“Thank you for your hospitality. It’s getting late now, so I’ll head back and stop bothering you, Su, so you can rest.”
Theresa stood up from her seat.
“I’ll be sure to pass along your reply to the Warrens.”
“Lastly, please allow me, on my own personal behalf, to thank you for your brave and fearless actions in driving out the demon.”
She rose and gave Su Fan a slight bow.
“I look forward to seeing you again.”
After watching Theresa leave, Ron slipped into the kitchen.
She had already prepared dinner long before Su Fan returned. Now, all she needed to do was reheat the slightly cooled dishes, and then it was time to eat.
Once she finished all of that, Ron didn’t sit down to eat with Su Fan. Instead, she left the antique shop and went back to the hotel where she was temporarily staying.
Su Fan thought about her comment regarding maintaining her figure, shook his head, and enjoyed the dishes on the table by himself.
The taste was pretty decent.
Compared to the sloppy, half-hearted cooking of many young people living alone, Ron’s cooking was already quite good.
As he leisurely brought the food to his mouth and chewed, Su Fan’s mind began to mull over his plans for the coming period.
Originally, Su Fan had planned to wait until his body fully recovered, rest for a while, and only then take on any commissions.
But the incident with the Ouija board ghost had changed his plans.
Using his strengthened body to battle ghosts allowed him to better understand his enhanced physique, which in turn sped up his recovery.
And just at that moment, the Warrens wanted to meet.
By now, their positions were already clear. The reason they had come to visit was undoubtedly to invite Su Fan to perform an exorcism.
Among the couple, Lorraine naturally possessed the abilities for profiling and sensing spirits.
Her husband, Ed, mostly played a supporting role.
Now that the one among them capable of investigating paranormal phenomena was injured and unable to move freely, and the Vatican commission remained unfinished, they had no choice but to seek help from others.
Here before them was Su Fan, an already proven, exceptionally powerful exorcist. Of course, they would ask him for help.
Wasn’t this basically more rehabilitation training?
Still, since it was an exorcism commission, the payment would definitely need to be negotiated.
He was still a bit short on cash to fully purchase this shop.
And even after buying it, he couldn’t forget the habit of saving, which was practically etched into his genes.
After finishing one plate after another, Su Fan cleaned up briefly, flipped the “Open” sign on the door, and returned to his counter. He once again channeled spiritual energy to nourish his body.
…
Three days later.
Ed helped the weak Lorraine out of the car.
Not far ahead stood the entrance to the antique shop.
“This is too much. You shouldn’t have pushed yourself to leave the hospital.”
Watching his wife get out of breath after just a few steps, Ed said with some heartache.
“Didn’t you always say… that we are only complete when we’re together? How could I let you run around all alone?”
Lorraine steadied her breathing.
Having been injured by the visions from her profiling, she understood better than anyone what kind of entity they were dealing with.
She couldn’t rest easy letting her husband negotiate with it alone.
Sensing his wife’s resolve, a wave of warmth surged through Ed’s heart.
He held Lorraine’s hand tightly and, with a grave expression, pushed open the door to the antique shop.
Warm lighting, along with the Eastern-inspired decor, gave the place a harmonious and charming atmosphere.
While not exactly breathtaking, it did ease some of the tension the couple had been feeling.
At the counter not far ahead sat a young man, flipping through a book.
Hearing the noise at the door, he looked up, revealing his youthful face.
Seeing this, both Ed and Lorraine were momentarily startled.
After Theresa had returned, she had carefully recounted the details of her meeting with this “important person” to them, but she had never described his appearance.
Antique shop, gentle, approachable…
All of these elements combined somehow only conjured up the image of an elderly man in their minds.
They never expected him to be so young.
“Ed and Lorraine Warren?”
“That’s us. And you must be Mr. Su Fan.”
“Yes.”
Looking at the man and woman before him, Su Fan greeted them calmly.
“Please, sit anywhere.”
“Coffee, tea, or water?”
“Water is fine, thank you.”
Two glasses of water were placed before the Warrens.
As seasoned paranormal investigators who were constantly on the move, Ed quickly regained his composure. After a few polite, well-phrased remarks, he finally revealed the purpose of their visit.
“Right now, because Lorraine is injured, she can’t continue the investigation herself.”
“So, we have a request that we’re almost embarrassed to make…”
“You want me to help you complete your exorcism commissions?”
Su Fan finished Ed’s sentence, getting straight to the point.
“Not exactly complete… Although we are recognized by the Church, only the professional priests they send can actually perform the exorcism rituals.”
Ed clarified their role, then shifted gears.
“Of course, if you were willing to directly step in and eliminate the ghosts, it would be even better—so those suffering families can escape danger sooner.”
“The Vatican isn’t worried about me stealing their thunder this time?”
The smile on Su Fan’s face made Ed feel a bit sheepish.
“We haven’t gathered and reported the evidence for these cases yet, so skipping straight to an exorcism shouldn’t be a problem…”
“Alright… but I do have set prices for exorcisms. Thirty thousand per case, negotiable upward depending on the ghost’s power. Is that acceptable to you?”
“Yes.”
Their quick agreement surprised Su Fan a little.
“Although we don’t charge for exorcisms, we do have some savings.”
After hearing Ed’s explanation, Su Fan remembered that these two had written books about their paranormal experiences while investigating cases—and that they sold very well.
With the price settled, the next matter was the locations and details of the exorcisms.
“Originally, we had planned to investigate three locations requiring exorcisms.”
“Although they’re in different parts of Los Angeles, they’re still within the same metropolitan area, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble.”
Ed had come prepared. He took out several photographs and the corresponding files from his pocket.
“The first family: ever since they moved into their new home, strange things keep happening. That house is a well-known ‘haunted house’ in the area.”
“There have been multiple murders and suicides there.”
“There’s a high probability that a malevolent ghost is residing in it…”
“The second family: their home was once invaded by members of a Satanic cult…”
“The third family…”
As Ed narrated, Su Fan roughly matched each case to a well-known horror movie.
The Conjuring… The Curse of La Llorona… Annabelle…
As for the famous Conjuring series, Su Fan had only actually watched the first one, which had the highest ratings.
As for the others, he only knew the general gist.
But that didn’t matter. The original movie plots were only for reference anyway.
Not every incident played out exactly as it did in the films.
Su Fan had already learned that from the voodoo incident at the orphanage.
