Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 253 Coming and Going
The beautiful head fell in the blink of an eye, still bearing an expression of disbelief as it rolled to the ground.

Zhou You didn't have any other reaction.

This woman was genuinely begging for mercy and genuinely remorseful.

But then a problem arises.

If remorse were useful, what would be the point of laws?
He vividly remembered the 'specimens' he had seen underground, as well as the commendation ceremony he had just attended.

Among those who died, among those innocent women who were made into medicine, how many were trafficked by this woman?

It's her business to repent; our job is simply to have her go and confess to the victim in person.

Having perfectly justified his actions with a flawless theory, Zhou You completely forgot about the woman. He then looked up and glanced at the villa.

But then he frowned slightly.

Something's not right.

The villa was brightly lit and seemed perfectly normal, but there was a problem.
—It's too quiet here.

Forget about the noise from those cult gatherings; right now, there wasn't even a single security guard patrolling. Only the searchlights were casting a cold, piercing light.

Is it a trap, or...
Zhou Yousi hesitated for a few seconds, but still carried his sword and slowly walked into the manor.

However, nothing was found.

The surroundings were completely silent, as if no one existed at all.

just.

Zhou You took a few steps and glanced at the dining table in the hall.

The tea was still warm, and the food had only been touched a few times, indicating that someone had a meal here earlier.

I gently touched the seat cushion with the back of my hand, and I could even feel the remaining dents.

The people here probably haven't left yet, or they haven't been gone long.

But the question is, where did they all go?

Unfortunately, this kind of detective work and clue-finding method was Han Ruiming's forte, not to mention that Zhou You didn't have the time to search bit by bit—so after thinking it over, he decided to use a clumsy method.

And then, in the next moment...

The malevolent energy within the demon suddenly erupted!

Although it wasn't liberation, in the blink of an eye, a thin layer of malevolent energy had already spread to every corner of the manor, and then, with a flick of Zhou You's finger, it began to seep into the ground on its own.

Most of them went into the foundation and soil and rocks, but some of them suddenly sank down and even started to burn fiercely as if they had encountered oil in a flame!
Zhou You strode forward, only to find a plain, unadorned ground before his eyes.

Without hesitation, he immediately unleashed the Demon Slayer. Under the explosion of malevolent energy, bricks and clods of earth shattered layer by layer—revealing a pitch-black passage.

A thick, almost tangible smell of blood began to permeate the air, accompanied by a strange, unsettling sensation.

"Gods... no, more like those wicked gods found in licentious and perverse rituals."

Zhou You unleashed a wisp of malevolent energy, but it vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

But since things had come to this point, there was no turning back. He threw a stone, used the echo to quickly gauge the distance, then pinched his nose and jumped down.

After a few jumps, the familiar sticky, slippery feeling came from under my feet again.

It's the same as what I saw at Xu Xin's house before.

There were no lighting facilities around, but the entire passageway was covered with a layer of hazy light moss, and the light emitted was not strong, but it was enough for Zhou You.

—And looking around, all that could be seen was that extremely slippery slime, so much of it that it had piled up in many places into small puddles, and something seemed to be trembling in them.

The longsword lifted it up, revealing a head that had been half-eaten.

Judging from the black mask, he must be an invited guest. His mouth was still opening and closing, and even his eye was constantly rolling around.

Even in this state, he is still alive.

Living in pain and despair.

Zhou You shook his head, and the evil energy in the Broken Evil Cave was released, giving it a release. Then he walked deeper into the cave.
-
About thirty minutes later, the road finally came to an end.

Suddenly, the view opened up before me.

The moonlight shone down from the sky once more, illuminating the surrounding view.

—In the blink of an eye, it's a forest again.

No one knows how the cult leader managed to do it, but he actually managed to carve through half of the mountain, directly connecting the manor to this hidden valley.

only.
"—This really stinks."

Zhou You pinched his nose and raised his head.

The land had lost its original color, and the human tissues were as if they had been ground by a stone mill into the finest minced meat paste, which, together with the mucus, covered the ground in a layer that looked like a red and white carpet with dozens of faces floating on it—just like the ones seen in the passageway.

These people are all alive.

At the edge of the field of vision stood a pure white altar.

