It was already bitingly cold in Wyoming in late autumn. The icy rain wet the streets of Grebul Town. The dim street lamps cast light and shadow on the wet asphalt road. Two middle-aged men walked side by side with their necks curled up, and the white breath they exhaled quickly dissipated in the cold air.
Suddenly, a figure wearing a black hood rushed out from the alley next to him, the pistol in his hand shining coldly under the streetlight.
"Hey, guys. Do you have any change?" The robber's voice was hoarse, with a nervous tremor.
Jim stopped and slowly raised his hands. "I'm sorry, friend."
"Where's the wallet?" The robber stepped forward and pressed his gun against Jim's chest.
"Hey, don't be like this." Jim's friend said hurriedly, reaching out to grab the robber's arm.
"Hand over your wallet!" The robber's finger slammed on the trigger.
"Bang!"
The gunfire rang out in the quiet street, scaring away several crows under the eaves. The robber turned around and ran away in a hurry. Jim staggered back and leaned heavily against the wall. His friend screamed in horror, reached out to help him, and pressed his palm on Jim's chest.
"Jim! Jim! Call 911! Hurry!"
Jim frowned strangely, stood up slowly, and patted his rain-stained coat. "I'm fine."
"You... you didn't even bleed!" His friend's eyes widened, as if he saw a ghost, and reached out to touch Jim's chest, "Where's the bullet? Where did the bullet go?"
Jim stretched out his hand. "Pull me up."
"How can you still be alive?"
Jim looked down at his chest, with a confused look on his face. "I don't know. I just feel a little numb in my chest, nothing else."
The motel room was filled with the mixed smell of beer, burgers and barbecue, and scattered beer cans and takeout boxes were scattered everywhere. A football game was playing on the TV, and the commentator's excited voice echoed in the room.
Dean was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a cheeseburger in one hand and a piece of Texas barbecue in the other, with his mouth full, complaining vaguely. "Okay, okay, stop talking. Tell me, why did you take that free kick? That three-pointer screwed me up! I lost all my pocket money this month!"
Sam took a sip of Coke and rolled his eyes helplessly. "Because that's called football."
"No, that's called fantasy football! Seriously, Sam, you should find something serious to do." Dean took another big bite of the barbecue, and the juice flowed down his chin.
"Yes." Sam responded absently, staring at the phone screen.
"I'm serious." Dean put down the food in his hand and looked at Sam seriously, "Ever since the Kraken incident, you have been acting weird. Is there something you can't tell me?"
At this moment, Sam's cell phone rang. He picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID, Bobby, and immediately picked up the call.
"Okay, Bobby. Thank you." Sam hung up the phone and picked up the coat hanging on the back of the chair.
"What's wrong?" Dean asked, also standing up.
"Bobby found something in Wyoming. It might be a case."
"What case?"
"A small town where no one has died in the past ten and a half days."
Dean raised his eyebrows. "Is this unusual?"
"The question is how they didn't die. One guy with terminal pancreatic cancer ended up walking out of hospice on his own and is now on vacation. Another guy was shot by a mugger."
"Spank on the butt?" Dean joked.
Sam took out his mobile phone and showed Dean news reports and police photos of the scene. "The police said Mr. Jenkins was shot in the heart with a 9mm pistol at close range. You see, there are holes where bullets penetrated the clothes."
"Isn't he a donut? The locals say it's a miracle?"
"That's right. The churches in the town are packed with people. Everyone says that God has appeared."
Dean shrugged. "There must be something evil doing it, right? Maybe people made a deal? The crossroads devil likes to do this kind of 'miracle' the most."
"What do you think? What else could it be?"
Bai Haorui, who had been leaning against the window eating a barbecue sandwich, put down the food in his hand and wiped his hands with a tissue. He was wearing a black hoodie, with the cuffs rolled up casually, revealing his smooth, muscular forearms.
"It's not like a transaction." Bai Haorui's voice was calm and steady, "If it were a crossroads demon, it would definitely leave traces, and each transaction would have a clear contract and price. This kind of town-wide 'immortality' is too expensive. Will those demon bitches do this kind of loss-making business?"
"I don't know." Dean stood up and picked up his coat, "Okay, pack this up and take it away. Let's go see what this 'miracle town' is all about."
As he spoke, he packed his things again.
Sam stopped and looked at Dean: "What's wrong? Are you still angry?"
"Ah, I don't know. I don't want to hold you back or anything." Dean.
Sam sighed, "Man, I've told you a hundred times, that's the siren's spell, not me. Can we not mention it?"
