Chapter 325: A True Professional
Kerson's voice immediately drew the attention of everyone present.
Tsuna Nakamura narrowed his eyes tightly, carefully observing that patch of the floor.
"Strange, I didn't sense any soul activity. How exactly did he discover it..."
Unlike other fraudulent mediums, Tsuna Nakamura did indeed possess a special ability.
As early as he could remember, he could see things that others couldn't.
A blinking doll at the amusement park, a shadow at the bottom of a pool...
Although he could only see blurry masses of mist, he still developed a strong curiosity about these things.
Therefore, these "anomalies" filled Tsuna Nakamura's entire childhood.
In the past, he hadn't felt anything was wrong and even treated those things as playmates.
It wasn't until he came into contact with local monks and the Church that he realized "souls" existed in this world.
At that time, Tsuna Nakamura happened to be feeling lost about his future due to unemployment, so he immediately decided to join this new industry.
He took the initiative to run to a temple to work as a volunteer, actively participating in various sacrificial and ritual activities, attempting to showcase his unique abilities.
But gradually, Tsuna Nakamura realized that those monks couldn't see souls at all; they merely used "exorcism" as an excuse to hike up their fees.
This made him very unhappy inwardly. Why should a bunch of amateurs get to earn this money!
Therefore, he privately sought out a client at the time and promised to let the other party witness a "true soul."
Tsuna Nakamura originally thought he would get a new commission, but when he tried to contact the soul, he received no response.
Unsurprisingly, he was kicked out.
The temple also fired him on the grounds of "fraud."
"Hmph! Those old bald frauds actually had the nerve to play the victim..."
Refusing to believe in his bad luck, Tsuna Nakamura began trying to accept commissions as an independent contractor.
But in the Sakura District, supernatural incidents were mostly mixed up with urban legends and fairy tales. And when people truly had a need in this area, they would seek out temples that "looked" more professional.
Therefore, it was simply too difficult to get his business off the ground, and he could only find a job at a convenience store to scrape by.
It wasn't until recently that things took a turn for the better.
That day, Tsuna Nakamura saw the Knights Templar's notice regarding the "paranormal" on the internet. He realized his opportunity had finally come!
That very afternoon, he submitted his resignation to the store manager and used his remaining savings to buy a passable outfit.
Over the next few days, he crammed videos and tapes about paranormal events from all over the world, fully studying the reasons behind the appearance of evil spirits and ghosts—he would not make the same mistake twice!
Finally, he contacted a woman named Mia online.
The other party was a video blogger planning to shoot an episode about paranormal exploration.
The two quickly reached an agreement, which led to this trip to the haunted house.
But what Tsuna Nakamura hadn't expected was that the Church had also sent people.
He wasn't worried about that young kid, but this foreigner carrying chains was different.
The other party's certain tone made Tsuna Nakamura feel a trace of doubt—Could his perception of souls be stronger than mine?
Returning to the present.
Fine beads of sweat seeped from Tsuna Nakamura's forehead.
He glanced at Mia, pondering what kind of excuse he should cook up next.
At this time, that foreign priest made a new move.
He saw the man set his iron chain aside and lower his entire head to the ground.
Smooch!
The sound of someone kissing the floor echoed in the room.
Tsuna Nakamura: ???
William: ???
Mia: ???
Seeing this scene, the brains of the three temporarily stalled.
Only the pitch-black camera lens had long since zoomed right in.
William covered his forehead: "What... are you doing."
He had actually thought Kerson had really discovered an evil spirit in the house.
"Establishing an emotional connection with the evil spirit." The latter wiped his saliva off the wooden floor.
"Every spirit body possesses unique emotions. Only by understanding their pain and feeling their difficulties can we truly save these souls!"
He then added in a gentle tone: "William, wait a little longer. With my identity as the 'Most Affectionate of the Priest Order,' I will definitely be able to make it open its heart to me!"
As soon as his voice fell, Kerson puckered his lips and lowered his head again.
The air instantly fell into an eerie silence.
William was petrified on the spot. If he could be given a chance to choose, he would not hesitate to delete the memory of what just happened.
The Holy Arts of the Soul Body stage did indeed require establishing a connection with evil spirits, but...
What the hell is the 'Most Affectionate of the Priest Order'?
This is basically committing sexual harassment against evil spirits in the name of love!
How are you sure the evil spirit is definitely of the opposite sex! What if it's a child? Do you want the infamous reputation of Holy Clergy Members to spread all the way to the world of the dead!
The Church actually hasn't penalized such a title; this is simply severe dereliction of duty!
Not to mention there are outsiders present; this is no different from public defecation!
At this time, William faintly felt two gazes on him.
He turned his head, only to see Tsuna Nakamura and Mia staring at him with exceptionally weird expressions.
"Hey... I've only known this guy for a short time," he hurriedly spoke up.
But the two opposite him backed away a step in unison.
