The old woman, who called herself a Spirit dium, sighed deeply and said, "When love reaches a certain depth, it becos a heavy burden, even a deadly poison.
The world of the dead is not as peaceful and serene as people imagine; it’s filled with bizarre and incomprehensible phenona.
Turn on the recorder, Steven, it contains what you have to say to yourself."
"..."
Li Ang frowned, watching the suddenly lancholic Spirit dium,
The Delver’s Title Skill was in effect, revealing the deepest secret in her heart as, "I don’t want to die yet."
The secrets of the other two middle-aged couples, Steven’s parents, were both "Steven needs to kill her."
I don’t want to die?
Judging from her appearance, this Spirit dium was over seventy years old and sowhat frail and decrepit,
Not wanting to die could an she doesn’t wish for a natural death,
Or perhaps that this unusual event might endanger her.
And Steven’s parents beside her, well, they were quite interesting...
Li Ang’s mind raced, but he maintained a calm exterior. After pondering for a mont, he reached out and pressed the recorder’s button to continue playing Steven’s recording.
"Steven, this is the recording I made for myself.
When I hear this recording, I should have already entered the Star Realm Traveling State...
I married my wife, Mavis, and we had children, until the accident occurred...
She died, perished from the ntal stress.
I was useless; in the last few days of Mavis’s life, her ntal state nearly collapsed as she constantly cried out and begged to let her go, to leave here,
Yet I lacked the courage to fulfill her wish—I was too cowardly.
After she died, I descended into pain and despair, but I had to be strong because we still had two children.
I looked after them, explaining that their mother had gone far, far away, to a peaceful and quiet place,
However, each night, I would weep silently by myself.
When she returned from the other world, I was so happy and joyful that I even attempted to contact her actively,
Speaking to the air beside the bed, to the piano making sounds on its own, to the swing, naively thinking we could be as we were before.
I was wrong, utterly wrong.
She indeed returned from the other world, but in a more frenzied form.
At night, the house alarm would go off continuously,
In the basent, Mavis’s dolls, which were locked in shatterproof glass cabinets during her lifeti, would often be taken out by sothing and thrown on the floor.
The monitor in the children’s bedroom repeatedly captured a tall, skinny shadow standing, staring at Robin and Rin’s bedside,
And in the morning when I woke up, my legs bore inexplicable scratch marks—I was all too familiar with those marks, from our long-deceased black cat, Hope.
The situation quickly spiraled out of control,
Robin’s school inford that he nearly gouged out a classmate’s and his own eyes with a craft knife,
The teacher tried to stop him but was almost slashed at the fingers.
Afterward, he claid he heard his mother’s voice, instructing him to do it.
To protect my son and daughter, I tried moving houses,
Even when I took the children to live in New York or moved to Washington,
Or even handed them over to my parents,
The bizarre events continued to happen.
What was that saying? Family bonds cannot be severed?"
In the recording, Steven chuckled bitterly and continued, "My parents, seeing at my wit’s end, offered a suggestion.
They sought out a professional Spirit dium, acknowledged by the Church in the United States,
She claid there’s a way to stop Mavis from causing harm to us.
The thod is to let undergo an Astral Walk..."
Suddenly, a chaotic electrical noise in the recorder drowned out Steven’s words.
"Hmm?"
Li Ang raised an eyebrow,
The sound from the recorder was intermittent and unclear. After a while, it returned to normal.
"...the so-called Astral Walk actually ans letting the Spirit dium guide , allowing my soul to enter the world of the dead. There, I would find Mavis.
The more angry and fierce a Spiritual Body is, the stronger it becos in the world of the dead,
I am unsure about Mavis’s state, but if I do nothing,
Robin and Rin will certainly die,
And I absolutely cannot allow that to happen."
The electrical noise sounded again,
Bzz, bzzz, bzzz—
Li Ang squinted, filtering out the electrical noise to listen to the recording’s content.
"...the world of the dead, the Spirit Realm, is based on the real world.
If the plan succeeds, I will wake up in our house.
I must protect my family.
