The morning light of the cheap motel filtered through the window, casting mottled light and shadow on the floor. Dean sat slumped on the creaky sofa, holding half a bottle of beer in his hand, his other hand on his knee, his eyes blank - he didn't know what he was thinking.
Sam was sitting at the desk opposite, the laptop screen was dazzlingly bright. His fingertips were tapping the keyboard quickly, trying to find clues to crack the contract from the vast amount of information.
Bai Haorui is sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, twisting Five Emperor Coins with his fingertips, and the copper coins are gently rotating in the palm of his hand. True Fire Pill between his eyebrows is faintly hot, and he is silently running "Three Altars Body-Tempering True Fire Art".
Suddenly, the cell phone on the table rang, breaking the silence in the room. Dean rolled his eyes impatiently and reached out to pick it up. "Who is it? Disturbing dreams so early in the morning."
Bobby's voice came from the receiver, mixed with the rustling of books in the background. "Dean, it's me. Ohio Milan. Three people have committed suicide in mysterious circumstances in the past two weeks. They all received the same untraceable call before their death. The number is 'SHA33'. The police can't find any clues. They are not far from you, go and have a look."
Dean raised his eyebrows, took a sip of beer, and said with the usual ridicule in his tone, "It's another case with no beginning and no end, can't you give us a break?" But when he heard the "untraceable call", an imperceptible sharpness flashed in his eyes - his intuition of supernatural events was never wrong. He stood up and threw the beer can into the trash can. "Let's see what these stupid police officers missed."
Sam closed the computer and looked solemnly. "I just found the police report of Milan. The three deceased are Ben Waters, Martha·Cole and Todd·Parker Ben lost his girlfriend of five years, Martha's son drowned six months ago, and Todd's father died of a heart attack last month. They are all people who have recently experienced bereavement."
Bai Haorui opened his eyes, and the Five Emperor Coins in the palm of his hand stopped spinning and turned slightly black. "The yin energy is very heavy, and it is 'adherent evil energy'. It is not the free coldness of ordinary ghosts, but something that can be attached to a specific carrier to commit crimes. However, the evil energy is very obscure, and it is temporarily unclear whether it is a ghost, a monster, or other supernatural beings. It exists naturally." He put Five Emperor Coins away, stood up and picked up the mahogany sword leaning against the wall. The Three-Five Evil-Slaying Talisman engraved on the sword was tempered by True Fire during this period of time and shimmered with purple-gold light in the morning light. "Let's go, no matter what it is, just go to the scene and see."
The three of them quickly packed up their equipment. Dean put the salt gun on his waist, Sam stuffed a few ancient books, paper towels and sealable bags for sampling into the backpack, and Bai Haorui put away the cinnabar, ink fountain thread and several basic talismans. Impala's engine roared through the tranquility of the town, heading towards Ohio Speeding away in the direction of Milan.
Impala was parked in Milan, a quiet residential street. A yellow cordon was drawn in front of Ben Waters' house, and several police officers were on duty at the door. The three of them showed their forged Federal Bureau of Investigation documents and successfully entered the house.
There is still a faint smell of gunpowder and a lingering coldness in the air, which is incompatible with the afternoon sunshine. The house is in a mess, books on the bookshelf are scattered all over the floor, the coffee table has been overturned, and the weirdest thing is the old-fashioned landline phone in the center of the living room - the telephone line has been cut abruptly, and the wire ends are exposed, but it still makes a harsh "ring" sound, like a call from another world.
"This scene is like experiencing a fight, but more like... behaving out of control." Sam squatted down and lightly brushed the book on the ground with his fingertips. There were a few drops of dried tears on the pages.
Dean walked to the beeping phone, hesitated, and reached out to pick up the receiver. A vague whisper immediately penetrated his ears, like a woman's sobs or a vague call. The voice had a strange magic power, which instantly reminded him of Father John. His expression suddenly changed, and his fingers subconsciously clenched the receiver tightly, his knuckles turning white. It was not until Sam patted him on the shoulder that he suddenly came to his senses and hung up the phone, but the ringtone still persisted.
"What did you hear?" Sam asked.
