Two nights later.
In the Armitage family’s private car, Jeremy kept glancing at his sister in the rearview mirror.
In the back seat, Rose looked utterly exhausted—she hadn’t slept properly for two nights straight. No matter how carefully she’d done her makeup, it couldn’t hide the haggardness beneath.
To prevent another breakdown, Jeremy had taken over as driver for this trip instead of leaving it to their chauffeur.
“If it’s really too much, we can reschedule. Rose, the buyer gave us a very flexible window.”
“No. It has to be today. There’s only one chance.”
Rose kept scanning their surroundings, her nerves wound tight—but even so, she shot down her brother’s suggestion.
“We just need to adjust the plan a little. We wait until he’s dealt with the ghosts in the house—then we make our move.”
Jeremy didn’t argue. He just started the engine.
Ever since that night, his sister had been going on and on about ghosts roaming the house, out to get her.
If not for the fact that she was still perfectly coherent and rational in every other way, they would have already sent her to a psych ward.
Did ghosts exist?
Jeremy didn’t think so.
If vengeful spirits were real, after all the people they’d killed, wouldn’t they already be swarmed by ghosts and dead themselves?
But the reality was quite the opposite—the family business was booming, their network growing wider than ever.
At the end of the day, it was still debatable whether their current “target” was even genuinely “supernatural.” He might just be a well-packaged con artist, or someone with a bit of hypnotic trickery.
Jeremy stopped worrying about his sister. He’d already made up his mind—if the guy didn’t cooperate, he’d just knock him out and haul him away by force. He had full confidence in his muscles; taking down one scrawny Asian kid should be a piece of cake.
Before long, their car pulled up smoothly at the destination.
“I’ll go in. You wait outside.”
Rose made sure to remind her brother.
“Seeing unfamiliar faces will make him wary.”
With that, she pushed the door open and walked inside.
As soon as she entered the antique shop, she spotted the young owner at the counter.
But this time, he wasn’t alone—two burly men were seated in front of the counter.
“Mr. Su, I’ve come to pick you up for the exorcism at our estate, as promised. I hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long?”
The moment Rose stepped through the door, the deadpan expression she’d worn vanished, replaced by a warm and gentle smile.
Across from her, Su Fan didn’t seem interested in acknowledging her at all—he just kept his head down, reading.
To the side, the shorter of the two men—the one with a buzz cut—spoke up first.
“Yeah, you sure did.”
“So, sweetheart, don’t you think you owe us a little something for the wait?”
The other man, with long, wavy hair, looked taken aback for a moment, as if about to say something—but then he closed his mouth.
“And you are…?”
“We’re Mr. Su’s exorcism assistants. Came all the way from the next state for your little family problem.”
“I see. Don’t worry, gentlemen—compensation will certainly be provided.”
Unfazed by the buzz-cut man’s pushiness, Rose maintained her poise and handed over a check.
“Here’s fifty thousand dollars. Please, do accept it.”
——–
The ones who had appeared at the antique shop were none other than the Winchester brothers, who had received Su Fan’s message earlier.
After confirming their father was safe and hitting a dead end in their hunt for the Yellow-Eyed Demon—not to mention being short on cash—they’d rushed back from somewhere not too far from California when Su Fan mentioned a paying gig.
Su Fan hadn’t given them many details, only telling them that their client wasn’t exactly a good person—and that they were free to ask for an outrageous fee.
Hence the scene that had just played out.
At the sight of the check, Sam’s eyes were practically glued to it.
They hadn’t done a thing yet, and the woman was already throwing fifty grand at them.
What kind of filthy rich lunatic was this?!
The boss hadn’t lied to them after all.
Compared to Sam, who was still staring blankly, Dean reacted much faster—he snatched the check, cleared his throat, and put on a show.
“I can tell Miss Rose is very sincere.”
Halfway through his little performance, Dean glanced over at Su Fan.
The young man behind the counter didn’t seem to have any objections to his price-gouging—he simply closed his book, stood up, and stretched.
“Now that everyone’s here, let’s go.”
With Su Fan’s word, both brothers rose from their seats at once.
The group left the antique shop together with Rose and boarded the car bound for the Armitage estate.
On the way, to build rapport—and also to test the waters—Rose began recounting the paranormal phenomena she’d witnessed over the past two days.
Su Fan listened the whole time, his expression unchanging—but there was a faint glint of amusement hidden deep in his eyes.
Compared to her previous account, this time Rose’s description was much more detailed. There’s nothing quite like speaking from real, personal experience to make a story land.
Her spine-chilling nighttime encounters poured out of her mouth one after another, and it almost seemed like the temperature inside the car dropped a few degrees.
At the wheel, Jeremy began to feel uneasy.
Rose clearly wasn’t losing her mind.
That meant there really were vengeful spirits lurking around their estate, waiting for the chance to kill.
He stole a glance at the three passengers in the back seat.
Rose’s vivid and terrifying narration hadn’t scared them at all—their faces remained completely calm.
They really did have some skill, it seemed.
No wonder the buyer had specifically requested a young man’s body.
Jeremy’s impression of the trio had already been upgraded from “charlatans” to “legitimate mediums with real ability.”
“There’s actually a pretty simple way to deal with ghosts—you could do it yourselves.”
“What is it?”
“Find out the ghost’s real identity, locate the grave where their body was buried, dig it up, and burn the remains.”
“Or burn all of their personal belongings.”
Dean and Sam traded off explaining.
“We can’t do that…”
“Why?”
“They’re already dead… it wouldn’t be right to disturb their rest.”
Listening to the exchange, a cold smile tugged at the corner of Su Fan’s mouth.
Wouldn’t be right—or wouldn’t dare?
“If you can’t dig up the grave and burn the body, then you’ll need an exorcism performed by a Vatican-recognized exorcist or priest.”
“Exorcisms require lengthy approvals and background checks—the process takes too long.”
Rose was clearly familiar with the ins and outs of it all.
“That’s exactly why we need you three.”
“These ghosts have been interfering with our lives for no reason, and they even tried to take my life.”
“Please, don’t hold back. Get rid of them as soon as possible.”
Rose put on a pitiful, tearful expression—but as she wiped her eyes, a glint of mockery and malice flickered beneath the surface.
Just a bunch of pathetic pushovers. They were alive, and I toyed with them. Now that they’re dead, they think they can stir up trouble?
Since you won’t go where you belong, I’ll make sure you disappear for good!
Just as she was adjusting her expression to keep up the act, she accidentally caught Su Fan’s gaze in the rearview mirror.
Those clear, dark eyes seemed capable of piercing straight through to her deepest, darkest secrets.
“Evil spirits don’t appear for no reason. Every ‘effect’ that manifests has a deeply buried ’cause.'”
For an instant, Rose’s heart seemed to skip a beat.
And behind the wheel, Jeremy tightened his grip on the steering wheel—veins bulging on the back of his hand.
Wait—had they figured something out?!
