"They were all wiped out?"
Bei Ruogema said, "That day at Bado Manor, they laid an ambush. The three of us elders feared that if the stalemate dragged on, we would be unable to hold off the enemy and the Buddha's Sarira would be taken.
"So we devised a plan. We split up the golden containers so that [Hell's Beings] couldn't tell the real one from the fakes, then broke out separately. That would give us a slightly better chance."
"After you left, reinforcements from [Hell's Beings] arrived, along with two more Hell Lords-their experts really did keep coming, one after another."
Bei Ruogema let out a long sigh, his voice filled with sorrow. From this alone, one could see how fierce the fighting had been that night.
"Of the three elders, only I survived. Elder Tudeng Gero and Elder Awang Gesang both passed away. The ghosts and gods bound to them are probably still wandering outside. It was only thanks to Elder Awang Gesang covering me that I managed to break out."
Qu Zan asked, "Then the others. Did they also-"
"Having laid an ambush at Bado Manor, the people of Hell's Beings naturally stopped at nothing in hunting us down," Bei Ruogema said. "So far, apart from you, not a single person has returned alive."
"What about Namkha and Jiumo?" Qu Zan asked, naming the two monks he knew.
Bei Ruogema shook his head. "Both their bodies have been found. Their golden containers were all taken."
Qu Zan was startled. Jiumo had been no more than a nodding acquaintance, but Namkha could be considered his friend. He had never expected that Namkha, too, would fail to survive this calamity.
For a moment, a hundred emotions swirled through Qu Zan.
"How did you escape disaster?" Bei Ruogema scrutinized Qu