Chapter 51

Four people rushed to the front courtyard, searching around but finding no one.

"Damn, they ran fast," Zhou Huaizhong cursed, swinging his watermelon knife and slashing at the surrounding weeds.

Xu Mo bent down to look at the ground, where the stone path was clean and free of footprints. He then looked at the weeds, which showed no signs of being trampled. He thought, "In such a short time, where could he have escaped to?" He glanced at the row of houses by the main hall, thinking, "Could he have hidden in one of these rooms? Or has he already escaped the temple?"

Just as he was puzzled, a series of bell sounds came from the left rear of the courtyard. The bell sounds were muffled and hoarse, different from ordinary bells, suggesting that the material used to cast the bell was a special metal.

An Jing pointed the watermelon knife toward the tin house and said, "It's at the tin house."

Zhou Huaizhong 'hmm'ed and cursed, "Playing tricks, let's go over."

Zhou Huaizhong and An Jing led the way, with Xu Mo and Luo Ci following behind. They went around the left front gate of the front courtyard, through the corridor, and headed toward the tin house.

The bell sounded at intervals, continuing even as they reached the tin house.

At this point, the four people standing outside the tin house could clearly hear that the sound was indeed coming from inside.

Zhou Huaizhong kicked the iron door hard, and with a loud clang, he shouted, "Bastard, come out."

This kick did not open the iron door, but the commotion finally startled the person inside the tin house. The bell sound stopped abruptly halfway through, and there was no more sound.

An Jing followed, "If you don't come out, we'll smash this place."

The person inside the tin house ignored them.

Xu Mo and Luo Ci exchanged glances, secretly guessing who was inside the tin house. Xu Mo's doubts grew, and he also pondered, "What was the initial whistle sound and the bell sound just now for?"

Zhou Huaizhong knocked on the iron door with his watermelon knife and shouted, "Do you think hiding inside like a turtle will save you? If you have the guts, never come out. I'll guard the door and starve you to death."

The person inside the tin house seemed very patient and did not respond to his curses.

Zhou Huaizhong, angry, kicked the door hard again, cursing continuously.

"Teacher Zhou, Teacher Zhou, come quickly! Come quickly!" Guang Ming's voice suddenly came from the back courtyard, calling out loudly with a tone full of urgency.

Everyone was startled. Zhou Huaizhong hurriedly said, "You stay here, I'll go check."

Xu Mo, uncertain, quickly said, "I'll go with you."

Zhou Huaizhong, too busy to care, left a message, "Luo Ci, stay here with An Jing," and ran toward the back courtyard.

Xu Mo closely followed behind.

Guang Ming's voice was still calling, "Teacher Zhou, come quickly, come quickly."

As Xu Mo and Zhou Huaizhong approached, Guang Ming and Guang Liang had already come out of the back courtyard and were chasing into the bushes on the right. When the two arrived, the Guang brothers were searching the bushes with flashlights, shining them around.

"What did you find?" Zhou Huaizhong shouted from a distance.

The faces of the Guang brothers were very serious, and they looked at each other but did not answer.

Zhou Huaizhong, impatient, shouted, "What did you see? Speak up!"

The Guang brothers looked at each other again, seemingly unsure how to explain. After a moment, Guang Liang stammered, "Teacher Zhou, it's too strange, you might not believe it."

Zhou Huaizhong glared at him and shouted, "Stop talking nonsense, speak up." He then looked at Guang Ming, his eyes darting between the two, his expression ugly, as if he would beat them if they didn't speak.

Guang Ming, meeting his gaze, shrank back and hurriedly said, "Teacher Zhou, don't be angry, I'll speak, I'll speak." He glanced uneasily at the surrounding bushes, as if worried someone was hiding in the depths. After a moment, he hesitated, "Teacher Zhou, we... we saw Nüwa."

Xu Mo was startled: Nüwa, the Nüwa in the outer hall? The one with the beautiful face from the Book of Revelation?

"What?" Zhou Huaizhong, disbelieving, widened his eyes and stared at Guang Ming, his face full of suspicion. After a moment, he suddenly shouted, "Nonsense!" and swung his hand to slap Guang Ming.

Guang Ming shrank back, dodged, and hurriedly said, "Teacher Zhou, don't hit me, it's true."

"Nonsense!" Zhou Huaizhong cursed again, "In broad daylight, where would Nüwa come from? You two little brats, instead of watching the back courtyard, you come out and make up lies to deceive me?"

