"Do witches really exist in the world?"
Daley lowered his head and looked at the bare plate and questioned,
"The Witch's Hammer says: If the defendant lives an immoral life, it proves that she has dealings with the devil. If she is pious and behaves dignifiedly, it proves that she is pretending to use her piety to divert people's suspicion of her. …”
"So as long as a woman is caught by the Catholic thugs, no matter how she defends herself, she will be identified as a witch."
Trish nodded, disgusted with such insulting words about witches, but still remained rational, "Not all of those on trial are ordinary women. Some of them should also have special abilities?"
"It's not just special abilities," Jesse stared at the dark street outside the restaurant and retorted, "The most important characteristic of witches is that they can communicate with the devil, make deals with the devil, and use magic to poison living beings. This is what they are regarded as. The main reason for heresy.”
Special ability to communicate with the devil?
When Dean heard this, his mind flashed back to Jesse Gay Hartman's last self-description when he met her for the first time at the police station last night.
Dean gave Jesse a deep look.
…
"Let's go, everyone, go find the witch." Dean stood up, took out the cash and put it on the dining table to pay, then turned and walked towards the blue Mercury Jaguar parked outside the door.
"Where to find it?" Cui Shi and the other two stood up and followed him.
"Witches are related to the burned church. Find information about the church." Dean opened the car door and got into the driver's seat.
Trish got into the passenger seat and shook her head, "Sorry, this Catholic church was abandoned before we were born, and we know nothing about it."
Jesse in the back row was a little distracted, "I never pray, so I don't know much about the old church."
"Ms. Jesse, there are very few people in Bohao County who never pray." Daley turned his head and said in confusion,
"When I was bullied in the orphanage, I prayed to God countless times, but it never came to fruition. Since then, I have stayed away from God."
"Okay, let's go to the police station," Dean started the car and drove onto the dark road, "ask Chief Tubbs."
…
On the way to the police station, they passed by the church. At seven o'clock in the evening, the fire had been put out. The place was completely turned into a charred ruin, but some police officers could still be seen carrying the bodies out.
Dean tried to observe the cellar from a God's perspective, but found that the interior was completely unrecognizable. Except for human figures that were burned to char, nothing else could be seen.
…
In the office of the chief of the Bohao County Police Department, the four found Tubbs, who was extremely busy.
The director's face was shiny, his eyeballs were bloodshot, his originally thick black hair was streaked with striking white spots, and his straight back was slightly stooped. In just one day, he seemed to have aged several years.
He put out his cigarette in the ashtray filled with cigarette butts,
"I'm sorry, I have to deal with the funeral affairs of the brothers who died, receive their families, find a way to arrange the hundreds of charred corpses in the cellar, and deal with the news media. I haven't closed my eyes since yesterday, and I really don't have time to receive you."
Dean reminded, "You still have to keep an eye on the dead truck and weapons to be prepared for its next attack."
Tubbs' expression tightened when he heard this, "Don't worry, everything is locked in the warehouse, and a special person is assigned to keep an eye on it 24 hours a day. There is nothing unusual at the moment. I have also purchased generators for the bureau and prepared several pieces of heavy firepower. If the dead skin dares to attack again, don’t even think about hurting my buddy unless you step on my corpse!”
Dean's eyelids twitched and he frantically set a flag for himself.
"Chief, the third group of people has arrived, and they are all in the conference room." A bald black police officer gently knocked on the office door a few times.
"Wait a moment, we'll be here in two minutes." Tubbs looked helplessly at the crowd, his eyes urging.
"Okay, to make a long story short. We want to find the whereabouts of the last priest of the burned church, or the information about the founder of the church." Dean emphasized, "This has an important relationship with dead skin."
Tubbs rubbed his sore temples tiredly, "The first priest of that church was hundreds of years ago. He should have entered heaven long ago. The last priest was also decades ago."
Dean's face darkened.
Tubbs opened a drawer and flipped through a notebook.
"But you're in luck... No. 36 East 8th Street, Tobeca Lambert, an old lady who loves cats to death. She once mentioned the old church to the confronting police officers. She may know something. But you guys Please note that she has a very weird temper, seems to have some brain problems, and is extremely difficult to get along with, so you must be mentally prepared."
