Not A God

Chapter 111

The sound of the coins falling to the ground drew the attention of the commoners nearby, and almost instantly, a dozen ragged beggars in the street were staring at the bag on the ground with glowing eyes. In this small border town, such a bag of money could have enabled a family to live comfortably for more than a year, so naturally, it attracted the attention of many people. Of course, the people on the street heard what the rich gentleman said when he threw the money, so they knew who the money was for and did not dare to offend the son of a powerful man in the city.

The rich gentleman named Li Zuo was the only son of a famously wealthy family in this small border town, and could not be easily offended by ordinary people. It was said that in recent years, it was the family's turn to preside over the rituals, and if they offended them, they would definitely be caught and sacrificed to the demon clan that would protect the city.

In the Great Tang Dynasty, it was common to offer blood sacrifices to the demons for blessing, and it was even more common in this city, which was close to the border and largely outside the jurisdiction of the Great Tang Dynasty. After all, without the blessing of the demons, the next day the people of the city could be swarmed by the demons roaming the border and devoured. So, every year, many of the small towns made humble offerings of human beings to the demons, and this gradually became an annual ritual.

Every year, ten pairs of boys and girls and a hundred or so young men and women were sacrificed at the festival.

No one complained about this, only endless fear and numbness.

Every time they remembered the horrific scenes of the annual rituals, they were chilled to the bone and became more and more fearful. The centuries of sacrifice had worn down the blood of the people, and only the strongest capitals were able to wage war with the support of the Great Tang Dynasty. But even so, the people are still losing ground, and the formerly prosperous Great Tang is at the end of its tether.

It was thought that in a few decades' time, the people would cease to exist. The number of people being eaten has clearly exceeded the number of births. The population of Tai Tang is so sparse that it is deserted for hundreds of miles, and almost everyone is living from day to day in a state of indifference. So, as much as they wanted the silver ingot, the people in the streets refrained from making a move, only casting envious glances in the direction of the monk. And the moment their eyes touched the young monk, all of them coincidentally froze for a moment, their eyes lingering on the figure dressed in plain white monk's clothes.

Surprisingly, they felt that if there really was a reincarnation of the Buddha in this world, perhaps it would be in this form. That kind of compassionate face, no sadness, no joy, a little vermilion mole on the brow, sword eyebrows and phoenix eyes, lowered eyebrows look like the statue of a god sitting in a temple, the body seems to shine with a brilliant Buddha light, people feel close to it.

Li Zuo, sitting upstairs, was not aware of the thoughts of the people on the street, as he looked down on the bald monk downstairs with contempt. To him, this young monk with six scars on his head and fair skin was clearly not a poor monk used to living in the open. Such an obviously deceitful monk would never let go of this ingot of silver and might immediately kneel down and thank him like a hobgoblin.

He could not wait to see this fake monk reveal his true intentions.

"......"

However, the truth was not what Li Zuo thought.

The image he had expected of the monk picking up the silver and himself raising his eyebrows in front of his fellow students and showing his majesty did not appear; the monk with a bland look just raised his head and looked at the crowd upstairs. Li Zuo stiffened the moment he met those eyes. For some reason, his gaze focused on the monk's dark, lightless pupils, as if he had glimpsed something terrifying hidden beneath this human skin.