minute ago, in Limbo, Saint Josh flew upwards along this life-saving fishing line.

He found a suitable medium and flew towards the material world at an incredible speed. Besides the Demon Pool, this was another way he could return to the human world.

Jiang Xueming had just finished dealing with the three mindless apostle monsters when he saw Saint Josh soaring upwards along a red line. It was too late to catch up.

Meanwhile, in the morgue of the assembly hall.

Louise suddenly convulsed and fainted, collapsing weakly onto Father Zhang Congfeng's lap. Wolf Brother Oscar immediately roused her.

"What's wrong? Louise? Black Cat Girl? What's wrong?"

Louise's mental world was almost instantly destroyed by a violent, angry spiritual pressure.

--That was the gunsmith's emotion, the intimidation of Fragrant Dream, a mental blow that was almost devastating to the hybrid monsters. Even blood-bearing units would find it difficult to withstand such intense stimulation.

"He's very angry. He's so angry I'm scared. Sir, please spare me, I really can't do this job."

"Call him back." Oscar immediately decided to stop the ceremony and pull Zhang Congfeng back from Limbo.

Louise still held Zhang Congfeng's hand. "What do we do?"

Oscar: "Call him by his real name."

Louise: "What's his name?"

Oscar: "Zhang Congfeng."

"Zhang Congfeng? Zhang Congfeng!" Louise called out.

Again and again, over and over again.

Oscar also started to get nervous. He searched the doctor for his ID card and took out his phone to repeatedly verify the identity information. He used his VIP privileges to check the name on the Department of Transportation's official website, and it was indeed real.

Louise shouted until her throat was dry, "Zhang Congfeng!"

If this soul cannot escape from Lingbo Hell, then Zhang Congfeng must traverse the Nine Hells, returning to the human world from the deepest level of hell.

The psionic tide grew stronger, and the mandala petals guarding the four corners gradually lost their effectiveness.

--The four menacing monsters had long been eyeing Jiang Xueming's body. They finally regained their senses and pounced on the delicious flesh in the morgue one by one.

Oscar reacted quickly, using his strong werewolf body to kick each little devil to pieces, smashing these ungrateful monsters to pieces. He lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thud, grimacing and cursing in pain.

"Damn it! You've even forgotten your own name? Honey Badger!"

The priest, lost in thought and sitting in his chair, remained unable to wake up; his soul was unable to respond to this unfamiliar name.

The strange beasts and demons were hit hard and crashed into the wall like cracked papayas. Suddenly, they materialized in the material world, exploding into flowers of blood. The orange-red flesh that Jiang Xueming had just seen in the morgue after leaving his body was the remains of the strange beasts and demons he had seen after crossing the boundary of time.

"Holly! Help me out!" Oscar hurriedly reached for the psychic catalyst to further strengthen the guardian array. If the honey badger didn't return, he needed to continue dealing with the demons that had escaped from the Elf Holy Land and Limbo. "Go to the inn and get some things! Bring the honey badger's personal belongings over!"

He needed to know Zhang Congfeng's true identity and obtain the token; otherwise, he couldn't bring back the Honey Badger's soul. If Saint Josh Joris escaped from the underground sanctuary, the first thing this devil would do was destroy Zhang Congfeng's physical body.

"Gunsmith!"

Benni woke up with a start. As if possessed, she jumped out of bed, crept to Jiang Xueming's room, grabbed Berloberg's sword hilt, and tried to run out.

"Gunsmith! Gunsmith! Gunsmith!"

This girl, missing a part of her soul, possessed extraordinary Inspiration and felt a calling from the depths of her being.

Jamie's dad was sleeping like a log, completely unaware that his daughter had climbed out the window and run down the fourth-floor air conditioner unit all the way to the street.

Back in the cottage by Moon River Lake.

The mischievous young people had mostly run away, and the two unfortunate souls who couldn't escape in time were left. One of them had his leg broken by Liliya's mother, who was possessed by a demon, and was groaning in pain.

The other one had a pair of scissors stuck in its mouth; it wasn't quite dead yet.

Blood was everywhere—on the ceiling, on the floor, and on Ek Maddens' face—covered in crimson semen and excrement.

Liliya's mother's limbs were twisted, her body was shattered, and in order to adapt to the devil's body structure and allow Saint Josh to exert his strength at the best, her organs were exposed, her belly was torn open, her sternum was broken, her eyes rolled back, and her mouth was wide open. She was hanging upside down from the ceiling with her bare finger bones stuck into a wooden board. The cross scars on her chest and back were completely destroyed, her internal organs flowed out, and the filth from her intestines was scattered everywhere.

Ek held the sorcerer's hand, embracing his trembling fiancée.

"Mom? Mom."

A vicious male voice emerged from Liliya's throat.

Your mother is completely dead!