The service at the restaurant was really excellent.
The waiter remembered that Su Fan and his companion ate at a pretty fast pace, so they shortened the time between bringing out the subsequent courses.
They kept it right within a range that both of them could comfortably handle.
Theresa, who hadn’t eaten much all day, got to enjoy some high-quality dishes and also filled her stomach.
While waiting for dessert after finishing the main course, she took a napkin from the table and gently wiped the corner of her mouth.
Whether she was eating or had just finished, Theresa maintained perfect poise throughout.
You could really tell the etiquette lessons at the convent were very strict.
Looking at Theresa like this, Su Fan thought to himself.
“When it comes to checking into a hotel, you’re familiar with the basic things to watch out for, right?”
“I learned about it before, and Rowling also taught me.”
Theresa answered honestly, then suddenly realized something.
“Mr. Su Fan, I do know about these kinds of things. Please trust me a little more.”
Hearing this, Su Fan nodded.
Soon enough, the final dessert was brought to the table.
“We won’t need any more drinks afterward… this is your tip.”
Su Fan took a few bills from his pocket and handed them to the waiter who had been running back and forth.
The waiter thanked him, took the money, and turned to leave.
“How much did you just give?”
Seeing how casually Su Fan paid, Theresa got a little curious and asked after swallowing the strawberry bavarois in her mouth.
“A little over two hundred dollars…”
“Two hundred… huh?”
Hearing Su Fan’s offhand tone, Theresa instinctively thought it wasn’t that much, but she quickly realized something was off.
Tips are usually given to service staff as a percentage of the meal cost, typically 15% to 20%.
Even if Su Fan had tipped at the highest rate, that would mean the meal itself cost nearly a thousand dollars.
So expensive!
Living at the convent, Theresa had never seen that level of spending before, and she felt a little shaken inside.
Looking at the dessert she hadn’t finished yet, she started reflecting on whether she had eaten too quickly earlier and hadn’t properly enjoyed the dinner.
“It’s fine to sit a little longer.”
Su Fan noticed that the dessert on the other side of the table was disappearing more slowly and figured Theresa was probably feeling full.
It’s not good to move around right after eating.
“It’s okay, I can leave right away.”
Seeing the nun shake her head, Su Fan gave her a questioning look.
“You’re not too full?”
“Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. Eating in moderation is a dining etiquette that every nun should follow.”
Hearing that, Su Fan nodded and went to the front desk to pay the bill.
Before long, the two of them were back out on the nighttime streets.
They found a hotel that looked decent, checked into their rooms, said goodnight to each other, and then Su Fan sat down on the bed.
He started checking the system notifications.
[You have killed an enhanced version of the Weeping Woman.]
[The battle is gradually activating your physical condition. Body recovery speed +20%.]
[Punching evil spirits and withstanding dark rituals has increased your physical strength. The surging vitality in your blood will make you fear no interference from low-level curses.]
[And your boxing technique, which has achieved both form and spirit, now possesses the foundation of a grandmaster. This gives you an overwhelming advantage in close-quarters combat.]
A 20% increase… not as much as last time.
During the Ouija board incident, the evil spirits weren’t as strong as Yurona this time, but there were a lot more of them.
When you think about it carefully, it makes sense.
Now the recovery speed has increased by a total of 50%. By the time all the evil spirit incidents are resolved, it should probably be around 90%.
Su Fan got a rough sense of it.
Right now, his overall injuries have recovered about 40%.
Compared to before he was injured, the flow of his spiritual energy is quite a bit more sluggish, but with the rewards granted, it has improved somewhat.
But compared to his injuries, the changes in his body are even more eye-catching.
The surging vitality in his blood means Su Fan’s current physical strength has already exceeded what it should be at his original level of cultivation.
Greater physical strength doesn’t just mean he can withstand stronger attacks and the backlash from supernatural abilities.
It also means he can use the vitality in his body to fend off the invasion of evil energy.
Although the effect is basically the same as circulating spiritual energy, it undoubtedly gives him an extra layer of protection.
Having the foundation of a grandmaster means that the many martial arts Su Fan has learned have improved once again.
Paired with the vitality of this physical body, even without cultivation or supernatural abilities, he could still force evil spirits to back off.
Compared to realms and supernatural abilities, which place more emphasis on understanding and insight, physical strengthening is clearly much slower.
But Su Fan isn’t in a hurry.
Haste makes waste.
He was never born with some kind of monstrous talent. Without the system’s direct enhancements, who knows how long it would have taken him to achieve today’s results in body refinement.
Su Fan knows his own strengths and weaknesses well. Taking it one step at a time, avoiding pride and impatience—that’s the right path to cultivation.
After letting out a breath, Su Fan closed his eyes and began circulating his spiritual energy.
He continued until the sun rose.
——
The next morning, an American muscle car was driving steadily along a road leading out of town.
Theresa obviously didn’t have a driver’s license, so the task of driving naturally fell to Su Fan.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Theresa wasn’t idle either.
Using the time while driving, she read aloud from the documents she had taken out of her suitcase for Su Fan to hear.
“The house we’re being asked to visit this time was recently bought by the Perron family.”
“There are seven family members in total: the husband, Mr. Roger, the wife, Mrs. Caroline, and their five daughters.”
“Ever since they moved into the house, strange things have been happening one after another. First, their dog died for unknown reasons.”
“Next, unexplained dark shadows have appeared multiple times inside the house…”
The road was smooth, and Su Fan wasn’t driving fast, so Theresa had no trouble reading.
“Actually, before they moved in, three fatal incidents had already occurred in this house.”
“In 1957, a mother named Kelly moved into the house with her child.
But not long after, the child, Roy, disappeared into the woods, and the mother later committed suicide in the basement.”
“Even earlier, a child drowned in a river not far from the house, and a worker who came to work on a nearby farm also died from unknown causes.”
“In summary, the Perron family bought a truly haunted house.”
Su Fan drove while casually asking,
“Did they know about this?”
“It doesn’t say, so probably not.”
Theresa flipped through other documents and answered Su Fan’s question.
“Rowling told me that while real estate agents won’t lie completely, they can make serious issues sound trivial, which affects people’s judgment.”
“Most of the paranormal cases and haunted house incidents they take on start because of that.”
At this point, Theresa paused for a moment.
“Even if they know now that it’s a haunted house, the Perron family can’t get rid of it.”
“The renovations are done, and all the money has already been paid.”
“The cost of finding a new place to live is too high for them to bear.”
“If they’re not careful, the whole family could end up on the street.”
While driving, Su Fan occasionally glanced at the book in Theresa’s hands in the passenger seat.
He soon noticed that she seemed to have brought along some clipped-out newspaper articles.
“Did Ed give you those too?”
“No, I prepared them myself. Some information can’t be found through online searches. You can only find it in old newspapers and local records.”
“For example, this…”
As Theresa explained, Su Fan gained an even more detailed understanding of the house’s origins.
