Chapter 2: Exorcism

  The wooden door he had been leaning against had vanished without a trace, repced by a solid wall of green brick!

  Jiang You frantically stepped forward and hammered on it with his fists. The icy cold wall was unbelievably hard.

  "I knew it wouldn't be that simple!"

  At that moment, a sharp pain shot through his arm. He looked down and pulled up his sleeve. The bloody countdown on his left arm was about to reach zero.

  "00:03:59"

  "00:03:58"

  "00:03:57"

  "What will happen when the countdown reaches zero?"

  Jiang You took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He turned to look at the main hall behind him. "I have no choice but to go inside and see."

  He walked along the small path of green stone, looking at the stone statues on either side. Only then did he realize that these statues were all headless, which was why they appeared so short. Judging from the statues' clothing, this should be a Daoist temple.

  No ash fell in the courtyard, as if some force was keeping it out. Jiang You quickly arrived at the main hall. The doors were wide open, and a Bodhisattva statue sat in the center.

  A Bodhisattva statue in a Daoist temple?

  The statue's eye sockets were deep, its eyebrows raised, and the corners of its eyes drooped. Its expression was ambiguous, half-smiling, half not, with half of its face hidden in darkness. It had no sense of compassion whatsoever, instead exuding an eerie and sinister aura.

  The countdown on his arm had now entered its final minute. Jiang You didn't think twice and went straight in.

  He looked around. There was nothing else in the hall besides the statue. He gnced at the countdown on his arm: "03, 02, 01, 00."

  Jiang You's heart clenched. But the surroundings remained quiet. The terrifying event he had anticipated didn't happen. His taut nerves rexed slightly!

  Then! He suddenly heard a cold, mechanical voice in his ear.

  "Sequence initiated."

  A line of text suddenly appeared in his vision!

  [Name: Jiang You]

  [Lifespan: 30 (25)]

  [Sequence: None (Detectable Sequence for Advancement: Exorcist Mage! Advance?)]

  Jiang You was puzzled, but tentatively answered in his mind, "Yes!"

  "Sequence: Exorcist Mage! Initiating!

  Ritual: Survive under the gaze of a malevolent entity for three seconds.

  Ding.

  Ritual complete! Advancement successful."

  [Sequence: LV9 Exorcist Mage (1%)]

  [Supernatural Ability: Exorcism (Blood contains a small amount of exorcism power)]

  "This is... a superpower?"

  Jiang You guessed. This pce was full of strange occurrences, so the appearance of a superpower didn't seem that far-fetched.

  "Wait! What does it mean 'survive under the gaze of a malevolent entity for three seconds'? No!"

  Jiang You's scalp instantly prickled. He quickly looked at the statue.

  The statue, which had originally had its eyes lowered, now had its eyes raised, looking at him with that ambiguous, half-smiling expression.

  Jiang You's blood ran cold. He froze, unable to move, cold sweat dripping onto the floor.

  Suddenly, his vision blurred.

  Before him was only an empty pedestal. The rge statue that had been there was gone!

  A cold wind blew from behind him, and a huge shadow enveloped him. He turned around.

  The statue had appeared behind Jiang You. Its cy hand shot out like lightning, grabbing Jiang You by the neck and lifting him up.

  Jiang You's feet left the ground. He was pulled face-to-face with the statue. He grabbed the statue's arm, trying to pull it off, but the arm didn't budge. A pair of eyes, dotted with red paint, stared at him coldly. He could only hear a "Cck! Cck! Cck!" sound coming from the statue's throat. Its mouth opened to two-thirds the size of its face, and a bright red tongue, covered in barbs, extended out! It licked towards Jiang You's face!

  "Is this how I die?" Jiang You thought in despair. "No, Exorcist Mage! Right, blood!"

  Jiang You bit his tongue hard. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood from the tip of his tongue. The statue couldn't dodge. The blood nded on its tongue and face.

  The blood sizzled like red-hot charcoal on the statue's face, producing a puff of green smoke. The statue let out a pained shriek, and the hand gripping Jiang You's arm loosened. He fell to the ground.

  Jiang You gasped for breath and quickly scrambled towards the door.

  He reached the door from before, pounding on the wall, but couldn't find a way out. When he looked back, the statue had already followed him out. Its face was charred and hideous from the blood! Its huge figure brought with it a powerful sense of oppression, closing in on Jiang You step by step.

  In this desperate situation, a surge of ferocity rose up in Jiang You. His eyes widened, revealing a fierce glint. "Damn it! You want to eat me, huh?"

  Jiang You roared, looking around for a weapon. He saw that not far away, a broken stone statue was holding a stone sword! His eyes lit up. He went over and tried to pull it, and to his surprise, he managed to pull it free. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the stone sword and charged towards the statue.

  He ran up to it, swung his arm with all his might, and the stone sword whistled through the air!

  Just as it was about to strike, the statue disappeared again.

  Without thinking, Jiang You spun the sword around and stabbed behind him!

  "Thud."

  Sure enough, the statue had used the same trick again, appearing behind him and getting stabbed in the chest by Jiang You.

  Jiang You sneered, "What? Is that all you've got?"

  He turned around, forcefully pulled out the stone sword, leaving a hole in the statue's chest, from which bck smoke poured out. Then, he stabbed at its throat.

