Chapter 39: The Source Beneath the Haunted House

"I wonder what kind of gift this sacrifice will bring," Rod thought to himself, feeling a bit of anticipation.

After all, this was the first time he had ever sacrificed an evil spirit. There might be some surprise in store for him.

Swish!

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his eyes, causing Rod to inhale sharply as he covered them.

He felt a cold, eerie sensation swirling in his eyes.

As the tearing pain subsided, Rod sensed that the world around him had undergone some kind of subtle, unknown change.

"It doesn't seem like anything's really changed," he muttered, scanning his surroundings.

His vision hadn't improved in distance or clarity. It was as though everything that had just happened was an illusion.

But then, as his gaze shifted toward the villa behind him, his pupils contracted in shock.

The once lavish and grand three-story villa now appeared desolate and decayed.

The entire house was shrouded in a terrifying shadow.

Thick black mist, like a giant bloodthirsty maw, enveloped the villa.

In the yard, twisted and deformed trees, their trunks a dull grayish-black, emitted an ominous and eerie aura.

The yellowing walls and bloodstained handprints on the windows...

All of it seemed to originate from beneath the villa.

Rod stared at the ground, which was continuously releasing that black mist.

It was clear now that whatever was buried beneath the house was the cause of the villa's haunted reputation.

He had no idea what was down there, but it must have harbored an intense amount of resentment.

Just looking at it made him feel deeply uncomfortable.

Hatred, unwillingness, pain!

Feeling the overwhelming, malevolent aura, Rod felt the hairs on his neck stand up.

He never imagined that something so terrifying was lurking beneath the villa.

No wonder so many people had died in that house over the years.

Thankfully, that power seemed confined to the villa. Otherwise, the entire town would have become a living hell.

After calming down, Rod's eyes glimmered with curiosity.

His instincts told him he might not be strong enough to handle whatever was lurking beneath the villa.

But should he back down just because he couldn't win?

That didn't make sense.

As the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

This thing was so dangerous—if he could manage to sacrifice it, the rewards would undoubtedly be enormous.

If he couldn't kill it in one go, he'd try again.

After all, whatever was under there couldn't move, so he could take his time and drain its power little by little.

Glancing once more at the eerie villa, Rod turned and walked away.

Sacrificing the evil spirit had granted him a pair of eyes capable of seeing both the living and spirit worlds, but it hadn't given him the power to fight evil spirits.

Firearms were effective against powerful creatures like werewolves, but they weren't much use against intangible entities like evil spirits.

The only item he had that could harm an evil spirit was the silver cross necklace imbued with sacred power.

The holy energy within the necklace was enough to easily destroy ordinary evil spirits.

But whether it could deal with the sinister force beneath the villa was another story.

Without the means to fight evil spirits, charging into that house with his current strength would be suicide.

As for the safety of Tasha and her family, Rod wasn't too concerned.

For some reason, it was clear that the evil spirits were plotting something.

Or perhaps there were rules preventing them from harming the family for now.

Otherwise, with their powers, killing three ordinary people would've been a trivial task.

There was no need to play out this charade.

For the time being, Rod wasn't worried about any immediate danger to his new neighbors.

During this window of time, he needed to find a way to purify the evil spirits.

"Maybe I should try my luck at the church," Rod mused, rubbing his chin.

The evil spirits here were different from the supernatural entities he had imagined.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say they belonged to entirely different systems.

In his experience, spirits feared sunlight.

But here, evil spirits roamed freely even during the day.

Items like peach wood swords were ineffective against these spirits.

Things like rooster blood or black dog blood probably wouldn't work either.

These spirits didn't follow those traditional rules.

Instead, objects like crosses, Bibles, silver items, and mirrors were much more effective against them.

Rod didn't fully understand the reasoning, but he could work with what he had.

It was about adapting to the local culture, after all.

However, ordinary silver objects and crosses contained only minimal amounts of sacred power.

They struggled to deal with weaker spirits, let alone the evil force beneath the villa.

What truly held value were ancient relics imbued with the power of faith and blessed with sacred energy.

The vessel itself wasn't important—it was the faith-based power within that mattered.

The power of faith came from the heart and soul.

This intangible power was useless to ordinary people, but after being sacrificed, it could transform into a powerful weapon.

Rod's silver cross necklace, imbued with sacred energy, had been obtained this way.