As the door opened, Maria instantly caught a whiff of the stench of rotting at, causing her to instinctively step back.
That very step was imdiately noticed by the old woman, whose face turned grim and sinister.
Just as the old woman was about to question, Yang Xiao interrupted.
He handed the prepared silver pieces over, stuffing them into the old woman’s hand. "Granny Mai Mu, we are monks newly arrived at the Holy Temple, here specifically to visit you and have a chat."
"Oh, monks from the Holy Temple, please...please co in..." Upon confirming the silver in her hand, the old woman’s displeasure vanished, and she quickly retreated to make space for them to enter the room.
Maria: "..."
It wasn’t just the allure of silver; it indirectly confird the identity of Yang Xiao and the others.
After all, few in town would spend money on a useless blind old woman, except for those kind monks from the temple.
Just after Yang Xiao and Maria entered, Hafeez was about to follow when a hand pulled him back from behind.
Hafeez stumbled and turned to see Adila’s ambiguous smiling face. Strangely, Hafeez felt more afraid of him than he did of Juan before.
Adila lifted his chin toward Hafeez, and also to the two ahead, saying, "It’s too small inside; not everyone can fit. Hafeez, you co with ."
The two left the narrow dark alley and arrived in a slightly more spacious area, where Adila inquired about the recent situation of Hafeez’s team. After so conversation, he subtly steered the topic towards Yang Xiao, probing about Yang Xiao and Musa’s performance during the ’morning lesson’ in the Inner Buddha Hall.
Though a newcor, Hafeez was no fool. He imdiately recalled Yang Xiao’s instructions, feigning ignorance to navigate the conversation.
He didn’t blatantly exonerate Yang Xiao, avoiding saying obvious lies like them not interacting at all. He simply expressed that Yang Xiao and Musa hadn’t specifically concealed anything from him or turned him away.
As for their conversation beyond sutra chanting, he didn’t know, nor did he have the habit of eavesdropping.
After chatting a while longer, Adila stood up to leave, heading in the opposite direction of Granny Mai Mu’s ho. Hafeez paused, but quickly followed, "Brother Adila, where are we going?"
"To find clues; can’t let the pressure fall solely on our teammates," Adila replied without turning back.
On another front, Yang Xiao and Maria were already seated inside, having gained Granny Mai Mu’s trust.
During this ti, Granny Mai Mu had heard about Yang Xiao’s group’s matters, but due to her eye condition, she was unable to venture far from ho.
Yang Xiao was aware of Adila’s intent in taking Hafeez away. Gathering clues was one aspect; the key was probing him for information. But, he was occupied with more important matters now.
After so groundwork, Yang Xiao leveraged the pretense of praying for her son, the tavern shopkeeper who disappeared over a decade ago, to introduce the main topic.
"Granny, do you know ’River Immortal Village’?" Yang Xiao asked in a subdued voice.
The ntion of it made Granny Mai Mu’s expression change instantly, and after a brief pause, she nodded, "How could I not know? It’s a Ghost Village now. So many people in town... died because of them, even the high monks in the temple... couldn’t escape."
"Do you know much about this ’River Immortal Village’?"
Granny Mai Mu slowly shook her head, "Not much. I just heard my son ntion a bit. It’s not really a village, more accurately a tribal settlent."
"The settlent is deep in the forest, surrounded by swamps, miasmas, poisonous snakes, and fierce beasts. Almost no one can find them."
"People from the settlent are very exclusive, barely having any contact with outsiders. My son got lost in the forest and chanced upon them."
"They like the wine my son brews. Every once in a while, they ask him to deliver so."
"They don’t take it for free; they exchange animal skins or herbs, which my son sells afterwards."
"Originally, my son’s tavern business wasn’t good, but because of their trade, he earned quite a bit over the years, building a big house for us, much to the envy of neighbors."
"But who would have thought that his one journey would be his last... he never returned after the flood destroyed the upstream earthen dam and subrged the entire settlent!"
Saying this, Granny Mai Mu was overco with emotion, clutching her cane tightly, trembling, the disappearance of her son an ever-present thorn in her heart.
"Did anything unusual happen in the days before your son disappeared?" Yang Xiao pressed on, "Sothing... strange?"
Granny Mai Mu fell into reflection, then shook her head. Just as Yang Xiao and Maria were feeling a little disappointed, Granny Mai Mu seed to recall sothing, tentatively responding, "Nothing particularly strange, but a few days before delivering the wine, my son seed anxious."
Yang Xiao’s eyes lit up at this, "What do you an?"
"He seed... scared of sothing, very fearful," Granny Mai Mu explained. "Though he sold wine, he didn’t like drinking and barely drank. But the night before, when I was up at night passing his room, there was a strong scent of alcohol, and candles still burning."
"I asked him through the door what was wrong; he said it was nothing and told to sleep. I could tell he’d had quite a bit to drink."
"Wine can ward off miasmas and insects; perhaps that was the reason," Maria speculated.
"No, it wasn’t because of that; he hadn’t done this before. He used to carry a wine pouch with him, filled with strong liquor, splashing it on himself if he encountered poisonous insects," Granny Mai Mu shook her head.
Speaking of her son brought sorrow to Granny Mai Mu, though the tears wouldn’t co. Her choked voice was heart-wrenching, "My son was a good boy... unfortunate in life. Even his two children, raised with hardship, turned out to be ingrates. After my son disappeared, those two ungrateful ones took his savings and fled to live a carefree life out of town."
"What about your daughter-in-law?" Maria asked softly, not wanting to upset the poor old woman further.
"I don’t have a daughter-in-law; my son wasn’t married yet," the old woman replied.
Yang Xiao frowned, "No wife, then those children are..."
"My son’s adopted children, both were orphans abandoned by others."
Suddenly, the old woman seed to recall a more painful mory, pursing her lips, but said nothing further.
Yang Xiao and Maria noticed this, prompting Maria to ask imdiately, "Granny, what do you want to say?"
"Noth...nothing," she feigned, sowhat awkwardly.
Seeing this, Yang Xiao didn’t push, signaling Maria to leave. However, before leaving, he explained the purpose of today’s visit.
They were calculating monks of Hejia Lun Du, having determined her son was destined for the Buddhist path, intending to create a golden disc for him.
The golden disc would be offered in the Buddhist Hall, engraved with the man’s information in detail, for protection in his next life for favorable rebirth.
The sowhat unconvincing words, coupled with Yang Xiao’s performance, and their identity as monks made the old woman genuinely believe.
The old woman hastily stood, quickly stopping the two just as they were about to exit.
"Wait!" she hurriedly gestured, "Respected monks, please... please wait!"
"We have other matters; please rest," Yang Xiao knew there was an opportunity, and despite his words, exchanged glances with Maria.
"Hold on, Granny seems to have sothing important to tell us." Maria chid in with Yang Xiao.
"Granny’s important matters have all been ntioned; she wouldn’t keep anything from us, would she?" Yang Xiao’s tone rose, "Hiding the truth from Buddha bears grave repercussions!"
The old woman panicked, "No... no concealnt, I was just about to say, my son didn’t marry because... because he had a congenital condition that left him unable to fulfill marital duties."
But as soon as the words were spoken, she hurriedly explained, "But later on, his problem was cured, truly cured; he beca capable, able to continue the line, and even went to the temple to give thanks!"
"The high monks healed his marital abilities? No, congenital condition?" Yang Xiao was confused.
"No, no, not the high monks, but... but the settlent," she whispered.
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