The room fell into silence again. The father Katie was worried about still sat upright at the table, motionless.

If an outsider were to arrive at this moment, they would likely be shocked by the scene within the dining room.

A snowman made of snow sat steadily at the head of the dining table. Beneath its red ball-like nose was a mouth with teeth, carved with a sharp instrument.

The corners of its mouth were turned up at a steep angle, almost reaching its ears.

The snowman's appearance was very bizarre, certainly fitting to serve as a prop in a horror movie.

In the kitchen adjacent to the dining room, all the water on the floor had solidified into ice. Following the ice upward, one could see a faucet that had been completely frozen over.

In the living room fireplace, a thin layer of white frost had formed on the remaining ashes, seemingly having fallen from the chimney above.

Gauging the thickness of the frost, it was clear that the fireplace in the Kohl Family's house hadn't been used for a long time.

Outside the Kohl Family house, a bright yellow isolation tape had already surrounded it.

By the main entrance, next to the tape, stood a sign nearly as tall as a person, with a warning written in bright red paint that was especially clear.

"Severe Warning,

Please keep away from this building,

Do not approach! Do not approach! Do not approach!!!"

The white snow had crept up to the bottom edge of the sign. Perhaps before long, both the sign and the surrounding isolation tape would be buried by heavy snowfall.

Looking around, on the outskirts of Fairbanks City, houses surrounded by isolation tape with similar signs in front of their gates were not uncommon.

Even other houses that seemed normal at a glance appeared to have been uninhabited for a long time.

Clearly, the abnormality of the neighbors and the bizarre nightly invasions had prompted some people to move away from this area early on.

In the gloomy sky, crystal snowflakes slowly drifted down, only to be whisked away into the distance by a sudden gust of wind.

It seemed Fairbanks City had welcomed an unseasonal snowstorm.

"Boss Chu, the federal government has already agreed to our terms, and they're urging you to set out now!"

That afternoon, Chu Feng had just gotten out of bed in the resting room next to his office. After a few knocks, Lin Qiu pushed open the door and rolled her eyes at the sight of Chu Feng, who was just getting up.

"So soon? Looks like they're really in a rush!" Chu Feng said, getting dressed and covering his abs, his face still showing traces of sleepiness.

"How could they not be? They've paid a heavy price for this performance and are now just waiting for you, the supporting act, to arrive!"

"Heh, then let them wait!"

Chu Feng chuckled disdainfully, walked into the bathroom inside the resting room to wash his face, and was drying it with a towel when Lin Qiu, standing at the door, shook her head at his unhurried manner.

She walked into the resting room, picked up the coat hanging there, and handed it to Chu Feng.

"You're becoming lazier and lazier as the big boss!"

Smiling, Chu Feng took the coat from her.

"Well, since you all are so capable, of course I'd choose to slack off!"

Faced with Boss Chu's blatant loafing, Lin Qiu was filled with resignation, but what could she say?

"Alright, just hurry up and tell me when we're departing. The federal government is waiting!"

As the conversation turned to serious matters, the smile on Chu Feng's face faded, his expression becoming contemplative.

"I was thinking of delaying it for a few more days, but their quick agreement really caught me off guard... Let's do this: reply to them that I'll leave the day after tomorrow—not tomorrow, but the day after. I'll depart then."

"Okay, I'll go right now!" Having received a specific answer, Lin Qiu didn't stay any longer and immediately turned to leave the resting room.

Behind her, Chu Feng's expression suddenly turned much more solemn.

He took out his mobile phone from his pocket and dialed a number not in his contacts.

"Check the current situation in Fairbanks City, Alaska, for me. Send me a report by noon tomorrow at the latest!"

"As you wish, Mr. Chu Feng," a deep male voice came from the other end of the phone.

After hanging up, Chu Feng walked out of the resting room, paced over to his desk, sat down, turned on his computer, and began searching the internet for the latest news about Fairbanks.

「The next day.」

As soon as Chu Feng sat down at his desk, his computer chimed with a new email notification.

They collected the information quite fast! Seeing the sender's details, Chu Feng nodded affirmatively.

He slowly went through the email. After seeing a few photos attached to it, Chu Feng's expression turned a bit bizarre.

It's getting stronger! And... those victims' families might... have issues too! Are they really still alive? Chu Feng murmured to himself, tapping his fingers on the desktop while staring at one photo that seemed quite normal at first glance.

In the photo, a family was gathered around a snowman, apparently eating something. Their smiling faces suggested it was just a very ordinary family lunch.

But the dim light inside the room, the faint white frost visible on the walls and floor, and especially the peculiar smile on the face of the snowman sitting at the head of the table, all made one feel there was something slightly bizarre about the scene depicted in the picture.

The email not only described the current news from Fairbanks; as Chu Feng scrolled further, an introduction to a young man suddenly appeared.

Felix Alvarado. Quite handsome, indeed. But with his ability to resolve an Evil Spirit incident alone, I'm afraid... he'll die quite quickly this time!

He looked at the photograph on the computer screen, which perfectly matched Western aesthetic tastes, and was quite surprised. Is the federal government hosting a beauty contest?

An Exorcist beauty pageant? Chu Feng shook his head and laughed, dispelling the ridiculous thought.

If it really came down to a contest of strength, I wouldn't believe that out of all of America, they could only find this... somewhat capable pretty boy.

The strength of a Fifth-Level Exorcist is not uncommon in my Exorcism Agency nowadays, and as time goes by, this number will only increase.

Add to that the even greater number of freelance Exorcists; no matter how they choose, Felix probably wouldn't even make the list.

So, his identity... After continuing to read the email, Chu Feng chuckled in realization.

He hails from a private school funded by the Rockefeller Family? It seems those hidden behind the scenes are getting restless too.

Having finished the email, Chu Feng casually shut off the computer screen, stood up, walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window, and stood with his arms crossed, silently gazing at the scenery outside.

His eyes were deep, and gradually, a smile tinged with faint mockery appeared on his face.

Heh, a performance doomed to fail!