"Nothing, just a bunch of noise." Dean covered it up and turned towards the neighbor who was watching at the door - an old lady with gray hair. He put on a gentle tone and patted the old lady's arm. "Madam, we are from Federal Bureau of Investigation. I would like to ask if Ben has said anything strange recently? For example, received a call that he shouldn't have answered?"
The old lady sighed with sad eyes, "This kid is so pitiful. He hasn't really smiled since Linda left. In the past week, he has been staring at the phone in a daze, and sometimes he talks to himself, saying 'Linda was calling him, "Linda, let him go find her." I tried to persuade him not to think nonsense, but he couldn't listen to me... Yesterday afternoon, I heard a gunshot from here, and by the time I ran over, it was already too late."
Sam found a brown-covered diary in Ben's desk drawer. The pages were somewhat worn. He flipped through it quickly and found that Linda was mentioned on almost every page. The lines were full of longing and despair. "Linda, life without you is too painful, I really want to hear your voice again. "If I can see you again, I am willing to pay any price." There is only one line written on the last page of the diary: "She called me on the phone, and I am going to find her."
Sam noticed a circle of light black stains on the table next to the phone. It didn't look like dust or drink traces. He took out a tissue and carefully took a sample and put it into a sealed bag. "This stain is very strange, like some kind of energy residue. Haorui, take a look."
Bai Haorui took the sealed bag, a faint wisp of Pure Yang True Fire condensed from his fingertips, and gently touched the tissue. True Fire became agitated as soon as it touched the stain, and the originally soft golden flame turned faint black, as if it was contaminated. He took back True Fire said in a deep voice, "It is an evil spirit, and it is strongly related to this phone. The evil spirit is transmitted through the phone. But the evil spirit is very special. It does not have the strong resentment and anger of ordinary ghosts. Instead, it has a kind of 'inducing', which is more like amplifying the obsession of the deceased and making them take the initiative to die."
"Amplify obsession?" Dean frowned, "Then its targets are those who have unfulfilled wishes or are deeply sad?"
Bai Haorui nodded. "That's most likely the case. And this evil spirit is very stubborn. Even if the phone line is pulled, it cannot completely cut off its connection, which shows that this thing has extremely strong adhesion."
When the three of them left the house, the ringtone of the phone still echoed in the empty room, as if it was taunting or calling the next victim.
After leaving their home, the three of them drove to Martha·Cole's house. The journey was not far, and they arrived at another residential area twenty minutes later. Martha's husband, Tom, was sitting on the doorstep, holding a photo of Martha in his hand, his eyes dull, and his whole body exuded a strong feeling of sadness.
Seeing the three people approaching, Tom stood up slowly and said in a weak voice, "Are you here to check on Martha?"
"Yes, we want to understand the situation at that time." Dean walked to Tom and sat on the steps with a sincere tone, "I know what it feels like to lose a loved one. The pain is very difficult."
This sentence instantly brought the distance closer, and Tom couldn't help but shed tears. "Martha has been suffering from insomnia since Billy left, and always said that he wanted to hear Billy The voice. A week ago, the old-fashioned landline phone at home suddenly rang, and the caller ID showed a strange number. After Martha answered it, her whole person changed. She said that the caller was Billy, and asked her to jump down from the balcony and we could meet."
"Did she believe it?" Sam asked.
"No at first, she hung up the phone three times, but the phone seemed to be under a spell. It hung up and rang, and hung up again and again." Tom wiped her tears. "The last time, after she answered the phone, she rushed to the balcony like crazy. I couldn't stop her... Before she fell, she turned back and shouted to me, 'Billy is waiting for me.'"
"Is that phone still there?" Bai Haorui asked.
Tom nodded, led the three people into the house, and pointed to the landline phone in the corner of the living room. "That's the one. I dismantled it after Martha's accident."
The landline phone was similar to our own model, and it was also bone-chilling. Even if there was no power at the moment, you could still feel the cold air. Bai Haorui took out Five Emperor Coins and put it on the receiver. The copper coin immediately started to spin rapidly but never fell to the ground, with a faint black color on the edge.
"The same evil spirit, but this evil spirit is not fixed on a certain device." Bai Haorui retracted Five Emperor Coins, "It can flow along the communication lines, so it can be transferred between different victims' homes and commit crimes continuously. Our investigation direction can be narrowed down to the communication lines, especially the lines of old landline phones."
