A bright moon hangs high in the sky.
The cold moonlight illuminated a dark forest on the ground and a house wrapped in blazing flames in the forest glade.
The door of the house was blown to the outside by powerful telekinesis, and the night wind poured into it, causing tongues of fire to lick out of the holes even more violently.
A scorching heat wave encroached on the outside.
Dean and Hope stood in front of the burning wooden house, looking solemnly at the two "people" they had just rescued with their telekinesis.
"Katherine's breathing and heartbeat were calm... There were no obvious signs of trauma or violation. She was probably just temporarily comatose." Dean scanned the woman's body from a God's perspective, touched her neck again, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ryan Reynolds is about seven years old now, and he can't die anymore." Hope squatted down and retracted the hand that touched the charred corpse. The limbs, body, flesh, and black cloth of the corpse were fused into a ball. A rough human shape and Ryan's facial outline were obtained. What's even more permeable is that the whole body is constantly emitting scalding heat and the aroma of barbecue.
Hope looked at her companions incomprehensibly, "Why did the kidnapper die so miserably, but Catherine survived well?"
"This house has a weird power that blocks perception. I only saw a flame and their general location before, so I couldn't see clearly what happened. The specific situation can only be known after Catherine wakes up," Dean shook his head regretfully, and then He looked at the scorched corpse with complicated eyes, "But judging from the results, Ryan is most likely not the perverted criminal we imagined. I'm afraid we have misunderstood him."
Hope raised an eyebrow, "He attacked the police, beat Nick into a pig's head, and kidnapped a lady. If he's not a criminal, could he be a saint?"
Dean looked at the raging fire, "There is no point in arguing now. You send people to the hospital, and I put out the fire to prevent it from burning into the woods."
Hope thought for a moment, nodded, took the two parties involved and drove away.
Dean thought for a moment,
A burst of black mist appeared behind him. The "Shadow of the Past" was loaded with full power and shaped its telekinesis into the shape of an excavator bucket. It was aimed at the ground under the elm tree not far away and dug, and a three-ton mass of moist soil was immediately shoveled. It rose in the air and floated smoothly and quickly to the door of the wooden house.
Boom!
The soil was thrown in like a trebuchet with telekinesis, crushing the flaming tongues at the door, cutting off its air support, and a burst of white smoke rose up as the sparks trembled wildly.
Dean didn't think it was fast enough, so he waved his hand and bang!
The power of mind penetrated a large hole in the roof, and then turned into an invisible soil pump truck, constantly digging out soil from the ground, transporting it to the hole and pouring it in.
One after another, lasting no more than five minutes.
The flames in the wooden house were completely extinguished, leaving only high temperatures, sparks, and billowing smoke.
Dean nodded with satisfaction. With his current telekinesis level, he could level this wooden house to the ground in two or three minutes with all his strength.
He stood in the night and waited for a while until the smoke dissipated. Then he walked into the house on the ground mixed with coke and sand. From a God's perspective, the entire internal structure and furnishings of the house were almost completely blackened by the flames. A piece of it was covered with soil again and changed beyond recognition.
Only the ceiling revealed a large, numbing black line that exuded a mysterious aura. Dean studied it for a while, then took out a pen and paper from the illusion space and picked out the most "VV" and "PM" from the lines. Symbol, prepare to ask Hope to help look it up.
He waved his hand, and several charred wooden boards flew out automatically without any wind, blocking the large holes in the door and ceiling.
Afterwards, Dean took out the psychic motherboard and shackles from the fantasy space, sat cross-legged on the ground, cut his fingers and dripped blood.
"Friends gather together, sincere hearts and souls are close, I am calling you."
"Now I will begin my divination, and ask the spirits that linger in this house to listen to my words."
"Ryan Reynolds, owner of the mysterious antique book, Catherine's old friend, is your soul near me?"
The board attached to the motherboard doesn't move at all.
Huhu...
There was only the whine of the cold wind filtering through the cracks in the boards.
"Ryan Reynolds, if you have any regrets, I will try my best to help you make up for it."
But no matter how much Dean called, he got no response, and he put away the divination suit in disappointment.
