Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Escape from Death_1
Having lost the God's bones, the dark Buddha's body began to crumble with a rattling noise, leaving broken stone debris all over the ground.
"Destroy it!"
Lin Baici urged urgently.
Muscle Buddha swung the arm he had just torn from the dark Buddha's body and suddenly smashed it towards Lin Baici.
Whoosh!
The arm whizzed past.
Luckily, Lin Baici was fully focused and reacted swiftly, tilting his head to the side to dodge the arm.
Bang!
The arm struck the wall, and with the scorching of flames, shattered into stone powder. Only a palm-sized black substance fell from it, landing on the ground.
Lin Baici stared at Muscle Buddha.
However, the thing did not attack him again.
"It seems that this kasaya should not be used carelessly!"
Lin Baici remembered Kim Myungjin's explanation: such Taboo things, once sealed by the black coffin, could be used without worry. Otherwise, it was very easy to be contaminated by the rules.
[Begin your feast!]
Eater God urged.
Without needing a reminder from Eater God, Lin Baici couldn't help but walk towards the black substance and pick it up.
The thing was like a piece of beef jerky that had been air-dried for many years, lacking moisture. Holding it in his hand, it felt warm, and Lin Baici could sense that it was radiating a kind of energy.
Lin Baici didn't know that if an ordinary person came into contact with a piece of God's bones without any protection, they would immediately lose their human form due to radiation contamination and turn into a blob of rotten flesh.
What's more terrifying was that this 'rotten flesh' was still alive.
[What are you waiting for? Are you planning to barbecue it first? With a sprinkle of cumin?]
Lin Baici was very hungry, but the thought of eating this mysterious 'jerky' still made him psychologically resistant.
[The highest-end ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods. For God's bones, eating them raw is the best way!]
Eater God provided professional culinary guidance.
Lin Baici was still hesitating when a pair of translucent arms that looked like they were condensed from starlight extended from his shoulders and grabbed the God's bones.
Without waiting for Lin Baici to speak, they opened his mouth and stuffed the jerky down his throat.
[Thank you for the gift from the God!]
It was unclear whether Eater God was praying or mocking.
Cough cough!
Lin Baici choked uncomfortably, but soon a surge of Divine Grace burst forth inside him, soothing his viscera.
This felt even better than swallowing the Meteorite.
Suddenly...
Intense pain assaulted his brain, forcing Lin Baici to clench his fists and strike his own head hard.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After about ten seconds, the pain dissipated, and mysterious knowledge filled Lin Baici's mind.
It was two Divine Graces,
Lin Baici felt as familiar with them as if he had known them since birth.
"Mantra Buddha Resound?"
"Floating Night Rain, Wild Buddha blowing a lamp?"
Lin Baici savored them for a moment and then his lips curled up in a smile, just as blissful as if he had come home from school to be told by his dad that he was actually the son of a billionaire.
He had obtained two more Divine Graces, and they were strong.
...
"Don't go in, it's too dangerous!"
On the open ground outside the main hall, Sima Mu was pulling hard on Kim Myungjin.
After sending the little girl out, Kim Myungjin wanted to rush back in to help.
Hua Yue Yu, holding the fainting girl, felt full of guilt and worry.
It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but she was truly powerless.
With the destructive power the dark Buddha had shown, they weren't even qualified to be cannon fodder; staying inside meant certain death.
"Asiba, let me go!"
Kim Myungjin raised her long legs and delivered two kicks between Sima Mu's legs.
Thud! Thud!
Sima Mu was kicked numb, but he did not let go.
"Listen to me for once, don't get in the way!"
Sima Mu meant well.
"I can at least be cannon fodder!"
At the last moment, Lin Baici told everyone to leave and stayed behind to face the dark Buddha alone, which touched Kim Myungjin profoundly.
In her entire life, apart from her mother, no one had ever been so kind to her.
"Bai Ci?"
Hua Yue Yu, who had been intently watching the main hall, saw sorrow cover her tear-streaked face, but then her expression bloomed with joy. She picked up the little girl and rushed towards the main hall.
The big boy had come out alive!
He,
had won!
"Oppa!"
Kim Myungjin was overjoyed.
"What the hell, this kid really won?"
Sima Mu was astonished.
"Is everyone okay?"
Lin Baici looked at Kim Myungjin and the others. Apart from being quite disheveled, they were not seriously harmed, but his gaze lingered on the little girl and he sighed.
Alas!
The old lady, Sister Xiao Li, and Zhang Ju were just unlucky!
"Where are the God's bones?"
Sima Mu stood on his tiptoes and peered inside the main hall.
"Destroyed!"
Lin Baici smiled slightly.
Eating it was something he would never admit to.
"Ah? So does that mean this Divine Ruins will soon collapse and we can get out alive?"
Kim Myungjin was too happy, suddenly jumping onto Lin Baici and hugging him tightly.
"Oppa, you are my Superman!"
Mua!
The Goryeo girl gave Lin Baici a firm kiss.
It was so true!
In this position, Lin Baici could clearly feel it.
The dark fog enveloping Dragon Temple was rapidly dissipating.
"Baici, thank you!" Hua Yue Yu was full of gratitude, "From now on, you're family to me. I'll let you have your way in every argument."
The female anchor wasn't joking; starting today, she had decided to treat Lin Baici as her older brother!
After all, without this big boy, she definitely would have been doomed in this temple.
Wait a minute!
"Baici should be younger than me, does this count as an older cow eating tender grass?"
