Chapter 270: The Clown in Town (Part 7)
"Demolishing the house?" Sheriff Real was somewhat puzzled.
"That's right." William nodded.
Subsequently, he turned around to face the group of police officers and children, beginning to popularize anti-"horror" awareness among the North American people.
"The internal structure of such an old house is very complex. Coupled with its age, the quality of the house's main materials is also highly questionable."
He pointed behind him as he spoke.
"Rushing in blindly under these circumstances will very likely break some kind of balance inside the house, leading to a collapse."
"Furthermore, we can remain cautious right now because we know there is a monster inside."
"But under conditions of missing information, it's very easy to give them an opportunity to target us."
"For example, anomalies inside the house that only children can see, while adults mistakenly think they are just scared."
Sheriff Real looked thoughtful, picking up William's train of thought.
"So... this is the reason the adults in town didn't notice the clown?"
William raised an eyebrow, looking at the sheriff's sharpness in a new light.
"Although it involves some supernatural powers... it can also be understood this way," he affirmed.
"I understand. Father William, thank you for clearing up my doubts."
Sheriff Real had a solemn face.
"This reminder has helped me figure out many suspicious points—those doubtful points regarding the testimonies in the town's murder cases."
Seeing that everyone had raised their vigilance a bit more, William finally nodded in satisfaction.
Subsequently, he picked up the chains and walked to the yard gate, placing another holy statue at his feet.
A hum resounded.
A small patch of ground at the entrance suddenly emitted a faint white light, and something in the air seemed to be dispelled.
This scene made the eyes of everyone present widen.
Immediately after, the weeds in the entire yard suddenly thrashed madly. The wooden door of the house also burst open, and a chilling, biting gale blew out from inside.
But all of this came to an abrupt halt in front of the holy statue.
Holy territory, tolerating no trespass from evil.
Seeing the power fluctuations at the entrance stabilize, William continued to push forward.
Before long, chains were tied all around the wooden house.
And on the road, Sheriff Real personally drove the heavy truck.
Accompanied by a loud crash, a cloud of dust and smoke immediately rose in the air.
William originally thought it would take four pulls to bring the wooden house down.
He didn't expect that just by snapping one pillar, the entire wooden house completely lost its balance, ending its decades-long derelict existence.
"We should be able to go in once the dust settles." Sheriff Real clapped his hands and jumped out of the truck.
"No rush," William said, walking over to the vehicle. "There are still a lot of weeds in the yard; we have to set a fire and burn them clean."
"Set... set a fire?"
Sheriff Real was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes turned strange.
"Although it's to purify evil, first using police cars to sell goods, then forcibly demolishing a house, and now committing arson..."
As a member of the police department, the security guarantor of Derry Town, the things they were doing were just like thugs...
"These kids won't pick up bad habits from this, will they..." Real felt a faint worry inwardly.
Although he felt a bit weird about it, he naturally wouldn't stop it.
Meanwhile, William had already taken some gasoline from the truck, poured it on a wooden stick, lit it, and threw it into the yard.
Whoosh~
The flames instantly spread across the yard, and for a time, crackling sounds were endless.
The boys were somewhat excited. Being able to do such things with the police and a priest was extremely novel to them.
Beverly, on the other hand, sized William up; she had never seen such an "arrogant" priest.
At the same time, within a shadow of the wooden house.
A pair of pale yellow pupils stared deadly outside, the resentment in its gaze almost tangible.
Pennywise looked at its recently recovered palm.
After considering for a moment, it vanished into the shadows.
On the other side.
The fire burned for a full half hour before it was extinguished.
By this time, the land was a mess of scorched earth, without the slightest hint of the previous twisted and eerie feeling.
Subsequently, William instructed everyone to stay put, stating that only he and Judy would complete the rest of the exorcism.
Sheriff Real understood in his heart that ordinary people like them going in would very likely become a burden.
So he nodded and urged the two to be careful.
Before going in, William brought up one last matter.
"The clown's power has been entrenched in the town for a long time, so there might be other energy remnants."
"After we leave, there is a certain probability you might encounter abnormal events. For example, Judy and I suddenly returning, or you seeing someone very close to you..."
William listed dozens of examples in a row, encompassing almost everything that could possibly happen.
He made sure the kids and the sheriff memorized them firmly and gave them corresponding solutions.
"Let's go." William patted Judy.
The two quickly walked into the yard.
Behind them, the kids and the sheriff all had exhausted looks in their eyes.
