Chapter 71: I'm Here

The interior was unusually quiet.

The Wooden Door behind them closed slowly, emitting a creak.

The living room was dimly lit, yet unexpectedly tidy—the cushions on the sofa were neatly arranged, the coffee table was wiped spotless, and even the ashes in the fireplace had been cleaned thoroughly.

A faint lavender scent drifted in the air, as if this were just an ordinary farmhouse.

AiHuade furrowed his brow, and the HolyCrossbow lifted slightly, its gaze scanning every corner warily.

"It's too clean..." he whispered.

"If that's the case, it means those two priests yesterday never actually confronted it; it dealt with them the moment they entered!"

"No wonder it's rated as a medium Demon."

Lan Luo held a cigarette between his lips, exhaled a smoke ring, and squinted his eyes:

"Tsk, since when does a Demon have a cleanliness obsession?"

Ke Laixi remained on guard, his SilverSword still steadily pointed forward:

"Something's off."

From the kitchen came the sound of a faucet dripping—Drip—drip—unusually clear in the silent house.

Several dishes sat on the dining table, looking like a freshly prepared dinner, even steaming.

A plate of toasted bread, a bowl of vegetable soup, and a platter of meat chunks, with three sets of cutlery neatly arranged, as if awaiting the host's seat.

On the back wall hung an oil painting—the Last Supper.

"Yo—heh," Lan Luo raised an eyebrow.

"Did you prepare dinner for us?"

"You mean to say this is our final dinner?"

Ke Laixi said in a low voice:

"I'll give it a try."

He pulled a bottle of HolyWater from his pocket; the clear liquid glimmered faintly in the dim light.

He poured the HolyWater slowly onto his long sword, and the blade instantly shone with a pale silver glow.

Stepping forward, he gently flicked the food on the table with the sword tip—the bread was lifted, the vegetable soup swirled, and the meat chunk flipped over.

Yet nothing happened.

The food was just food, neither rotting nor altered, not even a trace of evil aura.

It was as if it were an entirely normal meal, a dinner meant to entertain guests.

"Strange.........." Ke Laixi frowned, withdrawing his sword.

Just as the three were about to continue their investigation—

"What a pity, a fine dinner ruined by you."

A soft voice floated up from the second floor.

The three spun around abruptly!

At the stairwell stood a slender brown‑haired girl.

Her complexion was pale yet strikingly beautiful, her light‑brown eyes calm as water.

"This is a dinner the master specially prepared for you," she whispered, her voice as light as a feather:

"Nothing was added."

She tilted her head slightly, a faint smile curling her lips: "Rather than these petty tricks... my master says he prefers you to die while confronting fear head‑on."

AiHuade and his companions exchanged a glance—none of them would believe a single word of that.

Lan Luo had even claimed it was his first time at the tavern!

AiHuade stepped forward, his tone gentle: "Child, come here."

"Don't be beguiled by the Demon."

The girl stared at him, her expression unchanged, as if looking at a stranger.

"If you don't eat..." she said lightly:

"Then come up to see the master."

Having said that, she turned and walked upstairs, her footsteps so light they were barely audible.

AiHuade and his two companions exchanged a look, silently maintaining their tactical formation as they moved toward the stairs.

Ke Laixi led the charge with his SilverSword forward; Lan Luo covered the rear, the HolyCrossbow guarding the back; AiHuade took the center, left hand on the crossbow, right hand continuously sprinkling HolyWater on the stair railings and walls.

The HolyWater left winding streaks on the wooden surfaces, emitting a faint silver sheen.

As they stepped onto the second floor, a chilling aura brushed their faces.

The second‑floor windows were tightly covered by heavy curtains, leaving only a narrow slit through which the last sliver of sunset seeped.

That blood‑red afterglow slanted across the floor, like a fresh wound.

As time passed, the "wound" gradually faded, eventually swallowed by darkness.

By the window, a single bed held the brown‑haired girl.

She clasped her hands over her chest, eyes shut, as if merely asleep.

At the bedside knelt a man and a woman—LuEn and his wife.

They bowed their heads, posture devout, as if praying.

On a nearby table lay an open, yellowed ancient tome, its pages trembling gently in the windless room.

But AiHuade and his group had no time to attend to the book.

Because the moment they set foot on the second floor, the Luen Couple suddenly rose.

Their movements were stiff and synchronized, like puppets controlled by invisible strings.

His mouth opened and closed, uttering a strangely pitched sound:

"Hell welcomes you."

"But not now."

The moment the words fell.

Darkness surged like a tide, instantly devouring all light.

AiHuade only felt everything go black, as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss.

When he could see clearly again, the sight before him made his whole body freeze—

His father's face.

That familiar visage was full of anxiety, with beads of sweat on his forehead.

He tightly grasped AiHuade's hand, his voice trembling:

"AiHuade! No matter what happens later, you must not come out!"

"Remember!"

"Don't come out!"

AiHuade froze in place, his heart pounding,

He tried to open his mouth to say something else, but found he couldn't, or rather, he couldn't control himself, and could only, as his memory dictated, say:

"Father, what happened?"

"Don't ask, you'll know later." Father Ra him up the stairs, the wooden stairs creaking "Creak—Creak—".

He could smell the familiar pine scent of the house, and even feel the warmth from his father's palm—

So real.

Until his father took AiHuade to the second floor, shoved him into the wardrobe, and cupped his face with his hand:

"With me and your mother here, remember, no matter what happens later, you must not make a sound."

"It'll be fine, everything will pass."

"The Lord is with you, the Lord protects you."

Having said that,

Father turned, casually took down the Backpack hanging on the wall, and headed downstairs.

Watching his father's hurried figure descend the stairs.

AiHuade's eyes widened.

He remembered.

It was that day he lost his father and mother!

He lost his family, he lost his home!

It was that day he lost everything he cherished!

AiHuade's body trembled as he roared, "Damn it, move now!"

"No, no!"

"Father, mother!"

AiHuade clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, using all his strength to break the invisible shackles.

His fingers clawed desperately at the wardrobe's wooden door, his nails even oozing blood, yet he could not move it a fraction.

"Move! Move for me!" he screamed wildly in his mind, tears blurring his sight.

The fighting sounds downstairs grew more intense, the crash of collapsing furniture and the sharp crack of shattering glass intertwining.

Suddenly, a gut-wrenching scream pierced the air:

"No! You cannot kill him! If you must kill, kill me!"

It was his mother's voice.

AiHuade trembled violently, his heart as if clenched by an invisible hand. He heard his father's painful groan, the Demon's cold sneer, his mother's desperate sobs... each sound pierced his heart like a dagger.

"Please... stop..." he silently pleaded in his mind, hot tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I... I... what am I supposed to do?"

He thought.

But the next moment, boundless darkness surged, cloaking his vision once more.........

"AiHuade! No matter what happens later, you must not come out!"

His father's face appeared again in his sight, and AiHuade was shoved into the wardrobe once more.

AiHuade didn't know how many times he had endured this.

His consciousness gradually sank, gradually.............

Until.

A small booklet fell from his pocket.

He looked at it, reciting:

"We expel you, all unclean evil spirits........."

"We beseech you, hear us......."

"May they not overcome us....... but save us from evil.........."

"Holy one, are you there.........."

"I am."