The old man was nad Musa, a locally known Imam.
The scruffy man was nad Juan, a seasoned hunter.
The middle-aged man with a turban was nad Datou, claiming to be a policeman.
The girl with a butterfly tattoo on her hand was nad Maria, a surgeon.
The curvaceous woman with thin-rimd glasses who didn’t talk much was nad Aisha, an astronor.
Yang Xiao, under the alias Chu Xi, had the identity of a bodyguard for a businessman from Hua Country.
Including Adila who was on guard outside, the seven of them were experienced players, while the remaining five were all newcors.
Nearly half of them were newcors, making Yang Xiao feel disheartened, realizing that the Thailand and Myanmar players were not as skilled as those from the national server.
With no other option, Yang Xiao had to pin his hopes on his exceptional performance, believing that among these experienced players, there were many hidden talents.
Among the five newcors, Ahd was a geography teacher, Hafeez’s family had been fishern for generations, Shari was a fashion model, Davi was a housewife, and Sopa was a writer.
"They’re all useless!" Juan turned his face aside and spat on the ground, his already fierce face looking even more terrifying.
Facing Juan’s insults, the five newcors didn’t dare to respond. Yang Xiao’s gaze swept across their faces, suspecting that among them was an experienced player pretending to be new.
Unfortunately, he didn’t discover anything, as their behavior truly resembled that of newcors.
Da-da-da...
From outside the cave ca a series of urgent footsteps, mixed with the sound of dry branches snapping underfoot.
The group quickly stood up until a figure burst in—it was a robust man.
"There’s a situation outside!" This person was Adila, who was on guard, supposedly a scout.
As soon as Adila returned, he picked up a stick to stir the fire. Seeing this, Yang Xiao and the others imdiately gathered around, using whatever they had, and if not, they used their feet to kick dirt, extinguishing the fire as quickly as possible.
Though they were inside the cave, in the pitch-black night they could still faintly see the firelight reflected at the cave entrance, which could reveal their position.
After putting out the flas, under Adila’s lead, the group left the cave. Only upon stepping out did Yang Xiao notice they were in a mountain gorge, looking up to see a rolling ridge.
It was called a ridge, but it wasn’t high or steep. It didn’t take long for the group to climb up, thanks to Adila finding a small path.
Standing at the ridge and looking down the other side of the mountain, through the thin mountain mist, they saw a bizarre procession.
The procession was very long, at least a hundred people, yet without a single light, no lanterns, no candles, no lighting equipnt whatsoever. Eight people in the middle ford two rows, carrying a dilapidated wooden boat with two thick carrying poles.
The wooden boat was about five ters long, without a cabin, and had white statues at the bow and stern. The entire procession advanced silently, eerily quiet.
This scene felt hauntingly familiar to Yang Xiao, much like the coffin-carrying procession of the Opera Robe Ghost.
"Those are Yin Soldiers..." Juan, usually irritable, turned pale.
"Yin Soldiers?" Davi was frightened by the sudden scene, stamring, "How... how do you know?"
"I don’t know if they’re Yin Soldiers, but they’re certainly not people," Yang Xiao said in a low voice as he peeked down from the cover of trees, "That’s a boat, eight people carrying a boat on a mountain path, do you think they’re immortals?"
Even though the experienced players had given them warnings, it caught the newcors off guard to encounter such an incident as soon as they left the cave.
Before long, as a mist drifted in with the wind, the Yin Soldiers quickly vanished from sight.
"I’m planning to go down for a look, who’s with ?" Adila, evidently bold, imdiately turned to the others.
"I’ll go with you." Surprisingly, the first to volunteer was Aisha, the quiet woman with thin-rimd glasses.
"I’m going too." Imam Musa nodded in agreent.
"Count in." Yang Xiao also volunteered.
Imam Musa turned around, offering a prayer to the others, "You all stay here, keep an eye on the newcors, Allah will protect us."
"Shari, you’re coming with ." Aisha directly pulled out the hiding girl next to her.
"I... I’m scared..." Shari trembled all over.
"Follow , I can protect you, do you think it’s safer to stay behind?"
Aisha gestured toward Juan, who obligingly put on a fierce expression.
Yang Xiao knew well that this was just Aisha’s excuse; she simply wanted soone to take the risk with her.
But no one objected, because this scapegoat could easily be Imam Musa, Adila, or even Yang Xiao himself.
The five of them set off imdiately, first arriving at the last place where the boat-carrying procession had appeared. The rain seed to have fallen in the mountains not long ago, softening the soil, which bore nurous footprints.
The footprints were distinctive, denser and ssier on the sides, while the few rows in the middle were more orderly, the prints deeper.
The middle path was where those carrying the boat had walked.
After inspecting the footprints closely, Imam Musa speculated that these were not ghosts, but rather sothing was wrong with the boat they were carrying.
"A paper boat?" Yang Xiao grasped the concept.
Musa dropped the subject, instead urging everyone to follow. Encountering such an event shortly after entering this world was no coincidence.
The five of them quietly followed the footprints. A thin mist hung in the air, hindering visibility, and Yang Xiao worried that if the procession suddenly turned back, the two groups would collide in the fog.
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