Lin Baici extinguished the torch, because everyone was already trapped in the insect tide. If it was lit, the flames would spread everywhere.
Rustle! Rustle!
There were too many sacred beetles, and the sound they made as they crawled together was particularly eerie.
As everyone ran and waved their hands to drive the bugs away, it was to no avail.
Even Lin Baici and Xia Hongyao had no effective way to drive away the bugs. Killing one batch would only bring more swarming over.
The bugs on the ground were already over half a foot thick, burying their ankles.
Under the impact of this insect tide, some people couldn’t stand steady, fell down, and before they could get up, the bugs swarmed over and covered them.
This made them look like they were wrapped in a layer of bug coat, and then after struggling for a dozen seconds, they fell to the ground and didn’t move.
“Ah!”
Cai Wenqi screamed in fear.
She was afraid of cockroaches, let alone these sacred beetles. The most memorable time for her was when she opened the dormitory cabinet, and a dozen cockroaches flew out like bombers, almost scaring her to death.
And now, there were even more bugs.
“Ah…”
Cai Wenqi’s scream suddenly stopped, as if the power to the speaker had been cut off, because a sacred beetle flew into her mouth.
She panicked.
Puff! Puff!
Cai Wenqi tried to spit out the bug, but it was useless. What’s more terrifying was that she felt the bug crawling down her throat and into her esophagus.
The feeling of something entering her stomach was simply too creepy.
“Lin Baici…”
Cai Wenqi subconsciously called for help, but then two bugs took the opportunity to fly into her mouth.
“Forget about them, let’s go!”
Bian Xiang, who caused this chaos, looked completely unashamed and guilt-free. He urged Lin Baici and Fei Xiao to hurry up. To him, the lives of ordinary people were worth less than animals, and their deaths were not worth caring about.
“Queen, do you have a way?”
Xia Hongyao, with her head in her hands, was extremely worried. This insect tide made her feel frustrated with nowhere to exert her strength.
Lin Baici ran wildly, wanting to clear a wave of bugs at the front and open up a path, but there were too many bugs on the ground, making his feet seem to be stuck in a swamp, slowing down his movements.
Not only him, but everyone was too preoccupied, busy protecting their heads, which resulted in a thick layer of bugs crawling up their legs, as if they were wearing a pair of thick cotton pants.
Lin Baici rushed to the front and activated the divine grace.
In the corridor, a sudden gust of wind and rain appeared, falling on the bugs as if igniting a candle.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Above the heads of the bugs, flames ignited.
A majestic Buddha appeared behind Lin Baici, then leaned down and blew out a breath.
Floating Life, Night Rain, Wild Buddha Blows the Lamp!
Whoosh!
The flames on the heads of the bugs immediately extinguished, and they died on the spot, falling to the ground like rain, quickly forming a thick layer.
The passage ahead suddenly became quiet.
“Damn!”
Bian Xiang was startled and stared at Lin Baici warily.
What kind of divine grace was this?
So powerful!
It’s simply a divine technique of clearing the field!
Fei Xiao and Fang Tianhua were also dumbfounded. With this move, Lin Baici had at least killed tens of thousands of sacred beetles.
“Run!”
Lin Baici urged.
The sacred beetles were endless and unafraid of death. The holes in the ceiling and walls began to pour out bugs again after a few seconds of quiet.
After clearing a wave of bugs, the pressure on Fang Tianhua and Bian Xiang, as divine hunters, was greatly reduced. Taking advantage of this lull, they ran more than a hundred meters away, but ordinary people couldn’t do the same.
“Can the golden mask control these bugs?”
Lin Baici asked as he took out the previously confiscated golden mask. He dared not wear this thing because the person who wore it would be contaminated mentally and cursed in the flesh, becoming a breeding ground for the flesh and blood sacred beetles.
[Yes, it can create flesh and blood sacred beetles one ecological level higher than ordinary sacred beetles. If worn for only twenty seconds, it will not be parasitized!]
Upon hearing this, Lin Baici immediately put on the golden mask.
“Oppa!”
“Little White!”
Jin Yingzhen and Hua Yueyu were startled. They hadn’t forgotten how terrifying this mask was.
“Little Lin, give it to me!”
Xia Hongyao was more straightforward, reaching out directly to ask for it.
“It’s dangerous, let me do it.”
