Chapter 1189: Chapter 798: Trust No One (Part 2)
She’s not a novice, she’s in disguise, a wolf hiding among the sheep.
The sudden sound of footsteps outside the door interrupted Yang Xiao’s thoughts. There was a knock, and then the wooden door creaked open, revealing two men with bare chests outside. They were dressed like monks, but not entirely. Each of them wore a heavy metal ring on their hands.
Behind the men were a dozen or so villagers. As the crowd parted to both sides, a familiar figure appeared in front of Yang Xiao and the others.
It was the missing Shari. Shari was now wrapped in a tattered garment, looking dirty, with multiple dried mud stains. She had lost one shoe, clearly having spent a rather uncomfortable night.
After bringing the person back, the two men dressed like monks folded their hands in a greeting and then left with the rest of the villagers.
It seemed that the villagers already knew about Yang Xiao and the others, showing more respect, kneeling on the ground, paying their respects before reluctantly leaving.
It seems that the people in this town are very devout Buddhists. Yang Xiao and the others represent the worldly alms bowl of high monks, which can also be seen as the embodiment of the high monks.
With Shari’s return, the scene momentarily became weird, but before the hesitant Musa could ask questions, the listless Shari seemed to have seen a ghost, and couldn’t help but scream out, "You... How are you here?"
Yang Xiao frowned, and everyone followed Shari’s gaze, finding that she was staring intently at Aisha.
"Weren’t you taken away by those weird people?" Shari’s voice trembled, and her words were shocking.
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene exploded instantly. Those who had been standing next to Aisha immediately backed away, clearing a radius of three meters around her in an instant.
"You... you are lying!" Aisha seemed stunned by the counter-accusation and immediately turned to Yang Xiao and the others to hastily explain, "Don’t believe her; she’s fake. I saw her with my own eyes rolling down the slope. Those ghostly things were right behind us at that time, not more than 3 meters away from her!"
"I did roll down the hill, because you pushed me." Shari quickly replied.
"I... I lost my grip, I actually wanted to pull you along." Aisha didn’t dwell on this topic, "In any case, you fell down the slope and were chased by those things!"
"I did roll down. I hit my head on a tree root and quickly passed out. In the last moment before I fainted, I saw many pairs of feet running away from me. They were coming after you." Shari accused.
"You’re lying!" Aisha was anxious, her voice changing, "I got away; I wasn’t chased. I even successfully regrouped with everyone, ask them if you don’t believe me!"
But Aisha quickly calmed down, because originally she intended to have others testify for her, but unexpectedly, Yang Xiao and the others were all looking at her with a subtle and resistant gaze.
Faced with a deadlock of mutual accusations, the best way is not to discern but, to err on the side of caution, to trust neither.
The situation is complicated, but one thing is almost universally acknowledged: the Ghost has already appeared, and there’s a high probability it’s already among us.
The "recovered" Shari could be the Ghost, but the accused Aisha also can’t be ruled out as a suspect.
"Stop the arguing." Imam Musa stepped out, first reciting a scripture, then removing the hemp rope around his waist, and asked for the cloth belt around Datou’s waist, throwing them respectively to Aisha and Shari, telling them to tie their hands.
"Allah will distinguish between the faithful and the insidious; that Evil Spirit will eventually reveal its fox tail." Hands spread open, Musa said very seriously.
Admittedly, Musa’s maneuver actually had some effect, at least calming the spirits.
Yang Xiao, who had survived several nightmarish missions, knew well that hearts mustn’t be in turmoil, and there must be a focal point in the team.
Once the two reluctantly tied themselves up, Yang Xiao also offered a suggestion, "Everyone, I propose that for now, we don’t mention these two ladies’ affair to the monks at the temple, lest it complicates matters."
Upon hearing this, Musa nodded in agreement, "That’s right, he’s right. The temple is a holy place. As you can see, the villagers and monks here still fear those things. If we tell them, they might throw us out overnight."
