Swish!
The Muscle Guy, the Rich Kid, and the others were greatly shocked to see Lu Jiuling walking toward the main hall.
“This kid’s got some serious guts!”
The Influencer was astonished; either way, she didn’t dare go back.
“Classmate, since you’re planning to return to the main hall, why not carry a Buddha head inside?”
The Office Lady urged.
She didn’t care whether this high schooler lived or died; she just wanted to leave this eerie, spine-chilling temple as soon as possible.
“Right now, we have too little information. Relying on these, there’s a high probability we won’t find the Buddha head!”
Lu Jiuling turned back, his gaze sweeping over them. “Let’s go inside and keep that headless Great Buddha company. Maybe we can wait until it says something else!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up.
Indeed, if they wanted to obtain key information, they’d probably have to figure something out with that bizarre Great Buddha, but…
“I’m not going!”
The Influencer muttered. “Let them do such dangerous things!”
“Classmate, you really think things through,”
the Muscle Guy said with a smile, flattering him. “Then I’ll leave it to you!”
Lu Jiuling wasn’t stupid enough to be flattered into becoming a willing pawn; he was only doing his best for himself.
“There might be danger inside. Don’t follow me!”
Lu Jiuling persuaded Song Xue as he stepped over the threshold and re-entered the main hall.
A gloomy, cold aura immediately seeped into his body, as if he had fallen into a river in the dead of winter.
“I… I’ll stay with you!”
Song Xue followed him inside trembling.
She felt safer being with this boy!
【My head… is lost!】
【Go find my head and bring it back!】
The headless Great Buddha muttered intermittently.
“Where do you think its head is?”
Song Xue hugged her chest, nervously glancing around, terrified that some ghost or monster might suddenly jump out and ambush them.
“What were you doing before you were sent here?”
Lu Jiuling wanted to know even more—why had clicking a link brought him to this place?
Could Song Xue also be from that game-boosting group?
Even if she was, the Muscle Guy and Rich Kid outside probably weren’t, which meant there were other ways to get dragged in!
“I was binge-watching a series. There was a link to skip the ads. I clicked it, then passed out, and when I opened my eyes, I was here!”
Song Xue swore she would never binge-watch shows again.
No, wait,
she would never randomly click those links again.
“There’s only three months left until the college entrance exams, and you’re still binge-watching shows?”
Lu Jiuling was impressed. “Do you have good grades?”
Song Xue worried that Lu Jiuling would think she was a poor student and lose interest in her, so she quickly explained, “Only half an hour a day to relieve study stress!”
“My grades are decent. Getting into a university in Jinghai should be no problem!”
“What about you?”
“Your grades must be excellent, right?”
Alone together, Song Xue finally had time to carefully size up this peer.
Delicate features, very handsome. Most importantly, that steady and calm temperament gave people an immense sense of security.
It was just that he was a bit skinny, and coupled with the shorts and tank top he’d worn for so many years that the colors had almost faded, it was clear his family was quite poor.
Her heart ached!
Song Xue felt that if Lu Jiuling were a bit heavier, he’d probably be even more handsome.
Lu Jiuling didn’t answer. He turned to look at the hall doors.
The Muscle Guy was crouched behind the door, half his head peeking out. “Classmate, any new discoveries?”
“None!”
Lu Jiuling was pondering whether they needed to stimulate the headless Great Buddha somehow to make it say new things. As for how to stimulate it…
For example, bringing it a Buddha head.
Of course, this definitely carried risks.
Lu Jiuling didn’t bring this up because he knew the Muscle Guy, the Rich Kid, and the others were even more anxious than he was. Moreover, given the Muscle Guy’s ruthlessness, he would definitely do it.
Sure enough, the Muscle Guy glanced thoughtfully at the headless Great Buddha and left.
A few minutes later, sounds of arguing and cursing came from outside, followed by the Office Worker’s miserable screams.
“Brother Lu!”
Song Xue panicked slightly and grabbed Lu Jiuling’s sleeve.
“It’s fine!”
Lu Jiuling patted Song Xue’s hand. “Let’s wait outside!”
Sweat beading on his forehead, the Office Worker walked in straining to carry a stone Buddha head even larger than a basketball. When he brushed past Lu Jiuling, he couldn’t help staring at him with resentful eyes.
He didn’t understand why that Muscle Guy only ordered him around.
Bam!
The Office Worker walked up to the headless Great Buddha and placed the Buddha head he’d picked up from the courtyard onto the meditation cushion.
“B-Buddha above, h-here is the head you wanted!”
The Office Worker knelt and devoutly kowtowed three times, then turned and ran outside at maximum speed.
“Who said you could come back?”
The Muscle Guy cursed. “Go kneel before the Buddha statue!”
The Office Worker refused to kneel!
That Buddha head wasn’t the headless Great Buddha’s at all. What if it got angry and punished him?
“Fuck!”
Seeing the Office Worker like this, the Muscle Guy was about to hit him.
“Quiet!”
Lu Jiuling growled in a low voice.
“It seems to have moved!”
The Office Lady’s expression turned joyful. “There’s hope!”
Everyone instantly held their breath, shrinking behind the hall doors to observe.
【My head?】
The Great Buddha seemed to bend down and gaze at the Buddha head on the cushion. After pausing for a few seconds, it let out an angry roar.
【This is not my head】
【How dare an insolent brat deceive me?】
【You deserve death!】
The moment the words “you deserve death” came out, everyone’s muscles tensed. Especially the Office Worker, who turned and bolted toward the courtyard.
