Chapter 1260: Chapter 835: Carrying the Ghost (Part 2)
At this moment, the quality of the experienced players was evident. The others followed suit, one by one inserting the incense they held into the person beside them, all uniformly placed on their right side.
As the last person completed the action, a shocking scene unfolded. The suppressed candle flames rekindled one after another, instantly brightening the surroundings.
"Damn!" Adila jumped like she’d been scalded by a hot iron, almost flinging her hand away.
The circle shattered, and the scene before them was terrifying—a charred human figure stood between Adila and Musa.
The charred figure was emaciated with skeletal limbs, muscles and fat seemingly melted away, almost resembling a skeleton. Its head was bowed, neck slightly tilted to the right, and from Yang Xiao’s angle, he could just see a pair of milky white ghostly eyes.
The murky ghost eyes were filled with pain and malice, and what startled Yang Xiao even more was that these ghostly eyes were staring straight at him.
Yang Xiao’s heart raced. He was almost certain that if the circle had shattered earlier, he would have been taken by the ghost, and by the time he reappeared, he would have been a corpse.
At this moment, the incense was inserted into the back of the Painted Woman. Somehow, it had been directly stuck into the charred, shriveled meat.
The charred black figure remained motionless, body severely hunched over and shrunk, approximately only a meter two or three tall. From the body shape, it looked more like a child.
Although there was an unexpected event during the ritual, the result was ultimately favorable. They had temporarily sealed this ghost, and the immediate task was to send the ghost back to the sacrificial cave in the back of "River Immortal Village".
According to the requirements in the book, one person was needed to carry the ghost on their back along the way.
And this task naturally fell on the trio of Yang Xiao, Sopahafiz, since they were selected to go to "River Immortal Village" tonight.
"Let’s draw lots."
Sopa casually tore a piece of paper, made three paper rolls. In facing such a high-risk task, this was the most direct and fair choice.
Hafeez drew first, followed by Yang Xiao, and the last remaining roll belonged to Sopa, which also eliminated the possibility of Sopa cheating.
As the papers were unrolled one by one, Hafeez’s was long, Sopa’s was also long, and Yang Xiao’s paper was visibly shorter, making Yang Xiao’s complexion somewhat unsightly.
Lately, his luck had been pretty bad.
The thought of having to carry that charred black figure made Yang Xiao shiver uncontrollably. It would be a miracle if nothing strange happened on the way.
But just as he was about to accept the reality and put down his hand, a hand covered his, taking the short paper roll from his palm and leaving behind a long one.
Looking up, Yang Xiao was surprised to see Hafeez in front of him. Before Yang Xiao could speak, Hafeez straightened his body as much as he could, playing up his confidence, and spoke first: "Chu, I... I’ll carry it for you!"
"You?" Yang Xiao did not mean to belittle him, well... maybe just a little.
"I’m not afraid. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive just now!" Hafeez mustered his courage, his attitude unusually firm, "This time I’ll take your place, I can do it!"
"You’re not afraid?" Yang Xiao was indeed a little touched. This newbie, though not smart, was inherently good and worth saving.
Hafeez turned to glance at the charred black figure behind him, his face turning pale with fear, but he turned back, stubbornly clenching his neck, insisting he was not afraid.
"Clap!"
"Clap!"
"Clap!"
Adila, who was watching from the side, couldn’t help but clap, simultaneously urging in a sardonic tone: "What a show of brotherly love, but gentlemen, can we speed up? Time waits for no one."
"And neither does that thing." Adila glanced pointedly at the nearby black ghost.
"Good job, I’ll cover you on the way." Yang Xiao patted Hafeez’s arm, and the mission continued.
They used strips of cloth to bind the charred ghost onto Hafeez’s back, back to back.
To lessen Hafeez’s psychological burden, Yang Xiao even wrapped the ghost’s head with clothing.