"Thanks, Director." Dean tapped his index finger on the table, turned to look at Jesse, "I'd like you to help me find the home addresses and phone numbers of a few people."
Jesse put the list on the table,
The director took a sip of coffee and took a look. The words "Hartmann" in the article made him widen his eyes, as if he had seen something incredible. "Our resident psychic is finally tired of the lonely life and wants to separate from us." Are relatives reunited after decades of separation?"
A trace of melancholy flashed across the female medium's face.
The director nodded, "I'll take the time to ask the guys to help you look for it."
"We are in a hurry. In a few days, the dead skin will come back to life and start killing people." Dean put his hands on the table and emphasized,
Tubbs frantically twirled his sparse black hair, "Okay, stay up one more night, and come to the bureau at nine o'clock tomorrow morning at the latest to get news!"
…
Got the desired result.
The four people quickly rushed to the police station gate.
There was nothing but gloom and gloom along the way, and clear sounds of sobbing came from the conference room, where hundreds of old, weak, women and children with red eyes were wiping their tears.
Not only the families of the police officers who died in the police department, but also the families of the missing persons in Bohao County in the past few years.
The four people were also infected and became depressed. Then they drove in silence all the way to No. 36 East 8th Street and stopped at the side of the road.
The small yard behind the wooden fence is very unique. Unlike other yards that are full of green lawns and ornamental plants, the land on the left and right sides has been directly transformed into farmland, with corn stalks hung with "ammunition" like sentinels. Stand tall and straight.
There are also some green and pleasant vegetables grown on the ground, which can feed the family.
Everyone pushed open the wooden fence and took a few steps closer.
Behind the iron screen of the bungalow on the first floor of the yard, an old lady with disheveled hair wearing silk pajamas and holding a lazy orange cat heard the sound and came over and asked through the door.
"Who are you, stop and don't move! Why are you coming to my house so late at night?"
"Are you Mrs. Tobeca Lambert?" Dean called to her from a distance.
"Yes, answer me, who are you?"
"Chief Tubbs of the police department recommended that we come to you for information about the old church."
"What police?" the old lady suddenly asked emotionally, "Don't even think about calling the police here, they will talk nonsense and limit the number of cats I can keep! I can keep as many cats as I want!"
"Listen, madam, we don't care how many cats you have." Trish took a step forward impatiently, "But many people were killed, and the murderer may have something to do with the old church. Please answer a few questions for us. !”
Click!
The light came on inside the door, and a white-haired old lady with orange peel on her face pressed against the wire mesh at the door, staring with cloudy eyes and panic on her face, "Killed?"
"Yeah, a lot of police," Daley added.
"God bless you!" The old lady touched the orange cat in her arms and breathed a sigh of relief. "It doesn't matter if the nosy police officers are more deadly, as long as they are not my kittens."
At this time, Dean quickly took a few steps closer to the door, as if detonating a bomb.
Meow——
A loud cat meow sounded.
The orange cat in the old lady's arms suddenly jumped down. Dozens of yellow lights like will-o'-the-wisps suddenly lit up in the darkness behind the glass windows in the corridor on both sides. Dozens of cats of different colors and breeds jumped out. , raised his butt and backed up, growling in fear at Dean, his tail stood straight like an antenna and swayed from side to side.
"Stop, you little devil from church? You scared my babies, what are you going to do to them?!" The old lady yelled at Dean, turned around and rushed in with agility that was not suitable for her age. Inside the house, when he came out, he held a shotgun in both hands, "I'll give you ten seconds to retreat immediately!"
Dean held his forehead and took a step back. Sister Cui Shi couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth when she saw his deflated look.
"Madam, don't get me wrong, we also like cats and dogs." Jesse said loudly, taking a step forward, clasping his hands on his chest, and said sincerely, "We know it's difficult for you to raise so many babies, so We want to fund your great endeavors.”
"Sponsor you with a hundred dollars." Dean grabbed a banknote from the void like magic and shook it, "Two hundred dollars?"
"What? Give me money, why didn't you tell me earlier!" When the old lady heard this, her eyes lit up like light bulbs. She took back her rifle, opened the wooden door, grinned her rotten teeth, and showed extreme flattery on her old bark-like face. With a smile on his face, his attitude turned upside down, "You are as handsome and beautiful as an angel. It's cold outside at night. Please come in quickly. I will send the babies to the backyard so that they don't scare you."
"Well," Daley turned to complain to his sister, "this old lady will be beaten to death sooner or later."
…
The cat hair stained the walls, carpets and electric lamps, and the strong smell of cat feces in the air formed the old lady's cat-loving home.
Dean turned his gaze to the left side of the sofa. Daley carefully sipped the hot tea, then showed a strange expression, reached into his mouth and pulled out a piece of blue cat hair.
Ugh...
Next to him, Cui Shi hurriedly put down the tea cup in hand, but Jesse was still calmly sipping the hot tea.
On the opposite side, the old lady Tobeka who received the money had a look of memories on her face. She suddenly changed from nervous to kind and kind, and her speech was clear and coherent.
"Before my father died, he worked as a maintenance worker in the old church for several years...but the parish was not doing well, and the Catholics in the county slowly moved away, and no one even went to worship on Sundays. The number of Protestants was increasing There were so many, so the Catholic church was abandoned, and a Protestant church stood on the other side of the county.”
Dean asked, "Do you know the priest at the church?"
The old man shook his head, "I can't remember, but they are much older than me and should have died long ago."
"Then when your father was alive, did he ever mention that some strange events happened in the old church? Such as the disappearance of clergy and believers, or strange sounds coming from the underground?"
The old lady lit a cigarette, and in the swirling smoke, she said some shocking words,
"There's something wrong with the church. My father warned me not to go near that place at night, but I just made the mistake."
"About 46 years ago, in 1945, I was in my rebellious stage of seventeen. I was disobedient and approached the church after dark. Someone grabbed me from behind."
"It was so dark that I couldn't see his appearance clearly, but the strength of his hands was amazing. He pinched my mouth like a steel pliers, making me unable to make a sound. He sniffed hard against my neck and stretched out The slippery tongue licked the side of my face, like a hungry beast trying to swallow me up."
46 years ago, it complied with the 23 rule.
Dean and his companions exchanged glances, and they all saw the excitement on each other's faces.
"I was so scared that I peed right away." The old lady laughed at herself and looked towards the backyard with gratitude, "But I have a cat, and the cat smell on my body disgusts him, and the cat hair in my hair is sucked into his nose. , making him sneeze non-stop, he just threw me away and ran away without a trace."
"Later I read the newspapers and discovered that many other people had gone missing during that time, and I was certain that they had all been captured by strong men that night."
"Since you know the church is in danger, why haven't you moved away after all these years?" Dean asked,
"Without money, my cats can't withstand the long journey." The old lady showed a trace of heart palpitations on her face, and her eyes turned slightly red. "They have allowed me to live safely and soundly for so many years. They are my guardian angel and children. I Will take care of them until death.”
Dean didn't expect that this mother-in-law who loved cats so much still had such a past, so his eyes looked at him a little softer.
However, cats and dogs are really magical little creatures in the world. They can not only see ghosts and recognize their own differences, but also protect themselves from dead skin cells.
"In the past few years, I have heard several large-scale disappearances on the radio. I have always suspected that the strange thing that kidnapped people is still hiding near the church... But I have no evidence and no ability to stop him from committing crimes." The old lady Walking into the house, he soon took out a box of documents and placed it in front of everyone, "These are documents my father stole from the church before it was completely abandoned. There may be clues in them that you are looking for."
"You guys watch first, I'll take care of the babies. With these two hundred dollars, I can buy more cans for them."
The old lady walked into the backyard with a happy face.
The four of them looked at each other, took out the documents from the box and began to read through them.
There are not many documents, most of them are letters, confession letters from priests and church brochures.
Some of them have experienced too long a period of time and are yellow and brittle, and will break into pieces with the slightest force. The other part is a more expensive and tough parchment product.
Unfortunately, there is not a single word about witches.
"Tsk tsk, this Pastor Louis actually maintains a special relationship with another male staff member." Daley flipped through a confession letter and felt his eyes were opened.
