Another task prompt arrived.
The Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Heavenly King Hall, Sutra Depository, monk quarters, and dining hall—Li Ang led everyone on a quick survey of the Solitary Cold Temple, where no Psychic Response could be seen in any corner.
Li Ang closed the Cat's Eye and, as he restored his spiritual power, returned to the main entrance courtyard. He calmly said to the others, "I couldn't find the source of the crying, but there's a high chance that the sobbing isn't just someone faking a supernatural event.
"This temple was likely abandoned for a special reason, and we need to prepare for the possibility of encountering monsters."
Wanli Fengdao frowned and asked, "How do you know that?"
Xing Hechou didn't speak, but he harbored the same doubt.
"Observe carefully, speculate boldly, verify cautiously."
With a rather punchable tone, Li Ang said nonchalantly, "From the area of the monk quarters, the number of beds, the number of bowls and utensils in the dining hall, and the quantity of straw mats and cotton quilts, it's clear that before its decline, the Solitary Cold Temple was at least a large temple with two hundred monks.
"In ancient times, monks studying Buddhist scriptures couldn't be like villagers working all day. Their main economic sources for maintaining the temple were primarily four:
"One, farming land bestowed by the royal family.
"Two, reclaiming wasteland, printing, papermaking, and being self-sufficient.
"Three, donations of money or surrounding lands from devout believers and wealthy merchants.
"Four, engaging in financial lending activities with agricultural income and donations from believers—yes, lending.
"This Solitary Cold Temple is in a remote place, with only one medium-sized walled town in the distance, and the roads are poor. It doesn't seem to be near the capital or to have received imperial favor.
"Although there are reclaimed wastelands on either side of the Solitary Cold Temple, the area is quite small, and the land's output could not possibly support a temple with hundreds of monks. Similarly, the output from printing Buddhist scriptures is also negligible compared to the temple's needs.
"Just now, in the village we saw to the east, the houses were still made of mud and tile, and the villagers wore tattered clothes. Yet, there were so many oxen in the fields, and the production equipment was much more luxurious compared to that of farmers of the same era.
"Therefore, it can be concluded that the Solitary Cold Temple's primary economic source was donations from devout believers and contributions from wealthy merchants.
"The well-operated Solitary Cold Temple had even established the 'Longevity Warehouse,' a storeroom specifically for amassing wealth and conducting financial lending.
"Considering the somewhat luxurious number of oxen in that village, one could even speculate that the vast tracts of fertile land we saw with the drone earlier were once monk-owned temple fields, formed by the Solitary Cold Temple's land consolidation!"
When they first arrived, Li Ang had not offered any constructive suggestions but had stood by, goofing around and cracking jokes. This was partly to observe the operational styles of seasoned players with possible official backing. It was also because Xing Hechou, following the Special Affairs Bureau's Operation Guide, was doing quite a good job easing the atmosphere and forming a temporary team, which left Li Ang happy to slack off.
Now, having heard an unidentifiable cry and being unable to find its source, Li Ang felt an implicit threat. He began actively analyzing information to prevent his teammates from leading him into a ditch.
Wanli Fengdao opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. He didn't think of himself as dumb, but he certainly couldn't deduce the whole picture from just two or three pieces of information.
He furrowed his brows and asked, "The Solitary Cold Temple used to be well-run. What does that have to do with us trying to survive here for seven days?"
Li Ang chuckled. "Of course, there's a connection. Just imagine: how could a luxurious temple with two hundred monks, countless devout male and female believers, and acres upon acres of fertile land be abandoned in just three short years?
"By the way, I inferred this 'three-year' period of abandonment from the growth of ivy and other climbing plants on the red brick walls."
Wanli Fengdao disliked this kind of intelligence test. He glared at Li Ang and said, "Can you stop beating around the bush and just get to the point?"
"Hehehe."
Li Ang didn't take offense at Wanli Fengdao and said with a smile, "There could be many possible reasons.
"A military disaster causing the monks to flee? Impossible, because the villages on the plains are peaceful and show no signs of any military conflict.