  "Clink."

  The blood on the sword had been used up during the previous stab. Having lost its exorcism power, it was blocked by the statue's throat.

  The statue opened its mouth wide, and its tongue shot out, wrapping around Jiang You. The bright red tip of the tongue was about to crawl onto his face.

  At this critical moment, Jiang You gripped the bde of the sword with his left hand and quickly sshed it across his palm. The rough stone surface instantly cut a deep wound, and blood gushed out. Just as the tongue was about to enter Jiang You's mouth, he thrust the sword forward with all his might.

  "Thud!"

  This time, it pierced through successfully. The statue froze. The tongue wrapped around Jiang You went limp and fell. Jiang You twisted his wrist and pulled violently!

  A head flew high into the air.

  The statue before him colpsed with a crash, quickly weathering into a pile of dust.

  Jiang You's face was pale. He exhaled white breaths, his body drenched in sweat. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He fell to the ground, vomiting acid.

  He y on the ground, looking at the pce where the statue had disappeared. The events of this short hour had been a tremendous shock to him. First, the city had become dipidated and deserted. Then, the countdown appeared on his arm. Then there was the funeral procession with the suona, entering the ancient temple, the sequence awakening, and killing the statue!

  All of this was unbelievable to Jiang You, an ordinary, urban office worker.

  "Perhaps I'm no longer an ordinary person."

  Jiang You looked at the hideous wound on his palm, which ran across his entire hand, the flesh gaping open on both sides.

  An excruciating pain constantly tormented his nerves, but at the same time, his body warmed, and a surge of warmth flowed into him. He looked at the text in his vision.

  [Name: Jiang You]

  [Lifespan: 30 (25)]

  [Sequence: LV9 Exorcist Mage (20%)]

  [Supernatural Ability: Exorcism (Blood contains a small amount of exorcism power)]

  After killing the statue, the Exorcist Mage's progress had increased from 1% to 20%, and he could feel the power in his blood seemingly increasing.

  "By sying these statues, I can absorb energy to advance?" Jiang You thought to himself.

  Suddenly, the world before him began to shake.

  "An earthquake?"

  Jiang You tried to get up and leave, but the ground was shaking violently. He took a step, lost his bance, and fell. He felt dizzy, and everything went bck!

  Jiang You suddenly opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the bus, the music still pying in his headphones. He shuddered and looked out the window. The misty rain was falling, and pedestrians were bustling about!

  He turned on his phone. The screen clearly dispyed the time.

  "7:30 PM!"

  "Was it all just a dream?" Jiang You wondered. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his hand, making his face pale.

  Jiang You opened his hand. A wound ran across his palm, still oozing blood.

  He also noticed a bloody stone sword on the seat beside him.

  "Ah!"

  A woman next to Jiang You, who had been looking down at her phone, saw the man sitting next to her. His face was pale, his bck hair was wet with sweat and stuck messily to his forehead, and his hand was dripping blood! She screamed in fright. Jiang You looked up with wide eyes, scaring the woman into silence.

  He forced a smile at the woman. "I accidentally fell and cut my hand."

  But inside, he was in turmoil. "Everything before was real."

  Just then, the bus arrived at his stop. Jiang You, his mind racing, hurriedly got off and hailed a taxi. He returned to the hospital to get his hand bandaged.

  By the time everything was done and he got home, it was already eleven o'clock at night.

  Jiang You, his hand wrapped in bandages, entered his apartment and turned on the light. He went to the water dispenser to get a gss of hot water and then slumped onto the sofa. The dim, yellow light in the room flickered.

  "Is the light bulb broken?"

  The flickering light illuminated Jiang You's face, alternating between light and dark.

  A voice came from the kitchen, "You're working overtime again? I made you a te-night snack."

  "Yeah, I know!" Jiang You replied and then started looking at his phone's message history.

  The company WeChat group.

  Bi Lei: "@Jiang You, where are you?"

  Bi Lei: "@Jiang You, come to the office this afternoon if you have time. There's urgent work, everyone is here."

  Bi Lei: "@Jiang You, reply immediately upon receiving this message!!!"

  Bi Lei: "@Jiang You, come to my office tomorrow!"

  Jiang You was already tired and dazed, but after reading the messages, he was instantly energized with anger.

  "Damn it, I took sick leave, and you're still sending these damn messages!"

  He picked up his phone and started typing!

  "@Bi Lei, what the hell are you @ing your father for?"

  "@Bi Lei, your father took sick leave, you know?"

  "@Bi Lei, go to hell, I quit! Go eat shit!"

  Jiang You unleashed a torrent of abuse in the company group. The group, which had been active earlier, fell silent.

  Jiang You released a long-held breath of resentment. He felt relieved. He threw down his phone and picked up his gss, about to take a drink.

  Suddenly, he frowned. "Huh? How did the hot water I just poured get cold so quickly?"

  He was puzzled, feeling like he had overlooked something important. He grabbed his hair, trying hard to remember.

  A cold wind blew. He looked at the window. The window was tightly closed. Where did the wind come from?

  Suddenly, Jiang You's brain exploded. "I'm working in the city alone, living alone! Who's in the kitchen?"

  He quickly looked towards the kitchen. A bck figure was cast on the floor, and the sound of a cleaver chopping on a cutting board could be heard.