Climbing up from the cellar. Then following the passage inward. Sure enough, the basement appeared before him. And here, it seemed even more eerie.
The walls of the house were covered with bones, all human bones. One side wall was of adult males, another of adult females, and yet another specifically for children and infants.
Peter clearly knew that not all these people were killed by the evil spirit. There weren't that many people for it to kill. After all, a small town with thousands of missing people is a bit exaggerated. This place might have existed long ago, just discovered by Old Berg. It's possible this room inspired him to take the path of black magic.
After investigating for a while, Peter further confirmed his suspicion. Because the objects in this place were incredibly ancient. Many were from the Middle Ages, and some could even be relics from ancient tribes.
Here, Peter found a notebook. It seemed to be an experimental journal made by Old Berg. He couldn't bear to continue after flipping through just two pages, because this guy truly was uneducated. Not a proper scholar at all. Rather than research notes, it was more like a rambling diary. Writing all sorts of nonsense. If the Black Magic World had universities, he wouldn't have graduated.
There were also some research manuscripts, which were even worse. The drawings were not precise at all, and the annotations were haphazard. What's more outrageous, this guy didn't know Latin. Peter couldn't help but ask, if you don't know Latin, what kind of academic research are you doing?
Although English is a mix of many languages, many specialized terms have roots and suffixes from Latin. Knowing Latin is a strict requirement for many professions in Europe and America. Without it, you can't even write papers. Some fields even require knowledge of German and French. Old Berg knew none of this.
As a result, his research notes were utterly useless. Peter sighed. He knew that even if this guy were a powerful dark magic master, he wouldn't be in his current state.
At least judging by the town's situation, black magic truly exists. If he could understand it, going to big cities and finding wealthy patrons as an adviser, even if using curses to harm people, he'd already be financially free. Would he need to manage this rundown town? Managing here for a hundred years might not earn as much as a single deal in a big city.
Even if he had some religious beliefs, it would surely be better to preach in big cities. If he had real skills, fooling a few wealthy people, using their connections and influence to preach, wouldn't the efficiency be hundreds or thousands of times better than working here?
This guy was a complete academic failure. He didn't really understand black magic. It was just his luck that he stumbled upon this secret room. If Binger had come here, the Burger family would have long prospered.
Peter ridiculed internally but continued to flip through, eventually finding some even older manuscripts in the nearby cabinet. The quality of these manuscripts had somewhat improved, but possibly due to the constraints of the era, the experiments weren't very scientific, and the academic summarizations were insufficient. Readers still felt a bit confused.
After reading for a long time, Peter finally had enough. Can't figure it out, can you? Let me!
Just as Peter rolled up his sleeves, ready to give black magic a little shock from modern education, in the Psychic_Battlefield, the agent also found clues related to black magic.
This thing doesn't look like something stimulants could produce at all. In the underground of the Cathedral, the agent stared at a pitch-black room with a floating light orb and said, This Psychic_Battlefield is definitely not just an illusion caused by stimulants. It's absolutely a creation of black magic.
What exactly is this thing? Binger looked up at the light orb and said, Could the evil spirit be using it to stabilize this world?
Probably. But we can't shatter this thing right now, or we might also be in danger. But if we return to the real world, we wouldn't be able to interact with this thing and can't destroy the Psychic_Battlefield. This poses a little problem.
Do you think this thing exists in the real world? Binger asked. I think it might be like that tool room, where such a thing also exists in the real world. It can exist in both the real and mental realms.
Possibly, the agent nodded. But when I was in the real world, I checked under the cathedral, and there was no such thing. Could it be deeper down?
I suspect the evil spirit might not have contacted this thing either. Or perhaps it has seen it but couldn't understand the principle.
I can't figure out these magics either, the agent said, waving a hand dismissively. I don't have the time to figure it out. So once Bruce brings Kate back, let's head out. Then I'll go look under the cathedral. If it's there, I'll destroy it.
Binger nodded and said, But your bodies are probably already dead. How do you plan to get out?
That's up to Peter, whether he can find out how the evil spirit makes puppets. Worst case, we'll all use puppets to get out.
You seem strange to me, Binger said. I've met outsiders who haven't been mentally manipulated by the evil spirit before, but they were all terrified or very angry. You're all too rational.
Because among the enemies we've encountered, this evil spirit is far from being terrifying, the agent shook his head and said. Nor should you think of it as so terrifying. If it were truly that strong, why would it kill you out of fear?