This recording is to prevent mory disruption when I awaken from the Star Realm Traveling State.
Wish luck, Steven."
Accompanied by the "bzz—bzz" of electrical noise,
The recording ended,
Li Ang looked at the transparent plastic protective cover of the recorder, the tape had stopped spinning. He furrowed his brows, leaning back to lie on the sofa, silent.
"This is the whole truth of the matter."
The Spirit dium took a deep breath and spoke to Li Ang, "Steven, your son and daughter are at your aunt and uncle’s ho, very safe.
I’m here to help you. "
"Hmm."
Li Ang nodded calmly, glanced at the Spirit dium old lady, and said peacefully, "What should I call you, ma’am?"
"Just call Barbara."
The Spirit dium smiled, "I’ve been long-ti friends with your father, Louis, and your mother, Ada; they were the ones who contacted this ti."
"Alright, Barbara."
Li Ang nodded and said, "Barbara, you are a Spirit dium, right.
Your plan is to let Steven undergo an Astral Walk to the so-called Spirit Realm to find Steven, which is, my wife Mavis, isn’t it?
Once found, what should Steven do?"
The old lady was taken aback, "Hmm?"
Li Ang said calmly, "According to the recorder, the angrier and more ferocious a Spiritual Body is, the stronger it becos in the world of the dead.
Just now in the Spirit Realm, I encountered several deadly threats, and I haven’t even seen Mavis’s face.
At that ti, my mory was in disarray,
When I wanted to leave the Spirit Realm, was it you who called out?"
"Yes."
The old woman nodded, "I could sense your state in the Spirit Realm here, guiding you.
The tattoo on your arm was provided by ."
"Can you see in the Spirit Realm?"
Li Ang raised an eyebrow, "What about the flashlight in my hand?"
"That was also my assistance. "
The old woman said, "In the Spirit Realm, the living can never compete with the evil spirits of the dead.
From the outside, I brought out the goodness in your humanity, forming a conceptual light,
Thus temporarily sealing the evil spirit."
Li Ang asked, "Temporary seal, does that an it cannot be completely sealed?"
"That’s right."
Barbara smiled bitterly, "Among all the evil spirits I’ve encountered, Mavis—sorry, your wife—was the most bizarre one.
Her ntal state was unstable in life, becoming even more bizarre after becoming a Spiritual Body.
The strange events you saw happening in the house in the Spirit Realm,
For instance, the wooden dolls, the black cat, the dead rabbit dolls, and even those extra traps in the room,
are all extensions of her power."
Barbara paused after speaking, and Li Ang followed her line of sight,
only to see that there was no fingerprint lock gate at the back of the house’s living room.
Barbara continued, "The only good news is that although she is very gloomy, her overall disposition is rather lazy,
she often seals her real body in the bedroom on the second floor,
what you need to do is find her,
and figure out how to stop her from harassing the living—that is, you and the children."
"How to stop her?"
Li Ang frowned and asked, "You want to reason with an Evil Spirit?"
"Uh... you could say that."
Barbara nodded, "Many tis, Evil Spirits just retain their habits from when they were alive.
For example, the Evil Spirit of a serial killer will continue to look for victims.
They don’t even realize they are already dead.
When they are presented with evidence of their death, the Spiritual Body often can’t accept the reality, and becos, uh, ’non-aggressive.’
Furthermore, Mavis essentially loves you, if you can help her calm down,
and tell her the truth,
there’s a good chance she can stop."
"Ha, telling an Evil Spirit to embrace materialism, and not be superstition-bound?"
Li Ang grinned, "What if it doesn’t work?"
"If it doesn’t work..."
The Spirit dium’s expression beca serious, exchanged glances with Steven’s parents, and slowly said, "Then the only choice is to eliminate her."
"Eliminate?"
Li Ang raised an eyebrow, "Evil Spirits can also be eliminated?"
"Evil Spirits exist because they are believed to exist. The things that once killed them can kill them again in the Spirit Realm."
The Spirit dium said, "Before her death, Mavis consud a lot of sleeping pills..."
