Begging to Live

"Falling. People fall toward whatever they see, or, if they're strong enough, they become what things fall toward," Qu Zan explained.

"What does that mean? I sort of understand, but not quite," Doje said.

"We must all have been cursed by the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin. Its supernatural power alone will carry us falling toward whatever we see."

"The instant the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin activated, Nacang was looking at the ground, and his head smashed into it." Rinchen understood.

"That's not right. Then why did he keep smashing into it? Shouldn't once have been enough?" Doje asked in confusion.

"When a force presses against your head and drives it into a wall, what do you do?"

"Instinctively tilt your head back, putting distance between yourself and it to avoid the impact," Rinchen added.

"So that caused the repeated impacts?" Doje said. "Looked at that way, Nacang died through the combined efforts of himself and the Vengeful Ghost."

Everyone sighed with regret. If they had discovered the pattern sooner, he would not have had to die.

But behind that lay another paradox: without casualties, they might never have discovered the pattern.

"When you said things fall toward us, you meant that when I looked at the candlestick, since I was heavier than it, instead of me crashing into the candlestick, it was drawn into falling toward my eye!" The monk Miao Yimu gave a bitter laugh. The movement of his cheeks sent blood spattering out.

"Then why did they fall from the sky?" Doje pointed at Tseten outside, whose tendons had snapped and bones had broken in the fall.

"When the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin activated to kill him, he must have been looking at the sky..." Qu Zan said. "Like the monk before him... he fell toward the sky!"

"The Ghost-Fallen Guanyin's range of influence has a limit. Once he passed that limit, he stopped falling toward the sky, and then began falling down! As he fell, his gaze was bound to turn toward the earth! He would instinctively search for the direction from which he had flown into the sky!"

Everyone's scalp prickled. Who could survive a fall from that height? Death was all but certain!

"I counted silently. Tseten was gone for a count of five thousand six hundred. By that calculation, the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin's range of influence is around two to three li," Qu Zan said.

Rinchen looked at Qu Zan strangely.

This fellow had been composed from the very beginning. Even with death right before his eyes, he had not let up in the slightest. At such a moment of life and death, he still had the presence of mind to count the time silently. Even in the face of peril, he remained so calm.

No, an ordinary person would long since have been frightened out of his wits.

If Qu Zan had not discovered the killing pattern, not one person present could have hoped to survive.

Doje patted Rinchen on the shoulder and said, "Junior Brother Gyatso discovered the killing pattern, so I'll let Junior Brother Rinchen, the most distinguished among us, bring the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin under control."

Rinchen's mouth twitched. Bring the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin under control? With what, his head?

He knew Doje was mocking him. For Gyatso's sake, Rinchen did not want to get tangled up in an argument with Doje.

Qu Zan looked at the sky and said, "It's getting late. Once night falls, this Vengeful Ghost's supernatural power will surely awaken even further. If it kills more people, that will undoubtedly strengthen it too."

A dormant Vengeful Ghost and a fully awakened one were worlds apart in destructive power and killing ability.

Right now, the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin still killed only one person at a time. With its terrifying power, if it began harming groups, or even if its killing pattern changed slightly, they would all die.

"Tell us what to do, Junior Brother Gyatso. We'll all listen to you!" Gonbo stared intently at Qu Zan with his one remaining eye.

Through his calm and intelligence, Qu Zan had discovered the killing pattern, which amounted to saving everyone present. Although he had only just entered the temple, he had already become their leader without anyone realizing it.

"Next, we can only take a gamble," Qu Zan said. "Everyone, remember the general direction, cover your entire field of vision with your robes, then run out. Remember, whatever you do, don't look at the sky, or no one will be able to save you!"

"I admit there's an element of gambling in this!"

Yes, it was a gamble.

There was no other way. None of them had the ability to suppress a Vengeful Ghost. They could only use the killing pattern they had discovered and pray that the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin would not change it.

When the weak challenged the strong, they mostly relied on gambling.

"Yes. Whatever else, we've discovered the killing pattern. The advantage is ours." Rinchen bolstered his own courage.

Doje said, "What do you mean, 'we'? My junior brother Gyatso discovered it."

Rinchen pretended not to hear.

Qu Zan said, "There's no time to lose. Let's get ready. Once we get around that side room, everyone split up and run. Report the Vengeful Ghost's appearance to the temple. Let them send people to subdue it..."

If the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up.

Qu Zan did not possess much power yet, nor did he know how to subdue a Vengeful Ghost.

But he knew that the Corpse Camel Temple must possess the power to keep Vengeful Ghosts in check.

As for why a Vengeful Ghost had appeared here, he had some guesses;

"All right!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

They lifted their monks' robes to shield their eyes.

They opened the main doors and ran outside in an exceedingly comical fashion.

The closer Qu Zan drew to the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin, the more sinister and terrifying it felt.

He smelled the heavy stench of corpses in the air and felt the darkness right beside him.

The closer he drew to the Vengeful Ghost, the stronger the sense of cold, damp gloom became.

The Ghost-Fallen Guanyin still stood there, with that eerie woman's face, its body giving off a nauseating stench. It was the smell of butter mixed with corpse oil.

Everyone ran with their attention fixed entirely on the cloth before their eyes.

It was no different from running blindfolded.

Qu Zan's [Extensive Learning] ability had already taken every sight in the courtyard into his mind.

This allowed him to run without the slightest pause.

Beside him, a monk was running too hastily. He accidentally missed his footing, lost his balance, and fell straight to the ground.

"Ah!" He screamed in fright and struggled to stand.

Almost instinctively, he caught a glimpse of the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin out of the corner of his eye.

Within the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin's strange, eerie face, its narrow eyes radiated indifference and deathly stillness.

Suddenly, that face enlarged in an instant, pressing right up before him.

"No... please, no!" the monk wailed.

It was not the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin approaching him, but him being selected by the Vengeful Ghost's strange ability, falling instantly into contact with it.

Then came soundless stillness.

Even without seeing it, everyone knew he was dead.

Then came the crunch of bones and flesh being chewed.

"Damn it, just one careless mistake!" Qu Zan's hands and feet went cold.

"Even after discovering the killing pattern, the slightest slip in how you act can still get you killed instantly in a Vengeful Ghost incident!"

An icy chill filled Qu Zan's heart.

They were like prey facing a predator, able only to fear and tremble, relying on luck to beg for a sliver of a chance to live.