Jimmy thought it would take them at least 2 hours to arrive, but just over half an hour later, Lambert's phone rang.
Lambert, along with Jimmy and Sam, left the police station, got in a car, and headed straight to the north side of town. A helicopter had already landed there, its blades nearly stopped.
A middle-aged man in black priest attire and a young man in white church attire stood beside the helicopter. Lambert directed Sam to drive next to the helicopter. After he got out and shook hands with the priest, they got in the car and headed straight for the Red River. Jimmy led the way in front, bringing them to a bend in the Red River.
Everyone got out of the car, and Lambert stood by the river with Father Horton. "This is the place, Father Horton, please."
Since Jimmy had seen the upgrade of the Heart Eye, he had not come to the riverside, knowing this was the center, perhaps the most dangerous spot. He instinctively avoided it, just searching for clues outside.
This time at the riverside, he could already discern the problem. At the riverbed on the bend, there was an area of color completely different from the surrounding land. If the land was black, this patch was gray with mutating lines. As people arrived, some lines began to move in their direction but didn't extend much before retreating.
It was now noon, and perhaps the sun really could suppress such things. Jimmy thought as he also continuously observed Father Horton. The priest's follower opened a case he was carrying and handed a cross to Father Horton, then took out two bottles from the case.
Father Horton stood in front of everyone, facing the river, holding a Bible in his left hand and the cross in his right, murmuring something. Then, he lifted the cross over his head. The sunlight hit the cross, casting its shadow on the river surface.
"Sizz~~"
An ear-piercing sound came, and Jimmy felt like he had been punched in the head, it was extremely uncomfortable. The sound was even more shrill and teeth-grinding than the noise of a small knife scraping glass. Jimmy felt a headache and nausea, involuntarily bending over with his hands over his ears and his mouth open in a scream, although no sound came out.
The noise lasted only a short while, and once it stopped, Jimmy finally recovered. He looked up at the people beside him; it seemed only he was affected by the sound. Father Horton had already pulled the cross back to his chest while Lambert and Sam turned their heads, staring at him with wide-open mouths, shocked.
Jimmy's reaction was not an act; his genuine expression and movements showed how uncomfortable he truly felt. But why weren't the others affected?
Lambert shouted to Father Horton, "Father Horton, is there a problem?"
Turning his head towards Lambert, about to say something, Horton suddenly saw a panicked Jimmy. He frowned, "Did you hear that?"
Jimmy nodded, still frightened by the noise.
Horton turned back to Lambert, "Indeed, there is a problem here. I think you can go back now; we'll handle it here."
Lambert nodded, waved his hand, and alongside Sam and Jimmy, turned to leave.
Out of the blue, Father Horton said, "You, stay." Though he didn't say the name, Jimmy stopped, turned around, and looked at Horton. "Me?"
Horton nodded, and Lambert, having heard their conversation, also nodded at Jimmy, then got in the car with Sam and drove away.
Jimmy: "Father Horton, what do I need to do?"
With a smile, Horton told Jimmy, "You don't need to do anything; just stand here. You have a gift; absorb some more."
Jimmy took a few steps to stand beside Horton. "Okay."
Horton took two bottles from his assistant and took a silver plate from the case. He mixed the water and powder from the bottles in the plate, then cleaned a small patch of ground and drew several symbols on it with the mixture.
This was a rare observation opportunity, but Jimmy couldn't understand what the symbols meant. He was sure they were definitely not English letters.
Once done, Horton stood up, taking his Bible and cross from his assistant and spoke something in a non-English intonation. He then lifted the cross again, casting its shadow on the river surface.
Jimmy no longer watched Horton but instead focused on the unusual area at the riverbed. As Horton's intonation changed, the shadowy area stirred. Some lines broke free and ascended from the river, directly embedding into the symbols Horton had drawn on the ground. Jimmy couldn't make out any changes in the symbols on the ground, but it was fascinating.
As more lines ascended from the river, the gray shadow suddenly burst forth, leaving the river and collecting on its surface. Now clearer, this was the mist Jimmy had seen the day before, only much thicker today.
As the mist rose to the surface, Father Horton placed the cross on his chest. When the mist charged towards him, he changed his grip on the cross, moving from the base to the middle as if wielding a longsword, he swiped at the fog.
In Jimmy's eyes, aside from being thicker today, the fog had more white spots compared to yesterday. Yesterday, there were only six white spots, but today, this cloud of mist had several more, some moving swiftly within it.
As Priest Horton swung the cross like a longsword a few times, some white dots in the fog suddenly disappeared. These disappeared with regularity, mostly along the path of the swinging cross, and a few white dots even vanished without being touched by the cross, eerily as if there was an extra blade in front of the cross.
