Chapter 337: The Unclean Nun (Part 3)
Hearing those words, Father Burke immediately frowned. "This is Church business. According to regulations, you have no right to interfere, so please, mind your own business."
"Of course," William said with a faint smile.
"However, since Father Burke insists on strictly following the rules, you must be prepared for accidents. For example..."
"Discovering an anomaly but finding it inconvenient to enter, thus sending only Sister Irene to investigate, leading to her untimely demise. Or perhaps..."
William listed several possibilities in a row, each sounding more horrific than the last.
Beside them, Irene couldn't help but feel a chilling sensation—If I go in, I'm going to die.
She stole a glance at Father Burke.
The Father's expression was quite unsightly.
Even though he felt the man had a point, he had already spoken so boldly earlier; admitting it now would make him lose face.
Therefore, Burke only managed to squeeze out: "Let's go."
Watching the three of them walk away, William smiled.
Even though they hadn't responded openly, he was certain his words were now etched into their minds. This way, if they encountered a similar situation, they would at least hesitate before acting recklessly.
William could only use this method to warn them, given that his current identity was quite sensitive.
In front of the abbey's main gate.
Caw—!
A crow, startled, flapped its wings and took to the sky.
Burke looked up, frowning at the rope dangling from above the gate. The rope extended from a window high up in the abbey; clearly, it was the one used by the nun who had hanged herself.
On the steps below, there was still a pool of fresh blood.
Father Burke knelt before the stone steps, reaching out to touch it. A sticky, visceral sensation met his fingertips.
"It hasn't dried yet... the time of death couldn't have been long ago."
"That's not necessarily true."
A voice suddenly rang out.
Father Burke's face darkened instantly. He stood up and turned around. "What do you have to say now?"
William shrugged. "Even if it's not winter yet, the temperature this season is already very low. The abbey is located deep in the mountains, where the temperature difference between day and night is even greater."
He walked up to the stone steps.
"Based on the journey here, it hasn't rained in Bièrtan recently. And Mr. Frenchie mentioned that the suicide was reported to many places without receiving a response."
"Whether judged by the objective timeline or the surrounding environmental factors, a significant amount of time has indeed passed since that nun committed suicide."
"In an outdoor environment like this, blood begins to dry within ten minutes. But what we see here is clearly different. There are two possibilities."
William held up two fingers.
"First, time flows differently inside the abbey compared to the outside, causing this phenomenon."
"Second, the blood before us is a deliberate illusion created specifically to deceive us."
As soon as his voice fell, the surroundings fell into a dead silence.
Gail and Mark suddenly understood. Previously, they had been so focused on testing their equipment that they had paid very little attention to their surroundings. At this moment, they both felt a sense of being "amateurish."
Irene's eyes widened. She had felt a bad premonition in her heart, but she hadn't considered any of these details. At the same time, she evaluated William with growing curiosity, finding something vaguely familiar about him.
Frenchie scratched his head in amazement. "My God, you figured all that out just by looking?"
Father Burke was also shocked.
Unlike the others, he was from the Church and knew that evil spirits might haunt this abbey. The "time dilation" and "illusions" this man mentioned were exactly the types of abilities evil spirits possessed.
"A common detective discovered all of this? This man is definitely different," he mused.
Subsequently, Father Burke opened his black suitcase and took out holy water and a crucifix. He knelt on the ground, drew a cross on his chest, and then poured the holy water onto his hands, gently rubbing it over his eyes.
"The Church issued an eight-year vintage holy artifact this time; it should give my eyes enough observational power..."
He was a Holy Clergy Member with a dominant Soul Body stage and was quite talented in the first-level Holy Art, "Verbal Comfort." Because of this, despite his late Brand manifestation, Burke was highly valued by the seminary.
Of course, his family's influence also played a role.
He had not disappointed their expectations, quickly fulfilling the basic Holy Art requirements for the Eyes, Skin, and Bone stages.
When Father Burke opened his eyes again, faint traces of evil aura indeed appeared before him.
"So the bloodstain really is problematic. But..." He felt confused.
Had no one else in the abbey noticed this anomaly?
According to Mr. Frenchie, he had never seen a single nun here; he simply left supplies in a designated spot every time.
