Chapter 79: Deep Forest, Ancient Temple

Ding Mo walked out from behind her, looking half-awake.

Yet he saw Xiong Lihui's eyes fill with envy.

"What's wrong?" Ding Mo was puzzled.

Xiong Lihui didn't say much more, and led the two of them up to the second floor.

The view here seemed much better; in the faintly brightening sky beyond, outside the Temple's low Wall,

stretched forest after forest!

Twisted tree shadows flickered in the morning mist, dense layers of grey leaves piled one upon another, with no trace of human presence.

This ancient temple was actually situated in a stretch of desolate deep forest!

No wonder it's so cold… Jiang Liuxue tucked the hem of her top into her fitted yoga pants, somewhat regretting that she hadn't worn more clothes.

Ding Mo, on the other hand, didn't react much — the Gene Lock's boost was simply too high.

His gaze moved upward, past several towering pagodas, and reached the sky.

The sky was blanketed by heavy dark clouds, yet strangely there was no sound at all — no wind, no thunder, no rain, not even the slightest trace; very odd.

Cidu Temple, according to the background notes, was established by a eminent monk with the purpose of guiding to rest the wandering souls of an ancient battlefield.

But why do I always feel that this place seems as if the souls haven't been fully laid to rest… Just as Ding Mo was pondering this,

the group had already arrived at a room on the second floor.

Opening the door and stepping inside, a candle was lit, and in the somewhat dim room all the "Lay Disciples" had already gathered.

Without the monks from the great hall interfering, Ding Mo did a quick count — including himself and Jiang Liuxue, there were… six people?

That's not right!

Ding Mo looked around again. Yesterday there had clearly been a guy with a broken left eyebrow,

yet now he was nowhere to be seen?!

Where did he go… Ding Mo's brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the figure standing in the middle of the room.

It was a young man wearing a suit and a white-gold Ear Stud.

Seeing everyone had arrived, he spoke:

"I'm Zhu Dechang — the surname of Emperor Ming. I'm saying this so that anyone with a bad memory won't need me to introduce myself again.

"The reason I've invited everyone here today is, first, to discuss the rules in that booklet.

"We're all people who've survived two Tasks; the Task rules are very important, so I trust I don't need to say more.

"And the second matter is about last night…"

At this point, his gaze flickered as he looked toward the middle-aged man standing beside him, and a young woman,

"Someone among us has gone missing!"

At these words, everyone couldn't help but be shocked!

Someone already in trouble this fast?

Ding Mo looked at the two.

If he remembered correctly, one was called Xiao Yong, the other Zhou Lan. The former claimed to have been a surgeon at a hospital, the latter just an ordinary office worker.

"Y-yes, Mr. Zhu is right." Xiao Yong took a deep breath, a trace of terror in his eyes, and slowly began:

"Here's what happened.

"Last night, because Zhou Lan was alone, the three of us huddled together and slept in one room.

"Everything was normal at first, but just as we were about to sleep, we suddenly heard a continuous scratching sound from next door."

Scratching sound… Ding Mo and Jiang Liuxue's expressions subtly changed.

"We weren't paying it much mind at first, but Zhou Lan said she remembered that the room next door was empty, because when she came looking for us to huddle up, she'd knocked on that door by mistake, and no one had answered from inside!"

In the somewhat dim room, a faint sound of someone drawing in a breath seemed to rise.

"That made us a bit nervous. Qin Yifei — he seemed to have done some boxing, and was bolder — went straight to the next room to check."

That brave, huh… Ding Mo couldn't help but grumble inwardly at this.

He still had to consider so much, yet that guy called "Qin Yifei" just charged in like that?

"We didn't dare go, so we waited in the room for him to come back."

Everyone listened quietly to his account,

but Xiao Yong stopped, silent for a long while.

"Um… then what?" Xiong Lihui asked.

Zhu Dechang was also staring at Xiao Yong — the two of them lived together, so he had clearly only just heard the full account as well.

"Then what?" Xiao Yong's eyes were blank:

"What then? Nothing. Then there was nothing."

"Nothing what?" Jiang Liuxue couldn't help but ask too.

Where was Qin Yifei?

"What? I mean nothing! How would I know what happened after he went out? All I know is he went out and never came back; I don't know anything about what happened after."

Xiao Yong seemed a bit nervous, repeating the same words several times,

"Qin Yifei is gone. If it weren't for Xiong Lihui coming to find us, we wouldn't even dare leave the room now!"

The room fell silent — you could hear a pin drop.

Jiang Liuxue's face had gone a little pale.

She had also wanted to go check last night, but luckily Ding Mo had stopped her; otherwise, the one who disappeared now would be…

Glancing secretly at Ding Mo, Jiang Liuxue crossed her arms over her chest, her outward manner cool and aloof, but inwardly, toward Ding Mo, she had unconsciously let down some of her guard.

—Her guard against strangers.

"This place is too dangerous—why don't we ask the Abbot to move us somewhere else!" Xiao Yong said urgently.

"Yeah." Someone agreed.

A room that could make a person vanish into thin air was right next door—how could anyone sleep at ease?

How could one allow others to sleep soundly right beside one's own bed?

Especially when whatever was sleeping soundly beside the bed might not even be a "person"!

"We can bring it up with the Abbot later, but…" Zhu Dechang seemed extremely composed, a mismatch with his rather exaggerated appearance:

"But we also have to consider one thing: are other places definitely safe? What if they're even more dangerous?"

That question left Xiao Yong and the others stunned, unable to speak for a long while.

Too panicked… Ding Mo nodded and spoke out in agreement:

"I agree. Right now our situation is actually fairly stable—as long as we don't go investigating those rooms, rashly changing things might bring about bad changes.

"Besides, Qin Yifei has only gone missing; there's no evidence he's dead, so we don't need to overreact like this."

Zhu Dechang glanced at Ding Mo with a hint of surprise. Ding Mo had been silent the whole time, so he'd subconsciously overlooked him, assuming he was a freeloader—he hadn't expected such clear thinking.

"Well said. There's no need for everyone to be this tense—the Task has only just begun."

After a few minutes, everyone calmed down and likewise became aware of how they had lost their composure.

Perhaps it was because this Buddhist Temple, without their realizing it, had placed a great deal of pressure on them.

No one wished to see that a place meant to guide people toward goodness also harbored some unknown strangeness.

Next, the group began discussing this set of "Task Rules."

Pooling their ideas, even Ding Mo felt he had gained a lot, coming away with many guesses and thoughts.

But after all, they remained on paper—no one dared try them lightly.

Soon, a monk came to call:

"Junior brothers,

"It's almost time for the Early Morning Lesson."