“…And that’s it?”
An unreal feeling suddenly arose in the hearts of Dean and Sam.
Over the years, following their dad, the two had dealt with dozens—if not hundreds—of supernatural cases. Resolving hauntings always required preliminary investigation and a lot of preparation.
But what Su Fan had just done felt like a real-life demonstration of “How to Put an Elephant in a Refrigerator in Three Steps.”
“There’s one final step.”
Su Fan walked over, crouched by the demon’s residual bloodstain, and a wisp of flame flickered to life in his hand, incinerating it completely.
Dan Fire.
Another ability he had gained after his cultivation level increased. After testing it in the antique shop, he had abandoned the idea of using Dan Fire for combat. Primarily used for alchemy, it was high in energy consumption and relatively low in offensive power. Even though Su Fan could control it freely with his soul power that surpassed his current realm, wielding his flying sword was simply more cost-effective.
However, Dan Fire had its own uses. For instance, right now, Su Fan was using it to cleanse the demon’s leftover blood.
As his movements were subtle, to the brothers behind him, it looked like he merely wiped his hand over the floor, and the demon’s blood vanished.
While the two were still processing this, Su Fan was already halfway out the door.
“Now it’s truly over. From today on, this house will never attract any ghosts or monsters again.”
“You two, don’t rush out just yet. Someone is looking for you.”
After leaving these words, Su Fan headed downstairs.
“What’s he talking about…”
“Beats me. Feels like one of those cryptic Masters from Star Wars. He’s around my age, but talks with the tone of some old sage from a story.”
Dean glanced in the direction Su Fan left, grumbling.
But Sam didn’t join in discussing Su Fan. He suddenly fell silent. Dean turned to look and froze.
A figure wreathed in flames was materializing before them, slowly walking towards them. Clearly, the soul of a deceased person.
Dean instinctively went on alert but then stood rooted to the spot upon seeing the face beneath the flames.
It was their mother, who had died many years ago.
Seeing the person they had only known from photographs appear before them for the first time, Sam stood still, unsure how to react.
Compared to him, Dean’s reaction was more intense; his eyes immediately reddened.
Their smiling mother was as gentle and beautiful as they remembered.
“Dean…”
——-
Su Fan was outside, fiddling with the tarot cards in his hand.
The soul of Dean and Sam’s mother had followed her sons back to this place, coinciding with the exorcist ghost-woman eliminating the evil spirit in the house.
In the original storyline, their mother’s soul, burning with fierce flames, had perished together with that shadowy evil spirit.
A mother’s love makes the weak strong. If she had arrived just before or during the confrontation, Su Fan would have been worried she might try to take both the exorcist ghost and the shadow down with her.
Before long, the two brothers emerged from the house, their noses slightly red.
The reunion and conversation with their mother after so many years had let the brothers feel a maternal love scarce in their lives.
“Talk’s over?” Su Fan asked.
Dean nodded, answering for his brother who hadn’t fully recovered yet.
After the reunion came the final parting. Having seen her sons grown up safe, sound, and healthy, their mother, her lingering attachment resolved, dissipated with a smile.
“The matter is completely resolved. We’ll take you back now, Su.”
Dean pulled open the car door and got into the driver’s seat.
The ghosts in the old house had been entirely dependent on Su Fan’s power to be dealt with. Having played almost no role in the whole process left Dean feeling somewhat uneasy.
“Change of plans,” Su Fan suddenly spoke up.
“Where’s the next place you’re investigating?”
The exorcist ghost-woman needed more evil spirits as nourishment. Otherwise, she was hardly presentable, barely even fit for house-sitting. For that, Su Fan didn’t mind accompanying the Winchester brothers to a few more places.
“Will you charge?”
“Limited time special offer.”
The brothers exchanged a glance and nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
——
That night, a police car stopped in front of an abandoned asylum. Two officers got out.
They had received a report: a group of kids had entered this building and hadn’t returned home by nightfall.
The young white officer didn’t seem to take this task very seriously. Seeing this, the older black officer beside him smiled mysteriously.
“I forgot you’re not from around here. You haven’t heard the legend.”
“What legend?”
“You know, every town has its legends. The one in our town is about this asylum.”
The black officer, speaking with a southern accent, continued, “They say there are patient ghosts here. If you spend the night, the ghosts will drive you mad.”
As they talked, they entered the asylum and split up to search.
The black officer quickly found the kids hiding there, but the young white officer found nothing.
He ventured deeper alone, navigating through dark, deserted rooms and corridors, when he suddenly realized his flashlight seemed to be malfunctioning.
With his only light source broken, the search couldn’t continue. The young officer gave it a couple of light taps, trying to fix it, but to no avail.
Just then, a discarded cabinet nearby suddenly creaked open. He turned his head, and it seemed he saw something different…
——
“…And so, this out-of-town officer shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself.”
Sam finally finished reading the news article he’d downloaded on his laptop.
“Doesn’t sound like a demon’s handiwork,” Dean judged.
“More like a ghost.”
“Oh? What are the characteristics of demonic activity?” came Su Fan’s voice from the back seat.
“Different motives. Demons aim for greater evil, not just limited to killing someone or other. They come from Hell to the human world, leaving behind the pungent smell of sulfur. They can possess humans and are very hard to detect.”
“However, these possessed humans react strongly to holy water. To exorcise them and send them back to Hell, you must recite a specific incantation.”
In the car, Sam and Dean took turns explaining what they knew about demons to Su Fan.
“Of course, demons won’t just wait for you to recite the exorcism. That’s when you need to pair it with special sigils or traps to confine them. This set works on average demons, but for more powerful ones, there’s an additional troublesome prerequisite.”
“And that’s their name. Major demons with known names and titles are beyond what ordinary exorcists can handle. To banish them, you must know their name.”
“Though I don’t really know why that is,” Sam trailed off here.
“You sound like some half-baked, unqualified teacher. Totally unprofessional,” Dean, who was driving, gave his brother a scathing critique without holding back, before adding his own explanation.
“Faiths that believe in God generally hold that humans have no inherent power. To drive out evil, one must borrow the authority and might of God. The divine will walks the earth. Demons, afraid of being discovered, use various means to hide their presence.”
“Calling a demon’s name pierces their disguise, attracting the attention of holy spirits, borrowing their power to inflict harm.”
As he spoke, Dean glanced at Su Fan through the rearview mirror, thinking to himself: Who says humans have no power? This guy here is plenty powerful.
