The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4256 Possession by an Evil Spirit (Thirty-Six)

It was another night. But this time, a few small figures moved through the desolate town. The agent, possessing the puppet's body, nimbly slid down the drainpipe and jumped directly onto the second-floor balcony.

This is Derby's house. After some investigation, the detective found the former pastor's residence. He knew there must be some clues here. He had to hurry and search while the evil spirit was preoccupied with its own problems.

Although the body was small and agile, the problem was that it was too small, making it slow and difficult to walk. The agent struggled to climb onto the desk, and then he discovered that this guy actually had quite a few books in his house.

It's important to understand that this cult opposes modern education and forbids the reading of anything other than sacred texts. Newspapers, magazines, and even leaflets are strictly prohibited. Yet, this pastor had a considerable collection of books hidden in his home.

It couldn't be called hiding. He just openly displayed the books on his desk. Many of them showed signs of having been read. The detectives did a quick check and found they were mostly political and economic books. This made things even stranger.

In the United States, non-professionals generally don't read technical books because they contain too many technical terms that are difficult to recognize. The investigators also discovered that while the book showed signs of being browsed, the reading was mostly limited to the beginning. In other words, the reader stopped after only a few pages, presumably because they couldn't continue.

Then they went to the desk drawer. The agent jumped in and found a very expensive set of fountain pens inside. This was somewhat understandable, given that he was a high-ranking member of the church and it was normal for him to be wealthy. However, it was a bit strange that such expensive items were fountain pens.

Fountain pens are perfectly normal gifts, but it's precisely because they're so normal that they seem out of place in this eerie town. Who would give a fountain pen as a gift to a sect that has no schools and opposes all education?
He went to the second drawer. Upon opening it, the agent found several letters. He opened one and read: “My dear son Derby, I have good news for you. Your father will soon be transferred to the Utah State Legislature…”

The detective's eyes widened. Good heavens, this Derby was quite something; he was the son of a congressman. He pulled out several more letters. The letters were dated earlier and earlier, revealing more information each time.

It turns out this guy is the illegitimate son of a former city councilor and now a state legislator. The specific reasons are complicated; it seems the town mayor gave a girl from town to the legislator as a bribe, and she unfortunately became pregnant and eventually gave birth to Derby.

It seems that because this senator has no other offspring, Derby is quite well-regarded. His adoptive father even sends him books and pens. Moreover, the town's higher-ups all know Derby's background, and no one makes things difficult for him.

The letter didn't contain anything important. The agent knew there was more to it than that. He searched the study again, but finding no crucial information, he went to the bedroom and found another letter under his pillow.

“My dear son, there is one most important thing that must be done before I am transferred. That former circus performer, Berg, has gotten involved with Senator Hoss’s daughter. That stupid girl told him about the emissions, and now he is suspicious. I cannot allow this to become a stain on my record. You have to find a way to protect our family. I know how badly your relationship with him has deteriorated. Without us, he will make your life miserable.”

At this point, the detectives realized that this father-son relationship was also superficial. But this clue led to a very important truth: their previous suspicions were correct—old Berg did indeed know about the water pollution.

His face was certainly useful; despite his advanced age, he was still a handsome old man. Furthermore, judging from the recollections, he had a rather likable personality, so it was perfectly normal for him to have suitors. And it was the daughter of a certain senator who revealed this to him.

This derby had a very bad relationship with old Berg for some reason. The agents speculated that it might be because this derby, relying on his powerful father, completely disregarded the sectarian rules set by old Berg. Despite being a priest, he set a completely useless example. In old Berg's eyes, who placed great importance on sectarianism, this was a thorn in his side, someone he would eliminate as quickly as possible.

Now that old Berg knows that those bastards in the city council have been poisoning the whole town, he'll definitely target Derby first. This letter, seemingly a threat, is actually a warning, because Derby has no other choice—if he doesn't kill old Berg, they'll kill him.

It seems Derby won their contest now. But it's actually quite strange, considering old Berg practiced dark magic; there's no reason he shouldn't have lost to Derby. However, judging from Peter's description, old Berg hadn't fully mastered his dark magic, and given his age, it's understandable that he couldn't defeat the younger Derby.

However, it's more likely that the town mayor and Derby are on the same side. Although old Berg is the sect leader, the town mayor has men and guns at his disposal. Old Berg is no match for so many.

After Derby killed old Berg, he discovered Berg's research into dark magic. It's also possible that old Berg fought back desperately, willing to expose his dark magic practice to kill Derby. In any case, Derby ultimately inherited the dark magic legacy and began creating evil artifacts and the like.

However, according to Peter, the magic circle in the air-raid shelter was set up by old Berg. It now seems to be a last resort. Old Berg probably wanted to use it to transform his life form before seeking revenge. Unfortunately, he was killed before he could succeed, ultimately benefiting Derby instead.