Once everything was ready, they immediately set off, heading towards the morgue in the temple. There lay Maria’s corpse, which they would need tonight.
On the way, both Musa and Sopa breathed a sigh of relief. Considering the team’s interests, having Hafeez responsible for carrying the corpse was the best choice.
To some extent, Musa believed that if something happened to Yang Xiao tonight, the mission would essentially be over.
The remaining duo of Sopa and the newcomer Hafeez would struggle even to protect themselves.
With the charred ghost carried for over a hundred meters, Hafeez was initially terrified, his back soaked in cold sweat, but after carrying it for a while, he got used to it.
And the corpse was severely dehydrated and extremely light. He estimated it weighed at most thirty or forty pounds, lighter than a child, and did not hinder movement.
After the previous events, Hafeez realized that, in critical moments, only Yang Xiao was willing to save him. If Yang Xiao died tonight, he wouldn’t stand a chance, as others gave him an indifferent attitude.
Especially that Adila, treating him entirely like a servant, ordering him to do this and that, even making him boil their bath water, without so much as a thank you.
If he wanted to survive, he needed to cling to the veteran player’s support, and he chose Yang Xiao.
Moreover, Yang Xiao promised he’d cover for him, which gave Hafeez a newfound hope for life as he pondered on.
Though not bright, he was obedient.
Under the cover of night, the group hurried to the yard where the corpse was kept and successfully picked up Maria’s body, then dragged it onto a cart, heading quickly towards the lakeside.
The bumps along the way were predictable. By the lakeside, two small boats lay waiting, and on the beach about ten meters from the water’s edge, a conspicuous wooden stake stood with a copper bell hanging from it.
"Those monks are really bad, aren’t they afraid they can’t have children?" Sopa filled with frustration.
"Anyone who rings it is an idiot!"
Hafeez chimed in. Though slow to react, he wasn’t foolish.
Once they completed the mission and returned tonight, as long as they rang the bell as agreed, those wicked monks would kill them and send them back home.
"Cut the chatter and move!" Yang Xiao gazed intently at the lake, where mist rose up, with the white fog in the distance seemingly another world.
The two groups confirmed the mission arrangement one last time. In front of everyone, Musa informed Yang Xiao that once they got rid of the corpse ghost, they would light a bonfire on the shore, which would be the signal of readiness to receive them.
If they saw no bonfire upon return, it would mean something had gone wrong; both he and Adila would be dead, and those sinister monks had attacked them.
If that happened, they should never approach the shore and escape as far as possible.
"Chu, we entrust this to you! We’ll be waiting for your good news!" Musa extended his hand, with a serious expression, shaking hands with Yang Xiao.
After a brief farewell, the two groups parted ways, each performing their roles. Musa and Adila were tasked with pushing the small boat carrying Maria’s body into the water.
At a little over a hundred meters away on the opposite bank, Yang Xiao and his two companions were ready. Once the Ghost Ship arrived and "River Immortal Village" emerged, they would start immediately.
This time, with gained experience, after Musa and Adila pushed the boat into the water, it headed into the mist on its own. With the mist stirring, the two didn’t even wait for the boat carrying the corpse ghost to catch up before running into the forest behind them.
They each ran along their predestined escape paths, one to the left, the other to the right.
As their figures disappeared into the forest, the Ghost Ship, laden with corpse ghosts, rushed out from the mist at great speed.
At the moment the Ghost Ship hit the shore, Yang Xiao and his companions moved, and the silhouette of "River Immortal Village" began to emerge behind the mist.
Seated on the boat, they didn’t need to row; the small boat sailed straight toward "He Xian Village".
Confirming they had left the shore, Yang Xiao opened his palm to find a crumpled piece of paper.
Musa had slipped it to him during the handshake.
The paper unfurled, revealing lines of scribbled writing:
"Chu Xi, the agreement has changed. If I survive, the signal will be two bonfires. If there’s only one, it means I have fallen to Adila’s treachery. Be very careful."
