72: Seventy-two.

Hardcore Exorcism 72: Seventy-two.

Hardcore Exorcism Maybe because its head wasn’t on its body, its response was very slow and highly delayed.

After speaking, I would have to wait several seconds for it to think.

Several seconds later, the headless ghost slowly replied, “I’ve forgotten when I was born, but I suppose I’m a local…

Belfast hadn’t been established when I died.”

“Your age?”

After a few seconds, in a reminiscent tone, it said, “If I were still alive, I should be over four hundred years old now.”

“How did you die?

“The natives chopped off my head.”

Lu Li suddenly frowned, “Must we speak in this question-and-answer pattern?”

The Headless Ghost’s body shivered, and its response quickened, “I died because I thought it would be fun to dress up like the natives, but the natives thought I was from a rival tribe and after they captured me, they…”

Anna couldn’t maintain her “proud” demeanor and let out a sound involuntarily, “Is this why you died and still tirelessly scare people?”

“Hmm…

more or less,” the headless ghost looked up with its eye sockets, suddenly noticing Lu Li’s calm gaze, its body trembled again, and it quickly added, “I was also brought here by the boss, he said I could scare people as much as I wanted here…”

So Lu Li turned his gaze to the last ghost, the chubby manager.

The boss’s shirt buttons were nearly popping off, and his oily sweat mixed together, covering his face as he squeezed out a smile that looked like a cry, “My name is Mark, I…

I’m actually not a ghost, I’m human…

Exorcist sir, please spare me!”

…?

All seven pairs of eyes – five from ghosts and two from humans – looked over at the same time.

Lu Li didn’t say a word, just quietly watched the boss.

Anna did the same, but with a hint of suspicion.

“Because I brought a mask, and this mask makes my aura seem similar to ghosts!” Mark brought out a stone mask from behind him, held it in the palm of his hand, and defended himself loudly.

Anna beckoned, and with a pained expression on Mark’s face, the stone mask floated towards her and Lu Li.

The mask was very crude, both in texture and image.

“I don’t feel anything special…” Anna said in confusion.

But as the mask left Mark, the ghostly aura on him was indeed gradually dissipating.

“Perhaps it has a special effect when worn on the face?” Jojo speculated.

“Don’t touch it carelessly.”

Lu Li was averse to such items of unknown origin and asked Anna to return the mask to Mark.

“No need…

Exorcist sir, you can keep it,” Mark said respectfully.

Lu Li hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took the mask.

In his hands, it was icy cold, and the faint aura of the ghosts around him suddenly became somewhat clearer.

Lu Li pondered.

Perhaps this was of the same type of item as the Spirit-Calling Gun?

He temporarily put away the stone mask and refocused, “Can you explain in detail your purpose in doing this?”

“I can…” Mark lowered his head in a somewhat pained way, not daring to look at the eyes of his ghostly staff.

“After I obtained the mask, I had the aura of a ghost and could see them…

At that time, my Haunted House was on the brink of closure due to poor management.

I was desperate, so I went out every night to wander around, posing as a ghost to chat with ghosts.

If we could communicate, I would ask them if they needed a job, and then I would bring them to the Ghost House for training and work…”

In the interest of taking his business to the next level, finding real ghosts to join the Ghost House—in some sense, he was a ruthless person quite similar to Lu Li.

Or perhaps he valued money and his career more than his own life.

After sorting out the details, Lu Li returned to the main issue: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, you have all stayed in reality for a long time, averaging a hundred years each.”

Several gazes turned once more to the Headless Ghost, which significantly raised the average.

“I am an Exorcist, and you understand an Exorcist’s purpose.” Lu Li looked around the circle.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t want to be exorcised?”

The ghosts were feeling downcast because of the first part of his statement, but the second part left them astonished.

The white-dressed female ghost spoke hesitantly: “Do we have a choice…?”

Lu Li nodded.

“Most of you haven’t done anything bad.”

The four ghosts looked at each other, making their own choices.

The young man and the Headless Ghost chose to leave.

Not all ghosts wished to continue living in ghostly forms.

The young man stepped out of line and suddenly turned to Mark, bowing respectfully and saying sincerely, “Although we can’t receive wages, Boss, you’ve been good to us in other ways.

I don’t blame you for deceiving us, and I’ll miss these times.”

“I don’t blame you either.”

“We don’t blame you.”

A touching scene with the ghosts was unfolding.

Mark’s eyes turned red, he nodded vigorously, pursing his lips to keep from crying.

After a brief farewell, the Headless Ghost and the young man approached Lu Li.

The Headless Ghost raised its head high, its gaze firm as it called out, “Go ahead, Exorcist, sir.”

“Alright.”

Lu Li grabbed the flintlock pistol, but suddenly turned the barrel, holding onto the body of the gun, and with all his strength, he brought the heavy, hard wooden handle crashing down!

Where the Spirit-Calling Gun touched, blisters appeared, bubbling and spreading across the soul.

Worried that the dose was not enough, Lu Li used the flintlock pistol’s handle as a hammer, expressionlessly smashing down again and again!

The Headless Ghost was knocked to the ground in agony, exclaiming, “How… could this be…”

It’s soul burst into dense bubbles like boiling water, and within seconds, vanished into nothingness, its presence and form completely disappearing.

The mirrored room fell into dead silence.

Having dealt with the Headless Ghost, Lu Li exhaled heavily and his gaze shifted to the young man.

His eyes, resonating with the negative emotions of the Spirit-Calling Gun, were cold and serene.

The young man shivered, fear evident in his eyes as he shifted backward and shouted urgently, “Wait, can you shoot me like before, with a gun?!”

Wasn’t it supposed to be a pull of the trigger and then a painless departure…

This exorcism wasn’t quite what he had imagined.

It seemed more like it was meant to kill…

“No.”

Lu Li approached the young man, his face filled with despair, and raised the gun’s handle.

“Bear with it, this might hurt a bit.”

His arm swung down, and the gun handle struck the young man’s forehead.

The latter struggled, but the blisters quickly spread over his entire body, boiling away his soul into nothingness.

Lu Li put away the Spirit-Calling Gun, his gaze imperceptibly lifting to a spot in the void.

He had just sensed some malevolent presence drawing near.

The remaining two ghosts, including the boss, Mark, flinched and shrank back at the same time.

“We don’t want to be exorcised!”

They spoke in unison, then seeing Lu Li’s slight frown, immediately felt a tug at their hearts.

Lu Li’s frown had little to do with them, or to be precise, not much.

He was simply thinking that if he had money, he wouldn’t have to exorcise in such a way.

But then again, if he had money, he wouldn’t need to take on these supernatural tasks either.

Using the gun handle indeed saved on resources, but it also had downsides, such as extended contact time with the Spirit-Calling Gun and, as this scene showed, the too hardcore method of exorcism that provoked fear in the ghosts, which was not good for his reputation.

He put away the flintlock pistol, setting aside thoughts of the impact for the moment, and looked at the remaining two ghosts, “As for your disposal…”