"Okay, let's not mention it." Dean turned around and pretended to pack things, but his ears perked up.
Bai Haorui couldn't help laughing, "Haha, our weak and pitiful Little Dean already has a strong self-esteem. I don't know how long we have to worry about Sam's words of 'you are too weak.'" He joked and turned to look at Sam, his eyes darkening slightly, "But the dark aura on Sam is indeed getting heavier and heavier."
Grebul Town is a typical United States midwestern town. The streets are clean, the houses are low, and flowers and plants are planted in the yards of every household. It looks like a paradise.
Jim·Jenkins's home is a white single-family house with roses planted in the yard. The three of them knocked on the door, and a middle-aged man with a fat figure and gray hair opened the door. It was Jim. He was wearing a plaid shirt and khaki pants, with a trace of scrutiny on his face.
"Who are you?"
Dean showed an extremely pious smile and clasped his hands together, "Hello, sir. We are the bloggers of F. We heard about your miracles and came here specially from California to record this God's Grace."
"All God's glory is worthy of blogging." Sam added, with a gentle smile on his face.
Jim looked at them for a while, then turned sideways to let them into the house. "Come in."
A family portrait of Jim's family was hung on the wall in the living room, and there were several stuffed animals on the sofa. Jim sat on the sofa and poured coffee for the three of them.
"People in the town say what happened to you was a miracle." Sam said.
"It's a miracle, it couldn't be more obvious." Jim said firmly, taking a sip of coffee, "The doctor did an X-ray on me. The bullet was in my heart, and I didn't even bleed."
"How are you so sure it's God's fault?" Dean asked.
"Otherwise how can you explain? Even the doctors can't explain it. To be honest, I was not a saint before. I was not a good father. I drank, gambled, and even beat my wife. But when that man shot me and I didn't shed a drop of blood, I knew God gave me a second chance. I felt like angels were guarding me. I don't expect you to understand."
Dean leaned forward. "We will try to understand. Have you been to a crossroads recently? The one under Old Oak outside the town?"
"No. Why should I go there?"
"Or have you seen anyone? Someone with black eyes or red eyes? Someone who looks strange?"
Jim frowned and stood up quickly. "Tell me again who are you? You are not bloggers at all!? What kind of cult are you? Forget it. Thank you for your time." He opened the door and motioned for the three of them to leave.
"Sir, we just want to help you..." Sam wants to say something else.
"Get out!" Jim said sharply.
The three of them had no choice but to walk out of Jim's home.
"It seems that this road is dead." Dean said, sitting in the driver's seat of Impala.
"He has been brainwashed." Sam said, "He firmly believes that this is God's miracle and does not believe in any other explanation."
Bai Haorui sat in the back seat and closed his eyes. "I just scanned his body with Spiritual Sense, and there is indeed a bullet in his heart. Logically speaking, he should have been cremated long ago with this kind of injury."
"Then what's going on?" Dean asked, starting the car.
"I don't know, it's like his vitality no longer has the concept of death." Bai Haorui said, "Let's go back to the hotel and talk about it."
Back at the hotel, Sam put the laptop on the table and typed quickly on the keyboard, searching for the latest news and death records of Grebul Town. Dean leaned on the bed, drinking beer. Bai Haorui stood by the window and closed his eyes. Spiritual Sense slowly spread out like a tide, covering the entire Grebul Town.
His Spiritual Sense passes through the streets, through the houses, and through people's bodies. He can see everyone's soul, and see those souls that should have been taken away but still stay safely in the body.
"Did you find anything? The cancer survivor?" Sam asked without looking up.
"He was clinically dead. His wife pulled the plug and the doctor declared him dead. Ten minutes later, he woke up again and said he had a sweet dream." Dean said, "There were no signs of transactions. Neither he nor his family had been to the intersection, nor had they seen any suspicious people."
"What about you? Have you found the dying person?"
Sam pointed at the computer screen. "Not since Cole Griffith. He died of an asthma attack eleven days ago and was the last person I could find. Since then, no one has died in this town. Whether it was illness, accident or suicide, everyone survived."
"Then what do you think? Maybe it's really what people say? It's the miracle of God?"
"Miracle? Dean, in our experience, when do miracles happen for no reason?" Sam turned his head and looked at Dean, "There is no deal, there is no questionable faith healer. These souls are just not being dragged toward the light."
Dean's eyes suddenly lit up. "Maybe it's because no one took them there."
"What do you mean?"
"Death, isn't that what they do? Transport souls. If Death is not in town..."
