Chapter 1215: Chapter 812: Seeing a Ghost
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 remembered 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 Ahmed, 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 come back to life?
Let’s take a step back; even if he did come 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 something 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 something 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 Ahmed had the same 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 me, Juan, and Hafeez."
"I later asked Shari and Datou; their groups didn’t encounter anything strange after splitting from us, meaning the ghost supposedly had three targets but chose only our group."
"Moreover, the night before, we originally had seven members 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-member team also split up; I paired with Juan, Ahmed stayed behind with Hafeez, and you know the result."
"Can this really be a coincidence? Everyone who teamed up with Hafeez ended up meeting an unfortunate fate. He... is the ghost!!" Maria exclaimed 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 mere walking corpse.
Ever since this morning when Yang Xiao first saw Hafeez, he seemed 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 newcomer.
"Since you’ve said so much, you must have a plan. What do you intend to do?"
Yang Xiao didn’t express his stance immediately 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 some 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 become wary." Yang Xiao cautioned.
But Maria already had a comeback, 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 claimed 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 met with misfortune. After all, Maria didn’t die; she had indeed been locked outside the meditation room with Hafeez all night.
No one knew what transpired that night, and after that night, Hafeez’s mental state seemed to deteriorate.
