Jett was talking with the bus driver, as he had previously told Khem he was going to retrieve the sacred necklace. Khem, therefore, separated to help others unload the luggage to store at the village's primary school, which was not far away.
During the school holidays, the roof of the school will be repaired, and a new library will be built within the school premises. The temple roof will also be repaired and expanded where necessary. Additionally, water filtration systems will be installed at various points around the village to provide clean drinking water for the villagers. The team will also visit each house to check if any villagers need help with anything, and if it's something they can assist with, they are more than happy to do so.
After all the details have been communicated, everyone will disperse to rest at their leisure, saving their energy for the next day.
"Now, I will announce the names of the householders by house number.
Please raise your hand if you hear your name; the volunteers will come to you. House number thirty-six, Girl Ampai..."
For accommodation, the volunteer group has been divided into ten groups of three members each, with two members, Jett and Khem, left over.
However, Jett has already mentioned that they would find accommodation on their own.
We will be staying with the villagers that Jett coordinated with the village chief. Each selected house has more than two family members to help look after the students.
One thing Jett didn't tell anyone is that all ten houses belong to individuals who possess magical abilities.
This village is located at the foot of a mountain near a forest. Known for its forest, aside from wildlife, there are also wandering spirits and ghosts.
Villagers often venture into the forest to gather items to sell, or to collect herbs to boil and drink, especially since the nearest hospital is many kilometers away.
However, entering the forest isn't something anyone can do. Some people without magical protection have been known to wander lost for weeks, nearly losing their lives. Therefore, it's necessary to learn occult arts for protection against unseen dangers.
In modern times, however, those with magical abilities are rare.
Considering the incident that occurred on the tour bus earlier, Jett thought it wise to have the club members stay with these knowledgeable villagers.
The village chief and many villagers are aware of the incident. They have promised to protect and look after the children who have traveled far to help develop their village's living conditions in return.
"House number forty-six, Boy Chaiya and Boy Kaew." After mentioning the last host's name, the two kind-hearted village chiefs raised their hands in unison. The group led by Chanwit, consisting of one man and two women, then walked towards them.
"Alright, from now on, please rest well, and we'll meet at the school at seven in the morning. Let's not be late." concluded the club president. After that, he turned off the portable microphone and speaker, packed up his things, and everyone dispersed.
"Come on, Khem, I'll take you to the monk." Jett said, helping to pick up Khem's clothes bag from the ground and sling it over his shoulder, followed by the bedsheet. Khem hugged his belongings, following Jett with mixed feelings of worry. He imagined the monk as someone similar to the abbot he knew, likely covered in tattoos, stern-faced, ready to strike with a cane the moment Khem stepped into his home.
"What if the monk chases us away?" Khem couldn't help but ask, remembering that Jett had just confessed on the bus that he hadn't informed the monk about Khem staying over. They might have to rely on whatever good karma they had left. Every step Khem took was filled with fear, but now that they were here, turning back seemed impossible.
"Don't be scared, I've got a last-ditch plan." Jett grinned wickedly. Khem didn't know whether to laugh or be scared, but decided to go with the flow.
If you don't try, you won't know.
Jett and Khem walked towards the western part of the village, going in the opposite direction of everyone else, heading where it didn't even look like houses existed.
Again. These two are doing something odd, separate from the group.
Chanwit felt uneasy and wanted to follow them. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off them, even though he wasn't usually one to meddle in others' affairs to this extent.
"What are you looking at, Chan? Aren't you coming?" asked the female friend who was staying at the same place, following Chanwit's gaze, but all she saw was a dark path and banana trees by the road.
"Nothing, let's go." Chanwit adjusted his glasses as he answered, then turned to follow the host who had already walked a considerable distance.
Until he found an answer for himself, Chanwit would keep an eye on Jett and Khem to see what secrets they were hiding.
Some parts of this village still lacked electricity. Jett used the flashlight on his phone to guide them to the monk's house at the end of this road, walking past banana plantations and rubber trees that lined the path on both sides.
The eerie whistling of the wind could be heard, and the deeper Khem walked into the forest, the more his heart filled with trepidation. The cold wind made the hairs on his body stand up, and he clutched his blanket tightly, looking around with suspicion, but all he could see was darkness.
Khem, frightened, couldn't help but ask:
"Are we almost there, Jett?" Jett raised his finger to his lips, signaling for silence without hesitation.
"Shh. Don't make any noise. Don't acknowledge anything you see. Just follow me quietly." Khem swallowed hard. He didn't dare ask more because so far, by following Jett's instructions, he had managed to survive until now.
