Chapter 26: Qian+Kang – Knock Out If You Don’t Cooperate

Morning arrived, but just as Jiang Shulan was still half asleep, a sharp scream from Renai shattered the silence.

He rushed toward the sound and found Dalton lying unconscious. On the pristine white bedsheet beside the boy’s feet was a bloody handprint, one that was unmistakably not human.

Dalton was hurried to the hospital, but the doctors could offer little hope. They could find no explanation for his condition, nor any way to stop him from slipping into what appeared to be a permanent vegetative state.

Renai collapsed in tears.

“He’s only ten years old! How could this happen?”

Josh struggled to contain his grief, his fists clenched tightly.

“Isn’t there any chance of recovery?”

“I’m sorry,” the doctor replied. “You should take him home and keep him on life-support equipment. Beyond that… all you can do is hope.”

The moment Josh drove Dalton back to the house, the once lively home seemed drained of all warmth. Even little Callie, who understood nothing of the situation, lay quietly in her crib without making a sound.

Josh’s mother rushed over as soon as she heard the news.

After examining Dalton, she sat solemnly on the couch.

“Josh, I’ve already contacted Elise, a spiritual medium. She’s coming to help.”

“A medium? Another priest?” Josh snapped through gritted teeth. “Ghosts don’t exist! How many times do I have to say it before everyone understands? I’m not letting anyone near Dalton!”

“Josh… Dalton is just like you. When you were little, you also—”

The words seemed to trigger something inside him.

In an instant, Josh exploded, sweeping every glass off the table.

“Stop talking nonsense! There’s nothing wrong with me!”

“Josh,” Jiang Shulan tried to calm him.

Instead, Josh shot him a cold glare and began forcing him toward the door.

“Get out! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t come here, none of this would have happened! Dalton was perfectly fine before you showed up!”

Step by step, Josh shoved him outside.

Renai and Josh’s mother both tried to intervene, but the furious man was surprisingly strong. Within moments, Jiang Shulan had been pushed through the front door.

He knew Josh didn’t truly mean it.

The man was simply terrified for his son.

Even so, the rejection still hurt.

Holding the door with one hand and pointing accusingly with the other, Josh shouted,

“Leave! If you ever come back here again, I’ll call the police!”

“Need a hand?”

Someone embraced Jiang Shulan gently from behind.

The newcomer was tall.

Jiang Shulan stepped out of the embrace and looked up.

The man stood with half-lidded eyes and a faint shadow of stubble across his jaw. He wore an inexpensive black suit with a plain white shirt, yet somehow his broad frame transformed the simple clothes into something effortlessly stylish and carelessly elegant.

“Forgot about me already, little priest?”

The teasing tone immediately gave away his identity.

“Constantine!”

“You’re finally here?”

All the frustration Jiang Shulan had been suppressing burst free.

His eyes reddened as he crouched down, covering them with his arm and burying his face.

“Dalton… something happened to Dalton.”

The boy was only ten years old.

Such a sweet, obedient child who had followed him everywhere calling him “Godfather.”

If Jiang Shulan ever discovered who had done this…

He would gladly send them to meet God.

“I told you to come sooner,” he muttered thickly through tears soaking his sleeve. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Relax.”

Constantine crouched down beside him, smiling with infuriating ease.

“Even if this Dalton of yours had already ended up in Hell, I could still drag him back.”

“Now isn’t the time for crying.”

Pulling Jiang Shulan to his feet, Constantine casually rolled up his sleeves.

“Watch carefully. This is how an exorcist begins an exorcism.”

The very next second, the sickening sound of a fist colliding with flesh echoed through the yard.

Constantine flicked the blood from his knuckles.

His voice carried an unsettling hint of amusement despite its almost gentle tone.

“Feeling calmer now?”

Josh staggered upright and spat blood onto the ground.

“Renai! Call the police!”

With a crooked smile, Constantine stepped closer.

“Well, someone isn’t cooperating. That makes things difficult.”

“Wait!”

Jiang Shulan stared in disbelief.

“What are you doing? He’s Dalton’s father! Why did you hit him?”

“My apologies.”

Constantine looked utterly unrepentant.

“I’m used to it. During exorcisms, some people refuse to cooperate. To keep demons from possessing them and causing trouble, I usually knock them unconscious first.”

Why did this man sound almost proud of solving problems with violence?

