Night.
A Dodge Ram pickup stopped in front of the desolate road sign, and a middle-aged white man, looking a bit weary, stepped out of the car with a travel bag on his back.
Near the sign was an expansive field, and as far as the eye could see, it was all golden wheat fields, with variously dressed scarecrows designed to scare away birds trying to steal food.
Looking further into the distance, hundreds of meters to the north, there was a cluster of houses, all two to three-story American-style low buildings, located in Gospel Town.
"I hope Henry didn't deceive me, and this Priest can really help me get rid of that damn thing," the middle-aged white man muttered to himself, striding through the wheat field toward the distant houses.
...
After spending the day tidying up the old house, Sun Yan was lying on his bed, swiping through his phone screen and watching TikTok news about the cemetery.
In North America, cemeteries have always been public places. Before the nineteenth century, the deceased were buried in the land near local churches.
Gradually, this accumulated into a dense network of cemeteries, lacking in aesthetics.
Even after being buried, the bodies of people of color would endure various damages. In areas like Manhattan and San Francisco, public cemeteries didn't even allow them to be buried.
Thus, in some remote small towns in the countryside, the cemetery industry began to emerge.
As long as you own a piece of land and enclose it, you can operate it as a cemetery.
If anyone in Gospel Town wishes to bury their deceased family in Sun Yan's cemetery, they must first pay him a hefty 'Knife Pleasure'.
Otherwise, they could only bury the bodies in unsupervised remote places, which could result in vagabonds opening graves in an attempt to steal burial items for money, or wild wolves digging them up, leaving the bodies exposed in the wilderness.
'Bang'
"Father Stevenson! Are you at home?"
The urgent knocking on the downstairs front door instantly woke up Sun Yan, who was already a bit sleepy.
Stephenson was grandfather's Western name. Generally, overseas Chinese fighting in North America would adopt such names to ease daily life.
He didn't expect anyone would come looking for his grandfather at night, and what surprised Sun Yan more was that the person called his grandfather a Priest?
Holy moly, what secrets is Grandpa hiding behind the scenes?
Getting up, he walked to the first floor and opened the door.
A brown-haired middle-aged white man stood outside, looking extremely haggard. His whole attire was outdoor sportswear, filled with the scent of dust and travel, seemingly from a very distant place.
"Who are you?" Sun Yan asked.
Coming to a rural place like Gospel Town this late, it must be because of some trouble.
"My name is Joles, I'm sorry to disturb Father Stevenson so late, is he home? I urgently need his help."
Sun Yan shook his head: "Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away a few days ago."
"What!"
Joles went pale as a corpse, clutching the door frame to prevent himself from collapsing onto the ground.
Under the house lights, his lips trembled slightly, his expression immensely desperate.
Curiously, Sun Yan asked, "What do you want from him?"
"Evil Spirit, I'm haunted by an Evil Spirit."
Joles covered his face in regret: "These days I hear strange sounds beside my ears, it wants me to go to Hell, it wants to kill me, only Father Stevenson can save me now."
"Don't worry, take your time, things might not be as severe as you say. Perhaps you've encountered some tough issues lately, mentally too anxious, causing hallucinations,"
Sun Yan pulled out a cigarette and handed it to him, lighting it for him: "Take one, maybe you'll feel better. Come inside and sit, tell me your troubles, perhaps I can offer some insight."
"You? Right, since you are a descendant of Father Stevenson, you should know Exorcism, right?" Joles suddenly showed a little excitement.
"Not necessarily, theoretically I'm just a cook at Ah Fen Restaurant in Chinatown."
Sun Yan invited Joles into the living room to sit down, gesturing toward the sofa: "Tell me your situation in detail."
Joles quickly took two puffs of the cigarette, then lifted his shirt in front of Sun Yan, revealing numerous black Palm Seals on his skin, as if he had been beaten.
Sun Yan asked in confusion: "What's this?"
"A curse, right after I got this thing, my body started turning like this."
Joles took out a round mirror from his travel bag and pushed it across the table to Sun Yan.
It's a medieval-style antique, the mirror surface even showing signs of yellowing.
Two shattered cracks mixed with dark red impurities, resembling bloodstains soaked in.
Sun Yan observed the mirror and asked: "How did you get it?"
"Last week, a friend of mine returned from a trip to Europe and gifted me this mirror. I don't know its origins, but my friend said it houses a magical spirit inside. If you keep wishing to the mirror every night before sleep, the spirit will fulfill your wishes."
"So magical? Did it work, or did his wishes really come true after doing it?" Sun Yan picked up the mirror and asked.
Joles ran his fingers through his hair in collapse, shaking his head: "How could it be? He died, just a few days ago, jumping off a high floor of a hotel, no one knows why he committed suicide when life was so happy, but before he died he made a call to me…"
"What did he say?"
Joles raised his head in fear and said: "It came from Hell... right beside me."
At that moment, a black Palm Seal slowly appeared on the skin of his neck.
The sudden anomaly occurred, yet Joles had no reaction whatsoever.
Sun Yan's gaze twitched, instantly believing Joles' story, silently lighting another cigarette and putting it into his mouth.
Cemetery Entry 'Stare at Fear' activated.
The initially fearful emotions instantly calmed down, and his brain became absolutely clear.
"So it seems, there's indeed a problem with this mirror. Perhaps your friend was doomed a long time ago, and gifting you this mirror was a way to pass on the curse. It's the classic horror movie trope," Sun Yan analyzed while examining the round mirror.
Like a drowning person grabbing onto a straw, Joles eagerly asked: "Priest, can you help me exorcise it?"
"Mr. Joles, firstly, I'm not a Priest, you can call me Jack Sun, actually in terms of exorcism, I'm not at all..."
'Bang!'
A stack of ten thousand US Dollars placed by Joles on the table, urgently imploring: "Please, Father Jackson, my friend is the sheriff of Saint Anna City, he strongly recommended I come to Gospel Town to seek Father Stevenson's help. He said Father Stevenson is an outstanding exorcism master, definitely can help me, and as his descendant, you must have learned the skills of exorcism, right."
"Thank you for your trust, perhaps I can give it a try."
Sun Yan swallowed back the intended refusal, accepting ten thousand dollars and stuffing them into his pocket.
If he could earn this money, he would have his own second-hand car, his greatest dream since adulthood.
With the opportunity at hand, there's no reason not to seize it.
Buzz Buzz Buzz.
At this time, the notebook Sun Yan was carrying in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
Feeling the notebook's anomaly, Sun Yan hurriedly took it out to check, only to find blank pages slowly emerged new bloodstains.
Reward Mission [Cursed Magic Mirror]
Task Difficulty: ☆☆
Task Synopsis: A Magic Mirror cursed and filled with resentment, interacting with it will bring misfortune to mortals, an Evil Spirit will take the life of every owner, your death countdown has begun.
Task Requirements: At midnight, ignite a candle in the darkness and face the Magic Mirror, when the Evil Spirit appears, maintain clarity and rationality until dawn, under no circumstances open windows or doors or leave the room, failing the task will suffer the Evil Spirit's backlash.
Task Reward: Tomb Magical Artifact