In the second before the halo shattered, Yang Xiao was switched to the bottom-most step at the back, while Tong Han appeared on the ninth step, right where Yang Xiao had been. At her feet lay Yang Xiao’s cloth bag and the joint-heart lock.
Cheng Cha’s plan had worked, but at that mont, Yang Xiao was undergoing extre tornt. A double-winged black gauze cap was placed on his head, the wings on either side of the cap flapping more and more vigorously, becoming more and more exaggerated, causing Yang Xiao’s head to sway wildly back and forth. It looked like the violent swinging would break his neck—a tornt Cheng Cha had experienced.
Monts later, Yang Xiao crashed heavily onto the ground. He felt dizzy and couldn’t stop retching. But in the next second, countless pieces of joss paper money fluttered down around him. As he looked up in a daze, he saw a crowd of demons and ghosts carrying a large red coffin charging toward him.
Yang Xiao’s consciousness ca to an abrupt halt, and as an observer, Tong Han saw the entire ghastly scene. The big red coffin slamd into Yang Xiao, who was half-lying on the ground, striking only his head, which exploded on impact, while the rest of his body was trampled by the ghosts.
The other ghosts were one thing, but the towering headless general ghost, as if blind, stepped directly on Yang Xiao’s abdon, exploding it with the force of his foot.
After the Blood Coffin and the ghosts vanished, all that remained on the ground was Yang Xiao’s crushed body and a solitary head lying so distance away.
Tong Han didn’t hesitate any longer. She grabbed the cloth bag and the joint-heart lock and limped toward the Nine-Story Demon Tower. She had to pass through the stone platforms of the woman in red and the other eight people. Tong Han tread as lightly as possible, even though they looked like lifeless statues.
As she passed by the man wearing the double-winged black gauze cap, Tong Han couldn’t help but slow down. His face was shrouded in mist, and his position was suspicious; he stood right behind the woman in red, an ideal position for an attack.
Theoretically, a high-level expert like the woman in red would never expose such a huge vulnerability, which made Tong Han question the situation.
Even stranger was the sense of familiarity she felt from the man, especially as she got closer. Both his build and the contours of his face reminded her of soone she knew, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t identify the person.
If she couldn’t find the person, then she wouldn’t search. What was crucial now was to escape—their teammates had risked their lives just to create this opportunity for her.
Her leg injury was getting worse by the mont. After a burst of severe pain, Tong Han fell to the ground. She refused to stay there, dragging herself forward with her hands until she finally reached the Nine-Story Demon Tower. Propping herself against the cold wooden door, Tong Han barely managed to stand and then, with her last bit of strength, she pushed the door open.
...
"Thud."
"Thud."
"Thud."
Unconsciously, Tong Han opened her eyes to the peculiar thumping sound; it seed... it seed like soone was beating a wooden fish.
Still groggy, she sniffed the air and detected a faint scent of alcohol.
As her vision cleared gradually, Tong Han was shocked. She was lying in front of an ancient stone table, with a cushion beneath her.
On the stone table in front of her was an empty bowl that had contained alcohol.
She looked around in a panic. She was in a temple, a very familiar one—it was the Xin’an Temple they had left before. How... how had she ended up back here?
Looking at the empty alcohol bowl in front of her, her head throbbing, she felt the confusion of a hangover. She had indeed returned; everything before seed like a drunken dream.
But what terrified her was that there was only one alcohol bowl on the stone table and only one cushion on the ground. Yang Xiao, Cheng Cha, Mi Shu—all three of them were gone.
There were no signs around them to prove that the three of them had been here, Tong Han’s gaze swept nervously around the area. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a cloth bag and the joint-heart lock underneath the stone table.
The heads inside the cloth bag now numbered 8 or 9 and were big enough when wrapped up to be quite conspicuous under the stone table.
This wasn’t a dream.
It was all real...
Before Tong Han could thoroughly contemplate the sequence of events, a rustling noise suddenly ca from outside the door. Soone was coming. Tong Han quickly stuffed the cloth bag back under the stone table.
The noise approached rapidly, and the old wooden door was pushed open. The sight of the visitors made Tong Han gasp in shock. Yang Xiao, Cheng Cha, Mi Shu, Sui Chengguo, Wuma Haoming, and the others, a total of eight people, walked in one after another in a scene that was incredibly astonishing.
Upon seeing Tong Han, the anxious look on Yang Xiao’s face finally relaxed, and he let out a long breath, "We’ve finally found you. Are you okay?"
"I’m fine. How about you guys?" Tong Han tried to remain calm and turned the questioning back on them.
Soon, from talking with Yang Xiao and the other eight, Tong Han learned another version of "reality." In their mories, they weren’t dead, nor did they have any recollection of Xin’an Temple. They only rembered the death of Quan Doufeng and that Tong Han, as the scout, had gone ahead into the woods. They had waited a long ti, growing worried, which is why they ca looking.
This scene triggered Tong Han’s mories. Last ti, it had been the sa, except this ti the "newcors" were replaced with Yang Xiao and the other eight.
It was like an unbreakable cycle.
A cycle between life and death.
Taking advantage of the mont the others dispersed to search the temple, Tong Han went alone to a secluded spot. She saw an opportunity, bent down, and looked back between her legs at the rest of the group. The sight made her shiver, as her suspicions turned into reality.
Their bodies were torn and ragged, with gaps filled with straw. They all had rigid limbs, especially Yang Xiao. His severed head dangled precariously, held only by a few strands of straw around his neck or it would have fallen off.
In the dim environnt, a light flickered, drawing everyone’s attention. It seed to co from behind a curtain, where a strange silhouette without a head was projected by the candlelight onto the worn curtain.
At the sa ti, as the ruined temple grew brighter, a couplet revealed itself behind the door.
The first line: A world behind every curtain
The second line: A universe inside every bag
The side scroll: Utmost peace in one’s heart
Yang Xiao looked at the couplet and then toward the headless shadow exposed behind the curtain, visibly very nervous, urging everyone to leave quickly.
Indeed, it was a repeat performance. Tong Han rembered Yang Xiao had acted the sa way last ti. These people weren’t fake; they just didn’t know they were dead yet.
But this ti, Tong Han couldn’t let everyone leave because she was sure if they walked out this door, everything would happen all over again, and each ti would only beco more difficult. It was tantamount to seeking death. They had to make a new choice.
Tong Han called out to Yang Xiao, asking them to follow her with her leading the way. She wanted to lift the curtain to see the true face of this Ghost Monk.
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