Furthermore, the Church hadn't told Father Burke much before he left, only stating that the abbey had existed for a very long time and that the Holy Clergy Members within were respectable ascetics.
"I can't find more information out here. I need to go inside and ask..."
Thinking this, Burke prepared to step forward and push the door open.
But someone was faster.
William pulled out a monocular telescope and scanned the area around the main gate.
"Frenchie, you said... you haven't been back since the last time you delivered supplies, right?"
"Uh... yes," Frenchie nodded, not understanding why he was asking.
"In that case, what are the people inside eating?" William gestured behind him.
"Maybe... they still have leftover food," Frenchie guessed.
Although it had been a while since the last supply run, they could have lasted until now if they were rationing.
"If that's the case... then it's even stranger," William said.
"Living in such a remote place, the sufficiency of food directly determines life or death."
"Therefore, supply intervals are never very long. Usually, a new shipment is brought in just before the previous stock is depleted."
Frenchie nodded. "Exactly!"
"Since that's the case..." William looked at the group.
"Knowing that current food supplies are insufficient, yet the new shipment is late, any normal person would be somewhat anxious, right?"
The group fell into thought, their hearts sensing something was wrong.
"And under these circumstances, no one has come out to check?" William pointedly asked.
"And as long as someone stepped outside, they would have noticed the anomaly at the door. But right now, it doesn't look like anyone has noticed anything."
Thanks to his reminder, the others finally realized what was wrong—there were absolutely no signs of human activity in the abbey before them!
Creak—
Just then, the abbey's heavy doors swung open, and a woman draped in black robes stepped out.
"You... are here to investigate the matter of Sister Victoria, I assume," the person's voice was old and raspy, sounding like a crow with its throat squeezed.
"Come inside quickly. The sun will be down soon."
The group looked at each other, their eyes filled with suspicion and alarm.
"Uh, I am from the Church..." Burke stepped forward to introduce himself and asked the question William had just raised.
"Those who commit suicide have abandoned the Lord. Contact with them brings misfortune," the old woman rasped. "Do you not even know this?"
"Uh... I..." Burke was momentarily speechless.
"Apologies, we were just concerned," Irene hurriedly explained.
Seeing this, William was genuinely stunned!
You guys just believed that one sentence?! That's too much blind faith!
I just pointed out so many suspicious things! Don't you want to verify it?!
Are these the people of the 'American Horror Story' world?!
No matter how surprised William was, the two from the Church accepted the explanation. Even Mark looked at William, his stance wavering.
"Your courtyard is a bit of a mess," William said, using his telescope to look past the doorway.
"There are cobwebs on the tables and weeds everywhere. It doesn't look like anyone lives here."
But the next moment, the old woman blocked his line of sight.
"Heh... the sisters are focused on prayer. They do not care for such things."
"Is that so... they don't even care about bathing or waste? As far as I know, untidiness is also a sign of disrespect to your Lord," William countered sharply.
"Hey... please watch your language," Father Burke frowned.
Irene also whispered, "Saying that is too impolite to the sisters..."
"It seems your companion has objections... hehe." The old woman in black squeezed out a dry laugh.
"Gentlemen, if you do not plan to enter, I shall close the door."
She made a move to grab the door handle.
"Wait!" Burke hurriedly picked up his suitcase and stepped forward. "I am here to investigate the case, so there are some details I'd like to discuss with you..."
Frenchie followed closely behind, giving William a shrug before heading up the steps.
Irene followed at a slower pace. Before entering, she turned around, questioning William with her eyes.
The latter smiled and shook his head, simply tossing an object to her.
Irene caught it with both hands. Upon opening her palms, she found it was a crucifix. She looked surprised.
William placed his index finger over his lips, signaling her to keep it a secret.
Irene looked confused but nodded anyway, tucking the crucifix into her pocket.
"Mr. William... are we not going in?" Gail approached.
From the surrounding situation, it was clear that the abbey was the most likely place to find "Source Power."
"Uh... a momentary lapse in deduction is nothing. Don't mind it," Mark said, patting William's shoulder.
"Of course we're going in," William said, unbothered by being "proven wrong." "But..."
He looked up. In his eyes, the entire abbey seemed shrouded in a heavy shadow.
