Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 244 Malice
Although there was nothing unusual about what he saw, and even the air smelled of ordinary plants and air freshener, Zhou You still managed to detect that particular smell.

How can I describe it?
It was as if a slaughterhouse and a laboratory had been combined—the smells of blood, fat, viscera, and formaldehyde had blended together, ultimately creating a stench that was both foul and inexplicably sweet.

But where does this smell come from?

Zhou You looked around, but could only see an ordinary living room.

If it's not above, then it is.
However, at that moment, the screams inside the hut suddenly stopped.

After a while.

Han Ruiming walked out with a cold face and his hands covered in blood.

"Is it all done? Did you get any answers?"

Zhou You didn't ask if the thug was still alive—after all, there was little point in asking such a question.

The old man casually tore off a curtain, ignoring the expensive brand logo on it, wiped his hands with it, and then said.

"You've found out. Come with me."

After saying that, the old man ignored Zhou You's reaction and led the way quickly toward a corner of the room.

"—This guy wasn't supposed to have access to such secrets, but one day he sneaked into the house, trying to steal something and make some money, and just happened to run into Xu Xin and the cult leader heading towards the secret room—now we've gotten a good deal."

After explaining, the old man walked through a maze of turns to a door that looked like a storage room or something, and then kicked it open without hesitation.

just.

It was empty inside.

Looking around, you can't see anything. Although it's a storage room, there's not much clutter inside.

There seemed to be nothing unusual.

Zhou You squeezed in first, knocked on the surroundings, and found that everything was solid, with no secret passages or mechanisms.

But the moment you enter, the cloyingly sweet smell intensifies.

so
Zhou You looked down.

The floor is smooth and clean.

But
No dust.

It might not be a problem in other places, but how could a storage room that is left empty for years be completely free of dust?
Han Ruiming also realized this at the same time. He squatted down and tapped the floor little by little, finally pressing down hard on a certain spot.

The floorboards suddenly popped open, revealing a hidden tunnel.

But at the same time, the smell of blood was almost tangible.

This time, without waiting for Han Ruiming to lead the way, Zhou You, disgusted by the smell, jumped down first.

however.

At the moment of landing, what you step on is not bricks, wooden planks, or mud, but a kind of sticky, slippery sensation.

Zhou You frowned, then turned on the flashlight hanging on his body and scanned the surroundings.

It looked like a hastily excavated space, and the workmanship wasn't very good. However, I don't know if it was because the waterproofing wasn't done well or for some other reason, but the entire passage was extremely damp, and there was a lot of slippery and greasy moss on the walls.

And that's not all.

Zhou You picked up Duanxie and scraped it slightly in one spot. Immediately, a layer of dark yellow viscous liquid appeared on the blade—it felt like it was secreted by some kind of creature, and it was everywhere.

—It's a slime-like thing that lives inside the bodies of those believers?

This was the first thought that came to mind, but he immediately shook his head.

—No, those things don't secrete such sticky liquids, and they're highly corrosive, so they couldn't possibly stick to the rocks so smoothly.

But just as he was deep in thought, Duan Xie suddenly experienced a violent tremor. A warning?

No, this is... anger?
—Well, this is a protest.

Zhou You flicked his sword, using his baleful aura to evaporate the slime. After rummaging around for a while, he finally found something that resembled a switch and turned it on.

The light from the incandescent bulb instantly flooded the room, and Zhou You couldn't help but squint at the sudden change in brightness.

But when he opened his eyes again, he was suddenly taken aback.

The first thing that catches the eye is a place that resembles a laboratory or an alchemy room.

Bottles and jars were scattered everywhere, but there were no common experimental instruments to be seen. Instead, there were alchemical furnaces, bronze cauldrons, and some other miscellaneous and unidentifiable objects.

Around the room were a bunch of glass containers of varying sizes. They were probably filled with formalin, but they had turned yellowish, likely due to being left out for too long.

The combination of Chinese and Western elements creates a strangely absurd feeling.

What Zhou You cared about was not this.

He looked up and his eyes met those of something preserved in formalin.

It was a corpse.

The body of a young woman.

She looked to be only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, the prime of her life, but the bright smile that once graced her pretty face was now replaced by an extreme emptiness and terror.

More than that.

The travel itinerary has shifted slightly downwards.

The woman's abdomen bulged slightly.

One corpse, two lives.

Zhou You lowered his eyelids and remained silent for a moment.

Most of the other formalin containers also contained a female corpse. Some were still relatively intact, while others had been completely dismembered, leaving only a pile of mutilated limbs and various internal organs.

Han Ruiming had also arrived beside them at some point. He looked at the corpses as well and sighed softly.

"This is their 'pharmaceutical factory,' where they use human lives as raw materials to concoct their so-called 'Ascension Powder.'"

Before the old man could finish speaking, Zhou You suddenly asked a question.

"Weren't there only four victims in the city's serial murder case? But even counting the bodies here, there are more than four, right? How come there are so many more?"

Han Ruiming grinned, revealing an expression that seemed to be a smile, yet also as if he was suppressing anger.

"I say, Taoist priest, do you know exactly how many people go missing in the country each year?"

".have no idea."

"More than 400,000 people go missing every year, but less than one-tenth of them can be verified. The rest are like a drop of water that has fallen into the ocean; you can't even find a trace of them."

"And a large portion of them end up here or in places similar to this. Not to mention, the cult leader has a considerable network of connections, not only domestically but also involved in human trafficking abroad."

As he spoke, Han Ruiming looked up at the lifeless eyes inside the glass.

“Taoist Zhou, I’ve been tracking this cult leader for so many years, not just to avenge my daughter, but also largely because I hope there will be fewer innocent deaths like this, and fewer families broken up by undeserved calamities. Well, there’s no use talking about this now. Although no one will care now, just in case, let’s finish this before dawn.”

The old man's words returned to normal, but Zhou You noticed that when his gaze left the female corpse, he had already taken the cigarette he had been reluctant to smoke off his ear.

Light it and take a deep breath.

Then, as if venting something, he forcefully vomited it out.

　I'm sorry, I spent half the day rushing to finish the extra chapter I promised. But don't worry, I've prepared plenty of caffeine-rich items, and I'll finish this chapter for you all even if I don't sleep tonight.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)