Free Web NovelChapter 1256: Chapter 833: Pato
These words sent chills down the spines of everyone present, especially when coming from the godly visage of Pato Monk, making them seem like a prophecy from the Buddhist Temple.
All things are void, causality is not void.
This ghost is still alive, and still has thoughts, which is something beyond the understanding of ordinary people.
However, it is precisely because it has consciousness and thoughts that it brings endless pain.
Yang Xiao can’t imagine what kind of twisted soul would be formed under decades, possibly even a century of endless torment.
Several people involuntarily looked up, their gaze falling on the tall Buddha statue at the end of the Inner Buddha Hall, within this seemingly compassionate Buddha Statue, lies a tragic past and an imprisoned Fierce Ghost.
"What are your plans for tonight?" Pato Abbot asked directly, "Who will be responsible for escorting the coffin to the ’River Immortal Village’?"
Seeing someone looking at her, Adila shrugged indifferently and pushed this hot potato away, "Mr. Musa has an injured leg, so I’ll stay with him to support you, just like tonight."
It was obvious that Hafeez was dissatisfied with this arrangement, as if Adila and Musa wouldn’t go, this task would fall onto him, after all, they were only five people.
But Adila didn’t care what Hafeez thought, it didn’t matter what a useless newcomer thought.
Adila was clearly avoiding responsibility, evading risk, but Yang Xiao wasn’t bothered, to be honest, he didn’t trust Adila anyway.
Moreover, they had already scouted the road last night, so this time wasn’t entirely unprepared, they indeed needed capable personnel for reception; in his view, Adila and Musa worked well together.
With Musa keeping an eye on Adila, Yang Xiao felt more at ease.
After confirming the night’s task distribution, Pato Abbot kept Yang Xiao and Sopa back, asking them to stay and chant scriptures and pray with him.
Musa and Adila, along with Hafeez, were then assigned tasks, Musa was tasked to go to Tai Town to find a carpenter’s shop and get a large coffin to hold the ghost statue.
Meanwhile, Adila was responsible for bringing Hafeez to the incense hall in the temple to collect candles and incense, these would be used at night.
Musa followed the route given by Pato and arrived at a secluded spot north of the town, where there was a carpenter’s shop with its door half-open, without a sign, looking quite unremarkable business-wise.
As he approached to knock on the door, Musa realized that the carpenter shop’s door was in shambles, and showed signs of multiple repairs.
The shop owner, with a face full of pockmarks, was an elderly fellow whose skin sagged downwards on his face, and upon hearing Pato Abbot had sent Musa, the shop owner quickly agreed, saying he’d deliver the requested coffin by this evening.
"Boss, it’s past noon now. Are you sure you can deliver the coffin by evening?" Musa was unwilling to be vague regarding everyone’s survival tonight.
"I will fulfill my promise," the shop owner said, shuffling his shoes, squinting his eyes.
The coffin Musa needed tonight for the ghost statue was much larger than usual coffins, this wouldn’t be a task completed in a short time, even the acquisition of raw materials required time.
"Boss, it’s not that I don’t believe you, but the temple’s Pato Abbot is in a hurry. Could you let me take a look at your warehouse, so I can have peace of mind and report back to Pato Abbot?"
Musa was a cautious person; he needed to see evidence himself and couldn’t solely rely on the other’s words.
Unexpectedly, the shop owner smiled upon hearing this and raised his withered tree-like arm, pointing behind Musa, "No need to go to the warehouse, it’s right behind you."
Musa slowly turned around, the carpenter shop door was right behind him, and a few seconds later, Musa slowly widened his eyes, realizing that the carpenter shop door was pieced together from coffin planks.
Moreover, these coffin planks had been used before, dismantled from a large coffin, judging by its broken and worn appearance, it seemed to be taken from an ancient grave, very uniquely shaped, likely a joint burial coffin.
"The materials are ready, my apprentices and I can have it restored in 2 hours," the shop owner lifted his foot and patted the shoe sole with a peculiar expression, "After all these years, this thing is finally of use, Pato Abbot truly foresaw everything."
"What do you mean by that?" Musa was stunned after regaining his composure.
"This coffin was pre-prepared as per Pato Abbot’s orders, after so many years, it’s finally useful. I also don’t know why he wants this bizarre thing," the shopkeeper said, crossing his legs on an old Taishi Chair, lighting a smoke pipe and puffing away.
Upon hearing this, Musa felt his hair stand on end; such a large coffin definitely wasn’t meant for ordinary people, could it be that Pato had been preparing for today long ago?
If this were true, it meant he was already aware of the ghost statue hidden in the Inner Buddha Hall and this dismantled coffin was prepared to transport the ghost statue.
The more he thought, the more panicked he felt, cold sweat gradually forming on his forehead. Though he couldn’t understand why yet, he was sure that they were being manipulated, and that Pato Monk might have other tricks waiting for them.
"Boss, I have friends who need to travel at night, worried about wild beasts in the nearby mountains, do you have any weapons for self-defense?" Musa first bade farewell to the carpenter shop, then, as if suddenly remembering something, returned to inquire.
"It’s a carpenter shop, I don’t sell weapons," the shop owner said, smacking his smoke pipe.
