“Impossible.” Jia Yang immediately supported the swaying Han Ran. “We might be poisoned, no, we should be cursed.”
"A curse..." Han Ran nodded. "Yes, it must be a curse. This instance is inherently linked to curses. Sorry, I'm really hungry!"
As he was speaking, Han Ran actually bit his own arm.
Only after her tongue tasted blood did Han Ran calm down slightly.
At least that overwhelming hunger has disappeared.
Unlike Han Ran, Yin Hong didn't attack herself. Nor would she attack her teammates. She walked step by step to a Buddha statue.
What they had previously found utterly repulsive, rotten-looking offerings, now appeared to Yin Hong as an unparalleled delicacy.
Without hesitation, she picked up a piece of rotten flesh and took a big bite out of it.
The meat was much more tender than she had imagined. She took a small bite, and the meat melted as if it were water.
She swallowed all the black liquid, which felt even more refreshing than drinking a cup of milk tea.
At that moment, she felt as if she had been reborn.
Besides, there was another voice in her ear.
It was a voice of ambiguous gender.
“Lift your head and look at me,”
He said.
Yin Hong had seemingly forgotten who she was and where she was; right now, she would only obey the voice's commands.
Then she looked up and saw that the source of the voice was the enshrined Buddha statue.
The Buddha statue wore a holy smile, and the moment Yin Hong saw it, she felt healed.
Do you want to be purified? Wash away your sins, wash away your pain, and become a pure person.
His seductive voice made it impossible for Crimson to refuse.
"Offer your eyes."
Han Ran shuddered, grabbed Jia Yang beside her, and pointed at Yin Hong with her finger:
"What is she doing?"
Jia Yang felt dizzy and was extremely hungry. So he didn't pay any attention to what Han Ran said.
"I'm so hungry."
He was like a machine, constantly repeating that sentence.
Yin Hong was completely bewitched, so she didn't hesitate to put her hands into her eyes and gouge out her two eyeballs without hesitation, leaving them wet.
She then knelt on the ground devoutly, held the bloody eyeball in her palm, and offered it to the Buddha statue.
Han Ran collapsed to the ground, shuddering as she watched countless maggots crawl out of her bright red, empty eye sockets.
Chapter 113
☪ Malice 9
Walking through the dark and damp tunnels, an ordinary person would probably be terrified.
However, these three people were not ordinary people. Lu Shi was able to look around with a relaxed attitude, examining the Buddha statue that would appear every few meters.
"Have you seen this Buddha statue before?" Lu Shi was probably the only one among everyone who came to the tunnel who showed a strong interest in the Buddha statue.
Hearing him say that, Ye Bugui, who was standing next to him, also stopped and scrutinized the Buddha statue with a critical eye.
However, Ye Bugui quickly shook his head, admitting defeat: "No, and I've never really known much about religious things. What's wrong? Do you think there's something wrong with this Buddha statue?"
Modi, standing to the side, spoke up: "Although I don't know much about religion, my family believes in it. When I was very young, they would take me to see all kinds of Buddha statues."
"These Buddha statues have a rather strange smile compared to ordinary Buddha statues."
"Strange?" Ye Bugui looked at the Buddha statue again. It had a nose and eyes, and it was smiling. It looked quite normal!
However, he still believed in Modi's words, so Ye Bugui asked, "Oh, what's wrong with them? Maybe this will be our breakthrough."
Lu Shi also showed an expression of listening attentively, which made Modi very happy.
The man took a deep breath and continued, “These Buddha statues, though they seem to be smiling, if you look closely at their eyes, you’ll see a hint of cunning. A true Buddha statue, however, if it is smiling, will have a benevolent smile.”
“And there’s something about the faces of these Buddha statues that I feel is off.” Modi circled around, then shook his head. “Maybe it’s just my imagination!”
Lu Shi nodded slightly: "It's obvious that the people in this village are not worshipping any local earth god. As for that other god, he is probably the key to our success."
The group continued walking forward, but they still couldn't find Jiamu and Gui Xiuluo, as if the two of them had vanished into thin air.
Ye Bugui said with some regret, "I should have sent you out to search instead of leaving me there to watch over things."
"If I had known that Ghost Asura would be unable to hold on so quickly, I would never have let him go."
After hearing this, Lu Shi looked at Ye Bugui with sympathy and then comforted him:
"It has nothing to do with you. If you were to go out, I would want to go with you. Besides, I think Ghost Asura should still be alive."
