"So that's how it is," Binger said, "that makes sense."
The agent thought he was referring to the matter of Berg and Aunt Cain back in the day. But soon, he heard Binger say, "Your brother, who was the first to find me, suggested a way to trap the evil spirit in a physical body. That is to return the favor."
The agent turned his head to look at him, and Binger continued, "He has a very special weapon in his hand. It looks like a spike, but it's actually an awl. This thing might be the tool Old Berg used to sew dolls."
"Wait," the agent said, "an awl?"
He recalled that when facing Kate earlier, the possessed Kate had pulled out a spike and stabbed it into her own chest, which was possessed by the evil spirit. And that thing looked familiar. The agent thought carefully and then remembered, wasn't that the weapon that had stabbed Hunting in the scare box back then?
When they got the safe, they actually took certain protective measures. Neither of them stood in front of the safe, they kept a distance. But the moment it opened, they were still attacked, which upon reflection, was quite unreasonable.
"That's right," Binger said, "that thing can travel between the real and the spirit world, existing in both worlds simultaneously and harming people in both. Your brother thought this might be one of the evil spirit's trademarks, so he wanted to use that thing to trap the evil spirit in the real world."
"I see," the agent said, "it seems this was also Old Berg's handiwork. He really outsmarted himself."
"I have an idea," Bruce said, "If Old Berg can return to the real world through special methods and possess others, then can we do the same?"
"Is there a need for that?" Peter said, "The evil spirit is now trapped in the real world, and the entire spirit world is open for us to explore. Shouldn't we spend more time here looking for clues?"
"I also think you should go back," Binger said, "I can stay in the spirit world and explore, but the solution to the problem is definitely hidden in the real world. Eventually, you still have to go back and solve it."
"Alright, let's figure out how to get back." Bruce said, "How did you manipulate Berg's corpse to kill back in the day?"
"Relatives with a blood connection will sense each other." Binger turned his head to the agent and said, "You should be able to vaguely sense your brother's location, right?"
The agent couldn't sense anything because they weren't really brothers, but he still nodded and said, "I can feel it, but I won't possess him."
"The reason I hide from the evil spirit is because I can only sense the bodies of relatives with whom I have a blood connection, and cannot possess indiscriminately, whereas the evil spirit can. So if you want to return to the real world by means of possession, you can only mimic the evil spirit."
Bruce looked down at the doll in his hand. He pondered and then said, "Back then, Famillo was pushed into the array, and Derby managed to escape. This proves that launching black magic requires a price. This price might be a life. Death gives the evil spirit infinite possession power. If we want to go back, someone might also need to sacrifice."
"Wait. If the power comes from death, then isn't the death of a spirit body also death?" Peter said, "I previously killed someone who was trying to attack me. Can I use this power too?"
Bruce looked at him, then handed the doll to him. Peter gently stroked the pattern of the magic array with his fingers; the next second, his spirit body began to gradually become transparent, and the doll also became more transparent, seemingly just a step away from returning to the real world.
"It really works," the doll spoke, but it was Peter's voice, he said, "As long as someone was killed in town, it should work."
"Then it's easy," the agent said, "I've killed at least two. But now the evil spirit is in my body, and I don't want to go into someone else's body. I'll stay here to investigate clues. Peter, you go back first."
Bruce said, "I haven't killed anyone, so I can't go back yet. I have to go find Kate, the evil spirit should have hidden his spirit body. We have to rescue him before the evil spirit returns."
So, the agent and Binger left together, Bruce went alone to find Kate, and Peter used the doll to return to the real world.
By this time, the real world was in chaos.
Using the agent's body, the evil spirit staggered out of the church. He had already sensed the thing inside him, one of the evil magic tools he had created himself—a sewing awl for the scare dolls.
Black magic has no owner, whoever can use it owns it. And when he was attacked by the evil magic tool he made, he also fell victim. Now he must quickly find something to counteract it, he absolutely cannot be trapped in the real world by this.
He was running towards Aunt Cain's house, heading to the tool room there. Only there could he break through the barrier between the two worlds and use his power to dismantle the magic tool in his body.
At this time, the real world was night. The town had not a single glimmer of light. The buildings that looked dilapidated in the day loomed in the darkness like monsters ready to devour. And the evil spirit trapped in a body no longer had extraordinary senses but became just like a normal person, only able to perceive the world through the five senses, he too would be trapped in the darkness.
Just a few steps out, the evil spirit realized he was lost. But at this moment, he saw a tall figure flash past the house in front.
The evil spirit immediately started scheming again. He tried his best to stay calm and walked towards that direction as composedly as possible. When the big guy heard someone behind him and turned his head, upon seeing "Shiller's" face, Kent ran over directly.
