"Devoted?" Ye Bugui couldn't help but laugh when he said this: "Regardless of whether they were human or ghosts before they built the Buddha statue, judging from the villagers we've met, they probably don't have any faith."
Lu Shi nodded: "In my world, almost everyone believes in God and makes offerings. However, most people believe in God because they have something to ask for."
“There’s another type of person who makes offerings,” Lu Shi changed the subject, and Jia Yang, who was inside the formation, suddenly started shouting. “Those are people with guilty consciences. They hope to make up for their guilt and alleviate their sense of remorse through this method.”
“Then this village must be the latter,” Modi said decisively. “I even think they deliberately brought us here to the tunnels. Any normal person would want to see it if they heard there were so many Buddha statues underground. And if this place were turned into a tourist attraction, I don’t know how many innocent people would lose their lives here.”
“Yes, that’s the most likely possibility.” Lu Shi continued staring at the Buddha statues. “But if that’s the case, they could just build a temple. Why bother with so many Buddha statues?”
Han Ran coughed heavily at this moment. She had almost lost her breath just now, and her throat felt like it was stuck shut.
But what she didn't expect was that her cough would bring up a clump of worm pupae.
In that instant, Han Ran almost fainted.
Lu Shi continued, "Do you remember the sound I just heard?"
Ye Bugui hummed in agreement, feeling that Lu Shi probably already knew the truth.
As expected of Lu Shi, he's always one step ahead when it comes to reasoning.
“You all think it’s Han Ran’s voice, so Han Ran, let me ask you, have you ever cried loudly?” Lu Shi looked at Han Ran with a smile.
Han Ran had just recovered when she shook her head: "Look how upset I was just now, but I didn't cry. I'm not a crybaby. As for Yin Hong, she's even less likely to cry."
Lu Shi was very satisfied with the answer. He suddenly reached out and tapped the Buddha statue.
Instead of a muffled sound, it was hollow, like a draft.
In that instant, Ye Bugui and Modi both opened their eyes, as if Lu Shi had cleared away the fog before their eyes, allowing them to see everything clearly.
"Perhaps the crying is coming from inside the Buddha statue?"
Lu Shi's question made everyone present tense.
Most Buddha statues are made by first creating a shell and then filling it with something. So if you tap a Buddha statue, you will hear a solid, dull sound.
But the sound they all heard when Lu Shi struck the statue just now indicated that it was hollow inside.
This is a big problem. Why would someone deliberately hollow out a Buddha statue?
Is it for putting things in?
Ye Bugui moved extremely quickly. He immediately ran to another Buddha statue, tapped it lightly with his hand, and sure enough, it produced the same hollow sound.
In that instant, Ye Bugui's expression underwent a tremendous change.
So, the villagers hollowed out the Buddha statue?
If there were something inside all these Buddha statues, what would it be?
The answer is self-evident.
And the enduring curse in the village seems to have made sense now.
At this moment, Lu Shi raised his hand, as if to smash the Buddha statue.
But just then, a voice suddenly rang out behind them.
"stop!"
They recognized the voice immediately; it belonged to the village chief with whom they had chatted amiably during the day.
Standing next to the village chief were two other people.
One was Jia Mu with a smile, and the other was Gui Shura with his head down.
Chapter 115
☪ Malicious 11
Upon seeing someone appear, Lu Shi actually relaxed.
This shows that they have truly reached the core of the instance.
...
Upon seeing someone appear, Lu Shi actually relaxed.
This shows that they have truly reached the core of the instance.
The village chief's face was terribly dark, a stark contrast to the amiable and talkative old man he had been during the day.
This seems to be his true nature.
"Village Chief, you've finally decided to show yourself." Ye Bugui smiled and walked up to the village chief step by step.
Ghost Asura kept his head down, as if unwilling to meet their gaze.
Jia Mu held his head high, looking at them with pride, as if he knew that the people in front of him were about to be finished.
"You actually secretly smashed the Buddha statue!"
The village chief looked at them with a pained expression, seemingly still pretending.
"We didn't do it on purpose."
Lu Shi readily agreed. Since the other party wanted to pretend, he didn't mind continuing to play along with their act.
He calmly glanced at the village chief opposite him and said softly, "We're just curious why this Buddha statue is hollow."
The village chief snorted, his attitude suggesting he was unwilling to continue discussing the topic.
"Because...because our village doesn't have that much money! What, you're not planning to smash it up to see what it's like!"
To everyone's surprise, Lu Shi actually nodded, a gesture that infuriated the village chief to the point of blowing his beard and glaring.