Dilapidated, ancient, and saturated with a dense evil.
Just as he was about to trigger the group's vigilance toward the abbey, that old woman in black had rushed out. That creature had seemingly used some kind of power to interfere with the perception of everyone except William.
But the aura of decay on her was impossible to hide; she clearly wasn't a living person.
William didn't expose her on the spot.
After all, they were here to find the Source Power passage, and the old woman's appearance was certainly no coincidence. Even if she wasn't a Demon God herself, she was definitely connected to one.
Therefore, William was counting on that ghost.
But he didn't plan on just walking in like that.
"Before that, we need to deal with some potential dangers." William turned to the two.
Shortly after, the forest graveyard.
The three of them returned there once again.
William set up a magic array around the graveyard and then retrieved two shovels from the carriage.
"Are we going to..." Mark asked, shovel in hand, a bad premonition rising in his heart.
"Dig up the graves," William said, nodding with a smile.
Gail was stunned. "That's not right, isn't it? Those buried here are all nuns from the abbey..."
Even if she wasn't a believer, she knew such an act was offensive.
"It is exactly because they are dead that we must dig them up," William said.
"Think about it. This place has been invaded by evil, and there are many anomalies inside the abbey."
"The graves here are essentially a breeding ground for evil! Corpses, souls, rotting flesh..."
His face was deadly serious.
"Do you really want to face those monsters later?"
Hearing this, Gail and Mark gulped.
"No... we don't."
"Exactly!" William snapped his fingers.
"As professional exorcists, we must prepare in advance! Therefore, before these remains can be utilized, we have to dig up their graves first."
He spat on his palms, rubbed them together, and picked up a shovel.
Schlick—!
A pile of dirt was tossed into the air.
Gail and Mark looked at each other. Those words sounded somewhat reasonable, but they still felt something was off. Nonetheless, out of trust for William, they picked up their shovels.
William wasn't lying to them, but he did have other considerations...
Not long after, a coffin was exposed in the soil.
William carefully pried open the lid. Beneath it lay a complete set of remains.
With one look at the coffin, he knew the remains were fine.
He set the shovel aside, jumped into the coffin, and gently caressed the surface of the remains.
"What a holy body. There is still Holy Power lingering in the bones. This nun must have been a devout believer in life. Hmm... the bone age looks to be in the twenties, and the overall development was quite good..."
Mark and Gail's expressions were normal at first, but the more they listened, the more wrong it felt.
Is Mr. William... actually doing something legitimate right now?
The two gave him extremely weird looks.
But William really didn't have any other thoughts; he was observing from a very objective perspective. At this moment, he finally understood Father Kerson's attitude toward remains.
When attempting to contact remains with one's soul, one could indeed discover more information.
Take this body, for example. Although shrouded in holy power, a trace of obsession was buried deep within the bones. It was remorse for abandoning her family; self-reproach for the lustful thoughts that arose during long years of asceticism; and a desire for the salvation of her soul.
These were the "Sins" buried within the bones.
William used Holy Power to tug at these obsessions, guiding them toward himself.
The two beside him soon noticed an anomaly.
The remains in the coffin began to glow faintly, looking incredibly divine. And William's arm was tinged with a light red hue, his veins bulging unnaturally.
"Mr. William..." Worry flashed in Gail's eyes.
"I'm fine."
A moment later, he opened his eyes, and his body returned to normal.
He had just completed the third-level Holy Art of the Bone stage: Skeleton Resonance. He could now shoulder the "Sins" of the deceased, allowing them to find true salvation.
William extended his finger. The next second, a bright red sphere appeared at his fingertip. This contained the "Sins" of the body he had just touched.
As long as he wished, he could transfer these sins to a third party, letting them experience the same pain that had occurred in the past.
This was exactly the offensive method of the third-level Bone Holy Art.
And since this energy could only be seen by him, the two beside him were confused by his strange behavior.
"Alright, continue."
William picked up the shovel again. "Whose body should we check next..."
There was a hint of excitement in his tone.
Seeing this, Gail couldn't help but cross her arms over her chest, glancing at Mark.
"Don't look at me like that! I'm not a pervert!" the latter hurriedly raised his hands to clarify.
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