Musa, feeling bored, turned to leave. Just a second before he was about to step out of the coffin door, there was a "whoosh" sound from behind him.
"Thud!"
Musa suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at the coffin door on his left. A short arrow had been nailed into the door, with the arrowhead deeply embedded, only the fletching was left visible, still trembling and buzzing.
Musa’s first reaction was that he had fallen into a trap; this old man collaborated with the monks in the temple to kill him. However, when he turned back and looked at the face of the carpenter shop owner, he felt it wasn’t the case.
The shop owner was holding a finely crafted box, not very large, small enough to fit in clothing, like a kind of hidden weapon.
Seeing Musa turn back, the shop owner proudly displayed the hidden weapon box in his hand: "Though I don’t sell any iron items here, I’ve got this. It’s something I made myself during leisure time. If you like it, you can have it."
"How many arrows can it hold?" Musa asked in a low voice.
"What are you thinking? Just one." The shop owner grinned, seemingly thinking that his ask was too much.
"Alright, I’ll take it."
Having said this, Musa stepped forward, and the shop owner, right in front of him, opened the hidden weapon box and reloaded it with a crossbow arrow. This specially made crossbow arrow was very small, only slightly more than a third of a normal arrow.
Such a thing obviously couldn’t deal with large beasts, let alone ghosts, but Musa had his own plans. He was going to execute a mission with Adila tonight; he couldn’t be unprepared.
Musa picked up the box, aimed it simply, and shot an arrow; after several tests, he found the power of this thing was insufficient, and the accuracy was poor. It was able to nail into the coffin door purely because the coffin board was severely decayed.
To kill a person, you would need to shoot at a target within 5 meters, but this thing’s accuracy was only about 3 to 4 meters; any further, and the arrow would drift.
Ultimately, it was better than nothing. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
After understanding how to use this thing, Musa stuffed it into his clothing and was about to leave when, unexpectedly, the shop owner, who had been sitting cross-legged in the chair, suddenly jumped up and grabbed him.
"Pay up!!" the shop owner shouted loudly, "That coffin was something Master Pato arranged with me; this little gadget can’t just be given to you!"
After giving Musa a hard time, the shop owner’s eyes squinted with laughter. Just as Musa was about to walk out of the coffin door with the hidden weapon box, the shop owner’s old voice floated over, "Young brother, this little gadget can’t kill large beasts unless you coat the arrowhead with poison; I don’t have poison here, but you can go to the herbal shop across the street. They have medicine specifically for rats."
"Also, next time you buy something, be more sincere; there aren’t any large beasts in the forests nearby. Who are you buying this to guard against?"
"But rest assured, old man here has this one good point—I don’t ask about anything else after taking your money; even if someone comes asking, I know nothing."
He paused while rubbing the silver pieces Musa had left, muttering quietly to himself in a voice only he could hear, "Unless they pay me too."
Musa didn’t respond, said thank you, hid the hidden weapon box, and only after confirming it wouldn’t show on his body, did he leave the carpenter shop.
As the shop owner mentioned, he found an herbal shop and bought some rat poison, which he applied to the arrowhead.
Musa had already made up his mind; if the monks in the temple tried to act against them, he would first kill Pato Monk.
If the mission was proceeding normally, he would remain on guard against Adila.
If all went well tonight, so be it, but if Adila dared to harbor any ill intentions towards him, this arrow would be for Adila.
When Musa returned to the monastery, Yang Xiao and Sopa had already left the Inner Buddha Hall, and there was no word from Adila and Hafeez, so the three of them waited in a nearby pavilion.
Seizing the opportunity while Adila was absent, Musa recounted his experiences at the carpenter shop to them. Upon learning that Pato had prepared a large coffin long ago, Yang Xiao and Sopa’s expressions became peculiar.
It seemed this Pato Abbot knew a long time ago that the ghost statue was hidden inside the large Buddha statue in the Inner Buddha Hall. Yang Xiao even suspected that when the high monks went to steal the ghost statue, or even blew up the earth dam, Pato was aware of these events.
It wouldn’t matter if he just knew; it would be troubling if he had participated in these events. If so, the problem would be serious.
"He won’t let us leave alive; once things are settled, he’ll kill us to keep it quiet," Musa confirmed when no one was around, gesturing with his hand as if slicing his neck.
Very soon Musa noticed that the two in front of him seemed foreprepared, merely nodding without much reaction.
After a while, Sopa revealed the truth: "Mr. Musa, earlier the Pato Abbot already informed us about tonight’s arrangement. He has sent people to bring back Maria’s body and dismantled a copper bell from the temple, placing it by the lake."
"He repeatedly warned us that after tonight’s events, we should smoothly return to the shore by boat and ring the copper bell. Upon hearing the bell, people from the temple would come to take us home."
Hearing this, Musa was both angry and annoyed. At this point, these guys were not even trying to pretend; even Hafeez wouldn’t believe this.
"Rest assured, we’ve already prepared for the worst. If tonight’s mission fails completely, I will destroy the statue and release the Painted Woman, taking everyone in Tai Town down with us," Yang Xiao said with a chilling tone.