"This house cannot be regarded as a regular residence and cannot hold a spiritual ceremony. Or is it that the souls of those who died in the fire were also burned by the flames, or is it for other reasons?"
Dean couldn't figure it out for the moment and looked at the system.
After rescuing Catherine and Ryan from the fire, the progress jumped to 40%, but they are still far from completing the event.
He only had a general outline of the entire incident in his mind, lacking many details.
"I hope Carl's investigation of Ryan and Mr. Irving's antique book translation can help to reach 100%."
Dean turned and walked into the night.
…
Early the next morning, Hawkins Town Center Hospital.
A ray of pale golden morning light filtered through the window.
Catherine let out a soft "Hmm" and woke up from her deep sleep. She felt refreshed and relaxed. She couldn't help but smile sweetly at the corner of her mouth. What was even more wonderful was that she saw that person as soon as she opened her eyes.
"Dean? What's going on? Where am I?" Catherine couldn't help but stretch her waist, and Dean could feast his eyes on the charming curves under the white hospital gown.
"In the hospital. Have you forgotten, last night you were kidnapped by Ryan Reynolds to a small cabin in the countryside, and then you passed out." Dean handed a peeled apple to Catherine, looking at her quietly with gentle eyes. face, "How do you feel? Is there any discomfort?"
Ryan Reynolds? !
The name awakened the memory of a nightmare in Catherine's mind, and she folded her arms in horror and examined herself.
"Don't worry too much." Dean took her wrist. The two double V-shaped wounds on her wrist had scabbed overnight, leaving only faint traces that were about to disappear. "The hospital has checked you. You have nothing but these." Apart from the two wounds and some anesthetic drugs in the body, there are no other effects. As long as you don’t feel uncomfortable, then it’s fine.”
"Is it that simple?" Catherine was stunned for a while with her mouth open. "You don't know how scary Ryan Reynolds was last night. I thought he was going to cut me into pieces."
"Continue?" Dean held her warm little hand and wrapped it in his palm, "Don't worry, I'm here, no one can hurt you anymore."
"He kidnapped me to another 'home' and forced me to drink a strange, very unpleasant liquid... and drew a circle with salt around my body..."
As Catherine told the story, Dean discovered that the progress in the system began to slowly increase. Unfortunately, she fell into coma too early and had limited understanding. The progress increased to 45% and stopped moving.
"So you caught Ryan?" Katherine asked,
Dean nodded and shook his head, "You were trapped in the basement of that burning wooden house without the threat of flames, but Ryan was not so lucky..."
When Catherine heard Ryan's ending, her eyes widened and she seemed to be frightened.
"Although it doesn't sound unbelievable," Dean said carefully, "but your description makes me sure that Ryan's purpose is not to hurt you, but to complete some mysterious ritual recorded in the antique book."
"What ceremony?"
"Not sure."
The woman asked again, "Why was he so rude to me when he didn't want to hurt me? Why didn't he just make the request to me directly?"
Dean asked, "Thinking about your weird experience last night, even if he brought it up, would you agree?"
Catherine was silent for a moment and shook her head, "I would be happy to make a report on occultism, but I would not dare to participate in it."
"So he can only force you," Dean analyzed, "and I feel like he is creating some illusion to deceive something."
"What's the meaning?"
"He decorated the cabin exactly like your home, and took away your clothes and blood, as if he wanted to disguise himself as you and face some kind of existence."
"Dean, stop talking."
"Well, let's not talk about these bad things today. You have a good rest and contact me if you need anything." Dean smiled at her and stood up to leave.
"Wait a minute," Catherine grabbed the corner of his clothes, a hint of pleading flashed in her soft eyes, "Can you stay with me?"
"Of course it's no problem." Dean has always been a helpful person, especially when facing a sexy and kind lady. He immediately held Catherine's hand and sat on the edge of the bed.
The woman showed a very vivid expression of gratitude and put a strand of blond hair behind her ear in a feminine manner.
"I've worked hard on you during this period. I originally wanted you to help check on Ryan. I didn't expect so many accidents to happen. Fortunately, there was no irreversible situation."
