Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 1253: Chapter 831: Mutation_2

He was now certain that Sopa would not seek death, because she still needed to carry on with her brother’s hopes.

Being able to save Sopa made Yang Xiao feel much better; although he had no dealings with Datou before, he did not want to break his promise to him.

Climbing over the small hill in front, Yang Xiao and Sopa finally found the small boat they came in behind a crooked-neck tree.

Strangely, it was only when they found the boat that the mist in the background slightly dissipated, revealing a large expanse of the lake behind the small boat.

The small boat was stranded on the shore, with the lake behind as black as ink.

From Yang Xiao’s perspective, the lake water and the forest on the mountain blended together so bizarrely, like two worlds eroding each other.

And the small boat that carried them here was the key to opening the two worlds, or rather an anchor point. If they couldn’t find the boat, they couldn’t find the lake, and would forever be lost in this mountain forest.

"A boat! There’s really a boat!" The tavern owner’s eyes lit up upon seeing the boat.

But Yang Xiao keenly sensed that something was amiss; the tavern owner only saw the boat after they pointed out its exact location.

Yang Xiao speculated that even if the tavern owner came alone, he would not be able to see it even standing by the boat, it seemed more like a restriction.

Yang Xiao first pushed the boat into the lake forcefully, then pulled Sopa onto the boat. At this moment, the eager tavern owner also jumped onto the boat.

But in the next second, an unimaginable scene unfolded.

The tavern owner’s feet went right through the boat’s deck, standing as steady as if on flat ground.

Know that at this moment, the small boat had just sailed into the lake and was unstable, with Yang Xiao and Sopa’s bodies swaying constantly with the boat.

"Why? Why is this happening?" The tavern owner was stunned, staring incredulously at the boat and at his feet.

At the same time, his body began to change; his mouth opened, eyes protruded, facial veins bulging one by one, a ghostly face emerged shortly after.

The originally normal neck now had a strange ligature mark, deep and purple-red, and quite unusual, with a series of regular little prints like small pearls strung together.

Seeing this scene, Yang Xiao immediately understood that the tavern owner was indeed silenced by murder, killed by those high monks.

He was strangled to death, with the ominous instrument being the prayer beads carried by the monks.

However, the tavern owner’s death was not entirely the same as others in the Ghost Village; there was no sign of water immersion or decay on his body.

Yang Xiao boldly speculated that he might have led the monks to the mountain cave at the rear and was killed there.

Perhaps due to the unique geographical structure of the cave, even if it was flooded, the water did not reach his body.

It’s also possible that something strange occurred during the murder, like making wishes to the statue imprisoning the Painted Woman while being killed.

His thoughts abruptly stopped because a very serious matter was now before Yang Xiao; the tavern owner couldn’t get on the boat, and he was starting to lose control.

"Why can you walk away but I can’t?" The tavern owner raised his head, staring at Yang Xiao with bulging, blood-red eyes, "You promised me, once you found the boat, you’d take me home!"

"Liar! You lied to me!" Furious, the tavern owner raised his hand, reaching to grab Yang Xiao’s neck, "If I can’t go, neither can you!"

At the critical moment, Yang Xiao thought of something; just as the tavern owner was about to drag him down the boat, he pulled out a small cloth pouch from his bosom.

He opened the pouch to reveal a fairly exquisite silver bracelet inside.

Seeing the bracelet, the tavern owner froze, and his gradually collapsing emotions stabilized, his frightening appearance slowly retracting.

Soon, he reverted to the slightly sly tavern owner again.

Having narrowly escaped, Yang Xiao immediately began explaining that they were sent by his mother to rescue him, but they were not fully prepared this time. Once they returned and prepared properly, they would return and take him home.

"You must keep your word, come and get me!" The tavern owner carefully cradled the silver bracelet, his gaze towards Yang Xiao and Sopa becoming much more sincere, no longer attacking them.

"Of course, we will definitely come back!" Yang Xiao promised him.

"Good, good, I’ll wait for you, tell my mother I’m fine, all is well, I’ll see her next time!"

The tavern owner, stepping in the lake as if on solid ground, reluctantly followed their small boat, trailing for dozens of meters.

"I’ll wait for you, I’m waiting for you! You must come back!"

Yang Xiao and Sopa rowed vigorously, finally leaving the Ghost Island in the lake, while the frail silhouette of the tavern owner eventually vanished in the mist.

Yang Xiao collapsed on the boat, limbs splayed, gasping heavily, a true narrow escape from death.

What a close call.

If there hadn’t been a silver bracelet this time, none of them would have escaped today, all three would have died here.

The clues could not be taken out, or might even get lost, essentially dooming this mission to failure, and it would be near impossible for the remaining four members to turn the tide.

Upon confirming they were out of danger, Sopa silently held onto the paddle board, looking toward the direction of the Ghost Island, tears silently falling.

But upon noticing Yang Xiao looking at her, she feigned bravery and wiped away her tears.

"Sopa, you, like your brother, are both very admirable people." This was neither flattery nor patronage; Yang Xiao spoke from the heart.

"Did my brother say anything in the end?" Although trying hard to suppress her emotions, Sopa’s trembling voice betrayed her.

"He asked me to take you away from here and swore that if I dared to break my promise, he wouldn’t let me go even as a ghost." Remembering the scene, Yang Xiao spoke truthfully.

The two remained silent all the way until forests and rolling mountains appeared in their vision, and the small boat was pushed toward the shore by the waves.

After the boat hit the shore, Yang Xiao did not immediately disembark; he lay on the boat, observing cautiously and finally confirming this was the spot they departed from.

The pier submerged in the lake was less than 100 meters to their right.

However, Yang Xiao did not see the agreed-upon teammates at the shore.

Yang Xiao had some speculations about this; he took Sopa off the boat and walked along for a while, then took out a porcelain bottle and book, lighting a candle, and waved toward the direction of the forest.

Sure enough, after this operation, two flashes of firelight appeared in the forest, and two groups of people gradually approached them from different directions.

On the right were Musa and Hafeez, with Hafeez supporting Musa, while the left side held only the solitary figure of Adila.

The scene was clear; they had lost two teammates, Maria and Datou, both veteran players.

After a brief account from Yang Xiao, the group decided to return first. Musa advised not to open the book and porcelain bottle here but wait until they returned safely to the temple.

However, at this moment, a divergence arose within the group; Musa wanted to first confirm Maria’s body, for if they returned to the Ghost Village next time, they would still need a body as a guide.

And since Datou’s body remained in the Ghost Village, it could not be recovered. Maria’s body was invaluable.

But Adila disagreed, bluntly stating the place was unsafe, and the body couldn’t run away, so they could wait until tomorrow for the monks at the temple to retrieve it.

Finally, those supporting Musa prevailed, and following unwilling clues provided by Adila, they finally found Maria’s body along the way. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Her body lay under a crooked-neck tree, with a large rock nearby.

"What...what happened to her?" Hafeez stared wide-eyed at Maria’s seemingly unappeased face.

Although her body was almost drained, they could still see signs of injury on the purple-blue face, with the wound on her forehead, very severe, as if struck by a club-like weapon.