Sam asked, "Are there any other abnormalities on the phone? For example, it is hot, has abnormal noise, or is there any strange feeling during the call?"
"It's cold, no matter how long the call lasts, the receiver is always cold, like holding a piece of ice." Tom recalled, "And the number can't be found at all. The telecommunications company said there is no line with this number."
Sam nodded and wrote down three key pieces of information in his notebook, "All the deceased were using old-fashioned landline phones", "The number cannot be traced" and "The handset is cold". His eyes became more solemn. "This is by no means a coincidence, the murderer must be using the communication line to make a fuss."
When they left Martha's house, it was already dark. Instead of going back to the hotel, the three of them drove directly to the Milan library - they needed to find records of supernatural beings from ancient books about "suicide induced by telephone".
The ancient books area of the library was dark and quiet, and the air was filled with the smell of moldy paper. Sam took down a pile of thick "Encyclopedia of Supernatural Creatures" and "Demon Hunter's Handbook" from the bookshelf, spread them on the table and read them one by one. Dean leaned on the back of the chair, holding a yellowed book in his hand, but his eyes were a little distracted, and the whispers he heard on his family's phone during the day echoed repeatedly in his mind, and his father's figure lingered. Bai Haorui sat aside, holding the stained tissue sampled by Sam in his hand, and repeatedly tested it with True Fire, trying to find more clues from the characteristics of evil spirits.
"Yes!" Sam suddenly shouted, his voice breaking the silence. He pointed to the text on a certain page of "Encyclopedia of Supernatural Creatures", "Look, Voice-Mimicking Soul-Eating Monster, known as 'Crocotta' in ancient times, can imitate the voice of the deceased, transmit illusions through communication equipment, wind, water and other carriers, and specializes in sucking the souls of desperate people. It is also good at reading the target's deep memory and can accurately grasp the opponent's obsession."
Bai Haorui immediately came over, compared the description in ancient books, and combined it with the previous detection of evil spirits. "Yes, the 'inducibility' of evil spirits is exactly the same as recorded in ancient books! And it can be attached to the communication line, which is in line with the characteristics of 'carrier crime'. The evil spirits I felt on the two landline phones before have a similar feeling. This should be the work of Crocotta!"
Dean put down the book in his hand and was silent for a moment. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the dog tag on his chest - it was a relic left by his father. "It can read memories," he whispered, "Then it must know what I care about most... it knows about my dad."
Bai Haorui: "Since Crocotta used communication lines to commit crimes, he must be not far from the communication hub. Tomorrow we will go to the phone company to check, especially the person responsible for maintaining the old lines, who is the most suspicious."
The three of them did not leave until the library closed. Milan was eerily quiet in the night, as if Crocotta's cold peeping eyes were hidden in every communication line.
Early the next morning, the three people put on neat shirts, took the forged Federal Communications Commission IDs, and walked into the Milan telephone company. The receptionist dialed the number of the manager's office. After a while, a man wearing A middle-aged man in a light gray suit and round-rimmed glasses came out with a gentle smile on his face, "I am Clark·Adams, the manager of the telephone company. What can I do for you three?"
"We have received complaints. Recently, citizens have reported receiving untraceable harassing phone calls. The number shows 'SHA33', and we want to retrieve abnormal communication line records in the past two weeks." Sam led the inquiry, observing Clark's reaction with sharp eyes.
When he heard the number "SHA33", the smile on Clark's face froze for a moment. Although it was only for a moment, it was accurately captured by Sam. "SHA33?" Clark frowned in pretense of doubt, "I have never heard of this number, but it doesn't matter. I will take you to the computer room to check the switch. All line records are stored there."
"Sorry to trouble you." Sam nodded and glanced at Dean and Bai Haorui calmly.
Dean immediately cooperated with the acting, walked to the technician who was typing on the keyboard next to him, and patted his shoulder. "Brother, your old switch can still be used? It looks like it has been around for a while, so it doesn't hide any secrets, right?"
The technician's name is Stewie. He has messy hair and wears thick-soled glasses. He looks a little timid. He was startled by Dean's sudden conversation and pushed up his glasses. "This switch is a bit old, but manager Clark is very familiar with it. He has been working here for more than ten years and he can solve all line problems. And he has been working overtime recently, saying that he needs to maintain the lines to prevent failures."