【Living!】
【Go find my head and bring it back!】
【Living!】
In the main hall, the headless Great Buddha roared madly, shaking the dust from the rafters to fall rustling down.
Everyone hurriedly fled, hiding in the courtyard.
“I told you that wasn’t its head, but you still forced me to carry it!”
The Office Worker complained.
“What does it mean by ‘living’?”
The Office Lady couldn’t figure it out. “Could its head actually be breathing?”
“We can’t possibly give it a real human head, right?”
Song Xue sighed. She was merely expressing emotion, but after she spoke, she suddenly saw the Muscle Guy and Rich Kid show expressions of sudden realization.
No way?
These two really were going to give that Great Buddha a human head?
Song Xue panicked and drew closer to Lu Jiuling. Then she discovered that Lu Jiuling’s face was calm—he had clearly already considered this possibility.
“Classmate, what do you think?”
The Muscle Guy cracked his knuckles. He was asking Lu Jiuling, but his gaze drifted toward Song Xue.
“How many people have you killed?”
Lu Jiuling sidestepped, blocking Song Xue.
He had no interest in this female high schooler; it was purely pity for the weak.
Song Xue immediately felt grateful.
“Not many, just five!”
The Muscle Guy chuckled and licked his lips.
He thought the other party would be afraid upon hearing this number, but the kid didn’t even furrow his brows.
“Are we really going to give that Great Buddha a human head?”
The Influencer was very flustered. She was materialistic, snobbish, and spoke ill of her besties behind their backs, but she had never done something like killing.
Wait,
it wasn’t like she would be the one killing?
“If we don’t deal with that Great Buddha, we’ll all die here!”
The Rich Kid took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across everyone’s faces.
“You know what’s going on?”
Lu Jiuling heard something in the Rich Kid’s tone—it seemed he knew some secrets.
“We’ve most likely encountered a Forbidden Object!”
The Rich Kid smiled bitterly. “In this world, there are some people with mysterious abilities called Transcendents, and there are also items with bizarre properties called Forbidden Objects.”
“The destructive power of these items is immense. They erode the surrounding environment and people, causing Forbidden Contamination. They require professionals to contain and handle them.”
The Rich Kid moved in rather elite circles and had heard some secrets.
“How do you contain it?”
The Office Lady pressed.
“I don’t know!”
The Rich Kid spread his hands.
“Then let’s try giving it a human head!”
The Influencer didn’t care. With her relationship with her boyfriend, the one who died definitely wouldn’t be her.
The Office Worker panicked. The Office Lady also nervously swallowed, subconsciously retreating several steps, afraid the Muscle Guy might suddenly attack.
“Brother Lu!”
Song Xue murmured, her fingers white from gripping Lu Jiuling’s clothes so tightly.
“Sigh, looks like this dirty work still falls to me!”
The Muscle Guy muttered, looking sinisterly at the Office Worker. “Buddy, sorry, but I’m going to borrow your head…”
The Office Worker felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. He turned to run on instinct.
“Grab him!”
The Muscle Guy roared and lunged.
The Rich Kid and the Influencer both moved.
The Office Lady hesitated for a second, then chased after them.
Let’s just end all of this quickly!
“You think you can run?”
The Muscle Guy sneered. But just as his right hand touched the Office Worker’s shirt, his head suddenly went *bang*…
and exploded.
Blood and minced flesh mixed together, splattering everywhere like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.
“Huh?”
The Influencer and the Office Lady screamed, hurriedly wiping their faces with their hands.
The Office Worker’s flesh and blood splashed onto their faces, into their mouths, and onto their chests, as if they’d been smeared with a layer of meat paste—utterly disgusting.
“Holy shit!”
The Muscle Guy halted in his tracks. “What the hell?”
“How did he just die?”
The Influencer was so angry she could spit blood. Dead was dead, but his head had to go and explode, so they couldn’t even recycle the body.
“Could there be a time limit?”
Lu Jiuling frowned.
“You mean if we don’t find the head, and keep dragging this out, every so often someone will randomly die?”
When the Influencer thought that she might be the next to die, her legs trembled and she nearly wet herself. “Xuebin, hurry up and think of something!”
“We’ll have to wrong someone and have them sacrifice themselves for the greater good!”
The Rich Kid’s words were tantamount to a death sentence.
The Muscle Guy looked at Song Xue.
Among the remaining people, the Influencer was the Rich Kid’s girlfriend—off limits. The Office Lady was wearing a tight skirt with black stockings and high heels, his favorite type, and he hadn’t slept with her yet. That only left this female high schooler to sacrifice.
What?
Choose that high schooler?
No way,
look at how he was acting—bold, careful, and calm enough. He might be the big daddy who leads everyone out.
“Classmate, sorry about this!”
The Muscle Guy shrugged. “If you want to blame someone, blame that Office Worker for dying at the wrong time. Otherwise it wouldn’t be your turn!”
The Office Lady had been terrified out of her mind, but now seeing the Muscle Guy choose the female high schooler, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Xue’s expression turned desperate, trembling like a little white rabbit caught in a big gray wolf’s jaws.
“Move!”
The Muscle Guy shoved Lu Jiuling aside and reached out to grab Song Xue.
Then the Rich Kid, the Influencer, and the Office Lady saw that male high schooler stand before the girl, stretch out his right hand without the slightest fear, and grab Zheng Mang’s wrist.