Excessive ferocity due to caution

Zhao Yi made his stance clear, but it was precisely this stance that frightened Xu Shengzhi.

He went to Zhao Yi's side, massaging Zhao Yi's shoulders while offering words of comfort with a fawning smile:

"Master...Master, please hear me out."

"This person must not be killed!"

Zhao Yi glanced sideways:

"Oh?"

"Can't we kill him?"

Tell me about it.

Xu Shengzhi smiled wryly:

"With the cult leader's foresight, how could he not have imagined that killing this person would bring him a mountain of trouble?"

Zhao asked in return:

"Isn't this a huge problem now?"

Xu Shengzhi was taken aback.

"Can……"

Zhao Yi smiled and patted Xu Shengzhi on the shoulder, asking:

"Then I'll ask you a question, and you'd better answer it properly..."

Xu Shengzhi's eyes darted around:

"Please speak."

Zhao Yi took out a cigarette and lit it. His smile, hidden behind the drifting smoke, appeared somewhat ethereal and eerie.

"Who will die, you or him?"

boom!

Xu Shengzhi suddenly knelt on the ground, his voice trembling with tears:

"Master...kill!"

"Kill them!"

"Kill his mother!"

"What kind of bullshit 'Four Clans of the Imperial Capital' is this? Just kill them all!"

Zhao Yi's smile grew even wider.

"Remember what you said today."

Xu Shengzhi nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

After he left, Zhao Yi finished his hot tea and went alone to the strange temple in the suburban mountains.

I've been too busy with other things to deal with this place, but now I finally have the chance.

The dense forest, with its menacing barbs, resembled a demon, seemingly ready to devour people and gnaw on their bones. Zhao Yi stood at the entrance of the dilapidated temple, where the wild grass was like needles, stained with the blood of some unknown creatures.

A cold wind is blowing.

In a daze, a monk dressed in white suddenly appeared in front of Zhao Yi!

His body was made entirely of wood, pieced together section by section, with blood tears streaming from his eyes, making him extremely eerie in the wind!

However, there was no murderous aura emanating from this person.

He suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Zhao Yi.

"Save him..."

The wooden mouth emitted an almost inaudible sound.

Soon, the wooden monk vanished like sandstorm before Zhao Yi's eyes.

Zhao Yi looked at the pile of rotten wood chips in front of him, his expression serious. He squatted down, picked up a wood chip, and smelled it.

It's the smell of decaying time.

So, who is the wooden monk?

Whom am I supposed to save?

Zhao Yi stood up and stepped into the ghost temple. As he crossed the threshold, a message from the system arrived.

[Enter the private sanctuary: The Last Bell of the Night?]

Zhao Yi chose to enter.

...

[Secret Realm: Lingering Night]

[Type: Private Retreat]

[Participating Player: Zhao Yi]

[Main Quest: Within seven days, find a way to kill or seal the sinister entity at Redwood Temple!]

Main Quest Rewards: Points, Experience

[Synopsis: The abbot of Redwood Temple has passed away. Before his death, he told the young monks that he had performed an exorcism for a benefactor, sealing a terrifying and malevolent force within his body. After his death, this force could resurface and wreak havoc on the temple. He recently sent a letter to the wandering Master Nanga and has received a reply. Nanga is expected to arrive at Redwood Temple within seven days. The abbot instructed the monks to stay by his side for these seven days, chanting the Rebirth Sutra day and night to exorcise evil and ward off poison, and ringing the bell forty-nine times at midnight to prevent the malevolent force within him from resurfacing. If they can hold out until Master Nanga arrives, the crisis at Redwood Temple can be completely resolved…]

[Note 1: Please be aware of the bizarre pattern of the murders!]

[Note 2: You are not a priority target for the Redwood Temple's cunning attacks.]

[Note 3: Once you discover the Redwood Temple's insidious weakness, Note 2 will no longer apply!!!]

[Note 4: Do not attempt to confront the mysterious nature of Hongmu Temple head-on!!!]

...

heavy rain.

There was a faint scent of burning incense in the guest room.

It was only just after nightfall.

9:40.

A young monk in brown robes placed the vegetarian meal on the table in front of Zhao Yi and lit a candle for him.

His robe was damp at the corner, and the color was darker.

"Sir, it seems the electrical wiring at Hongmu Temple has been chewed up by rats, so we haven't been able to use lights lately. We'll have to make do with candles for now..."

The monk sat cross-legged on the futon opposite Zhao Yi, picked up his chopsticks, and ate the vegetarian meal with Zhao Yi.

This meal is light, consisting mainly of vegetable porridge with pickled vegetables as a side dish.

Zhao Yi didn't mind much, and said while eating:

"I'm so sorry to have to send the food by the young chef in such heavy rain."

Despite saying that, he very unceremoniously took most of the pickled vegetables with his chopsticks and put them into his own porridge bowl.

The young monk looked at the almost empty bowl of pickled vegetables and couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly:

"It's alright..."

The two buried themselves in their food.

"What should I call the junior chef?"

"Wisdom and Awareness".

"Master Huijue, have there been any other guests at the temple recently?"

"There are three other guests. One of them is a couple who came to pray for marriage. Because of the heavy rain, they can't go back for the time being, so they have to stay in the temple. The other is a shaman who came up from the foot of the mountain to worship the local earth god. She also got caught in the heavy rain and had no choice but to stay in the temple for the time being."

Zhao Yi picked a strand of hair out of his mouth, placed it in front of the monk, and said earnestly:

"Young monk, why is there hair in the temple?"

Huijue explained:

"It must be the sorceress's hair."

"Because the sorceress didn't want to eat and stay at the Redwood Temple for free, she volunteered to cook for the fellow monks in the kitchen. It's normal for a few strands of hair to fall out in the food because she's old; you can just pick them out."

Zhao Yi suddenly realized.

He then placed the black hair on the table.

Then the two continued eating.

The rain pattered outside the window, and the wind occasionally blew in, causing the candle wick to flicker. The shadows of the two people shifted constantly in the room.

After finishing his meal, Huijue was about to leave with his food basket when he opened the door. A strong gust of wind blew in and extinguished the candles on the wooden table.

The entire room suddenly became extremely dark.

"Benefactor Zhao..."

Perhaps due to the dampness caused by the heavy rain, Huijue's voice carried a strange chill.

"The monks in the temple have other important matters to attend to recently, so they cannot be too attentive to you. Please forgive them."

Zhao nodded:

"No problem, you guys go ahead with your work."

Huijue seemed still worried and added:

"It's been raining heavily lately, so please don't wander around at night, Mr. Zhao. There are no monks guarding the temple entrance, and wild animals might get in. It's not safe..."

Zhao Yi smiled and said:

"understood."

Seeing that Zhao Yi was so easy to talk to, Huijue picked up the food basket and left the room.

After he left, Zhao Yi went to the door and watched Huijue's figure disappear into the dark road in the distance before closing the door and relighting the candle.

His gaze fell on the table.

Zhao Yi noticed that the hair that had been picked out earlier... was gone.

PS: Only two updates today.

That's a bit short. 4000 words.

Since the next instance is opening, I want to make a proper outline.