"Working overtime?" Dean raised an eyebrow, "So dedicated?"
"Who knows, maybe I'm afraid that something will go wrong and I'll be complained." Stewie said vaguely, his eyes a little dodgey, obviously he didn't want to talk more.
Clark led the three people towards the computer room. The computer room was filled with old equipment, the indicator lights kept flashing, and the smell of burnt wires filled the air. Bai Haorui followed Clark and took advantage of him to bend down to check the communication. During the gap between switching machines, a very fine wisp of True Fire species condensed on his fingertips and fell like dust on the interface of the switch - this was his tracking mark. As long as Crocotta used the switch to control the line, he could immediately feel the energy fluctuations.
At the same time, he quietly scanned Clark's body with Divine Sense, and found that there was a faint energy shielding layer in his body, as if he was deliberately hiding something to prevent the outside world from perceiving his true aura. Bai Haorui calmly approached Sam and Dean and lowered his voice. "He has a problem and is deliberately hiding energy fluctuations. Moreover, on this switch, there are residual evil spirits consistent with the deceased's phone, so he is the most suspicious."
Clark seemed to have noticed something, turned around and said with a smile, "You three will check slowly, and call me anytime if you need anything. I have something else to do, so I will go out first." After that, he quickly left the computer room.
"He ran away?" Dean frowned.
"No, he should be watching us from outside." Bai Haorui shook his head, "I left a tracking mark on the switch. As long as he dares to use energy to control the circuit, we can lock him."
Sam quickly operated the switch console and called up the line records of the past two weeks, "Found it! All 'SHA33' calls are sent from this switch, and the time of each call coincides with Clark's overtime time!"
When the three returned to the hotel, it was already dark. Sam printed out the found line record, spread it on the table, and pointed to the timestamp on it. "Every time 'SHA33' calls, Clark is in the computer room. This is definitely not a coincidence. He is Crocotta, who uses his position to control the line and induce the victim to commit suicide."
Dean was leaning against the table, holding a beer in his hand but not drinking it. His eyes were complicated. "If he is Crocotta, then he must be able to read the memory..."
At this moment, Dean's mobile phone suddenly rang, and the harsh ringtone broke the solemnity in the room. The caller ID showed a series of familiar numbers, which were the old mobile phone numbers of his father John·Winchester that had been dusty for many years.
Dean's pupils suddenly shrank, and his hands trembled uncontrollably. He answered the phone almost stiffly, his voice incredibly hoarse. "Dad?"
"Dean, it's me." The familiar voice of John came from the receiver, with a hint of exhaustion, but extremely real, "I found the devil holding your Hell contract on the edge of Hell, and it is in Milan. I have the Saint Benedict Exorcism Prayer that can kill it. I will tell you the address and the prayer. You must go there alone and don't tell Sam."
"Why can't you tell Sam?" Dean asked subconsciously.
"Sam has demon blood in his body. He is no longer the brother you know. You can't trust him." John's voice became serious. "Do you still remember when you were hunting in Minnesota when you were a child and broke my most cherished shotgun? I didn't scold you, but taught you how to repair it - only our father and son know about this. This is not an illusion, I am really contacting you."
This sentence was like a key, instantly opening the door to Dean's obsession. He raised his head suddenly, looked at Sam with excited eyes, and said with excitement in his voice, "He knows something that only our father and son know! This is not Crocotta! It's Dad! He can save me!"
"Dean, calm down!" Sam immediately retorted, picked up the ancient book on the table and pointed at Crocotta's record, "It can read your memory! It knows all the past events between you and dad! This is a trap! It wants you to act alone, and then it will attack you!"
"Trap?" Dean glared at Sam, "We have never come up with any good ideas! There are no clues! Now that it finally appears, I hope you won't let me believe it! Don't you want to save me?"
"That's not what I meant! What nonsense are you talking about?" Sam stepped forward anxiously, but was pushed away by Dean.
Bai Haorui suddenly felt True Fire a violent beating on his fingertips, and True Fire Pill between his eyebrows also felt hot - Clark was controlling the phone in the computer room! He immediately shouted, "Stop making noise! It's calling someone else! Dean, calm down, we can verify it! Who is your father? Think about it carefully! He will never let you take risks alone, let alone let you doubt Sam! He has taught us brothers to support each other all his life, how could he let you kill Sam and act alone?"