"I’m real!" Shari was still defending herself, "You have to believe me!"
"Shut up!" Yang Xiao was annoyed by her noise. He felt as if he were transported into Journey to the West, facing the dilemma of the true and false Monkey Kings.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t The Buddha.
Speaking of The Buddha, Yang Xiao suddenly thought of Monk Wukong. If the renowned Life Demanding Monk were here, perhaps he would have a way.
Yang Xiao sighed silently, thinking that with these two here tonight, no one would sleep well.
There wasn’t a better solution for now; everyone could only watch with disbelief, while Juan and Datou, unwilling to give up, each took one woman to a corner for interrogation, then replayed the scenarios the two confessed to.
Yang Xiao also pulled a chair to listen in. He noticed that the two’s accounts regarding encountering the Ghost were almost entirely consistent, unlike lies.
They can’t both be fake, can they... Yang Xiao pondered a bold hypothesis.
This stemmed from a spy drama he had watched, where several enemy personnel were imprisoned, among whom were two intelligence agents on their side. To successfully get information out, the two agents did not hesitate to accuse each other.
This way, they could keep at least one spark alive; whoever survived could have the chance to pass the intelligence out.
Shari’s stomach constantly rumbled; she hadn’t eaten for a day and a night. The town was full of devout Buddhists who traditionally observed fasting after noon, so they also had to adapt to local customs.
As night fell, they finally waited for the monks. A middle-aged monk led a group hurriedly over, telling them the temple was ready, and they could stay there tonight.
But as soon as Yang Xiao and the others stepped out of the room, the villagers waiting outside with torches rushed into their previous room, scrambling to grab chairs.
"What are they doing?" Yang Xiao was eager to learn, asking what he didn’t understand.
The middle-aged monk clasped his hands together, explaining, "You represent the high monks in the temple. The chairs on which high monks have sat are considered large scripture cushions, blessed by Buddhist Law. These people are devout believers, and they will take the chairs home to mount, cover them with prayer cloths and scriptures, and chant day and night for blessings."
After walking a rugged path, they arrived at the temple. The temple was larger than they imagined, and its decorations far surpassed nearby houses, highlighting the wealth of the Buddhist Temple.
The middle-aged monk explained while walking that the temple was divided into the East Cross Courtyard and the West Cross Courtyard. They would stay in the East Cross Courtyard tonight; previously, it was also where the high monks rested.
Passing through an archway in the West Cross Courtyard, they reached a secluded area for resting, which had two large rooms. Originally, women weren’t allowed in the high monks’ resting area, but because they were the worldly alms bowl chosen by the high monks, there was an exception.
The middle-aged monk particularly emphasized that in the temple, especially in important places like the scripture hall, never directly call a woman by name, as it would be considered greatly disrespectful.
After sending Yang Xiao and the others to their resting place, the middle-aged monk left, reminding them before leaving that there would be late lessons later, and someone would come to fetch them. They represented the departed high monks, and everyone must attend. After the lessons, he had some important matters to relay.
With the departure of the middle-aged monk, only their group remained at the scene. The separate courtyard was quite large, with the main buildings being two meditation rooms set far apart, separated by a pond, lined with trees on both sides, and connected by a stone bridge.
Originally a cherished land for gathering winds and storing water, now the secluded courtyard was desolate and cold, exuding a sinister chill, with rustling leaves hinting at something lurking in the darkness.
Next was room allocation. The initial rule was to have men and women in separate rooms, but in this situation, the most reasonable approach was to throw those two suspicious people out into one room.
However, Yang Xiao underestimated the group’s determination to preserve their lives. After some shady discussion, Juan was finally pushed forward, "Everyone, we’ve discussed it. Tonight we’ll sleep in separate rooms."
Juan’s voice wasn’t loud, just enough for everyone present to hear clearly, "Those who stayed to watch last night will be in one room, and those who went to explore will be in another. Hehe, after all, you got separated, anyone could have been replaced."
