Chapter 1233: Chapter 820: The Benevolent Yang Xiao
As Musa slowly sat up, Adila squinted his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth in a completely self-assured manner, "Mr. Musa really is observant, I admire that."
"Why are you looking for me?" Musa raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Yang Xiao, but at this moment, due to the angle, he could only see Yang Xiao’s legs.
Both Musa and Adila spoke in lowered voices, wary of disturbing the sleeping Yang Xiao.
"Of course, I have something to say to you," Adila smiled, "Don’t mind that I approached Chu Xi first; without doing so, I couldn’t make him lower his guard. I’ve wanted to talk to you for a long time, but that boy is too problematic."
Adila, full of confidence, said, "Before discussing business, let me show my sincerity to you. Chu Xi has been setting you up, so listen to me."
...
More than half an hour later, the candlelight in the meditation room was dim, and the night watcher had been replaced by Musa.
After all, Musa was an elderly man, not as physically strong as Adila and Yang Xiao. Plus, he had caught a chill outside earlier that night, so he was now wrapped in a blanket and curled up in a chair, keeping watch.
The flickering candlelight cast stark shadows on his face with its single eye as he slowly yawned and then turned to look at Yang Xiao.
There was nothing unusual; Yang Xiao was sleeping soundly on his side, breathing steadily, his body rising and falling with the rhythm of his breaths. However, due to the lighting and positioning, Yang Xiao’s face was shadowed and somewhat obscured.
The night was tranquil, and the slight noise, like wind rustling leaves, turned into a kind of white noise that was almost hypnotic, making Musa drowsy.
Yet just seconds after Musa turned back his head, unseen by anyone, the pair of eyes hidden in the shadows behind him slowly opened a crack.
The next morning, there was a knocking at the door, waking all three. Yang Xiao and Adila each slept in separate beds, while Musa had fallen asleep directly on a table.
None of the three heard the footsteps approaching from the courtyard until there was a knock at the door.
Upon opening the door, a somewhat familiar monk respectfully pressed his palms together and invited them for breakfast.
Yang Xiao and the others quickly washed up with water from the vat in the room before heading out, also instructing the monk who came to notify them to inform Pato Abbot, explaining that they encountered danger last night when trying to "release" the coffin ship.
Unfortunately, two friends had died in the woods not far from the lake, and their bodies were behind a very thick tree.
They had marked the spot with cloth strips on the branches of a small tree nearby.
After sending Yang Xiao and the others to the dining hall, the monk left to carry out his duty, with an expression of calm that seemed to have long been accustomed to the sight of life and death.
Before Yang Xiao and his team arrived, the curse-like Fierce Ghost of "River Immortal Village" had already been rampaging for over a month, causing almost daily untimely deaths in the town.
The townspeople didn’t try to escape, as it was futile; the first to flee also died in the same manner as those who stayed.
This Evil Ghost was like a curse, equally looming over the heads of every townspeople.
Yang Xiao’s team was the first to arrive, but they did not start eating immediately. Instead, they waited until another group showed up late before preparing to eat.
During the meal, Yang Xiao keenly sensed a subtle shift in the atmosphere among the other group, and he soon confirmed it was Datu Supa and Maria; the three of them had had a falling out.
No need to guess, the obvious change in attitude was definitely due to some disagreement during last night’s task.
After eating, the group gathered together to continue discussing the next set of tasks.
To prevent unnecessary losses, Musa voluntarily disclosed some of his secrets generously, including how the Fierce Ghost kills.
However, he didn’t mention the shadow, offering only a vague hint of "mimicking" the deceased’s actions.
As for why he didn’t say anything last night but waited until now, Musa’s explanation was that it was just his guess.
He only thought it through last night, and it might not be entirely accurate; he was merely providing an idea.
People weren’t fools present; the connection between new players surviving and old players dying suddenly made Datu, Maria, and the others believe this guess about six or seven-tenths, and their gaze towards Musa contained more trust.
He was a rather generous old man and a rare wise one.
In nightmare tasks, intelligent people were the most popular because they were the ones who could lead everyone to survive.
But Musa only revealed a little information; as for the Ghost following the larger group, he had no reason to disclose that.
Datu took the opportunity to share some of his guesses, among which were two valuable points.
First, he speculated that the Ghost doesn’t kill without reason, and that all those killed might have received "benefits" from the temple, meaning they were healed by the High Monks.
Being "healed" led to them being tainted with a curse.
Second, their selection as "Worldly Alms Bowl" wasn’t accidental; there might be some unknown connection between them and the temple and the High Monks.
Upon mutual agreement, Datu eagerly stood up: "Then let’s not waste any time. Let’s set the plan; our two teams will split up and act separately, and when we return at noon..."
"I don’t want to go with you; I want to join the team with Musa and Chu Xi," suddenly, a discordant voice broke the atmosphere in the scene.
Yang Xiao frowned, the situation he least wanted to see had still occurred.
