Chapter 87:
"Who are you?"
She asked warily, her voice cautious. "How did you get in?"
Yang Jian shrugged. "Just passing by. As for how I got in…"
He pointed at the main door and spread his hands.
The woman narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying the excuse.
Her gaze swept over Yang Jian and suddenly fixed on his eyes.
For a brief moment, she seemed to catch a flash of golden light deep within them.
"You're not an ordinary person."
She gripped her short sword tighter. "Are you also an exorcist?"
"Sort of."
Yang Jian neither confirmed nor denied it. His gaze, however, fell on the necklace around her neck.
"That cross is quite special."
The woman instinctively touched the necklace, a hint of surprise on her face.
"You can see its special nature?"
At that moment, the church floor suddenly shook violently!
The dark energy that had just dissipated gathered once more, this time ten times stronger than before.
Blood began to seep from the saintly figures on the stained-glass windows. The pews automatically rearranged themselves into an inverted cross formation.
"Not good!"
The woman's expression changed drastically. "That thing just now was only bait!"
More than a dozen desiccated corpses in black robes crawled out from the ground, completely surrounding the two of them.
They held blood-dripping candles in their hands and chanted inhuman incantations.
Above the church dome, a massive inverted pentagram array was forming.
Yang Jian looked around and instead showed an excited smile.
"Now this is more like it."
The woman had already drawn her short sword. Ancient runes were carved all over the blade.
"If you don't want to die, stay close to me! These are…"
Her words cut off abruptly.
Because Yang Jian's eyes suddenly glowed red.
The next second—
Boom!
Heat vision shot out instantly!
The desiccated corpses seemed to sense something. Their bodies stiffened instantly, then evaporated one after another under the woman's shocked gaze.
The inverted pentagram array on the dome vanished as if erased by a rubber.
The entire purification process took less than two seconds — and Yang Jian had deliberately slowed it down.
The woman's short sword clattered to the ground.
She opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound.
Moonlight poured through the broken dome, illuminating her pale face.
"Who exactly are you? Uh… I mean, I've never seen anyone as powerful as you."
Yang Jian bent down to pick up her short sword and gently ran his fingers over the runes.
"Nice craftsmanship, but it's still a bit lacking against this level of evil entity."
He handed the short sword back to her. "My name is Yang Jian. And you?"
The woman mechanically took the weapon and answered subconsciously.
"Celeste. Celeste von Karstein."
"Karstein?"
A playful glint flashed in Yang Jian's eyes. "That famous exorcist family?"
Celeste finally recovered from her shock and took a cautious half-step back.
"You know our family?"
Yang Jian didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly looked toward the depths of the church.
His super vision pierced through multiple walls and saw something hidden in the basement — an ancient existence that was awakening.
"Miss Celeste," he smiled as he turned to the female exorcist.
"Interested in teaming up? The thing down there might be far more interesting than you imagine."
The night wind stirred Celeste's black hair. After a moment's hesitation, she finally picked up her silver sword.
"Lead the way."
The two headed toward the basement. Something was awakening in the darkness.
In the dim corridor, their footsteps echoed off the stone walls.
Yang Jian glanced sideways at Celeste: "So, you came to this town specifically to exorcise?"
Celeste gripped her silver sword tightly, warily scanning the surroundings.
"No, I was just passing through. I took a job from the demon hunter forum."
Yang Jian raised an eyebrow. "Exorcism can be taken as jobs? Like a delivery platform?"
This setup felt so familiar — he almost wanted to complain.
Celeste gave him a strange look: "Are you really an exorcist? You don't even know about the Demon Hunter Association's bounty system?"
Yang Jian shrugged: "I'm used to working alone."
Celeste let out a breath and relaxed a little.
"The Association issues bounties based on the danger level of the evil spirits. Completing commissions earns you money to buy holy water, silver items, and other consumables."
