Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 298 Beauty
"—You mean to say that this well-regarded Prefect Song, who is hailed by the people as an upright and just official, has actually long been a member of the Thick Earth Cult and is the mastermind behind all these skinning cases?"

Half an hour later, Tao Le'an had basically told everything he needed to. The woman who called herself Bailu was leaning against the bedpost, speaking lazily.

It has to be said that this woman is simply born with a seductive charm. Even if she does nothing, just sitting there, she can involuntarily stir a man's heartstrings.

However, neither of the two men present were ordinary people.

Zhou You possesses the bloodline of a guardian dragon. Although he has never practiced Buddhism, he can achieve an effect similar to the 'White Bone Contemplation' when he calms his mind, making the beauty appear to him as if he were looking at a red-faced skeleton.

As for Tao Le'an, for this extremely lazy person, even if a stunningly beautiful woman were placed naked in front of him, he wouldn't bother to look at her. Rather than wasting his energy doing things with a beauty, he would rather take a nap.

So Tao Le'an just lay on the table and answered weakly.

"Yes, yes."

The egret knew what kind of person Tao Le'an was, so it wasn't very angry.

"It's truly unexpected. This Prefect Song has done a lot of good for Songzhou over the years, and he was even one of the few who dared to outwardly comply with the Prince's wishes but inwardly defy him. I never imagined he would be like this behind the scenes."

She sighed, then continued.

"Then what use is it for you to come to me? Our entire group was basically wiped out by the prince. I only survived because of my identity. How could I possibly offer you any help?"

Tao Le'an was silent for a moment, then answered.

"It's not about helping, but I just hope you can provide a beautiful woman here so we can use her as bait to get closer to that Prefect Song."

The egret's head gradually drooped.

“If you had said that a few days ago, it would have been fine, but now most of us have withdrawn from Songzhou. I only have one servant under my command, and I can’t send anyone out.”

Zhou You suddenly interrupted at this moment.

"I'm telling you, we've already caused such a huge commotion, do you think Prefect Song would commit another crime so soon? Isn't he afraid of being exposed?"

Tao Le'an sighed helplessly upon hearing this.

“Master, that Prefect Song has long been deeply rooted in evil and cannot live without such behavior. Moreover, we just burned his collection. In order not to go crazy, he can only start collecting human skins from scratch again. Judging by the time, it should be about time now.”

Okay, you're right.

Zhou You immediately shut up.

Seeing that someone had stopped speaking, Tao Le'an turned to ask Bai Lu.

"Then, can you..."

The egret suddenly laughed, its smile seemingly as beautiful as a peach blossom, but within it, there was a faint hint of resentment and coldness.

"I say, Erlang, you are truly heartless! You actually disregard our past intimacy and make me, a weak woman, risk being skinned alive to create opportunities for you?"

Tao Le'an no longer acted languidly, but instead raised his head and confronted her head sharply.

"First of all, we've never been intimate. In fact, you owe me more than I ever have. Secondly, don't forget the blood oath of the Division. To prevent the resurgence of the Heavenly Demon and the recurrence of corruption, everyone in the Division is willing to give their lives—including me."

The egret finally fell silent, her beautiful face as cold as ice, and only spoke again after a long while.

"I understand, but it still doesn't work."

Tao Le'an didn't say anything about Bai Lu deliberately making excuses; he simply said two words.

"Why?"

“It’s very simple.” Bai Lu spread his hands. “Any woman from an ordinary family can be kidnapped, but a prostitute is an exception—even a virgin like me.”

Tao Le'an still uses those two words.

"Why?"

"As you should know, because of our Yichunlou's specialties, many people usually hold banquets here to entertain guests. Song Hu has been entertained here many times. Other guests try to take advantage of the girls, but he alone refuses to let the girls get close at all—he even wipes the chopsticks handed to him carefully several times with a white silk handkerchief."

The egret sighed softly.

"At first I just thought he was a man of integrity, but I soon discovered that every time he looked at us, there was a deep sense of disgust in his eyes—a contempt that was so extreme that it was like the disgust one feels when facing the filth of a latrine."

“He was disgusted with us to the extreme – he wouldn’t even use us as material. The fact that none of the girls in the building got into trouble over such a long period of time is the best proof of that.”

Tao Le'an finally fell silent, his brows furrowed as he fell into deep thought.

However, just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense and awkward, Zhou You, who had been forgotten for a long time, finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Um, if I heard correctly, all we need is someone who isn't a prostitute, a complete stranger, good-looking, and with some fighting ability?"

Upon hearing this, the two officers from the Demon Suppression Division turned to look at Zhou You.

"Master/Young man, do you have any suitable candidates?"

