You have been eroded.

May 17, a rainy Sunday morning at 7:10.

"I'm still alive..."

Du Wei pushed open the door, looked at the gloomy sky outside, the drizzling rain, and took a deep breath.

What happened last night had almost rewritten his entire worldview and cognition.

In the darkness, the Evil Spirit that had first set its sights on him was still at the peak of its power, while the second Evil Spirit, triggered by a photograph, had failed to break through the door.

He was still alive.

He felt the stack of medical records in his pocket and thought inexplicably of Aisha, who had already died.

The first Evil Spirit was brought by Aisha, with the suspected medium of cognitive contagion, and its characteristic was information.

For now, its harmfulness seemed relatively minor, but if it weren't for the second Evil Spirit, it would have probably made its move already.

And its potential for strong contagion could not yet be determined...

The second Evil Spirit, drawn by the photo in the post, was confirmed to be spread through the photo, with its characteristic being the line of sight.

The second Evil Spirit was more dangerous, and from what happened with Conan Doyle, it was known to have a very strong capability to spread and a tremendously strong malevolence.

This meant that as it killed more people, its power grew stronger, and the balance was tipping more and more in its favor.

...

Based on what happened last night, it seemed that the standoff between the two Evil Spirits might last for a while.

This could be considered good news.

Du Wei lit a cigarette and stood smoking slowly at the doorway.

At that moment, the neighbor's door opened with a creaking... a grating sound that set one's teeth on edge.

"Du... Mr. Du Wei, good morning."

Roy stood at the doorway with an umbrella, greeting him.

"Hmm... good morning."

Du Wei turned to look at her, his gaze filled with surprise.

Today Roy was wearing a black dress that made her delicate features even more exquisite. The parts of her skin not covered by the dress were so white they were almost dazzling.

"I thought you had gone out. How come you're back?"

"The heavy rain caused flooding that destroyed the road to Scolyn, so... you know, it's quite bad."

Du Wei nodded his head, looking at her calmly, and said, "That is indeed quite bad. What time did you come back?"

Roy chuckled, "Past midnight; the city traffic was horrible. If I had known it would take this long, I would have just stayed home."

Du Wei nodded slightly, showing understanding.

Then, as Roy opened her umbrella, she shrugged at Du Wei: "I'm heading to the supermarket now. Mr. Du Wei, if there's something you need to buy, I can get it for you."

Du Wei glanced at the wet umbrella in her hand for a second...

Looking into Roy's blue eyes, bright as crystals, he suddenly smiled, "Sure, why not? Get me a pack of cigarettes."

Roy seemed a bit surprised that this neighbor didn't have the reserve characteristic of Eastern people, but her surprise swiftly turned into a smile.

"Alright, see you later then, Mr. Du Wei."

"See you later."

Watching Roy leave, Du Wei's expression returned to calm. He threw the cigarette butt into the trash can, adjusted the brim of his hat, and walked into the rain.

He crossed the street, opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, and started the engine.

Soon, the car's heater blew away the chill from his body.

Then, with a press of the accelerator, he headed towards North Brook Church.

...

7:25 in the morning.

Inside the North Brook Church reception room.

Du Wei slapped a silver crucifix dagger down on the mahogany table in front of Father Tony.

The silver-rusted cross dagger collided with the wooden table, producing a crisp sound.

Crack...

"Father Tony, I need an explanation, why the dagger I bought for a thousand dollars didn't bring me any help."

Du Wei's face was somewhat icy as he stared intently into Father Tony's eyes, which seemed to be covered with a layer of frost, becoming extremely frightening.

He didn't care about the money, but he did care about his own life.

He took out a pistol from his pocket and with a click, disengaged the safety.

"My friend, please calm down!"

Father Tony was startled by Du Wei and hurriedly stood up, "This dagger can't be useless, it is an exorcist's weapon, my friend, I am willing to guarantee it with my life, you can tell me what happened to you, you must believe me, I am a priest of faith."

Du Wei stared into his eyes and slowly said, "Last night, I was attacked by an evil spirit..."

After he finished recounting the events of the night.

Father Tony looked somewhat embarrassed, "Two evil spirits?"

Du Wei nodded calmly and said, "Yes, and you don't seem surprised. Has this happened before?"

Father Tony was silent for a while and then said, "As you suspected, there indeed have been similar incidents, but..."

"But what?"

"In 1962, in Vosloda State, something similar happened. A little girl was possessed by seven evil spirits. Each spirit treated her body as a vessel and fought over her life. It lasted until 1974 when the girl committed suicide by jumping off a building."

"But your situation is different, you are currently only at the stage of being haunted by evil spirits."

"What if I leave my house and go somewhere else, what will those two evil spirits do?"

"It's useless, they will still cling to you."

"Even during the day?"

"Days are relatively safer, because it consumes a lot of the evil spirits' power, so..."

"Okay, I understand."

Du Wei nodded and calmly looked at Father Tony, "If I want to control the evil spirits, what do I need to do?"

Father Tony frowned and said, "It's very dangerous, Dr. Du Wei, I don't recommend that you do this."

For some reason, every time this Asian young man stared at him with a calm gaze, Father Tony felt a chill in his heart.

"This... Okay, if you insist."

Father Tony opened a drawer and took out two items.

"Holy Water can be very harmful to evil spirits. A Shroud can be used to restrain their medium, but it won't work on the evil spirits in you, they're too wicked."

"I know."

Du Wei looked at the Holy Water in front of him, contained in a glass bottle, and at a piece of Shroud folded up, about one square meter in size.

Are these the tools an exorcist uses?

"How much?"

"Two thousand dollars, these items are made specially for exorcists, the price is already very reasonable."

"Twenty dollars."

"No, the price you're offering is too low, fifteen hundred dollars."

"Twenty-five dollars."

"One thousand dollars, that's the lowest I can go."

"One hundred dollars."

"Alright, taking into account our last transaction, five hundred dollars, that's really the lowest price I can offer."

"Deal..."

In the end, Father Tony seemed to remember something, his face changed slightly as he said, "By the way, I must remind you, Mr. Du Wei, you are not quite yourself now, you've become too detached. If I'm not mistaken, you may be getting eroded by the power of the evil spirits."

Du Wei paused, "I have noticed."