Hell Demon

Chapter 4

Jia Renlong gave the young monk a look of utter disgust. This was none other than Zhang Xinyan, the monk he hated most. This kid was always rebellious and mischievous, playing rock music in his dormitory, frequently sneaking into the convent at night, and his favorite pastime was trying to convert prostitutes. Now, he was getting diarrhea during the sacred moment of hymns. He was utterly disregarding religious rules!

But to avoid ruining everyone's mealtime mood, he suppressed his anger and said irritably, "Go, go quickly! Don't be disgusting here."

Zhang Xinyan immediately clutched his stomach and ran frantically toward the toilet. Actually, he didn't know why. He had felt dizzy halfway through the hymn, followed by excruciating pain in his stomach, and cold sweat poured down his body. He thought he hadn't eaten anything bad that morning, so why was this happening?

But his stomach was in so much pain, and his anus felt like it was about to explode. He couldn't think straight and screamed as he ran towards the men's restroom, clutching his stomach.

In the dining hall, after everyone finished singing the hymn, they sat down together to prepare for their meal.

Just as everyone picked up their knives, forks, and chopsticks to eat, suddenly, a series of frantic, piercing church bells rang out from the towering bell tower more than twenty meters away. The sound was extremely rapid and deafening, rushing in like a madman. Father Mott was so shocked by the deafening noise that his heart nearly burst out of his throat, and he fell to the ground, chair and all, stunned by the frenzied chimes. The others either stood up in disbelief or fell back down. Several rushed to the dining hall entrance, looking up at the top of the towering bell tower. They could vaguely see the massive bronze bell, its upper half visible through the walls, shaking wildly and emitting a terrifying, frenzied "dong dong dong dong."

"Strange, it's not bell-ringing time yet, and I didn't ask anyone to ring the bell. Who is so bold as to violate church rules and ring the bell randomly!" Jia Renlong was furious, knowing that such random bell-ringing was an act of disrespect to the Lord.

"Li Qingyu, Wang Jin, you two go to the top of the bell tower immediately and see which bastard is ringing the bell. Catch him!" Jia Renlong turned around and gave the order to the two young Taoists.

"Yes!" The two immediately ran out of the dining hall entrance like lightning, heading towards the three-story-high clock tower more than twenty meters to the north. The frantic chimes continued to ring out, as if trying to shatter and tear apart this Catholic church with more than seventy years of history.

For some reason, Jia Renlong and Father Mott also instinctively felt a strange, inexplicable feeling. The frantic "dong dong dong" of the bells was unusually eerie, shrill, and piercing, completely different from the usual solemn and heavy tones. It sounded like screams and cries from hell, making one's blood boil and sending chills down one's spine, as if the tones possessed a demonic power!

"Heavens! Why is the sky so gloomy? It was sunny just a moment ago!" another monk by the door said, listening to the bell and looking at the sky outside.

Father Mott also looked out at the sky. Good heavens, he remembered that before he went into the canteen for lunch, the sky was a clear blue, cloudless, and sunny. How could it have turned into a dark and gloomy sky in just a moment, with large patches of dark clouds covering the sky as if they were about to press down on it? The sky had also turned gray and dark, as if a heavy rain was about to come.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! At the same time, gusts of cold wind began to blow outside the door, instantly swirling up fallen leaves and pebbles from the lawn, making them fly everywhere and spin in the air. The surrounding trees also rustled in the wind, as if they were weeping.

"Strange, why is this weather so weird?" Jia Renlong said. Outside, sand and stones were flying, and dark clouds were gathering, just like a storm brewing. "Dong dong dong," the terrifying bell rang even more frantically.

For some reason, Father Mott instinctively felt that the weather and the sound of the bells were strange, wondering if it had anything to do with his visit to New Conley Hospital that morning and the prayer he had offered upon returning. His heart pounded wildly; he felt as if some terrible force was warning him.

Jia Renlong breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Wang and Li run into the clock tower gate. At the same time, he had a strange feeling, as if he had been possessed by an evil spirit at noon today.

"That bastard can't escape, hahaha." At the same time, Jia Renlong laughed, because the clock tower only had one staircase leading up and down. When Wang and Li rushed in, the clock on the top floor was still ringing. Unless the guy who was ringing the clock jumped off the building, he had no chance of escaping.

After a while, the frantic chiming suddenly stopped, and Jia Renlong muttered to himself, "Good, that kid must have been caught."