However, Lu Shi didn't care. He squinted and ignored the village chief, without even glancing at Jia Mu and Gui Xiuluo.
He stood in front of the Buddha statue and whispered, "If I want to smash it, you can't stop me."
Ye Bugui immediately lowered his head and laughed. As expected of Lu Shi, even his harsh words are so cool!
Of course, what he said was true, because if Lu Shi really did that, none of these people could stop him.
Unless they reveal their true colors.
"Insolence!" The village chief was indeed enraged. He glared fiercely at Lu Shi, feeling humiliated for the first time in all his years as village chief: "Do you really think we're afraid of you?!"
Lu Shi ignored the village chief and threw a punch at the Buddha statue.
Suddenly, the village chief's clothes tore open, and a dark shadow lunged at Lu Shi.
Just as it was about to touch Lu Shi, Ye Bugui unexpectedly disregarded his own safety and pounced on it.
The dark figure let out a howl and bit Ye Bugui.
However, no one expected that the moment the shadow bit down, a halo of light suddenly appeared around Ye Bugui's body.
Under the influence of the bright light, the dark figure immediately turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.
All that remained was the village chief's furious expression.
He could only turn to Jia Mu and Gui Xiuluo and say, "What are you two standing there for? Get up and get him!"
Unable to resist, the two reluctantly rushed forward.
Ye Bugui, smiling broadly, opened his clothes and pulled out a talisman that was already smoking from his chest:
"Thank goodness I had it, otherwise I would be dead."
While Ye Bugui was stalling for time, Lu Shi had already smashed the Buddha statue with a single punch.
Upon seeing the Buddha statue shatter, the village chief seemed to age ten years, and sat down on the ground in a daze.
"What's wrong with him?" Han Ran, who had been watching the whole thing, asked in a low voice.
It's really good to be with Ye Bugui and Lu Shi; I can happily slack off again.
Modi whispered, "Was it despair? Or perhaps his crimes, which he had hidden for so many years, were finally being exposed to the world, and he couldn't hold back anymore, so he went mad?"
The village chief listened quietly to their mockery without saying a word, and stopped giving orders to Jia Mu and Gui Xiuluo. He was truly as still as water.
After the Buddha statue was completely shattered, a nauseating stench emanated from it, as if one had accidentally stumbled into a mass grave.
Han Ran had no choice but to pinch his nose and look ahead, and he saw that there really was a black thing inside the Buddha statue's belly.
If Han Ran hadn't seen the bones floating inside, he probably wouldn't have guessed what it was.
Lu Shi remained calm. He looked at the silent village chief and said softly:
"It seems I guessed right. You did indeed kill the person and hide them inside the Buddha statue. The other Buddha statues must have done the same?"
Lu Shi walked around the village chief once. Since the village chief did not refute him, it was basically equivalent to him agreeing with his deduction.
Unexpectedly, this was indeed the case. At first, Lu Shi even wondered if he had been thinking too badly of people.
But looking back now, he was just too naive.
"So what were the identities of these dead people? Were they natives of this place? Or were they outsiders like us?"
Modi suddenly coughed, and Ye Bugui turned his head and noticed that Jiamu and Gui Xiuluo had suddenly fallen to the ground.
They weren't unconscious; rather, their limbs were contorting in a bizarre way, and they were constantly foaming at the mouth.
Ye Bugui frowned; they looked as if a serious illness had suddenly struck.
He had to look at Lu Shi beside him and said softly, "They seem to be in trouble. Shouldn't we do something?"
Lu Shi grunted and continued staring at the village chief: "It seems you still don't want to say anything. Fine, then I'll take care of them first!"
"Get out of the way," Lu Shi said in a deep voice, making everyone stand behind him so that he could face the increasingly strange Jia Mu and Gui Xiuluo. "It seems you are all dead. You must have crawled out of the mud pit in the suburbs."
At this moment, the village chief suddenly spoke up: "How did you all know about that place!"
Ye Bugui smiled dismissively: "Otherwise what? Are you underestimating us? It's been a whole day. If we hadn't made this much progress, we would have been dead long ago."
To everyone's surprise, the village chief burst into laughter: "Now that you all know, shouldn't you realize that we are immortal!"
"Keep killing! We can keep respawning! When you're exhausted and have no strength left, that's when we'll launch our counterattack!"
The village chief lay down on the ground without any restraint, as if waiting for them to kill him.
His attitude of giving up infuriated everyone, and Han Ran couldn't help but spit out his contempt: