A priest in North America, what the hell is the Demon Gate system?

Stepping out of the church, the May sun felt warm and comforting on my face.

The RAV4 was parked quietly in the parking lot, with a clump of bird droppings on its windshield.

Li Ang was somewhat speechless. He hadn't brought any tissues, and since he wasn't planning to drive today, he strolled along the small road toward the town center.

The Oldham Church is located in the western part of the town. The streets on both sides are not bustling, but they have a strong historical and cultural atmosphere.

Occasionally, a pickup truck would drive by, and the driver would slow down and wave when he saw Li Ang, which shows that the priest is quite respected in this small town.

To Li Ang's surprise, he saw Sheriff Bob drive by in his car, looking serious and completely ignoring him.

Without thinking too much about it, Li Ang felt that if you ignored the paranormal events, Uldum was actually a pretty livable place.

For example, there's a lake west of Uldum called Sleeping Lake, formed by a tributary of the Susquehanna River. It has pike and rainbow trout, and you can have a great catch with just some corn as bait. Of course, don't buy from the fishing tackle shops next door, as they tend to overcharge.

It is said that this year, a tourist who was a writer from China also caught a pike weighing over 20 pounds here, which made others envious. He hung it on his pickup truck and paraded it around, but was fined $500 by the police before he stopped.

Li Ang walked slowly with his hands in his pockets, his mind racing with plans: roof repairs, continued cultivation, investigating clues about Andrew's disappearance, and that mirror world...

"Father!"

A loud shout suddenly came from the side.

Li Ang shuddered and almost instinctively turned to the side.

I can't help it, I've had too many unexpected encounters lately, it's almost giving me a stress response.

But what rushed over wasn't some demon, but a boy who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a vest from Uldum High School, with messy blond hair and a few pimples on his face.

He ran up to Li Ang, panting heavily, his face flushed red.

"Father, please...please help me!" the boy stammered.

Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief and removed his hand from the Sacred Judgment.

He looked the boy over and made sure that there was no dark aura around him, that he was not a vengeful spirit, and that he showed no signs of being possessed; he was just an ordinary American high school student.

"Child, speak slowly. The Lord will listen to the voice of every lost sheep." Li Ang gave a professional, gentle smile.

The boy took a few deep breaths and nervously put his hands in his pockets.

He glanced around, lowered his voice, and blushed, as if afraid of being overheard:

"Father, I...I can't hold it in anymore, please help me!"

"?"

Li Ang couldn't help but scan himself with his divine sense to make sure he didn't have the Desire Grass buff on him. He wondered if his Dendrobium was being targeted.

Fortunately, the boy was just breathing heavily, and then added:

"I...I'm in love!"

Li Ang let out a sigh of relief and nodded.

It's puberty, that's normal.

He was about to say some platitudes like "relationships in youth are beautiful, but you have to know how to be moderate" when the boy's next sentence left him completely dumbfounded.

"And a stone..."

"?!"

Li Ang paused for three seconds, then pointed to a bench by the roadside.

"Let's sit down and talk. What's your name?"

"Allen, Allen Miller." The boy followed Li Ang to sit on the bench, his hands on his knees, his posture as stiff as if he were in the principal's office.

"Allen." Li Ang turned to the side, adopting a posture of attentive listening.

"Start from the beginning, don't miss any details, how did you and that rock... meet?"

Allen took a deep breath; the story began three weeks ago.

It was a Saturday. Allen had argued with his parents about his studies and was in a bad mood, so he rode his bicycle to a quiet stream on the north side of the lake to clear his head. The place was usually deserted and very peaceful.

He sat on the bank throwing stones, and as he did so, his gaze was drawn to a stone by the stream.

"She's right there, Father." Alan's expression was somewhat rapturous.

Li Ang nodded without saying anything.

Allen went on to recount that he inexplicably waded across the water and squatted down next to the rocks to examine them closely.

The stone was about the size of two basketballs, with a smooth surface and a faint bluish-gray hue. The texture on its surface was very special, resembling the outline of a woman, with curves and arcs, and even the facial features could be vaguely discerned.

"The most amazing thing is this place," Allen said, gesturing with his finger in the air.

