Deities Are All Just My Food

The tourists all looked up in unison, gazing at the dark Buddha statue.

"Hmph!"

The dark Buddha statue snorted coldly, clearly feeling that this attention was highly disrespectful.

Many tourists shivered and quickly lowered their heads again.

Lin Baici did not shift his gaze.

The dark Buddha statue propped its cheek with its hand and, after giving Lin Baici a playful look, closed its eyes.

"What does this mean?"

The old lady was anxious, desperate for a clear verdict on whether they could live or not!

"It must mean that our prayers were successful, didn't you see it stopped spewing those sparks?"

Sima Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

"So can we leave now?"

Sister Xiao Li didn't want to stay here anymore, it was too dangerous.

"We probably can't!"

Hua Yue Yu could tell with her toes that their troubles were far from over.

The tourists were all whispering among themselves, some wanted to leave, but nobody wanted to be the first to move.

"Thanks to your effort just now, I owe you one. Also, once we get out, I'll transfer ten million to you immediately!"

Jiang Hong was a shrewd man.

He stressed the words 'favor', 'ten million', and 'immediately', praising Lin Baici to make him happy, and dangling the bait of money.

This young man, facing a crisis of death, was calm, wise, and decisive, but most importantly, he was kind-hearted, which made him easy to deceive.

Jiang Hong knew that if he wanted to survive this time, it would depend on whether this young man was willing to help, so he had to win him over first and close the gap between them.

"The Buddha suddenly closed its eyes, and we don't know what it means. I think we should select a few people to see if they can leave this hall?"

Jiang Hong suggested.

"Select who?"

Sima Mu sized up the real estate businessman.

Slightly overweight, with a big belly, his face oozed cunning.

"After the crisis just now, everyone owes their lives to you, and they will definitely listen to you. Whoever you select, they won't object."

Jiang Hong said humbly to Lin Baici, putting him on a pedestal.

"Oppa, don't listen to him, he's using you as a pawn!"

Kim Myungjin found this guy despicable.

Those selected would be cannon fodder; if they died once they left the hall, it could be said that Lin Baici sent them to their doom.

Even if they miraculously survived, they would no longer trust Lin Baici.

"That's not what I meant!"

Jiang Hong lowered his voice: "I've heard about the horrors of the Divine Ruins. Without a God Hunter, if we want to survive and avoid the rules' contamination, we have to use human lives to scout ahead!"

"To put it harshly, although you've saved them, many of these people are still likely to die here in the Divine Ruins. Instead of a meaningless death, isn't it better to use their lives as stepping stones for us?"

"Don't worry, when it's time to get dirty, I'll get dirty with you!"

By the end, Jiang Hong patted Lin Baici's shoulder.

Hua Yue Yu looked at Jiang Hong with shock on her face.

This man had such a ruthless heart.

Sima Mu didn't speak but glanced at Lin Baici to observe his reaction because what Jiang Hong proposed was the optimal solution under the circumstances.

"Survival of the fittest is the law of this world, not to mention you've already saved these people once. Isn't it more valuable to use their lives for some purpose?"

Jiang Hong tempted.

The dark Buddha statue had spat out sparks from its nostrils earlier, burning about three hundred people in four groups. The remaining five hundred or so who were still alive had been saved by Lin Baici.

The old lady thought there was some sense in what Jiang Hong said, considering these people owed their lives to Lin Baici.

"You become the leader. Although some people will die, some will live. If you don't do it, then these people are definitely doomed!"

Jiang Hong didn't mention that as a leader's confidant, the chances of survival were obviously higher.

"Mr. Jiang, everyone's life is their own, and how to use it is their decision to make, not mine!"

Lin Baici stared at Jiang Hong: "Also, don't try to manipulate my judgement with your words; I'm not that stupid!"

Jiang Hong gave an awkward smile, feeling worried.

This kid,

was not easy to hoodwink!

If only drinking was an option; after five bottles of Moutai, I could make you kneel and call me daddy!

"Oppa, look!"

Kim Myungjin tugged at Lin Baici's jersey.

An old woman in her sixties, likely scared out of her mind, staggered towards the mahogany doors, trying to escape the place.

She crossed the threshold of about a foot and a half and headed straight for the stairs.

Just when everyone thought it was safe and they could leave, a translucent Buddha's palm descended from the sky, and, as if swatting a mosquito, slammed her onto the floor.

Bang!

When the Buddha's palm vanished, all that was left was a pool of flesh and blood.

"We really can't leave the hall after all!"

Each tourist felt both relieved that they hadn't rashly tried to flee and helpless at the same time.

What should they do next?

They instinctively looked towards the student who had just helped them through the ordeal.

But the next moment, their faces showed horror, and they all took a step back in unison.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Baici frowned, what was this about?

Why did his shoulder feel so heavy?

"Oppa, your right shoulder…"

Kim Myungjin was startled.

"What about my shoulder?"