Sam suddenly understood and patted his thigh. "Then no one will die! All souls will be trapped in the body, no matter how much damage the body has suffered."
"What's the matter? The local Death went on strike? Went to play golf? Or went on vacation?" Dean joked.
Bai Haorui slowly opened his eyes and frowned slightly. "I just used Spiritual Sense to scan the entire town, and there was no aura of Death. Although Death appeared very hidden before, as long as I focused on searching, I could still sense some of their unique aura between life and death. But in this town, there is none. Instead, there is a strong demonic aura, concentrated in the direction of the funeral parlor."
"You mean...Death was kidnapped by the devil?" Sam asked in surprise.
"It's very possible." Bai Haorui nodded.
"What's the matter? Let's find someone who might know and ask." Dean said.
"Man, that kid." Sam said, "Cole Griffith. He was the last one to die. If Death was kidnapped after he died, then he might have seen something."
"That child? He is already dead." Dean rolled his eyes.
"That's right. If there is no Death to pick him up, then his soul is still nearby, and we can use the spirit summoning ritual to draw him out." Sam picked up the salt and candles on the table, "Let's go to the cemetery."
"I like the matter-of-fact way you said this." Dean stood up and picked up his coat, "Life is really strange. We are going to dig the grave of a ten-year-old child and ask him if he has seen Death."
The moonlight is like water, shining on the cold tombstone, casting a long shadow. The cold wind whistles through the woods, making a whining sound, like a ghost crying.
Dean and Sam lit candles in front of Cole Griffith's grave and drew a standard five-pointed star salt circle on the ground with salt. Bai Haorui stood outside the salt circle, holding his mahogany sword in his hand. The purple-gold True Gang slowly flowed around him, like a living flame, dispelling the cold atmosphere around him.
"Are you sure this will work?" Dean muttered while drawing salt circles, "Last time we summoned a ghost, we almost got strangled to death by him."
"Not sure. But if his soul is still nearby, this should be able to draw him out." Sam said, taking out an ancient spell book.
"This case is so fucked up."
"How to say?"
"You want me to kill a monster or burn a corpse? No problem, just light a fire. But this? If we solve the problem and Death comes back, people will start dying. Good people." Dean's tone was a little heavy.
"I don't want them to die either, Dean. But this is the law of nature." Sam said.
Dean suddenly raised his head and looked at Sam: "Are you kidding?"
"What?"
"Don't you see the irony in this? You and I, we are typical examples of those who violate the laws of nature. We have been escaping death our whole lives. You have died, and so have I. We have all climbed back from Hell."
"Yeah, but the normal rules don't apply to us, do they? We're not like everyone else. I've got demon blood in me. You've been to Hell. I know you want to think of yourself as your average Joe the Plumber, but you're not. And neither am I. The sooner you accept that, the better for you."
"Joe the Plumber is an asshole," Dean said angrily, "Are you going to help me finish this?"
Sam nodded and began to recite the summoning spell.
At this moment, a flashlight beam suddenly shone on their faces. A tall tombkeeper wearing a gray uniform walked over with a flashlight with an angry look on his face.
"Hey! What are you doing here? This is private property!"
Dean stood up in a hurry. "Uh... don't be nervous. We are just... we are just paying homage to a friend."
The gravekeeper used his flashlight to shine on the salt rings and candles on the ground. "Sacrifice a friend? What the hell is this?"
"Oh, this... this is not what you think. This is the custom in our hometown." Dean smiled awkwardly.
"Really? Because this looks like devil worship." The tone of the gravekeeper became more severe, "I'm going to call the police."
"What? No, no. This is not devil worship. This is... this is... I don't have a good explanation. Listen, let's leave now." Dean pulled Sam and wanted to leave.
A strange smile suddenly appeared on the gravekeeper's lips, and his voice became hoarse and cold. "You can't go anywhere."
His eyes instantly turned pure white, without any black pupils or whites, just a piece of creepy pure white.
"Alastair." Dean took a step back and stood in front of Sam. His voice was cold and his right hand was already touching the dagger at his waist.
"I thought you were burnt on the outside and tender on the inside." Dean said, with a hint of ridicule in his tone.
"No, it's just the pediatrician I possessed." Alastair laughed, and the laughter was as harsh as sandpaper. "His wife is still looking for him. It's so funny. Anyway, there is no time to chat. I have a hot date with Death."
Before he finished speaking, Alastair waved his hand, and a black demonic energy as thick as ink shot towards Dean like a poisonous snake. This demonic energy contained powerful Hell power, enough to tear an ordinary person into pieces in an instant.
