A priest in North America, what the hell is the Demon Gate system?

"Meow--"

Suddenly, a cat meowed from the side.

Li Ang was so startled that his hand trembled, and he almost dropped his laptop.

He turned his head sharply and saw an orange cat sitting on the pedestal of the angel statue, tilting its head and looking at him.

This cat has a very distinctive appearance, with a round head and a fierce expression, just like that famous orange tabby cat in China.

"Damn, you walk so quietly?"

Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief. He had been completely focused on his laptop and hadn't noticed when the cat had approached.

The orange cat meowed again, jumped off the base, slowly walked to Li Ang's legs, rubbed its head against his trouser leg, and then lay down on the spot and began to lick its paws.

"Quite outgoing." Li Ang chuckled, reaching out to scratch the cat's chin. The orange cat immediately hissed and jumped aside.

"His personality is quite similar."

Li Ang looked at the orange cat's panting expression and chuckled, "I'll call you Old Age."

The old man ignored Li Ang and turned to lie down on the base of the statue to sleep.

Li Ang smiled and turned his attention back to his notebook.

He turned to the second page, and the streetlight at the corner of the church street seemed to flicker.

Li Ang didn't pay any attention and continued reading.

The notebook is like a work log, with many things recorded according to date.

February 12: Old Mike said he heard a woman crying as he passed the textile factory. I went to check, and the resentment was very strong, but I didn't find anything. It was marked with holy water.

March 15th: In the storage room on the third floor of the town hospital, three nurses had the same nightmare during their lunch break, dreaming of the same face. I went in to check; there were scratches on the back of the shelf, it was very new, and didn't look like an animal.

Li Ang turned the pages one by one, his brows gradually furrowing.

Father Andrew in the notes was clearly not the kind of clergyman who just coasted along.

Each record is marked with the time, place, and witness statements, and some are even accompanied by simple maps.

"Good heavens, you're treating the priest like Kogoro Mouri," Li Ang muttered.

The old man rolled over beside his legs, exposing his belly, and turned his head to look in the direction of the street corner.

Li Ang glanced at the old man and continued scrolling down.

When I turned to the entries from early April, the handwriting became hurried.

April 3rd: I went to the textile factory again. This time I saw it, a female worker dressed as a ghost. I wanted to touch her, but she ran away.

April 7: According to records from the town archives, the textile factory was built in 1862. In 1892, an accident occurred when the boiler exploded, killing 23 people, most of whom were female workers.

Li Ang's pupils contracted, and he quickly flipped through the pages.

April 15: I sensed something was wrong. I used Holy Dust to capture the energy, and the textile factory and the hospital had very similar energies. It didn't seem like isolated events; something was connecting them.

April 18: A lake monster was sighted in the Sleeping Lake in the west of the town. Is it a coincidence?

April 20: An unexpected discovery was made in the forest south of the town! Someone, or something, is holding a very bloody ceremony here.

April 21: Revisited the site of the ceremony and took a stone engraved with runes as evidence.

April 24: They found me.

These words were written so heavily and deeply that the pen nib almost tore through the paper.

Then there was nothing.

Until the very last page, the date is April 24th, which is two days before the former priest disappeared.

Li Ang closed his notebook and let out a long breath.

A night breeze rustled through the backyard, making the weeds whisper. The old man was already asleep, his belly rising and falling with each breath.

"So it wasn't a case of absconding with the money..."

Li Ang murmured, "Did you find something you shouldn't have?"

If it weren't for the fact that Shirley Brando's soul was lying in the spirit banner, Leon would have suspected that Father Andrew had gone to investigate Commissioner Smith.

Li Ang reopened his notebook, wanting to take a closer look at the location markings.

The streetlight seemed to flicker again.

This time, Li Ang noticed it. He looked up and glanced at the sky.

The moon was still there, but the light seemed to have been filtered through something, becoming cloudy and unclear.

"Meow—!!"

The old man suddenly woke up and let out a scream.

Li Ang looked down and saw that the orange cat had stood up, its back arched, its tail bristling, and its eyes fixed on the street corner.

"What's wrong with you? I'm not from the Cat District," Li Ang laughed.

He turned back, ready to continue reading his notes.

Then Li Ang froze.

On the blank page of the notebook, words are slowly emerging.

It progresses from shallow to deep, as if some invisible hand is writing on the back of the paper.

"My son, I am Andrew Russell."

Li Ang suddenly looked up, surveyed his surroundings, and activated his divine sense to its maximum!

The backyard was empty, with only weeds, statues, and cats.

Suddenly, the streetlights on the corner went out!

Li Ang subconsciously lowered his head, and the second line of text quickly took shape, the strokes hurried and sloppy:

"They've been attracted!"

Almost the instant the words were fully displayed, the hairs on the back of Li Ang's neck stood on end!

That was an almost instinctive warning brought about by the enhancement of divine sense!

"Hold!"

Without a second thought, Li Ang's enhanced physique allowed his body to react before his consciousness could react!

He lunged to his right with all his might, rolling into the weeds.

Just as he left his spot, the space where he had been standing seemed to be swept away by something.

It's hard to describe the sight; it's like looking at something through a shimmering surface of water, where all the lines and contours are twisted, stretched, and then return to their original state in an instant.

But after just a fraction of a second of distortion, all the weeds in that area withered, as if all their life force had been drained away.

"Meow--!!!"

