It is obvious that Purvent's mental state is struggling on the brink of collapse, and any severe stimulation may make him irrecoverable.
"This is really troublesome. But I should be able to handle it with my current ability." Jobtran thought to himself.
So Jobtran ordered his deputy Tristene to fetch the Holy Light Book, holy water and some other items needed for the ceremony. A preliminary purification must be performed first to stabilize his current spirit before the baptism ceremony can be carried out.
These occult knowledge are acquired after entering the Mysterious Investigation Bureau and are taught by a special person, and are used to deal with some emergency situations.
Jobtran first asked Philip to go upstairs and wait for a while, then he closed the door and lit three candles.
For the members of the Order of the Holy Light, three is a sacred number, representing the Holy Light, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when performing this ceremony, the three candles represent the grace and will of the Holy Light.
Jobtran opened the Holy Book of Light and turned to the Gospel of Matthias, and chanted:
“God, be with us.
But he who endures to the end will be saved.”
①
Jobtran poured out holy water, dipped some of it with an olive branch and sprinkled it on Purvent. During the chanting of the scriptures, some divine power enveloped the Holy Light Scripture and transformed into strands of light as thin as spider silk that wrapped around Purvent's body.
Some filth hidden deep in the spirit was cleaned out of Purvent's mind by the light, and the sacred power in the holy water sprinkled on Purvent dissolved each other. The holy water turned into water vapor and disappeared into the air.
This was just an ordinary purification ritual, but it had already uncovered so much filth, proving that the spirit had been subjected to large-scale pollution attacks before.
Jobtran frowned and thought, "This is a big project."
While purifying, Tristana used some alchemical tools to mix some essential oils. These essential oils would be used in the upcoming baptism, or to be more precise, exorcism.
The initial purification was hastily completed, and the dazed Pwent was tied to the bed. All four limbs were tied with hemp ropes by Tristene to prevent any accidents during the following ceremony.
The raw materials of these hemp ropes are crocheted from tough yet soft ramie. The four-strand structure and long-term soaking in tung oil make the ramie ropes more durable. The reason for choosing such complex hemp ropes is naturally to avoid accidents such as Puvent's body being scratched by ordinary hemp ropes during the ceremony, which might cause heavy bleeding.
After securing Puvent, Jobtron sprinkled some essential oils that Tristene had prepared earlier on the ground. This time, olive oil was used as the base, with marigold oil and a little angelica oil.
The unique fragrance of angelica filled the room, and Jobutran opened the Holy Light Sutra again, but this time Jobutran no longer held the Holy Light Sutra himself. Instead, he spread the Holy Light Sutra flat on Purvent's body.
Jobtran once again recited the verses from the Gospel of Matthias.
"Yesu called the twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and heal all kinds of diseases!"②
Purvent's body trembled with the scriptures, his face was distorted, and his face, which had been very haggard and pale before, was now completely bloodless.
Puvent kept trying to break free from the restraints on the bed, but all this was unconscious. He uttered words that normal humans could not understand, just like the sounds made by that malicious creature.
The hemp rope that Tristana had used to tie up Purvent came in handy, preventing Purvent from falling off the bed and attacking the two.
Seeing this, Jobtran turned the pages of the Holy Light Book until he came to the Gospel of Mark and continued to recite the scriptures.
"The disciples went out and preached, calling people to repent. They cast out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them!"③
Then he applied the remaining essential oil on Puvent's forehead.
The essential oils made a hissing sound on Purvent's forehead, as if they would boil and evaporate at any time, leaving behind some small wounds like burns.
These wounds will heal in a few days because angelica is an excellent medicine for wounds and has the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Obviously, this formula is the best one obtained after many experiments.
The marigold in the essential oil took effect at this time, slowly calming down Puvent's beast-like behavior.
Jobtran breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the baptism ceremony worked, otherwise he would have to perform a real exorcism ceremony. If the exorcism failed, the consequences would be disastrous.
He remembered the mistakes his mentor had made. His mentor had been an exorcist, but he had one regret: the failed exorcism led to the loss of a life.
Jobtran's mentor was a well-known exorcist who had successfully exorcised evil spirits for victims many times, but he still regretted that failure for the rest of his life.
