Chapter 3: Chapter 3 The Game of Divine Taboo_1
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On the Moon Gate, there are the words 'Bodhi Peach Garden', and a strange fruit scent wafts from inside.
[Eighteen-year-old peaches, plump and juicy, at the peak of ripeness!]
"Shall we go in?"
Kim Myungjin tiptoed, peering into the peach garden.
The fog cleared a bit more, revealing low peach trees about forty meters away, their branches laden with fruits.
"Let's go!"
Lin Baici crossed the Moon Gate, stepping on the gravel path and moving forward.
Not having weapons for protection made everyone feel uneasy.
Lin Baici planned to break off a tree branch to use as a weapon but hesitated and then gave up on the idea.
What if it provoked a terrible Buddhist statue monster?
"These peaches are so big!"
Kim Myungjin's mouth watered, clearly wanting to pick one to eat.
The peaches were not only big, their pink color flawless, resembling the smooth skin of a young maiden, tempting to one's cravings.
"Don't you think these peach trees are strange?"
Lin Baici furrowed his brows.
The peach trees were stunted, their branches twisted and gnarled, looking, at first glance, as if they were performing some wild dance.
"Isn't it odd for things not to be strange in God's Ruins?"
Kim Myungjin's ears perked up: "I think I heard someone talking?"
"I heard it too!"
Lin Baici quickened his pace.
At the end of the gravel path, he saw a thatched cottage, in front of which there was a small courtyard with a well and a dead dog.
To the east, there was a vegetable plot with crops and birds hopping about.
About ten people were staying here.
The arrival of Lin Baici and Kim Myungjin immediately made them stare tensely, but upon realizing they weren't monsters, they relaxed a bit.
The men's gaze fell directly upon Kim Myungjin.
This girl was truly beautiful.
Lin Baici scanned the area and approached six aunties resting by a stone table in the small courtyard to inquire more.
"Aunties, hello, have you found anything?"
The six aunties, all around fifty years old, dressed fashionably, were obviously the kind that had retired early and often danced in public squares.
One, even donning a light blue qipao embroidered with peony flowers, was currently sitting on a stone bench, massaging her sore feet, constantly complaining.
The qipao-wearing auntie glanced at Lin Baici but ignored him. However, another auntie wearing a sun hat liked the look of Lin Baici and responded.
"There's no danger here; you can take shelter for a while!"
They were six friends who played mahjong together, having made plans to go out and offer incense to relax, but they hadn't expected to encounter such an event, which was infuriating.
"Thank you!"
Lin Baici thanked them politely.
[This auntie owns a food factory, has a net worth in the millions, her husband died five years ago, and she's a little bit interested in you.]
Lin Baici was speechless; what was the meaning of this?
Do I look like the kind of man who lives off women?
He walked towards the thatched cottage, intending to see if there was anything useful inside.
"There's no need to look, we've already checked!"
A round-faced uncle approached: "Got a cigarette?"
"No!"
Lin Baici shook his head.
This uncle was in his forties, slightly overweight, with his left hand in a bandage suspended in front of his chest, and in his right hand, he held a kitchen knife, but he had no fierce aura, appearing more like a family cook.
"My last name is Sima, as in Sima Yi from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and my first name is Mu. What are your names?"
Sima Mu was very chatty.
"Lin Baici!"
Lin Baici noticed a young couple arguing by the vegetable plot.
[That woman has a severe gynecological disease and has had an abortion, but the child didn't belong to the young man beside her.]
"..."
Lin Baici was shocked; what on earth was this voice?
It even knew people's secrets?
"Oppa, let's go find weapons!"
Kim Myungjin's attitude was cold; she didn't want to talk to Sima Mu, who had improper glances.
"Sima, she's looking down on you!"
Behind the thatched cottage, a young man came out after relieving himself and seeing Kim Myungjin's aloofness, deliberately stirred trouble: "Aren't you going to teach her a lesson?"
Kim Myungjin moved closer to Lin Baici's side.
When Choi Feng came out, the arguing couple stopped, and the six aunties all stood up.
"Big Brother Choi, what do we do next?"
The qipao-wearing auntie's face, which usually cost thousands of yuan a month to maintain, showed a fawning smile.
"Brother my ass, am I that old?"
Choi Feng spat out a thick glob of phlegm.
The qipao-wearing auntie was embarrassed by the retort but didn't dare talk back since they needed this young man's help to survive.
"I'm already this old, why would I bother arguing with a girl?"
Sima Mu acted very magnanimous.
"You're not afraid of this kid, right? Don't worry, I've got your back!"
Choi Feng's shifty eyes turned towards Lin Baici.
Damn it!
This height, these muscles, he looked like he could fight!
If it were the old days, Choi Feng definitely wouldn't dare provoke him, but now...
Sorry,
I can take on ten like him!
Choi Feng had a machete on his waist and a torch that was three feet two inches long and as thick as an adult's wrist in his right hand—that was his confidence.