At the same time, the old man let out a mournful scream.

Li Ang looked up from the weeds and saw that scene.

The space where the old man had been lying down had been opened up.

Through the opening, one could vaguely see some things: the outline of a church, and another angel statue, but extremely dilapidated and decayed, covered with dark red moss.

A claw formed from shadow suddenly lashed out from the mouth and grabbed the old man, like someone suddenly reaching out from inside a speeding race car to snatch a pedestrian's bag.

The old man struggled frantically, clawing wildly, but in that hand he was as powerless as a toy.

The claws vanished instantly along with the old man, and the opening in the space quickly closed. The entire process, from appearance to disappearance, took less than two seconds.

The backyard returned to silence, with only the claw marks on the ground and the sound of the wind rustling through the weeds.

Li Ang lay on the ground, covered in cold sweat, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

He maintained that posture for a full ten seconds, his mind fully focused, scanning every corner within a twenty-meter radius like a radar.

At the same time, Li Ang noticed new writing on the page; the handwriting was more even, but still showed signs of haste.

"They're gone, child. Take care of yourself, I have to go too."

"Wait!" Li Ang exclaimed instinctively.

"Father Andrew? Are you still there? What's going on—"

No new writing appeared, and the few lines of characters that had appeared in the notebook earlier also disappeared.

Li Ang's mind raced. Drawn here? What? Because he'd looked at the notes? Or because...?

He suddenly remembered the old man's unusual reaction earlier.

Cats can see things humans can't, according to folklore, so was the old cat warning itself? And yet, it was...

"Fuck!" Li Ang cursed.

He gripped the notebook tightly and looked again at the withered weeds.

The feeling of space being torn apart, that world that was almost identical to this one but seemed exceptionally dilapidated... there are so many mysteries.

"Father Li? Are you alright?"

Nia's voice came from the direction of the dormitory.

Li Ang turned his head and saw the nun rushing out of the back door. She had obviously been woken up by the commotion and was only wearing a thin white nightgown.

A cool breeze blew on the May night, and the nightgown clung to her body, outlining her very clear figure.

The skirt only reached mid-thigh, and her legs were clad in black stockings, which stood out prominently in the moonlight.

She ran in such a hurry that she wasn't wearing shoes, and her toes curled slightly from the cold ground as she stepped onto the grass.

Li Ang's consciousness had not yet returned, so certain details were exceptionally clear.

For example, her nightgown was pure cotton and a little see-through. And it seemed like she wasn't wearing anything underneath... *cough*

"Big Eye Technique, shut down!" Li Ang silently chanted in his mind, forcibly withdrawing his divine sense.

"I heard the cat meowing terribly... and then I heard you shouting..." Nia ran over, panting, her chest heaving.

Her blonde hair was a little messy, her right eye was covered by her bangs, and her left eye was wide open, full of worry.

"It's nothing." Li Ang tried to keep his voice steady as he looked towards the statue and said, "There was a stray cat just now; it was probably scared by something and ran away."

"Really?" Nia looked at him skeptically, then glanced at the angel statue, her expression turning somewhat grave. "But your face is so pale..."

"It's the moonlight." Li Ang said without changing his expression, glancing at her with a mocking look. "But you, nun, running around dressed like that, aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"

Nia was startled, looked down at herself, and then let out a soft "Ah!" Her face instantly turned bright red.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, but then felt that this position was even stranger, so she changed to grabbing the hem of her nightgown and pulling it down, but it didn't help.

"I...I heard a sound and thought something had happened..." she stammered, her ears turning red.

"I'm going back right now!"

Nia jogged back to her dormitory, while Li Ang stood there until he heard the soft sound of a door closing in the next room before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked again at the notebook in his hand, and then at the place where the old man had disappeared.

Even if you get a good look at the scenery, you still can't relax.

"Hakimi is going to be plundered..." he whispered.

Although it was just a stray cat he had just encountered, the feeling of helplessness at being snatched away by an unknown entity right before his eyes made him feel suffocated.

Moreover, if I hadn't just improved my spiritual sense and physical constitution, wouldn't I have been the one dragged away?

Li Ang recalled the words Andrew had left behind.

"They've been attracted."

"Take good care of yourself."

So Father Andrew's disappearance wasn't about running away at all, but related to this? Is he alive or dead now? And what "truth" did he uncover?

A whole host of questions flooded my mind.

And at that very moment—

[Ding! Sect quest triggered: Investigate the mystery of the former deacon's disappearance]

[Mission Description: The former deacon of the outer sect stronghold has gone missing while carrying out a sect mission. The current deacon is requested to investigate his whereabouts and uncover the truth behind it.]

[Task Rewards: Awarded based on investigation progress and completion rate; basic reward is +1000 contribution points and increased privileges]

[Task Time Limit: 30 days]

Li Ang's lips twitched as he looked at the system notification.

"Okay, okay, is this how you play?"

I just finished an exorcism quest, and now another investigation quest has come up.

The reward is generous: 1000 contribution points and an upgrade to higher privileges. However, this is clearly very troublesome, as it may involve the secrets of the entire town and the unknown entity from earlier.

Li Ang put away the notebook and the revolver called "Holy Judgment," and pushed the angel statue back to its original position.

Immediately afterwards, Li Ang stood up and patted the dirt off his hands.

The evening breeze was getting cooler.

It looks like they're going to kill someone.