Although Carl’s situation was frustrating, thankfully it wasn’t urgent.
The detective’s message was clear: it would be great if Su Fan had the time and willingness to help, but if he was too busy or didn’t want to get involved, Carl would completely understand.
“Tell the detective I’ve got it. In three days, have Carl pick me up so I can take a look.”
Complaints aside, appraising an antique wasn’t exactly troublesome.
He was curious to see what kind of Buddha statue could possibly be worth three million dollars.
The old man running this scam clearly wasn’t afraid of having more money than he could spend—or maybe he just didn’t care about the consequences.
Su Fan finished his cocktail in a few gulps, pulled out a few dollar bills, placed them on the table, and nodded to the bartender.
The bartender, who’d been waiting for this moment, quickened his pace as he wiped a glass.
“Let’s go, Jamie.”
“Alright.”
They stepped out of the bar.
Season-wise, it was late autumn, but California was sunny and warm year-round, with temperatures varying by less than ten degrees Celsius.
The only downside was how strong the sunlight was.
As they walked, Jamie and Su Fan made casual conversation.
Like the detective, Jamie was deeply curious about certain topics.
“Aside from curses, what other situations make it easy to encounter evil spirits?”
“Normally, you wouldn’t run into them unless you deliberately engage in occult games.
A lot of kids like to play those things—they’re actually really dangerous.
Compared to adults, children’s minds and wills are less mature, making them easy targets.”
“I’ve never done anything like that. Our town had the Mary Shaw legend, so adults were always cautious…”
“Besides avoiding occult games, also stay away from strange religions and worshipping unorthodox deities. Praying randomly can bring serious bad luck.
Dodgy spirits often seem more ‘effective’ than proper gods, and that’s because they have no boundaries in how they grant wishes.
If a wish actually comes true, don’t celebrate just yet.
There’s always a payback—a price to be paid.
Most of the time, the cost is more than anyone can bear.
The best approach is to control your greed.
Think about it—most people drawn into cults start off hearing that if they believe, their wishes will be granted. Once they get a taste, they can’t break free.”
“I see… So that means the U.S., with its ‘religious freedom,’ is pretty dangerous?”
Jamie thought about what he’d seen and heard lately.
“Extremely dangerous. How many terrible incidents here have been caused by religious fanaticism and cult activity?”
Aside from evil spirits, American horror films most often feature cults that worship dark gods and demons.
Hearing this, Jamie fell deep in thought.
“What else is there? Any other advice?”
Su Fan paused, remembering the Freddy incident.
“Don’t casually handle old objects.”
“When you move into a new place, throw out any old items left behind by the previous owner. Don’t keep them just to save money.
That’s exactly how the director and the others woke Freddy, the dream demon.
In short, being cautious in all things is never a bad idea.”
“Respect spirits but keep your distance—that’s an old Chinese saying. It means honor them, but stay far away.”
“Without sufficient skill, try not to get involved with these things.”
At this, Jamie suddenly had a realization.
“So that’s why you know how to perform exorcisms and have all these abilities, Su—it’s to protect yourself while running an antique shop!”
“……”
If I really handled antiques every day, I probably wouldn’t have this level of skill by now.
Su Fan felt a little awkward but replied, “Naturally.”
As they walked, Su Fan noticed two pairs of eyes on him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two patrol officers on their daily rounds.
They were whispering while looking his way—they’d probably recognized him. Jamie, unaware, grew annoyed.
“Those two officers haven’t taken their eyes off you. Do they suspect you’re up to something? Damn racists.”
Plenty of people wandered around without work during the day, but police often paid extra attention to non-white individuals.
In their stereotypical view, people of color were often low-income and potential sources of trouble.
Jamie wouldn’t tolerate anyone discriminating against Su Fan and immediately stepped forward to confront them.
But before he could take two steps, Su Fan stopped him—just as the two officers called out warmly.
“Su! Didn’t expect to run into you here.”
They were all smiles. Jamie stood there, confused, as if he’d drawn his sword only to find no opponent.
After Su Fan exchanged a few words with them, Jamie asked,
“Su, you know them?”
“I don’t know them—they know me.”
These two had been among the officers involved in the group home operation.
Having witnessed everything firsthand, they regarded Su Fan with deep respect.
From their brief chat, Su Fan learned they were there for crowd control.
An elderly person in the community had passed away, and a funeral was being held. With many people coming and going, they had to keep an eye on things.
Just then, a faint warning signal arose in Su Fan’s mind.
Pretending not to notice, he glanced sideways.
At the left side of the crossroad stood a child.
The child had long blond hair and delicate, androgynous features—there was something unsettling about them.
Their eyes were fixed intently on Su Fan, though it was impossible to tell what they were thinking.
Su Fan only glanced briefly before looking away.
This time, he was careful not to use his special sight to examine the child.
He could sense something deeply unsettling within them.
[After resolving several evil spirit incidents in a row, you seem to have attracted the attention of certain entities.]
[Be extremely cautious. Do not make eye contact until you are fully prepared!]
Sure enough, the prompt soon appeared in Su Fan’s mind.
Feigning unawareness, Su Fan’s heart grew heavy.
What is that thing…?
His abilities had grown significantly since earlier days, yet the system still warned him not to attract its attention.
A dark god? A demon?
Su Fan’s mind raced.
He glanced at Jamie, who seemed completely unaware and was just walking ahead.
Good.
If that thing noticed them, he wasn’t confident he could protect Jamie and fight it at the same time.
Their pace remained unchanged, but the child’s eyes followed Su Fan as he moved.
In that moment, Su Fan felt as if something was observing him through the child’s gaze.
Only when Su Fan and Jamie had completely disappeared around the street corner did the child’s dull, vacant eyes seem to regain a flicker of awareness.
Just then, a boy who looked about sixteen or seventeen approached from behind the child.
“It’s about time to head back. Mom and Dad are waiting for you for dinner.”
When the child didn’t respond, the boy simply picked them up and carried them toward a house in the distance.
But the boy didn’t notice—the child’s gaze remained fixed in the direction Su Fan had gone, and they made a soft, clear clicking sound with their tongue.
“Tsk…”