"Let's eat!" With Jia Renlong's voice, everyone returned to their seats and began to eat.

"The salad is quite good today." Dean Jia Renlong, sitting back down at the table, ate his vegetable salad and bread with great relish, thoroughly pleased.

“I think it must be some troublesome teenagers from the neighborhood playing a prank. When we catch him, we should try to reform him instead of sending him to the police station,” another priest in his forties named Sima Tang said to Jia Renlong while eating.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [15]: "Yes, the Lord is merciful, we should make him a believer." Jia Renlong said confidently, "I will also give him a Bible."

Only Father Mott stood expressionless, staring at the bell tower outside, where the chimes had fallen silent. He noticed that the sky had grown even darker, the wind had picked up, and he felt his fear intensify.

A moment later, Wang Jin and Li Qingyu came running out of the main gate at the bottom of the bell tower, panting heavily. They ran across the open space and, still out of breath, ran to Dean Jia. "Dean, it's strange! There's no one up there. We can't see anyone. Nobody is ringing the bell!"

"What!" Jia Renlong could hardly believe his eyes and stood up abruptly. "This is impossible! No one, no one is ringing the bell, so how can it be ringing so loudly?"

"I don't know." Wang Jin's voice trembled slightly as he looked terrified. "It's so strange. When we ran up the stairs from the second to the third floor, the bell was still ringing frantically, but as soon as we stepped onto the top floor, the bell stopped immediately. We searched the entire third floor carefully, but we couldn't find a single person. It's so strange, Dean, I... I'm scared."

“Yes, and for some reason, the air in the clock room on the third floor is very cold, which is strange!” Li Qingyu added.

Before the two could finish speaking, suddenly, a series of frantic, shrill, and frightening bell sounds came from the top of the bell tower again, as if the bells had gone mad. People's hearts pounded inexplicably in time with the rhythm of the bells. This time, the bells rang even more frantically and eerily, as if hundreds of people were shaking the bells madly.

"Damn it, what's going on? Didn't you two say there was no one up there?" Jia Renlong shouted angrily at Wang and Li.

Wang Jin and Li Qingyu looked at each other in shock, their faces filled with stunned disbelief.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and catch that bastard! Did you hear me? Get out of here!"

Jia Renlong flew into a rage. "Don't come down if you can't catch the person."

"Yes..." The two, terrified, quickly turned around and ran back towards the clock tower.

"And you, take their lunch up with you. If you can't catch them, make them stay there all afternoon!" Jia Renlong turned around fiercely and ordered another young cultivator behind him.

"Yes," the monk quickly replied and left.

"Ding ding ding ding!" "It must be a naughty kid causing trouble." Amidst the ringing of the bells, Father Mott noticed that Jia Renlong's facial expression had turned extremely fierce. "When I catch that naughty kid, I'm going to give him a good spanking and let him know what I'm capable of."

"Dean... Dean..." Father Mott tried to persuade the furious Dean Jia Renlong.

"Shut up, you hypocritical and arrogant fake priest!" Jia Renlong glared fiercely at Father Mott. Accompanied by a frenzied and eerie bell-like twang, Jia Renlong's expression turned as if he were Mott's enemy, staring venomously at Father Mott. "You're fucking a bastard, a bastard priest! So you shut up!"

"This...this..." Father Mott could hardly believe his ears. Dean Jia Renlong was actually cursing him with vulgar language. He remembered that he had never had any conflicts with Jia Renlong, and Jia was a very honest and kind person. How could he have become so irritable at noon today? All the cultivators around him were also looking at Dean Jia Renlong with surprised eyes.

"What are you looking at!" Jia Renlong roared angrily. "What's so interesting? All of you, sit down and eat." Under the dean's authority, the cultivators had no choice but to sit down.

As Li and Wang rushed back into the bell tower, the bells continued to ring wildly. Father Mott, looking at the furious Dean Jia Renlong, had a vague, instinctive feeling that it was this strange, frenzied ringing that was affecting Dean Jia Renlong's emotions. He vaguely sensed that the ringing carried a demonic quality, completely different from the usual church bells.

Filled with fear, Li Qingyu and Wang Jin rushed up the stairs again. Just like last time, as they ran up the stairs, the bell continued to ring frantically, making the entire staircase tremble as if it were about to collapse at any moment. But as soon as they reached the third floor and stepped onto the ground, the frantic and terrifying bell suddenly stopped and fell silent.