Lin Baici ignored the words of the three girls and, in the instant he put on the mask, his head exploded with a sound, as if it had been run over by a big truck tire, followed by a voice ringing in his mind.
[You are the king, the world must submit to you!]
[Give the order!]
[Everyone must live according to your will!]
[If you let them live, they can live. If you let them die, they must die!]
“Shut up!”
Lin Baici roared, enduring the headache, and turned back to shout at the sacred beetles, “Get lost!”
Boom!A circle of spiritual pressure spread out like ripples on the surface of the lake, expanding in all directions.
Flying in the air, the Saint Beetles closest to Lin Baici were all landing on the ground, because they dared not fly in front of the Beetle King.
Those further away from Lin Baici stopped directly in place, including the obsidian Saint Beetle statue.
“Run!”
Lin Baici urged, silently calculating the time in his heart. As soon as twenty seconds passed, he immediately went to take off the golden mask. However, it seemed to have a suction force, sticking tightly to his face, and Lin Baici had a feeling of addiction, wanting to keep wearing it.
Fortunately, Lin Baici was no ordinary person. He was much stronger now, and with his strong willpower, he managed to pull it off.
“Does this thing require a strong willpower?”
Lin Baici had originally thought that each person could wear it for twenty seconds, but now he was a bit hesitant to let ordinary people wear it.
[Yes, but it can be forcibly removed!]
The God of Eating commented.
Boom!
As Lin Baici took off the mask, those obedient Saint Beetles began to go crazy again, surging towards the intruders. The obsidian Saint Beetle statue climbed even faster.
“Hongyao, put it on and make these Saint Beetles retreat. Remember, no more than twenty seconds, you must take it off!”
Lin Baici instructed.
“I’ll do it!”
Fei Xiao reached out his hand. He didn’t rely on his physical strength to run ahead, but had been following the group all along, although he didn’t save anyone.
Mainly because he didn’t know how to save them.
These little bugs didn’t have much killing power, but the trouble was that there were too many of them, and it was difficult to kill them.
“You can wear it for thirty seconds!”
Lin Baici handed the golden mask to Fei Xiao. As the Lion King, his physical and mental strength was stronger, and Lin Baici thought he could hold out for a longer time.
If he couldn’t, Lin Baici would take off the golden mask.
Fei Xiao put on the mask, and indeed, he was affected by mental contamination, but after just three seconds, he came to his senses and loudly ordered the Saint Beetles to retreat.
Wait a minute?
“Can I make these bugs commit suicide?”
Fei Xiao asked, without waiting for Lin Baici’s answer, and began to try.
“All commit suicide!”
Fei Xiao roared.
Boom!
A huge piercing pain attacked Fei Xiao’s brain, almost causing him to drop dead on the spot.
This kind of command could be given, but because it violated the nature of life, there would be a backlash. If it was just a few, it would be fine, but with so many gathered together, the backlash they transmitted in an instant caused great damage to the mind.
This was also because Fei Xiao was so powerful. If it had been Fang Tianhua, he would have become an idiot in an instant.
But the effect was enormous. The closer the bugs were to Fei Xiao, the more seriously they were affected by the “command,” and they directly crashed into the wall.
Because there were too many of them, there was a constant sound of crashing.
Soon, the wall was covered with the bodily fluids left behind by the dead Saint Beetles.
The Saint Beetles on everyone’s bodies also left, going to commit suicide, which made everyone feel lighter and able to run more easily.
“The time is up!”
Lin Baici reminded, looking at Fei Xiao, ready to take off the golden mask at any time.
Fei Xiao’s four fingers clutched the forehead of the mask, as if tearing off a piece of adhesive, and pulled it off his face.
“Oh, this thing is terrifying!”
The pain could be endured, but the key was the addiction.
“Let me do it!”
Xia Hongyao reached out and grabbed the golden mask, without any hesitation, wanting to put it on her face.
“Wait!”
Lin Baici stopped her: “Wait until the bugs come closer before using it!”
A large number of Saint Beetles died, but another large group was summoned by the Saint Beetle statue, surging towards the people who had entered the temple.
When they approached, Xia Hongyao put on the mask, enduring intense pain, and commanded the Saint Beetles to die.
After twenty seconds, Xia Hongyao took off the mask.
“It’s my turn!”
Jin Yingzhen reached out and took the mask.
She didn’t want to be a burden.