"The imperial court's dissatisfaction with the non-productive Buddha Sect, leading to the emperor eradicating Buddhism? Also impossible. Before fleeing, the monks would have at least transferred all the temple's Magic Artifacts, property, and scriptures. Even if the monks didn't move them, the government would have.
"Local powers banding together to wipe out the entire temple overnight? Unlikely. There are no traces of fire, sword cuts, or combat within the Solitary Cold Temple. Even if the temple had been destroyed overnight, the local farmers would have used these three years to sneak up the mountain and loot all the valuable pots, pans, tables, and stools.
"After eliminating all impossibilities, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
Li Ang's gaze suddenly turned cold, and he said eerily, "Three years ago, a very serious incident occurred Within the Lonely Cold Temple. This incident not only deterred local believers from worshiping at the temple
"but also discouraged monks from other regions from coming here to restore it.
"It even made the impoverished local farmers, Buddha Sect slaves, and even the government keep their distance from the Solitary Cold Temple. They didn't even dare to steal from it to subsidize their household needs."
"The System wouldn't assign us an impossible task. Since it stipulates that we can't leave the Solitary Cold Temple by more than five hundred meters, it means the key to solving all this lies within the temple itself.
"Finding out what incident happened here three years ago will reveal the source of the eerie crying we heard earlier. That's the key to our seven-day survival mission."
Li Ang's analysis concluded. Wanli Fengdao was completely baffled, the monk Hui Bin looked at Li Ang with admiration, Xing Hechou appeared thoughtful, and Liu Wu Dai still wore her expressionless, icy face.
In fact, Li Ang had another hypothesis he hadn't voiced: the woman's arm that extended from the plaque and the plaintive crying heard outside the temple were probably related to the truth of the incident.
Unfortunately, among all present, only he possessed Spiritual Sense. Moreover, since the Spiritual Body had concealed itself, he couldn't find any trace of it.
He also didn't know if the Spiritual Body harbored any malice.
Li Ang's thoughts whirled rapidly, yet his face remained as calm as still water. Hesitantly, Xing Hechou said, "Brother Li..."
"Please," Li Ang glanced at Xing Hechou's square, righteous-looking face, his eye twitching, "just call me Xiao Li."
"Alright, Xiao Li, may I ask what you do for a living in the real world?"
Although Xing Hechou posed it as a question, he had no doubt Li Ang would answer with something like "Private Detective" or "Historian."
"...Actually, I'm a chef," Li Ang sighed and answered seriously. "They call me the youngest top-tier chef in history."
The self-proclaimed post-'90s Wanli Fengdao nearly choked on his saliva. "Are you the legendary Chef Liu Angxin from the stories, who began searching for legendary cooking utensils to fight against the Dark Cooking World?"
Li Ang feigned surprise. "Oh? I didn't expect you to have heard of the legends I left behind in the martial world."
"Legend my ass!" Wanli Fengdao's eye twitched. "Brother, if you don't want to reveal real-world information, can't you come up with a better excuse?"
"Eh, I didn't fool you?" Li Ang sounded quite disappointed.
"Only an idiot would have been fooled!" Wanli Fengdao was speechless. Nearby, the square-faced, brawny Xing Hechou suppressed the urge to wipe away sweat—this middle-aged man genuinely hadn't seen *China First* and had almost jotted down 'search for young top-tier chef in civilian database' in his notes.
Li Ang nodded. "Actually, I'm a robot, a bipedal Chinese Gattling."
Wanli Fengdao's eye twitched fiercely. "That's quite a leap, from human to non-human! And who even remembers a 2001 meme like 'Chinese Gattling'? I'm getting a real sleazy, frivolous vibe here!"
"Yo, that's some spot-on roasting, huh?"
Li Ang's eyes widened as he looked at Wanli Fengdao. "To catch my references, I'm surprised you really are a post-'90s kid."
Wanli Fengdao said with a deadpan expression, "Like I said, I just look a bit more mature."
"Hmm..." Li Ang pondered again what reasonable backstory to concoct. "See the Mask on my face? I'm actually Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven."
"Just like the Chinese Gattling, not human at all," Wanli Fengdao retorted.
"Do I have to be human?" Li Ang nodded. "Agumon."