"It's not surprising," Trish said. "Catholicism requires abstinence, and clergy cannot have intimate relationships with women, so that's why."
"To a certain extent, the Catholic witch hunts vigorously persecuted women because the abstinence rule made them lose interest and sympathy for women." Jesse added.
Dean ignored these boring topics and quickly found a document introducing every past manager of the old church, including busts and biographies——
Nana Smith: July 1940-July 1950
Robert Hanna: July 1920-July 1940
After more than ten terms.
Dean scrolled all the way to the front...the first administrator of the Catholic Church in Bohou County——
This is a white man, about forty years old, wearing a black robe, white tie, white cufflinks, etc., his hair and beard are meticulously combed, his nose is high and his face is majestic, but his cheekbones and eyeballs are protruding, and he is sickly and thin.
Below the bust is an introduction to his life:
Abraham Moreau: September 1682-October 1682
He came to Bohoe County, Kentucky, USA from France, financed the establishment of a church and served as a pastor. He disappeared a month later.
"The funder and manager of the church are both Abrahams. He disappeared after only being a pastor for a month, and then the dead skin appeared!" Dean's eyes lit up, and he vaguely saw the light ahead, and turned to his side, "Abraham ·Morrow, do you have his documents?”
"There is one copy." Cui Shi placed a yellow envelope with relevant names written on it in front of him. Dean couldn't wait to open it and read out:
My Lord, my God, I believe that you are the true God who can never make mistakes.
I worship you unswervingly and follow your creed.
From the age of eight to forty-two, I chanted your name every day, held the Bible in my hand to guide the lost lamb, held up the shackles, irons, and shackles to look for the mark of the devil, judged those who desecrated the Holy Eucharist, and those who baptized for the devil, and prayed to the devil. People who swear oaths from Satan, heretics who communicate with demons...
Through countless interrogations and tortures, I exposed the witches and wizards who used witchcraft to torture people and kill monks.
But I confess to you that I have also made mistakes. I have gone astray, been swayed by fanatical companions, driven by irresistible orders, and put many innocent people at the stake.
Twenty-four years.
I can't remember how many innocent people were tortured more cruelly than the devil, ranging from eighty-year-old women to girls under ten years old, forcing them to admit the crime of heresy.
Their death cries echoed in my ears.
I could feel the pain, fear, and resentment they had before their deaths all entering my body, slowly destroying my health.
At the age of forty-two, I swallowed the bad consequences and contracted an incurable disease.
And when I die of illness, my destination will never be heaven. Limbo will also close its door to me. Only the lower hell will open its arms to me. Once I enter, I will suffer a punishment that is a hundred times more painful than the punishment of burning. Never be liberated.
Merciful God, I repent to you, please grant me a peaceful and happy final life, wash away my sins and blood stains, and pull me, the lost lamb, out of hell.
Merciful God, you are pure, good and perfect, and you do not abandon us sinners.
In order to bathe in your glory again, I left my hometown and traveled across the ocean to build your sanctuary in a foreign country and spread your faith.
At this point, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.
But even if I try so hard, you are unwilling to give me any enlightenment or mercy, and watch me indifferently as I sink in pain and hell illusions.
God, have you abandoned your servant?
Allow me to confess and pray to you for the last time.
In a foreign country, at this moment, the fear of hell filled my body and was engraved into my bones. This fear shook my decades-old faith.
I don’t want to die, let alone go to hell, at any cost.
September 25, 1682, night.
…
After reading the envelope.
Dean fell into a long silence.
Abraham Moreau, a member of the witch hunt in seventeenth-century France and a Catholic believer.
For twenty-four years, countless innocent women were tortured, treated as witches, heretics, and burned to death.
Knowing that he has sinned deeply, he will go to hell after death.
He came to the United States from France to build a church in Bohoe County, but he failed to receive God's salvation.
The loyal believer received no response. Before the end, the fear of death and hell forced him to make some profound and crazy changes.
This experience is another kind of thing that must be reversed when it reaches its extreme, which conforms to the Law of 23.
The investigation progress jumped to ninety percent.
Dean looked at Abraham's majestic white face again, and vaguely felt that this face began to overlap with the dead skin face.
(End of chapter)
