After he reminded her, Yan Qing also realized what was wrong. I said, "I was wondering why something felt off. Turns out, the number of people was wrong!"
Apart from an extra woman dressed in red and wearing white flowers, the entire family of three who owned the stationery store had vanished.
"I remember Wen Jiajia said during the day that the family of three from the stationery store went to the temple, but there was clearly no one in the temple!"
Even Yue Qi couldn't figure this out. Considering their previous experiences, he was actually more inclined to believe that the family of three in the stationery store were normal people.
Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why the little girl would deliberately leave the black cloth behind to save them.
However, the two had no time to think about anything else. Because at that moment, the ceremony began.
Suddenly, the temple gate across the square opened, and a young monk dressed in a kasaya walked out.
There were people inside the temple!!
Yan Qing was somewhat incredulous. There was clearly no monk's quarters in the temple except for the main hall. Where did this little monk come from?
The young monk held a black round bowl in his hand, and a green liquid seemed to be flowing faintly inside.
He walked up to a man in white, made a delicate pinky gesture with one hand, dipped his finger into the round bowl, and then placed his finger on the man's forehead.
A glimmer of green light appeared between the white-clad man's eyebrows, flashed briefly, and then disappeared again.
The young monk then proceeded to tap the forehead of the second person.
Yan Qing stared intently at the first person in white who had been touched. She noticed that after the touch was applied to his forehead, the person seemed to be under the influence of opium, exhibiting a kind of ethereal, dreamlike state.
The little monk's complexion actually became slightly rosy. After a few people passed by, this change became more and more obvious.
Yue Qi's voice suddenly rang out, "Yan Qing, we need to find a way to leave quickly. I sensed traces of magic in that little monk's bowl, a strong smell of evil magic."
His words confirmed Yan Qing's guess. She had always felt that the green liquid was very similar to the blood of the evil god on the floor of her room.
"I just made a discovery: those people seemed to become more dull after their foreheads were tapped, while the little monk's complexion improved."
"That's right. This little monk is definitely not a clean thing. Be careful, let's back up slowly."
Fortunately, their position was on the edge, so the commotion was not obvious. At this moment, the little monk had already arrived beside Wen Jiajia and the other person.
Wen Jiajia seemed oblivious, and the little monk easily touched her forehead. However, unlike the people in white, the mark on her forehead did not fade away for a long time.
She reached out and handed the white flowers she was holding to the little monk, who accepted them with a smile.
Similarly, the same applies to Sun Jue.
Yan Qing was somewhat alarmed. What exactly was Wen Jiajia doing?
Before long, the young monk, carrying a round alms bowl, arrived at the center of the square, where several shop owners were sitting.
Strangely, the little monk seemed not to see anything and simply walked right past them.
This really opened her eyes. Yan Qing couldn't understand why these few people were special.
As the little monk drew closer and closer, overwhelmed by a sense of impending doom, Yue Qi could no longer sit still and grabbed her hand.
"Walk!"
The two turned and ran back. At that moment, the little monk behind them suddenly let out a scream, a shrill sound that echoed through the sky.
The next moment, all the men in white began to riot.
Yan Qing glanced back accidentally and saw that the white-clad figures, who had appeared normal before, suddenly deflated as if suffocated. They transformed into dried-up corpses, their bodies turning bluish-black.
As if receiving a command, everyone began to rush towards the two of them.
The moon in the sky was incredibly bright, but the moonlight that fell on the ground became increasingly bloody.
Thick blood mist suddenly appeared on the ground, reaching their waists in just a few breaths.
Upon contact with the blood mist, those people in white began to mutate one by one.
Yan Qing watched these people with trepidation. In a short moment, her body rapidly swelled up, and her originally withered and bluish-black body gradually turned pale. Long fingernails grew on her hands, each one flashing with green light.
"Zombies!"
Witnessing the first successful mutation of a zombie was an unprecedented shock to her. However, she had no time to process this before Yue Qi pulled her to the red gate of the temple.
Yue Qi, panting, asked her, "There's no road ahead. Our only chance of survival is in this temple. Are you scared?!"
"I'm scared! But I want to live!" Yan Qing didn't hesitate at all and followed him into the red gate.
The little monk in the distance saw this and screamed even louder.
Wen Jiajia and Sun Jue, for some reason, were mistaken for one of their own by the zombies and were not attacked in any way.
Yan Qing didn't see this scene, but Yue Qi, taking advantage of his height, saw it all clearly.
Following the young monk's instructions, the zombies began to desperately surge into the temple. However, their movements were indeed somewhat slow, and they couldn't catch up in a short time.
Yue Qi drew his longsword and shouted to Yan Qing, "Quick, check those coffins first!"
Yan Qing had already discovered that the coffin had been opened and the person inside had vanished without a trace.
It seems that the zombies outside probably live in these coffins.
The blood mist had reached her waist, and Yan Qing couldn't see what was inside the coffins, so she could only randomly touch the coffin closest to her.
The coffin was empty; apart from a small wooden plaque, there was nothing else. Just then, a strange phenomenon in the distance reminded her.
The blood mist in the courtyard seemed particularly afraid of the white flowers. The blood mist permeated the surroundings, but the place where the white flowers were planted remained perfectly clean.
Yan Qing's eyes lit up. "Yue Qi, come with me!"
She charged ahead into the white flower bushes, and Yue Qi quickly followed. Strangely, the zombies that had been chasing them seemed to have gone blind and couldn't see them at all.
The zombies began to wander aimlessly in the yard.
Yan Qing and her companion noticed a completely different scene upon entering the patch of white flowers. From the outside, it appeared to be just a small flowerbed, but once inside, they discovered a hidden path within it.
This place seems to be inside a magic array, hidden from the outside but revealing a hidden world inside.
At the end of the path, she saw the little girl in the red dress once again.
The little girl waved to her, smiling happily, "Big sister, we meet again!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
