Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

Afternoon, 3:00 PM.

Du Wei locked the door of the psychological counseling clinic, slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked toward the Subaru parked across the street. Explore stories on empire

The storage cabinet he had ordered had arrived, placed by the door with a sign on it indicating that any parcels or correspondence could be directly thrown into it.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

This way, it also prevented innocent people from provoking the Evil Spirit at home.

At the moment, Du Wei was exploiting the mechanism of the Masked Evil Spirit, having killed two Evil Spirits at once, the balance at home had just been restored.

However, the shadow was an uncertainty, it was persistent about killing him, but whenever someone triggered the mechanism, it would kill outright.

For example... The five heads placed in the attic freezer.

He crossed the street.

Du Wei opened the car door, habitually placed his backpack on the passenger seat, then started the vehicle and headed toward the psychiatric hospital in the suburbs.

The sky was still overcast, but the rain had lessened considerably, no longer as chilling as before.

According to the arrangement, James and the others should also have set off by this time, around four in the afternoon, everyone would meet at the psychiatric hospital.

...

Meanwhile, in North Brook District.

At the entrance of a small alley, three police cars were parked.

Further inside, Officer Tom and four subordinates, all wearing raincoats and with very grim expressions, stared at a corpse half-submerged in a pile of garbage.

"Damn it, why does this body bear such a striking resemblance to Dr. Du Wei? Was someone trying to kill him and killed the wrong person instead? This killer is too stupid, it's like he doesn't have a brain at all."

Torn by frustration, Tom couldn't help cursing, "Fuck! For the love of God, give me a break for two days. I haven't been to the Red Light District for so long. If this keeps up, I'm really going to break down."

Seeing this, a subordinate said helplessly, "Boss, we've run out of vacation days for this year, and the matter with the Cultists hasn't been settled yet. Also, surveillance spotted your friend Mr. Du Wei breaking into a villa through a window. Are you sure you don't want to deal with it?"

Tom paused for a moment, then nonchalantly said, "Deal with it? What's there to deal with? Just leave it. There's nothing happening anyway. Oh, and by the way, seal off that villa."

He was already adept at such matters, keeping civilians away from Evil Spirit incidents and leaving professional matters to more skilled individuals.

Resigned, the subordinate shrugged and said, "Alright, boss. What about this body? The footage from surveillance seems to suggest a murder."

Hearing this, Tom nodded and replied, "Take the body back with us and send me the photos. This is a little strange; I might need to have a talk with Mr. Du Wei."

"And even if I don't get the chance to stroll around the Red Light District lately, I still need to find time to relax."

With that, he chuckled and added, "Yeah, I think I might be falling in love."

...

On the other side.

Du Wei was driving, having already left the North Brook District, heading toward the suburbs.

The fine rain pelted the car's windshield, and even with the wipers on, the view out was somewhat blurred.

Fortunately, upon reaching the suburbs, there were hardly any vehicles in sight, and thus he was able to increase his speed.

...

A little over an hour later.

Du Wei had arrived at his destination—Hill Psychiatric Hospital.

After parking the car, James and the others had not yet arrived, but by now, the sky had turned even more ominous, signaling the approach of another storm.

Looking around, the surroundings were all vast wilderness, with a few small houses visible in the distance, clearly abandoned.

In sight, there was only the row of white buildings of Hill Psychiatric Hospital and a bus stop sign by the roadside.

Looking higher, there was an out-of-place structure within the hospital grounds.

The church-style bell tower—with a large clock face at the very top, at the height of four stories.

The hands on the clock pointed precisely to 4:30 PM.

Du Wei looked at the electric barrier at the entrance of Hill Psychiatric Hospital, thought for a moment, and took his phone out to call James.

A minute later, the call connected.

He spoke calmly, "I've arrived. How much longer until you get here?"

On the other end of the phone, James's tone was apologetic, "Mr. Du Wei, we might be a bit delayed in getting there. The nearby road is impassable due to water accumulation, and we're trying to take a detour."

Du Wei frowned and asked, "So what should I do now?"

James answered, "I'll give the director a heads-up later, she'll come out to meet you. All you need to do is wait for us to arrive. Of course, with your adaptability, you can also consider investigating some relevant information beforehand."

Du Wei said indifferently, "Okay, I got it."

After that, he hung up the phone, then grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat and opened the car door with an umbrella in hand.

Whoosh...

A gust of wind blew, tilting the umbrella.

"This kind of weather is not suitable for traveling."

Holding the umbrella, Du Wei walked towards Hill Psychiatric Hospital while entering Spirit Vision mode.

If there was indeed a nun's head in this psychiatric hospital, then things were definitely not going to go smoothly.

Just like the visit to the Horror House, what was supposed to scare people turned out to be corpses and ghosts, and it is still sealed off to this day.

What puzzled Du Wei was that in Spirit Vision mode, the entire psychiatric hospital looked no different from what the naked eye saw.

The oppressive atmosphere, the unusualness, even the presence of Evil Spirits were all absent.

It was as clean as if it were a utopian retreat...

It seemed there were no problems.

But just then, a vacant voice suddenly sounded, "Please don't peek at my mansion, or I'll have security throw you out."

Hm?

Upon hearing this, Du Wei paused for a moment and looked in the direction the voice had come from.

At the end of the electric railing, near the machinery below, crouched a man in a patient gown, staring back at him with numb eyes, his clothing and body soaked by the rain, shaking uncontrollably from the cold.

"Are you a patient?"

Du Wei asked with a furrow in his brow and then felt it was a needless question.

In a psychiatric hospital, a person wearing a patient gown if not a patient, could hardly be a doctor, right?

And the man kept on saying vacantly, "Please stay away from my mansion, it's my most beloved woman. If you want to enter, you must have my permission."

Du Wei fell silent for a moment, no longer speaking to the man.

Although psychologists and psychiatrists do similar work, they are actually two different professions.

One deals with psychological issues, the other with psychiatric ones.

More importantly, at this moment, a woman around 60 years of age was approaching.

She wore a white uniform, carried an umbrella, and walked with a bit of a shuffle, seemingly slightly hunched. Her left foot seemed to have been injured, making her shoulder dip slightly every time she took a step.

"May I ask if you are Mr. Du Wei? I am Taylor Fonda, the director of this psychiatric hospital."

It was then that Du Wei could clearly see her face, creased with wrinkles, the left edge marred by burn scars, and an ear that looked to have been melted in a way that gave it an odd shape.

He narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Hello, Director Taylor, I am Du Wei."

Director Taylor glanced at Du Wei, then turned her attention to the patient beside her and sighed helplessly.

Afterward, she said to herself, "This patient is named Martin. He was once a wealthy man, but his wife had an affair with another man and even brought him into their villa. In the end, I don't know what strings she pulled, but not only did she leave Martin broke, but she also had him committed to Hill Psychiatric Hospital."

She spoke these words for Du Wei to hear.

Curious, Du Wei asked, "So he's not sick?"

Director Taylor shook her head, "He wasn't initially, but somehow after getting here he went mad. So it's best you don't interact with him, you might also go mad inexplicably."

Du Wei responded indifferently, "The patients I've dealt with are usually quirky, but up to now, my mental state has been quite stable."

Director Taylor, who was pressing the button to the electric railing, stopped abruptly upon hearing this.

She looked up, staring at Du Wei for a moment, "The patients you've been in contact with?"

Du Wei, maintaining his composure, replied, "Yes, I'm a psychologist."