American variety show world begins with subduing Jason

Besides, if the bank forecloses on your house, why are you cursing the loan officer? Why don't you curse the bank owner instead?

Which expert acts with such a split personality? And is utterly incompetent?

In this world, the material base determines the superstructure. Those who possess power will inevitably possess a corresponding status. As long as someone is truly exceptional, there are wealthy businessmen who are willing to treat them as honored guests.

Even a reclusive monk like Zhang Shouzhong, who lived a simple life in the city, received seasonal and festival offerings from the Hualian Chamber of Commerce.

Even if you have unique preferences and are willing to live a frugal life, the authorities and the surrounding large organizations will not sit idly by and watch you become truly destitute and desperate.

Nonsense! Who knows what you might do in a moment of madness when you're starving?

The poor people in the slums have no food to eat, so they can only go out and buy things for free.

But the abilities of superhumans are diverse. If they really go hungry and go crazy, who knows what the consequences will be?

Therefore, the federal government has done everything in its power to win over all the wild superhumans it comes into contact with, giving them the empty title of advisor and some benefits. It's a form of control and restraint, meaning they're paying a little money to keep them from causing trouble.

The fear is that someone might master both literary and martial arts skills but be unable to serve the emperor, ultimately ending up with a weapon, harboring murderous intent, and causing trouble.

After much deliberation, Zhu Mingyao finally made his decision.

This old gypsy woman is definitely not a powerful sorcerer; there must be another reason why she was able to successfully cast such a curse.

He had Christine take out the so-called cursed cufflink and place it on the table. He then used his aura-gazing technique to examine it carefully for a while. Apart from discovering that the strange evil power swirling around it originated from the same source as the black aura on Christine's body, he couldn't find any other clues.

Christine said timidly, "That psychic Mr. Jess, in desperation, suggested a half-baked solution: giving the button to someone else, which might transfer the curse. But I really can't accept that. I don't want to hurt innocent people..."

Zhu Mingyao nodded, casting an approving glance. Even in the face of death, he maintained his conscience and upheld his principles. Such a person deserves to be saved.

He thought for a moment, then took out an exorcism talisman from the cabinet, lit it with magical power, and waved it at Christine.

The talisman burned out, turning into a wisp of smoke that landed on the woman before dissipating into nothingness.

In the boy's spiritual vision, the wispy black aura wrapped around Christine and the exorcising power of the talisman gradually dimmed. But once the exorcising power was exhausted, the black aura immediately returned to its original state, even becoming a bit denser.

Zhu Mingyao's move was not intended to solve the problem immediately, but rather to use it to probe the truth. Sure enough, he discovered a clue from the conflict between the two types of magical power.

The source of the curse is still there!

Two brothers actually voted for me with monthly tickets! Ah, my writing is so bad, I really don't deserve it.

Chapter 40 The Source of the Curse

The source of the curse is still there!

This sounds like a pointless statement, but the victim is standing right in front of them, almost losing their life, which means the source of the curse is still there.

However, if it were a cultivator who saw the result of Zhu Mingyao's attempt to test the curse, they would clearly find something amiss:

The power of the curse recovered too quickly!

This is clearly not right. Don't forget, the old gypsy woman who cast the spell is dead!

From a mystical perspective, some curse spells do indeed continue to run after being successfully cast, and the death of the caster will not affect the process.

But that doesn't mean the strength of the curse won't be affected. The law of conservation of energy is also universal in the worldview of mysticism; no power can be created out of thin air.

Without the caster, most spell effects become like water without a source or a tree without roots. Even if they don't dissipate immediately, their intensity won't remain unchanged.

Therefore, in ancient Chinese folk tales and detective novels, there are often stories of someone being cursed by evil magic and on the verge of death. A wise and chivalrous person follows the clues, finds the sorcerer who cast the spell, kills him with a sword, and then saves the victim with a pill.

Therefore, in such cases, killing the caster directly is sufficient to solve most problems, or at least significantly reduce the effects of the curse.

Of course, there are exceptions. Some curses, once successfully released, can draw energy from the surrounding environment, the victim, or even otherworldly planes to maintain their operation.

For example, the undead gold coin that Zhu Mingyao currently holds is a vivid example of the existence of such a high-level curse.

However, such advanced skills were clearly beyond the capabilities of the old Gypsy woman in this case.

To reiterate, judging from her tragic end and crude spellcasting skills, calling her a novice is an understatement; at best, she was just an ordinary person with a little knowledge of witchcraft.

This is interesting. Since the caster was not a master and is already dead, why is the source of the curse still there?

The puzzled boy then asked Christine:

"Where is the house that Lady Gainuss was taken from? And where is her granddaughter's house where she died in the end?"

Upon receiving the reply, Zhu Mingyao abruptly stood up and waved his hand:

"Let's go, while the sun is high in the sky and all evil spirits have retreated, let's find out more about this so-called witch! We'll have lunch on the way."

……

Fortunately, neither address was too far, and Christine and her group had driven there to ask for help. Before 3 p.m., the group, after going around in circles, returned to Zhang's Antique Shop.

After Mrs. Gainos's former house was repossessed by the bank, no new residents have moved in. Apart from her personal belongings being taken away by her family, the rest of the house remains largely unchanged. Zhu Mingyao sneaked in to take a look and found no trace of any witchcraft rituals that had been performed.

At her granddaughter's place, the boy asked Christine to go up and knock on the door, while he secretly hid to observe carefully, confirming that the family were just ordinary people.

Having received confirmation that his suspicions were true, Zhu Mingyao sat on the sofa, stuffed the last bite of the pie he had eaten on the way into his mouth, and mumbled a smile as he pointed at the food on the table and said to the two of them:

"Hmm, don't be so downcast. We've found our direction. Hurry up and eat your lunch, take a rest, we have an important operation tonight."

Christine, who had just been given another glare by Mrs. Gainos's granddaughter and was feeling sullen, suddenly heard the boy's words and sprang up from the sofa like a spring, asking excitedly, "Do you have a solution? What do you need us to do?"

“Didn’t we find out already? Mrs. Gainos is buried in the Beech Cemetery. We’ll go there tonight!” Zhu Mingyao took a sip of his drink and cleared his throat before speaking.

Christine and her companion froze, stammering, "What are we going to the cemetery for?"

Zhu Mingyao reassured him, "Don't panic, I'll be prepared. If you're really scared, you can wait at the door and I'll go in. If all goes well, maybe we can resolve your problem tonight."

Christine and her fiancé exchanged glances. Perhaps the boy's calm demeanor gave them some confidence, and they finally mustered the courage to nod and pick up their food to eat in small bites.

……

The winter sun sets exceptionally early; it was only eight o'clock when Los Angeles was shrouded in the pitch-black night.

As a cemetery for the poor and homeless, Beech Cemetery is crammed into a remote corner on the border between the city and the suburbs.

Because cemetery management companies charge low fees and have meager profits, they naturally wouldn't waste spare money hiring night watchmen.

In any case, the residents who rest here are mostly penniless, so much so that even petty thieves wouldn't bother with them in life, let alone after death.

Watching the cemetery caretaker lazily pull out an iron chain, haphazardly wrap it around the two dilapidated metal gates, and leave humming a tune as he went off duty, a black Toyota sedan slowly slid out from the shadows under the roadside trees not far away.

“Mr. Zhu, you didn’t say you were going to… stealing a corpse is a serious crime in Jinzhou. If we get caught, we’re finished.”

Watching Zhu Mingyao carrying bags and packages out of the trunk, Clay Dalton trembled with fear, his words almost incoherent. He knew exactly what the boy was stuffing in there; he might not recognize the other items, but he certainly recognized the shovel and the pickaxe.

Zhu Mingyao patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, don't worry, I have a good plan. You two take this." He then handed him a bag.

"Alcohol? Neither of us drinks much? What's this?"

The two were completely baffled as they looked at the few bottles of cheap brandy in the bag.

"It's not for you to drink, it's for emergencies," the boy explained with a chuckle.

"If you're really unlucky and get found in a cemetery, just take a couple of swigs, sprinkle some on your clothes, and pretend to be drunk and act crazy, okay?"

"We need to broaden our thinking! It's true that stealing corpses is a serious crime, but if it's just a few young people who've had too much to drink and are causing trouble in the cemetery, then it's a much lighter matter. At most, it's just disturbing the peace."

“Especially since you two are both old Europeans of the Plain White Banner, and I am just an adult, even if the police catch us, there is a high chance that we will be let off lightly.”

Seeing the two men's expressions of sudden realization, as if they had discovered a new world, Zhu Mingyao put away his smile and said solemnly:

“Miss Christine, are you sure you want to come with me? Although I only intend to open the coffin and perform a purification ritual for Mrs. Gainos’s body, I cannot guarantee that there will be no danger during the process.”

Christine said, trembling but firm, "Yes, I want to see this nightmare end."

Clay Dalton glanced at his lover, swallowed hard, and said, "I'll... I'll join in too. We can dig faster if we all work together..."

"Alright!" Zhu Mingyao took out two yellow talismans, folded them into triangles, and told the two to hide them close to their bodies. After thinking for a moment, he then found two colorful velvet ropes and tied them around their wrists, earnestly instructing them:

"No matter what you see or hear later, don't panic or run around. It's probably just an illusion, but if you take it as real, the fake will become real!"

After explaining the precautions, he casually patted Christine's arm and exclaimed, "Love really can give people courage. You've found a good fiancé."

Ah, the writing speed of a newbie is too slow. I try my best, but I can't even write 4000 words a day. My drafts are in jeopardy!

Chapter 41 Nighttime Investigation of the Cemetery

Zhu Mingyao's decision to bring the two along was not a spur-of-the-moment whim, nor was it an attempt to emulate the idiotic protagonists in horror movies by teaming up to enter dangerous scenes and get themselves killed. Rather, it was based on his own careful consideration.

Whether from the plot of the original movie or from Christine's own experience, this curse is mainly aimed at the mind and causes almost no physical harm.

This has been indirectly confirmed by Clay Dalton.

The so-called flies and maggots, bloody eyeballs and fleshy chunks, whispering sounds and other abnormal phenomena were only noticed by Christine from beginning to end. The others, even when they were in the same room, were completely unaware of them.

The remaining abnormalities, such as constant nosebleeds or being slapped by an unseen person, can be explained by mental suggestion. In curse-type spells, this is not difficult to achieve.

In other words, this evil curse, which is said to be able to summon demons and evil spirits and drag people into hell, is not as terrifying as imagined. Let alone dragging a living person into a lower plane, it may not even be possible to extract a person's soul and drag it into hell.

At best, they would use various illusions and nightmares to drive the victims insane, shake their souls, and cause them to die unexpectedly in a daze.

The scene at the end of the movie where Christine suffers a mental breakdown and falls off the platform, being dragged into hell, is likely just a hallucination; she actually dies under the wheels of an oncoming train.

Otherwise, if a hellish rift suddenly appeared in the bustling Los Angeles train station during the day, it would cause chaos.

I'm afraid that the three religions of the Holy Temple will immediately stop fighting and form an anti-demon alliance to come over!

Is it really that simple to enter another dimension with your physical body?

Only those ghost immortals who have cultivated to the level of Yin spirits in the Xuanmen dare to say that they can descend to the underworld at will.

Only the great wizards in Europe, whose souls had achieved astral forms, dared to claim that they could travel to the spirit world.

What merit does a mere curse possess to achieve such a feat?

He had carefully examined the level and strength of the curse during the day and confirmed this.

Therefore, the actual danger of this action is not that great, and it is even less than the last time I faced a murderer in the hotel.

The boy's solemn statement was mainly to give the two a heads-up, so that they would be mentally prepared when they saw the strange phenomenon.

The second reason was to provide a point of reference for the victim, Christine!

As the three of them ventured deeper into the cemetery along the uneven brick and stone path, Zhu Mingyao's Qi-observation technique revealed that the wispy black aura swirling around Christine gradually thickened and became almost tangible, resembling strands of jet-black hair wriggling and pointing towards the depths of the cemetery.

"Just as I thought!" Zhu Mingyao thought to himself. The Qi Observation Technique he used was passed down by Zhang Shouzhong and belonged to the orthodox Xuanmen sect, but due to his own cultivation level, he could only see the general outline of many things.

For example, this time, he could only see that the source of the curse was still there, but he couldn't see exactly where it was. He could only use the process of elimination to find it.

Now that we have the victim as a reference point, we can finally confirm that the source of the curse is on Lady Gainus's corpse!