Did it kill me out of fear?
Otherwise? Of course, you might think that he's going to kill the chicken to scare the monkey because you don't follow the sect's rules. But that precisely represents his fear of someone breaking the rules and even escaping his surveillance. The key lies in the latter.
Binger thought for a moment, nodded, and said, indeed, some people have broken the rules before, but it never developed to this extent. He may indeed be furious because I kept it from him.
Let's go, let's find Bruce.
They had just come out of the church when Bruce arrived with Kate. Kate's face didn't look good. He said, "Do you know why Aunt Cain only asked me to come back after knowing I was pregnant?"
"Why?"
"This evil spirit wants to get out."
"What do you mean?"
"He wants to leave the small town and go to a bigger place to continue his evil plans. And I come from New York, and I'm pregnant. The child in my belly is his best target."
The agent immediately understood. The evil spirit possesses others under certain conditions. One must be related to Big Creek Town, and two must make the person very weak. If Kate, who is pregnant, can be brought here, he naturally has a way to achieve these two points. Whether possessing Kate or the child in Kate's womb, he can successfully leave here.
"No," the agent said again. "Then why didn't he possess someone else to leave before?"
"It's not that simple. He has been to big cities. Doesn't he know? It's not easy to survive in a big city. If there's an undocumented person, they will be eaten up in no time. It's hard for outsiders to fit in; it's best to be locals, and they also need to come from a well-off family."
But among the people he kidnapped before, there were also wealthy individuals. The agent shook his head and said, "Anyone who goes to such a remote town for tourism wouldn't be in bad condition. Even if there are no big city people, these people wouldn't find it difficult to live in New York or Los Angeles with their own financial resources, right?"
Kate said, "If borrowing an adult's body, he must constantly act like this person. If the difference is too big, he might be suspected or even sent to a psychiatric hospital. In this case, he cannot be himself. Only by possessing a baby and growing up with his own personality can he truly be free."
"I don't think that's the real reason," the agent said. "If he were truly confident, he would think others gradually becoming like his personality is improving. Nor would he imagine that these victims' families would not accept him because of his drastic personality change and becoming more like Burger. He would only envision, due to his transformation, people around would increasingly adore him."
Bruce also frowned. The agent glanced at him, and the two exchanged a look but said nothing.
Bruce, in his memory, had seen Old Burger before. He was a very handsome man, never timid on stage. In the realm of romance, he was even more successful, making girls crazy over him.
Although he was born in a small town, someone with such appearance and talents is popular everywhere. Like Clark Kent, despite the glasses covering part of his handsome face, that kind of charisma cannot be hidden. Few would bring up his origins because he is outstanding enough himself.
Old Burger was just like this, relying solely on his face, he would not be excluded. Even involving himself in the upper class of the big city, he would certainly shine.
A rather harsh fact is that good-looking people indeed enjoy all the benefits and are liked wherever they go. People have emotional sensory organs, and even if some are a bit dull, they can at least recognize good and bad. So, there is no such thing as being handsome without self-awareness. Very handsome men and beautiful women are very aware of their popularity.
In this situation, it's hard for them to develop a very low self-esteem. Wherever they go, there are praises and applause; doing anything casually will be complimented and encouraged. Even if they mess things up, people would at most call them a "flower vase". Whereas if a not-so-good-looking person did the same thing, the scolding would be much harsher.
Could such a handsome and charming Burger actually be a self-doubting individual with no confidence in his popularity due to his personality?
"He told me this himself," Kate said. "When he found out I wasn't pregnant, he was very angry. He's also a very irritable person, emotionally unstable. I casually joked a couple of times, and he got extremely angry."
"What did you mock him with?"
"Nothing much. He made some arrogant statements about women's fertility capabilities, and I casually said things like 'a hen needs to pick a brightly colored rooster to lay eggs, who would be blind enough to choose you, less than a sparrow'. And then he broke down."
"I must say, your words were quite harsh," the agent said. He then looked at Bruce, because in Bruce's depiction, Old Burger is a dashing dude. Generally, someone truly good-looking wouldn't be easily offended by such remarks."
Bruce also frowned thoughtfully. The development of events didn't match their profile of the killer. Now, there were only two possibilities, one is that the memories he saw were Old Burger fooling himself; that handsome face was nothing more than his imagination. The other possibility is troubling—now this evil spirit is not the Old Burger they deduced but someone else entirely.