Dean paused, his eyes wavered for a moment, but was soon covered by obsession. "I don't care! This is my only hope!" He grabbed his coat, turned around and rushed out the door, "I wrote down the address, I will go there myself!"
"Dean!" Sam wanted to chase out, but was stopped by Bai Haorui.
"Don't stop it, it can't be stopped." Bai Haorui said in a deep voice, quickly making a plan, "Sam, follow the address Dean is going to - Stubbs' house, to stop him from making mistakes; I will go to the telephone company's computer room and keep an eye on Clark to prevent it from manipulating others to cause tragedy; we will act in synchrony to prevent its conspiracy from succeeding!"
Sam nodded, grabbed his backpack and ran out. "Be careful!"
The Stubbs house is an abandoned suburban house with overgrown weeds and it looks like it has been uninhabited for a long time. Dean found the house according to the address given by "John", took a deep breath, took out the salt and chalk from his backpack, drew a Devil's Trap in the center of the living room, and took out the holy water and salt gun and placed them next to it, fully prepared.
He held the phone tightly, which contained the exorcism prayer sent by "John". He was nervous and looking forward to it - he wanted to live and see his father again.
Suddenly, the door of the house was kicked open, and a strong man rushed in with a shotgun in his hand. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and he screamed, "You killed my daughter! I want to avenge her!"
The man is Mike Stubbs. His daughter died mysteriously six months ago, and he just received a call from his "daughter" saying that her murderer was in this house.
"You're mistaken! I'm not the murderer!" Dean explained immediately, but was pushed to the ground by Mike, with the muzzle of the shotgun pressed against his forehead.
"Who are you? My daughter said it herself on the phone!" Mike was so excited that his finger was already on the trigger.
Dean was pressed so hard that he couldn't move. His forehead was pressed against the cold floor. Bai Haorui's words suddenly flashed through his mind - "Your father will never let you take risks alone." At the same time, he touched the copy of the ancient book that Sam thrust into his pocket. It read, "Crocotta is good at sowing discord and creating fratricidal situations."
In an instant, all his illusions were shattered. He looked at Mike, a man who, like him, was deeply in the pain of losing his daughter and trapped by obsession, suddenly woke up. In his life, his father John had never let him face danger alone, nor had he taught him to doubt his brother.. He exerted force, pushed Mike away, and shouted, "I know what it feels like to lose a loved one! My father is dead, and my brother is my only relative! But this is not a solution! That phone call is fake, it is Crocotta imitating your daughter's voice, and it wants us to kill each other!"
Mike's movements paused, and the madness in his eyes gradually faded away, replaced by confusion. "Fake? But that voice is clearly..."
"It can read the memory and know all the past events of you and your daughter!" Dean stood up and pointed at Devil's Trap on the ground, "Look at this trap, if you were a devil, you would have been bound long ago! We are all victims, don't let it succeed!"
Mike looked at Devil's Trap on the ground, and thought of the strange things on his daughter's phone. He finally reacted and put down the shotgun dejectedly. "Then... then my daughter is really gone?"
"I don't know if there is an afterlife, but I know that we can't let it use your daughter's voice to harm others." Dean patted his shoulder, "I'm going to kill him now."
When Bai Haorui rushed to the telephone company's computer room, Clark was sitting in front of the console, his fingers tapping the keyboard quickly, and a strange smile hanging on the corner of his mouth. Hearing the footsteps, he slowly turned around, his face The gentle smile on his face disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by a twisted and ferocious look - his eyes turned pure black, the corners of his mouth were split to the base of his ears, revealing densely packed fangs, his nails became long and pointed, glowing with cold light, and he was surrounded by a strong purple-black evil spirit.
"You came just in time, Bai Haorui." Clark's voice became hoarse and harsh, no longer the gentle voice before, "Your soul must be delicious."
"Crocotta, you use your obsession to kill people, and you also want to provoke our brothers." Bai Haorui held the peach wood sword tightly and ran "Three Altars Body-Tempering True Fire Art". The power of the fifth level Muscle and Bone Forging instantly poured into the whole body, the muscle lines bulged slightly, and a faint golden halo appeared under the skin, "Today I will let you pay for those dead!"
