Chapter 1234: Chapter 820: The Benevolent Yang Xiao (Part 2)
"Miss Maria, what happened?" Adila, never one to miss an opportunity, asked seriously on the spot.
Generally, in such situations, people won’t take the initiative to ask questions. Instead, they will try to resolve conflicts within the team discreetly, which is crucial for maintaining the team’s internal relationships.
It’s not that conflicts can’t arise—that’s unrealistic—but at least on the surface, everyone should get along.
Otherwise, once the team faces a crisis at a critical moment, if major tasks are delayed due to impulsivity, it would spell disaster.
Just from this incident, Yang Xiao’s impression of Adila worsened. Adila might be somewhat clever, but certainly not a kind person.
As expected, under Adila’s instigation, the conflict between Maria and Datu Supa erupted thoroughly. Maria angrily accused Datu Supa of scheming against her several times, while Datu retorted that Maria’s scheming had backfired on herself, leaving her humiliated and furious.
It was evidently unrealistic to have them execute important tasks together at this moment. Fortunately, Musa, who had a good reputation, stepped forward and stabilized the situation with just a few words.
He proposed to exchange himself with Maria, forming a team with Adila, Yang Xiao, and Maria, responsible for leaving the temple and going to town to carry out tasks.
He, Datu, Supa, and Hafeez would stay in the temple to continue the investigation, mainly focusing on the "healing" rituals of the High Monks.
Without a doubt, this proposal was unanimously approved. During this time, Yang Xiao noticed Hafeez hesitating to speak several times; clearly, he also knew he was being ostracized by Datu Supa and wanted to join Yang Xiao’s team.
Hafeez gave Maria, the one who had just escaped her plight, meaningful looks several times, hoping she would help him leave too, but Maria didn’t even glance at him.
"The town’s so big, the three of us might not manage it. Why not give us one more person?" Yang Xiao naturally looked up and suggested to Musa and the others.
Musa, being the adept person he was, didn’t decide alone but turned to Datu, throwing the question to him.
After all, in terms of time, he was the newcomer to the team, while previously, it seemed Datu was the mainstay of this small group.
And the result was clear. Datu was unlikely to send Musa, or his partner Supa, so naturally, they sent out the inconsequential Hafeez, not forgetting to remind Yang Xiao and the others to take good care of their friend Hafeez.
Though the words sounded insincere, at least they maintained appearances, making everyone look good on the surface.
Next was task allocation. Through brainstorming, the teams quickly clarified their tasks for the day, each performing their duty.
But to proceed, they still needed the monks’ approval from the temple.
Soon, accompanied by a few monks, Pato Abbot arrived. After understanding the situation with Musa and Yang Xiao, he said some comforting words and arranged for people to retrieve the bodies from the lake.
Taking the opportunity, Yang Xiao mentioned to him that they wanted to leave the temple today to visit the town.
Pato Abbot readily agreed but humbly suggested, with hands together, that they attend the routine morning class first, as a way to earn merit and blessings for themselves.
As he said this, he extended his hand, and the monk behind him immediately stepped forward, pulling out a book with a blue cover from his arms.
When opened, all their names were prominently listed inside, including those of their deceased teammates.
Yang Xiao noticed the book’s cover was worn, and the pages inside were slightly yellowed at the edges, with the writing’s borders a bit frayed, indicating its age—at least 20 years.
This meant that long ago, they had been selected as the Hejia Lun Du, or "Worldly Alms Bowl," for the High Monks.
Pato Abbot, solemn-faced, called each name, dividing the seven of them into two groups: one group to the Inner Buddha Hall for morning class, the other to the Outer Buddha Hall.
The Inner Buddha Hall group included Musa, Hafeez, and Yang Xiao.
The Outer Buddha Hall group included Adila, Datu, Supa, and Maria, who was on hostile terms with the first two—a true case of foes on a narrow path.
As Pato Abbot finished calling the names and prepared to leave, Datu stepped forward and stopped him.
Datu, with palms together in front of him, somewhat urgently said, "Master Pato, we encountered a demonic obstacle, I beg for your guidance."
Pato immediately halted, first politely returning the gesture, then calmly spoke, "Please, go on."
"This morning, I realized a problem: I have seen those ghostly things several times, yet I seem to be under a demon’s spell, not quite clear-minded, not even remembering how I was chosen as the Hejia Lun Du, a distinguished position for the High Monks."
Looking at everyone, Datu added sincerely, "I originally thought I was alone in this, but upon asking, found that everyone else is similar. I implore the high monks for guidance."
Upon hearing this, Supa’s face immediately changed, his mouth tightened, and his eyes lowered, sending shivers down Yang Xiao’s spine.
He hadn’t expected to see a hint of divinity on this middle-aged monk’s face at this moment.
Yang Xiao wasn’t the only one with this feeling; Hafeez, reacting most intensely, even widened his eyes in horror and took an involuntary step back.
"Back then, you were all saved by the High Monks, who saw a great spiritual potential in you, so they regarded you as incarnations in the secular world."
Yang Xiao and the others slowly recovered from the shock, nodding gradually, realizing their guess was correct: they indeed had connections with this town and temple on another illusory timeline.
Pato Abbot would personally go to retrieve the bodies of Aisha and Shari, and so he left, while the seven of them proceeded to the Inner and Outer Buddha Halls in groups.
Once confirmed out of sight from the other team, Hafeez ran up and expressed his gratitude to Yang Xiao, never expecting someone he barely interacted with to stand up for him.
While there are always people adding to what’s already perfect, those providing crucial support in times of need are scarce, and Yang Xiao’s action significantly boosted his favorability in Hafeez’s heart.
Among his living teammates, Datu Supa didn’t acknowledge him, and even Maria, whom he thought was on good terms, abandoned him in his moment of need. Now, in his eyes, Yang Xiao was the only reliable good person in the entire team.
"Mr. Chu, thank you, really... thank you very much," Hafeez expressed his gratitude, not knowing what else to say, considering their previous lack of communication.
"You’re a newcomer, and I’ve been through that newcomer phase. When I look at you, I see my past self. Be cautious and live well."
With just a few offhand remarks, Yang Xiao moved the nearly breaking Hafeez to tears.
Similar words had been said by older players before, but none were as sincere and considerate as Yang Xiao’s few words.
In Hafeez’s eyes, Yang Xiao was a shining, great man.
Entering the Inner Buddha Hall, Yang Xiao, the great man, proactively approached Musa, confessing about Adila seeking him the previous night and relaying almost verbatim what Adila had said, including suspicion about his supposedly fake foot injury.
Adila was a schemer, coincidentally, Yang Xiao also knew how to play such games, and he understood that the most direct way to break through a conspiracy is not another conspiracy but an open scheme.
He chose the straightforward approach, confronting Musa openly—using light to overcome darkness, righteousness to repel evil.
"What do you think?" Musa asked, counter-questioning.
"What do you think?" Yang Xiao smiled.
The next moment, Musa laughed along, "Little brother, you truly are forthright. It seems I’m the one not knowing what’s good."
Then Musa recounted how Adila woke him late at night, with similar insinuations trying to sow discord between the two.
However, in handling this situation, Musa was more experienced. He hinted at some vague clues to Adila, including the ghost’s "mimicking" murder method.
After all, he had decided to reveal this in the morning, so it was no longer a secret.
The reason for this disclosure was simple—they had already lost five teammates, and four of them were experienced players. Yet, until now, they hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the "River Immortal Village."
No more lives could be wasted.