The two looked intently at the central bronze bell, and strangely, the massive bell had become completely still, utterly lifeless. But judging from the frantic ringing that had surged up to the third floor, even if the bell-ringing lever had been stopped, the enormous bell should have continued to sway for at least a minute or two before finally coming to a complete stop; it was impossible for it to come to a complete halt in an instant. And there wasn't a single person in sight; the entire top floor was utterly empty. This was simply unbelievable.

The two looked at each other and felt a sudden chill rise from their backs. At the same time, they instinctively felt that the air on the top floor had become unusually cold, making them very uncomfortable.

Heh-heh-heh-heh, the two suddenly seemed to hear a heavy breathing sound, which startled them and made them look at each other. Only then did they realize that the heavy breathing sound was coming from each other's noses. They breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that it was the sound of them panting as they ran up.

They then searched every corner of the entire rooftop, but still couldn't find a single person.

"This is bad, we'll have to stay here until nightfall." The two men said with a wry smile, and at the same time, they noticed...

The sky outside darkened and gloomy, covering the entire church. For some reason, the large, dark, gray clouds made the two of them feel a strange fear... --- Magpie Bridge Fairy replied [16]: Zhang Xinyan, who was suffering from severe stomach pain, was sitting in a stall in the toilet on the other side of the dining hall. He was sitting on the toilet in pain, and his feces were coming out of his buttocks piece by piece. He looked down unintentionally and saw that it was a large piece of bloody feces without flesh or blood. My God, he couldn't help but feel a chill. How could his feces become so terrible? Could this be a sign that he had a serious illness?

With a "ding," the yellow light bulb above his head suddenly went out automatically, plunging his cubicle into darkness. Before he could react, the light came back on. Then, the light flickered on and off a few more times. Zhang Xinyan felt a strange unease; what was wrong with the light? It seemed to be acting erratically. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that behind him, a strange, thin wisp of green smoke was slowly seeping out from the gap in the water tank lid and gradually spreading.

Suddenly, a rapid knocking sounded on Zhang Xinyan's toilet stall door. Clearly, someone was urging him to hurry up and use the toilet.

"Hey bro, there are plenty of toilet stalls here," Zhang Xinyan shouted. He remembered that when he came in, all ten stalls were open and empty. If someone came in, they could use the other nine.

The knocking grew more urgent and intense, sounding extremely fierce and menacing. Even Zhang Xinyan sensed that the knocking was malicious.

"Are you crazy?!" Zhang Xinyan lowered his head and saw a pair of black high-top leather shoes standing outside the door through the bottom of the lattice door. Obviously, someone was knocking on the door from the outside.

"Knock, knock, knock," came the even louder and more aggressive banging on the door in response to Zhang Xinyan's question. This time, the sound was so frightening that it seemed as if the entire door would be overturned. This time, Zhang Xinyan was truly annoyed. "How awful! This is so noisy!" He jumped up, pushed open the door, and looked around.

Good heavens! He was fine until he looked, and then he screamed in fright. Standing on the ground outside the door were a pair of empty black high-top leather shoes. There was no one on them. But, but, he had clearly seen the shoes outside the door just now, and someone was knocking on the door.

Before Zhang Xinyan could even calm down, with a "whoosh," the leather shoes suddenly and inexplicably emitted a puff of white smoke, which then vanished without a trace.

"No, no, a ghost!! A ghost!" Zhang Xinyan screamed in terror, leaping out of his stall and running wildly towards the door. After running for a while, he stopped and turned around to look. He screamed again—oh my god, he had run back into the toilet, and stopped right in front of his own stall! But he remembered clearly running out of the toilet just moments before. How could he have ended up back where he started? This was terrifying!

With a loud "bang," before he could react, the toilet door slammed shut automatically, trapping Zhang Xinyan inside. At the same time, large plumes of shimmering green smoke poured out from his stall, instantly engulfing and filling the entire toilet, surrounding Zhang Xinyan like a tidal wave.

"Tap, tap, tap," at the same time, the doors of all ten compartments closed automatically from beginning to end, which startled Zhang Xinyan so much that his legs went weak and he was completely stunned. A strange and huge sense of terror quickly washed over his whole body.

At the same time, with a metallic clanging sound, Zhang Xinyan turned his head involuntarily and saw that the tap on the toilet sink had turned on automatically. Large swathes of bright red human blood were flowing from the tap and splashing everywhere, staining the white porcelain sink red. It was extremely terrifying!