His name is Arnold Lenz. He belongs to the Order of the Nobles and his apparent identity is a priest.
He often wears a black robe. The thirty-three buttons on the robe symbolize that Ye Su has lived for thirty-three years on earth. There is a white collar around his neck: a Roman collar, which is stuck at his throat to remind him to be careful with his words.
Below the collar are two 15-centimeter-long hanging white bags, symbolizing the split preaching belts of the Old and New Testaments. The black robe symbolizes imperfection and repentance, and also shows a humble and teachable attitude. The bag on the shoulder symbolizes begging for wisdom and knowledge from the Lord.
Arnold traveled in Germany, preaching the Lord's teachings every day, until one day he received an email from Leibfinger. The sender was a local priest, who mentioned in the letter that a girl named Annalise Mitch was suspected of being possessed by an evil spirit.
The situation worsened after the local priests and pastors performed exorcisms on him. They had no idea what was going on and could do nothing about it, so they had to invite professional exorcist Arnold to solve the problem. There was also a thought-provoking sentence in the letter: I can't do anything about it.
The letter was accompanied by two photos. One photo showed a pretty, cute girl, while the other photo showed a girl with a distorted face, scars of varying sizes, and her physical condition had obviously deteriorated.
After obtaining the bishop's permission, Arnold set off for Inalis's residence.
Before I even entered the door, I heard roaring, crying and the sound of glass breaking coming from inside the house.
Arnold pushed open the unlocked door and strode into the room where the sound came from.
The moment the pastor stepped into the room, all the roaring and crying stopped.
The girl tied to the bed looked at Pastor Arnold and said,
"I am not sick, I don't have epilepsy, and I don't have schizophrenia. I am still me, do you believe me?"
Reverend Arnold took out a silver cross from his pocket and placed it in the girl's hand, then said,
"I believe in you, we are all Lambs of the Lord."
The girl looked at the cross, her eyes showing no fear or resistance. After a short rest, she fell asleep.
Annaliese's family was originally a little wary of the stranger who suddenly broke into their home, but when they saw Arnold's pastor attire and the fact that he could instantly calm Annaliese down, they chose to trust him without any precautions.
"I'm Arnold Lentz, a pastor from the Yeshu Society. Can anyone tell me what happened before I came here? I need all the information and details." Arnold said calmly.
Father Joseph said in panic,
"Please take a seat, pastor. We are a family of the Holy Light. We are all devout believers and go to mass twice a week. We never thought that something like this would happen to Annalise. When she was sixteen, she was diagnosed with epilepsy by a doctor because of severe convulsions. In June five years ago, Annalise was treated in a psychiatric hospital for epileptic seizures, but she told the doctor that she could see all kinds of ghost faces, on the mist on the window, in the puddles after rain, there were hideous ghost faces. The doctor believed that she had hallucinations caused by schizophrenia and mental disorder, so her behavior was disordered and she could see hallucinations."
Arnold interrupted Joseph and said,
"You mean, five years ago?"
Joseph nodded and continued,
"Yes, she started taking convulsant drugs and chlorpromazine five years ago. And three years ago, poor Annalise was diagnosed with depression. Long-term use of psychiatric drugs did not improve any symptoms. She even claimed that she heard a strange voice cursing."
Arnold asked,
"What kind of curse is it?"
Joseph crossed himself and said,
"That's filthy language, and it says your soul will rot in hell, turn into sinful mud, and become a part of us."
Arnold motioned for Joseph to continue and took a sip of the water he had brought with him.
"We thought science and medicine could not help her, so we tried to ask for divine power from the Holy Light. We went on a pilgrimage to San Damiano, but when she saw the cross she started screaming, and the priest brought holy water, but she refused to drink it. We asked the priests in the community to perform an exorcism, but it didn't work.
Gradually her physical condition deteriorated, she became aggressive, self-mutilating, swallowing insects, and licking her own urine.
At three o'clock in the morning, she would assume a twisted posture, with her head facing upwards and her limbs supported downwards, moving on the floor, and making sounds like a wild animal. We were all terrified."
As Joseph spoke, he felt scared when he recalled his daughter's inhuman behavior.
