The Eater God didn't respond.
Lin Baici wanted even more to ask him what exactly this hunger sensation was that had appeared since middle school.
Ever since he was young, whenever he felt hunger, there were always valuable lost items nearby.
And now, he discovered that his hunger responded even more intensely to taboo things.
As long as there were taboo things within a certain range, Lin Baici would feel hungry, and the closer he was to the taboo things, the stronger the hunger would be.
When he obtained the taboo things, he would feel as though he had eaten a full meal.
So comfortable!
"Ying Zhen, come in for a sec!"
Lin Baici called someone.
The Goryeo girl immediately ran over, her dyed light golden hair fluttering, full of energy.
"What's up, Brother Lin?"
Sister Xiao Li was curious.
"Why don't you go see for yourself?"
Xu Xiu suggested.
"Why don't you go?"
Sister Xiao Li rolled her eyes.
"..."
The old lady gave an awkward smile; she didn't dare to, fearing she'd be scolded by Lin Baici.
"Oppa, what's wrong?"
As soon as Kim Myungjin came in, she saw the Black Tripod Bowl in his hands.
Pretty nice,
If it weren't too new, it would look like a beautifully crafted antique.
"Give me the padded mat!"
Lin Baici wanted to put the Vanilla Padded Mat inside; the item was too large and inconvenient to carry around.
He didn't do this outside to avoid suspicion.
After all, the fewer people who knew about his possession of the taboo things, the better.
"Oh!"
Kim Myungjin handed over the padded mat to Lin Baici and then saw him mutter something. Above the bowl, a vortex-shaped halo appeared.
Then, the padded mat, which was so much larger than the bowl, was easily placed inside.
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Kim Myungjin exclaimed, "Right, is there any Divine Grace on this?"
No need to ask, this bowl was definitely a taboo thing; the rules contamination just now was caused by it. If it weren't for Lin Baici's intervention, everyone would have died under the contamination.
"Nope!"
Lin Baici shook his head but he felt that the 'purification' and 'granary' effects were no worse than one Divine Grace: "Let's go, we need to find the God's bones quick!"
According to Kim Myungjin, there was at least one Divine Grace on the God's bones.
The little girl, seeing Lin Baici come out, immediately broke free from her mother's embrace and toddled over: "Thank you, Eater God brother!"
The little girl gave a sweet smile, took out a piece of candy, and handed it to Lin Baici.
She still remembered Lin Baici sarcastically calling himself a 'hungry person', so she changed 'person' to 'god'.
Her mother also ran over, continuously bowing to Lin Baici, thanking him!
Many of the rescued tourists also came over. Apart from saying thank you, more were looking to team up with Lin Baici.
"Does it feel really uncomfortable?"
Lin Baici crouched down, touched the little girl's head; her face was pale, and she looked exhausted, as if she were ill.
"I'm fine!"
The little girl shook her head; she didn't want her mother to worry, but in fact, she felt very nauseous, like she had been on a long car ride.
"Here, have some candy!"
Lin Baici peeled off the candy wrapper and stuffed the piece of candy into the little girl's mouth: "Don't worry, your big brother will get you out of here quickly!"
"Mhm!"
The little girl nodded vigorously: "Eater God brother is so strong!"
"Bai Ci, let's go find the God's bones, shall we?"
The old lady didn't want to waste time here.
Lin Baici raised his hand and looked at his watch.
Two hours had passed since the appearance of God's ruins.
"Whoa, a Rolex? Brother Lin is from a rich family, eh?"
Brother Gu liked watches but couldn't afford them.
Upon hearing this, Little Li's eyes lit up.
Good looks, money, wisdom, a calm heart, and compassion...
Smitten! Totally smitten!
"No, I found it!"
Lin Baici told the truth.
"Bai Ci is too modest. Is a Rolex something you can just find?"
Little Li thought Lin Baici was trying to be low-key.
Lin Baici thought to himself, in this Dragon Temple, it was indeed possible to pick one up; after all, there were quite a few corpses around.
"Handsome, what do we do next?"
The woman who had previously ridiculed Lin Baici for his fearlessness edged out of the crowd, smiling as she inquired.
Dang! Dang! Dang!
A piercing, sharp bell rang from above the Dragon Temple. Under the cover of the black fog, they sounded like the roar of a monster, eerie and ominous.
"Dear visitors, please head to the Daxiong Treasure Hall to pay homage to Buddha immediately!"
The sonorous deep voice announced it three times.
"Who's talking?"
The tourists looked alarmed. Judging by the voice, could this be a monster even more terrifying than the cook?
"Bai Ci, we can't go, we absolutely mustn't!"
The old lady was scared.
"We can't not go!"
Kim Myungjin was depressed: "This is definitely some taboo thing starting to contaminate with its rules, and from the looks of it, it must be an extremely dangerous taboo thing."
Lin Baici frowned. The Eater God had warned him that the Daxiong Treasure Hall was very dangerous, but now, there was no avoiding it.
"Why can't we just not go?"
The old lady argued: "We could just hide, couldn't we?"
"Naive!"
The black fog had dispersed considerably, and Kim Myungjin could now clearly see the Daxiong Treasure Hall, which lay sprawled out in front of them like a giant beast choosing its prey.
