"Hehe, I advise you not to ddle in other people's business, Priest."
The man pulled Grande towards his chest and then choked her neck.
Imdiately after, he put his other hand into his pocket, and a cylindrical shape subsequently bulged on the clothes; the intention was very clear.
William raised his hands: "There is no problem with the threatening thod of hiding a gun in your pocket."
"But you also have to consider the specific situation."
He said while slowly stepping back a few steps.
This made a flash of secret joy appear in the man's eyes opposite, but he was sowhat puzzled after hearing the priest's words.
"When there are many people around, it can indeed avoid causing a disturbance."
William was still stepping back slowly, and the despair in Grande's eyes opposite deepened.
"But in this kind of sparsely populated alleyway, doing so will only bind yourself in a cocoon."
The man narrowed his eyes: "Hmph, instead of having the ti to talk tough in front of a woman, you'd better scram quickly, before I change my mind."
"Have you ever ridden a bicycle?" William suddenly stopped in his tracks and spoke up.
"What?"
William put his hands in his pockets: "When you choose to put your hands in your pockets while riding, there is a high probability of triggering a classic event—a suddenly appearing car."
"At this ti, due to the ergency situation, you cannot pull your hands out of your pockets in ti, and therefore cannot change direction."
"The final result, there is a high probability that you will proactively crash into the car and end up with a bruised and swollen face."
The man's expression beca increasingly impatient: "Stinky bitch thing! What exactly are you trying to say?"
William smiled slightly, and his figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
The man opposite widened his eyes.
"So in a mont like this in an alleyway, you'd better take the gun out right from the beginning."
William's figure appeared behind the man.
The other party was suddenly startled and tried to turn around to draw the gun and shoot.
But sure enough, as William said, the gun body was stuck in the pocket for a mont, and the man's hand couldn't be pulled out at all.
Seeing this, William grabbed the other party's hand holding the gun and squeezed hard.
"Ahhh!"
The man let out a miserable howl of pain.
He let go of Grande, collapsed against the base of the wall, and then tightly gripped his arm; quite a few dicine bottles also fell around him.
William used a handkerchief to pinch a small handgun; the safety on it was still engaged.
It seed this man was indeed bluffing just now, not intending to really make a scene here.
"You guy, I will... ugh..."
The man just raised his head wanting to say so harsh words, but the next second his neck suffered a heavy blow and he passed out.
William unloaded the bullets from the handgun, then threw it on the ground.
"I'll leave calling the police to you." He looked at the girl aside and said.
Grande curled her body up, not responding for a mont.
"Are you okay?" William frowned.
"N-no... nothing, thank you for saving ." Grande said with a weak voice.
"You wouldn't be high, right?"
Seeing this, William stepped back a few steps, closely watching the other party's movents.
People on drugs could do anything.
"Not cherishing life at such a young age, do you know how many people yearn for a healthy body."
Grande knew the other party misunderstood, and hurriedly looked up to explain: "No... I'm just not in a good state recently... often having hallucinations."
Just as she finished speaking, the priest opposite suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.
"What are you going to do!" Grande was startled.
William stared closely into her eyes: "Ask you a few questions."
"O-okay." Grande protected her chest with both hands.
"Did you, or your family, recently buy a luxury house at an extrely low price?"
She was stunned upon hearing this.
What kind of question is this?
But seeing the priest's serious look, Grande could only shake her head: "N-no, I did plan to spend so money to buy..."
She spoke halfway and only then realized she had accidentally revealed her financial status.
Fortunately, the priest opposite didn't seem to notice.
"Have you recently acquired so kind of bizarre object, like a statue, bloodstained remains..."
"This... is too scary, I never dare to collect those."
"What about gas? Have you played so kind of mysterious summoning ga?"
"...Summoning? This... only happens in movies, right."
After asking a few more questions, William breathed a sigh of relief.
He had already checked with [Holy Eye] earlier.
Just now he confird again that this guy hadn't proactively tainted herself with evil, so it could only be ntal tension caused by excessive stress.
After all, except for those naturally born rich 2nd~Nth generations, other high-inco groups all had to put in trendous effort.
At this ti, soone ca to the alley again.
"Grande!"
Seeing the man lying on the ground and the scattered handgun parts, Braun was instantly startled.
Not long ago, in order to find Grande, he contacted the person in charge of the mall to retrieve the surveillance footage, and only then found her trail.
He raised his hands to signal that he ant no threat.
"This... Father? If you have any demands, you can say them. I already called 911 when I ca just now, and the police should arrive soon."
Braun pointed to both sides; two bodyguards ca with him.
"Conflict brings no benefit to either of us."
Seeing this, Grande hurriedly waved her hands, explaining what had just happened.
