Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

In the corridor.

Footsteps gradually began to echo.

Du Wei did not chase after the footprints on top of the wall but chose to head downstairs directly.

The abnormalities of the psychiatric hospital started to materialize after nightfall.

However, they existed before that, not triggered by the arrival of Du Wei and the others, causing inexplicable events to occur.

Therefore, combining what was seen in the afternoon, there are currently two places that can be deemed safe.

One is the clock tower building into which Madam Taylor, the director, had entered.

The other is the building where the mental patients stayed.

If these two places weren't safe, the people before wouldn't have remained unharmed.

Moreover...

There were James and the others...

Just as Du Wei had previously thought, the elite exorcists sent by the church weren't so impressive, but with their "well-equipped" gear, they shouldn't have fallen so easily to the Evil Spirit.

After all, using that camera against the Evil Spirit was incredibly simple.

As long as they captured a photo, the Evil Spirit wouldn't be able to harm people for a certain period.

In other words, Du Wei's situation was a bit more dangerous.

He had already mentioned that the meeting point was at the clock tower, and after dealing with the Evil Spirit, they would likely go there too.

"Time to go!"

Du Wei said to himself and proceeded to descend the stairs step by step.

The entire stairwell was deadly silent, the only sounds being his own footsteps and breathing.

He even suspected that he was the only person in this building, and the other rooms were all empty.

...

A few minutes later.

Inside the psychiatric hospital.
Find adventures at empire

The torrential rain continued.

Du Wei stood downstairs, pulled the hood of his raincoat over his head, hiding most of his face.

Ever since he had boarded that eerie bus the previous time, he had acquired a waterproof garment with an attached hood, perfect for rainy weather.

It not only kept him warm but was also convenient, not hindering his flexibility.

Exhaling a breath of stale air, Du Wei's gaze lingered on the entrance of the hospital for a moment.

His position was the furthest from the entrance, in a straight line, with the church-style clock tower building in between.

The closer building was where the mental patients resided.

He estimated that James and the others, being at their location, would likely reach the clock tower building a bit faster than him.

Of course, that was provided they had already dealt with the Evil Spirit at the entrance.

Without further contemplation, Du Wei walked in the rain toward the clock tower.

The accumulated rainwater on the ground was about seven millimeters deep, every step he took splashing water and forming the outline of a footprint, quickly washed away by the rain.

...

Meanwhile.

The electric barrier of the psychiatric hospital had been opened.

A headless corpse, looking identical to Du Wei, lay quietly on the ground, its head tilted into a nearby pool of accumulated water.

Opposite the body, the condition of James and the others was not very good; everyone's clothes were soaked by the rain,

The psychological shadow caused by the previous encounter with the Evil Spirit Du Wei was too great, facing another Evil Spirit resembling Du Wei brought a strange sense of fear.

"Luckily, this thing has a corporeal form, compared to the Evil Spirit Du Wei it's practically like a harmless sheep." James wiped the silver cross dagger in his hands, his expression slightly relieved.

His silver cross dagger was longer than Du Wei's and even more substantial; it would be more appropriate to call it a short sword rather than a dagger.

At this moment, Harry, with a pale face, said, "What should we do now?"

Under the state of Spirit Vision, the hospital felt oppressively suffocated to him, as if facing an endless cliff and abyss.

This feeling was even more intense than the suffocation and terror experienced at the psychological counseling clinic.

James glanced at Harry and said in a deep voice, "We do as Mr. Du Wei suggested, we'll regroup with him at the bell tower."

Harry nodded silently while Homier, with a look of worry, said, "I hope he's alright. If he died here, it would be no small loss to the church."

James nodded in agreement, "It should not come to that, after all, Father Tony said that he's very capable, much more seasoned than your average exorcist."

…

Meanwhile.

Du Wei also ran into a bit of trouble.

In the torrential rain, he stopped in his tracks, allowing the rain to pour over him, dripping down from his waterproof coat.

In front of him was a dimly lit, low-hanging street lamp, the presence of the rain made all the more obvious due to the unceasing downpour.

Within the range of the street lamp's light was a man in patient attire, kneeling. His skin pale and swollen as if waterlogged, with hollow and lifeless eyes, and no rise and fall of his chest.

It was clear this was a corpse.

Its posture was also strange, with hands placed in front of its chest, seemingly in prayer.

Du Wei furrowed his brow, and in the state of Spirit Vision, he distinctly felt that faint, eerie presence.

"Like the thing I just encountered..."

Du Wei stared at the corpse with a blank expression, his gaze remained calm but a hint of doubt surfaced in his mind.

He had seen this corpse before...

Yes... it was the mental patient named Ryan.

When he saw Ryan earlier, he was very much alive; in no time at all, he had become what he was now.

Even if Ryan had mysteriously died for some reason after leaving the building where the mental patients were kept, the skin of the corpse had waterlogged swelling, which would take several hours at least.

The timeline simply didn't add up…

"Unless what I saw at first was already a corpse."

This thought emerged in Du Wei's mind, but after thinking it over, he quickly dismissed it.

Before nightfall, everyone Du Wei had seen or touched, except for Mrs. Taylor, the dean, were mental patients.

Leaving Mrs. Taylor aside for the moment, this old woman who survived the fire was definitely hiding something.

And for the mental patients, it was unlikely that they had already been dead for a while.

Because that would indicate an anomaly, it would mean the presence of an Evil Spirit.

With Spirit Vision at the Third Phase, no Evil Spirit could hide its identity in his presence.

The intelligence of Evil Spirits is limited to mechanisms, and up until now, the only one seen to possess intelligence was the Masked Evil Spirit, which had taken on Du Wei's persona.

After analyzing all this.

Du Wei came to a very unsettling conclusion.

When night fell, the entire psychiatric hospital was split into two dimensions.

The psychiatric hospital during the day was normal, but at night, various unexplainable anomalies occurred.

Another Du Wei that James and the others saw, as well as Ryan's corpse.

And the owner of that eye they had seen at the entrance before.

"So this is the reason one must stay in their room after night falls? But I feel there might still be some secrets that I have yet to discover," Du Wei mused with a glacial gaze, staring at Ryan's corpse for a while before deciding to detour towards the bell tower to take a look.

If there were no surprises, Mrs. Taylor should still be inside.

Just then, Ryan's corpse's head, following Du Wei's movement, twisted slightly.

Their gazes met once again…