Modi coughed to avoid being forced to eat another mouthful of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), and quickly changed the subject:
"Do you think the others might all be inside the tunnel?"
"Why do you think that?" Ye Bugui asked curiously.
"Because I think the village is only so big, unless we become locals like Han Ran, we won't run into each other."
"The most likely explanation is that it's a tunnel. I always felt that this tunnel was even bigger than the village."
“The yin energy down here is very heavy,” Lu Shi said calmly. “So you must be careful, there might be ghosts all over this place. And with your current strength, it won’t be easy to escape unscathed from ghosts.”
"Isn't that what you're here for?" Ye Bugui smiled and said proudly, "Then there's definitely no problem."
Lu Shi coughed before continuing, "I'll draw a formation now, and you'll all stand in there in a moment."
Not only Ye Bugui, but even Modi was very interested.
Everyone has read cultivation novels and knows that besides various uncles and talismans, the most powerful thing about immortals is their formations.
Unfortunately, Lu Shi had never used formations much, giving people the impression that he didn't know how.
However, it now seems that they were completely wrong. How could Lu Shi not know formations?
However, in the past, Lu Shi could easily deal with all kinds of monsters with just his magic.
The formations that consume a lot of resources and have many limitations are simply impractical.
However, things are different now. Lu Shi realizes that if they want to survive, it is necessary to use the formation.
Thinking of this, Lu Shi squatted down and then bit his finger on the spot.
Ye Bugui frowned upon seeing this scene, his expression filled with heartache.
Modi chuckled, "You're already feeling sorry for me? You two must have a really good relationship. Um, who's up and who's down?"
Fortunately, Lu Shi didn't hear this question. After Ye Bugui heard it, he touched his ear, then puffed out his chest and said with a serious expression:
"Do I even need to say it? It's definitely me on top!"
These words were spoken with great confidence, yet Modi shook his head repeatedly upon hearing them.
He said with a smile, "I think the two of you probably haven't done that kind of thing yet. After all, our Demon Lord doesn't understand these things."
“That’s because the situation is urgent right now,” Ye Bugui immediately took the moral high ground: “In this situation, you’re still thinking about this kind of thing! If all of humanity, who are waiting for us to save them, knew what you were thinking, they would definitely curse you to death.”
While the two were chatting, Lu Shi had already drawn the array on the ground.
The two looked down and both thought the array, which looked like scribbles, was quite magical.
Fortunately, the person who drew the formation was Lu Shi, and they believed in Lu Shi's abilities.
"What's the use of this formation?" Ye Bugui asked softly, curious.
“After you go in, stand there for one minute.” Lu Shi stood up and said with a smile, “For the next half hour, your presence will not be detected by ghosts.”
Modi and Ye Bugui's originally calm expressions immediately became quite varied.
This effect is truly extraordinary!
"Isn't this about the same as Wei Jin's ability?" Ye Bugui said excitedly, "You're really amazing!"
Lu Shi, standing to the side, waved his hand and said rather modestly, "This effect is actually quite lackluster. If we take the initiative, it will immediately become useless. It's better than nothing."
As they spoke, they had already walked quite a distance.
Strangely, they didn't encounter Jia Mu or Gui Xiuluo, nor did they see a single ghost.
It was as if this tunnel was nothing more than a decoration.
Lu Shi stopped again.
This time, however, he wasn't observing the Buddha statue; instead, he leaned against the wall, listening to the sounds inside.
“Someone is crying,” Lu Shi suddenly said.
"Crying?" Ye Bugui frowned and moved closer.
At first he heard nothing, but after he mimicked the landing and held his breath, he heard the crying.
The sound struck Ye Bugui as quite strange.
Why would someone cry?
"Could someone be crying on the other side of the tunnel? Maybe it's a player like us."
Modi stood not far away, looking around as if afraid a fierce ghost might suddenly appear.
"That's possible. This tunnel is so long that you can't see the end. If it's winding, it's quite normal to have someone on the other side."
“What you said makes sense.” Lu Shi stood up, but judging from his expression, he was not satisfied with the conclusion.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find a more convincing conclusion at the moment, so he could only think of it this way for now.
"Let's go," Lu Shi said softly. "Then let's follow the tunnel all the way in, and maybe we'll run into them."
...