Lin Baici did not refuse, as this was also a kind of training: “At most five seconds, give one command, not suicide, but retreat.”
“Okay!”
Jin Yingzhen strictly followed Lin Baici’s instructions. After giving a command, the bugs retreated, giving everyone a few more seconds to escape.
However, after using the golden mask, her face turned pale, obviously suffering more damage than Lin Baici and Xia Hongyao.
“It’s my turn!”
Hua Yueyu was unwilling to be left out and was willing to contribute to the team.
After she finished using it, Gu Qingqiu reached out her hand.
“Are you sure?”
Lin Baici looked at this girl. Although she didn’t look weak, she was definitely not healthy, not as energetic as Goryeo and the female anchor.
“I want to experience it!”
Gu Qingqiu said succinctly.
“Four Wood One”
Fang Tianhua, who had run to the front while a large number of bugs died, ran back.
“Why did you come back?”
Fei Xiao scolded him impatiently.
“I thought you guys were too slow, so I came back to take a look!”Fang Tianhua still has a sense of teamwork, unlike Bian Xiang, who runs ahead, always keeping a distance of nearly a hundred meters from the main force, but he no longer rushes forward.
Because he is worried about running into traps.
When Fang Tianhua finished putting on the mask and drove away the sacred beetles, Gu Qingqiu was about to take over, when suddenly there was a shout from Bian Xiang ahead.
“Come quick, the bugs have stopped!”
Upon hearing this, everyone felt as if they had seen the dawn in the darkness and ran forward frantically.
For ordinary people, a distance of one hundred meters is just a matter of seconds.
When everyone turned a corner and rushed into a corridor, the sacred beetles suddenly braked, as if there was a formidable enemy ahead that made them all stop.
Everyone stumbled and panted as they rushed into the corridor.
“Help me!”
A woman’s legs gave out, and she fell a few meters away from here, crying in fear, but her cries were quickly muffled by the sacred beetles that had crawled into her mouth.
In despair, just as she was resigning herself to her fate, Lin Baici rushed over, grabbed the back of her clothes, and threw her out, then he waved the torch.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The tail flames of the torch made it seem like a fiery dragon was swimming in the dark corridor, igniting the nearby sacred beetles wherever it went.
These bugs flew around in chaos, igniting more bugs like a source of fire.
After Lin Baici finished setting the fire, he immediately retreated.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
The sacred beetles screamed, and the flames quickly spread through the corridor.
“It’s all your fault!”
A young man grabbed Bian Xiang’s collar and roared angrily at him.
His girlfriend had been unlucky and was entangled by the bugs and died during the escape.
Shing!
A flash of light from a knife, and the young man’s right hand was cut off.
“Ah!”
The young man screamed in agony.
“Next time, watch where you put your hands, don’t touch others at will!” Bian Xiang coldly snorted.
Fei Xiao walked over, pushed Bian Xiang hard in the chest, and pinned him against the wall. “If it weren’t for your meddling, we wouldn’t have encountered this trouble!”
“And then?”
Bian Xiang chuckled. “Are you going to kill me?”
“Do you think I won’t dare?”
Fei Xiao’s face twisted in a grimace.
“Heh heh!”
Bian Xiang removed Fei Xiao’s hand, straightened his collar, and said, “In this situation, we can only survive by working together!”
“This guy is so annoying!”
Hua Yueyu grumbled.
“Is there a big boss here? Otherwise, why aren’t those bugs chasing us anymore?”
Gu Qingqiu stared ahead.
“Let’s go take a look and find out.”
Xia Hongyao took the lead.
There’s only one way, no choice.
Soon, everyone passed through a corridor tens of meters long and entered a grand and spacious hall.
The floor of the hall was covered with gold foil, shining brightly, and reflecting the light of the oil lamps on the walls, which was somewhat dazzling.
The ceiling was high and not visible, and the walls around were adorned with all kinds of bizarre relief paintings.
To the north, there was a high platform with thirty-two steps, on which was a golden throne studded with gemstones.
A man wrapped in white bandages, wearing a golden crown, sat on it, holding a black cat in his arms and stroking its back slowly.
All his fingers were adorned with egg-sized gemstone rings.
“You bunch of peasants, why don’t you kneel when you see this king?”
The man spoke.
“Is he the strongest monster in this God’s Ruins?” Gu Qingqiu looked curious, carefully examining this pharaoh.