The agent is inclined to believe that Derby knew the function of the magic circle. He did it on purpose, luring another priest, Famino, to the scene, sacrificing him, and then transforming himself into an evil spirit.

However, two questions remain unanswered. Why did Bing and the other townspeople enter a spiritual world, and why did they also gain the ability to possess others like evil spirits?

The detectives guessed that this wasn't Derby's doing. Although he seemed to have become an evil spirit, ruling the entire town, it was clear that he couldn't completely control the mental world; otherwise, so many unexpected things wouldn't have happened.

More importantly, the agents trusted the Hunter's judgment. The Hunter said that the thing couldn't really be considered a person, but rather a concept. And the evil spirit that Derby had transformed into was too personified.

Most importantly, the agents felt that the evil spirit Derby had transformed into was rather weak and not worth pursuing so seriously. There must be something else out there.

With this in mind, the agent decided to set off for the church's underground chambers. The town's ultimate secret might be hidden there. But the problem was, after so much time, even if Derby was incompetent, he should have found a way to break the seal by now.

They are all puppets now, with almost no physical combat ability, so it may be very difficult to deal with that evil spirit. They can only rely on the few people who are still alive in reality.

The agent was right. After the curse on the arm spread to the chest, the two forces clashed, and the nail deeply embedded in the chest was gradually losing its effectiveness.

The evil spirit returned to Kent's body, but found nothing. So, he went back to control the body of his abandoned Aunt Kane. After all, there was no human body, and even the puppet had been taken; this was the only body he could barely use.

The evil spirit knew perfectly well that things had escalated to this point, and it was no longer possible to defeat them one by one as before, or to let them kill each other. He had to think of another way. Instead of returning to the spiritual world, the evil spirit used Aunt Kane's body and headed towards the church.

On the way, he looked up at the sky. It was dusk, and the sky was overcast. If nothing unexpected happened, tonight would be a moonless night.

Bruce and the others were also heading to the church. After Bing told them about the mysterious object beneath the church, they also believed that it might hold a secret and that they needed to investigate.

As they passed by Aunt Kane's house, they saw Linda's figure flash past from behind the house.

Bruce instinctively felt something was wrong. He walked over and saw Linda fiddling with the car they had driven up in.

“Linda, where are you going?!” Bruce asked.

Linda sat in the driver's seat and smiled at the puppet he was possessing. He said, "I can't drive. Can you teach me?"

"I……"

“I’ll teach you,” Kate stepped forward, then turned to her companions and said, “You guys go ahead, I’ll be there soon.”

Bruce had no choice but to leave with the others. Linda picked up the puppet that Kate was possessing from the ground and sat back in the driver's seat. She still seemed a little clumsy, but she looked very excited.

"Here are the car keys. You need to start the car first. Then get ready to shift gears, and then step on the gas..."

Linda took a few deep breaths, looking very nervous. But then she suddenly turned to Kate and said, "Aren't you going to ask me where I'm going?"

“That’s your freedom,” Kate said. “If you have nowhere to go, go to New York. You’re my cousin, you can stay at my house.”

Linda gave her a bright smile.

The group arrived at the church entrance and encountered the detective. The little wooden puppets looked at each other, all seeming somewhat helpless.

“I don’t think we can beat the evil spirit like this,” Bruce said.

“His body isn’t exactly healthy either,” Peter said. “A mummified corpse isn’t necessarily as sturdy as a puppet. Besides, I made some props that should at least knock him down temporarily.”

"If all else fails, we'll seal it up again," the agent said. "Then we'll figure out a way to deal with it slowly."

“I think the thing under the church is a bigger problem than this,” Bing said. “I have a bad feeling about it.”

Bing's premonition soon came true. This time, when they went down to the bottom of the church, they didn't find the small rooms they had been in before, but rather an extremely spacious, dark room.

Music faintly drifted from the depths of the darkness. Bruce listened intently, then froze. He said, "This sounds like... rock music???"

The music coming from the darkness was not the eerie and ethereal music they had imagined, but rather intense rock music.

They followed the music closer and caught a rich aroma. The agent sniffed and said, "Coffee."

They walked a little closer and finally reached the light. They saw a figure sitting at a table, listening to rock music on the radio, sipping coffee, and leisurely flipping through a magazine on the table.

In the dim light appeared a pale face. When he looked up, a pair of slightly unfocused gray eyes looked over. Everyone took two steps back in unison.

"The way you're using that lighting, I thought you were the mastermind," the agent said irritably. "What are you doing here?"

“Of course we’re waiting for someone,” said the Hunter. “We’ll divide the work. You guys take care of that idiot who’s on his way, and I’ll handle the real mastermind.”

Who is the real mastermind behind this?

The hunter simply took a sip of coffee and didn't say anything more.

At the same time, a motorcycle pulled up in front of the Westville Police Department. A tall figure approached the station. Kent looked around warily.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" a police officer asked.

“I want to see the sheriff,” Kent said. “I have something to give him. Could you please ask him to come out?”