Nightfall fell once again.

We sat together in the Buddha hall, exhausted. You looked at me, and I looked at you, each of us with a gloomy expression, like defeated roosters, completely devoid of fighting spirit.

For the past two days, we had been climbing mountains, crossing ridges, covered in sweat and mud. Coupled with the rain from the previous night and the mud wrapped around our bodies, we resembled clay figures crawling out of the mud—dirty and smelly, not even mosquitoes dared to bite us.

After the heavy rain the previous night, the bronze cauldron in the front yard was filled with water. Although it wasn't particularly clean, we had to make do with it under the circumstances.

We lined up, each holding a cup, scooping water from the bronze cauldron to cleanse ourselves. Even Zhang Yuxin, a girl who paid great attention to cleanliness, couldn't care about that now. She used the water from the bronze cauldron to wash her body thoroughly before returning to the Buddha hall.

Fortunately, it was summer, so we didn't have to worry about catching a cold. After cleaning off the mud from our bodies, we felt much fresher. Our bodies felt lighter, and our moods improved significantly.

In Fatty's words, we were carrying several pounds of dirt on our bodies.

After cleaning up, we returned to the Buddha hall and sat by the bonfire, eating. There was no longer any foul smell coming from our bodies.

When we had all finished eating, Xiaoyang was the last one to leave because he was fat and required more water and time. He let us go first and stayed at the end.

Everyone was tired and had no energy left for discussions. We filled our stomachs, leaned against the bonfire, and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, as soon as I woke up, I saw Laogu and Zhang Peng coming in and out, as if searching for something.

I asked them what was going on, only to find out that Xiaoyang was missing!

Zhang Peng suspected that Xiaoyang had run away by himself, but Laogu said it didn't seem likely. Xiaoyang's backpack was still in the Buddha hall, and without food or a water source, he would die quickly. It would be foolish to escape alone in this situation.

Zhang Peng scratched his head. "But I searched the entire temple and couldn't find any trace of Xiaoyang!"

At this moment, Zhang Yuxin casually said, "Wasn't Xiaoyang the last one to take a bath last night? I don't remember him coming back..."

Laogu and Zhang Peng exchanged a glance, and suddenly they seemed to remember something. Their faces turned pale, and they quickly ran towards the front yard of the temple.

Soon, we heard Zhang Peng yelling, "Inside! Xiaoyang is in the bronze cauldron!"

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Zhang Peng's voice was filled with intense fear, waking everyone else up.

Rubbing our sleepy eyes and rubbing away the sleep, we walked out of the Buddha hall, but the scene in the bronze cauldron frightened us all awake.

In that bronze cauldron filled with water, there was actually a ** soaking inside. The ** had turned white from being soaked and was face down in the bronze cauldron.

Another death!

Panic spread among the crowd. Ashui died the night before, Xiaoyang died last night, so who would be the next to die? What exactly was the culprit behind all of this?

Ashui was hanged, Xiaoyang drowned, and both deaths were extremely suspicious.

Laogu and Zhang Peng, suppressing their grief, dragged Xiaoyang's ** out of the bronze cauldron. Xiaoyang's face was pale as paper, already stiffened in death.

We had all been using the water to clean ourselves, so how did Xiaoyang end up in the bronze cauldron? Did he mistake it for a bathtub?

What was even more terrifying was that Xiaoyang, who had been somewhat chubby, had turned into a thin monkey overnight, with skin clinging to bones. There was no trace of flesh on his body.

Our hearts skipped a beat. Xiaoyang's deathly state was exactly the same as Ashui's. They had both turned into... mummies!

The air seemed to freeze, and no one spoke.

Zhang Peng took two steps back, opened his mouth, bent down as if he was about to vomit, but nothing came out. He could only dry heave there.

Laogu's face turned ashen, and he said in a low voice, "Xiaoyang has also turned into a mummy!"

Fatty pulled me aside and asked quietly, "Yang Cheng, is there a monster in this temple? I feel like Ashui and Xiaoyang were both drained of their yang energy!"

I nodded, glanced inside the Buddha hall, and vaguely guessed that there was something unclean lurking in the temple. But the creature was elusive, invisible. I hadn't grasped any clues.

On this day, I chose to stay and not go anywhere else.

If we didn't get rid of the filthy thing in the temple, we would never be able to escape the "ghost wall."

Instead of wasting our energy going around in circles outside, it was better to rest well during the day, so we would have the energy to stay awake at night.

I had made up my mind not to close my eyes tonight. I wanted to see where that monster came from.

However, Laogu and Zhang Peng didn't stay. They still clung to a glimmer of hope, wanting to test if they could break through the "ghost wall" today.

The successive tragic deaths of Ashui and Xiaoyang greatly affected Laogu and Zhang Peng. Even the calmest people would be thrown into disarray in such circumstances.

Watching Laogu and Zhang Peng's departing figures, Fatty asked me, "Will they come back?"

I told Fatty that if this ghost wall was orchestrated by a monster, we couldn't break through it until we dealt with the monster. So Laogu and Zhang Peng would definitely end up circling back.

As the sun set, Laogu and Zhang Peng appeared at the temple gate, their faces tired, lifeless, devoid of any desire to survive.

Crossing the threshold, they collapsed on the stone floor, like fallen pieces, lying on the ground in a big "字" character.

"We can't get out! We really can't get out!" Due to anxiety and frustration, Laogu's lips had cracked open.

Zhang Peng was no better off. In the past few days, he had been filled with extreme fear and depression, and both of his eye sockets had sunk in. He looked dazed, almost as if he didn't recognize who I was anymore.

I called out to him for a long time, but he just stared at me blankly, expressionless, as though he didn't know who I was.

I asked Haofeiji to come and help, to bring Laogu and Zhang Peng back to rest in the Buddha hall.

Zhang Peng kept his head down, silent. A few days ago, he was full of vitality, but now he seemed like a fool.

Laogu seemed to have gone insane, sitting alone in a corner, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, murmuring to himself incessantly, "Can't get out! Haha! We're all going to die! Hahaha!"

Laogu's voice sent shivers down our spines, and it felt uncomfortable to listen to.

I had Fatty give Laogu and Zhang Peng some water. Fatty came over and shook his head at me. "Those two guys probably won't hold on much longer!"