Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 218 First Line

A month??? By then, even the best opportunities would have been completely wasted!

In a fit of anger, Zhou You tried to stand up, but he touched his wound and sat back down, wincing in pain.

So he could only grit his teeth and say it.

“I don’t know about those two Buddhist temples, but Longhu Mountain isn’t far from Lizhou, how could it possibly take a month to travel there—don’t tell me that Master Zhang is disabled—even if he were disabled, he could have crawled over there in a month!”

Cai Yuankui's face was contorted with bitterness, like the taste of bitter herbs. He sat down to the side and sighed.

"Actually, it's quite simple. It's just that the Empress Dowager is blocking it. She feels that if a purge begins now, given how much she supported Tantric Buddhism before, it would be a loss of face for her."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You looked completely stunned.

"No way, the entire Lizhou—no, even half of Han territory—is almost wiped out, and she still cares about her reputation?"

Cai Yuankui said helplessly.

"It's just Zhengde's speculation that the problem could extend beyond Lizhou. Besides, the Empress Dowager herself isn't from Han China. If things really escalate, she can simply pack up her things and run away to her tribe. No one can stop her."

"Where are all the ministers in the court? Are they all useless, just watching her mess around like this?"

As a result, Cai Yuankui simply spread his hands.

"There's no way around it. The Empress Dowager now holds the Imperial Seal that controls the fate of the nation. Even if the officials in the court wanted to force her to abdicate, they couldn't. Impeaching her would take at least twenty days, otherwise it wouldn't have taken a month for them to get support."

Who would have expected.

Hearing this utter nonsense, Zhou You, contrary to his previous calm, immediately cursed.

"That bastard can't do anything right—"

But before he could finish speaking, he suddenly started coughing violently.

Cai Yuankui wanted to go up and help him up, but Zhou You just waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to.

"Old Cai, where's your wine gourd? Can I borrow it for a couple of sips?"

"Master Zhou, you know this thing is a method for emergencies, you..."

"It's alright, let me have a couple of sips first."

Cai Yuankui hesitated for a moment, but still threw the wine gourd over.

Zhou You took the bottle, uncorked it, but did not drink it directly. Instead, as before, he forced out the last bit of bloodthirsty energy from Duanxie and mixed it into the wine before drinking it down in one gulp.

The fiery liquor flowed down my throat, and in that instant, it felt as if my entire internal organs were immersed in it, and my whole body felt a burning sensation—but at least the pain and discomfort were suppressed.

Zhou You tossed the wine gourd back, coughed a few times, and then said.

"What do you plan to do after that?"

Cai Yuankui gently shook his head.

"Master, I know what you're thinking, but that thing is beyond our ability to handle. So I plan to notify the state government first and have them evacuate as many civilians as possible from the state."

Zhou You said coldly.

"The government? Lizhou is indeed a small island, but it still has hundreds of thousands of people. At this rate, how many people can the state evacuate? Tens of thousands? Or only a few thousand?"

Cai Yuankui's expression was also very grave.

"We can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. We'll evacuate as much as we can now."

However, at that moment, a weak voice suddenly came.

"Excuse me, esteemed gentlemen, may I have a word to say?"

Both of them turned to look.

Who would have thought that if he hadn't looked, he would have been fine, but once he did, Cai Yuankui immediately panicked. He saw the chubby body hurriedly stand up from the bed and then run over to him.

"Hey, Monk Zhengde, didn't I tell you to go and rest quietly? Why did you come here?"

Zhengde?

Zhou You raised his head and saw only a boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a delicate and youthful face, who looked at most a year or two older than Lu Ping, who was supporting him.
……

Wait a moment.

Lupin?!

Like Cai Yuankui, Zhou You also jumped out of bed. Ignoring the constant stinging pain in his body, he grabbed his apprentice by the collar and lifted him up.

"Holy crap, what are you doing here?! Didn't I tell you before that you and your uncle should get out of this godforsaken place, Lizhou, and run as far away as possible?! Why did you come back here again?!"

Lu Ping's face flushed red. It took a lot of effort for him to break free from Zhou You's grasp, and then he said in a low voice.

“Master, I was worried you were outnumbered and wanted to help you, so I sneaked back while Uncle and the others weren’t looking. But don’t worry, I left a letter for Uncle before I left, and he listens to you very much. He knows the situation is dangerous and we must protect the others first, so even if he’s frantic, he won’t come back.”

I'm at ease?
Zhou You felt a surge of adrenaline rush to his head and immediately raised the scabbard of the Broken Evil Sword.

I don't trust you at all!

—I'm going to beat you to death today, you little bastard!—
After a period of commotion.

Zhou You leaned against the bed, panting, feeling utterly exhausted.

—How come I didn't know raising children was so damn troublesome?

—Also, I really misunderstood Lu Xiuyuan before. He was just a bit long-winded. I've tolerated him for so many years and haven't even killed this brat. That's really showing a lot of self-control.

Lu Ping covered his head and hid behind Cai Yuankui, but the situation was urgent, and Zhou You was too lazy to argue with the kid anymore. So he turned around and said seriously to Zhengde.

"Master Zhengde, what were you trying to say just now?"

The monk, who now looked like a young man, stood up and, as always, bowed respectfully.

"I am sorry to inform you, Daoist. I overheard your conversation. Although the imperial court has sent over a few helpers, a month is still far too long. Even in the slowest-case scenario, the Longhua Dharma Assembly will be held at least in its second session—by then, at least the entire Lizhou will have fallen."

Cai Yuankui looked at Zhengde's calm face and wanted to stop him, but in the end he had no choice but to sit down with a thud.

“Monk, what do you suggest we do? We only have this many people together right now. The Taoist priest is seriously injured, and you are about to finish using up the relic. All the Taoist cavalry in Lizhou are here. Although I can mobilize some garrison troops, they are still a drop in the ocean compared to the monsters in Shuanghe City. So what do you suggest we do?”

Zhengde said calmly and as usual.

“Don’t worry, Benefactor Cai. We don’t need to deal with the entire Shuanghe City. The source of the entire Longhua Dharma Assembly is now only my master. We just need to find a way to get to him and kill him.”

Cai Yuankui was taken aback upon hearing this, then revealed an even more exaggerated smile.

“I say, monk, now that Maitreya has taken over the temple, the Dharma Realm is probably inside his belly. We can’t even get through now, so why are you going to kill your master?”

No, there is still a way.

Faced with Cai Yuankui's words, Zhengde simply lowered his head and then pulled something out from behind him.

(End of this chapter)