At the same time, eerie female singing could be heard throughout the restroom, with the words "Ah..." echoing throughout.

"No, no, don't kill me..." Zhang Xinyan was so terrified that the hairs on his body stood on end. He screamed and stared wide-eyed in horror at the green mist that filled the air. The green mist grew thicker and more terrifying with the singing, making it almost impossible to see one's own hand in front of one's face. The flashes of green light became even more eerie, and the sinister female singing, echoing like the groans and screams of hell, seemed to surge in from all directions of the mist, enveloping him completely. Zhang Xinyan felt dizzy and disoriented, and instinctively screamed, covering his ears with his hands.

"No...no..." At the same time, Zhang Xinyan, who was covering his ears, also saw the long mirror of the washbasin under the green light and smoke. Incredibly, it turned into a green light with the singing. In the green light in the mirror, a terrifying figure flashing red light was approaching him from a distance.

With a sharp "whoosh," a blinding white light suddenly shot out from the green light in the mirror, striking Zhang Xinyan squarely on the forehead. Zhang Xinyan let out an unprecedented scream as the terrifying white light pierced through his forehead, exiting from the back of his head. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, brains splattering. Simultaneously, Zhang Xinyan's entire body was frozen in place by this horrific magic, unable to move. In his final moments, he finally saw that the terrifying white light was shooting out from the red-lighted figure in the mirror. "Heavens! This isn't a person, it's a…!" With another "whoosh," and with Zhang Xinyan's final scream, the white light shooting out from the mirror swept down like a long, heavy blade, striking him from head to toe. With a thud, Zhang Xinyan exploded in two from head to toe in the white light's sweep. His body, with a look of deathly terror on his face, fell backward with a heavy thud.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [17]: Zhang Xinyan's body, which had fallen to the ground and split in two, was covered with large clumps of blood and colorful internal organs, which gushed out from the split body, instantly staining the entire ground red. At the same time, a series of eerie and terrifying "hahahaha" devilish laughs came from the mist. The laughter came from a mirror that was flashing green light. Then the strange green light and green smoke in the mirror gradually disappeared and dissipated in the laughter. The lunch that Father Mott found terrifying finally came to an end. After lunch, the monks had free time for their afternoon rest. Some monks went back to their dormitories to sleep, while others chatted in groups of three or five in the corridor. Meanwhile, a light drizzle began to fall from the gloomy sky.

Father Mott gazed at the eastern lawn bathed in a misty drizzle, its fine rain drifting like cow's hair, and felt a strange, inexplicable unease. He instinctively felt that the drizzle and the dark, gloomy sky were some kind of force. Although the bell tower had stopped its frantic chiming under the misty rain, for some reason, looking at the rain-shrouded bell tower, he felt for a moment that the tall bell tower seemed like a giant face, staring at him menacingly.

"No!" Father Mott quickly shook his head, regaining his senses. Perhaps everything just now was his imagination! Perhaps the bell ringing was just a child's prank, and there was no supernatural power involved.

He turned around and walked towards his dormitory. As he passed the kitchen next to the canteen, he suddenly heard a commotion and the sound of porcelain shards breaking. Immediately afterward, several kitchen staff members wearing white clothes stained with oil rushed out of the kitchen, screaming.

With a loud thud, one of the men who rushed out, a burly man with a mustache, collided head-on with Father Mott. The two fell to the ground together, while the others screamed and rushed past them.

"What happened? What's going on?" Father Mott groaned as he got up from the ground.

"It's terrifying, absolutely terrifying!" The mustachioed chef's face showed extreme horror. "The plates, bowls, knives, and forks in the house are flying around like crazy, it's horrifying! It's so scary!" "Could this just be your hallucination?"

"There are ghosts inside! There are ghosts inside! Hurry up and leave!" the mustachioed man shouted, then abandoned Father Mott and fled in panic.

"What's going on?" Father Mott rushed into the kitchen. Looking inside, he could hardly believe his eyes. A large, eerie green light emanated from somewhere, and under its glow, a huge number of plates and dishes flew around wildly like flying saucers, making loud clattering noises. Shards rained down from the walls, like a shrapnel dance. Some cutting boards, knives, and chairs spun rapidly in mid-air in circles, emitting terrifying whooshing sounds. Meanwhile, a large number of chopsticks, knives, and forks whirled around like a whirlwind. Good heavens, the entire kitchen seemed to have gone mad—it was unbelievable and utterly terrifying!