"I... why do I feel like this is more tiring than reciting the Bible." Stanley shook his head, counting on his fingers to recall those "possible scenarios."
Sheriff Real also lit a cigarette: "No... this is more tiring than handling cases. I really don't dare to imagine what happens to the monsters Father William purifies."
On the other side.
After arriving near the burnt doorframe, William took the [Smiling Face Mask] out of his bag and handed it to Judy.
"What is this?" she took it curiously.
"An exorcism prop that can prevent evil from invading your mental power," William said.
Pennywise's power could cause brief dislocations of the human soul, so before going down, he had to ensure Judy had safety measures in place.
"Remember, before the purification is completely over, you must not take it off at any time."
Judy nodded seriously: "Understood!"
As for the side effects of this item, William didn't mention them, so as not to cause her any psychological burden.
However, he was actually quite curious about Judy's alternate personality.
"First, let's clean up the area of the wooden house, and then look for an entrance similar to a sewer," William instructed the next steps.
But Judy beside him didn't make a sound.
William turned his head to look, only to see her standing quietly in place. Because the "Smiling Face Mask" could hide beneath one's original appearance after being worn, Judy currently still looked like herself.
Sniff~
She suddenly tilted her head up, greedily inhaling the scent in the air.
"Fresh. What a fresh scent of evil spirits."
Judy suddenly spoke, her voice becoming somewhat deep.
William handed over a few holy artifacts.
Judy snatched them away, then said coldly: "You can get lost now."
"Get... lost?" The corner of William's mouth twitched. "This personality has become way too terrible!"
Before he could say anything else, Judy had already darted out.
Just to be safe, William chose to follow her for now.
He saw this once quiet and beautiful young girl currently lying ungracefully on the collapsed wooden boards.
"Its scent is on this..."
She licked her lips, gently stroking a piece of wood.
"Where are you... Mr. Clown, come out quickly. I can't wait to play a joyful juggling game with you."
"Mmh... no abnormalities in her soul, just that the side effects of the face mask are a bit strong." William rubbed his chin.
Seeing that Judy was fine, he continued his purification work.
After some time, the surface work was completed.
At this time, William suddenly heard Judy's shout.
"Aha! Found you!"
When he rushed over, he saw the former circling around an old well.
This well didn't look big. It was located on the first underground floor of the wooden house and was only exposed after the house was pushed over.
He saw Judy kneeling by the well, her entire face pressed against the edge, looking excited, occasionally even kissing the mouth of the well.
"This... maybe I should take the face mask off her first?" William hesitated inwardly.
If the Warrens saw their daughter turn into this, the old couple would probably grab their crucifixes and beat him up.
Before he could think further, Judy suddenly braced her hands on the edge of the well and leaped down.
William instantly appeared beside the well.
He peeked his head in, only to see Judy using the narrow well walls to nimbly descend, moving extremely fast.
Previously, when handling the "Smile Curse" case, William discovered that the face mask allowed the wearer to use their abilities with extreme efficiency.
In other words—it allowed the user to master their body much more proficiently.
This was also the reason Judy could perform these maneuvers right now.
But this didn't mean she was 100% safe.
Two circles of golden patterns surfaced in William's pupils.
He saw some abnormal energy floating inside the well, and there was wind blowing up from below, indicating it very likely led elsewhere.
And this was exactly the "lair entrance" he had been looking for.
William didn't waste much time. He threw a bottle of Holy Water down the well, and then jumped in himself.
A few seconds later.
Thud!
William landed steadily, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The bottom of the well had cave-like rock walls, but looking closely, one could still spot metal materials within them.
It looked like this should be the underground drainage system of Derry Town.
The damp air was mixed with the stench of garbage, and there was even a faint scent of decay.
"Judy?"
William observed the surroundings with [Holy Eye] and quickly found footprints left on the ground in one direction.
He immediately chased after them.
Before long, the path suddenly opened up, and a massive underground space appeared before William.
Mountains of discarded garbage were piled up here.
Old bicycles, sofas, shoes...
It was even messier than Derry Town's garbage transfer station.
At the same time, William also noticed something abnormal—the things here didn't seem stable.
For example, a large sofa would suddenly shrink to the size of a toy every few seconds.
While a normal pair of shoes would grow as big as a television.
Moreover, these items were not fully touching the ground but were floating in mid-air.
William tried gently touching a shoe, and the next second, the thing bounced away lightly.
He narrowed his eyes, the Holy Light Barrier on his body already activated.
Taking a few more steps forward, light suddenly shone down from above.