Lin Baici turned his head to look at his right shoulder, where a pair of pitch-black eyes met his gaze.

"Holy shit!"

Lin Baici jumped in fright.

What the hell is this?

On his shoulder was a baby-sized black buddha statue, staring emotionlessly at him.

"Ah, Myungjin, you have one on your shoulder too!"

Hua Yue Yu shuddered violently, quickly looking around and realizing that many people had one of these buddha infants on their shoulders.

The buddha infants, naked and black-skinned like tar, emitted a foul stench.

"What the hell is this thing?"

Jiang Hong reached out to grab the buddha infant on his shoulder, trying to pull it off and throw it away.

The buddha infant opened its mouth wide, revealing black teeth like a wild dog, and viciously bit down on his wrist.

"Ah!"

Jiang Hong screamed in pain.

In just a few seconds, the buddha infants had climbed onto the tourists' shoulders like ghosts, silent and unnoticed, sparing no one.

Hua Yue Yu was disgusted and instinctively reached out to get that ghostly thing off her.

Smack!

Lin Baici grabbed her wrist.

"Nobody move the thing on your shoulder!"

Lin Baici's shout echoed through the Daxiong Treasure Hall.

Some listened, but others did not.

After all, who wouldn't be scared with such a creature possessing them?

"Auntie, Sister Xiao Li, don't touch it anymore, this ghostly thing grows!"

Lin Baici urged.

The rule contamination had begun again, trying to remove this ghostly thing by hand was definitely impossible.

"Grow?"

Kim Myungjin noticed that the buddha infants on the shoulders of Jiang Hong, the old auntie, and Sister Xiao Li were noticeably larger than those on Lin Baici, Hua Yue Yu, and Sima Mu.

She quickly realized, "Are you saying that the more we touch it, the bigger it grows?"

"That seems to be the case!"

Lin Baici guessed that once the buddha infant grew to a certain size, the player's time of death would come.

Panic filled the great hall, and cries were endless.

Although some people had been burned to death earlier, it hadn't affected everyone directly. Although scared, they hadn't panicked yet; but now it was different, every person had a buddha infant on their shoulder, which meant death could come at any moment.

"Handsome guy, what do we do now?"

"You're telling everyone not to touch it; do you know what this is?"

"Wuu wuu wuu, I don't want to die, I haven't lived enough!"

The tourists swarmed around Lin Baici, seeking his help.

"Stop the noise, quiet down first!"

Lin Baici yelled several times, managing to somewhat subdue the panic in the crowd: "Just now, I found the key in the mural. Everyone go look for it, and also search the hall again to see if we've missed any important information!"

Everyone immediately looked at the murals on the walls, as if playing a matching game, eyes wide open, searching for clues diligently.

"The oil lamps!"

Hua Yue Yu suddenly shouted as if she had discovered a new continent: "Next to every person in these murals, there is an oil lamp!"

Lin Baici saw it too.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and get one!"

Sima Mu urged.

Behind the Buddha platforms on both the eastern and western sides of the hall, there were rows of wooden racks painted purple, each holding a line of unlit bronze oil lamps.

Lin Baici ran to the wooden rack but didn't immediately take one.

He wanted to observe if there was any difference between the lamps.

"Seems like they're all the same?"

Kim Myungjin also refrained from taking one, but the old auntie and Sister Xiao Li, less cautious, grabbed one first.

"Hmm, there should be no difference!"

Lin Baici picked up a lamp.

The oil lamps were all the same shape, with a tray at the base and above that, a lotus bud the size of an apple, formed as if about to bloom.

Inside the bud, there was no oil, just a wick as thick as a chopstick.

Lin Baici had been prominent in their survival, so everyone was paying close attention to his every move.

Seeing him take an oil lamp, everyone also hurriedly ran to the purple-painted racks to grab one, whether it was useful or not.

"This one I saw first!"

"Why are you snatching? Aren't they all the same?"

"Damn it, who pushed me?"

The tourists argued and cursed over the oil lamps, and if not for the buddha infants on their backs, there definitely would have been fights breaking out.

The old auntie held an oil lamp in both hands, asking everyone hopefully: "Is that ghostly thing on my back gone?"

"No!"

Sister Xiao Li was disheartened; it seemed that it had nothing to do with the oil lamps.

The others also realized that after taking an oil lamp, the buddha infants on their shoulders did not disappear.

"The oil lamps next to these people in the murals are all lit!"

Hua Yue Yu yelled, "Everyone, light the wicks and see!"

Not just Hua Yue Yu, but others had also noticed this detail.

Jiang Hong and Sima Mu both had lighters, but after taking them out, they didn't light the wicks.

Kim Myungjin glanced at Lin Baici.

She remembered that after the two of them had escaped from under the merit Buddha with their offerings, they encountered a floor covered in bodies. Lin Baici had picked up quite a few items.

Among them were several lighters. Why wasn't he taking them out?