[Chapter 38: An Unexpected Turn]
"Weren't he supposed to be insidious, cunning, and highly skilled? I even had people watching the back. So why does he look like a complete idiot?"
A man wearing a skull mask couldn't help but laugh when he saw Daniel still waving a blade in front of so many guns.
"Is the guy brain-dead?" another scoffed. "Forget it, just kill him already and get back to collect our final payment."
As they spoke and pulled their triggers, the lights in the room suddenly went out. Even the candles burning on the altar flickered and died. Only three incense sticks glowed faintly, but they didn't cast enough light to illuminate anything.
The six men immediately panicked, instinctively looking around but seeing nothing.
"What's going on?" the man with the skull mask asked nervously. "Is that guy still here?"
"Ah!"
Before he could finish, a scream erupted beside him.
"Who's screaming?" he demanded, panic creeping into his voice.
"Ah!"
From another direction came another scream.
"Ah!"
And another. Within moments, screams echoed from all around them. It sounded as if people were being attacked from every direction nearby.
"Bang..."
One of them fired a shot. That gunshot seemed to be a signal because the others immediately opened fire.
Bang, bang, bang... Tiny sparks scattered in the darkness, punctuated by deafening gunfire.
"Ah..."
Someone was hit and collapsed. Others quickly followed.
Before long, the gunfire stopped abruptly.
At that moment, the lights suddenly switched back on, revealing the six men's figures. Two lay motionless on the ground, presumably unconscious or dead. The other four were riddled with bullets, sprawled in blood.
They stared at each other with furious eyes, confused and enraged.
Daniel stepped out from the shadows, the Exorcist's Sanctum Blade sword still in his hand, but no longer swinging it.
The skull-masked man glared at him angrily. "It was you? You're behind all of this?"
Daniel smiled slightly. "You shot each other, causing this mess. What does that have to do with me?"
Seeing Daniel's grin, the skull-masked man wanted to gun him down right there, but he didn't even have the strength to lift his arm.
"Cough, cough..."
He coughed violently in frustration, spitting up bloody foam while struggling to breathe. Moments later, his head lolled to the side, and he stopped moving -- dead from anger, overcome well before any final attack.
...
"What a clever tactic. Without much effort, you made them kill each other, leaving some dead and some wounded. You easily resolved the dilemma," a voice suddenly said from outside.
Following the voice, three people stepped forward into the room's light.
The speaker was Morian, whom Daniel had encountered before. Beside him was Katherine, and next to them stood a figure in a loose hooded sweatshirt. The oversized hood concealed his face, but his imposing stature, nearly 6'3", was unmistakable.
Morian smiled at Daniel. "Your power impresses me. If I hadn't made the switch earlier, I might want your body for myself."
Katherine smiled as well. "Mr. Cross, we meet again."
"Indeed. I've been waiting for you," Daniel replied happily.
Morian glanced at Daniel and asked, "Did you know we were coming?"
Daniel said casually, "You went to the trouble of taking over Katherine's body, didn't you? Or more precisely, after the Douglas family's assets. As far as I know, Katherine is Douglas's only daughter. When Douglas dies, all his wealth will pass to her. To make sure nothing goes wrong, I, who might see through Katherine's disguise, naturally became a thorn in your side. You wanted me gone."
Katherine's expression shifted. "You really saw through my identity."
Daniel shook his head. "Of course -- I knew you weren't the real Katherine from the moment you showed up in my shop."
Katherine sneered coldly, "Our choice to eliminate you was right."
Daniel sighed. "Honestly, I didn't want to interfere. Douglas is stingy and unfriendly toward me; I don't like him either. If you hadn't provoked me, I wouldn't have cared what you did. This mess was unnecessary."
Morian said, "You said it yourself -- no unexpected problems means eliminating all variables. This, I suppose, is one of those unexpected turns."
Daniel shook his head. "No, it's the inevitable result of treating human lives like disposable objects to be slaughtered at will. It's just too bad you ran into me. If I'm not mistaken, your bodies were acquired through possession, right?"
Morian replied coldly, "What's the use of knowing that now? You're about to die."
Daniel rubbed his chin. "Alright, let me guess. Were you two originally a black couple?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Morian and Katherine's faces twitched in shock.
"How do you know?" Katherine cried out.
Morian's eyes went wide. "You can see through our souls? That's impossible."
Daniel smiled. "Looks like it really is you two."
He had only been guessing, but now he knew for sure: this was the pair from the horror film The Skeleton Key.
...
In that movie, the couple possessed the power of soul transference -- they could transfer their souls into other bodies.
For safety or some other reason, the couple didn't act often. They waited until their current bodies aged before transferring their souls into younger ones.
They succeeded in the movie. Now that it had happened in reality, perhaps they'd grown tired of living low-key. Their ambitions swelled, and they set their sights on the Douglas family.
They chose Douglas's daughter, Katherine, seized her body and identity. Once Douglas was dead, they'd inherit his massive estate.
For them, it was easy: orchestrate Douglas's death silently without leaving a trace. Unfortunately, they hadn't counted on running into Daniel -- the wild card.
...
Katherine was still stunned. "How do you know who we really are?"
Morian's face darkened, eyes filled with murderous intent. "Enough questions, my dear. Let's just kill him and get our plan back on track. Nothing else matters."
Daniel smiled at them coldly. "Before you move, let me introduce a few people."
He raised his voice loudly: "You've all heard the noise just now, right? You can come out now."
With that, a door was pushed open, and several figures filed out silently.
Seeing them step forward, Katherine and Morian's faces changed drastically, their bodies stiffening in shock.
*****
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