Sense of Security

"Father!"

At the sound of Ed's call, everyone present turned to look at Anderson.

Meeting their gazes, Anderson nodded in response. He knew that upon his arrival, he had already taken the central position.

"Come over, all of you."

"Children shouldn't hear about these matters," Anderson said, heading towards the restaurant on the other side.

All the adults exchanged glances and rose from their seats.

The Rogers couple comforted their daughters. "You stay here."

"Mom!" Among the five girls, the eldest one looked a bit worried. She was the protagonist of the previous night's incident, which had indeed greatly frightened her.

Karen smiled reassuringly, speaking in a gentle tone. "We'll be fine."

The girl pursed her lips and nodded earnestly.

Karen nodded back and responded to her husband, who she had been waiting for, and they walked towards the restaurant with the children's eyes on them.

"How does Father intend to proceed?" Ed had approached Rowling by this time.

Rowling replied calmly, "We will exorcise Bathsheba tonight."

Ed breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. The words of the priest had always come true. If it was not possible, then it was not possible; if it was, then it was.

The house was quite spacious.

In the middle was a staircase leading upstairs, connected to the adjacent corridor. The corridor extended to the backyard, while the staircase was flanked by the living room on one side and the dining room on the other.

Compared to the living room, the dining room was simpler, consisting of a clean kitchen and a set of dining table and chairs.

Anderson seated himself at the center of the dining table, waiting for everyone to take their seats one by one.

Ed and Rowling, still inseparable, sat on Anderson's right, while the Rogers couple sat together on the other side, directly opposite Anderson. As for the remaining Brad, the police officer, and Drew, they sat next to the Rogers couple on the right.

Once everyone was seated, Anderson didn't beat around the bush. He calmly addressed them, meeting their gazes.

"There are indeed evil entities here, not just one, but several."

Upon hearing this statement, no one present was surprised. They had already experienced various unbelievable incidents before.

"In the church, paranormal events are always classified into two major categories: exorcisable and non-exorcisable."

Anderson continued without pause, and except for Ed and Rowling, the Rogers couple subconsciously tensed up, staring fixedly at the priest before them, afraid of hearing answers they didn't want to hear.

Fortunately, the next words from Anderson filled them with both relief and exhaustion, as if they had seen a glimmer of hope in the midst of a painful ordeal.

"This place meets the requirements for exorcism. Tonight, I will perform the exorcism ritual."

The voice of the Rogers couple trembled slightly.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Hearing these words again, Anderson glanced at them, only to see the couple holding each other tightly, tears glistening in their eyes. Anderson sighed inwardly; this couple must have been tormented severely.

"It's what I should do," Anderson responded simply, standing up.

"The night is approaching, and we should act now. Tonight, we must exorcise all the evil spirits."

Everyone exchanged serious looks.

The traditional method of exorcism in the church has always been the same: confession and prayer, followed by using holy water and holy oil to suppress the power of demons with the help of the Lord's power, and finally reciting scriptures to expel them.

On the surface, it appeared so, but in reality, it was about torturing the demons with the power of the Lord, much like interrogating a prisoner to extract their true name.

Due to the premise that demons cannot lie about their true names, a demon subjected to the dual torture of holy water and the cross might reveal its true name.

The true name represents the essence and power of the demon. Once the true name is exposed, even the weakest priest, with the help of the Lord's power, can easily expel them, as if it were as simple as drinking water.

Of course, the effectiveness of this torture depends on the strength of the priest himself. If the priest's power is insufficient, it may enrage the demon, making the situation even more dangerous and leading to the death of the victim...

As the saying goes, when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. What is unforgettable will have repercussions, only that the abyss has turned into a demon.

Calling out the true name of a demon is akin to summoning it, and the priest performing the exorcism naturally must endure the erosion of the dark power that comes with the demon's true name. Therefore, the priest's strength and faith must become stronger to resist the demon's erosion...

This is how traditional exorcism works. However, Anderson had never encountered demons that required him to use this method; he always relied on his own magical power to crush the demons and forcefully expel them.

So, this time was no exception. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Anderson first opened a backpack, revealing a pile of items inside as he unzipped it.

There were layers of crosses and bottles, as well as coils soaked in holy water and other items.

Although Ed and Rowling had witnessed Anderson's exorcism methods before, seeing so many items, they still exchanged a glance, showing a hint of resignation and understanding.

Not to mention Ed and Rowling, the others were even more puzzled, all looking a bit bewildered.

Drew watched Anderson searching and couldn't help but ask, "Um, Father, do you need so many things for exorcism?"

Anderson took out a coil soaked in holy water for ten days, which had a two-day effect, and ten crosses, and handed them to Ed calmly.

"Exorcism is a dangerous task, so of course, it requires these."

In response, Anderson then looked at Ed. "Ed, use this coil to encircle the entire house, and hang the ten crosses at the four corners."

Ed nodded, then patted his assistant Drew.

"Let's go, Drew."

With that, Ed walked out, and Drew, seeing this, scratched his head and followed along. He had never seen this kind of exorcism method before; it was not what he had imagined exorcism to be.

Seeing Ed and Drew leave, Anderson continued to search under the watchful eyes of everyone.

However, Officer Brad couldn't help but ask, "Father, will surrounding the house with a coil have any effect?"

Without lifting his head, Anderson replied, "It prevents these evil spirits from escaping."

"Uh..."

The straightforward response left Brad stunned, unable to utter a word as he looked at Anderson.

Rowling smiled on the side. When they first met the priest, they were just like Brad.

"Each of you should wear one," Anderson said, distributing a cross to everyone. "When evil spirits try to harm you, the effects of these crosses will make them suffer. This will let you know if there are any evil spirits around you."

Then, Anderson distributed a cross to each person, including the children who were most likely to be targeted by evil spirits, and Karen. He also sprinkled them with some blessed holy water.

Finally, with the remaining holy water, Anderson marked out a safe area in the living room, where the Rogers family would stay, to prevent the evil spirits from possessing them during the desperate struggle.

These precise and professional actions gave everyone except Ed and Rowling a strong sense of security.

Especially when Anderson took out his shotgun from another backpack, the imposing figure with the intimidating shotgun made everyone dumbfounded, but at the same time, their sense of security soared once again.