"Oh my God, so you're here," Kent said. "Bruce sent me to find you. Are you okay?"
"Not so good," the evil spirit shook his head and pointed at his arm. Kent walked up hesitantly. The evil spirit rolled up his sleeve to reveal that his entire left arm had turned black.
Indeed, the evil spirit was suffering from his own deeds. Back then, he put down a scare box containing an evil magic tool, a dagger, and also an instantly activated curse of black magic. The dagger hit the hunter, and the curse hit an agent.
And now, both have hit the evil spirit back like a boomerang.
"Good heavens!" Kent shouted, with a raised voice, and then asked, "What happened?!"
"I was cursed," the evil spirit said with a bitter smile. "We got it all wrong. The evil spirit isn't a follower of Mormonism at all, but the boy Linda gave birth to..."
"Wait a minute," Kent interrupted him, "The boy Linda gave birth to???"
"Yes. The boy who is nominally Linda's brother is actually her son. He is the demon's child..."
"Hold on for a moment," Kent interrupted him again and said, "Linda looks like she's only 18 or 19 now. She already had a child? How old was the child?"
"He was only four when he died. So he is full of resentment..."
"Four years old?!!!" Kent exclaimed. "So you mean Linda might have given birth at thirteen or fourteen?!!! My God. Who raped her???"
The evil spirit grew a bit impatient. He seemed confused about why these people were making such a fuss. He said, "Nobody raped her, it's just..."
"Nobody?! You mean a 13-year-old girl voluntarily got pregnant??? Even if she thought it was voluntary, it's wrong. A female's body at that age isn't developed enough, and pregnancy and childbirth are extremely dangerous. It's wrong! If she claims it's voluntary, it indicates a complete failure of social education. Someone must be held accountable!"
The evil spirit opened his mouth, but the long story he had prepared about Binger couldn't be spoken. Kent looked too angry. With eyes widened in rage, the big guy seemed ready to punch him at any moment. The evil spirit didn't dare to provoke him further.
"Wait." Kent realized something else and said, "You say Mormonism? So the town's cult is Mormonism? My God, there used to be Mormon missionaries spreading their beliefs in my hometown too. No wonder my dad wouldn't let me talk to them. That's terrifying!"
"No time to discuss this," the evil spirit said again, "We must quickly deal with that evil spirit..."
"No way," Kent said, "If his mother wasn't willing, then this child's birth was a tragedy. He must not have been treated well, which is why he turned into an evil spirit. To remove his resentment, we need to understand exactly what happened, who forced his mother and who abused him, and finally, who killed him. Only by finding out the truth and bringing the murderer to justice can he truly rest in peace."
After finishing, he turned to leave. The evil spirit quickly approached, still trying to say something. But Kent suddenly turned his head, and his eyes became somewhat somber. Though he was just a normal person now, his aura was no different from the God of the World before.
The movie version of Henry Chao is one of the few Supermen willing to face off against Batman. This implies that he bears qualities very similar to Batman, which is why like poles repel. Essentially, both are extreme enough, unwilling to back down, ultimately leading to confrontation.
Compared to other Supermen who are good at understanding and willing to listen, the movie's portrayal of Henry Chao does resemble a Kryptonian Batman. Once he decides to do something, no one can stop him. Sharing Batman's inherent stubbornness, there's a kind of toughness and seriousness engraved in his bones.
It seems that with Batman having died in his arms, he better understands how much effort vulnerable humans must put into surviving. But this enlightenment brings not more empathy or compassion for the weak, but more hatred towards those who add extra obstacles and disasters to an already difficult existence.
In short, in terms of his attitude toward crime, he has started aligning with Lord Superman. If the weak cannot all be saved, then by eliminating all criminals, at least most people can be spared undue suffering.
With such a character and mindset, no matter what you tell him, he will surely interpret it from a crime-fighting perspective. He doesn't care if the boy became an evil spirit; even if he didn't, now that he knows about this, he's sure to uncover the truth of what happened back then and then fiercely strike those damned rapists.
And if the boy did become an evil spirit, then all the more reason to do so. Were it not for those vile criminals, this wouldn't have happened at all. To solve the issue of the evil spirit from its root, punishment must be meted out to the criminals.
The evil spirit originally wanted to use his current appearance to deceive Kent and brainwash him, but he once again shot himself in the foot. The story he spun about Linda failed to dismiss the suspicion on Mormonism and didn't shift others' attention to Binger, but rather helped Kent snap out of his previous self-blame and find a new target.
Watching his stubborn departing figure, the evil spirit was gritting his teeth. He couldn't understand why this batch of outsiders was so difficult to deal with. Can't any one of them understand human words???