By the faint light of the lantern, the team continued forward, once again arriving at the corner. Ahd rembered clearly that the entrance to the Buddhist Hall was just ahead.
But in the next second, Hafeez, leading the way, suddenly halted without warning, causing Ahd to almost crash into him.
Normally, Ahd would have scolded him harshly, but now he didn’t dare to, because he noticed that Hafeez was trembling all over, shaking like a sieve, and the incense in his hand almost fell to the ground.
Tilting his body, he looked ahead through the gap between Hafeez and the wall. Just one glance and Ahd’s pupils constricted suddenly, his body involuntarily shivering.
The once tightly shut dark door was now inexplicably open, a thin beam of moonlight spilled in, casting a shadow on the ground.
The door was only open about a third of the way, just wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
At this mont, Ahd felt a chill all over his body. He finally understood where the ghosts went. They didn’t leave, nor did they go to find the other team. They had entered, right into this Buddhist Hall.
One must understand, the door of this Outer Buddha Hall is extrely heavy, requiring great effort to push open, and the hinge would usually make a very distinct creaking sound. Yet, strangely, the hall was so quiet that Ahd didn’t hear a single sound.
Cold sweat dripped from Ahd’s forehead and cheeks. He knew stopping now was absolutely not an option, so he gathered his courage and pushed Hafeez, who then resud moving.
The closer Ahd got to the opened door, the more terrified he felt. Hafeez was the sa, if not worse than Ahd. Step by step they moved, finally reaching the other side of the door.
Hafeez didn’t dare look outside, fearing he’d see a ghostly face that would scare him to death. Ahd only glanced with his peripheral vision. Luckily, outside was empty, just a wide stone-paved ground, and nothing more.
But this might not be good news either; this indicated that the hopping "zombies" had indeed entered.
Now, there was just a small piece of incense left in Ahd’s hand. He estimated it would burn out in about one more round, and then their task would end, allowing them to escape this haunted place.
Truth be told, he couldn’t stand staying in this cursed place even for one more second.
One of the reasons he persisted was the presence of the two veteran players following them. These two were really ruthless, not making a sound. Ahd guessed they were also waiting, but not necessarily for the task to end. More likely, they were waiting for him, or Hafeez walking in front, to make a mistake.
In such a scenario, one or even both of them would get taken down by a ghost, giving Juan Aisha the chance to survive.
If luck was on their side, they might even glean so clues from their corpses.
These are common tactics among veteran players, and Ahd had used them before too. But he had to admit from the bottom of his heart, Juan Aisha really knew how to keep their composure.
In this situation, turning back could be extrely dangerous, but curiosity gnawed at him. At the next corner, Ahd quickly glanced back using his peripheral vision.
But just that one glance left him utterly frozen; behind him there was nothing.
Gone.....
Juan and Aisha, both live people, were gone!!
The probability of both being taken by the ghost was almost zero. A surge of blood rushed into Ahd’s head. He was sure that he’d been betrayed, and so had Hafeez.
Those two old hands must have silently left upon sensing sothing was wrong, while he and Hafeez had foolishly continued on.
But the key question now is when did the two leave? Did they hide in so dark corner, or simply exit through the door, leaving the Outer Buddha Hall?
His mind churned endlessly. At this mont, Ahd’s mind was in chaos; he genuinely slled the scent of death.
This wasn’t an illusion; he truly sensed danger, because just now he faintly felt a malicious gaze fixed on him.
Now, he didn’t care about turning back; his teammates behind him had already fled. He quickly surveyed the surroundings, but apart from the darkness and the faint candlelight within the Buddhist Hall, he found nothing.
He couldn’t locate the "missing" ghosts, nor could he find the source of that gaze.
"Ahd, are you... are you still there?" Hafeez in front suddenly asked in a trembling voice.
"Shut up, don’t use nas!" Ahd growled, then as if suddenly realizing sothing, hastily added to reassure, "Don’t be scared, we’re all here. Mr. Juan told us to keep going, whatever you do, don’t turn back."