William read the meaning in their eyes; it was a look reserved only for perverts.
"Wait, this might be a misunderstanding." He reached out his hand.
"Miss Mia, let's head to the second floor. We'll leave as soon as we finish shooting," Tsuna Nakamura said.
Mia crossed her arms over her chest, turned sideways, and nodded.
The two immediately grabbed their things and walked up the stairs, leaving William frozen in place.
Oh right, there was also the video camera hovering near his face.
"Simon!" Mia's voice called out from upstairs.
The cameraman immediately headed toward the stairs, but he kept the lens trained on William the entire time.
It wasn't until his entire body reached the second-floor landing that the camera slowly disappeared from view.
The corner of William's mouth twitched.
Originally, he had been confident he could persuade the other party to change their method of attracting the evil spirit.
But after Kerson stirred the pot, those two would probably never believe a single word William said again, only assuming that he also intended to do something creepy.
"It seems I have to think of another way..." William's eyes showed deep thought.
According to his original plan, he intended to strike the moment that group lured out the evil spirit.
With his current Holy Art abilities and mastery over holy artifacts, it was enough to completely set up a magic array in an instant.
This way, he wouldn't alert the evil spirit to the Holy Power and cause it to flee prematurely, while also ensuring the safety of those three people.
But now that the red shoes had appeared, the previous plan could no longer be used. With the powerful tropes of horror movies, the probability of nothing going wrong was infinitely close to zero.
William didn't want to be caught off guard when an accident happened.
But what else could he do...
He observed his surroundings, and soon, his eyes lit up.
Compared to North American horror movies, the ghosts in the Sakura District felt far more dangerous.
The evil spirits in the former mostly affected humans through mental invasions, using their bodies as mediums to exert influence on the real world.
Even if a few ghosts could attack directly, they had to meet certain conditions—like Mary Shaw, for example.
But the Sakura District was different.
The ghosts here had a very prominent characteristic: 24/7 slaughter.
Regardless of whether you had ever hurt anyone or not, when it was your turn, you were dead.
No supernatural occurrences during the day?
Forget about it! Not only were there occurrences, but they could actively isolate you from other people.
As for the trope of "hiding under the covers to be safe from ghosts," that was an absolute joke!
Ghosts here could not only crawl into your bed but would also use the very blanket you slept with every night to tightly constrict you.
It was truly devoid of any ghostly morals!
"Although it's highly likely the ghost will target them first, I still have to guard against other areas..."
Thinking of this, William immediately glanced at the genkan entryway, then walked toward the front door.
Aside, Kerson had already finished kissing the floor at the entrance. He pulled out a water bottle, took a few massive gulps, and then looked at the light switch on the living room wall.
"What a sacred place. This has witnessed the exhaustion of the house's owner returning home on countless nights."
He pressed his cheek against the wall and flicked the switch with his iron chain.
Not far away, William watched this scene with a look reserved for the mentally impaired.
After a fierce internal struggle, he decided to get down to business first.
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the haunted house.
"Mr. Nakamura, thank goodness you're here! If I were alone running into those two weirdos, I probably really would have been scammed!" Mia tugged on Tsuna Nakamura's sleeve, looking terrified in hindsight.
Feeling the softness pressing against his arm, the corners of the latter's mouth involuntarily curled upward slightly.
"Hmph, right now the popularity surrounding evil existences is very high. Naturally, there will be superficial guys harboring delusions of gaining fame and wealth through this method," Tsuna Nakamura adjusted his collar.
"But communicating with dead spirits isn't something just anyone can do; it requires a long period of training and research."
Mia agreed wholeheartedly and nodded vigorously.
"Mr. Nakamura, then... what should we do next." She shrank her neck and looked around.
Earlier on the first floor, they could at least see some afterglow from the setting sun.
But upon reaching the second floor, there was nothing but gloom, and the ambient light had become incredibly dim.
The windows were sealed tight, the surfaces of the furniture had gathered a layer of dust, and coupled with the mottled walls...
It gave this place an indescribable sense of oppression.
Mia instinctively wanted to leave.
"Please put on the red high heels, Miss Mia, and then use this to cut your finger."
Tsuna Nakamura handed over a cloth pouch containing a silver needle and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.
"C-cut my finger?" Mia subconsciously clenched her hands. "Do I really have to do this."
Tsuna Nakamura leaned in with a serious face: "Of course."
"In the history of certain countries, red shoes symbolize festivity and joy. But..."
His tone suddenly shifted, his voice turning a few degrees eerier.
"But if the owner of the red shoes suddenly meets with a disaster on that joyous day and dies a tragic death... it will generate an extremely powerful resentment."
Hearing this, Mia gulped.
"And red shoes are often worn by women, and their color is similar to blood. Miss Mia perfectly matches these points," Tsuna Nakamura stood straight again.
"So as long as you smear your blood on the shoes, it will definitely attract the attention of the dead spirits."
