Exorcism in Los Angeles? Just talk it out!

drop!

Late night, 23.59.

When the clock struck 12, a soft knocking sounded, and suddenly all the lights dimmed and flickered.

Tap, tap, tap!

One step...two steps...

The footsteps grew closer, followed by a knock on the door.

Boom!

dong dong!

Boom boom boom!

The strange knocking started with a few soft knocks, then became more and more frequent.

Seeing that no one opened the door, they went to the outside window washer fluid dispenser and made a scraping sound that was extremely unpleasant to hear.

Li Ang keenly sensed that something indescribable had changed in the room. The simplest change was that the copper bell, a family heirloom, on his waist began to ring incessantly.

The little white flower and its leaves began to tremble incessantly. Although it had not yet bloomed, it had already acquired the early warning capabilities of a magical artifact due to Li Ang's long-term misrepresentation of it.

Inside the villa, to avoid any innocent casualties, Smith had called all the servants and bodyguards out. They were all outside the villa, leaving only Li Ang and himself in the empty villa.

According to him, it was out of curiosity; he wanted to see what an evil spirit looked like...

Li Ang turned to Smith beside him and said, "Mr. Smith, it's starting. Whatever you see or hear, remember not to make a sound."

Smith nodded, swallowed hard to indicate that he understood, and then put a towel in his mouth.

Li Ang walked up to the paper figure he had brought. The paper figure was already dressed in the suit and shoes that Smith usually wore.

According to Li Zhanyuan, this is a secret exorcism technique passed down in the Li family, called "Substituting a Plum for a Peach." It involves using a paper figure, dripping the owner's blood on it, to make the evil spirit kill the owner once, thereby deceiving the evil spirit.

However, the "substitution" trick can only fool ghosts, not people. If the evil spirit is controlled by an exorcist or wizard, people will know they've been fooled when they see Smith still alive the next day.

Li Ang didn't know how to make paper figures, but he knew other things...

The entry "[Calling a deer a horse]" is activated.

After making all the preparations, Li Ang said to the mannequin, "Hey, you're Smith. We have a guest. Go and see what's going on, and invite him in..."

To Smith's utter astonishment, the paper figure—the one he had held and looked at for a while during the day—slowly stood up and moved without any driving mechanism or internal mechanical components.

The paper figure staggered to the door, glanced through the peephole, and then nonchalantly opened the door...

whoosh-

The moment it opened the door, a dark shadow darted in and pounced onto the paper figure.

The next second, the paper figure's suit and limbs were torn to shreds like bubbles.

Smith stared in horror at the evil spirit, its skin cracked like leather, revealing rotting flesh, and its grin stretched to its ears, full of malice.

Most importantly, there were only two dark, bottomless holes in the other person's eye sockets, and no eyeballs could be seen.

Hehehehehe...

The evil spirit laughed as it tore the dummy apart, even forcibly removing its two eyeballs and putting them into its own body.

After killing the dummy, "The Smiling Man" seemed to have completed his mission. Then, under Smith's horrified gaze, his body turned into a wisp of black smoke and slowly disappeared into the air...

【Ding! 】

[Successfully deceived a cursed spirit]

[Experience points +100]

[Calling a deer a horse proficiency +10]

You have reached level 3 and unlocked one new term.

After a long while, Smith slowly removed the towel and asked softly, "Is this... over...?"

Li Ang turned his head with a smile and said, "Yes, you can call your butler and servants into the villa now. The matter is over, and the evil spirits will not bother you anymore."

Smith worried, "What if my competitors don't see my death in the newspapers tomorrow? Will they send evil spirits back...?"

"Don't worry, evil spirits don't have brains..."

Li Ang explained, "Commanding evil spirits is not that simple. They have no brains. Especially if an evil spirit thinks it has already killed you, and your opponent commands it to kill someone it considers 'dead' again, you are very likely to be devoured by the evil spirit."

"You are already dead. If you go and kill someone who doesn't exist, under the rules, the evil spirit will assume that the other party is humiliating or tormenting it, and will eventually turn against the other party."

Li Ang paused for a moment and said, "Unless he can find a second evil spirit in a very short time..."

Smith gritted his teeth and said, "That bastard Will actually used such a despicable and shameless assassination method. Master Li, I wonder if..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Ang interrupted him.

"Excuse me, sir, we are exorcists, not witches or sorcerers. We specialize in exorcising evil spirits, not controlling them..."

"You can think of it this way: in the police department, some officers use their brains to solve cases, while others don't need to use their brains but are dedicated to catching criminals..."

In the East, where Li Ang lived in his previous life, there was a saying that raising a ghost child would shorten one's lifespan; similarly, the evil spirits of this world are the same.

Commanding evil spirits inevitably shortens one's lifespan or brings bad luck, so neither other exorcists in Chinatown nor the Li family have ever kept such things for generations, even if they knew how.

Li Ang had considered controlling one or two evil spirits and sending them to harass wealthy people while he performed exorcisms, but he always felt that was too wicked and never had the chance...

"The election will be over in two days, and I guess he'll be too late."

Smith said gratefully, "Thank you, Master Li. Bob, could you please give Master Li a check for ten thousand dollars, after tax..."

Ten thousand, after tax? Li Ang's face immediately lit up with a smile. He only encountered such a large order a few times a year.

Indeed, exorcism requires targeting the high-end, wealthy market.

Like old man Li Zhanyuan, and his deceased father, who had been in the previous life, they always worked in the low-end market.

It's only a few hundred yuan a month, why risk your life?

No wonder they were cut off as soon as their cash flow dried up.

……

"Master Li, I'll put in a good word for your shop, but I can't help with the IRS. Even members of Congress are afraid of them... Oh, and there's one more thing I'd like to ask you."

After settling the payment for the goods, Smith also expressed his willingness to help resolve the Li family's troubles. Just as Li Ang was about to leave, Smith suddenly stopped him and asked Li Ang about another matter with a heavy heart.

"Speaking."

"That's right, Master Li..."

Smith sighed. "I thought I might never have children in my life, so I adopted a baby three years ago."

"My wife is pregnant now, so she wants me to give this adopted child away..."

"But I'm running for office recently. If my arch-enemy finds out, he'll publicize it, and I won't be able to get any votes then."

Send them away?

This story seems familiar...

If I don't do something, that child who has been adopted for several years will probably be homeless.

Li Ang said seriously, "Excuse me, may I take a look at that child? I'd like to analyze his face."

Face reading is also one of the Li family's businesses.

Smith paused for a moment, nodded, then took out his phone, opened the photo album, and showed it to Li Ang.

Li Ang pretended to look at it, then slapped his thigh and said, "That's it, this is why your wife is pregnant."

Smith asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

A third of his mental energy was suddenly depleted, and the entry was activated.

[Ding! Activated entry - Spouting Lies]

Li Ang pointed to the photo with a serious expression and said, "The fortune teller who told your fortune was right. You and your wife are destined to have no children, but this child is destined to have brothers and sisters, and more than one."

"So, two negatives make a positive, and your wife is pregnant. If I'm not mistaken, she may have a second or third child in the future."

"I see……"

Smith suddenly understood and said gratefully, "I understand, thank you, Master Li."

Li Ang laughed heartily, "Hahaha, you're welcome, Mr. Smith."

【Ding! 】

[Experience points +10]

[Proficiency in making nonsensical statements +1]

Li Ang glanced at the entry and realized that, in the end, one can't compete with a con artist in terms of experience.