“Should be!”
Fei Xiao took a deep breath. The third test had also come. If he could win this time, he would definitely be proud. “This guy shouldn’t be a god, right?”
Lin Baici asked in his heart. He hadn’t forgotten what the God of Gluttony said, that this God’s Ruins was contaminated by a god, and it seemed that this pharaoh was just a divine taboo summoned.
[An ancient Egyptian pharaoh, turned into a mummy after death, with tens of thousands of people buried for him, and countless gold and silver treasures.]
[On the murals, his life is depicted, he considers himself a god, but still cannot escape life and death!]
Lin Baici turned his head to look at those murals.
“This is its true form, but killing it won’t be able to lift the curse on you, only destroying the slave portraits on the paintings will work!”
Lin Baici frowned at these words.
“Slaves?”
Various figures of people were carved on those relief paintings, merchants, commoners, warriors, slaves, all of them submitted to the great glory of the pharaoh.
“Captain Lin, Captain Fei, let’s start the fight. There are only seven minutes left. If we can’t kill it, our curse won’t be lifted! Bian Xiang is anxious.”
Fei Xiao looked at Lin Baici, waiting for his command.
“You go up yourself!”
Lin Baici’s tone was not friendly. He hadn’t forgotten that this guy had meddled earlier.He had already said, “Don’t touch it, just walk around,” but this guy insisted on hacking at the statue with his sword, and as a result, he stirred up trouble.
The recent escape was brief, but over twenty people died, and those who remained were in a pitiful state, covered in wounds from insect bites.
“Commander Lin, don’t act rashly and lose sight of the bigger picture!” Bian Xiang advised.
“You’ve been in this temple longer than us and were cursed earlier, so the time until the curse takes effect is even shorter for you!”
Lin Baici chuckled: “If you don’t put in the effort to defeat the boss, then I can only watch you die!”
Bian Xiang’s face changed; he was afraid Lin Baici would notice this point, which is why he had added a few extra minutes when he mentioned the remaining time earlier. He didn’t expect Lin Baici to be so hard to deceive.
“Our time difference is only a few minutes at most. If I can’t kill the boss, do you dare guarantee that you can handle it within a few minutes?” Bian Xiang threatened.
“Right, why not just take down the boss first!”
Fang Tianhua felt that with so many people, they didn’t need to fear Bian Xiang’s tricks.
“Shut up!”
Fei Xiao glared at Fang Tianhua, implying that if you don’t have brains, you should talk less.
“There’s no need for you to worry about this; if we can’t beat it, then so be it, we’ll just die!”
Lin Baici shrugged his shoulders.
Bian Xiang was infuriated and, seeing that he couldn’t persuade Lin Baici, could only turn to Fei Xiao: “He’s being reckless, are you going to be crazy with him?”
“I’ve made it this far because of Lin Da Shen’s great help; I’ll listen to him!”
Throughout their journey, Lin Baici had performed exceptionally well, which made Fei Xiao willing to trust his judgment.
“You…”
Bian Xiang was so angry he could spit blood, his expression instantly turning fierce: “Then I’ll slaughter you first!”
Whoosh!
This statement startled everyone.
“Come and try!”
Lin Baici beckoned with his hand.
Ultimately, Bian Xiang lacked the confidence to wipe out everyone, so he had no choice but to charge at the Pharaoh alone.
Under the pressure of the curse, he had to fight to the death.
“Lowly commoner, how dare you challenge my majesty, die!”
The Pharaoh, holding a black cat, charged at Bian Xiang.
“Everyone, step back, stick to the walls, don’t get dragged in.”
Lin Baici urged the crowd, leading them towards the wall.
In fact, this was just an excuse; his real goal was to find the wall paintings.
The crowd hurriedly followed.
“Are we really just going to stand by and watch?”
Fang Tianhua was worried: “Will there be enough time?”
Fei Xiao also had this doubt.
“These murals should have your bas-reliefs; go find them!”
Lin Baici whispered a reminder.
“Huh?”
Fang Tianhua was stunned, what did he mean?
“You mean…”
Gu Qingqiu was quick to react and very astute. She was worried that Bian Xiang would hear the rest of her sentence, so she didn’t finish: “Let’s go!”
Gu Qingqiu pulled Xia Hongyao along.
“What are we doing?”
Xia Hongyao was still confused.