The words "resurrection from the dead" struck Yang Xiao and the others like a thunderbolt from the sky, leaving them agape.
Yang Xiao couldn’t recall ever saving a life; he only rembered last night when their group carried a coffin to the Chaos Burial Mound behind the desolate mountain outside the town.
A baffling thought began to take shape in Yang Xiao’s mind: could it be that the coffin last night contained not Ahd, but the man kneeling in the courtyard?!
But that didn’t make sense. Even if it were the man, even if they had carried him to the Chaos Burial Mound, a dead person is dead. How could he possibly co back to life?
Let’s take a step back; even if he did co back to life, then... is he still human?
Not long after, the believers in the courtyard gradually dispersed. The still-shaken Yang Xiao and the others bade farewell to the elder and went to find Patuo Monk; Yang Xiao had his own plan.
On the way, Yang Xiao assisted Maria, who then gave him a subtle glance, making Yang Xiao realize she had sothing to say to him.
As expected, after slowing their pace and distancing themselves from the main group, Maria clutched Yang Xiao’s arm, her tone low but urgent: "Mr. Chu, I suspect there’s sothing wrong with Hafeez!"
"What’s your reasoning?"
"Last night, Juan tried to use Hafeez as a scapegoat, and Juan ended up dead. You saw the scene from the night before; it was clear Ahd had the sa idea, but he... he died as well."
"Hafeez disappeared both those nights; he was alone, and no one could account for his actions."
Maria tightened her grip on Yang Xiao’s arm, her body trembling, growing more agitated as she spoke, "Moreover, last night it was obviously your team who was tasked with burying the body, yet it was still our team that encountered the ghost. This defies logic unless... unless the ghost is right beside us, in my team, it’s Hafeez!"
"Impressive..." Yang Xiao silently praised. Maria figured this out solely through deduction without any hints from the Esoteric Sect’s martyr.
Yang Xiao began to reassess this woman but maintained his composure, "Anything else?"
"Yes!" Maria nodded heavily, clearly prepared, "After our two teams split last night, the six of us soon encountered a supernatural event, causing us to scatter into three groups: one was Davi alone, another was Datou and Sopa, and the last was , Juan, and Hafeez."
"I later asked Shari and Datou; their groups didn’t encounter anything strange after splitting from us, aning the ghost supposedly had three targets but chose only our group."
"Moreover, the night before, we originally had seven mbers on the mission, but only our team was targeted by the ghost; Datou, Davi, and Sopa in the Inner Buddha Hall passed the night without any issues."
"That’s not all; after encountering the ghostly figure outside the Outer Buddha Hall, our original four-mber team also split up; I paired with Juan, Ahd stayed behind with Hafeez, and you know the result."
"Can this really be a coincidence? Everyone who tead up with Hafeez ended up eting an unfortunate fate. He... is the ghost!!" Maria exclaid passionately.
Feeling their conversation was becoming too loud, Yang Xiao instinctively glanced towards Hafeez at the front of the group. The latter showed no reaction, his head hanging limply, still advancing like a re walking corpse.
Ever since this morning when Yang Xiao first saw Hafeez, he seed listless, with heavy dark circles and bloodshot eyes.
Although considering that he hadn’t rested well for two consecutive nights and was frightened, it could be understood as he’s a newcor.
"Since you’ve said so much, you must have a plan. What do you intend to do?"
Yang Xiao didn’t express his stance imdiately but instead listened without replying; he wanted to hear what Maria had to say first. She was a formidable woman.
In the next second, Maria slowly raised her hand and made a decisive cutting motion across her throat.
"That’s the only way. I deduce that this ghost is entirely different from the ones we encountered before; it can be ’killed’ to so extent."
"As long as we find and ’kill’ it, the curse on this town will be lifted, and our mission will naturally be over," Maria explained in one breath.
"Killing him isn’t hard, but if you kill the wrong person, it will cause disunity in the team, and everyone will beco wary." Yang Xiao cautioned.
But Maria already had a coback, answering quietly, "Rest assured, I have a way. There will be no bloodshed. I’ll use poison. There’s a pharmacy in the town where I can concoct a poison that will kill him silently and unnoticed."
Yang Xiao suddenly recalled that Maria had claid to be a doctor.
"This matter is too significant to act rashly; I’ll have to go back and discuss it with the Imam," Yang Xiao considered before saying.
"Alright, the Imam is a sensible person; he will understand my actions."
Maria was confident, also reminding Yang Xiao that it would be best for just the three of them to know about this matter.
Their conversation ended there, and Yang Xiao continued to assist Maria, maintaining a composed appearance, but internally, turbulent waves were surging.
Maria was right; the anomalies surrounding Hafeez indeed aroused suspicion, but there was another person who also heightened Yang Xiao’s vigilance.
It was none other than Maria beside him.
Maria wasn’t entirely correct; not everyone who stayed alone with Hafeez late at night t with misfortune. After all, Maria didn’t die; she had indeed been locked outside the ditation room with Hafeez all night.
No one knew what transpired that night, and after that night, Hafeez’s ntal state seed to deteriorate.
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