“Okay.” The few simple movements seemed to have drained him of all his energy.

　　When nothing happened after he finished bowing, Lin let out a sigh of relief.

　　"Let's go," Ruan turned around. "We should leave."

　　So they slowly left the temple.

　　The people outside were surprised to see them emerge unscathed.

　　Chi said, "Did anything happen?"

　　Lin shook his head. "No."

　　Although everyone remained silent, their expressions were strange, and some were hesitant.

　　“How about we go in two by two?” Chi suggested, "Since the people who went in before are fine..."

　　“Are you sure they're fine?” One of the group members looked at Ruan and Lin with suspicion, “She just said that whoever goes in might not be the same thing that comes out. How can you be sure they’re still human?”

　　Lin was about to explain when Ruan waved her hand, stopping him from speaking.

　　She said nonchalantly, “We’re not going to persuade you. Do what you want.”

　　"Chi, I'm scared too," Xiao said, "Let's go in together?"

　　Chi seemed hesitant.

　　The braver members started finding partners, while others stubbornly refused to disobey the old carpenter's instructions.

　　“Then do what you think is right,” Chi finally made a decision. "Xiao, we'll go in together."

　　Xiao nodded excitedly.

　　According to their previous arrangement, the second group to enter the temple was a man traveling alone.

　　He went in alone and came out alone.

　　There were no incidents.

　　However, he looked confused when he came out, as if he wanted to say something.

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　　But before he could speak, the third group went in.

　　"What did you see in the temple?" The man who went in alone asked Lin quietly.

　　"I didn't see anything," Lin said. "Just the statues and the cushions."

　　"Don't you think the statue was a bit strange…" the man said, "I've never seen a statue like that before."

　　Lin was stunned. He didn’t understand what the man meant.

　　The man said softly, “Did you see it? The statue looked so strange…”

　　Lin shook his head.

　　He didn’t understand what the man meant, but then he thought about it, and a chilling thought popped into his head. "What... what did the statue look like?"

　　“It was a woman,” As soon as he said this, the smile on Lin’s face disappeared.

　　The man continued speaking softly, not noticing the change in Lin's expression.

　　"It wasn't a goddess. She was just smiling at me. She was holding something , It looked more like..."

　　"Like what?" Lin asked dryly.

　　"It looked more like, an axe used for chopping trees," The man finished his sentence, glancing at the temple. "And when I finished bowing, she seemed to move..."

　　He finally realized that Lin looked upset.

　　"Did you see that too? Did you see the same thing?"

　　“No.” Although it was cruel, Lin told the man the truth. “We saw a different Buddha statue than you did.”

　　"What do you mean? How was it different?" The man's face instantly changed. "What kind of statue did you see?"

　　"A Buddha statue," Lin said, "A male one."

　　The man’s face turned as white as a sheet.

　　 His eyes looked at the temple with fear and despair.

　　He trembled and muttered, "No, no, it can't be. It couldn't be like this. Something must be wrong with you. You must be wrong..."

　　After saying this, he looked around cautiously, as if afraid of being overheard.

　　The third group consisted of Chi and Xiao.

　　When they came out, their expressions were also calm, as if nothing strange had happened.

　　Next came the fourth group… the fifth group…

　　These groups were made up of both men and women.

　　Some went in alone, and some went in as a pair.

　　But Lin quickly noticed a pattern.

　　Whenever someone went in alone, they came out with strange expressions.

　　When the last person came out, everyone was finally certain of a pattern.

　　Those who went in alone saw a completely different statue than those who went in together.

　　Lin and the others saw a Buddha statue, while those who went in alone all saw a woman, a woman with a strange smile, holding an axe.

　　“They must be wrong. We followed the carpenter's instructions…”

　　 Someone started to panic after discovering this.

　　They kept muttering, "It can’t be wrong. We’re not wrong. The statue must be that woman... Yes, it's a woman."

　　Lin could only comfort them.

　　“It's not certain yet. Don’t be so nervous."

　　In truth, everyone knew that the woman couldn’t possibly be the temple’s statue.

　　What temple would worship something like that?

　　“Yeah, it’s not certain yet,” Ruan laughed.

　　She brushed her hair with her hand and said softly, “Besides, so many people have gone into the temple. Even if we’re going to die, we might not be the ones who die."

　　“Can you stop laughing?” Xiao said rudely.

　　“Why not ?” Ruan retorted coldly, "It’s better to die laughing than crying."

　　As soon as she said this, someone cried out, "Look at the pillars!!!"

　　Lin looked up and saw that the carvings on the pillars had started to wriggle slowly.