Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 198 Putting the blame on
"—What? I did it???"

The pale-faced scholar pointed at himself, his face full of disbelief.

Right in front of him, a bearded supporter replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Please don't say that. When did we ever say for sure that you did it? We only said 90% certainty, 90% certainty, understand?"

The pale-faced scholar slapped his thigh and said angrily.

"Isn't that talking about me?!"

It was midday.

Everyone in the village gathered in front of the body of the bearded man, Zhang Yuan, the mountain lord.

The remains were found that morning—but not in the forest where the incident originally occurred, but in a narrow valley not far from the village.

No one knows what method the rider used, but he managed to move that corpse, weighing over ten tons, from the woods at the first crime scene to a ravine on the other side.

And what's even more outrageous is...
Zhou You wore the same unpleasant expression as everyone around him, then glanced sideways.

The wild boar's hide originally had many traces of smoke and fire—mostly caused by those talismans—but now there were no traces of them, replaced by small scratches.

Even Zhou You, who wasn't proficient in hidden weapons, could tell that these injuries were caused by poisoned darts. Not to mention that the enormous pig's face was bluish-purple, clearly indicating severe poisoning.

...At this time and place, there is only one person who is skilled in using hidden weapons and is also proficient in poisons.

A pale-faced scholar, a handsome young man.

Everyone on the bearded man's side turned their heads and glared at the scholar with vicious eyes, their faces so fierce they were practically ready to draw their knives and attack.

But before they could take action, Cai Yuankui stepped in as a peacemaker.

"Everyone, calm down, calm down. The murderer is still unknown, so no one can be sure it's definitely Yu Langjun, right?"

Seeing that someone had finally stood up for him, the pale-faced scholar nodded quickly—but he soon frowned deeply.

Wait a minute, something doesn't quite feel right coming from that.
But before he could react, the plump and chubby Cai Yuanwai, with a friendly smile, continued speaking to the people around him.

“I’m saying we’re all working together under the Buddha’s name, so let’s not make things so tense. We need to get to the bottom of things first—by the way, Master Benshan, have you found out what happened?”

Upon hearing this, a bald man, covered in blood, emerged from the corpse.

"Bah, a bunch of filthy scum! I had to trouble you to do the autopsy. Now we've basically figured everything out. All the blood vessels in this pig's body were completely corroded, clearly indicating he was poisoned. The final cause of death was severe damage to his heart and brain... I think this guy was lured out first, then poisoned, which reduced his abilities by seventy percent. In the end, he was dragged around until he was exhausted, which led to the heart and brain being punctured, causing his death."

Now everyone's eyes were on the pale-faced scholar.

The pale-faced scholar immediately became anxious.

"Why are you looking at me! I didn't do it!"

Someone in the crowd said coldly.

"The clues are so clear. If you didn't do it, then who did? Besides, among all the people here, you're the only one who has a grudge against the Mountain Lord."

"I'm not the only one who has a grudge against that dead pig!" the pale-faced scholar roared. "Who among you dares to say you haven't complained about it? Besides, I wasn't the only one who clashed with it yesterday; that new monk—"

In an instant, all sounds fell silent.

Zhou You maintained his spectator-like expression, raising an eyebrow.

"Speak up, why did you stop talking?" The pale-faced scholar was speechless.

However, soon after, Ben Shan, covered in blood, jumped out on behalf of someone and reprimanded them.

"What the hell are you talking about! Is the master the kind of person who would resort to underhanded tactics? I live right next door to the master. I heard his lights on all night last night and his chanting went on until midnight. I heard it all myself. How could he possibly lay a hand on this wild boar?"

Zhou You glanced at Ben Shan again, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

—No, you slept like a log right after 9 PM last night, snoring loudly. I checked before I left. Was that the chanting you heard in your dream?
He didn't expose her, but continued to look at the pale-faced scholar with that faint smile.

"You mean I... I killed this person?"

The white-faced scholar bit his lip tightly, refusing to speak.

If it were just Zhou You alone, he wouldn't be afraid, but the problem is that this guy has the entire Tantric sect standing behind him—a behemoth that occupies the entire Lizhou and even enters and exits the imperial court. Even if he had the greatest courage, he wouldn't dare to provoke such an existence.

But heavens have mercy, it really wasn't him who killed the person!

The pale-faced scholar was speechless. If he were to return to his childhood classroom, he could surely write eighty different ways of saying "unable to defend himself"—but the problem was that it was useless now, as all the evidence pointed to him.

Wait a minute, could it be that I really killed this mountain lord while sleepwalking?

Just when even the pale-faced scholar himself began to doubt himself, Cai Yuankui said something seemingly out of kindness.

"Wait, even so, it doesn't prove that he really killed him. By the way, Yu Langjun, do you have any alibis like Master Songyang last night?"

Upon hearing this, the pale-faced scholar's expression turned even more unpleasant.

Previously, to prevent accidents, everyone was prohibited from leaving their homes after 7 PM. Now, where is he supposed to find an alibi?
Seeing that he remained silent, even the Soft Bone Ghost who had stood by him this time couldn't help but keep his distance.

Seeing that he was about to be abandoned by everyone, the pale-faced scholar finally spoke up in anger.

"Don't go too far! If it gets really bad, I'll just leave and we can split the bill."

however.

The last word, "scatter," seemed stuck in his mouth; he mumbled it several times but never actually said it.

Apart from the peacemaker Cai Yuankui, who among them hadn't fought their way here? In order to get here, they had taken at least a hundred lives on their own hands. Why should they give up for something so trivial?
The pale-faced scholar gritted his teeth and finally said.

"If things really don't work out, I'm quitting. I'll go it alone. Do whatever you want. I'm just leaving it at that—I definitely didn't kill anyone!"

However, just as he was about to withdraw and the wild boar followers were trying to stop him, a soft cough rang out.

"I believe that this was not done by Yu Langjun."

To everyone's surprise, it was Zhou You who spoke.

Zhou You, who had just been criticized by the pale-faced scholar.

Yu Langjun almost burst into tears when he calculated the situation.

Monk... no, venerable monk, you are such a kind person!
However, the next sentence someone uttered was even more chilling.

"—And to be honest, I don't care who did it."

(End of this chapter)