There were only three people visible above. Zhou You recognized two of them. One was Han Ruiming, who was curled up in a corner, his body mangled and his fate unknown. The other was Xu Xin, still wearing the same clothes, bowing her head in worship on the altar, her whole body trembling like a leaf, but her face full of love.

As for the last one...
By process of elimination, it should be that cult leader—to be honest, this is the first time Zhou You has ever met him.

This person didn't look as vicious as the old man described, nor as handsome and dashing as Xu Xin described in her diary. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary young man with gold-rimmed glasses and a refined demeanor. He seemed more like a recent college graduate than a cult leader.

The only unusual thing is that, according to the old man, this person is at least fifty or sixty years old, but judging from the current situation, he is about twenty-three or twenty-four years old.

Zhou You stood on the carpet of flesh and blood, not rushing forward, but first looking at the old man—finding that he was still breathing—before looking at the altar.

As he expected, this was a ritual to invoke God, but the problem is...
This is way too rudimentary, isn't it?

Previously, during his time in the dungeon, he had witnessed the summoning of deities three times in total. The first time was when the auspicious and wondrous Ghost Mother Bodhisattva was summoned. On that occasion, Liu Shang sacrificed his entire family and conspired with the Ghost Granny to break the Bodhisattva from her seal. The second time was when Tai Sui invited the Yellow Heaven True Saint Emperor. On that occasion, thousands of starving people were buried in the ground, and a pile of demonic flesh and blood was used as a sacrifice. As for the old monk at the time of Buddha's Heart...
Needless to say, this one was so special that the entire Tantric sect and all the people of Shuanghe City were crammed into his house before Maitreya's Dharma body could be invited to preach.

But this guy
"—No, this guy isn't trying to summon the gods with this little bit of flesh and blood, is he?"

Zhou You looked up at the cult leader, while the cult leader looked down at Zhou You.

A slight smirk appeared on his lips, and a maniacal smile shone through his bloodshot eyes.

When he spoke, he only said one sentence.

"—You're late."

Zhou You didn't reply. He simply tossed away the mask that was no longer needed, then leaned on his sword and surveyed the area around the altar.

It's not that he was bored and wanted to wait for the other side to finish the cutscene, but rather...
The old man was still lying at the man's feet. He had to find a good way to break in and rescue him before the man killed him.

However, his actions led the cult leader to misunderstand something. The man grinned and muttered under his breath, "You are indeed late, far too late... Although the final offering is missing, quantity makes up for it. The ritual is now complete, and the immortals are about to descend upon the world to guide all people to the heavenly kingdom. Xia Mo will also be resurrected soon. After all these years, I will finally see her."

This guy is so noisy, just like a fly.

—And why does this name sound so familiar?

Zhou You finally withdrew his gaze, and then suddenly spoke to the cult leader.

"Is this the fiancée you're talking about, the one who died in the mountains when you were part of a research team?"

Upon hearing this, the cult leader was suddenly taken aback.

"How do you know it's true? It must have been that old dog who told you."

But before he could finish speaking, Xu Xin, who was standing to the side, finally couldn't help but speak up to remind him.

"Master, this fellow is exceptionally skilled. Why waste your breath arguing with him? Just kill him first."

However, before she could finish speaking, the cult leader Zheng suddenly flew into a rage for some reason and slapped her hard across the face, so hard that he knocked Xu Xin to the ground.

"Shut up, you whore who's been ridden by a thousand men and ten thousand men, do you even have a place to speak here!"

After finishing his reprimand, he turned his head, took a couple of breaths to calm himself down, and then slowly continued speaking.

"That's right, it's no harm in telling you now. Everything I've done... was to resurrect my fiancée."

The cult leader's gaze gradually became lost in thought, as if he were reminiscing about something.

"Back then, our group went to the Mangshan Mountains for a geological survey. Because of our mentor's stubbornness and the incompetent guide, the entire team got lost in the forest. Xia Mo was the last to die. Just when I thought I was going to die too, I suddenly encountered a deity deep in the forest. He promised me that if I helped him spread his teachings, he would revive Xia Mo and even grant me immortality."

Zhou You just watched this person go crazy and spout some long-winded nonsense, and then suddenly interrupted.

