Free Web NovelChapter 1230: Chapter 818: Headcount_2
"Davi, who got lost and fainted, was in one group by herself, Datu and Supa in another, with the remaining three—Juan, Hafeez, and Maria—in the third group. Juan’s group had the most people, and the Ghost targeted them."
"After the paranormal encounter, the trio split again. The other two planned to let Hafeez sacrifice himself, so the Ghost shifted its target to Juan Maria, and in the end, Juan was indeed killed."
Davi’s death was due to them forcibly summoning the Painted Woman, which wasn’t a reliable case study, so Yang Xiao skipped it and began discussing tonight.
Tonight, their team comprised five people, but the other team had three deaths, leaving four. Naturally, the Ghost targeted them, which led to the gruesome deaths of Aisha and Shari tonight.
"Impressive, young man." Musa shot Yang Xiao an approving look, "If you hadn’t mentioned it, I’d have thought you were nearby when Aisha and Shari were killed, otherwise, you wouldn’t have seen it so thoroughly."
Musa picked up Yang Xiao’s conversation and continued, "The number of people you mentioned is the range of targets the Ghost chooses, but whether the attack succeeds depends on those things."
"Those bandaged corpse Ghosts need to surround people, imitating the victim’s movements to make their shadow cover and erode the victim’s, allowing them to summon the Source Ghost."
"Hafeez survived multiple times because he’s a newcomer. When newcomers encounter paranormal events, they get scared and immediately think of escaping. Chaotic, moving people are hard to imitate."
"In contrast, veteran players won’t act rashly. We know the more chaotic things get, the faster you die. Instead of not knowing what to do, it’s better to do nothing and watch the changes." freёweɓnovel.com
At this point, Musa let out a heavy sigh and lamented, "To be honest, we’re somewhat lucky to have survived this long. This Ghost is particularly disadvantageous for experienced players, practically a grave for veterans."
Yang Xiao immediately recalled the Esoteric Sect informing him before the mission that two experienced veterans entered the Painted Woman’s Ghost Script together, but both went missing.
This mission’s true terror isn’t just that. In the mission’s early stages, if many veteran players are lost, then by the later stages, experienced players will be in short supply. Even if a breakthrough method is found, no one can organize an effective counterattack.
With a group of newbies staring at each other, Yang Xiao felt despair just thinking about it.
Although tonight should be safe, the two didn’t dare linger. After a short rest, Yang Xiao helped Musa, and the two headed toward town.
They talked a lot along the way, feeling a sense of mutual understanding. Musa had high hopes for the young Yang Xiao, promising him that if he ever needed help in this foreign land, he could come to him.
However, Yang Xiao interrupted before he finished, advising Musa with a bitter smile not to celebrate prematurely, as movies and novels always depict things this way. freёwebnoѵel.com
"Forget it." Musa shook his head, "Since we have a connection, let me tell you one more thing. Adila in our team isn’t trustworthy."
"Him?" Yang Xiao frowned, "Why do you say that?"
"You might have missed it after sending off the coffin boat tonight, but he bumped into Shari when he turned to run," Musa said seriously, "He did it on purpose."
Normally, given Adila’s skills, none of them could outrun him. Doing something like this was quite unprincipled.
"Maybe he’s trying to save a few of us veteran players," Yang Xiao speculated.
Exchanging the life of a newcomer for a veteran one, in terms of team interest, isn’t a bad trade.
"Attention to details reveals the truth; this person can’t be trusted," Musa snorted, "If he thought of us, why hasn’t he come back to check on us after so long?"
Although Yang Xiao didn’t have a great impression of Adila, he instinctively sought to unite all possible forces. In the face of survival, morals and humanity take a backseat, so he couldn’t really blame Adila.
Yet Musa remained bothered by it, seeming to have very high moral standards.
Perhaps it’s due to his religious background, Yang Xiao speculated.
But the two reached an agreement not to disclose the key clues they discovered to outsiders.
They walked all the way back to the town, now eerily silent, with a waning moon hanging in the night sky.
Barely into town, they heard a noise behind them. Yang Xiao turned quickly, spotting a figure emerging from behind a low wall.
"Is it really you two?" Adila’s eyes lit up, full of sincere concern as he approached, "Imam, are you alright?"
He looked past them, "Why is it only you two? Where are Aisha and Shari?"
Musa sighed and told Adila that both had died. He had already marked the location near their bodies to collect them at dawn.
"Both dead?" Adila shifted his gaze to Yang Xiao, as if confirming.
"They’re dead, but I wasn’t at the scene, just heard from Mr. Musa," Yang Xiao knew dealing with someone as naturally suspicious as Adila required mixing truth with lies to be convincing.
"How did they die?" Adila pressed on, "I mean... how did two people die at once?"
"I don’t know. By the time I got there, those ghostly things were gone, leaving just two bodies," Musa raised his cane and continued walking, "This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go back and find the other team."
Compared to Yang Xiao’s group’s experiences tonight, the mortuary where Maria and Hafeez were was much quieter, but that didn’t mean they weren’t scared.
Hafeez had asked over 20 times why Datu and Supa hadn’t returned yet, wondering if something had happened, until Maria growled at him to shut up.
Maria was drenched in cold sweat, strands of hair sticking to her forehead and face, making her look extremely haggard.
She had earlier accompanied Datu to walk around the courtyard wall, knowing it wouldn’t take long. But now, a long time had passed without any sign.
Considering their team had suffered three consecutive deaths, Maria was convinced the night patrol duo had met with an accident tonight.
But their task was to keep the candles from going out, so Maria decisively ordered Hafeez to close the door, not minding Datu and Supa anymore.
Given the circumstances, the patrol naturally was abandoned; she considered sending Hafeez out for patrol, but seeing his cowardly demeanor, it was obviously impossible.
Unless he was killed.
As Maria waited anxiously, noises suddenly came from outside, voices speaking, and the sound of a door threshold being removed.
"It’s the team returning from sending the coffin boat!" Hafeez jumped up, brimming with post-crisis relief.
But Maria wasn’t as optimistic. She yanked Hafeez back from opening the door, throwing him aside while commanding him to shut up.
Listening to the "clack clack" sound of wheels on the cobblestone, with voices growing closer, Maria found something terrifying—she distinctly heard Datu and Supa’s voices.
In her subconscious, these two had already been ruled out.
"It’s a Ghost!"
Maria huddled behind the dilapidated wooden door, peering out through a crack. She saw a group approaching in the dim night.
Datu, holding a lantern, was indeed at the front with Supa, leading the way for the group.
Maria instinctively reached for the door latch, but her hand grasped air several times before she realized there was no latch. After all, this was a mortuary room where there was no need to lock from the inside.
As the group drew closer, Maria noticed that the number of people seemed off.
Counting one by one, she finally confirmed that the missing two were Aisha and Shari.
"Sister Maria, it’s us, open the door," Datu called, holding a lantern up as he approached the door.
