Smack!
Sima Mu raised his hand and slapped himself hard.
"What are you doing?"
Old Aunt jumped at his sudden movement, thinking something had happened!
"Damn this jinx of a mouth!"
Sima Mu was annoyed. This Rule Pollution really could catch you off guard.
"Handsome Guy, hurry and take a look!"
The one who had screamed was a young woman with long hair, wearing a light blue dress. Carrying an oil lamp, she hurried over to Lin Baici and asked for his help.
"My blood seems to be burning really fast too!"
"How fast is fast? Isn't it like this for everyone?"
"No, yours is obviously burning much faster!"
When the tourists heard the young woman in the dress, they all started staring at the blood in their lamps. Some of them were horrified to discover that their blood wasn't burning at the same speed.
Some were visibly burning much faster.
This terrified them.
"Your lamp's almost burned down to the bottom. Add some more blood!"
Hua Yueyu offered advice. She checked her own lamp and, thankfully, it was fine.
"Oh! Right!"
The young woman in the dress hurriedly nodded. She took the Firewood Chopper Lin Baici offered and cut her finger.
Drip! Drip!
"The blood's coming out too slowly. Make the cut bigger!"
Sima Mu urged her on. "What are you waiting for? You're still afraid of pain? If you can't do it, I'll help you!"
The young woman in the dress sobbed as she endured the pain and cut her finger again, but the wound was still too shallow.
Sima Mu couldn't stand watching. He grabbed her left hand.
The sharp sickle blade sliced across her fair palm, and blood poured out.
"Ah!"
The young woman in the dress screamed in pain.
The tourists whose blood was burning too fast anxiously borrowed knives, hurrying to add blood to their lamps while they still had time.
Hua Yueyu and Jin Yingzhen exchanged a glance, each seeing a hint of fear in the other's eyes.
"W-why is it still burning so fast?"
The young woman in the dress trembled. All the color had drained from her face, leaving her deathly pale.
"Damn it, what's going on? Why is mine burning so fast? Did I pick up the wrong oil lamp?"
"Handsome Guy, what do we do?"
"Waaah, I don't want to die!"
More than two hundred tourists had blood burning too quickly in their lamps.
"Hungry God Brother!"
The Little Girl clung to one of Lin Baici's legs. Her mother, Zhang Ju, stood beside her, holding an oil lamp in each hand.
The blood inside them was burning at a normal speed.
Sima Mu glanced at his own lamp and saw that it was fine. As steady as could be, he had the leisure to direct the others. "Stop standing around and add more blood!"
"From the looks of it, adding more won't help if we can't figure out the cause!"
Hua Yueyu thought Sima Mu's suggestion was unreliable and would only get people killed.
"How much blood did you add the first time? Did you fill the lamp?"
Lin Baici looked at the young woman in the dress, who wore light makeup, and pressed her for an answer.
He had more or less figured out the cause.
"I-I think I filled it?"
The young woman in the dress stammered.
"I want a definite answer!"
Lin Baici raised his voice.
"I didn't... There was a little left..."
The young woman in the dress began to cry even harder. "It... it hurt too much, so I stopped bleeding myself!"
"All of you whose blood is burning too fast—did you leave the lamps less than full earlier?"
Sima Mu shouted.
Everyone froze.
Could that really be the reason?
Damn,
they should've filled the lamps all the way from the start.
"What do we do now?"
Someone asked urgently.
Sima Mu didn't know, so he naturally looked to Lin Baici for an answer.
Lin Baici fell silent, because he thought there was
no solution.
Fortunately, when the God of Gluttony had said, "Fill it once, and it'll burn for three years," Lin Baici had been cautious enough to fill the lamp completely. If he'd been afraid of pain, or thought adding a little blood would be enough, he'd be done for now.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Yeah, what do we do? Hurry up and tell us!"
"Please!"
The tourists with Shoulder-Riding Buddha Infants growing larger on their backs could no longer sit still. They crowded around Lin Baici and shouted at him.
"He told you everything you needed to know. You're the ones who didn't follow his instructions!"
Seeing how agitated and frantic they were, Hua Yueyu worried they might do something rash, so she hurried to explain on Lin Baici's behalf.
"This is your own fault!"
Jin Yingzhen scolded them.
Those who had listened to Lin Baici and filled their lamps with blood were now immensely relieved.
The situation was clear.
Blood could serve as lamp oil. If they filled their lamps with it and lit the wick, the light could drive away the Shoulder-Riding Buddha Infants on their backs.
If they didn't, the ghostly things would keep growing until they were fully developed, then devour the people beneath them.
"Thank goodness those things don't attack anyone else. They only eat the person underneath them."
Old Aunt patted her chest and took a deep breath.
We're safe! We're safe!
Before long, just a few minutes later, the blood in several tourists' lamps burned out. No matter how much more blood they added, it was useless.
The Shoulder-Riding Buddha Infants on their backs began growing rapidly. Then, like Mad Dogs, they attacked, biting and tearing at them.
"Damn it, if I can't survive, none of you will!"
A young man wearing Puma Sports Shoes realized he was beyond saving and couldn't stand seeing anyone else fare better. He suddenly lunged at a woman beside him and punched her repeatedly in the head.
Crash!
The people nearby scattered, afraid of being caught up in it.
