The Binding Monk on guard took the keys to open the other stone chambers.
"Everything is normal in the Rat Chamber, everything is normal in the Ox Chamber..."
"It seems only this chamber's collection was stolen clean," the Sutra Academy Abbot said. "How could this happen? I had already sealed that mirror. It couldn't possibly be opened from inside using uncanny power!"
"Then it was opened from outside," the monastery's chief steward said coldly. "Bring me the two Binding Monks who escorted the golden box today."
Soon, the two Binding Monks were brought over.
They stared in astonishment at the scene in the underground palace.
"I told you to guard the sealed box," the monastery's chief steward said. "How could you make such a grave blunder? Did you tamper with its seal?"
"How would we dare?" the two Binding Monks hurriedly said. "After the abbot sealed the golden box, we delivered it straight to the Demon-Subduing Underground Palace without the slightest delay."
"I remember Dzongben Caiwang left right around the same time as you," the Sutra Academy Abbot said. "Was there anything unusual about him?"
One Binding Monk shook his head. "There was nothing unusual about him."
The other Binding Monk said, "Oh, when he reached the corner, just as he was about to go down the passage, his foot suddenly went numb. He pitched forward and fell down the steps."
"Did both of you see that?" the Sutra Academy Abbot asked.
"Yes!" the two Binding Monks said. "Miss Tuya suddenly screamed, and we both instinctively turned to look."
"In other words, for a moment, your eyes were not on the box," the monastery's chief steward said sternly.
The two Binding Monks murmured their assent, then protested, "But it was only a moment."
"If he were an ordinary person, naturally