"It sounds like you're quite deeply in love. But as far as I know, there's another version of this story. Would you like to hear it?"

".What do you mean."

Zhou You didn't pay much attention to the cult leader's reaction. He just coughed a few times and then smiled.

"Well, I'm just repeating what I've heard. Just take it with a grain of salt and don't take it seriously. According to what I saw in a case file, the professor was an extremely professional, and the guide had been leading the way for decades. There was no way they could have made a mistake. It's just that there was a young man in the group—well, I'm not talking about you, don't mind him—who thought he was being clever and insisted on leading the group into a ravine. As a result, the whole group got stuck there."

Seeing the cult leader's face suddenly turn ugly, Zhou You's smile grew even brighter.

“Even now, it would be difficult to carry out a rescue under these circumstances, let alone back then. But the young man wanted to live, so he had no choice but to eat people. At first, it was his guide and mentor who didn't get along with him, then several of his classmates, and finally he couldn't resist targeting his girlfriend.”

"Shut up!"

A furious rebuke.

The cult leader stared intently at Zhou You, his eyes suddenly turning bloodshot.

"What evidence do you have, and where did you get this information from?!"

Zhou You remained as calm and composed as ever.

"Actually, it's nothing much. The evidence comes from the wreckage brought out by the rescue team. Everyone in the team showed signs of being eaten, and the tooth marks matched those of the young man who had gone insane at the time. As for how I know these old stories..."

Zhou You glanced sideways at Xu Xin, whose face was now filled with fear.

Why don't you ask her first?

The cult leader was stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly realized what was happening. He turned around abruptly, his eyes filled with shame and anger at being exposed.

"Are you investigating me?"

Xu Xin knelt down with a thud, crying and begging for mercy.

"Master, I'm only thinking of you. It's fine for you to worship gods, but resurrecting that woman was clearly a deception."

However, by this point, Zhou You had already lost interest in watching this melodramatic soap opera.

At this moment, both of them shifted their attention away.

so
He's wasted so much time talking; if he doesn't take action now, when will he?

Zhou You lightly touched the mud with his toes, and the sound of flesh being trampled could be heard before his figure flashed past.

When he looked again, he was less than a few meters away from the altar!

At this moment, the cult leader finally reacted. He raised his hand, and seven or eight deformed lords suddenly materialized from the flesh and blood—but these guys couldn't even touch the hem of Zhou You's clothes. They could only watch helplessly as he jumped onto the stage and picked up the old man.

But in the next moment.

As if they had been lying in wait for a long time, the flesh and blood below the stage suddenly erupted!

However—the person was nowhere to be seen.

In a few leaps, Zhou You had retreated seven or eight meters away. Before the flesh and blood could fall back down, he quickly took out the wine gourd, pried open the old man's mouth, and poured a few mouthfuls down his throat.

—A violent cough.

Stimulated by the alcohol, Han Ruiming finally sobered up. He opened his blood-covered eyes and the first thing he saw was Zhou You's face, which always had a smirk on his face.

Then, the old man grabbed Zhou You and roared with all his might.

"Kid, what are you doing here? Wait, the plan has failed! I didn't expect the ceremony to start several hours early. Put me down now and run, it's not too late!"

Zhou You didn't care at all. He gently patted the old man's back to help him catch his breath before speaking.

"No, old man, if I run away, what will happen to your daughter's revenge?"

Han Ruiming immediately became anxious.

"The man's about to die, what's the point of revenge? Run! I'm the one who dragged you down this time—no matter how good your swordsmanship is, you're just an ordinary person. How could you possibly defeat a true god?"

However, in his eyes, Zhou You simply raised his sword and then laughed.

"If it were truly a deity of the level of Maitreya Ghost Mother, I would absolutely take you, old man, and run as far away as possible without saying a word, but this one..."

Zhou You thought about the victims he had seen before, then about his own roommate who was being targeted, and shook his head.

The Jing Shen Bait Song Technique was naturally activated as he sensed the underground attack he had just launched.

—It possesses divinity, but only a tiny bit.

"It's just a wild god from some remote mountain forest. You can stay there and watch it while I wait."

"Just cut it down."

　I've tried to shorten the plot as much as possible. The cult arc will be finished tomorrow. I apologize profusely.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)