"We've known each other since we were in Las Vegas, and we're considered old friends. A little favor is nothing." Dean looked into her eyes and changed the topic to a lighter topic, "So, are you going to make this experience a reality?" Include it in a news report?
"Maybe, but I always feel that the matter is not over yet, and I am still a little worried," Catherine pursed her lips, "Can you help me?"
"What's the deal?"
"Lend me your shoulder."
Dean stopped talking. He leaned on the bed and took the initiative to put his arms around Catherine's arms. He gently held her in his arms, feeling the warm and elastic body, and smelling the light blond hair...
Catherine leaned her face against his chest, narrowed her eyes into crescent moons, felt the steady and strong heartbeat, and showed a reassuring smile.
"No further, Catherine, that's almost it."
…
the following few days.
The Hawkins Police Department worked hard to examine various evidence found in the charred wooden house, as well as Ryan's body.
Dean also investigated the meaning of the "VV" and "PM" symbols through various news channels, while waiting for news from Karl and Irving.
The rest of the time, in addition to maintaining daily training and meditation, he almost stayed in the hospital, chatting with Catherine, and sending her fruits and delicious food in different ways every day.
The relationship between the two quickly heated up, but Dean was a little confused. Every time he had an idea to go further, Catherine noticed it in advance and gently resolved it.
On the fifth day, when Catherine was discharged from the hospital, Hope called Dean to the door of the ward and glanced at the beautiful woman folding the quilt beside the hospital bed.
"Boy, have you been having a good time picking up girls these days?"
Dean said seriously, "Director, compared to your level, I'm still far behind."
"Ahem, let's stop talking nonsense. In the past few days, you have been patronizing the reporter lady and did not go back to your ancestral home. Jane was very angry. She sat on the bed several times and secretly wore an eye mask. I suspect she was using her superpower to peek at you."
What?
Dean's face froze for a moment, and he forgot about this. If he did something important in the future, it would be okay if this little clairvoyant spied on him.
"Can't you teach her something else to distract her from?"
"It's obviously your kid's problem, why are you blaming me?" Hope glared at him dissatisfied, "If you don't want to be monitored, go back and spend more time with Jane. Okay, back to the topic, you asked me to check last time I found the mysterious symbol."
Dean's face straightened, "VV and PM?"
"Well, Nick reminded me that these symbols looked mysterious and might have something to do with religion, so I went to the church to ask the priest for advice. The priest identified them as symbols with mysterious powers from the 17th and 18th centuries." Witchcraft symbols', whose main purpose is to drive away evil spirits from the underworld."
Dean's pupils shrank a bit,
To exorcise evil spirits, the underworld, and evil spirits?
"One of their meanings is to pray to the Virgin Mary for peace. Catherine had two VV symbols painted on her wrist, and there were countless witchcraft symbols in the charred wooden house."
Hope lowered her voice and said,
"And the hospital's test results showed that Catherine had consumed a large amount of liquid containing sage and salt that night. According to the priest, salt has the function of purifying magic and defending against bad energy and evil spirits among the people. Sage It has a similar effect.”
"All these spiritual substances are concentrated around Catherine. What do you think it means?"
"So, Ryan Reynolds kidnapped Catherine to get rid of some kind of evil spirit living in her body, and he sacrificed his life for it?" Dean seemed to be struck by an electric current, with goosebumps all over his body. He looked back at the woman in the ward, who smiled sweetly at him.
The system progress suddenly jumped from 45% to 50%.
"Did Reynolds succeed in the exorcism?"
"How could it be possible? He used coercive and illegal means to help people exorcise evil spirits, and did not notify the parties in advance. There is really something wrong with his brain. Even the most stupid villains and liars cannot do such stupid things." Hope shook his head. "Reynolds was 100 percent a case of severe hallucinations and ultimately died by setting himself on fire."
"That's it for now. I have to continue to push forward the translation progress on Owen's side."
…
"Dean, I've packed up. Let's go?" After Hope left, Catherine, who was wearing a light blue dress, walked to the door and took the initiative to hold Dean's hand, holding a clothing bag.
