The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4236 Possession by Evil Spirits (6)

Chapter 4236 Possession by an Evil Spirit (Sixteen)

“This place is definitely too old,” Peter said, looking up. “The layout of this church must be at least two hundred years old. There aren’t any churches like this in New York anymore.”

Kate looked up at the church's dome. It wasn't really a dome, just a wooden support structure. Someone had painted it with a stone-like finish and added some decorative elements, seemingly trying to mimic the grandeur of solid stone churches in Europe, but unfortunately, it hadn't worked. Most of the paint had now peeled off.

They were currently in the church in Great Valley, hoping to find some clues. Kate and Peter had already suspected from Aunt Kane's unusual behavior that her family might be involved in a cult. Therefore, the church must hold important clues.

“There’s Jesus here too.” Peter looked up at the cross hanging at the front of the church and said, “It seems this denomination is affiliated with Christianity.”

“Let’s sort out the clues we have so far,” Kate said. “Aunt Kane lives a very simple life and hardly uses any electronic devices. Also, there’s no study in the house, so they probably don’t read, and there are no brewed drinks like tea or coffee. Furthermore, we only got her to agree to our visit by pretending I was pregnant. This proves that she has an unusual obsession with childbirth. And after you were injured, Aunt Kane reacted strongly to your hospital treatment, indicating that she is against modern medicine.”

Peter turned around and exchanged a glance with Kate.

"You thought of that too, didn't you?"

"Then let's both talk about it together."

"The Mormon Church".

"The Mormon Church".

“To be precise, it’s the Fundamentalist Mormon Church. The one that advocates polygamy, forced child marriage, and incest,” Kate said. “Their birthplace and headquarters are in Utah. It all matches up.”

"They won't even let them drink tea or coffee?"

Kate shook her head and said, "Extremist religious organizations generally forbid their followers from using any substances that can cause nervous excitement, such as drugs, alcohol, tea and coffee, or even sparkling water."

"Because they want all the believers' happiness to come from their faith and to be under their control, right?"

Kate nodded again and said, "That's right. This sect not only forbids drinking tea and coffee, but also forbids listening to music, creating art, reading any books other than scriptures, and engaging in any activities other than religious friendship activities."

"It sounds like being in jail."

“Going to jail isn’t that scary. After all, no one in prison forces you to have a child,” Kate sighed. “The founder of this sect was arrested and imprisoned for raping a minor and is still not out. Although more than 100 countries around the world have listed this sect as a cult, it still has tens of thousands of followers worldwide, mainly concentrated in Utah.”

“It seems that Great Valley is one of them. Although I know that consanguineous marriage has many harmful effects, it shouldn’t lead to the extinction of the population in one generation. Something else must have happened to make this town so desolate.” Peter looked around and then said, “We have to find out who killed Aunt Kane and who is still controlling her body.”

“I don’t think that’s important,” Kate said. “What’s more important is why the evil spirit wants to control Aunt Kane’s body.”

Peter looked at her, slightly puzzled. Kate explained, "There's no doubt that the town's current state is related to that evil spirit. Either he did it, or he caused it. There must be a reason why he destroyed the town."

Peter nodded and said, "That's true. You suspect that this evil spirit might have a grudge against someone in town, and that's why it took this revenge?"

“That’s right. Think about it. If the evil spirit is a high-ranking member of the Mormon Church, he would want everyone to live so that he can plunder their wealth, control them, and enjoy a life of extravagance. Aren’t many fundamentalist members like that now?”

"But now there are almost no survivors in the town, which is clearly not in the interests of those cult members. Killing their own people would bring them no benefit, so they wouldn't do it. Therefore, it can only be their enemy. It's possible that a woman who was persecuted has turned into an evil spirit and wiped out the entire village."

"But if he was going to kill people, why didn't he just kill them all? Why leave a few behind? Even if Aunt Kane and Linda were manipulated corpses, why would he kill them and then manipulate their bodies to put on a show here?"

“Could it be to lure more people here to kill?” Peter asked, frowning. “After all, even if this evil spirit was a victim when it was alive, it’s hard to say whether it still has any sense now. Maybe it’s controlling others just to kill more people.”

"That's not right either. Don't forget, when we first called Aunt Kane, she was very opposed to our return, to the point that I had to fake a pregnancy. She only allowed us to come back after she found out I was pregnant. If she wanted to lure someone to be killed, shouldn't she have welcomed us?"