"Can you tell me about Annalise's reaction during the priest's exorcism?" Arnold asked.
"We were not present during the ceremony. Only the priest and Dr. Graham Cartwright were present," Joseph replied.
"I understand. Can you please invite the priest and Dr. Graham Cartwright? I need everything they witnessed." Arnold said.
Joseph looked embarrassed and said,
"Dr. Graham should be fine, but the priest died the night before last."
Arnold was shocked. It turned out that the words "I can no longer do anything about it" were the priest's last words.
Arnold crossed himself, chanted the name of the Trinity, and walked to the door, calling Joseph.
"Let's go. We don't have much time. Let's go and find Dr. Gram right away."
Department of Psychiatry, St. Marian Hospital
Reverend Arnold, under the guidance of Joseph, found Dr. Graham. Dr. Graham did not show any surprise when he saw the two uninvited guests, as if he had been waiting for a long time. Dr. Graham said,
"Please take a seat. I'm Gram Cartwright, Annalise's attending physician."
After looking at Arnold, Dr. Graham said to himself,
"The priest needed a psychiatrist to observe the patient's physical and mental state, and I, as the attending physician, was the best candidate. I agreed, but I regret it now. After witnessing the exorcism, I don't think she is sick. I have seen many mental patients, some of whose symptoms are very serious, but they don't scare me. Since I started practicing medicine, no case can compare to hers."
Gram paused and continued,
"Holy Light, if I had known how terrible it would be, I would not have gone that night. It simply terrified me. Before I went back that night, I conducted a basic investigation on her. She was very lucid and fully understood that there were some... things in her body... When those things did not control her, she was still herself, a completely normal self. You know, a lunatic does not know that he is a lunatic. This contradicts the knowledge I learned about mental illness."
Arnold interrupted Dr. Graham and asked,
"What about time? Time is of the essence."
"That was three o'clock in the afternoon," replied Dr. Graham.
"Three o'clock in the afternoon, the time when Ye Su died, symbolizes the time when the world was stained with the blood of the Son of God and absolved of sin. A wise choice. Sorry to interrupt you, please continue."
Dr. Graham continued,
"When the ceremony just started, we smelled a burning smell. The ominous smell made me uneasy, so I stood in a corner. At first, Inalis was holding a rabbit-shaped doll in her arms, the kind of rabbit commonly seen at Easter.
She was a normal girl at that time, maybe she just looked a little haggard and thin, but I can guarantee that she was normal at that time. We tied her limbs with hemp ropes to stabilize her in the church. She did not resist and encouraged us with her clear eyes.
When the priest began to chant, everything became abnormal. Her eyes turned into those of a wild beast, she struggled hard, and broke one of the hemp ropes. That strange power surprised and frightened me. She began to speak ancient languages, including Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, and another one I couldn't recognize, maybe Aramaic? "
"Aramaic?" Joseph asked.
"The language of Jidu and his followers is also one of the native languages of the Semitic people," Arnold explained.
At this time, Dr. Graham leaned forward, clapped his hands on the table, and said in a low voice,
"Do you know what is the most terrifying thing? These words were spoken at the same time. This cannot be explained by science. The existence that the Father in Heaven does not allow is hiding in the body of the girl, roaring with the whisper of the devil. I am the soul that lives in this body. At this time, I noticed that the cross in the church was upside down, and the wild face on the cross turned into the image of a giant dragon with long horns.
I'm pretty sure it was Satan!
The stained glass windows in the church were shattered by the girl's roar. A stained glass that originally depicted Yesu exorcising a Daraan shattered above the priest. A stained glass that depicted Yesu's eyes fell from a great height and pierced the priest's chest.
I was very scared at the time, but luckily I hid in a corner and was not affected. But the strange thing is that the glass cleverly avoided Annaliese. "
"I understand. Thank you for your information. Please keep this cross. May the Holy Light bless you." Arnold gave the cross to Dr. Graham, then stood up and left the hospital with Joseph.
Joseph caught up with Arnold and asked, "Are we going back to exorcise the devil now?"
Arnold shook his head and said solemnly,
"No! We need to make some preparations!"