Priest Horton was clearly practiced in using the longsword. He held the Bible in his left hand against his chest while waving the cross with one hand and also moved his feet according to the movement of the fog. If one couldn't see the fog, it would seem like he was performing a shamanic dance or acting against a green screen in a movie, later to be enhanced with special effects.
As Priest Horton attacked, the cloud of fog gradually dissipated, and the remaining bits of fog suddenly recoiled in preparation to flee. Jimmy drew his revolver and fired at the only three white dots left in the fog. He fired subconsciously, merely not wanting the fog to escape. Yet, those six shots eliminated the three swiftly moving white dots.
The fog did not return to the river but dissolved right above the water surface. Horton turned to look at Jimmy, frowning, "How did you do that?"
Jimmy took six bullets from his pocket, and while reloading, he shook his head, "I don't know, I just saw it trying to escape and fired."
"Pfft," after the fog dissipated, the symbols Horton had drawn on the ground emitted a soft sound and ignited spontaneously, burning quickly, leaving only a few symbol-shaped ashes on the ground.
Priest Horton looked at Jimmy. The self-ignition of the ground symbols didn't make him turn away; Jimmy too looked towards Horton after seeing the symbols extinguish.
Horton: "Turn your back to the sun and stand still without moving."
Horton made a gesture to his assistant, who approached Jimmy from the front while Horton went behind Jimmy, left hand opening the Bible with the cross placed upon it, right hand covering the cross.
They remained still for more than a minute, then Horton lifted the cross and pressed it against Jimmy's back.
"Ahh~~" Again, Jimmy experienced the sharp pain in his head like before; headache, nausea, his body involuntarily bending forward. The assistant suddenly caught Jimmy's hands and pulled them apart to the sides.
"Ahh~~" Jimmy shouted, this time able to make a sound unlike before when he could only open his mouth but could not speak.
Having exhaled all his breath, Jimmy's cries ceased, and due to the pain, he even forgot how to breathe. Finally, the assistant released his hands, and Jimmy fell to the ground, passing out.
While Jimmy couldn't see his own condition, the relief was visible on Horton's face behind him. Horton had suspected something was wrong with Jimmy's abnormal behavior before, and him firing at the last of the fog confirmed his suspicions.
Generally, those who can exterminate resentful spirits are Demon Hunters or associated with the Church or various Monasteries. Besides various demon extermination weapons, they mostly rely on faith-imbued willpower to eliminate or expel demons and evil spirits.
Jimmy was just an FBI agent using a revolver, a gunpowder weapon; it seemed ordinary and not an inheritance weapon or Holy Artifact Reforging, making his ability to kill a resentful spirit quite interesting.
Using the Bible and the cross, Horton conducted an exorcism ceremony on Jimmy, who was unresisting. Normally, a healthy person would not feel any discomfort with the cross held against their back during the ceremony - some believers could even feel divine power from it. But, Jimmy cried out the moment the cross was placed on him, indicating that an abnormal energy had accumulated in his body. The power of the faith-imbued cross expelled it directly from the possessed body due to the power disparity.
This abnormal energy might not necessarily be from a demon or evil spirit – it could be other forces at odds with the Vatican's beliefs, like those from a cult. Nonetheless, the basic principle of exorcism is power suppression, using one type of power to expel another from the body.
As time passed, in Jimmy's unseen sight, Horton observed wisps of black smoke drifting from Jimmy's head and scattering into the air.
Only when no more black smoke appeared, did Horton signal his assistant to release Jimmy, who then lay collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Horton handed the cross to his assistant, took out his phone, and called Lambert to come over.
When Lambert and Sam arrived by car, they saw this eerie scene: Horton and his assistant standing by, with Jimmy lying curled on the ground, still unconscious.
Lambert got out of the car and rushed to Jimmy, kneeling beside him, "Jimmy! Jimmy!" Jimmy didn't react, though his breathing continued. Lambert stood up, looking at Horton, "What happened? Why did Jimmy pass out?"
Horton didn't explain, "Don't worry, he's fine. Take him back and let him rest. The problem with Red River is resolved now. You organize people to clean up the riverbed, burn whatever you dig out."
Lambert: "I just want to know why he passed out. What happened?"
Horton: "It was just an exorcism ceremony. He came into contact with some impurities, which are now dealt with."
Lambert nodded, Sam joined him in carrying Jimmy to the car. Sam drove Jimmy's vehicle, and they headed back to the helicopter. Horton and his assistant took off by helicopter, while Lambert and his group drove out of Tata Town, heading into the city for a hospital to check Jimmy.
Medical check-up results were good, Jimmy was only unconscious without any life-threatening conditions, and all vital signs were normal. Relieved, Lambert and his group left the hospital in the afternoon after Jimmy woke up and was cleared by the doctor, returning to Tata Town.
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