Chapter 78: Early Morning Lesson

Dong—!

The first resonant, ancient bell toll rang out, as if awakening the entire Buddhist Temple.

In the early morning, the cold air that had settled overnight seemed to be awakened at the same time, crawling out from every corner,

and rushing straight at Ding Mo and the others!

It immediately made everyone grimace. This Buddhist Temple in the deep forest was even colder and more chilling than they had imagined.

They walked along the corridor and arrived at the steps leading to the Daxiong Treasure Hall.

The Daxiong Treasure Hall was the most important and tallest building in this temple; its status was clear at a glance.

And they needed to reach the inside of the hall before the bell tolls ended.

According to the senior apprentice Qingshi, the bell would toll slowly eighteen times, quickly eighteen times, and repeat this three times, for a total of 108 Morning Bell tolls,

so there should still be about 7-8 minutes left, which was considered ample.

"Let's go." Zhu Dechang took the first step onto the stairs.

According to the rules, if one is late for the Early Morning Lesson, they will face severe punishment!

And for them, I fear that violating it would not be as simple as just a "severe punishment"...

Climbing up step by step, there were not many stairs, about a few dozen. After finishing the climb, a faint sound of chanting had already reached everyone's ears.

However, at this moment, Xiao Yong's expression suddenly changed.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Dechang keenly noticed.

"N-nothing," Xiao Yong said, appearing somewhat unnatural:

"I have a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder; I feel uncomfortable when I see an odd number of steps... These stairs are exactly 27 steps, which makes me feel a bit uneasy."

"..."

The group ignored him and walked straight into the main hall.

The Abbot seemed unwilling to add any electric lights, which made the solemn main hall appear exceptionally archaic, and the light was also slightly dim.

Fortunately, the monks all had a burning oil lamp beside them, and combined with the daylight spilling in from outside the main gate, it dispelled some of the darkness.

Compared to yesterday, the hall was now filled with an inexplicable atmosphere of tranquility, and coupled with the low, echoing sound of chanting, as soon as everyone stepped inside, their spirits involuntarily quieted down.

It is worth noting that on the offering table in the main hall, eight crimson high-incense sticks that were not there yesterday had been inserted and were burning steadily.

In a survival-type Terror Mission, one must try to follow the rules while active—this was a consensus that not only Ding Mo, but the whole group had formed during their earlier discussion.

Therefore, just as they were about to find a place to sit down and officially begin the "Early Morning Lesson,"

at this moment, the woman Zhou Lan suddenly discovered something strange in the corner of the main hall:

there was a familiar figure!

"... Xiao, Xiao Yong!" She hurriedly grabbed the "former surgeon" beside her:

"Is the clothing that person is wearing Qin Yifei's?"

She tried hard to lower her voice, but the three words "Qin Yifei" still attracted everyone's attention.

In fact, without her saying it, many people had already noticed the "Lay Disciple" with hair in the corner.

You must know that, logically speaking, there shouldn't be any Lay Disciples in the temple other than them.

Moreover, this place was full of bald monks, so he was quickly recognized by Zhou Lan!

"Are you sure he is the 'Qin Yifei' who disappeared last night?" Xiong Lihui asked in shock.

Xiao Yong looked carefully at this moment, his eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty, but he still nodded:

"That's right, at least the clothes, build, and hairstyle are very similar!"

The group looked at each other in dismay.

Qin Yifei had "returned"?!

"Don't be hasty, let's finish the Early Morning Lesson first," Zhu Dechang, who was wearing an Ear Stud, whispered a reminder, pointing toward the very front of the main hall.

Near the altar, the Abbot sat upright, his gaze like a torch as he watched them—evidently, the group's behavior of lingering and not sitting down after entering the main hall had already caught his attention.

The air seemed to stagnate for a moment; the group exchanged a few subtle glances, and in the end, they each found a spot and sat down in silence.

However, without exception, the spots they chose were all very far from Qin Yifei.

No one knew what had happened to him or if there was any danger. For the sake of safety, they naturally dared not get close.

Ding Mo thought for a moment and found a spot close to the Abbot and the altar, wanting to observe more.

