Inside the temple, within the ditation room.
A faint candle flickered like a bean, and Yang Xiao sat alone at the old wooden table, his brow tightly furrowed.
Slight snores echoed in the room; everyone else had fallen asleep. The exhausting night had left everyone weary, and Yang Xiao took it upon himself to keep the first watch of the night.
After witnessing Yang Xiao’s actions tonight, no one doubted his abilities anymore; he was a young, yet exceptionally capable outsider.
With him on watch, everyone slept soundly, even veterans like Adila and Musa. Their chests rose and fell gently, utterly exhausted from the night’s ordeal.
Shifting his gaze, Yang Xiao looked to the other side of the room, where a bed lay. Aisha and Shari were huddled together, back to back, also in deep slumber.
Ever since being rescued by Shari, Aisha’s attitude towards her had improved significantly. To pull Aisha out of the earthen pit, Shari had cut her arm on so rocks.
The mont they returned to the room, Aisha imdiately cleaned Shari’s wound with fresh water, then bandaged it with clean cloth.
They had no dicine at hand and could only wait until morning to ask the monks for so. Such a simple request would surely not be refused.
Yang Xiao’s eyes scanned over each teammate in the room, his confusion growing. Amazingly, there were no casualties tonight, or rather, they had barely encountered any genuinely threatening supernatural events.
It was unbelievable. They were tasked with delivering a corpse for burial and had encountered the severed-hand ghost, disguised as a peculiar masked person involved in the handover of the corpse.
Yang Xiao suspected that the other team might have encountered trouble. After all, shortly after the teams separated, whatever was in the coffin quieted down. From then until it was buried in the grave, the coffin made no further noises.
Before Yang Xiao could ponder further, a rustling sound ca from a short distance away. Aisha slowly rose and gently climbed out of bed.
From her careful movents, it was clear she didn’t want to wake Shari, who was still deep in dreamland with her eyes closed.
Seeing this, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but be moved. Not long ago, Aisha had regarded Shari as a burdenso newbie, full of disdain and even ready to use her as a scapegoat.
But since being saved by her, their relationship had beco much more harmonious.
Aisha stretched her body as she approached Yang Xiao, sitting in the chair opposite him, not forgetting to pour herself a cup of tea.
The bitter tea washed away so of her drowsiness. Adila shook her head vigorously to wake herself up, then quietly said to Yang Xiao, "Mr. Chu, I’ll take the second watch. You should go rest."
"Be careful; everything went a bit too smoothly tonight, and I still feel unsettled." Yang Xiao accepted Aisha’s offer without protest, slowly standing and reminding her in a low voice, "For the next shift, don’t wake up Old Mr. Musa. He’s older, and not as energetic as we are. Let him sleep a bit longer."
"Don’t worry," Aisha agreed amicably with Yang Xiao, nodding seriously. "Mr. Chu, thank you for tonight; your decisions saved all of us."
"It’s what I should do."
Yang Xiao nodded, concluding the conversation. He was utterly exhausted, his forehead veins pulsating, and he needed rest.
As soon as he collapsed onto the bed, he fell asleep in seconds.
He slept soundly without dreams all night, until an unexpected knock on the door woke him.
The outside was already bright. A monk had co hurriedly, saying Pato Abbot wanted to see them imdiately.
Not daring to delay, the group quickly tidied up and rushed over, only to find that Patuo Monk wasn’t there, but a black-clothed Azan holding a precept blade.
Monk A Zan, his expression serious, instructed them to wait there.
Soon, the other team arrived, but to everyone’s surprise, the original group of six was now just four.
Juan and Davi were both missing.
Maria had injuries on her face and body, limping as she walked. Hafeez’s lips were pale, appearing extrely frightened.
Datou and Sopa fared slightly better but were also ntally drained, with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere over the whole team.
As expected... Yang Xiao’s suspicions turned out to be true. Last night, the ghost attacked the other team, resulting in two casualties - a massive loss.
Seeing everyone gathered, Monk A Zan explained what happened: in the morning, a body was found behind an alley of a house in town. Pato Abbot had rushed over imdiately upon learning of it and was taking them there now.
On the way, Yang Xiao deliberately slowed his pace, distancing himself from Monk A Zan. Under the guise of supporting Maria, he inquired about the previous night’s events.
Maria recounted what happened, including being chased by a ghostly figure, tripping down the steps, and spraining her ankle.
As he supported Maria’s arm, Yang Xiao noticed her body felt cold, her clothes were damp, and dewdrops seed to cling to her disheveled hair.
Worried Yang Xiao might suspect her, Maria glared venomously at Datou, who walked ahead, then confided in Yang Xiao. "We got separated last night. I was injured and couldn’t move fast. By the ti... by the ti I got back to the temple, it was very late."
"Datou and Sopa were in the room and locked the door. They didn’t respond when I knocked and wouldn’t let in. I... I froze outside all night."
"Were you alone?"
"No, Hafeez was with . He... he ca back even later, scared out of his wits."
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