Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 180 Human Face Flower

Zhou You was talking with Zhengde at the time and did not notice what was happening behind him.

"In short, that's the situation. I was fortunate to have been helped by those Daoist riders who risked their lives, which allowed me to disguise myself and infiltrate Ci'en Temple. Fortunately, those novices who were actually insects had very low intelligence and could only follow pre-arranged instructions. They couldn't distinguish the monks who were already in the temple, which gave me the opportunity to take advantage of them."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You finally nodded.

Now everything was explained. From Zaba's intense, almost manic reaction to Chen's inexplicable actions, it was all basically related to this kind monk.

However, he soon chuckled again.

—I'm only just realizing now that I feel like I've been dragged into this a lot of the time.

Zhou You rubbed his chin, but didn't bring up the matter. Instead, he smiled at Zhengde and said...

"Monk, is your current goal to find your teacher?"

Upon hearing this, Zhengde first bowed—it seemed that all three of them had to bow before speaking—before replying.

"Yes, this is also a commission from the Zen sect. I came to Lizhou this time to find my teacher. It would be best if he were alright, but if he has already passed away... I will take his remains back to Famen Temple of the Zen sect, mold them into a golden statue, and then enshrine them in the Jingguang Zhenmo Relic Pagoda."

Hearing these words, Zhou You suddenly felt puzzled. "It doesn't seem like a big deal, so why is the Tantric sect going to such lengths to hunt you down?"

Who would have thought.

Zhengde also showed a puzzled and bitter smile.

"About this... I don't know much about it either."

He sighed softly and continued.

"At first, I thought it was Senior Brother Liaochen who was behind this—after all, he betrayed our master back then, so he must have thought I came here to seek revenge—but after what happened just now, he doesn't seem to be the mastermind. It seems there's someone else behind it all."

After listening, Zhou You also fell into deep thought.

He suddenly had a vague premonition that the Zhengde line was the key to this script, but the problem was that even the people involved were completely clueless, so it was even less likely that he could find any clues.

There should be a key point that connects them all, but what is it?
However, just as Zhou You was deep in thought, Lu Xiuyuan's voice suddenly interrupted.

"Well, Master Zhou, uh... and Master Zhengde, Lu Ping seems to be acting a bit strange. Could you two please come and take a look as soon as possible?"

What happened?
Zhou You looked up and saw that his cheap apprentice was staring blankly at the flowers and plants by the roadside, and had already leaned over as if he wanted to pick one.

Is he being bewitched?

He frowned and immediately wanted to draw the Broken Evil and use its evil energy to wake Lu Ping up, but before he could do so, Zhengde had already rushed over first.

"Young benefactor, come back quickly! You mustn't touch that thing!"

The monk took three steps in two, pulled Lu Ping away, and before the boy could say anything, he pressed a large handprint on him.

Under the light of the Buddha, Lu Pingfang finally came to his senses. He looked at Zhengde with a face full of bewilderment.

"Monk? What are you doing here? I was just at my hometown in An County. My parents were preparing food for me. Wait a minute, my parents..."

Lupin seemed to realize something and turned his head away.

The wildflowers by the roadside were in full bloom, but what was revealed among them were not stamens, but strange human faces. These faces were pale, distorted, and wore a grotesque smile. They looked at Lu Ping with expectant eyes, and as their roots wriggled, they brought out the stark white bones from the soil.

These things use corpses as nourishment.

At this moment, the mouths of those faces were constantly opening and closing. Although no sound came out, judging from the shape of their mouths, there was only one meaning.

That is: "Come home with me."

Under this silent seduction, Lupin's eyes, which had just recovered, once again fell into confusion.

But just before he could reach out again, Zhengde had already grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back—

Then, in the next second, a flash of silver light had already silently passed by.

In the blink of an eye, a piece of those human face flowers was cut down!
The rest of their faces turned around instantly, their eyes filled with malice as they looked at the culprit.

However, the person simply waved the Demon-Slaying Blade, releasing a burst of malevolent energy, and then coldly said.

"What are you looking at? Or do you want me to trim the weeds again?"

Under the erosion of the sword's aura, several nearby flowers withered and shattered instantly, and the rest, seeing the danger, immediately retreated.

Zhou You snorted coldly, then turned to look at Lu Ping's situation.

Fortunately.

The flowers weren't particularly alluring, and under the monk Zhengde's care, Lu Ping quickly regained full consciousness. However, Zhengde still seemed uneasy and checked him over and over again for a long time. He even took a small piece from the Arhat relic and fed it to Lu Ping before finally handing it over to Lu Xiuyuan with a sigh of relief.

Then he looked up and apologized to Zhou You.

"...I'm so sorry, benefactor. I thought the protection of the Heavenly Gods would be enough to handle the situation in the Underworld. I didn't expect the child's mind to be so immature, and he was actually bewitched by this Manjusaka flower. This was a miscalculation on my part, and I am truly sorry."

Zhou You also checked Lu Ping over and, seeing that he was alright, let Lu Xiuyuan take him to the center of the group to rest. He originally wanted to reassure Zhengde, but when he heard the last sentence, Zhou You suddenly paused.

"Red spider lily? Hell flower? I don't remember it looking like this, right?"

Zhengde replied with a sigh, his hands clasped together.

“What you say is true. This flower was originally the protector of this path to the underworld. Because it is as red as fire, when it blooms, the entire path seems to be on fire, so this place is also called the Path of Fire. It’s just a pity that after the gods of the underworld were corrupted, this flower became deformed and mutated, and became what it is now.”

Pollution again?

This was the umpteenth time Zhou You had heard this word. Looking at Zhengde's sincere and earnest face, he thought for a moment and finally slowly uttered the question.

"Monk, can you tell me what's going on with this pollution?"

This time it was Zhengde's turn to be taken aback. He scratched his bare bald head and then said.

“That’s no problem. But isn’t Benefactor Zhou a Taoist priest who has been ordained? How come you don’t even know this?”

Even so, he didn't intend to pursue the matter further. Instead, after organizing his thoughts, he slowly began to speak.

"This pollution is quite simple to explain—you should know, Benefactor Zhou, right? Nowadays, many of the methods practiced in the world are evil, and the reason for this is the invasion of extraterrestrial demons in the past."

(End of this chapter)