Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 287 Rumors (Thanks to JMxamal for the extra chapter)
Seeing Zhou You's eager expression, the stall owner kindly advised against it.

"I say, Master, you may have some skill, but I must tell you, that faceless female ghost, though not particularly harmful, brings bad luck to anyone who gets attached to her. Several monks and Taoists in this city have already suffered greatly. If you..."

But before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a sway around him.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination because he was too tired, but when he looked closely, he found that the bowls and chopsticks on the table were floating, and then he realized what had happened.

As screams erupted from the surrounding customers, the stall owner deftly scrambled onto the table and then shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone, lie down right now! It's a ground dragon!!"

After a while, the stall owner finally crawled out from under the table, trembling.

Looking around, her already pale face paled even more.

Not only was the soup spilled all over the floor, but many bowls were also broken—which, in this day and age, would be considered valuable property for an average street vendor—but what's worse, many of the customers ran away during the chaos.

"A bunch of damned misers! You're even trying to renege on the bill for a bowl of dumplings?"

The boss stood up, on the verge of tears, but suddenly bumped his head on the table, and several square objects fell to the ground.

Reaching out to pick it up, I realized it was a substantial amount of large coins.

As for the Taoist priest who was eating at this table, he had already disappeared without a trace.

-

Sunset.

The intersection of Wangjiapu on the east side of the city.

Xu Jin walked heavily back onto the familiar dirt road.

At this time of year, his wife would have been waiting for him at the village entrance with their daughter. Bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, she would take the tools from his hands, complaining about how late he was coming home, while chatting about the everyday matters of the village.

As for her daughter, she was like a sparrow, constantly chirping around him. She was all grown up, yet she still acted like a noisy child. He would only give her a few mild scoldings, then secretly ponder how much dowry he had saved for her and where he could find a good husband.
But now, all of that is gone.

The village entrance was deserted, not a single person in sight. And when you entered the village, there were no more friendly greetings as usual.

—Only those furtive glances from the shadows, and those uneasy, even malicious, whispers.

Xu Jin walked all the way home under the chilling gazes, and only when he saw the familiar dilapidated door did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

I knocked on the door, but received no response.

Xu Jin sighed deeply and continued.

"It's me, I'm back."

After a while, the latch was finally opened.

With the creaking of the heavy wooden door, a terrified face appeared before them.

Looking at his swollen eyes, he could only shake his head and go inside.

The door latch behind them was pulled up again, and even a heavy object was used to hold it in place, as if they were afraid that something outside would break in—or that something inside would crawl out.

The room was damp and dark, and it seemed that no fire had been lit and no food had been prepared—but Xu Jin had long since taken this for granted. He simply found a coarse grain cake and ate it idly with the cold water from the water vat next to him.

After a while, his wife finally came into the room. Ignoring Xu Jin, she sat listlessly on the bed, staring at the rafters for a long time before finally noticing someone beside her and greeting him, "Old Xu, you're back?"

Xu Jin ate his pancake in silence, only replying with a simple "Mm".

His wife didn't seem to care, but kept rambling on, "I saw Xuan'er again today. She was standing by the bed, calling out 'Mother' in her clear voice. I feel like she hasn't left this room and is still thinking about us."

Looking at that sleepwalking face, Xu Jin felt an increasing bitterness even though the pancake wasn't moldy.

His wife wasn't like this this year; she only became somewhat half-mad and half-stupid after her daughter died, and she was often mad and rarely lucid.

So, our family was living peacefully, without bothering or offending anyone, how did things turn out like this?
After nagging for a while, the woman seemed to finally come to her senses. She opened her eyes and looked Xu Jin up and down for a moment, then suddenly said something.

"Hey Lao Xu, weren't you going into town today? What are you doing here?"

Xu Jin swallowed the last bit of the pancake and then replied.

"It's nothing. Since my house is haunted, I went to find Yan Da Nao to see if I could ask him to help me contact the shaman he knows."

"Haunted?" The woman tilted her head, thinking for a long time, seemingly unable to recall how her house could be haunted, but she still said, "That's no small matter. So, have you found it?"

"No, that shaman died of illness a while ago. I always felt that Yan Da Nao was hiding something from me, but I couldn't say anything to him, so after arguing, I came back. By the way, have you eaten?"

Seeing his wife slowly shake her head, Xu Jin's wrinkles deepened. He straightened his back, stood up with great difficulty, and then said.

"That's settled then. I'll go cook some porridge for you. There should still be some rice left at home. Aunt Sun, who runs the inn, took pity on us and brought us a lot of taro. If we mix them together, we should be able to cook a meal."

His wife just stared at him blankly. Seeing this, Xu Jin could only sigh and head towards the kitchen.

However, at that moment, a knock sounded on the door.

It's already this late, who is it?

Xu Jin shuffled slowly to the door, but instead of making a sound, he bent down and peered out through the crack.

Fortunately, it wasn't one of those villagers who viewed them as bad luck and made a fuss about making them move away. Although it was dark and they couldn't see his face clearly, he was probably just a young man wearing a long robe and with short hair.

The problem is that Xu Jin is certain he doesn't know the other person.

After hesitating for a moment, he slowly spoke.

"Excuse me, young man, whatever your reason for coming here, it's already night, and this place isn't very safe. If you need anything, please come back tomorrow."

But the man did not move.

Just as Xu Jin was beginning to hesitate about whether he should shout to summon the village guards, the young man suddenly spoke with a smile.

The voice wasn't particularly pleasant, but for some reason, it felt like a gentle spring breeze, making one want to believe it.

"Sir, I apologize for disturbing you in the middle of the night. Don't be afraid, I mean no harm. I just heard from other places that your house is haunted."

"Look how coincidental this is! I'm a wandering Taoist priest, and I love meddling in other people's business. So I thought I'd come to your house, old man, and get rid of this ghost while I'm at it."

　After I get back, I'll rush to finish the extra chapter for the thanks. Two chapters today as usual.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)