Hua Yue Yu wasn't tall, a bit skinny, and her chest was rather flat. Wearing a school uniform, she looked like a junior high school girl, but she was actually already in her second year of university.
"We can talk later, let's get out of here first!"
Lin Baici wanted to leave.
This time, he had hit a major jackpot, obtaining several Taboo things, and he didn't want any mishap now.
"Right, let's go!"
Sima Mu looked up, "Don't take the main gate, climb over the wall, and go down the small trail behind the mountain."
Kim Myungjin and Hua Yue Yu looked toward Lin Baici.
They were both girls who knew their limits. In this situation, they wouldn't rashly express their opinions and relied entirely on Lin Baici to decide.
"Let's go!"
Lin Baici took the lead.
As a local, he had visited Dragon Temple many times and knew the place well.
According to Kim Myungjin's explanation, just after a meteor fell and created God's ruins, the danger level was relatively low. At this time, God Hunters would come to Breaking Divine Ruins, seal the Taboo things, and collect God's bones.
If they took the main gate, they might encounter them.
Lin Baici did not want the Taboo things he had just acquired and not yet warmed up in his hands to be forcibly confiscated.
…
At the foot of Jiufeng Mountain, the parking lot.
A man in his twenties stood on top of a touring coach, holding a pair of binoculars, observing the top of the mountain.
A few days ago, the purple bricks and red tiles of Dragon Temple could be seen, but now only a large patch of black mist was visible, resembling the dwelling of a demon king from Journey to the West, exuding sinister and ghostly vibes.
In the blistering heat of summer, cicadas sounded weak and intermittent, without a breath of wind. However, the black mist at the top of the mountain suddenly began to thin.
"Huh?"
The young man was astonished. Once he was sure he wasn't seeing things and the dark fog was indeed thinning, he immediately pulled out his phone and dialed the bureau's number.
As soon as the call connected, a roaring voice came through.
"Little Chen, how many times have I told you? I have no manpower to spare for you. As long as the Divine Ruins aren't spreading, stop bothering me!"
The rough, hoarse voice on the other end sounded anxious and deeply concerned.
"It's not that, Director Zhang, the dark fog is rapidly dissipating," Chen Shihe quickly reported.
"What?"
Director Zhang's spirits lifted, "Are you sure?"
The dissipation of the dark fog indicated that the God's bones had been contained, and the Divine Ruins would soon disappear, returning the nearby environment to normal.
"Of course!"
Chen Shihe thought to himself, I'm not blind.
"Haha, fortune favors me too!"
Director Zhang breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Dragon Temple is the most famous attraction in Guangqing City, with many visitors. When the meteor fell and formed the Divine Ruins, there must have been God Hunters inside lighting incense and praying, and so they took the opportunity to contain the God's bones and break the Divine Ruins."
"It could have been done by ordinary people too!"
Chen Shihe analyzed.
"Bullshit!"
Director Zhang immediately dismissed it, "Look at the time. It's been only five hours since the Divine Ruins of Dragon Temple appeared. Tell me, which ordinary person has the ability to quickly find and contain God's bones amidst the contamination of so many Taboo things' magical rules?"
"…"
Chen Shihe was speechless.
Indeed, ordinary people would either die from the contamination or from radiation while turning into meat puppets near God's bones.
"Breaking a Divine Ruins in five hours, the God Hunter who took action must be at least a Lion King, and it's even possible they're of Dragon Level!"
Director Zhang was relieved; no matter what, the disaster of the Divine Ruins at Dragon Temple had been resolved.
"Sss, Dragon Level?"
Chen Shihe gasped in shock and awe.
"Stop being melodramatic and go support Team Leader Li in Xiu Shui County!"
Director Zhang instructed.
"Should I go into the temple and find that Dragon Level Hunter, ask for help?"
Chen Shihe suggested.
This time, Guangqing City was quite unlucky to have had two meteors fall at once.
One fell in Xiu Shui County, affecting over two hundred thousand people.
In comparison, Dragon Temple had at most twenty thousand visitors, which is why Director Zhang sent all of the Jiuzhou Security Bureau's God Hunters to Xiu Shui County, leaving only the two-man team of Chen Shihe to monitor outside Dragon Temple.
"Are you stupid? If the Dragon Level Hunter goes there, what's left for us?"
Director Zhang was about to explode with irritation.
Taboo things, Meteorites, God's bones - these items, despite being dangerous, were also valuable. Handing them over to headquarters, they could be exchanged for quite a few benefits.
After ending the call, Chen Shihe glanced at Dragon Temple one last time, then jumped down from the top of the bus and settled into his partner's Mazda.
"I wonder what Taboo things that God Hunter got? Could it be a colleague?"
Chen Shihe was curious.
Every country has official organisations dealing with Divine Ruins disasters.
Chen Shihe belonged to the Jiuzhou Security Bureau - Guangqing City branch.
"A God Hunter who breaks a Divine Ruin in five hours is impressive. Director Zhang doesn't want to provoke them; otherwise, with his penny-pinching nature, he would definitely come over to argue for a share of the Taboo things and God's bones."
His partner teased, started the car, and headed towards Xiu Shui County.
…
More than an hour later, the party of five including Lin Baici left Jiufeng Mountain and appeared on a nearby highway.
After walking over five li, they finally hailed a taxi.
"To the Hilton Hotel!"
Kim Myungjin spoke up.
Hua Yue Yu couldn't help but glance at the Goryeo girl, not having realized that she was actually a rich sister.
The best hotel in Guangqing City was the Hilton, where even the most basic standard room cost over a thousand yuan a night.