"So that's how it is." Braun breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Priest."
William sized up the few people.
People who could afford bodyguards of this physique obviously had unusual identities.
Plus a premiere was happening nearby; William roughly guessed the identities of these people.
"Speaking of which, this girl is indeed quite pretty."
To sneak out and buy dicine, Grande wasn't wearing makeup right now.
But her exquisite and beautiful facial features were still very outstanding.
Seeing the other party vaguely blocking in front of Grande, and the two bodyguards also keeping an eye on him from front and back, William knew these people hadn't relaxed their vigilance.
However, since the misunderstanding was cleared up, he didn't plan to tangle with the other party anymore.
William took out a business card from his pocket.
"Hallucinations generally belong to ntal problems, but sotis, the things you see might also truly exist," he spoke up.
"If you have doubts in this regard, you can co find here."
Grande's heart trembled upon hearing this.
These past few days, whenever she ntioned hallucinations, the people around her would stare at her with the eyes of looking at a "Patient."
And the priest's words made her feel understood for the first ti.
Grande's lips moved; she suddenly wanted to pour out her inner pain to the other party.
But Braun took it a step ahead: "Thank you, Mr. Priest. After we finish this period's announcents, we will consider doing so religious activities."
William smiled and nodded.
He had fulfilled his obligation; if sothing really happened to the other party, the subsequent matters would have nothing to do with him either.
After saying goodbye to the two, William quickly disappeared into the alley.
A mont later.
"Do you know what you are doing?" Braun roared angrily.
"Running out alone to buy dicine? What if you are caught on cara? What about the movie promotion? What about the new album...?"
Grande buried her head: "Sorry... I'm just in a bit of a bad state recently."
Braun sighed: "Alright, let's go back quickly; the fans have been waiting for you for a long ti."
The four quickly left the alley.
Not long after they left, two kiloters away.
A dense shadow coiled on the roof of a building, looking towards the alley from a distance.
In the next mont, it appeared in the alley.
A dense evil aura perated, even making the floor sowhat corroded.
It stared at Grande not far away and quietly followed.
House of Rest.
"Will! Are you okay."
Judy hopped in front of William, lifting his arm for a mont, then staring at his face.
"What could be wrong with ?" William looked strange.
Judy pointed to the newspaper news: "It says the middle school has been completely sealed off."
William glanced at it.
It turned out that after Freddy dragged them into the dream back then, Sheriff Roberto expanded the cordon once again, and this matter caused quite an impact in Philadelphia.
"Small problem, the commission has already been solved."
He rembered that glove; he would have to study it later.
"Right! Do you know about the other accident?" Judy said.
William shook his head.
She flipped to the front page of the newspaper, and he saw it written in large characters—"Shocking! Famous Singer Returns, Actually Commits Suicide in Public at Concert!"
William narrowed his eyes and quickly looked at the main text.
"Philadelphia Herald Express! Recently, famous singer Skye Riley held her coback concert at the sports center..."
"Previously, she encountered a car accident while rushing to an announcent. Her boyfriend died in public, and Skye also announced the suspension of all comrcial activities..."
"According to rumors, during the preparation for her coback, Skye had been relying on dication to sustain herself..."
"On the day of the concert, Skye first fell on the stage. When she got up again, she revealed an unusually bizarre smile, and then smashed her own head with the microphone..."
"...Skye was pronounced dead at the scene. This incident had over ten thousand witnessing audiences, causing a sensation and panic in the community and on the internet..."
"The City Central Hospital has received over five hundred psychotherapy applications. According to a hospital official, this number is rising further..."
"The authorities have set up a special task force, but the cause of Skye Riley's death is still under investigation, and no suspicious persons were found at the scene..."
"We appeal to the citizens, for the sake of your ntal health, please do not spread the bloody footage of the scene..."
Next to this text, there was also an image occupying half the page.
It was exactly the last smile famous singer Skye Riley left on the stage.
Bizarre eyes, the corners of the mouth stretched to an exaggerated angle to both sides.
This familiar expression...
Smile Entity!
William frowned tightly.
What is going on?
He should have completely purified this guy back then, and after it was over, he also investigated the surrounding residential buildings, and no other similar cases appeared.
At this ti, Judy also spoke with a serious face: "It's the evil spirit from last ti, right?"
William rubbed his chin: "I can't be sure yet, but the characteristics are sowhat similar."
But he cared more about another matter.
The transmission thod of the Smile Entity was—committing suicide witnessed by others.
If Skye Riley was really possessed by it, then at the concert at that ti, everyone would beco transmitters of the curse.
Plus television broadcasts...
I'm afraid the "Smile Curse" had long spread like a plague.
