Chapter 277: Chapter 239: I’m So Looking Forward to That, Not a Single Thought Arises

"What’s that guy doing? Is he an idiot?"

Despite the immense time pressure, a few people still noticed Yang An’s actions and grew curious.

"He’s probably given up on passing and is just fooling around. Ignore him. We need to hurry. Any slower and we won’t make it."

At this point, even those who noticed Yang An weren’t willing to waste time on him.

Yang An knew this full well, which was precisely why he dared to act this way.

Time ticked by. The duration of a single incense stick was already short, but now, it felt even shorter to everyone. It wasn’t nearly enough time.

Yang An had already passed by hundreds of Golden Buddha Statues, but every one he touched had been a fake.

He changed direction once more to continue his search. This time, he hadn’t gone far before he suddenly stopped.

[True: Image of the One True Dharma Realm]: Crafted by De Hou, Abbot of Yan’an Temple, using the Buddhist Techniques of the Buddhas of the Ten Directions. So realistic it’s indistinguishable from the genuine article. Those without Buddha Nature cannot tell truth from falsehood; those without a Wisdom Root cannot comprehend its Zen mystery.

Cost of Use: Anyone who injects Mana or attacks it will have their ears assaulted by Buddhist hymns, suffer the pain of a violently shaken body and soul, and sustain damage to their mind.

Status: Can be purified!

Staring at the golden statue before him, he realized he had finally found the True Buddha!

The info panel gave no hints. Instead, the thin stick of incense overhead was still burning. Half the time was already gone, with very little left.

This meant they had to wait for the incense stick to burn out completely. Only then would whoever had found the True Buddha Golden Body be declared the winner of the first trial.

And he needed to guard this True Buddha Golden Body until the end, making sure no one else discovered it.

At this thought, Yang An glanced at the few remaining people still tirelessly searching for the True Buddha Golden Body, and the many figures darting past him. A plan began to form.

He reached out and sent a palm strike toward the True Buddha Golden Body. The blow stopped abruptly just before it made contact. His body froze as if imprisoned on the spot, and then he collapsed to the ground.

"How could this be! How could it be a fake! AAAAAH—"

An expression of unbearable agony twisted his features. Veins bulged on his forehead as his body trembled uncontrollably. Copying the others he’d seen, he clutched his head in his hands, letting out agonized wails and screams.

The commotion from Yang An’s spot instantly drew the attention of several people, all of whom stared at him as if he were a complete idiot.

Plenty of people had already demonstrated that attacking a fake Golden Buddha Statue came at a price. Many of them were still on the ground, yet to recover. And this guy still thought he could use that trick to tell the real from the fake.

’How utterly stupid!’

After a brief glance, everyone who noticed Yang An couldn’t help but sneer, writing off the Golden Buddha Statue in front of him as another fake before quickly looking away.

As for Yang An, he was writhing and twisting on the ground, but in his mind, he was thinking, ’Son of a bitch!’

’Bow Lady! Stop biting, stop! Even if you have to bite, can’t you pick another spot? That really hurts...’

He desperately wanted to take his hands off his head and move them to the spot where it actually hurt, but now wasn’t the right time.

To make his act perfectly convincing, he had asked the Bow Lady to give him a bite.

But without a word, the Bow Lady went and chomped down right on his Life Gate.

HISS—

Yang An nearly passed out from the pain right then and there.

He wondered if she had some kind of twisted sense of humor, deliberately biting the one place that would turn him into a eunuch. The pain was beyond description.

Hearing Yang An’s plea, the Bow Lady obediently released her bite, though she couldn’t resist a bit of teasing.

"Tch, what a wuss, you little brat."

"..."

’Damn it! I just can’t bite you back! If I could, I’d make you feel the exact same thing!’

"Hah! I’d love to see you try."

"..."

’What the hell? Give her an inch and she takes a mile.’

Speechless, Yang An decided to stop bickering with her. He continued to feign excruciating pain while secretly surveying the others.

Aside from the half of the participants who were down for the count like him, the rest were still wandering around, trying all sorts of methods without finding a single clue.

A small minority, however, seemed less flustered. It looked as though they had grasped the Zen puzzle and found a True Buddha Golden Body.

Sure enough, just as Yang An had predicted, their reactions quickly drew the attention of others. With the incense stick burning low, people grew desperate and decided to try and seize the statues by force.

Two of them started fighting over one of the discovered True Buddha Golden Bodies, their battle raging around the statue.

Others began to look for their own targets. If they couldn’t find one themselves, they would just steal one someone else had found. They would stop at nothing to enter the Great Virtue Temple.

The incense had burned down to its last fifth. Seeing people start to fight, those who hadn’t found a True Buddha Golden Body joined the fray, and the scene descended into chaos.

Yang An lay on the ground, completely unnoticed. There was no one within a thirty-foot radius of him, and he was happy to enjoy the peace.

Time continued to tick away. As the thin stick of incense overhead was about to burn out completely, more people had collapsed to the ground.

Some had successfully defended their True Buddha Golden Body, others were still fighting desperately, and some fights had yet to produce a clear winner.

If the True Buddha Golden Body wasn’t immovable, someone would have probably slung it over their shoulder and run off with it long ago.