"Those who don't want to go can stay behind."
Lin Baici would not force anyone. Grasping a Songmu torch and with a firewood knife attached to his waist, he walked toward the Daxiong Treasure Hall.
Kim Myungjin and Sima Mu immediately followed.
"Yue Yu, what should we do?"
Sister Xiao Li was reluctant to go.
"If we leave him, what do you think are our chances of survival?"
After saying that, Hua Yue Yu hurried after Lin Baici.
"Let's go, I believe in Brother Lin!"
Because of his professional habits, Brother Gu lifted his Canon camera, intending to take a picture of Lin Baici, but he forgot that the camera was broken.
"Wait for me!"
The old lady jogged to catch up.
The remaining tourists were all hesitating.
To go would certainly be dangerous, but what if not going invited punishment?
The little girl tugged at her mother's arm, "Mom, let's follow the big brother!"
The mother shook her head!
In the end, only a third of the tourists went; the others, either out of fear or with more cunning thoughts, wanted others to scout ahead first before deciding whether to go or not.
...
The Daxiong Treasure Hall with its flying eaves and rising corners was covered with golden glazed tiles, looking magnificent and bizarre like a monster clad in golden armor.
The grandiose redwood doors of the treasure hall were closed, and everyone could only wait on the ground in front of the steps.
More and more people gathered.
Some of them were in very poor mental states, obviously having suffered greatly in the Taboo Game.
"This is the last warning, please, all guests, proceed immediately to the Daxiong Treasure Hall to pay homage to Buddha!"
This voice was grand and stern, like that of a cruel jailer who delighted in punishing prisoners.
People began to arrive one after another, but many more did not.
Lin Baici occasionally glanced at his watch, and after ten minutes had passed, the redwood door of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, studded with brass rivets, opened with a grating creak.
A melodious, solemn, and holy chanting began to resonate, as if thousands of high monks were meditating and chanting scriptures.
"You know what, this does sound pretty good!"
Hua Yue Yu didn't understand the chant, it was definitely not Chinese, but the melody and pronunciation were comforting to the ears.
If she could chant this scripture and make a short video, she could surely gain some popularity.
"Oppa, let's wait a bit longer before we enter!"
Kim Myungjin whispered a reminder.
"Mm!"
Lin Baici was also listening to the chanting; it indeed wasn't bad.
On the stone-bricked ground, over eight hundred tourists gathered, looking around, waiting for someone else to enter the hall first.
Suddenly,
Eighteen two-meter-tall monks clad in Gray Robes, built entirely of steel, charged out of the Daxiong Treasure Hall.
"There's a monster!"
Whoosh!
The tourists screamed, scattering like ants doused with boiling water.
These eighteen monks were clearly not human. Each one had a hulking frame, wielding a thick Zen Cane, and their expressions were ferocious, resembling evil spirits from hell.
However, they did not kill anyone. After descending the steps, they immediately split up, heading toward different parts of the Dragon Temple.
"Are they… are they going to kill those who did not come to the Daxiong Treasure Hall?"
Many people were scared and wanted to leave; but after hearing this, they immediately stopped in their tracks.
"Those who enter the temple and do not pray to the Buddha deserve to die!"
A scolding voice came out from the hall.
Whoosh!
The crowd was abuzz, followed by the sounds of people gasping in fear and relief.
"It's confirmed, those who didn't come are going to die!"
Hua Yue Yu breathed a sigh of relief; she was thankful that she had made the right choice. Otherwise, seeing others able to avoid danger and lie low to win, she would have been frustrated.
"That little girl…"
Lin Baici frowned and looked in the direction the girl had come from.
Sima Mu and the old lady instinctively reached out, grabbing Lin Baici's arm.
They were worried that Lin Baici would go to save others.
After all, the young man seemed very kind.
"Eater God brother, we're here!"
The little girl pulled her mother along and squeezed through the crowd.
"I'm glad you came. Did you see? Those who didn't will be killed by those monstrous monks!"
Hua Yue Yu ruffled the little girl's hair.
"We saw!"
The little girl's mother was named Zhang Ju, and she was trembling slightly.
After Lin Baici had left, her daughter had firmly pulled her along, insisting that the big brother was a good person and that following him might lead to survival.
Zhang Ju thought about it and decided that they could first hide outside the Daxiong Treasure Hall, but she never expected eighteen monstrous monks to rush out, panicking her so much that she immediately picked up her daughter and ran over.
When those monstrous monks brushed past her, Zhang Ju nearly collapsed in fright.
It was truly a choice that determined life and death.
"Please, all guests, enter the Daxiong Treasure Hall to pay homage to Buddha!"
The voice rang out again.
[What a sight for sore eyes, there's even food delivering itself to the door?]
The Eater God mocked.
"Let's go!"
Lin Baici called out to everyone and led the way into the hall.
You can't avoid being polluted by the rules; it's all the same whether you go in early or late.
...
Inside the hall, the domed ceiling towered high, vast and imposing.
Directly in front of the Buddhist platform, there was a nine-meter-tall Dark Buddha seated cross-legged, with its right elbow on its knee and the palm supporting its cheek, a pair of sharp eyes taking keen interest in these humans.
Excellent!
The toys have arrived!