If left unchecked, the whole of North Arica would likely be completely paralyzed within two weeks.
William imdiately took his things and rushed towards the church.
There were several urgent matters that needed to be done.
First, confirm whether Skye really died because of the Smile Curse.
Relevant materials were very likely recorded in the Church.
Second, judge whether the curse could be transmitted through dia.
Just now when observing the picture, William didn't feel any evil power on it.
This showed that the "Smile" after the fact didn't possess cursing ability.
If it was the sa during the live broadcast, then there would be far fewer potential danger sources.
Finally, solve the source.
If it was confird that this ti was really the Smile Curse, he must find all the audiences at that ti and give them a thorough purification.
The incubation period of the Smile Curse is 4 to 7 days, after which it would make the possessed person's spirit completely break down.
And it had only been two days since the "Concert Accident"; William still had ample ti.
Dei Seminary, Commission Room.
Flora was still on duty here. After greeting her, William went to the equipnt alone.
He quickly found the event report regarding the "Concert."
But the assessnt result surprised him sowhat.
"...Through on-site investigation, no residual evil aura was found, therefore an exorcism commission is not recognized..."
William rubbed his chin.
That singer's manner of death was too bizarre; the possibility of evil existing was very high. Why did the Church make such an assessnt?
He found Flora and heard the explanation from the latter.
"The Holy Clergy mbers responsible for the investigation also had similar suspicions, but they searched all over the vicinity of the venue and found no clues. Plus the recent shortage of manpower in the Church..."
With no result at the Church, William decisively chose to find an old acquaintance.
Philadelphia Police Departnt.
"Oh! William, I was just hesitating whether to look for you!"
A sturdy physique, a handlebar mustache, and those big white teeth.
Sheriff Gordon looked pleasantly surprised, patting William's shoulder forcefully.
Compared to last ti, William's physical strength had now improved a lot.
He felt the Sheriff's strength, estimating he could take the other party down in one second.
"Sheriff, I ca this ti for the singer Skye Riley." William smiled slightly.
"Hey! I knew it."
Gordon rummaged through the desk, which was piled high with file materials.
He quickly pulled one out and handed it to William.
"Inside is our investigation of Skye's whereabouts the week before her death." Gordon said with his hands on his hips.
William nodded and opened the seal of the file.
"...One week before the incident, Skye had approached a drug dealer to buy restricted prescription drugs. Upon investigation, the drug dealer is nad Louis, a forr high school classmate of Skye..."
"Louis's corpse was found in a luxury apartnt, the cause of death being a heavy blow to the head. When the forensic doctor arrived at the scene, the deceased maintained a smile..."
"Multiple people who had private contact with Skye stated that Skye showed anxiety, yelling, and fear more than once, and claid to have seen strange people..."
"...Skye received treatnt at a private hospital. According to the diagnosis log description, the patient was in a coma for over 12 hours. During this period, she ntioned words like 'Killed mother', 'Smiling face', 'Fake death' multiple tis, but later the patient woke up normally..."
Besides the above, the remaining content was no different from what the Church saw, so William put the file back.
Onset ti, smiling face, suicide...
Through these characteristics, William was basically certain this was the Smile Curse.
He imdiately inford Gordon of the commission he had handled before.
"To think there is such a terrifying evil spirit." The Sheriff's eyes were full of shock.
William nodded: "So we must imdiately find the audience from that ti..."
He told the other party his thoughts.
"I support you very much... but." Gordon revealed a troubled look.
William raised his eyebrows: "What's wrong?"
Gordon said: "This incident caused a terrible impact on society. Not only did many celebrities jointly petition the police departnt to investigate thoroughly, but even the White House sent inquiries."
"For this reason, the Philadelphia Police Departnt must give the people an explanation, otherwise, there will be another shake-up in the departnt."
"The new Chief has been worrying about this for several days. Last ti I went to him, wanting to commission you to investigate, but was driven out."
Gordon shrugged helplessly.
"Do you think public opinion will accept the statent of a charlatan! Rather than blaming an evil spirit, it's better to find soone to pose as a Middle Eastern terrorist organization; that looks more plausible!"
The Sheriff imitated a certain tone and said: "These are the Chief's exact words."
William shook his head helplessly: "Supernatural events have occurred more than once in North Arica recently; is your Chief unaware?"
Gordon patted William: "There are always so conservative and stubborn people in this world; they only believe what they believe."
"Ha." William spread his hands, "I couldn't agree more."
"But as a Sheriff who was first in the police academy major, first in the Philadelphia Police Departnt combat competition, and has the most beautiful daughter in the whole police departnt, I still have so 'Privileges'."
Gordon smiled mysteriously, revealing his sturdy muscular arms.
☆☆☆
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