She shook the silver sword in her hand. "This sword alone cost me three hundred thousand dollars."
Yang Jian: ...… Not just familiar — it's exactly the same.
He smiled. "Thanks, but I don't need those."
Celeste frowned: "Then how do you deal with evil spirits? Unless…"
She suddenly thought of something. "Are you from the Magic Academy? Was that red beam just now your ability?"
"Something like that."
Yang Jian nodded casually. "And I have money power."
"Superpower? What kind of superpower?"
"Money — as in cash."
Celeste's footsteps halted. She looked at Yang Jian with a blank expression.
"..."
Yang Jian smiled brightly and added: "For example, I could buy this entire church."
Celeste took a deep breath and quickened her pace.
"Let's just focus on dealing with the thing below."
Her back was filled with the clear message: "I don't want to talk to a rich guy."
Yang Jian shrugged. Money was the one thing he never lacked.
At the end of the corridor, a rusty iron door blocked the way.
A cold, sinister aura seeped through the cracks. Faint sounds of nails scraping metal could be heard from inside.
Celeste took out a small bottle from her waist: "It's starting. This is holy…"
Before she could finish, Yang Jian had already kicked the iron door open.
"Finish early, eat early."
The moment the iron door was kicked open, a rotten cold wind blew in their faces.
The basement was pitch black. Only a few broken candles gave off weak light.
The walls were covered with twisted runes. A huge pentagram was drawn on the floor with fresh blood.
In the center stood an ancient stone coffin. Its lid had already been pushed open halfway.
Celeste immediately entered combat stance, silver sword held horizontally in front of her.
"This is a demon summoning array! Someone performed a ritual here!"
Yang Jian walked into the basement with his hands in his pockets, moving unhurriedly.
"Hmm, quite professional."
"Careful!" Celeste suddenly shouted.
A black shadow shot out from behind the stone coffin, lunging straight at Yang Jian's face!
Yang Jian didn't even blink. He casually waved his hand.
Smack!
The black shadow exploded into a cloud of black mist in mid-air.
Celeste: "..."
"Don't be nervous."
Yang Jian walked to the stone coffin and looked down. "Looks like our guest has already run away."
Celeste approached warily and saw that only a pool of black viscous liquid remained inside the coffin, giving off a pungent sulfur smell.
"It's the aura of a high-level demon. This isn't right. A demon of this level shouldn't appear in a small town like this."
Yang Jian nudged the ashes on the ground with his toe. "Someone was here recently."
He pointed to the corner. "Look over there."
Celeste followed his direction and saw several empty bottles scattered on the ground, their labels bearing the logo of a pharmaceutical company.
"Black Crow Pharmaceuticals?"
"Isn't that the biotech company that's been really popular lately?" Celeste frowned. It seemed things were more complicated than imagined.
Suddenly, the entire basement shook violently!
Stones fell from the ceiling. Blood began to seep from the runes on the walls.
"Not good!"
Celeste's expression changed drastically. "It's a self-destruct ward! This place is going to collapse!"
She turned to run outside, but saw that Yang Jian was still standing motionless.
"Hurry up!"
Yang Jian smiled: "What's the rush?"
He raised his hand and gave a gentle wave.
A bio-field instantly enveloped the entire area.
Time seemed to freeze.
Falling stones hung suspended in mid-air. Seeping blood solidified on the walls.
The entire basement fell into an eerie state of stillness.
Celeste's eyes widened: "This is…"
"A little trick."
Yang Jian walked to one wall and pressed his hand against a certain rune.
"Found it."
The rune glowed red. The wall slowly moved aside, revealing a hidden elevator.
"Want to come along?"
Yang Jian turned back and asked, "Let's go see what this pharmaceutical company is up to."
Celeste took a deep breath and gripped her silver sword as she followed.
"Who exactly are you?"
The elevator doors slowly closed. Yang Jian's voice sounded especially clear in the darkness.
"Just a rich guy passing through."
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