The Ancestral Hall was not far from the village's southwestern corner. At their pace, it took only a minute or two.
Soon, the seven of them stood outside the Ancestral Hall, watching its open doors with wary eyes.
Although the Ancestral Hall remained unchanged and the entire village had fallen quiet after dawn, the memory of what had happened earlier left them tense.
The sight of the idol's head lying on the floor inside tightened their chests even further. They knew this was the God Ye Lin had said was being coerced.
The idol was enshrined high on the altar, but its head lay facing the wall, turned away from the doorway, as though it did not even dare look at the village outside.
Behind him, the others exchanged silent glances and readied themselves. Ye Lin hesitated no longer. He drew his sword and walked straight into the Ancestral Hall, with Li Tianyang and He Zheng following on either side.
"Search in pairs. Stay within sight of each other as much as possible."
"If anything seems wrong, speak up immediately."
After those brief instructions, Ye Lin headed toward the idol first.
The Ancestral Hall was not large, and searching it would likely take only two or three minutes. Although the strange feeling from earlier had vanished, he could still sense something hidden here.
No one objected. They quickly split into pairs and began searching the Ancestral Hall. Zhang Xiao Peng was too afraid to leave Li Tianyang, however, and with seven people, he was the odd one out anyway. Li Tianyang simply let him tag along.
Li Tianyang's complexion had improved considerably. Aside from the gauze covering one eye and his somewhat whiter hair, he looked little different from when he had first entered the Examination.
Just as he had