An audacious plan ford in Ahd’s mind. He felt sure that continuing on would lead to disaster; they likely wouldn’t have a chance to make it to the exit alive.
Since Juan Aisha had chosen to abandon them, why couldn’t he do the sa, abandoning Hafeez, using him as a scapegoat?
Ahd did not consider himself a good person, and this wasn’t the first ti he’d done sothing like this.
As the incense in his hand was about to burn out, Ahd prepared to act. He began to breathe rapidly, creating a tense atmosphere, which quickly caught Hafeez’s attention, who nervously asked, "Ahd... you, what’s wrong?"
"Hafeez, I have to tell you sothing, you... don’t be afraid." Ahd perford convincingly, enunciating Hafeez’s na with deliberate emphasis.
"What is it?"
"There’s... there’s a ghost lying... lying on your back."
As soon as Ahd spoke, Hafeez ahead of him imdiately halted, his whole body seeming to collapse as if he was about to faint to the ground, but fortunately, Ahd caught him just in ti.
"Don’t be afraid, Mr. Juan taught a way. I’ll use a knife to stab this ghost. As soon as I do, you must run imdiately, understand?" Ahd lowered his voice, speaking quickly and urgently.
Hafeez, rendered speechless with fear, could only nod frantically.
Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Ahd quietly drew the short knife hidden in his clothing, which he had swiped from an abandoned house where they rested.
The next second, Ahd stabbed Hafeez in the shoulder. It was a vicious strike, and blood imdiately flowed, causing Hafeez, in pain, to sprint forward, forgetting entirely to stick close to the wall. Since the ghost was supposedly on his shoulder, he ran straight ahead, through the middle of the Buddhist Hall, racing towards the door.
Seeing this, Ahd imdiately beca silent, hiding himself behind a divine statue, secretly observing the outside.
Only when Hafeez’s footsteps completely faded away did Ahd not hear any falling or screaming; it seed that Hafeez wasn’t attacked.
From the sound of the footsteps, Hafeez had indeed run out of the Buddhist Hall.
Now, Ahd was puzzled. Could the danger tonight not be inside the Buddhist Hall, but outside, along the path they took to return?
With just a tiny bit of incense left, Ahd estimated it would all burn out in one or two minutes. After contemplating a bit, he decided to wait it out.
If the enemy doesn’t move, neither will I. He’d leave only when the incense fully burnt out.
But after hiding for only a short while, he sharply sensed a chill. Rolling up his sleeve, he saw his arm covered in goosebumps.
This was a sign of impending danger. Ahd was sure he’d been targeted by a ghost.
Yet, when he looked around, he couldn’t see any trace of a ghost, nor did he notice anything unusual. The imdiate vicinity was quiet, eerily quiet, as if there wasn’t a living creature in the hall.
Ahd turned back to look at the paper window and, if necessary, planned to escape through it. But to his astonishnt, the window he thought was not far behind him had vanished.
There was only a pitch-black stone wall stretching endlessly.
"The window?!"
After hesitating for a few seconds, like a last flash of realization, Ahd suddenly comprehended sothing even more terrifying. They had entered the Outer Buddha Hall this night, and there was no window there at all.
Fake...
Everything was fake...
A chilling wave surged through Ahd, almost breaking him, and at that mont, the malicious chill from being watched beca increasingly sinister and bone-chilling.
"Scrape—"
"Scrape—"
Already nearly delirious, Ahd suddenly heard a faint scraping sound. Trembling, he followed the sound upwards, and the scene above him plunged him into despair.
There, corpses wrapped in white cloth clung tightly behind the divine statue, their cyan ghostly faces peeking out, staring down at him.
Ahd staggered backward until he hit the wall, collapsing to the ground, the lantern in his hand fell and rolled away.
The fla flickered twice and went out with a "poof", plunging everything into darkness.
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