In July, Guangqing was as hot as Flame Mountain. Spend half a day outdoors, and you could peel off a layer of skin.
The Buddhas at Dragon Temple were known to be very effective, and the temple was quite famous in our city. Every year, before the high school exams, parents would bring their children to make a wish, efficacious or not, at least it brought peace of mind!
This year, Lin Baici did surprisingly well on his exams. Whether or not it had anything to do with the Buddha at Dragon Temple, a vow made before the exams meant a vow to be repaid!
Three sticks of incense and an offering of fruits and pastries were definitely required.
Of course, the funds were provided by Mother Lin.
Actually, Lin Baici had planned to secretly pocket one hundred yuan, but Mother Lin had strictly warned him.
You can't be greedy with offering money.
Ah!
So poor!
With no money, you can't afford anything you want.
Lin Baici walked along the cobblestone path and glanced back at the distant Daxiong Treasure Hall.
What if,
I make another wish to get rich?
Would the Buddha think I'm too greedy?
Right now, Lin Baici's biggest dream was to become an UP host, make videos, and earn money. However, he had only uploaded five outdoor videos to Bilibili, and the total number of views didn't even reach a thousand.
His goal to become an UP host with millions of fans and tens of thousands yuan in monthly earnings was still far away.
"If you want to do a good job, you need the right tools. Maybe it'll get better once I upgrade my equipment!"
Lin Baici encouraged himself.
Since he had performed well on his exams, Mother Lin had promised to reward him with a new phone.
Lin Baici planned to buy a GoPro sports camera with the money. As for the phone, he would make do for now and go straight for the latest Apple model once he made big money from his videos.
Gurgle!
A slight pain in his abdomen, and a sudden rush of hunger interrupted Lin Baici's thoughts.
"Hm?"
Lin Baici's slender eyebrows rose, like a Lion King spotting succulent prey, his head immediately scanning the surroundings.
Who dropped something?
From a young age, Lin Baici would occasionally be hit by these sudden hunger pangs several times a year, sometimes even if he had just eaten half an hour ago, he would still feel starving.
Lin Baici thought there was something wrong with his stomach, but when Mother Lin took him to the hospital, the doctors found he was outrageously healthy – he could donate 300cc of blood and still play a basketball game right after.
In the summer of his first year of junior high, Lin Baici took a walk on campus after lunch and suddenly felt hungry. A few minutes later, he found a wallet on the sports field.
Inside the wallet was more than three hundred yuan, a beautiful upperclassman's student ID, and a love letter.
Strangely, as soon as Lin Baici confirmed the contents of the wallet, the bizarre hunger vanished.
Lin Baici then conducted three experiments, and numerous similar experiences led him to a conclusion.
Whenever he was suddenly struck by hunger, there was definitely something valuable nearby.
Without exception.
So far, he had found several sets of car keys, five mobile phones, and one junior's tuition fees. The most expensive item he had found was a gold ring in the green belt.
The summer heat was sweltering, and the cicadas' cries were weak, as if half-dead.
Lin Baici was very hungry.
He was currently at the small square in front of the Arhat Hall. The stone slabs were cleaned spotless, except for a few cigarette butts, there was nothing to be seen.
"It's likely to be a mobile phone or a wallet!"
Lin Baici looked up.
About a hundred steps to the north and then a left turn led to the Guanyin Pavilion. Turning right, passing through a long corridor, would bring you to the Life Release Pool.
The Life Release Pool was one of Dragon Temple's attractions. In the summer, it was filled with blooming lotuses, a verdant expanse of green, and lotus leaves spreading far and wide.
Many tourists came here to take photos and post them to their Moments.
With more people, the chances of losing something naturally increased.
Lin Baici quickened his pace toward the Life Release Pool.
The hunger was intensifying.
Based on past experiences, this meant he was getting closer to the 'lost item'.
To the east was a large lake covered with lotus leaves, where you could hear the sounds of frogs and see koi swimming. To the north was an octagonal pavilion.
The pond was too big, so Lin Baici decided to first check the octagonal pavilion.
By the time he climbed the steps and entered the pavilion built upon an artificial hill, the hunger was overwhelming.
Lin Baici leaned on the railing, looking out of the pavilion. It didn't take long for him to spot a palm-sized pink cartoon wallet tucked into a crevice between the stones.
"Found it!"
Lin Baici vaulted over the railing and picked up the wallet.
He casually opened it.
Wow!
A thick stack of cash.
In addition to red 100 yuan notes, there was yellow paper currency with a denomination of 50,000.
Lin Baici knew this was South Korean won, having seen it in some Korean comics.
Besides the cash, there were three bank cards, a passport, a card that seemed to be an identity card with Korean writing on it, as well as a photo of a girl.
The photo was quite pretty.
After checking everything, Lin Baici stuffed the items back into the wallet.
He returned to the pavilion, took out his phone, and started playing games, waiting for the owner to show up.
About twenty minutes later, a voluptuous Goryeo girl with an anxious expression burst into the octagonal pavilion.
She kept looking around, obviously searching for something.
But found nothing.
"Xiba!"
The girl with light golden long hair cursed under her breath, lifted her foot to kick the railing, but noticing someone else present, she put her foot down again.
"Did you lose something?"
Lin Baici asked.
The girl, around eighteen or nineteen, had an oval face and a great figure, particularly her skin which was extremely fair. Her long legs, accentuated by denim shorts, were strikingly eye-catching, even more attractive than those Goryeo girl groups.
Kim Myungjin, who understood Chinese, immediately turned toward Lin Baici. "Oppa, have you seen a pink wallet?"
Her voice was soft and magnetic, as if she was cooing.
"Is this it?"
Lin Baici took out the wallet and handed it over to Kim Myungjin.