Had Jiang Shulan called the wrong person?

For the first time, he seriously questioned his own judgment and nearly joined Renai in calling the authorities.

Poor Josh, meanwhile, collapsed immediately after speaking those last words, proving just how hard Constantine had punched him.

Jiang Shulan became even more suspicious, watching Constantine’s every movement.

If he discovered he’d been deceived, Constantine was going to regret it.

Meeting that scrutinizing gaze, Constantine loosened his tie.

“Little priest,” he said lightly, “if you’d like to pay my fee now, I certainly wouldn’t object.”

“P-pay you? What payment?”

Constantine simply tapped his own lips with a finger and smiled.

Jiang Shulan ground his teeth in annoyance.

Still, for Dalton’s sake, he forced himself to endure it.

After that, no matter how Constantine teased him, he stubbornly refused to answer.

Seeing no reaction, Constantine clicked his tongue in disappointment.

He surveyed the house.

The demonic influence wasn’t especially strong. It lingered only around the exterior and looked simple enough to dispel with holy water.

Just as he prepared to begin, another figure approached.

“Hello. I’m Elise, the medium.”

She was an elderly woman whose warmth and kindness seemed evident at first glance.

Though Constantine could perceive demons but not ordinary spirits, even he could sense the grace resting upon her.

She was someone destined for Heaven.

For once, he thought, he might observe how a truly righteous person performed an exorcism.

Taking two lazy steps backward, he spread his hands.

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m just an ordinary priest trying to help my companion.”

Jiang Shulan immediately stomped on his foot several times.

“Liar! Once Dalton is safe, just wait and see what I do to you!”

Elise merely smiled.

She could see what clung to Constantine just as clearly as he could perceive the light around her—an endless tangle of darkness and resentment.

He was no fraud.

He simply lied to make life a little easier for himself.

“My child,” Elise warned gently, “you should be careful.”

“Of course,” Constantine replied. “I’m always careful.”

After all, he had recently reduced his smoking from five packs a day to four.

Sighing softly, Elise turned her attention to Dalton.

“Like Josh before him, Dalton is an astral traveler. When he sleeps, his soul leaves his body and wanders into the Further.”

“Unfortunately, his soul has become lost there. We must retrieve it quickly. The longer it remains separated from his body, the weaker the connection grows. Eventually, he may never find his way back.”

She looked around the room before her gaze settled on Jiang Shulan.

“My child, your soul is remarkably pure. The spirits in that realm will avoid you. Would you be willing to enter the Further and bring Dalton home?”

“Of course! I’ll go!”

Having lost confidence in Constantine, Jiang Shulan decided to rely on himself.

Better to trust your own feet than lean on someone else.

“I’ve never even heard of this ‘Further,’” Constantine muttered, narrowing his eyes.

If anything happened to Jiang Shulan, then traveling all this way would have been for nothing.

Besides…

He much preferred seeing the little priest alive and full of energy.

After a moment’s thought, he announced,

“I’m going with him.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be just an ordinary priest?” Jiang Shulan shot back immediately. “Isn’t it perfectly normal that you’ve never heard of it?”

“I’m worried about you.”

“I can handle it myself!”

Elise frowned.

“Are you certain? Your soul would be especially vulnerable to becoming lost.”

Years spent surrounded by darkness had made it difficult for Constantine to find his way toward the light.

She was genuinely concerned.

“I’m sure.”

He had no intention of allowing Jiang Shulan to venture into such a place alone.

Jiang Shulan raised his hand in protest.

“I already said you don’t need to come!”

But caught between the opinions of a famous medium and a notorious exorcist, his objections carried no weight.

He glared at Constantine so fiercely that the man eventually laughed.

At Constantine’s request, Elise hypnotized him first before turning to Jiang Shulan.

Renai squeezed Jiang Shulan’s hand.

“Please come back safely.”

He patted his chest confidently.

“Don’t worry.”

Following Elise’s instructions, he closed his eyes.

A few seconds later, he opened them again.

The first thing he saw was a black veil draped over pale, bluish skin.

His heart pounded violently as his gaze lifted upward against his will.

Staring back at him were the decaying eyes of a corpse.

Rotten.

Foul-smelling.

Yet as he watched, they slowly rolled to meet his own.

It was the very same ghost he had seen in Callie’s room.

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