Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

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This is the world within the door.

Dark and gloomy.

One can sense the space around is not very large, feeling somewhat oppressive.

Du Wei looked around, Alvin Dowqui's body had disappeared without a trace.

He carefully reflected and could roughly surmise that it seemed after he had burned the body, he was then locked inside the door.

"There was a door within the body."

"After I killed the Evil Spirit, a new Evil Spirit pushed open the door, taking control of the body."

"And when I destroyed the body, the door also came into reality."

"Then, I was locked behind the door, which means that there should be even more Evil Spirits existing in the world where I am now."

In a way.

The current Du Wei was actually locked in a cage meant for imprisoning Evil Spirits.

And the Envelope by his side seemed a bit at a loss.

[Master, you said a bunch, but the Envelope didn't understand a word, so how do we get out of here now?]

When it's being a lickspittle, it strikes with heavy blows.

When facing the task of killing Evil Spirits, it's meek and compliant.

Du Wei glanced at the Envelope and said indifferently, "It's simple, open the door and walk out."

[Is it really that simple? The Envelope might be an Evil Spirit, but the Envelope is useless, has eliminating Evil Spirits become so easy these days?]

This...

Du Wei couldn't bother with the Envelope anymore, he simply snapped his fingers.

Then, the lighter floated in front of him, and he pressed the switch directly.

Crimson flames surrounded Du Wei, forming a circle.

And then, the circle began to spread ceaselessly.

Wherever it passed, it seemed as though something in the darkness was stimulated, stirring with rustling noises.

It seemed as if someone was wailing.

Now that he was within the door, to find the doorway, all he needed was to start a fire.

As for what kind of consequences this might cause.

That wasn't something Du Wei needed to consider anymore.

...

On the other side.

In the world outside the door.

That is, in the midst of the forest.

At this time, the night was deep.

An old man's body suddenly appeared in its place.

He was dressed in black Priest's attire, with sparse hair almost completely gone, deep-set eye sockets, gray and decaying skin, and it was covered with many age spots.

His eyes were cold and sinister, void of any emotion, hollow and disturbing.

Alvin Dowqui was dead, and he probably never imagined that, after his death, the Evil Spirit he had locked behind the door would escape and take control of this body.

Even now, the real Evil Spirit that became him had never appeared.

It had always been the Evil Spirits coming out from behind the door.

Imprisoned in life, they took over after his death, and because there were far too many imprisoned Evil Spirits, the current one's level of danger had undergone a qualitative change.

And now.

It turned its rigid body and looked towards a more southern location, moving straight in one direction.

The next second.

Creak...

It sounded as if a door was opening, and then it vanished.

When it appeared again, it was already on a main road about several dozen kilometers away from Philo Town.

Disappearing and reappearing.

It kept repeating this process, seemingly driven by a very strong purpose.

And if one were to connect all the routes it had taken since leaving St. Bodia, one could clearly see that its direction was heading straight for Switzerland...

That is, the headquarters of the Dusk Bell Church.

...

Clack...

The lighter's lid closed, emitting a crisp sound.

The flame extinguished.

What appeared in front of Du Wei was a wooden door, the carved human faces on it all grinning wide, smiling at him.

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Just now, after flames engulfed everything around.

Darkness dissipated, and a wooden door quietly appeared.

With an expressionless face, Du Wei glanced at the door; those faces also twisted, staring at him intently.

Gazes intertwined.

The feeling it gave was ineffably eerie.

The door had appeared.

Once opened, he could leave this place.

However, Du Wei always felt something was off, for he was now behind the door, yet aside from himself and the Evil Spirits that were his subordinates, there was no other presence to be seen.

It was as if he was locked behind a door on his own.

"If I open this door, will the outside be the real world, or somewhere else?"

He asked himself, but he couldn't come up with a definite answer.

"I hope it brings me a surprise."

He needed many Evil Spirits.

Whether to serve as cannon fodder, to be sent to their deaths, or even to be reserved for later confrontation with the Antique Clock.

The more, the better.

So, Du Wei thought about it and reached out his hand towards the doorknob.

After the Evil Spirit Transformation, his Right Hand, as always, would lose its sense of touch.

But this time, before he could grasp the handle, he felt discomfort.

The faces carved on the door were wriggling densely toward the doorknob and quickly piled up into a heap that looked utterly disgusting.

The Envelope, upon witnessing this, trembled with anger.

[How dare a mere door be so insolent before the master? Even I, the Envelope, would not dare; what gives you the right?]

With a frown, Du Wei said, "I hate trouble."

With that, he kicked the door.

Bang... the door was kicked open, the faces on it all contorted into one.

The Envelope slowly spelled out two words—[That's it?]

But in the next moment, the surroundings underwent some unknown change in an instant.

The environment was replaced.

Still in a door-kicking stance, Du Wei looked at the scene before him with some surprise.

He appeared outside a restroom.

As the door was kicked open, the floor inside had a large puddle of yellowish stains, with an indescribably foul stench.

The sink was emitting a nauseating odor.

As if someone had vomited there.

Du Wei withdrew his foot, turning to look behind him.

Behind him was a corridor with red carpeting, stretching forward endlessly, about fifty meters away at a corner, and accompanied by occasional human voices.

Then, really, someone staggered over.

Dressed in a white suit, his face flushed red from drunkenness, he walked while holding a bottle of alcohol.

As he approached Du Wei, he tilted his head and said, "Ugh... I must have drunk too much. Brother, are you a magician? Why is there an Envelope floating next to you?"

"Huh, and this Envelope is scolding me? Looks like I definitely drank too much."

As he spoke, the man shook his head and walked into the restroom.

He seemed to have drunk quite a lot.

Du Wei narrowed his eyes, watching the man's retreating back; his Right Hand relaxed and then clenched again.

The man was indeed human.

Under the Spirit Vision, there were no issues at all.

"I'm currently inside the door, how could there be someone here..."

"Could it be that I've really gone out?"

Du Wei's tone carried a hint of doubt as he grabbed the Envelope, speaking coldly, "Show me what happened ten minutes ago."

[Envelope obeys your command. Ten minutes ago, you entered the world behind the door and kicked it open, but you appeared in a completely unfamiliar place. This seems like reality, yet it's different from reality.]

[To be precise, you're still in the world behind the door, except the terrifying Evil Spirit, just now, brought something that exists in reality into this place.]

[It was killed by you three times and seems to have come back with even more formidable powers.]

[...wait? How horrifying, master... let's run, we can't kill this thing, there's no way out if we confront it head-on.]

[Please don't be deceived by the church's people, we are the villains!]

Du Wei murmured, "Shut up."

Without further ado, he stuffed the Envelope into his pocket.