Clark's body flashed, and he rushed towards Bai Haorui like a ghost, his sharp claws going straight for his throat. Bai Haorui did not dodge, and with the help of Muscle and Bone Forging's back His strong body resisted the blow - there was a crisp "clang" sound, the sharp claws hit his shoulder, and sparks flew everywhere. He just took two steps back, leaving a shallow blood mark on his shoulder, which was quickly healed by the True Fire in his body.
"You can actually resist my sharp claws?" Clark was a little surprised, and then sneered, "But that's it!" It pounced on again, with sharp claws and fangs in action.
Bai Haorui's eyes narrowed, and he swung out the ink fountain thread with his left hand - the ink fountain thread had already been soaked in cinnabar and mugwort juice. At this moment, he poured True Qi into it, and it wrapped around like a spiritual snake. Clark's limbs. "You think you can provoke our brothers? It's not that easy!" He tightened the ink line with force, and the pure Yang power of cinnabar burned Clark's skin, causing it to scream in agony.
Clark struggled, the evil spirit surged, trying to break the ink fountain thread. Bai Haorui immediately ran True Fire, a wisp of purple-gold flame condensed from his fingertips, and lightly touched the ink fountain thread, the flame instantly spread along the thread body, wrapping Clark's limbs. "Pure Yang True Fire defeats evil, you can't escape!"
Just when Clark was restrained by the ink fountain wire and True Fire and unable to move, the door of the computer room was kicked open violently, and Dean and Sam rushed in Come in. Seeing the true face of Crocotta, and remembering the scam of pretending to be his father, Dean's anger instantly burst out, he grabbed the metal phone cord next to him, and shouted to the two of them, "I'll kill him!"
He rushed forward, avoided Clark's sharp claws, and punched it in the face. Clark was hit to the side of the head, roaring and trying to fight back, but was tightly restrained by the ink line. Sam took the opportunity to take out the holy water, and threw it into Clark's eyes. "Watch the trick!"
The holy water fell on Clark's eyes, making a "sizzling" sound and emitting thick black smoke. It roared in pain, and the strength of its struggle weakened a lot. Bai Haorui seized the opportunity, suddenly tightened the ink fountain line, and at the same time stimulated the body True Fire, the golden flame poured into Clark's body from the ink line, burning its soul. "Sam, Dean, right now! Its weakness is in its heart!"
Dean understood immediately, held the metal phone cord tightly with both hands, aimed at Clark's heart, and pierced it with force. The metal phone cord carried the holy water that Sam had applied in advance. and salt, instantly penetrated Crocotta's heart. Bai Haorui simultaneously stimulated the whole body True Fire, and the golden flames poured in crazily along the metal telephone line, completely purifying its soul body from the inside.
Clark let out one last shrill scream, and his body melted rapidly in True Fire, eventually turning into a plume of black smoke and dissipating in the computer room. The indicator light on the switch returned to normal, and the strong evil aura also disappeared.
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Dean wiped the sweat from his face and looked at the traces of evil spirit remaining on the ground with complicated eyes. "It's over."
The night in the motel was extremely dark, the stars outside the window were obscured by dark clouds, and only the desk lamp in the room shone faintly.
Dean sat on the edge of the bed, took the initiative to look at Sam, and said in an apologetic voice, "I'm sorry, Sam. I wanted to hold on to that bit of hope so much that I almost hurt everyone, and even doubted you..." He paused and revealed the deepest fear in his heart, "I'm not afraid of Hell, I just don't want to die like this, I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to face all this alone."
Sam patted his shoulder with firm eyes. "I know, Dean. We are brothers, and I have never blamed you. I will work with you to find a way to break the contract. No matter how difficult it is, I will not let you face it alone."
Bai Haorui: "Sometimes you act like a stubborn donkey and you can't stop yourself from making any decision! You don't have a lot of brains!" He said and handed it to Dean Clear Heart Talisman "From now on, one card every day, don't save it for me!"
Dean took the talisman, put it in his bag, and smiled at the two of them, "Thank you for not giving up on me."
The three of them sat by the bed, looking at the night outside the window, without saying anything more.