Moreover, by doing this, if an anomaly mentioned in the rules occurred, he could quickly deal with it—according to the rules, by reporting to the Abbot or lighting incense for the Buddha statue.

Jiang Liuxue followed behind him and sat next to him.

According to the mission background, the two of them were ostensibly inseparable siblings.

—In the "Typewriter" mission, Identity is very important; it is no exaggeration to say it is a hidden rule.

After everyone sat down on the cushions, they picked up a scroll of scriptures that had been placed on their seats and began to chant.

"Namo a tuo mi duo la mi suo..."

... Under the cloudy dome of the hall, on the green bricks by the green lamps, in front of the ancient Buddha altar, a dignified and solemn atmosphere permeated the hall, and a sense of spiritual tranquility arose spontaneously.

It even gave Ding Mo a feeling—far away from the noisy city, it wouldn't be bad to come here occasionally to chant scriptures.

It's just a pity that this lifestyle is destined to have nothing to do with people like them.

The chanting continued for a while; perhaps it was the sleepiness of the early morning playing a part, but Ding Mo suddenly noticed that beside him,

Jiang Liuxue's eyelids were drooping bit by bit, as if being dragged down by an invisible weight, almost completely closing.

Before long, her head tilted slightly to one side, but her lips were still unconsciously moving, chanting something.

"Hey!" Ding Mo called out to her a few times, but it seemed he couldn't wake her up no matter what.

Although it was not mentioned in the rules, in principle, one shouldn't be able to sleep during the Early Morning Lesson, right! Moreover, their current Identity is "Lay Disciple," and doing something that violates this Identity will cause their "Threshold" to drop!

And as for Jiang Liuxue herself, she felt her eyelids were incomparably heavy.

"This shouldn't be... I am a martial artist, how could I be this... sleepy after just half a night without sleep..." Jiang Liuxue's vision plunged into total darkness.

In a hazy dream, she saw a blurred figure.

The surroundings were also very blurry at first, but they quickly became clear.

A look of confusion appeared in Jiang Liuxue's eyes—he seemed to have arrived in a gloomy room.

There seemed to be another person here besides the figure!

Fresh blood dripped from above, and Jiang Liuxue looked up.

It was Zhou Lan! She was lying on the crossbeam, pulling at her own intestines, dragging them out from a hideous gash in her belly!

Blood dripped down, and with a sinister grin, she used her long intestines to bind the neck of that blurred figure!

"Hala hala hala—!" A strange, unpleasant, shrill laugh rang out! No, perhaps it was more like intermittent screaming than laughter!

And that blurred figure also became clear at this moment.

It was none other than the struggling Xiao Yong!

His face was deathly pale, his tongue lolled out, and his eyes rolled back; he was hung in mid-air by Zhou Lan's intestines, his hands struggling like a drowning man, and it looked as if he would not survive!

!!!

Jiang Liuxue suddenly felt a sense of terror surging uncontrollably from the bottom of her heart!

"Hah—!" With a low, sharp intake of breath, Jiang Liuxue opened her eyes abruptly, gasping for air.

Green lamps and ancient Buddhas.

However, at this moment, a tall, withered figure had already loomed over her.

It was the Abbot!

The Abbot's single eye, slightly clouded by old age, stared straight at her.

Only then did Jiang Liuxue realize that she had apparently fallen asleep just now.

"So... sorry..." she stammered, but her throat was choked as if blocked by fear.

"Do not do it again." Unexpectedly, the Abbot's response was surprisingly calm. The thin, withered figure turned and left.

Staring at the Abbot's back, Ding Mo's eyes revealed confusion.

Jiang Liuxue did not see it—

But he saw it clearly: when the Abbot first discovered Jiang Liuxue was asleep, he was extremely angry!

Yet, upon drawing closer, he seemed to have sensed something, suddenly calmed down, and chose not to wake her!

It was as if there was something on her... that made him swallow his punishment.

Ding Mo's gaze shifted to Jiang Liuxue.

Furthermore, Jiang Liuxue's behavior just now was also very abnormal, as if she were possessed, unable to be woken no matter how much others called her!