Whatever Jett said, Khem was ready to comply.
Jett tried to keep his mind focused, not letting his fear, a natural human response, distract him. The atmosphere was too strange.
The forest was too quiet...
No sound of birds.
No sound of insects.
Only the howling wind, seemingly on the verge of turning into a storm.
Something bad was surely about to happen.
Finally, Jett and Khem arrived. Khem looked at the large traditional Thai house surrounded by tamarind trees as tall as a person's head. Tamarind trees are believed to protect against and repel bad omens. Khem had noticed that other villagers also planted them, but only a couple of trees at most, unlike here where they formed a fence around the house...
"We're here. When you see the master, make sure to bow respectfully."
Khem swallowed audibly again as his blanket was taken from him. His wide eyes looked up to the second-floor balcony of the house, where two kerosene lamps provided light, casting it down below.
Previously, Pharan had become aware of everything that happened since the bus carrying his disciples nearly met with an accident due to the forest spirits, as told by his "spirit followers."
"Were there a lot of them?" He had asked while he was still asleep, opening his eyes upon receiving the answer.
"The whole forest was full of them, Master."
Pharan walked over to sit in front of the Buddha statue, lighting three incense sticks and clasping his hands in prayer, focusing his mind on helping his student. However, Jett's mind was so filled with fear that he couldn't maintain his focus, his concentration scattered almost beyond control. He could only chant prayers for divine protection to keep them safe. Thankfully, he remembered one mantra, which had narrowly saved his life.
All of this was because he got involved with that kid named Khemjira.
But it seemed that Khem's karmic debt was not with an ordinary ghost. It could summon dozens of hungry ghosts to gather in one place, when typically these spirits are solitary and avoid even their own kind.
To have such power, one must have accumulated karma for hundreds of years, gaining immense strength.
"Phii Jett is bringing that friend here, Master." 'Thong' , a spirit disciple in the form of a twelve-year-old boy, crawled over to whisper. This made Pharan's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
Such stubbornness was indeed inherited from generation to generation.
But it seemed Jett cared deeply for this friend, enough to disregard warnings and even dare to bring him here. He was genuinely curious about what kind of kid this was; if he didn't like what he saw, they might have to spend the night under the house with the spotted dog.
A mixed-breed dog ran out to bark at Jett and Khem. When it heard Jett call out, it stopped barking and approached to nuzzle their legs. Jett gave it a large bone-shaped cookie he had prepared for this purpose as a passage fee, and the dog ran back under the stairs to chew on it.
Khem and Jett didn't have to wait long before the light from the upstairs balcony flickered, revealing the figure of a man slowly walking out. The
man stopped at the wooden fence, looking down at Khem with an expressionless face.
From where he stood, Khem couldn't clearly see the man's expression, but his heart thumped violently, causing him to clutch his shirt over his left chest with shock.
What was this feeling...
Pharan looked at Khemjira's face, half-illuminated by the lantern light.
The moment their eyes met, countless scenes from past lives flooded into Pharan's mind without warning.
Pharan had known since he was young that he could remember his past lives, but he had never desired to recall them. He never wanted to know who he was or what he had done before; he only wanted to live in the present and lead a simple life like an ordinary person.
Remembering or not, it served no purpose, that's what Pharan had always thought.
However, at this moment, he felt a peculiar sensation in his chest. The face of Khemjira greatly disturbed Pharan's mind.
This boy was his lover from a past life, from whom he had been separated.
His sharp eyes narrowed slightly as he looked past Khemjira.
And the man standing behind him...
Khem swallowed as Pharan descended from the second floor holding a lantern. He stood rigidly like Jett, who didn't dare even to greet the master, the atmosphere around the master making one feel uneasy, with chills running down the spine, despite his handsome face showing no emotion.
Khem held his breath as the master approached, the scent of a cool fragrance tickling his nose. He saw the tattoo of a pair of magpies and lotuses on the master's chest, clear as day, but he didn't dare look up to see what the master was doing.
Pharan paid no mind to Khem, who was trembling. He slowly raised the lantern above the young man's head to see the face of the person standing behind him more clearly.
The other thing was a tall, slender young man dressed in khaki, indicating a government job, but his clothes were stained with blood down to his trousers. His skin was pale, almost a light green, and one eye was rolled up so much that the pupil was barely visible, while the other stared at him in astonishment.
Pharan spoke emotionlessly:
"It's you."
This spirit's name was "Chayot." but in a past life, he was bound byblood to Pharan as a sibling.
Memories, half-remembered, flowed into Pharan, telling him this.