Chapter 25: The Lighter and the Evil Spirit

Xu Yi returned home and immediately began to modify the lighter.

He dismantled the fuel chamber, pulled out the old wick, cleaned the residual kerosene, and washed each component before reassembling.

"Not sure if this will work," Xu Yi looked at the refurbished kerosene lighter and took a deep breath.

The lighter was related to his future exorcism endeavors. If his concept was viable, it would definitely make things much easier.

He took out a blood collection needle, pricked his thumb, and activated his blood property transformation ability.

The blood in the needle instantly turned into a white gelatinous liquid.

Xu Yi only transformed a single drop; he had already experimented.

Transforming one drop a day would only cause a slight feeling of fatigue, not enough to interfere with daily life.

Two drops would leave him utterly exhausted, while three would lead to a state of collapse. As for more, Xu Yi dared not try, for fear of draining himself dry.

The blood collection needle extended toward the lighter's refill inlet, and the external quality flowed into the fuel chamber through the small opening.

"Hope this works," Xu Yi watched the lighter intently.

There weren't many things that could directly affect dark creatures, mainly the Holy Bible, the Cross, Holy Water...

However, these items were strictly controlled by the Church, and only by joining the Church and becoming a priest could one possibly obtain them.

Of course, what he referred to were not the factory replicas on the market, but the genuinely blessed items by the Lord.

Therefore, the blood property was especially precious!

If he sold it to others, it could definitely fetch a huge price, but as the blood property was his current "core competitive advantage," naturally, he wouldn't sell it.

Xu Yi pressed the ignition button, and the flint produced sparks.

The biggest drawback of the blood property was that it would leave the body utterly fatigued. If he thought of transforming the blood property when facing danger, it would surely be a pathway to death.

Therefore, he needed to store it in advance.

The lighter clicked but no flame emerged.

Xu Yi sighed. Could it be that it didn't work?

Using the external quality instead of kerosene to create an "Exorcism Lighter" was the best application he could think of for now.

The external quality had to be ignited to harm dark creatures, and the Exorcism Lighter would eliminate that step.

"One-click ignition, automatic exorcism, External Quality brand lighter, you deserve to own!"

He pressed the ignition button repeatedly, and amidst the clicks, a pale gold flame rose.

It worked!

Xu Yi felt the special fluctuations in the flame and was overjoyed.

The reason it hadn't ignited before was that the external quality had not yet soaked the wick. This quality was more combustion-resistant than kerosene; a single drop could burn for about three minutes.

Xu Yi caressed the lighter, not wanting to let it go.

This was the first exorcism artifact he had made!

Now, he needed to add external quality to the lighter daily, fill it with eight to ten drops, and then figure out a way to modify the lighter further.

In his vision, the Exorcism Lighter should have two forms: the normal lighter mode and the Molotov Cocktail mode.

This was not hard to achieve. He just had to add some components to the fuel chamber, and then he could use the "throw Molotov Cocktail" skill when facing powerful supernatural beings.

Suddenly, a rapid siren sounded from outside the window. Xu Yi went to the window and frowned slightly as two police cars stopped in front of his family's restaurant.

Could it be those gangs clashing again?

He went downstairs with curiosity and encountered Xu Changrong.

"Dad! What happened?" Xu Yi asked.

"It's about Aileen from next door," Xu Changrong looked at Xu Yi, hesitating before finally speaking out, "Aileen, she's dead!"

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"How could someone in good health just die like that?"

Xu Changrong shook his head, "I'm not sure either, she was said to have died at home, and it's tentatively ruled a suicide."

Suddenly, Xu Yi remembered the incident on Rose Street that day, and for some reason, he felt vaguely uneasy.

"You should go to the hospital! It was Cassie who found Aileen, and she might have been frightened by something. Cassie has been in a coma ever since," Xu Changrong added.

Xu Yi's heart hung suspended, his unease growing stronger.

......

Connor Hospital.

"Return, soul, come back!"

Xu Yi pushed open the ward door, and the chanting voice, rising and falling in pitch, flowed out. The room was dim, lit by only one lamp.

In the center of the ward was a brazier, and within it, yellow talisman paper burned quietly.

This place looked less like a hospital and more like a site for performing rituals.

Burning things inside a ward would normally be prohibited, but here it was not, and passing doctors and nurses only gave it curious glances.

The hospital staff had become accustomed to oddities; after all, in a world where paranormal incidents frequently made the news, exorcism events were not uncommon.

If a doctor encountered a bizarre illness, they would even proactively suggest that the patient's relatives seek a priest's help.

"Aunt Cassie! Uncle Andrew!" Xu Yi called out in greeting.

"You're here!" Cassie glanced at Xu Yi, nodded, then turned her attention back to the center of the room.

She might favor sons over daughters, but Cassie was still her daughter, and faced with such a situation, Cassie was naturally panicked.

Andrew grunted, clearly displeased by Xu Yi's presence.

Xu Yi could understand his feelings; it's not easy to raise a daughter only for her to spend her days around someone else. It would be strange if his attitude was good.

He stood next to Andrew and looked towards the center of the room, where Cassie lay quietly on the hospital bed, motionless.

Yesterday she was fine, but today she had suddenly become like this?

Xu Yi sighed silently; seeing Cassie's pale face made him feel a twinge of pain.

This only served to strengthen his resolve to follow the path of an exorcist.

The world might seem peaceful on the surface, but underneath, turbulent waves raged. Without sufficient strength, whether it be wealth or something else, it was all as transient as a fleeting blossom.

Xu Yi quietly moved closer to Cassie; both Cassie and Andrew saw his movements, their brows furrowed slightly, but they did not stop him.

The reason Xu Yi did this was, of course, to trigger his Spirit Communication Ability.

Three meters away from Cassie, Xu Yi stopped; a wave of cold air hit him, and he involuntarily took a sharp breath.

The chill he had felt in the Funeral Parlor was trivial compared to the present cold.

"Burn her! Burn her to death!"

Suddenly, angry shouts filled Xu Yi's ears, and the scene before his eyes started changing as his Spiritual Power was activated, and he slowly sank into the illusionary realm.

It was a pitch-black night, and flames roared ferociously, with a cross standing in the center of the fire.

An old woman dressed in black was tied to the cross, her face covered in wrinkles, and her narrow pupils shining with a fierce light as flocks of crows circled and fluttered around her.

The enraged crowd surrounded the fire, cursing furiously, and among them, Xu Yi also saw a priest dressed in white.

Who was this old woman? A witch?

His Spiritual Power had taken him "back to the past," and he concentrated, gathering as much information as he could.

But the next second, the witch in the flames suddenly looked up, as if staring directly at Xu Yi.

The crows screeched and rushed at him. Xu Yi instinctively covered his face with his hands. No crows collided with him, and as the flock vanished, his vision returned to the hospital room.

Xu Yi's expression was gloomy; there was no doubt that Cassie had been entangled with an Evil Spirit.

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