"Oppa, let's go!"
Kim Myungjin tugged at Lin Baici's clothes.
[That's a piece of garbage food, not worth your stomach, recommending to steam it first, then feed it to the dogs!]
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The voice was obviously talking about this Brother Cui.
"Heh, leaving? Did you ask me first?"
Cui Feng looked at Kim Myungjin with ill intent.
Dragon Temple had become a terrifying God's ruins, where everyone would die today, so why should he hold back any longer?
Just enjoy the pleasure first!
A gust of wind blew, the mist started to dissipate, and the peaches on the trees suddenly began to tremble.
Rustle! Rustle!
On those ripened peaches, a slit cracked open, resembling a mouth.
"Eat me!"
"Eat me!"
"Eat me!"
The peaches screamed as they fell from the branches, sprouting four long, scorpion-like legs, and scurried towards Lin Baici and the others.
"The monsters are coming!"
The qipao-wearing lady's face was stricken with horror; she turned to run, tripped over her own feet, and faceplanted horribly.
"Damn, what the hell are these things?"
Cui Feng's scalp tingled.
Although Sima Mu was bandaged on his left hand, he was the quickest to charge, but had to stop after just running a dozen meters.
The peach monsters with scorpion legs were too numerous, at least a thousand swarmed towards them, blocking the exit from the peach garden.
"Don't run, it will enrage them!"
Kim Myungjin hastened to warn them.
It seemed that these peach trees were taboo things, and if everyone wanted to survive, they had to follow their rules.
No one ran,
because everyone was afraid of dying.
"What do we do now?"
The sun hat-wearing lady looked at Kim Myungjin and whispered her question.
From what the Korean girl had said, she seemed to know some inside information that others didn't.
When no one moved, the peach monsters didn't pursue their attack either.
About a dozen of them quickly crawled to a curly-haired lady and started shouting at her.
"Eat me!"
"Eat me!"
The voices were sharp and miserable, much like a starving baby's cry.
Curly-haired lady trembled, looking at Cui Feng, "Save... save me!"
Cui Feng remained unmoved, he intended to observe these monsters first before making a decision.
[Would you rather eat one fresh peach than a basket of rotten apricots? These just-ripe peaches are delicious and juicy, start tasting them now!]
Taste my ass!
Lin Baici just felt disgusted.
Looking at those peaches with four scorpion legs, if he ate one, it would haunt him for life.
"Why don't you try eating one?"
Sima Mu suggested.
"Who could possibly stomach this?"
Curly-haired lady shook her head vehemently.
"Eat me!"
"Eat me!"
Dozens of fist-sized peach monsters surrounded the curly-haired lady, urging her nonstop. Seeing her indifference, they grew frantic, "If you won't eat me, then I'll eat you!"
After the peach monsters spoke, their big mouths suddenly split open, revealing jagged teeth with either peach juice or saliva dripping from them. They pounced on the curly-haired lady.
They could easily bite off a chunk of flesh the size of a palm.
"Ah!"
The curly-haired lady screamed in agony, waving her hands frantically to fend off the peach monsters.
However, the dozens of them, like piranhas, ferociously tore at the curly-haired lady, leaving her drenched in blood without a piece of flesh unscathed within moments.
In less than a minute, the curly-haired lady stopped moving, having been bitten to death alive.
The peach monsters did not leave but continued to gnaw on her corpse.
The crowd was terrified by the sight, their hairs standing on end.
Dozens of peaches crawled up to a double-eyelid lady.
"Eat me!"
"Eat me!"
The double-eyelid lady trembled, "Brother Cui, help me!"
"If you eat them, you should be able to survive!"
Cui Feng wanted to see the consequences of a human eating these peaches.
The double-eyelid lady turned her head, looked at the long-legged peaches, retched, and vomited.
She couldn't stomach it!
Suddenly,
the double-eyelid lady frantically sprinted, attempting to escape.
This act was like poking a hornet's nest, as the peach monsters swiftly charged after her, quickly overtaking her and completely enveloping her.
Seconds later, the peach monsters left, and only a white skeletal frame remained on the ground.
The other ladies were so frightened they didn't even dare to breathe heavily.
Lin Baici turned his head and asked Kim Myungjin in a low voice, "Does everyone have to go through this?"
"In the God Hunter Circle, we call this kind of rule contamination 'God's taboo game.' Usually, each person has to go through this,"
Kim Myungjin explained, "When facing taboo things, if humans don't follow their supernatural rules, there's only one outcome, death!"
More peach monsters with scorpion legs emerged.
"Don't pick me! Don't pick me!"
Not just the qipao-wearing lady was praying – everyone was muttering under their breath.
Lin Baici was startled to see the peach monsters crawling in his direction.
What to do?
Did he really have to eat these damned things?
But the question remained, who could guarantee that they'd live after eating them?
The peach monsters had crawled up to Lin Baici.
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