"That thing doesn't even have a basic human form, does it?!" Wanli Fengdao protested strongly. "And isn't Tai, Agumon's owner, Japanese?"
"Not the Japanese Tai, but Donghuang Taiyi from Hua Country."
"Even changing the nationality doesn't change the fact that it's non-human," Wanli Fengdao said, his expression painfully awkward.
Clearly, this Lv3 newbie player, though smart, had a thought process markedly different from ordinary people, which made Wanli Fengdao feel powerless.
Witnessing such an amusing exchange for the first time, Hui Bin, the Mage, couldn't help but raise her slender, jade-like fingers to cover her mouth, laughing softly. Between her red lips and pearly teeth, the charm and beauty inadvertently revealed sent a shiver down Wanli Fengdao's spine.
"No worries, Xiao Li. If you don't want to answer, you don't have to," Xing Hechou interjected, breaking the awkward silence. "It was just a casual question. The primary issue right now is completing the mission."
Having a smart person in the team capable of intelligence analysis was definitely a good thing, but Xing Hechou, with his fieldwork background from the Special Affairs Bureau, wasn't planning to relinquish command of the team so easily.
After all, he was the highest-level player in the team, Lv6, and possessed intelligence manuals compiled by their think tank. Xing Hechou was somewhat confident in his ability to handle emergencies.
"I suggest that tonight, we light a bonfire in the temple courtyard. Everyone should stick together, and we'll take turns keeping watch. We can search the temple tomorrow."
Xing Hechou then asked, "Xiao Li, what do you think?"
"I think that's okay."
Li Ang nodded and glanced at the distant sunset. "There's still some time before dark. I estimate more changes will occur after nightfall. We should use this time before dark to gather as many items as possible.
"If you don't mind, Old Xing, I suggest that you, being the highest level here, and Hui Bin, the Mage, go to the Sutra Depository to look for Buddhist scriptures on the shelves.
"If Hui Bin the Mage is professional enough, she should be able to determine the era of this scenario mission from the publication dates of the scriptures.
"If Hui Bin the Mage doesn't recognize any of the scriptures, that would likewise prove that the setting of this mission isn't ancient Hua Country but a fictional otherworld.
"By the way, after you collect the scriptures, remember to pack them and bring them to this courtyard. Those sacred texts might also be supernatural items."
Hui Bin, the Mage, nodded. "This humble monk grew up in a Buddhist temple and is well-versed in the scriptures. Identifying the era shouldn't be a problem."
"That's for the best." Li Ang looked at Wanli Fengdao and Liu Wu Dai. "With the entire temple empty, the most likely clues are in the abbot's meditation room. I'm going there to search his personal belongings, hopefully finding an account book related to the temple's financial transactions.
"However, my level is somewhat low, and it's not very safe for me to go alone. Which of you two will accompany me?"
"I will," Liu Wu Dai said, expressionless.
Wanli Fengdao was taken aback. He scratched his head and quickly asked, "Hey, then what should I do?"
Li Ang curled his lip. "Collect firewood and build a bonfire in the courtyard."
"I'm Lv5, and you're asking me to build a bonfire?" Wanli Fengdao looked at Li Ang, who was two levels below him, and said resentfully, "Besides, doesn't splitting up in a horror scenario mean getting picked off one by one?"
Li Ang laughed. "The mission we received is to survive for seven consecutive days. Generally, the danger level will increase gradually; the first few days might actually be the safest.
"You're an Lv5 player, after all. Your self-preservation abilities are among the best in the team. It won't be a big problem for you to act alone.
"I trust your judgment."
With that, Li Ang ignored Wanli Fengdao, who remained standing there, and headed straight for the abbot's meditation room. Liu Wu Dai, dressed in Night Clothes and carrying her black composite bow, followed closely behind him.
Xing Hechou patted Wanli Fengdao on the shoulder and headed towards the Sutra Depository with Monk Hui Bin.
After all four teammates had left, Wanli Fengdao finally snapped back to reality. He glanced at the deep, deathly silent courtyard, sucked his teeth, and, Longsword in one hand, reluctantly began picking up fallen branches with the other, muttering,
"Just a mere Lv3..."