"Where do you want to go?" Dean stroked her blond hair naturally.
"After sitting in the hospital for a few days, my bones are all rusty. How about taking me for a ride?"
"Happy to oblige."
…
The two got in the car and drove along the road to the suburbs. Dean looked at Catherine in the passenger seat through the rearview mirror. She was holding her chin with her right hand and leaning on the window with her elbow. Her eyes were staring at the speeding scenery on the side of the road, and the corners of her mouth were pursed. With a faint smile.
Her wavy blond hair danced lazily in the breeze, and the sun gilded her fair cheeks with a jade-like brilliance.
The whole person is as beautiful as an oil painting.
Dean couldn't bear to break the beautiful atmosphere, but in the end he gritted his teeth and got to the point, "Catherine, I have always wanted to ask you a question. Have you been different from ordinary people since you were a child, and have you had something that bothered you?"
The smile on Catherine's face froze, and she looked away guiltily.
Dean didn't rush him and drove out of the town attentively, arriving at the sparkling river near the quarry.
Catherine couldn't help but say, "Did Audrey tell you?"
"No, just a guess."
"Well, I don't want to lie to you. I am indeed different from ordinary women. I cannot be overly intimate with anyone."
Dean recalled his experiences in the past few days with a look of astonishment on his face, and gently held the woman's hand, "When did this situation occur?"
"More than ten years ago, during spring break when Hawkins was in ninth grade," Catherine looked out the car window at the clear river, "I was swimming in this quarry ditch and accidentally drowned."
Dean said, "I remember everyone mentioned this at dinner last time. You had a cardiac arrest for twelve minutes and almost couldn't be saved..."
"Yes, but I didn't finish. When I was in a state of cardiac arrest, unconscious, and about to disappear from this world, I heard an indescribable voice in the dark..." Catherine's big eyes It shone with fear and strangeness, "It said - 'Your soul belongs to me.'"
Does your soul belong to me?
The system progress jumped to 55%.
"These words were like God's will, pulling me back from the near-death state." A trace of distress flashed in Catherine's eyes, "But from then on, it was like a curse was planted on me, and I couldn't have sex with anyone. Kissing or more affection, otherwise it will hurt all over.”
Dean was stunned for a moment. If this strange disease is the sequelae of evil spirits possessing him, then it is not very harmful at all. Should Ryan Reynolds sacrifice his life in a cruel way to drive out the evil spirits?
"Other than that, there are no other symptoms, such as hallucinations, nightmares, and seeing some kind of strange monster?"
The woman shook her head very firmly, met Dean's eyes and said,
"If you doubt it, if you want, we can give it a try. I haven't tried it in several years, and I've been thinking these past few days, maybe my strange disease has been cured?"
Dean said expectantly but hesitantly, "Will this hurt you?"
"It doesn't matter, it's more like being stung by a wasp." Catherine held his face with her slender fingers, lifted her legs and stepped onto the driver's seat. Dean no longer hesitated, lowered his head and leaned towards the blush.
Small gasps echoed through the cramped car.
After a long time, Dean tasted a slightly cold bitterness at the corner of his mouth, and saw Catherine's blushing face filled with tears and a smile of surprise.
"It doesn't hurt...I'm back to a normal person, I'm cured! Woohoo..."
"Dean, I'm cured!"
"Isn't this worth celebrating? Why are you crying?" Dean wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and breathed a long sigh of relief.
Catherine is cured of her strange illness, which means Ryan Reynolds' bizarre and brutal exorcism is a complete success.
"I'm so happy, so excited...I -" Catherine's cheers stopped abruptly, her rosy face lost its color in an instant and became as pale as paper. The nails pinched the back of Dean's hand, but were blocked by the skin as tough as cowhide.
"Catherine? Catherine?"
The trembling body in Dean's arms suddenly stiffened. He raised her face to check, only to find that her eyes were closed tightly and she fainted from the pain.
Dean's heart suddenly felt cold.
“Ryan Reynolds’ exorcism failed?”
(End of chapter)