Bai Haorui flashed and appeared in front of Dean almost instantly. He raised his right hand, and the purple-gold True Gang condensed into a translucent shield out of thin air, with burning Pure Yang True Fire flowing on the surface.
"Bang!"
The demonic energy hit the shield hard, making a loud noise. The shield vibrated slightly, and then the demonic energy completely bounced away. The black demonic energy fell on the ground, corroding the soil and creating small pits.
When Alastair saw Bai Haorui, his eyes instantly turned sinister, as if he was seeing an sworn enemy. "It's you again, you damn bastard. This time I will pull out your soul and roast it in Hell's fire for a thousand years! Let you try my best torture!"
He roared angrily, and the black demonic energy around him surged, burning like black flames. His hands instantly turned into sharp claws, with nails up to three inches long, shining with cold light, and with a scream that tore the air, they clawed hard at Bai Haorui's head. The claws were extremely fast and powerful, and the surrounding air was compressed to the point of making an explosive sound.
Bai Haorui took his time and stepped back slightly with his left foot, lowering his center of gravity, and assumed the basic defensive posture of "Three Altars Body-Refining True Fire Art". He held the mahogany sword behind his back with his right hand, turned his wrist, and the purple-gold True Gang flowed down the sword body, dyeing the entire blade into a dazzling purple-gold color. Tiny Pure Yang True Fire flames also jumped on the sword body, making a sizzling sound and burning out all the surrounding black demonic energy.
"Clang!"
The peach wood sword and the devil's claw collided hard, making a loud sound of gold and iron. A powerful shock wave spread to all sides.
Alastair felt an unparalleled and scorching power coming from the sword, which made his arm numb, and Bones felt like it was about to burst. He involuntarily took three steps back before he could barely stabilize his body. He looked at Bai Haorui in disbelief, his eyes widening. "You... how did your power become so strong? This is impossible!"
Bai Haorui A cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth, "Thanks to you, I have made a breakthrough recently. Today, I am here to have some fun with you."
He flashed and appeared in front of Alastair like a ghost. The mahogany sword drew a sword flower, and the tip of the sword was pointed directly at Alastair's heart. The sword was so fast that it left a purple-gold afterimage in the air, accompanied by the sound of howling wind.
Alastair hurriedly dodged sideways, and the sword blade scraped across his ribs, tearing open his black windbreaker and bringing up a wisp of black blood. The hot True Gang invaded his body, causing him to feel a heartbreaking pain, as if countless needles were piercing his internal organs.
"Ah!" Alastair roared and waved his hands. Countless black Hellfire spurted out from the ground, sweeping towards Bai Haorui like a black wave. Wherever it passed, even the soil was burned to a sizzling sound, black smoke was emitted, and the tombstones were burned and cracked.
Bai Haorui With a thought in his mind, "Three Altars Body-Refining True Fire Art" operated to the extreme, and the protective body True Gang around him instantly surged, forming a huge purple-gold fireball, wrapping his whole body inside. Hellfire hit the True Gang fireball, making a sizzling sound, like water drops falling on red-hot iron. The black Hellfire quickly dissipated and turned into nothing under the burning of Pure Yang True Fire.
"Is that all you have?" Bai Haorui's voice was as cold as ice. He flicked his left hand, and three purple-gold True Gang Blade shot out of the air with a sharp whistling sound, shooting towards Alastair. These three True Gang Blade were extremely sharp, enough to cut through steel.
Alastair hurriedly turned into a ball of black smoke, narrowly escaping True Gang Blade. Three True Gang Blade hit the tombstone behind, blasting the entire granite tombstone into pieces, and the gravel flew everywhere.
The black smoke re-condensed into the figure of Alastair not far away. His face was full of shock, anger and fear, and his chest was heaving violently. He did not expect that in just one month, Bai Haorui's combat power had increased so much, and he was completely suppressed.
"We'll see!" Alastair gritted his teeth and left a harsh word. He suddenly looked hard, waved his hand towards Sam next to him, and shot a thicker black magic energy towards Sam.
However, when the demonic energy hit Sam, Sam did not move at all, but frowned slightly, and a faint red light flashed across his body. The demonic energy that was enough to throw Dean ten meters away was easily resolved by Sam, without even blowing the corners of his clothes.
Alastair was stunned, with a look of surprise on his face. He looked at Sam with complicated eyes. "Interesting... really interesting."
Bai Haorui snorted coldly and rushed towards Alastair with his mahogany sword in hand. Alastair did not dare to fight and once again turned into a ball of black smoke and disappeared into the night.