Seeing the fog dissipate, Adam and Davis both carefully surveyed their surroundings multiple times before finally confirming it was safe.
They let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a chill of lingering fear ran down their spines.
That eerie fog had appeared and engulfed the entire area in less than three minutes, all told.
Vehicles were wrecked, communication equipment failed, and even their firearms couldn’t harm it.
If it hadn’t been for the two exorcists here, this highway would surely have claimed two more lives.
“We need to go.”
Theresa saw Su Fan already opening the car door and getting in, and she trotted ahead. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to remind the two men.
“If you still need to carry out your mission, you’d better hurry.”
Hearing this, Adam and Davis suddenly remembered—they still had their assignment: gather evidence that Su Fan was supernatural, and report back to their superiors.
The sound of a car engine starting came from up ahead. Without dawdling, the two turned around and got into their vehicle.
As expected, the car that had previously broken down and refused to start was now back to normal.
Seeing this, Agent Adam gained an even clearer understanding of the power of ghosts and malevolent spirits.
“Honestly, this mission is far more dangerous than I ever imagined.”
Adam started the car and followed Su Fan.
An awkward silence fell between the two.
Davis had always insisted that Su Fan was a fraud, a terrorist, a murderer.
But the man’s earlier performance was essentially like winding up and slapping him right across the face.
His personal misjudgment had nearly cost them the mission.
Embarrassment, shame, shock—a whirlwind of emotions made it hard for him to face his partner.
In the end, it was Adam who broke the silence first.
His tone was grave, his face tense.
“I know some church personnel. They told me there’s a difference between spirits and malevolent entities.
Malevolent entities are more powerful than ordinary spirits, and far more evil.”
“They harbor intense hostility toward humans, and they’ll even use their own power to directly harm people.”
“What we just encountered back there was nothing more than the spirits sleeping in the cemetery.”
“I can’t even imagine how terrifying it must be to face a true malevolent entity.”
“But we have to get this mission done.”
Davis spoke up, his tone laced with frustration.
“If only the camera hadn’t malfunctioned, we could have recorded that guy’s abnormal movements and reported back with solid evidence.”
“This is awful. Just awful!”
“Why did it have to turn out like this!”
“Calm down, kid.”
“Don’t forget—we’re FBI agents. We’re here to solve all kinds of problems, whether they’re caused by people or by ghosts.”
“We’ll get through this one just like we’ve done with every other mission before.”
Adam was taken aback by Davis’s sudden emotional outburst. He tried to comfort him, but then shifted his tone at the end.
“But there’s one big prerequisite—don’t provoke that young man anymore.”
“…Understood.”
——
“This white mist had other effects too.”
Not long after they’d been driving, before Theresa could even get settled in her seat, Su Fan said this.
“What effects? Didn’t the mist disappear along with the spirits?”
“I’m not sure, but Paimon displayed a similar ability before… Grab the handle. I’m speeding up.”
Hearing this, Theresa immediately reached out and grabbed the handle. The moment she did, she felt that familiar force pressing her back into the seat.
“The mist Paimon released started out white, and it could affect ordinary people’s minds, making them hallucinate all kinds of terrifying visions.”
“It could also obscure sight and hearing, things like that…”
“This time, the mist disappeared the moment the spirits did—that’s highly unusual.”
“Maybe the thick fog already achieved its goal without us even noticing.”
Theresa was stunned for a moment.
“But Paimon is one of the Four Great Crown Princes of the Seventy-Two Demons. An ordinary malevolent spirit shouldn’t have the same abilities, right?”
“Until we get to the bottom of this, we can’t let our guard down. We have to prepare for the worst.”
Theresa turned her head to look at Su Fan. It was the first time she’d seen this cautious side of him.
“Don’t forget how Bathsheba dealt with us before.”
To test Su Fan’s strength and tie his hands, that female demon had used water tainted with curses and evil energy to take control of the Perrin family of seven.
If Su Fan hadn’t deliberately made himself look weak to lure her into thinking she could beat him head-on,
Bathsheba—who had seven hostages in her grasp—would have been a real handful, especially since he couldn’t use his divine powers too many times.
“Any leads on the origin of the malevolent spirit attached to that doll?”
“No…”
“Looks like we’ll have to wait until we see Father Andrew to figure it all out.”
The overcast sky didn’t clear up even after the fog receded.
Heavy clouds still piled up, hiding every trace of starlight or moonlight.
On top of that, muffled thunder kept rumbling overhead, as if thousands of horses and soldiers were charging across the sky.
Su Fan sped down the not-so-wide road, with streetlights flashing by one after another above him.
Having witnessed Su Fan kill a malevolent spirit with their own eyes, the two FBI agents behind them wouldn’t give them any more trouble.
So there was no need to keep a slow pace just to accommodate them.
After passing through the long forest road, they reached a fork—but up ahead, warning lights flashed, signaling a roadblock.
A car accident? At this hour?
Su Fan glanced over. An overturned freight truck lay across the road, and next to it, a sedan crushed beyond recognition.
On the asphalt, large patches of dark red blood hadn’t even dried yet.
From that, it was clear the accident had just happened.
But earlier, on the road Su Fan and the others had been on, not a single car had passed by.
Clearly, this was the malevolent spirit’s way of buying time.
【Can’t stall us with supernatural phenomena? Then use real-world incidents instead?】
The road that had just been blocked was the closest route to the hospital.
The other detour would add about twenty minutes.
That window would be plenty of time for the malevolent spirit to finish off a severely wounded, defenseless priest in the hospital.
【Hmph.】
Su Fan sneered inwardly.
Before setting out, he’d glanced at the map and committed the route to memory.
In no time, he’d already plotted the best possible path.
The roar of the engine grew wilder on the nighttime road. Su Fan’s speed climbed higher and higher, making Theresa instinctively grip the handle and the seat cushion beneath her.
Neither of them noticed the rearview mirror, where the black SUV that had been following closely behind was gradually falling further back.
“Is—is it really okay to drive this fast?”
Theresa’s voice trembled slightly, a little panicked.
“Relax. If we really crash, I can get you out of the car.”
“Shouldn’t you be telling me there’s nothing to worry about?!”
Despite Theresa’s somewhat agitated protest, Su Fan didn’t seem to care at all. He even found time to turn on the car’s music player.
“Chill out. Listen to some music. We’ll be there soon.”
No sooner had Su Fan said that than he frowned.
What came out of the music player at that very moment was, as luck would have it, the infamous Death Theme they hadn’t heard in a long time—Rocky Mountain High.
There weren’t many streetlights to begin with. The whole scene was gloomy and unsettling. Combined with that cursed song, it just felt wrong in every way.
Su Fan remembered how the rental shop owner had specifically told him he’d loaded up the latest Chinese songs.
Where were they…
Su Fan reached up, took a CD from the sun visor above, and slid it in. Of course, this didn’t stop his other hand from violently spinning the steering wheel.
By the time they cleared the upcoming curve, the CD had finished loading—and suddenly, a powerful burst of drum and gong music erupted!
“Good luck comes, wishing you good luck~ Good luck brings joy and love~”
“Good luck comes, our good luck comes~ With good luck, we prosper and reach the four seas~~”
