darknovel Chapter 373 Two-Headed Dormitory Manager
Chapter 373 Two-Headed Dormitory Manager
The group filed in, but as soon as they stepped through the small door, they were stunned by the sight before them and froze on the spot.
Before me lay a dense and cramped forest of prayer flags, with countless stone pillars rising from the ground.
Each stone pillar is engraved with indistinct runes, and countless prayer flags hang crisscrossing between them, layer upon layer, weaving together a maze-like, narrow passageway.
Prayer flags are mainly white, red, and yellow. White symbolizes purity, red represents reverence, and yellow signifies solemnity. However, due to years of wind and sun exposure, most of the prayer flags are broken and damaged, with curled and blackened edges.
Even more strangely, despite the absence of wind, the prayer flags were swaying slowly, with small movements but without stopping, making a soft "whoosh" sound, like countless whispers lingering in one's ears.
The ground was even more gruesome, with many skulls scattered in the bluish-gray soil, some intact and some broken.
Occasionally, prayer flags would flutter, brushing against the skulls and making a faint rubbing sound that sent chills down one's spine, making one afraid to even breathe.
Xia Ning walked ahead, explaining casually as she went:
"This forest of prayer flags is the only passage to the forbidden area of the temple, and the prayer flags are painted with runes that protect the forbidden area."
"Only the Lord of Silence has the right to enter this forbidden area. Even I have no right to enter. So you should not take any chances or be driven by curiosity."
Xia Ning paused, then added, "I brought you here today not to let you peek into the forbidden area, but to inform you that you will have the job of cleaning this place in the future."
As soon as the words were spoken, a timid voice rang out from the crowd:
"Guide, then...do we also need to clean up and remove all these skulls on the ground?"
Upon hearing this, Xia Ning glanced at the person indifferently, her tone completely calm:
"These skulls are not junk; they are decorations for protecting the prayer flag forest and must not be removed."
"You only need to wipe the dust off the surface of the skulls and keep them clean. If you dare to clean or damage any of the skulls, you will be responsible for the consequences."
Upon hearing this, the faces of the girls nearby instantly paled, and they instinctively shrank back, glancing at the scattered skulls on the ground with horrified eyes.
"We still need to... we still need to clean the skull..." someone murmured softly, their voice trembling.
"It's scary enough just to look at it, but then you actually have to reach out and wipe it..."
"This...this is terrifying..."
Xia Ning glanced at the group indifferently, then turned and continued forward.
After walking for a while, a huge stone gate appeared in the distance.
The stone gate was entirely black, its surface covered with dense runes, which gleamed faintly in the dim light.
The stone door was tightly closed, and a chilling aura kept seeping out from the cracks.
Xia Ning stopped and turned to look at the crowd, her tone suddenly turning icy:
That is the entrance to the forbidden area.
"Remember this: never approach that stone door, no matter when or where, and never touch the runes on it, or... you will only face death!"
Seeing the fear on everyone's faces, Xia Ning added:
"I'm not warning you, I'm informing you—"
"Previously, a trainee cultivator, disregarding the rules and driven by curiosity, approached the stone gate without permission. The moment his fingertips touched the runes, he was entangled by them, and his flesh and blood were instantly drained by the runes, leaving only a withered skeleton. The skeleton was then wrapped by the prayer flags and turned into nourishment for the prayer flags."
"When you are cleaning, be sure to stay away from the stone gate, so as not to repeat the same mistake."
The oppressive atmosphere grew heavier, and the sound of prayer flags fluttering now sounded more like the whispers of the dead. The skulls on the ground seemed to be slowly turning, their empty eye sockets staring at everyone.
Among the crowd, Lin Feng, Evelyn, and Vassim exchanged a quiet glance, saying nothing, but reading the same thought from each other's eyes.
All three of them knew that this eerie forest of prayer flags, this mysterious stone gate, and the taboos that Xia Ning deliberately emphasized all hinted that this forbidden area was definitely the core of this temple instance.
Xia Ning glanced at everyone and said, "Alright, that concludes our tour. Follow me back the way we came."
Everyone felt as if they had been granted a pardon and hurriedly followed, walking even faster than when they arrived. No one dared to look at the prayer flag forest again.
Only Lin Feng, in the instant he turned around, took one last deep look at the stone gate.
They descended in silence and soon returned to the second-level terrace.
Before long, the low stone house at the entrance of the dormitory came into view, with three words crookedly carved on the lintel: "Dormitory Management Office".
Before we even got close, a jarring argument erupted from inside the house.
Through the half-open wooden door, you can see a hunched-over, loose-skinned monster sitting in the center of the room.
It has two heads, one on the left and one on the right, sharing a bulky body.
On the left is the head of an old man, with a wrinkled face and sunken eyes.
On the right is the head of a withered old woman, with drooping corners of her mouth and a mean look in her eyes.
The two heads were very close together, arguing back and forth.
"Keep the register here with me; yours is a complete mess."
"Why should I listen to you? It's more convenient for me to put it here."
Upon seeing the Chosen Ones enter, the two heads instantly fell silent, their identical cold and stern gazes sweeping over the crowd.
The man blurted out, his tone laced with disdain:
"Ha, another batch of people coming to their deaths..."
Before he could finish speaking, he coughed lightly, hastily changed his words, and said in a sinister tone:
"Line up and register your names one by one."
The woman sneered from the side, her tone sharp and sarcastic:
"Hurry up, all of you! Don't dawdle and waste time!"
The sight of the two-headed monster sent a chill down everyone's spine. Several of the more timid ones instinctively turned to flee, but their companions held them back tightly, whispering warnings:
"Stand in line if you don't want to die!"
One sentence jolted everyone awake.
In the blink of an eye, the line was neatly arranged.
Lin Feng, Evelyn, and Vassim stood calmly in the middle to back of the group.
The first person to register was a young black man from Kenya with a perm, named Omar.
He stepped forward, filled in his name, and the male dormitory supervisor coldly announced his room number:
"Room 44."
As soon as he finished speaking, several items were casually tossed out.
The bedding was so damp it looked like you could wring water out of it, with blackened edges and mold spots.
The basin was chipped and crooked.
Several dark brown, old bloodstains were still visible on the gray monk's robe.
Omar's face stiffened, and he asked, forcing a smile, "Excuse me... could you please change into a clean set?"
The old woman to the right of the dormitory supervisor suddenly raised her head, grinning sinisterly:
"Sure... you can trade one of your parts for it."
Omar was so frightened by these words that he didn't dare to mention replacing them anymore and quickly picked up his items and stepped aside.
Before long, it was Lin Feng's turn.
He remained calm, stepped forward, and discreetly produced two hundred-yuan bills, gently pushing them towards the dormitory manager.
"Please, dorm manager, arrange a quiet room for me."