Before Father Mott, who was terrified, could react, a dozen or so gleaming objects suddenly flew straight down from mid-air towards him. Father Mott quickly ducked down, and the objects whizzed past his head and struck the wooden door behind him.

Father Mott snapped out of his daze and looked up. Good heavens! There were more than a dozen gleaming kitchen knives, forks, and dinner knives stuck in the wooden door. He was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He was just a hair's breadth away from being hit by these knives and forks, turning into a hedgehog, and dying.

Almost simultaneously, with a loud crash, all the objects flying in the air in the kitchen seemed to lose their power instantly, and suddenly fell to the ground with a series of loud thuds. At the same time, the green light in the kitchen also disappeared without a trace.

Several monks, drawn by the noise, cautiously entered from outside, helped Father Mott to his feet, and asked, "What happened?"

"I...I...I..." Father Mott, frozen in fear, could only repeat this phrase over and over.

The cultivators took a closer look and, to their horror, the entire kitchen was a complete mess. Debris was scattered everywhere, tables and chairs were overturned, pots and pans were overturned, and the water tap was nowhere to be seen, spraying water like a fountain! The whole kitchen was so chaotic it looked like it had been turned upside down, it was utterly horrifying!

Before Father Mott could fully recover, a commotion arose outside, followed by several monks rushing in, their faces filled with fear as they cried out to him, "Father! Father!"

"It's terrible, Father Mott, someone's dead in the toilet!" A monk gasped, pointing towards the toilet. "It was a horrific death!"

Father Mott and the monks were so shocked that they rushed outside. They saw groups of monks emerging from various buildings, rushing towards the toilets. Clearly, they had also received the news.

Father Mott's heart raced, and he instinctively rushed over.

The gloomy drizzle continued to fall, and dozens of monks crowded at the entrance to the toilet. Screams and cries could be heard from inside from time to time, indicating that a terrible death had occurred in the toilet.

"Make way, make way." Father Mott was ordered to push his way through the crowd to the front. He looked into the toilet and gasped in shock. His legs went weak and he almost fainted.

It was horrific. The person who died tragically in the toilet was Zhang Xinyan, who had been suffering from stomach pain at lunchtime. My God, his body had been torn in two, covered in blood. Large patches of greenish-black blood, along with his bloody liver, heart, and intestines, spilled out from his ruptured body, looking extremely grotesque and disgusting under the dim, yellowish light.

At the same time, when Father Mott looked at the face of the deceased, he saw that Zhang Xinyan's bloodied and split face had become even more ferocious, with his eyes wide open and bulging, as if he had died with his eyes open or had seen something terrible he had never seen before before his death.

For a fleeting moment, when Father Mott's eyes met those of the two mutilated faces of the deceased, he felt as if those eyes were staring directly at him, alive and well.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [18]: In an instant, Father Mott felt a chill run through his body, and a strange dizziness came over him. He involuntarily closed his eyes, shook his head to calm himself down. He felt a terrible and terrifying aura surging towards him from the corpse.

"Amen, may the Lord bless your soul and grant you a place in heaven." Father Mott closed his eyes, his trembling hands making the sign of the cross on his chest in prayer for the deceased. The monks nearby, seeing this, also closed their eyes and prayed for the deceased, just as Mott had done. Others ran to the telephone counter to report the incident to the police or to the priest.

After praying, Father Mott, expressionless, left the crowd and walked alone to a lawn near the bell tower. The rain continued to fall softly and gloomily. For some reason, his heart was pounding. The cold raindrops lashed his face and head, sending a chill down his spine. An instinctive thought flashed through his mind: could Zhang Xinyan's death be related to his visit to New Kangli Hospital this morning?

Before he could think it through, a young monk rushed toward him. He was a handsome young man in his twenties. "Father, there's a phone for you in the phone room."

Whose is it?

"I don't know, I only know they're looking for you," the young cultivator said before leaving.

Could it be Zhang Wen or Zhang Shanling calling? Father Mott thought to himself as he ran blankly to the telephone booth located on the left side of the auditorium.

When he walked blankly into the telephone booth, it was empty. He went to the telephone, picked up the receiver, and asked weakly, "Who is it?"

"Hahaha..." A sinister and eerie laugh echoed from the phone, startling Father Mott so much that his ears rang and he almost collapsed to the ground in terror!