Guang Liang cried, "Unfair, we wouldn't dare to deceive you."

"Even if you make up lies, make them believable. Nüwa, who would believe that?" Zhou Huaizhong shouted, raising his hand to strike again.

Xu Mo suddenly reminded, "Nüwa may not be real, but this is their territory, someone might be pretending." He thought, "The Book of Revelation lists that beautiful face to warn me, to be careful of this person."

Zhou Huaizhong suddenly realized, awkwardly scratching his head. He wasn't that stupid, just too impulsive and rarely thought things through.

Guang Liang, however, said, "No, it's not pretending, it's really Nüwa."

Zhou Huaizhong scolded, "Lying again." He raised his hand to strike.

Xu Mo, suspicious, asked, "Why do you say that?"

The Guang brothers looked at each other, and Guang Ming said, "We saw her face, it really looked like Nüwa. Also, her body was a snake's body, with a tail, and she moved away by slithering."

"Which Nüwa's face? The one in the outer hall or the main hall?" Despite already having a conclusion, Xu Mo couldn't help but ask.

Sure enough, Guang Liang, without hesitation, answered, "The one in the outer hall."

"Nonsense! You must have seen wrong," Zhou Huaizhong shouted again, clearly not believing the description of a human-headed, snake-bodied figure.

Guang Liang, aggrieved, said, "It's true, Teacher Zhou, both my brother and I saw it."

Xu Mo thought for a moment and asked again, "How did you see her?"

Guang Ming, recalling the scene, took a few deep breaths before speaking. "After you left, we were worried the people in the big house would escape, so we stayed by the door of the middle house, not daring to leave..."

Zhou Huaizhong, hearing this, patted his shoulder and praised, "Good boy, that's the way to be. You remembered what the teacher told you."

Guang Liang whispered, "Teacher Zhou, don't interrupt my brother," his voice low, clearly lacking confidence. Zhou Huaizhong glared at him, and Guang Liang shrank back.

Xu Mo, ignoring them, urged, "Then what?"

Guang Ming looked at Guang Liang and continued, "Then we suddenly heard someone calling our names outside the courtyard wall. We shone our flashlights and immediately saw someone peering over the wall, waving at us. At the same time, our flashlights shone on her face, and we clearly saw her appearance. She had many small braids hanging from her head, curled like little snakes. Her face... her face was exactly like the Nüwa in the outer hall."

At this point, his tone was filled with a chilling fear, and his face turned pale, clearly still shaken by what he had seen.

Zhou Huaizhong, seeing their serious expressions, muttered to himself and couldn't curse anymore.

Xu Mo, however, thought, "What he described is somewhat similar to the legend of the beautiful snake, which calls people over the wall and eats them at night if they answer. But the legend of the beautiful snake is just a myth, and what the Guang brothers saw must have been someone pretending."

He then asked, "What happened next?"

Guang Ming, recalling the scene, took a few deep breaths and couldn't speak for a moment. Guang Liang continued, "Seeing her face, my brother and I were stunned. After a while, we reacted. My brother called out for Teacher Zhou, and I saw Nüwa leave the wall and go down to the ground. The wall was high, so we couldn't see her anymore. We knew something was wrong and chased out of the courtyard."

Guang Ming, having caught his breath, continued, "As soon as we left the courtyard, we saw her leave the wall and move to the right. Her upper body was human, her lower body was a snake. Even though we had already thought of this when we saw her face, we were still startled. She dragged a long tail and moved on the ground, surprisingly fast. In the blink of an eye, she reached the corner of the wall and headed toward the bushes."

"I called out for Teacher Zhou and chased after her, but by the time we reached the wall, she was already gone."

Zhou Huaizhong, engrossed, asked, "Then what?"

"Then... then you came over." Guang Liang shrugged, helpless.

Xu Mo followed up, "Where did that person... Nüwa... go? Did she go into the bushes?" He glanced at the dense bushes, which were at least 1.7 to 1.8 meters tall. If someone went in, even if they were tall, they could easily hide by slightly lowering their head.

"Maybe," Guang Liang said uncertainly, "When we turned the corner, she was already gone."

Xu Mo thought, "It's certain that Nüwa was someone pretending. In the dark, with a fake tail, it wouldn't be hard to fool the Guang brothers. I need to be careful if I see her. But why did she lure the Guang brothers out?"

Just as he was about to ask more, An Jing's voice came from the direction of the tin house, urgently shouting, "Teacher Zhou, Teacher Zhou, come quickly, someone ran out."