"There is a small protrusion on the top of the stone, shaped like a face, with two small indentations where the eyes should be, as if the eyes are closed."

Li Ang stroked his chin, already searching his mind for relevant information: Could a stone have come to life?

"And then?" Li Ang asked casually.

"Then I reached out and touched her." Allen blushed.

"I'm not a pervert, really, Father. I just felt that she seemed very lonely. And when I touched her, I heard a sound."

"A voice?" Li Ang's expression turned alert.

"Yes, it's a female voice. It's very nice and gentle. I call her Jennifer. It's the name of a female protagonist in a comic book I recently read."

Li Ang responded with "uh-huh" aloud, but in his mind he was already ranting and raving.

If he hadn't gone through all that mess of corpse refining, demons, and time fragments, he would definitely have already called the youth mental health center, or at least recommended a psychologist to the kid.

"Hearing a stone talk and even giving it a name—that's a classic sign of impending schizophrenia, Bro!"

"So you became friends with her?" Li Ang maintained his gentle smile.

"YES!" Allen smiled brightly.

"I visited her almost every day. I told her about school, how my parents were always arguing, and how I failed my math test... She always listened quietly and then comforted me. She said I was kind and that I was different from other boys."

Li Ang suddenly interrupted, "Um, Allen, don't you have many friends at school?"

Allen paused for a moment, then asked, "Ah... how did you know?"

"Of course! Aren't you just a typical loser from an American TV show?"

But Li Ang didn't say it aloud; he just smiled gently and said, "You can continue."

Allen lowered his head and muttered to himself, "Nobody at school... really doesn't want to play with me. I'm bad at sports, and I stutter, so they all say I'm a nerd. But Jennifer is different. She never laughs at me, and she really likes the books I bring."

"Are you bringing her a book?"

"Yes! I brought her my favorite comic book. I showed her the comic book page by page. When I went back the next day, there were a few more beautiful stones next to her. Jennifer said that was her return gift to me."

Allen pulled a pebble from his pocket. It was indeed beautiful, a deep green like jade, and it sparkled in the sunlight.

Li Ang took the stone and examined it with his divine sense. It was just an ordinary stone, and he couldn't help but frown.

"It sounds like you two are getting along well, so why are you coming to see me now?" Li Ang returned the stone.

Allen's expression instantly turned bitter.

"Last Wednesday... I let it slip."

"And a few people in my class heard me, Mark, Josh, and Roddy... They're on the school football team, and they always bully people! When they heard me talking about Jennifer, they started laughing, saying I was crazy, saying I was dating Rock..."

Allen's shoulders trembled slightly, clearly triggered by unpleasant memories.

"They said...that they wanted to take care of my girlfriend and even graffiti on her to leave some kind of souvenir! I begged them not to go, but they wouldn't listen."

"I went to teachers and even the police, and they all said I should see a psychologist!"

Li Ang nodded and sat down; this was basic procedure for grassroots administration in the United States.

If nothing happens, it's not a problem; we'll talk about it when something does happen. As for school bullying? Unless it results in death or involves racial discrimination, it's usually just a matter of smoothing things over.

"So you want me to help you?" Li Ang smiled.

"If there really is graffiti, I can buy you some cleaning agents, and I can also go to your school and have a serious talk with the teachers about the issue of bullying..."

"no!"

Allen suddenly looked up, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes.

"That's not the problem, Father!"

"?" Li Ang's smile froze.

"The three of them went there on their motorcycles after school last Friday." Allen's voice trembled slightly.

"Mark even posted on Instagram that he was going to do Stone's makeup, but I was too scared of getting beaten up by them, so I didn't go..."

Li Ang's heart sank: "And then?"

"And then..." Allen swallowed.

"They didn't go to the anniversary celebration on Monday, they didn't come to school on Tuesday, and today is Wednesday... Nobody can contact them, and the police have started an investigation."

Li Ang frowned.

Three high school students have gone missing at the same time. Was Bob busy with this just now? This is indeed a big deal in a small town.

"Have you been to the creek?" Li Ang asked after a moment's thought.

"I went to..." Allen's voice trailed off.

"But Jennifer... is gone too."