"M-Mr. Nakamura, hearing you say that... after the dead spirits come out, they won't attack us, will they." Mia suddenly felt a bit of regret.
Tsuna Nakamura smiled slightly: "Don't worry, these dead spirits have no consciousness, only the most primal desires. As long as we feed them, we will be perfectly safe."
He took out another package as he spoke.
A thick stench of blood hit them in the face, and Mia immediately wrinkled her nose.
"I prepared these things long ago. After all, we can't let Miss Mia's money go to waste."
Aside, Simon once again aimed the video camera at the package.
Mia was originally still hesitating, but facing the camera, she instinctively put on a smiling face.
"Hey! Everyone, we're back! Next, I'm going to complete a terrifying ritual..."
Ultimately, she still chose to try.
A moment later.
"Hiss..."
Mia frowned, squeezing out a few drops of bright red blood and smearing them onto the shoes, then hurriedly cleaned the wound.
"This is also part of the ritual; you guys definitely shouldn't copy this at home~"
Even at this time, she didn't forget to put on a pitiful look for the camera.
But what the three of them didn't notice was—
In the dark corner of the ceiling, numerous strands of pitch-black hair emerged. As if they were alive, they reached down toward the humans below.
"Eww~ What's this!"
Mia suddenly walked into an adjacent room, and the other two followed. They coincidentally dodged the creeping black hair.
On the floor of the bedroom, there was a conspicuous dark red stain that seemed to have been there for a very long time.
"Perhaps it was left by the victims when the murder occurred back then," Tsuna Nakamura guessed, not far off the mark.
Mia's eyes lit up, and she immediately sat down heavily right on that stain.
"These look like two handprints! That means... the victim at the time might have been sitting exactly like I am now."
She pressed both hands onto the marks on the floor, and the wound on her index finger pressed directly against the dark red stain.
The next moment, a faint, bubbling croak suddenly echoed in the room.
But because the sound was too soft, Mia and Tsuna Nakamura did not hear it.
Simon, on the other hand, sensed something.
He panned the camera, sweeping it across the objects in the room.
As a professional cameraman, Simon knew well that some "moments" might not reappear the second time around.
Therefore, he did a slow panning shot all the way around.
But unfortunately, everywhere he looked was still just age and darkness.
He revealed a look of confusion; was I hallucinating?
A moment later, Simon shook his head and could only aim the camera back at the other two.
The very moment the lens turned back, a black silhouette of a human head flashed under the bed.
And Simon did not notice this anomaly.
Haunted House, First Floor.
Crack... Crack...
William dismantled the entire wooden front door off its hinges.
"The entire house only has this one exit. This way, even if evil forces want to trap us inside, they won't be able to lock the door," he thought to himself.
Just as he was about to toss the door outside, he caught a glimpse of the genkan entryway beside him.
"The drop between the interior floor and the genkan is about three centimeters. While it's not enough to cause a fall, in an emergency..."
Thinking of this, William laid the front door flat over the genkan entrance to act as a ramp.
To prevent the door from being stood back up, he even specifically snapped off a section of it. This way, even if the door sealed the entrance again, there would be an obvious gap.
After doing this, William went to the bathroom.
He turned sideways and dismantled the old mirror off the wall.
Knowing full well that this house had anomalies, he certainly wouldn't leave behind a vessel that could harbor evil spirits.
He didn't choose to cover it with something, nor did he stomp the mirror to pieces. Anyone familiar with horror movie rules knew that neither of those were good ideas.
William opted for the third method—
He carried the mirror to the alleyway entrance, used some materials from the trash can to quickly whip up a clump of an unidentified mixture, and smeared it all over the surface.
Only then did he toss the mirror into a hidden drainage ditch nearby.
This way, even if someone found it, there was a high probability they would be repulsed by the filth on its surface and retreat.
If someone still took the mirror away after all that, then William could only silently wish them good luck.
Aside from the necessary measures mentioned above, he also added a few specific actions targeted at Sakura District ghosts.
For example... flipping the entire wooden bed upside down to ensure there was no "under the bed" space.
Want to hide in the closet?
Heh... I'll dismantle the closet doors for you.
As for the drains, the blankets, the doors between rooms...
These were all tossed into the trash cans at the intersection! And thrown in different directions, no less.
Occasionally, passing pedestrians would stop and stare.
"Eh... isn't someone committing a burglary here!"
"Impossible, ever since that incident happened, no one has lived here. I'd say... it's probably someone new moving in."
"To actually dare live here, this person's brain must be broken!"
"If their brain wasn't broken, would they be dismantling their house here at dusk?"
"Ah! Let's go, let's go, I don't want to run into this guy..."
At the same time, William returned to the haunted house once more.
Looking at the utter mess before him, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Ah—!"
Right at this moment, a woman's piercing scream suddenly rang out from upstairs.
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