“This is indeed a bit strange,” Peter said, stroking his chin. “Let’s walk around this area again and see if we can find any clues.”

The two began searching separately. First the auditorium, then the confessional and prayer rooms. Next, in the pastor's quarters at the back, Peter found a rather strange book. This confirmed their suspicions, as the book's cover read "The Book of Mormon."

Peter had no interest in the doctrine, but he still picked up the book and glanced at it. The instant his hand touched the book, a memory flashed through his mind.

“He’s coming soon, we don’t have time,” a voice said. “We have to do this, we have no other choice.”

"That damned Berger!!! He thought about running away back then. If it weren't for Kane, he would have betrayed us long ago. We should have executed him then!"

"It's too late to say anything now. That little bastard has already taken over his body, and he's coming to take his revenge on us. Let's go."

Peter saw him following a man through an underground tunnel. No, it looked more like a wartime air-raid shelter. They moved quickly through the darkness, then came to a room, and continued downwards. However, this section of the tunnel appeared to be one they had dug themselves, completely different from the earlier sections, and looked rather rudimentary.

The passage seemed to extend deeper and deeper into the mountain range. Finally, at the very bottom, Peter saw a strange magic circle. But just then, he felt someone push him from behind. He collapsed onto the magic circle, his vision filled with crimson light.

He awoke from his hallucination with a start, just as Kate arrived. Peter said, "We've got a lead. Your uncle, Aunt Kane's husband, isn't his last name Berg?"

Kate nodded and said, “Yes. My aunt is Mrs. Berger. However, my mother, who is my aunt’s sister, was strongly opposed to the marriage and refused to use her husband’s surname.”

“I just saw a memory,” Peter briefly told Kate what he had seen, then said, “The destruction of the town is related to your uncle. Do you know when he died?”

Kate shook her head and said, "It was probably a few years ago. But I don't know the specifics. Our two families haven't been in contact for a long time."

“He must know something,” Peter said. “Perhaps we can go to his grave and see if we find anything.”

The two hurried towards the cemetery, thankfully there was only one cemetery there. They found it quickly and began searching among the graves.

"What are you doing?!" they suddenly heard a roar.

Turning his head, Peter saw Linda rushing towards them. Peter instinctively drew his gun. Kate stopped him, then said, "Hello, Linda, we're looking for your father's grave. I couldn't make it back for his funeral, and we want to visit him."

Linda's eyes were chillingly cold. She said, "You don't want to visit him; you want to get something from him."

“What do we want?” Peter asked.

"No matter what you want, you won't succeed." Linda suddenly gave them a strange smile, then ran off. The two men watched her retreating figure, feeling a chill run down their spines.

“That evil spirit has possessed her,” Kate sighed. “Let’s look for a grave first.”

There weren't many tombstones left standing here. They quickly found two marked with "Berg," but one of them had already been dug up, leaving only one.

"Luckily, they dug it from the outside in. If they had dug it from the inside out, I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight," Peter joked.

Kate circled the large tombstone. Her hand touched the top of it, but she felt nothing. After a moment's thought, she said, "We have to dig up the grave. I know it might be impolite, but we have to."

“Alright,” Peter said, “then let’s dig.”

Next to the cemetery were storage sheds containing weeding equipment. They found a shovel and a hoe, and the two began digging. Peter's head had been fractured and bled a lot before, and hadn't been stitched up. He was already showing signs of blood loss; when he gripped the shovel, his body swayed slightly.

“Go rest over there for a while, I’ll dig,” Kate said.

“I’m fine,” Peter said, his lips pressed tightly together. “I can hold on for a little while longer. Let’s continue.”

Peter reached for the coffin, but Kate stopped him. She said, "If the town's current situation really has something to do with Berg, we can't take that risk. What if opening the coffin triggers his pursuit?"

“But without opening the coffin, we may never know the truth,” Peter said. He looked at the grave that had already been dug up and said, “If opening the coffin really would anger the evil spirits, then someone has already done it before.”

Peter was referring to the possibility that some characters in the storyline might have already done so. This meant the plot had once again moved ahead of them, and they had to work hard to catch up in order to gather more information before danger struck.

Kate was still a little hesitant, but Peter had already started. Peter inserted the shovel into the gap in the coffin, pried it open with a sharp thud, and the coffin was opened a crack.

But then, Peter felt everything go black. When he awoke, he found himself on a sunny street. A faint scent of lily of the valley filled the air.