Chapter 1255: Chapter 832: Living Dead
Yang Xiao flipped through the pages, skipping some useless parts in the middle. In the end, the old woman revealed a secret to the Village Chief and made a request.
The old woman revealed that she was a host for the Evil Spirit and hoped the Village Chief could imprison her, never to let her harm anyone again as she couldn’t control herself.
Although reluctant to do so, for the sake of all people, the Village Chief painfully used the ancestral secret method of the village to turn the old woman into a "Human Puppet" for sealing and hid her in a secret cave in the back mountain, making her a statue. Whenever the village encountered a big event, they would go to pay respects.
Seeing this, Yang Xiao almost laughed out in anger, thinking that the people of this village were not good either. Clearly, they coveted the old woman’s ability and wanted to own it, yet claimed it was her initiative to request it, showing shamelessness comparable to the monks in the temple.
To be precise, they were all the same kind. Yang Xiao also had a guess about the woman’s identity.
This was an Angel Envoy whose ability was related to transferring injuries and diseases, meaning she could shift all the negative elements from others onto herself. With a strong self-healing ability, she could digest harm and survive.
The origin of the Painted Woman was roughly clear, but the key was how to solve the issue. The book mentioned that she should not be moved without permission, or it would bring misfortune.
Musa judged that the latter half of the book was about this, but since it was written in a more ancient language, no one could translate it.
It seemed they could only take their chances in town at dawn to find someone who could translate the ancient language.
This was all the information there was, delaying wouldn’t yield results. Adila inquired about Yang Xiao’s experience that night in "River Immortal Village," but Yang Xiao politely declined as he was too tired, promising to tell him after he slept.
"Alright, then rest easy, you’re surely worn out today," Adila said with a smile.
Since Yang Xiao had been restless all night, Musa and Adila discussed that they would take turns keeping watch until dawn, but Adila shook his head, declining, saying Musa was too old and should rest, and he would keep watch alone tonight.
"Then sorry to trouble you." Musa didn’t hesitate and went straight to bed.
In less than five minutes, the snores of Yang Xiao and Musa began intertwining.
Adila understood the situation, knowing they had offended a teammate by killing Maria, and his vigil was to ease the tense atmosphere.
This time he believed Yang Xiao and Musa were genuinely asleep because even if he were foolish, he wouldn’t make a move against them at this moment.
They needed him, but he needed them more. Yang Xiao seemed to have revealed a lot about "River Immortal Village," but the key point remained unsaid; this was Yang Xiao’s lifeline.
After all, among those who survived, only Yang Xiao had been to the so-called secret cave in the back mountain, so he couldn’t die.
Adila sat alone at the table, staring at the flickering candle flame, which mirrored in his pupils like an ascending fire.
Yang Xiao surprisingly slept soundly that night, sleeping until broad daylight. When he groggily opened his eyes, Musa had replaced Adila at the table.
And on Musa’s bed lay Adila; it seemed Musa had switched his shift on waking up.
About half an hour later, the door was knocked on by a monk notifying them to join the morning meal.
After waking Adila, the three wrapped the porcelain bottle and book in cloth before heading to the dining room.
Upon arrival, they found Hafeez and Sopa had already reached there first. The five ate while discussing the day’s plan, all hoping to complete the task by tonight.
After the meal, the five divided their tasks clearly. Yang Xiao and Adila went to the blind old mother of the tavern owner, while Musa and Sopa took the porcelain bottle and book into town to find someone who could translate the second half of the book.
Both groups agreed to return to the temple before noon, regardless of the task’s completion, meeting at the dining hall.
At the tavern owner’s mother’s home, Yang Xiao repeated his old trick, deceiving the poor old woman out of two items.
These were two items very sentimental to the tavern owner: a wooden comb once gifted to his mother, and a pellet drum he had played with in his childhood.
In the subsequent time, he used every opportunity to elicit information from the old woman, fully understanding the tavern owner’s story which could be crucial later.
After escorting Yang Xiao and Adila out, the blind old woman kept bowing and thanking them; out of guilt, Yang Xiao left a lot of money.
Close to the agreed time, Yang Xiao and Adila returned to the dining hall and waited for quite a while before Musa and the others came back, nearly missing the meal time.
But the three of them didn’t look good, implying they encountered trouble.
As expected, according to Musa, they visited many households in town, including antique shops and calligraphy and painting galleries, but no one could recognize the book’s script.
"You let them see the book directly?" Yang Xiao frowned upon hearing this.
"Of course not, I copied some obscure characters from the book onto paper, then separated them before showing them for identification," Musa replied.
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao nodded. After all, caution was paramount, and he couldn’t trust anyone in town since any of them might report to the temple.
"This can’t be kept under wraps," Musa seemed to realize something and slowly exhaled.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Adila.
"The old curator of the calligraphy and painting gallery in town said if anyone in this town could recognize these characters, it’s solely the Pato Abbot at the temple, as he’s an expert in this field."
"When faced with obscure characters in ancient scriptures, monks often sought his answers," Musa’s eyes showed hesitation, aware of the peril involved.
Time was pressing, and they had to return to "River Immortal Village" that night. Whether they could successfully understand the book’s latter half was crucial, so even if they had to take risks, there was no other choice.
But Yang Xiao and the others weren’t completely unprepared. They tore out the first half of the book, keeping only the undecipherable second half, using candle wax to age it, ensuring it didn’t look freshly torn.
No time could be lost; after leaving the dining hall, they sprung into action, locating nearby monks who brought them to where Pato Abbot was staying.
To their surprise, Patuo Monk wasn’t resting in his meditation room but was alone in the Inner Buddha Hall.
As the Buddhist Hall’s doors closed, Patuo Monk raised his hand, inviting everyone to sit down, each on a cushion, and Musa expressed their intentions on behalf of the group.
Patuo Monk held up the half-damaged book, turning its pages slowly under the candlelight, and Yang Xiao and the others, seated before him, felt inexplicably oppressed, struggling to breathe.
Minute by minute passed by, Yang Xiao and the others grew more apprehensive until, upon reaching the last page, Patuo Monk slowly put the book down, joined his hands in front of his chest in a gesture of prayer, and the look in his eyes toward Yang Xiao and his group was full of complexity.
Moments later, two clear tears fell from Pato Abbot’s eyes, causing Yang Xiao and the others to halt abruptly.
Right when Pato Abbot raised his head, they perceived a hint of divinity on his face.
"Coat the coffin with black lacquer to send it back, but be careful; it is alive and can sense everything—you, your emotions, your pain, and its own."
"Its own?" Sopa instinctively asked.
"Yes, because it’s still alive, sealed alive within this coffin, with remaining consciousness, perception, and thoughts, just like us."
"But the difference is it will never die and cannot die, forced to endure the supplicants’ diseases and pain, over and over."
"It will live on forever, in the pitch-dark coffin, listening to the supplications, enduring torture repeatedly."
"Pain never ends, and that’s the sin those people committed."
