"Oh, I thought you and Adam Grant knew each other." Grace Cooper said this casually.

But as soon as she said it, both Little Scott and Adam Grant's expressions changed, and a look of alertness appeared in their eyes.

Eric Bennett immediately sensed the shift in atmosphere.

"What do you mean by that?" Little Scott retorted.

"Nothing at all," Grace Cooper replied. "I just thought you two seemed close... Unless you really do know each other?"

"How could that be." Little Scott looked very uncomfortable.

Grace Cooper smiled and didn't pursue the topic any further.

Of course, Little Scott didn't press Grace Cooper either. She didn't stop Grace Cooper from letting Eric Bennett carry her to the temple, but turned away with a gloomy face and left.

Chapter 6 Entering the Temple

The night was deep, and everyone walked in the biting cold wind, holding torches.

The heavy snow from before had stopped, but the wind was still chilling. Eric Bennett's footsteps crunched on the ground. He wore thick clothes, pulled his hat up to cover his ears and the lower half of his face, and hunched his body slightly, carrying a beautiful girl on his back.

No one spoke along the way; the atmosphere was eerily quiet.

When the temple the carpenter had mentioned finally appeared before them, someone finally broke the silence.

"This is the temple?" Brian Carter spoke up. "This temple looks... way too strange."

In the darkness, the temple did indeed look very odd. At first glance, it seemed extremely old, but if you looked closely, you'd find it was actually very exquisite. Just the relief carvings on the two pillars at the entrance were clearly not ordinary.

Eric Bennett set Grace Cooper down and raised his torch to examine the carvings on the pillars. He found that the reliefs depicted scenes from the eighteen levels of hell; whether it was evil spirits or suffering souls, they all looked vivid and lifelike on the pillars.

"These pillars are really beautiful," Grace Cooper suddenly praised.

"They really are," Eric Bennett agreed.

These reliefs were nothing like something that would come from a backward mountain village; they were almost works of art.

If it weren't for the more pressing matters at hand, Eric Bennett might have spent some time studying them.

"Who goes first?" Adam Grant asked.

He meant who would go in first, but no one answered. This was just too dangerous—if entering the temple was the trigger for death, then whoever went in first would be the sacrifice.

"Why does it have to be one person going in?" Grace Cooper suddenly said. "What if that old man was lying to us?"

Adam Grant said, "But listening to him is still better than going against him."

Grace Cooper: "That's not necessarily true." She turned to look at Eric Bennett. "Qiushi, I'm scared. Let's go in together."

Eric Bennett hesitated a little at her words. "But what if entering as a pair is the real trigger?"

Grace Cooper said, "We don't know any of the answers right now. I'd rather take a gamble. After all, if you go in alone and something happens, no one will know." After she finished, she glanced at the dark temple ahead. "After all... you go in as a person, but who knows what you might be when you come out."

Her words sent a chill down everyone's spine, including Eric Bennett. He rubbed his arms, glanced at Grace Cooper's expression, and finally gritted his teeth. "Alright."

Adam Grant frowned. "Do you even know what you're doing? What if two people is—"

He seemed about to persuade them further, but Grace Cooper interrupted, "What if it's just one person? Who can say for sure?"

That was indeed the case. Adam Grant fell silent.

"However you want to arrange the order, we don't care," Grace Cooper's voice was soft. "It's too cold out here. Qiushi, let's go in first and get home to sleep early."

Maybe it was the mention of sleep that reminded everyone that the terrifying night was about to begin. If they kept dawdling here, they might waste the whole night, and what they might encounter would be completely unpredictable.

"Let's go," Grace Cooper took Eric Bennett's hand, pressing herself close to him.

Eric Bennett was already used to Grace Cooper's clinginess. He nodded, gritted his teeth, and said, "Let's go."

The two of them started walking toward the temple.

The others watched their backs, falling into a brief silence.

The temple had wooden doors, half-closed, with darkness inside so deep nothing could be seen. Grace Cooper reached out and gently pushed open the door in front of her.

With a crisp creak, the door swung open, and the air inside rushed out.

Eric Bennett caught a faint scent of incense. It was very subtle, but in this environment, it felt completely out of place.

By the weak torchlight, Eric Bennett could make out the decorations inside the temple.

The temple wasn't large, and its structure was very simple. In the center was an incense table and some statues of deities, with a huge merit box to the side. There seemed to be some words carved on the merit box, but it was too far for Eric Bennett to see clearly.

"Let's go," Grace Cooper said.

The two of them continued forward, walking toward the prayer cushions in front of the statues.