Bai Haorui stood aside, silently passing a bottle of beer.
Dean took it and pulled it several times before pulling it open.
He took a big gulp, which made him cough and almost burst into tears.
"It's gone." Dean's voice was a little hoarse, and he smiled self-deprecatingly, "My family is gone. My books are gone too."
"There will be more." Bai Haorui's tone was very soft, but very sure.
"No way." Dean shook his head, looking at his own shadow on the ground, alone, "I was born with this destiny. I will be a hunter all my life, kill monsters all my life, and finally die in some shabby motel, there is no one to collect the body."
Bai Haorui didn't answer. He knew that it was useless to say anything at this time, he had to wait for himself to recover.
Dean finished a bottle of beer and squeezed the can into its shape.
He raised his head, his eyes were red, but he said with a fierceness that would destroy the cauldron, "Let's go up. I must ask clearly today."
He has nothing now, only a relative like Sam is left.
Even if it's fake, even if it's a monster, he still has to figure it out.
Otherwise, I won't be able to survive this day.
Sam was already in the room, squatting beside the bed and pulling out a wooden box from under the bed.
The box was opened, and there was a shriveled cat skull inside, along with Heaven bird seeds and devil's shoelace grass.
"Summoning ceremony." Sam picked up the cat skull and weighed it. "This girl must have wanted to know the truth about her boyfriend's cheating. She couldn't find out the truth through conventional methods, so she took the wrong way. After summoning Veritas, she couldn't hold it back."
"Cat Bones?" Dean frowned, "What does Veritas have to do with cats?"
"Her sacred object is the cat." Bai Haorui stood at the door and glanced at the layout of the room, "Legend has it that nine cats follow her around to help her keep an eye on the lies in the world."
The room was very quiet, the curtains were drawn, and the light was very dark.
The shriveled cat skull was placed on the table, with its dark eye sockets facing the door, which made people feel terrified.
Sam put away the materials and stood up. "Okay, we have all the clues. It's Veritas. If we go back and dig up her legend, we should be able to find the person."
He walked out as he said that. When he passed by Dean, Dean suddenly said, "Wait a minute."
Sam stopped and turned to look at him, with just the right amount of confusion in his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"We have to talk." Dean's voice was low, his eyes were red, and he stared straight at him, "I've been hit by Truth Curse. Now you will tell the truth no matter what I ask."
The smile on Sam's face froze for a moment, so fast that it was almost invisible.
"The day the vampire attacked me," Dean said every word, his voice trembling, "Why were you standing there not moving?"
The air froze instantly.
Sam stared at him, his eyes swayed, and then he showed a guilty expression, just right and perfectly measured.
"I... I was scared to death." His voice was a little regretful, "I was suddenly confused at the time, and by the time I realized it, it was already too late. Dean, I really regret it, I couldn't have intentionally harmed you. I am your brother, how could you think so..."
He spoke so smoothly, as if he had rehearsed it hundreds of times.
Dean looked into his eyes and held a confrontation for a few seconds. He wanted to find some flaws in it, find something that didn't belong to Sam, but the look in his eyes was so sincere that he couldn't find any fault with it.
Finally, he turned away, sighed, and softened his tone. "Okay, I'm sorry. I just thought too much. There have been too many messy things recently, and I'm a little nervous."
"It's okay." Sam patted his arm and smiled gently, "I will always be on your side, don't forget."
The two passed by each other, and Sam turned around and walked downstairs. The moment his back was turned to Dean, all the expressions on his face disappeared, and his eyes were as cold as ice, without a trace of ripples.
In the shadow at the corner of the stairs, Bai Haorui stood quietly. He heard all the conversation just now, and his fingertips tightened slightly.
It was such a good performance. Even he almost believed it.
It's a pity that it's really not true. It's not about facial expressions. It's about heart.
Sam felt empty in his heart, with no emotion at all. No matter how perfect the performance was, it was just a performance.
Dean walked down, feeling confused.
He was clearly going to question him just now, so why did he soften again? Why did he believe it again?
He scolded himself for being worthless, but he couldn't help but feel happy - fortunately, fortunately he was scared out of his wits, fortunately it was not intentional, fortunately his younger brother was still his younger brother.
Even if it's just acting... just act.
Walking to the first floor, Bai Haorui was standing at the door waiting, with his back to the light and his expression unclear.
"Let's go." Dean rubbed his face and tried to act as if nothing happened, "Go back to the hotel and search for clues."
Bai Haorui glanced at him without revealing anything.