"Hold on,"
Li Ang interrupted, "You want to find sleeping pills and give them to the Evil Spirit?"
"No, no, no,"
The Spirit dium sighed helplessly, "Evil Spirits exist conceptually; it’s about what they believe can kill them.
After taking the sleeping pills, Mavis attempted to end her life with a small knife.
Her actual cause of death was an overdose, and the knife was taken by the police as evidence.
However, before that incident, Mavis had attempted self-destruction.
She once used your family’s handgun to attempt suicide.
Because you discovered it in ti and stopped her, she didn’t succeed.
But that gun can serve as the weapon to kill Mavis."
"Oh."
Li Ang nodded, "Alright. So where is that handgun?"
"According to what you said earlier, it’s in the bedroom on the second floor."
Barbara said, "Getting the handgun in the real world won’t work.
The Spirit Realm is based on the real world but surpasses it.
In the Spirit Realm, you can only use items from the Spirit Realm itself.
aning you need to enter the Spirit Realm’s second-floor bedroom to get the handgun."
"Wait."
Li Ang gestured to stop, "If I rember correctly, isn’t Mavis in the bedroom on the second floor?"
Barbara took a deep breath, "Yes, you can first try persuading her to give up her harassnt.
If it doesn’t work, briefly seal her with a flashlight, then get the handgun."
Beside them, Steven’s parents spoke up, "Steven, son, I know this is difficult for you,
you love Mavis dearly, but..."
"That’s not important."
Li Ang waved his hand, directly interrupting Steven’s parents, "I want to know, how do you prove that I am actually Steven?"
"Ah?"
Steven’s parents were startled, and the Spirit dium Barbara was also taken aback, subconsciously asking, "What?"
"From this house’s location, the expensive clothing on you two, Steven’s parents, and the luxurious decoration level,
Steven’s family seems quite wealthy."
Li Ang said calmly, "My mory is disordered, I don’t rember who I am.
Moreover, from Barbara’s behavior, it seems like a normal phenonon.
So how do you prove that I am Steven?
And not just so scapegoat you paid money to hire?"
"Uh... what?"
Barbara hesitated for a long while before reacting, "You suspect you’re not Steven?"
"Not suspect, just a reasonable hypothesis."
Li Ang said, "If I were a rich person, the best strategy would undoubtedly be spending money, say millions of US Dollars, to hire professionals to serve .
During the Star Realm Walking process just now, I was chased by those bizarre things, almost lost my life.
But if I spent money,
I could hire a dozen, twenty robust muscle n, rcenary wolves, urban managent teams, Redneck Hunters,
to enter the Star Realm together,
tear down the house, beat the anomalies up,
find my wife, and force her to sign a divorce agreent,
wouldn’t that be easier than risking my life alone, barely surviving in the Star Realm?"
"This..."
Steven’s parents were stunned, completely at a loss for words.
"Additionally, don’t say you don’t have money."
Li Ang glanced at them, calmly stating, "The tape recorder ntioned it earlier, Steven has been moving often after the incidents, New York, Washington, and such.
And this house seems not to have been sold or rented out yet.
Considering the pri location of this neighborhood, it should easily sell for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of US Dollars.
Moreover, Steven has you both, affluent parents.
Steven may act foolish, but you two, upper-class parents, should know better, right?
Comfort is for the rich,
why would you let the rich themselves take risks?"
"This, this..."
Barbara also listened in shock, utterly unable to imagine a dozen muscular n collectively engaging in Star Realm exploration inside a house.
Are you spending money to hire people for a dungeon raid?
"Ahem."
Barbara coughed, reluctantly shaking her head, "Steven, it doesn’t work that way."
"Then how does it work?"
Li Ang gave her a sidelong look, speaking harshly, "Can’t you do it, or do you not want to do it?
You claim to be a church-recognized dium,
in the vast United States, surely you’re not the only dium. Even if you can only enable one person to enter the Star Realm Travelling State at a ti,
then why not find a few more diums?
Could it be you’re eyeing my parent’s inheritance, wanting dead to claim your share?"
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