Chapter 64: Evil Emma, Transferring the Calamity

"Huh? Oh, oh."

"Our teachings state... we must follow human ethics and uphold tradition. All premarital sexual behavior is considered unclean and unacceptable... Only by maintaining one's purity can we..."

"Stop, stop, stop."

Yulinka interrupted Carrie. She could tell by now that Carrie probably didn't even believe in this religion herself, and all these teachings sounded like a bunch of incomprehensible commandments.

The entire thing was just about how to abstain from desires.

It gave her the exact same vibe as those rigid, hypocritical religions she remembered.

Carrie stopped, looking at her with a somewhat apprehensive gaze.

"Carrie, do you believe heaven and hell exist in this world?"

The question made Carrie freeze. She didn't answer immediately, falling silent instead.

A moment later, she shook her head.

That was already the answer.

Yulinka murmured a thank you and walked upstairs; she needed to go ask Louis.

If she didn't get a clear answer, her heart wouldn't rest easy.

Seeing Yulinka leave, Carrie looked confusedly at Emma. "What's wrong with Big Sis Yulinka?"

Emma touched her chin and suddenly chuckled. Having survived the Ester incident together, she could roughly guess the reason behind Yulinka's sudden questions.

Afraid there might actually be a hell, huh?

She was scared.

What a coward!

Pfft!

Take her, for instance—she wasn't afraid. What was done was done, and what good was regret? If she had to suppress herself and act like a hypocritical good person just out of fear of going to hell, she would rather go to hell.

Even when Louis used to torture her every day at the very beginning, she had only submitted to a certain extent.

"Nothing, she's just feeling guilty and scared. Don't mind her. Come here, let me show you this."

Emma mysteriously pulled a thin booklet from behind her back. Through the cover, one could faintly glimpse scantily clad, sensual figures—it was obvious what kind of book this was.

Carrie's face turned completely red. "Th-th-th-this... I, I, I'm going home."

She was yanked right back by Emma. "Friends?"

A single word successfully subdued Carrie.

"I hid this with so much difficulty. If you dare breathe a word about this, I guarantee you won't have a single friend left in the future, never ever."

"O-okay." Carrie's eyes instantly filled with terror.

At that moment, in Carrie's eyes, Emma had suddenly turned so "evil"!

"Besides, sharing secrets is something only friends do, right? I've shared all my secrets with you, aren't you happy?"

Carrie was momentarily stunned. Sharing secrets?

It seemed, indeed, that friends shared secrets with one another, so...

Well, in her eyes, Emma didn't seem quite so "evil" anymore. Even though Emma's words could be fierce at times, she really was a friend.

"So, if anything happens with Yulinka at school, you have to remember to tell me, okay, friend?"

"Mm."

Carrie nodded without the slightest hesitation.

The two of them huddled together to flip through the pages furtively. During this time, Carrie wanted to scream out several times, but Emma stopped her each time.

When she finally returned home, Carrie felt completely dizzy. So women could wear clothes like that? So bold, and s-s-so unclean!

However, Emma said that wearing clothes like that was all to seduce the men they liked...

Then Louis... which type did he like?

She really wanted to know!

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Margaret sitting in a chair, glaring at her coldly like a judge.

"Where have you been? Did I teach you to come home this late? Disobeying the family rules, Carrie, you have disappointed me."

"This is all my fault!"

In fact, it was only seven o'clock.

Yet Margaret now actually began slamming her head against the wall.

Thud, thud, thud!

Every impact was heavy; she was genuinely putting force into it.

Carrie rushed forward to stop her.

This wasn't actually the first time. Every time she made a mistake, her mother would resort to self-harm to make her obey. Though resentful, Carrie didn't want to see her mother get hurt, so time and again she chose to submit.

This time was no exception.

However, once she stopped her and faced her mother's interrogation, Carrie handed a wrapped stack of papers to her mother as Emma had instructed, and her mother's expression suddenly shifted.

First terror and anger, then dread and fear, and finally silence.

Following that, her mother unexpectedly did not subject her to any more hysterical lecturing or corporal punishment.

She successfully and peacefully made it through the night...

Time drifted slowly by.

June arrived, the graduation season for many middle schools.

Louis and Emma officially graduated and advanced to high school. Of course, before that, they had a wonderful summer vacation ahead of them to spend playing.

After taking their graduation photos and declining a group of classmates' invitations to go out and party, Louis called Emma and headed home together.

By then, David was already waiting at home, and Jenny nearby had just finished cooking lunch.

"Kids, the travel destination has been decided. We're going to drive all the way from Florida to Texas, enjoying the scenery along the way. How does everyone sound about that?"

"I've got no problem with it."

"I have a problem. Is the specific route planned out? I don't want to run into those biker gangs."

"Of course, the vast majority of the route is shared by tourist agencies and is very safe. As for the few remaining segments, we'll only drive them during daylight. And just in case, I've prepared this."

David pulled out a brand-new semi-automatic rifle, and resting on the sofa were several other firearms of different designs: a Remington, a Winchester...

Well, having truth in hand really did instantly boost one's courage.

Especially when Louis touched the few grenades in his pocket; that gave him even more confidence.

With the specific route finalized, they didn't set off immediately. They planned to spend the next couple of days gathering essential supplies like tents before departure.

Louis also had a few things to take care of. His Qigong practice had reached its limit; he only needed to conserve his energy, and then he could perform the rite of casting away misfortune.

Furthermore, he had to make some preparations for his esoteric arts.

For instance, collecting bull's tears and using the rite of calamity-transfer.

If he transferred the bad luck clinging to him before setting off on the journey, that should guarantee smooth sailing all the way, right?

No sooner said than done, Louis headed toward the back mountain. Along the way, he happened to see Carrie and Emma running around wildly outside.

He had no idea what was going on these past couple of days, but Margaret's restrictions on Carrie seemed to have lessened, actually allowing her to play with Emma. It was just that whenever Carrie returned, Margaret would always hug her and cry, as if Carrie had suffered some terrible grievance.

How bizarre.

Louis didn't bother meddling in these matters; it was undoubtedly just the effect of Emma's revenge taking hold, leaving Carrie's mother terrified.

Small matters, entirely small matters.

Louis arrived at the cave in the back mountain. Several new corpses had been placed inside; they were quite plump, clearly having been recently replaced.

Right beside them sat two bizarre-looking black-furred sheep out of nowhere, dripping blood staining their wool. Their eyes were very lively, almost possessing human emotion, and they were fitted with muzzles so they couldn't make a sound.

Louis ignored those human-trafficking scumbags.

He took out a cinnabar talisman paper, checked his current orientation, and began following his heritage to outline the Bagua formation upon it. Once drawn, he began dropping blood into different grids according to his birth date and time.

Then he pulled out a ten-dollar bill, hesitated, put it back, and fished out a one-dollar bill instead.

These bills had been carried on his person every day for days; they could barely qualify as personal items worn close to the body.

As for why it wasn't ten dollars, but one dollar?

He was too stingy to part with it.