Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

In the bathroom, only the faint light from the glow stick was visible, the surroundings shrouded in pitch darkness.

The washbasin was already filled with water, a wrinkled woman's face floated on the surface, while the reflection in the mirror was that of Du Wei.

At this moment, without a body, Du Wei maintained an extreme rationality and calmness, a state he had been in for quite some time.

After being possessed by the Evil Spirit, when Du Wei went to the bathroom and his reflection appeared in the mirror, he found himself starting to change from a third-person perspective, gradually entering into the mirror.

Each time the mask was put on, it became more difficult to take off, and by the third time, Du Wei was completely controlled by the Evil Spirit.

Putting on a mask, it is essentially your other face.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

A different face, this Du Wei had already seen at Mrs. Mina's villa.

But at that time, Du Wei did not understand the meaning represented by those faces depicted.

Only when the Evil Spirit invaded his consciousness, Du Wei constructed the Lake of Mind, representing memory, personality, and behavioral logic to make distinctions and resist, and when the Evil Spirit changed his face in the mirror, did he finally understand why the mask was so insistent on giving him another face.

The so-called mechanism.

Wearing the mask would gradually lead to being possessed by the Evil Spirit, and changing another face in the mirror for oneself completes the mechanism. After that, it would own everything about Du Wei.

At that time, no face was more suitable to be exchanged for Du Wei than that wrinkled woman's face.

As for whether the Evil Spirit in another mask works the same way, Du Wei could not be sure, because that spirit had already separated from the mask.

He tried to resist, only to realize that at that time the chances of the Evil Spirit successfully exchanging faces and taking over his body were too great.

Therefore, he had to settle for a psychological strategy, laying a big trap for the Evil Spirit in the mask.

It wanted to occupy Du Wei's body, to own everything of Du Wei.

What Du Wei wanted, apart from giving it his body, was also to give it a personality known as Du Wei.

That is, parts of the memory, personality, and behavioral logic that were constructed by the Lake of Mind.

The closer he was to having his face exchanged, the faster Du Wei entered the mirror.

So he stripped away all his emotions, maintaining an absolutely calm and rational state.

He switched directly from a third-person perspective to the first-person perspective in the mirror.

Fortunately, when he was about to have his face exchanged, Du Wei succeeded.

That's why there was the scene where the hand extended, trying to change the face in the mirror for himself, and it got stuck not moving.

It sounds like a glitch in the system.

But regardless, when the Evil Spirit took off the mask, it completely inherited the memory, personality, and behavioral logic that Du Wei had constructed, temporarily becoming a personified entity.

…

Homier stared at the mirror with a look of terror, her forehead covered in fine sweat, which, under the light of the glow stick, made her face look even paler.

She was confused, what exactly was happening?

Mr. Du Wei was in the mirror, so who was outside... the Evil Spirit?

Or was it that the one in the mirror was the Evil Spirit, and he was just trying to mislead her?

Clenching her teeth, Homier said, "How can I be sure you're not deceiving me?"

An uncontrollable chill began to emerge in her heart.

Even that wrinkled woman's face that had appeared in the washbasin did not instill as much fear in her as the haggard but incredibly cold-eyed Du Wei in the mirror did.

So she thought about it and said, "If it's really as you say, why would the other you, the one possessed by the Evil Spirit, come back to the psychologist's clinic, and even join us Exorcists? It doesn't make sense."

Her words fell like stones.

In the mirror, Du Wei's expression remained unchanged as he continued to write a line of text.

[I've constructed a 'Lake of Mind' encompassing memories, behavior logic, and personality from my childhood to my adulthood. You can think of it as a strong psychological suggestion, which I've cloaked in a persona named Du Wei]

[In some sense, it is indeed me]

[Following my behavior logic, I would've gone to the church to meet the Exorcist arriving today, then returned to the psychological counseling clinic with you. However, as time goes by, it will inevitably discover its special nature, which your presence in the restroom is enough to prove]

[Next, all I need to do is bring it in front of a mirror, have it put on a mask, and I can reclaim my body...]

After reading the text, Homier was immensely shocked, unable to imagine that someone like Du Wei could exist in this world.

Absolute rationale coupled with absolute calm.

If she hadn't known that he was trapped in the mirror at this moment, Homier might have believed that this was all within this man's control.

What Lake of Mind, persona...

According to this man's words, did he seemingly succeed in overlaying his own persona onto the Evil Spirit, making it believe it was Du Wei?

"Do psychologists study these kinds of things?"

In the mirror, Du Wei glanced at her expressionlessly and then wrote, [I would prefer not to discuss this question]

"Okay then..." Homier took a deep breath and said, "I still can't trust you for the time being. I need to confirm this after discovering the other you is truly the Evil Spirit."

Then she asked, "Also, if what you're saying is true, how big is the chance that you successfully take back your own body?"

[Before your arrival, it was only fifty percent, but now it's roughly seventy percent]

Homier was stunned, "You mean, even without anyone's help, you could try to take back your own body?"

With a calm gaze, Du Wei looked at her. In fact, just as Homier mentioned, even without the Exorcist's help, based on the trap he had set and his understanding of the Evil Spirit trapped in the persona named Du Wei that he himself had constructed...

Upon discovering the equilibrium in the house had been disrupted, it would most certainly consider dealing with some Evil Spirit, but it would choose to deal with the nun first.

Yet with the presence of the Exorcist, this step would deviate. It would definitely confront the Evil Spirit in the house first.

If it opted to let the Exorcist take action, then he could meet the Exorcist, giving himself a seventy percent chance.

If instead it decided to deceive the Exorcist and first deal with the nun's issue before coming back home to eliminate an Evil Spirit, it would enter another phase.

It would prioritize dealing with this woman's face in the washbasin.

It would still enter the restroom, and when it saw itself in the mirror again, the game would continue.

As for the fifty percent chance...

Beyond the traps left behind, there was also the fact that Du Wei realized he was in the process of transforming into an Evil Spirit...

This was not good news. If he truly became an Evil Spirit, then what would he be—a true Evil Spirit, or Du Wei?

He paused a few seconds, then penned the final segment of text.

[Go ahead and do as I say, and that mask should be placed in the backpack by "me". If you can't control it, please mention the date February 16, remember, only in situations where you can't maintain control]

...

Outside the clinic at that moment.

James and Harry had already closed the door, preparing to attempt to make contact with the Evil Spirit as per the instructions of "Mr. Du Wei".

In this trio, Harry played the role of the investigator, but this time, he did not stand at the door peering through the peephole.

Years of tacit understanding meant that James did not question this; rather, he just motioned to Harry and positioned his camera to focus on the peephole from outside the door.

The connection between the spaces inside and outside the room only needed a tiny peephole to be established.

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