Some people are just willing to lie to themselves. Let them lie for a while. Anyway, the day when the truth will come to your door is not far away.
Sam had already walked to the car, leaning against the car door and waiting for them. The setting sun fell on his face, half bright and half dark, very much like him - he looked familiar on the surface, but it was so dark underneath that he was unrecognizable.
Bai Haorui looked away and sighed softly.
This muddy water has just begun to stir up. There will be more pain waiting for them later.
The three returned to the hotel room and spread all the information on the table. The cat skull was placed in the middle, next to the summoning materials and the printed photo of the news anchor.
"Do you really think a goddess would condescend to be a local news anchor?" Dean pointed at Ashley·Frank in the photo with a look of disbelief, "It looks quite normal."
"The more normal, the more suspicious." Sam sat in front of the computer, typing on the keyboard with his fingers, "She suddenly appeared three years ago, and no one knows her origins. Her previous resume was all blank, as if she appeared out of thin air."
Bai Haorui picked up the photo and gently brushed the woman's eyes in the picture with his fingertips.
A very faint breath of the old god came from the fingertips. It was very weak, but it couldn't deceive anyone.
"It's her." Bai Haorui put down the photo and said in a determined tone, "There is a golden light in the pupils, which is the characteristic of Veritas. Dogs are her nemesis, and she will instinctively dodge when she encounters a dog. I will find a video of her location tomorrow to see if there is a dog barking at her, and we can confirm it."
"Okay, then let's go find her tonight." Dean immediately agreed, "We'll do it once confirmed."
"Don't worry." Bai Haorui waved his hand, "She has eaten so many people, so she is not weak. It is not good to just force her way in."
"Then what should we do?" Dean raised an eyebrow, "We can't just watch her and continue killing people, right?"
"I set up Five Elements Binding Formation outside to block her teleportation and cut off her source of power." Bai Haorui tapped his fingertips on the table, "You two go in to lure her out and lead her to the basement."
Sam raised his eyes and glanced at Bai Haorui, with a bit of inquiry in his eyes.
This person is always more unfathomable than you think.
"Okay, let's do it like this." Dean nodded and grabbed his coat, "Let's go and check some places first. We'll do it in the middle of the night."
The three people have a clear division of labor: Sam is going to prepare dog blood and hunting knives, Dean is going to check out the route, and Bai Haorui is going to prepare the magic weapons for the formation.
When there was no one in the room, Bai Haorui stood by the window, looking at the busy traffic downstairs, frowning slightly.
He didn't tell the whole story just now.
The power of Veritas's mantra can best bring out the secrets deep in the heart. If you go in tonight, Dean will definitely hear the words you least want to hear.
But he can't stop it.
You can stop it once, but you can't stop it for a lifetime. Dean will have to face it sooner or later.
Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain.
Bai Haorui sighed lightly, took out five Five Emperor Coins from the cloth bag, and placed them in a row on the window sill.
The copper coins glowed with a pale golden light, reflecting the night, like five small stars.
There are some hurdles that you have to overcome by yourself. Others can't help you.
It's two o'clock in the morning, and the night is as deep as ink. Ashley's villa is in the wealthy area on the east side of the town. It is lonely and has no neighbors around it.
The lights in the villa were dark, with only a dark red light coming from the basement window, vaguely like blood.
"This is it." Dean squatted behind the bushes and lowered his voice, "It looks normal, but it might be a little scary inside."
Bai Haorui nodded, holding Five Emperor Coins in his hand. "You go in, I will set up a formation around the house. Remember, don't talk nonsense to her, the more she listens, the easier it is to be tricked into telling the truth. Lead her to the basement, there is a small space there, and she can't run away."
"I got it." Sam nodded, picked up the hunting knife soaked in dog blood, and weighed it.
Dean pulled out the knife and took a deep breath.
The two of them ducked down and sneaked in along the wall, moving as lightly as cats. The back door was unlocked and opened with a push. There was a soft "squeak" sound, which was particularly clear in the middle of the night.
The house is very quiet, the living room is filled with cat ornaments, a cat climbing frame is standing in the corner, and several black cats are walking around the house. They are not afraid of people and stare at them with their green eyes, which makes people feel scared.
"It's so scary." Dean whispered.
Sam said nothing and made a downward gesture. A faint smell of blood came from the direction of the basement, getting stronger and stronger, pressing over like substance.
The two of them walked down the stairs. As they went down, the smell of blood became stronger, with a sweet smell of decay.