They figured it was none of their business, so they might as well keep their heads down.
The young man in the sports shoes set off a few others. They wanted to follow his example and kill as many people as they could. They were going to die anyway, so the law and morality could no longer punish them.
But just then, Lin Baici shot forward like a leopard, rushed up behind the young man in the sports shoes, and swung the Pine Wood Bat hard against his head.
Thud!
Blood instantly streamed down the young man's face, and he collapsed unconscious. But in the next moment, the Shoulder-Riding Buddha Infant bit him awake again.
Thud!
Lin Baici kicked him in the mouth.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Lin Baici roared, glaring at the others.
He was over six feet tall. Though he'd never worked out, the mysterious hunger he'd suffered since childhood had helped his body develop perfectly, with well-proportioned muscles and even an eight-pack.
Now he stood in the Great Hero Hall, Torch in hand, glaring furiously. His imposing presence was both domineering and fierce, enough to intimidate anyone.
"If you have time to kill people, run for it! You might still survive!"
Lin Baici bellowed.
Those who had planned to drag others down with them were instantly cowed. His words gave them a glimmer of hope, and one by one, they started fleeing the hall.
The others let out a sigh of relief.
But Lin Baici knew they were beyond saving.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Anyone who fled the hall was crushed into a pulp by a giant Buddha's palm that descended from the sky shortly after they crossed the threshold.
Those behind them were too frightened to run, but the blood in their lamps had burned out, and the Shoulder-Riding Buddha Infants on their backs began attacking.
Chaos erupted inside the hall.
"Oppa, you were so cool just now!"
Jin Yingzhen watched in rapt fascination. Lin Baici had managed to hold back more than a hundred people all by himself. Otherwise, if they'd rioted, some people would definitely have been in trouble.
Hua Yueyu clenched her little fist and ruefully thumped the GOPRO action camera clipped to her neckline. If this thing worked, she could have captured Lin Baici's imposing figure.
"Hungry God Brother is amazing!"
In the crowd, the Little Girl was held tightly in her mother's arms, her big eyes shining as she gazed at Lin Baici.
"Buddy, that Great Buddha is watching you!"
Hook-nosed Man hadn't expected this student to be so brave.
"What?"
Lin Baici hadn't even had time to be afraid when Hua Yueyu and Jin Yingzhen startled and instinctively turned toward the Dark Great Buddha on the altar.
A smile of unclear meaning played at its lips as it studied Lin Baici.
[In its eyes, you're already medium rare. It could eat you after removing your head, but it's rare to come across such delicious ingredients, so it can wait a little longer.]
Lin Baici furrowed his brow.
Another fifteen minutes passed in anxious suspense before everyone suddenly noticed that the Shoulder-Riding Buddha Infants on their backs had disappeared.
"They're gone! They're really gone!"
"Does that mean we're safe now?"
"Thank goodness! We're saved!"
The surviving tourists wept with joy.
Lin Baici counted. More than eight hundred tourists had entered the hall. After the two rounds of Rule Pollution—"Paying Respects to Buddha" and "Lighting the Lamps"—only 271 remained.
"Nearly six hundred people died in no time at all!"
Jin Yingzhen stared at the survivors, completely stunned.
They still hadn't found any God's Taboo Objects, and the Rule Pollution hadn't ended. That meant more people would die. At this rate, wouldn't the next round wipe them all out?
"Using blood instead of lamp oil, and having to fill the lamp in one go—that was such a trap. If I'd been afraid of pain and hesitated for even a second, I'd have been done for!"
Hua Yueyu was still shaken. Rule Pollution was terrifying.
Old Aunt nodded emphatically.
"Handsome Guy, thank you!"
The survivors gathered around Lin Baici to thank him.
They had all survived those two rounds thanks to him.
"Fill the lamps with blood, and let the Buddha's light shine forever!"
The Dark Great Buddha spoke, its voice lofty, solemn, and cold, silencing all the hubbub in the hall. "But don't you think there's still something missing before this Buddha?"
"Whatever you want, we'll give it to you, as long as we have it!"
Someone begged. "Please spare us!"
"I regard incense offerings as filth. Why would I want your possessions?"
The Dark Great Buddha laughed. "As the saying goes, 'Borrow flowers to honor the Buddha.' All you have to do is pick a bunch of wildflowers by hand and place them before the Buddha!"
Lin Baici didn't believe it was speaking sincerely. He hadn't missed a single word; he'd committed everything to memory.
"Go!"
"Go pick flowers from Lotus Lake to the east!"
The Dark Great Buddha finished speaking and closed its eyes.
Everyone looked at one another, unsure what to do, then turned to Lin Baici again, waiting for him to take the lead.
"Why even think about it? Let's go pick flowers!"
Hook-nosed Man ran his right hand through his hair and swept it back.
No one moved. They barely even glanced at him. Everyone was waiting for Lin Baici to decide.
Hook-nosed Man felt awkward.
[Oh, right. Remember, everyone: the offering table is too small. It can only hold the bouquets of thirty people!]
The Dark Great Buddha suddenly added another line, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
"What does that mean?"
Some were still asking cluelessly, but others were quick to run out of the hall.
"Hurry, go fight for the flowers!"
Sima Mu was frantic.
What the Dark Great Buddha meant was that it would only allow the first thirty people to offer flowers to survive.
Before you continue