Discovery

Doje said, "Junior brother, what happened? He was perfectly fine just now. How did he suddenly seem to become possessed and kill himself?"

Everyone was chilled to the bone at the sight, especially since the man had been perfectly fine just moments ago. Without the slightest warning, he had suddenly gone mad before their eyes.

They all scrambled backward in terror.

Qu Zan, too, was horrified, his hands and feet icy cold.

He worked hard to use his [Extensive Learning] talent to recall everything that had just happened, trying to let thought dilute his fear.

Qu Zan looked outside with a grave expression. Though frightened, he did not show it.

In circumstances like these, fear could spread, even multiply. If everyone sank into terror and could not pull themselves free,

then it would only be a matter of time before the entire group was wiped out.

Qu Zan turned his gaze outside.

Doje's face was ashen. "Junior brother, what are you looking for?" he asked quietly.

"I'm looking for Tseten."

"You won't find him. He must be dead too! Let's worry about ourselves first," Doje said.

"We should hurry and escape," Rinchen said.

"Escape? How? If we act rashly without figuring out the Vengeful Ghost's rules for killing, we're courting death." Qu Zan had been watching every movement outside from the start.

He noticed a change in the Vengeful Ghost. The head it had held aloft was now resting on its spine.

Doje said to Rinchen, "Senior brother, you're a scholar monk. You're older than all of us. Don't you know some Mahamudra that can subdue that Vengeful Ghost?"

"Subdue it, my ass! I've never received an empowerment. Even if I had, am I supposed to subdue a Vengeful Ghost like that with my life?" Rinchen was so terrified that he no longer cared about breaking the precepts and swore angrily.

"Only someone who controls Vengeful Ghosts would have a chance of contending with something like this. And why are there Vengeful Ghosts in our monastery in the first place?"

Meanwhile, Qu Zan's mind kept turning. That senior brother who fell from the roof earlier must have encountered this Ghost-Fallen Guanyin too. Think. Hurry up and think. Find the pattern!

Thanks to his [Extensive Learning] talent, every scene from earlier flashed rapidly through his mind as he hoped to link all the clues together.

Qu Zan saw the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin's head slowly being raised.

Thunk!

The Ghost-Fallen Guanyin lowered its head again.

"Aah!" A piercing scream rang out.

It jolted everyone to attention.

The monk holding the candlestick had actually thrust its pointed tip into his own eye socket.

Metal scraped against bone with a teeth-grating sensation. His eyeball burst instantly, and warm blood ran down his cheek.

"Gonbo, have you gone mad?" Doje said in disbelief.

Gonbo screamed shrilly, "No! This candlestick came alive! It's a cursed ghost object!" The excruciating pain made him howl.

Qu Zan asked, "You said the candlestick came alive just now? At that very instant, the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin put its head back onto its spine. That means it's a warning sign that the Vengeful Ghost is about to kill!"

"You've figured out its rules for killing?" Doje asked in disbelief.

Rinchen said in delighted surprise, "Since you've discovered the pattern, does that mean we're safe as long as its head is detached from its spine? Then let's hurry and leave now."

"If you walk out now and die at the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin's hands, don't expect me to do anything about it," Qu Zan said coldly.

"I said I only suspect I've discovered the warning sign before it kills."

"Then how do we figure it out? Do we just wait here to die?" Rinchen said.

"I told you, I'm looking for the missing Tseten."

"What does it matter to us whether he's dead or alive?" Rinchen said.

"No, I think we'll find him very soon," Qu Zan said thoughtfully.

"You're just wasting time. What we need to think about now is how those of us still alive can escape," Rinchen said.

Doje snorted. "Rinchen, if you want to run, hurry up and run. No one's stopping you. Remember, Qu Zan was the one who discovered the warning sign."

"That was simple. If I'd been patient, I could have discovered it too," Rinchen argued.

"Who was so scared he wet his pants just now? Who kept wanting to run? With that courage and nerve of yours, do you have what it takes?" Doje sneered.

Rinchen's face flushed red, then went pale with anger. But thinking back carefully to those circumstances, he had been scared half to death. Never mind discovering anything-he could barely stand.

There was little point in this hindsight bickering.

Before long, a sudden bang came from within the monastery. Everyone turned and saw a corpse in the courtyard, its bones and sinews shattered by the fall.

"That's the body of Tseten, who's been missing all this time."

"How could that be?" Doje froze. "Where did his body come from?"

"I saw it fall from the sky!" Rinchen said. "How did he get up into the sky?"

"Just as I thought!" Qu Zan said.

The monk who had been chanting all along said, "Everyone, look at the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin! It's about to pull its head out again!"

Everyone immediately tensed. Whenever the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin's head came down, someone was either killed or injured.

Qu Zan suddenly lifted his monk's robe, blocking his view and holding it a foot away from his face.

His actions left everyone bewildered.

By now, everyone regarded Qu Zan as their pillar of support. Seeing what he did, they all held their robes up in front of their faces.

In the silent hall, several monks stood motionless facing outside, holding their robes up toward the exterior. The sight of them standing in a row looked utterly ridiculous.

Doje wanted to ask, "Junior brother, what are we doing?" But now, the slightest mistake could mean a violent death on the spot, so he did not dare speak.

They were all deeply uneasy. In less than a quarter of an hour, two people had died inexplicably, and another had lost an eye. They had no idea how many of them would survive what came next.

No one dared so much as breathe loudly.

"Ow!" Rinchen suddenly cried out in fright. Everyone instinctively looked over and saw that Rinchen had flung his robe against his face, covering it.

"Senior brother, how can you joke around at a time like this?" Doje said.

"I'm not joking. Just now, that robe seemed to come alive. It flung itself against my face and slapped me so hard it hurt."

They looked toward the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin and saw that it had placed its head back on its spine.

"No one's dead, and no one's injured! Wonderful!" Doje could not help exclaiming.

"Buddha protect us!" A monk pressed his palms together.

"Besides thanking the Buddha for his protection, you should thank my junior brother too," Doje said with a smile. Having escaped disaster, everyone relaxed a little.

The monk bowed to Qu Zan. "Junior Brother Gyatso, thank you for saving us."

"You're welcome." Qu Zan returned the bow.

Doje asked, "Junior brother, you've figured out the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin's rules for killing. What exactly are they?"