William looked up and saw a spectacular scene.
Above his head was a large skylight, with light pouring in through the grates.
And below was a garbage mountain tens of meters high, formed by the accumulation of various discarded items.
But what drew the most attention were the people floating around the garbage mountain.
Yes, starting from the middle of the skylight, many children were floating around the garbage mountain.
Some looked fifteen or sixteen years old, some were even just infants...
But every single one of them had already lost their signs of life, leaving only a corpse.
"Wuu... Wuu, don't come near... please..."
"I'm... a bit hungry."
Suddenly, many human voices echoed in William's ears.
He narrowed his eyes, only then realizing that the garbage mountain wasn't entirely made of waste.
At the very top, it was completely made of skeletal remains and severed limbs. And the souls of these corpses were trapped inside, surrounded by a dense evil aura.
Clearly, after these souls died unjustly here, they were all trapped by Pennywise.
Unable to reincarnate, they had already begun to transform into evil spirits.
William couldn't help but frown.
With this scale and number of evil spirits, once they erupted in the town, it would very likely trigger a "Disaster" rated danger.
Tick-tock~ Tick-tock~
A music box on the ground suddenly began to play abruptly.
Immediately after, a shrill voice came from the bottom of the garbage mountain.
"Intruder, trespasser."
"You took Pennywise the Clown's things, you..."
"Will die."
In the next moment, the bottom of the garbage mountain suddenly opened to both sides.
Inside was like a small stage, with fake backgrounds, curtains... and the clown standing in the center.
And William, standing opposite, became the audience.
Thump-tss, thump-tss~
A comedic-style music started playing on the stage, and the clown began to tap its feet to the rhythm.
Only its expression was extremely gloomy, its eyes staring dead straight at William.
A few seconds later, the music stopped, and Pennywise stood in place.
"Foul-smelling environment, tasteless music, and those monotonous dance moves of yours."
William put on a look of disgust.
"Even the grandmas in the park dance better than you."
"In conclusion, you're eliminated." He drew the word "OUT!" in the air.
The surroundings fell into a brief silence.
The next second, Pennywise revealed a ferocious expression.
It leaped from the stage, pouncing straight at William.
Bang!
The clown's hands grabbed onto the Holy Light Barrier.
It opened its mouth, revealing dense sharp teeth, and the three light orbs at the bottom of its throat spun rapidly.
At the same time, the garbage on the ground nearby slowly floated into the air; only the items by William's feet remained on the ground.
In the next second, a halo of light spewed from the clown's mouth, crashing against the surface of the Holy Light Barrier.
But immediately after, the clown revealed a shocked gaze.
It saw that the halos melted away upon contact with the barrier, and even its hands began to burn.
"Attempting to assault the judges during the competition, you can be disqualified now," William's voice rang out calmly.
Subsequently, he took out a crucifix and ruthlessly plunged it into the clown's chest.
Poof~
The latter was instantly sent flying backwards, floating in the air like a deflating balloon, taking several seconds to land on the ground.
"Looks like Judy wasn't caught by this guy," William thought inwardly.
Otherwise, with this monster's temperament, it wouldn't have passed up the chance to use Judy as a hostage.
Perhaps his words became a reality.
Near where the clown landed, Judy's figure suddenly appeared.
Expressionless, she slowly walked towards Pennywise.
The latter had just managed to pull the crucifix out. When it turned around, it was met with the gaze of a young girl.
The next second, the corners of Pennywise's mouth slowly curled up.
"Hey hey... does this count as a Flag too! I was just objectively describing a fact!" William roared inwardly.
By this time, the clown had already dragged Judy into its arms, tightly gripping her neck with its hand.
"** Giggle~ Mr. Priest, what choice will you make now.**" It lifted its head, its eyes full of mockery.
William gripped the crucifix in his hand tightly, but then his eyes became somewhat strange.
"I think... you're the one who needs to make a choice," he said bluntly.
Doubt flashed in Pennywise's eyes.
It looked down and found that the girl in its arms was tilting her head up, staring at it, and even revealing a faint smile.
"Mr. Clown, finally found you."
Pennywise was utterly bewildered.
But recalling the weirdness of the priest opposite, it immediately opened its mouth wide, flashing the light orbs deep in its throat at Judy.
"Ah, a beautiful work of art, I will collect it well."
Shock flashed in the eyes of the clown with its mouth wide open; its power had failed once again!
And Judy, at this moment, revealed a look of absolute thrill.
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you