The Wait and the Threat

The entire village was waiting for the return of the members who had gone to the camp. Everyone was silently hoping for their safe return, except for one person who was grinning in a corner. This person was thinking to themselves, "wait as much as you want, they will not be coming back."

As the villagers waited, they saw some silhouettes coming toward them. Once they were able to see who it was, one of the villagers became angry and silently left unnoticed by others.

Everyone was happy to see that everyone who went to the camp had returned safely, and they thanked god. However, their happiness was short-lived as they saw the appearance of Noah. He was covered in blood, which took everyone aback.

Noah's aunt, Alia, ran to him and asked in a worried tone, "Noah, are you okay? Look at all the blood flowing! I told you it was dangerous." Noah comforted his aunt and said, "Aunt, this is not my blood. It's someone else's." Seeing that Alia was still confused, Noah added, "Let me take some rest and I'll tell you everything later."

The high priest also spoke up and said, "Yes, let everyone take some rest first, and then we will talk. Noah, go and take a bath." Noah agreed and went to take a bath.

While Noah was away, the villagers tried to get information about what had happened in the camp from the other members who had returned with Noah. They told the villagers what they knew and how they had met Noah halfway while they were running towards the camp building. They had heard the disturbance and screams and were hiding far away from the camp.

Thinking that something had happened to Noah, they started running towards the camp and then met Noah midway. However, they didn't know what had happened in the camp, and only Noah could explain it.

Everyone waited for Noah to come back. At the same time, in the gangster's camp, the gang leader was scolding the other members. "You idiots, you can't even catch a single little boy! He even killed two of us and left! What the heck are you doing?" Every other member was silent, and no one was responding. They were all looking down.

Seeing this, the gang leader became even angrier and smashed the mirror beside him. "You guys go and make sure that you don't repeat this! We can't let this happen again. We have to capture the temple at any cost. This is a very golden opportunity for us. Be prepared, we will soon attack the temple with full force."

The other members responded with a chorus of, "Yes, boss. We will not let that happen again, and we will capture this temple." With that, everyone left, and the gang boss was left alone in the room while he was thinking about something.

After some time, Noah came back to the village square where everyone was waiting for him.

Noah came back to the village and reported to the high priest about the situation in the camp. He briefly details what had happened, including how he entered the camp, fought with two gangsters, and met with the other villagers. Noah informed the group that their information about the number of gangsters was incorrect. There were actually ten members and now only eight were left. Noah hadn't seen any guns or heavy weapons, but he couldn't rule out the possibility that they were armed. The gangsters' camp was a villa that could easily accommodate 15 to 20 people.

Noah suggested they strike in five days and completely take down the gangsters. The high priest praised Noah for his bravery and agreed to the plan, but advised everyone to be prepared for a tough battle. The high priest also noted that there could be more gangsters than they knew of, as the villa was large enough to hold more people.

Greg also agreed with the high priest and Noah, and everyone started dispersing while having heated discussions. While they were still discussing what would happen after five days, Noah came to the high priest.

"Grandpa, I want to talk to you," Noah said. "Yeah, tell me, Noah," the high priest responded.

Noah then told the high priest everything he had not shared with the others, including how he found out that the gangsters already knew he was coming and that they were planning to kill him. Noah suspected that there was someone in the village who was leaking information, and this was why he suggested attacking in five days and not exposing the matter to everyone.

Then Noah presented his real plan to the high priest, explaining that he believed they should attack in three days instead of five. Noah also proposed that they should deceive everyone by making them believe that the attack was still scheduled for five days away. Noah's plan was to throw the gangsters off guard, reducing their level of activity on the third day when the actual attack would occur. Noah also hoped to use the deception as a way to identify who was leaking information to the gangsters.

The high priest listened carefully to Noah's plan and acknowledged that it had potential. He agreed to convene a group of trusted individuals to discuss the situation further and to put Noah's plan into action. The high priest instructed Noah to rest for the remainder of the day, presumably to recover from his injuries sustained during the previous day's encounter.

Noah expressed his gratitude to the high priest, referring to him as "grandpa" and expressing his confidence in the high priest's leadership. The high priest in turn praised Noah for his bravery and expressed his pride in the young man.