Her face matched the photo on the identity card in the wallet, firmly confirming that she was the owner.
"Yes!"
Kim Myungjin grabbed the wallet, checked her passport and identity card, and after confirming they were there, she patted her chest, breathing a great sigh of relief.
Losing money was a minor issue, but losing a passport and identification card would have been a serious problem.
Having done a good deed, Lin Baici was ready to leave.
He didn't hand over the wallet to the management staff of the scenic area because he was worried that if the money inside was short, it would be hard to explain later.
After all, it's tough to be a good person these days.
"Oppa!"
Seeing the handsome young man who could stand in the center of a top boy band walk away, Kim Myungjin immediately chased after him, stood in front of him, and kept bowing.
"Kamsahamnida! Thank you!"
Kim Myungjin not only expressed her gratitude, but also opened her wallet, didn't even count, and pulled out a handful of banknotes, pinching them between two hands and extending them to Lin Baici.
"It was nothing, no need for money!"
Lin Baici refused.
He hadn't realized she was also the kind of rich young lady who could spend money without batting an eyelid.
"Oppa, please accept it!"
Kim Myungjin insisted, planning to forcefully stuff the money into the young man's hands and also to ask if he was interested in going to Goryeo to become a trainee and debut as a K-pop idol, when she saw that he suddenly looked up, his face one of shock as he stared at the sky.
Kim Myungjin also looked up, and the color drained from her face in an instant.
"God... God's ruins?"
A meteor, dragging a long orange-red tail flame, crashed into Dragon Temple at high speed.
Boom!
Instead of a violent impact, there was a massive surge of black fog, rolling in like a tsunami, submerging the entire Dragon Temple.
...
Thirty years ago, a meteor fell, and God's ruins appeared.
Gods emerged from it, preying on humans.
Since then, Blue Star faced a new kind of natural disaster.
Countries had tried various methods to intercept these meteors, but all failed.
Luckily, in a year, the meteors that brought God's ruins were few, sometimes several, sometimes dozens, not enough to destroy the world.
So far, the largest God's ruins had swallowed up a third of the territory of the Kangaroo Country, with eighteen million citizens, none surviving!
...
Lin Baici woke up from hunger!
He opened his eyes to see everything enveloped in black fog with visibility less than ten meters.
The Korean girl lay beside him, unconscious.
"Hey, wake up!"
Lin Baici grabbed Jin Ying's shoulders and shook her vigorously.
Right!
Dial 110!
Lin Baici hurriedly took out his phone, but found that it was off and couldn't be turned on for some reason.
Just as he was about to yell for help, he suddenly closed his mouth.
By doing this,
might he attract monsters?
The officials prohibited ordinary people from discussing anything related to God's ruins, so Lin Baici's knowledge was limited to some street rumors.
Some said that besides gods, there were monsters in God's ruins.
Those trapped inside had become their prey.
"We must escape as quickly as possible!"
Lin Baici shook Kim Myungjin forcefully.
Just as he was about to slap the Korean girl to wake her up, Kim Myungjin regained consciousness.
"Ah!"
Kim Myungjin screamed in agony, feeling as if her brain had been stirred by a propeller, causing excruciating pain.
[A fresh ingredient, juicy and rich in protein due to regular exercise, recommended to be grilled with lots of cumin!]
What on earth?
Lin Baici was startled by the voice that suddenly echoed in his mind; he was sure it wasn't the girl in front of him speaking.
"Are... are we trapped in God's ruins?"
Kim Myungjin trembled all over and instinctively clung to Lin Baici.
[The prey is in fear, secreting a lot of hormones, which will decrease the quality of the meat. Suggest immediate slaughter to preserve the best flavor of the ingredients!]
"What are you?"
Lin Baici asked in his mind, but no one answered.
"Oppa, we must destroy the God's bones quickly, or we'll die!"
Kim Myungjin stood up and looked around.
"God's bones?"
Lin Baici frowned; this girl seemed to know something about God's ruins.
"When a meteor falls to the ground, it produces fog; the area enveloped by the fog is called God's ruins."
Kim Myungjin explained, "In the ruins, there are God's bones, which are the remains of gods. These bones radiate a kind of mysterious energy that causes contamination to everything around them!"
"Keep going!"
Lin Baici listened intently.
"You know nuclear radiation, right? Radiation from God's bones is even more terrifying! Are you feeling dizzy, nauseous, and wanting to vomit now? That's the symptom of contamination!"
Kim Myungjin knew that as time passed, the symptoms of contamination would become increasingly horrifying, first driving people mad, then gradually deforming them until they lost their human shape, turning into a pile of senseless mush.
"..."
Lin Baici wanted to say he hadn't felt anything abnormal.
Apart from the unbearable hunger, he didn't feel anything unusual!
"Anyway, if we don't destroy the God's bones quickly, we will be contaminated!"
Kim Myungjin felt like dying of frustration, cursing. Wasn't it just a trip out? Why face such a huge crisis?
"Isn't it possible to just escape from God's ruins?"
Lin Baici didn't understand.
"See this fog? It's like a maze. Without removing the God's bones, the fog won't dissipate!"
Kim Myungjin gave a bitter smile.
Her brother was a God Hunter, so she knew a lot of secret information.
Lin Baici wanted to ask for more inside stories, but then a crisp sound of a wooden fish came from the fog.
Dang! Dang! Dang!
"Run!"
Kim Myungjin's face changed drastically, and she got up to run, but a three-meter-tall dark Buddha figure had silently appeared behind the two, without any prior indication.
"I, Buddha, ask you, is your heart sincere?"
The great Buddha looked down with wrathful eyes; the chant was not loud, yet it could shatter one's heart.