"I wouldn't say it's a suitable candidate," Zhou You said, scratching his head somewhat sheepishly. "Actually, this person is both far away and right in front of us."

Bai Lu paused for a moment, her expression initially somewhat confused, then she suddenly realized and looked at Tao Le'an.

Faced with the gazes of the two, Tao Le'an suddenly felt something was amiss.

a few days later.

Another story has spread through the streets and alleys of Zhongtaicheng.

Old Mrs. Li, who lived in Tonggu Lane, died a few days ago—of course, this is not a big deal. Old Mrs. Li had lived alone for many years and had an eccentric personality. Everyone had long criticized her, so her death was no big deal, and no one would miss her at all.

But the problem is, isn't it?
Because of this funeral, her granddaughter, who lives far away, made a special trip back to attend.

Years ago, we always heard Granny Li say how beautiful her granddaughter was, and everyone naturally thought she was bragging—after all, how beautiful could her daughter be, given that she looked like a tree bark?
But when they saw the girl's face, everyone was speechless.

No adjective could describe her beauty, not even the most cultured scholar, Chen Xiucai. This girl was simply the kind of girl who, at first glance, would make you exclaim, "Holy crap, how can someone be so beautiful?"

Within days, the threshold of the Li family's house was worn down by the crowd, as everyone rushed to see this legendary beauty.

And that's not all.

If Old Lady Li could know this in the afterlife, she would never have imagined that she would have so many new friends and relatives. Some would call her nephew or niece upon meeting her, some would say they had received kindness from her, and some would even say that they had been betrothed to Old Lady Li since childhood. Then, she would be beaten out of the room by the crowd.

However, whether they were solicitous or greedy, the woman remained calm and composed, simply citing the recent loss of a family member and her inability to attend to other matters, thus politely declining everyone's offers.

But there are still those who refuse to give up and keep pestering us.

Just like now, Young Master Lei, the famous wealthy man in the city who owns a herbal medicine shop, is still in the mourning hall, racking his brains to find something to say.

"This old Li... oh no, I mean Aunt Li, she took great care of me back then. When I caught a cold, she personally brewed medicine and delivered it to me in the heavy snow." Unfortunately, the woman's attitude remained aloof.

“But Grandma has never been good at decocting medicine, and her legs are not good, so it’s impossible for her to deliver medicine to others in the heavy snow.”

Lei Dashao was immediately embarrassed after being exposed.

But what's that saying again? If you want to win the heart of a beauty, you have to be shameless, so he immediately laughed it off.

"I might be mistaken."

Unfortunately, after that sentence, he couldn't find a topic to talk about for a while—but luckily, she soon caught sight of something else.

"By the way, my lady, did you ever keep a cat?"

Not far in front of him, on a cabinet, lay a fat cat. It wasn't a particularly rare breed, and its fur was grayish, but its size was enormous. At first glance, it didn't look like a cat, but rather like a lump of fat.

Lei Shao curiously went over and was about to reach out to touch it when the cat squinted its eyes and slapped him back with its paw.

"Ouch! Damn it, you bastard!"

Lei, who was used to being pampered, was about to slap her, but then he remembered that the beauty was still beside him, so he stopped himself and gave an awkward laugh.

"Hahaha, your cat is really something else, and it's definitely quite fat too."

To his surprise, the cat simply rolled its eyes, then shifted its body, turning its rear end towards him.

Looking at the beauty's ambiguous smile, Young Master Lei's shoulders slumped instantly.

Well, this conversation is over.

Even though he was unwilling, he could only pretend to bow and say, "I will visit you again another day, madam," before slinking away in disgrace.

Outside the door, people had already set up betting odds. Seeing that this woman had retreated without a fight, the winners shouted for their money, while the losers wiped their faces, blushing, and started betting again on who could win the heart of this beauty.

The noise in front of the door didn't subside until midnight.

This proper funeral hall was turned into a chaotic marketplace by these idle people. The young woman, exhausted after dealing with the situation for a while, washed up and went back to her room to rest after adding oil to the lamps for the vigil.

As night deepened, and after the night watchman had called out once, all was quiet.

And so, an unknown amount of time passed.

The deep silence was suddenly broken by a few light footsteps.

Under the cover of darkness, several men in black silently scaled the courtyard wall and slipped into the mourning hall.

These people didn't even glance at the coffin on the ground. One of them took out an incense stick, lit it with the lamplight, and then carefully poked a hole in the door of the inner room and stuffed the incense stick inside.

moment.

The breathing inside the room suddenly became heavy.

The man who had lit the incense nodded to his companion and pushed open the door to enter.

The fat cat in the room had long since disappeared, and the girl was lying on the bed, her chest rising and falling, fast asleep.

Looking at that beautiful sleeping face, one of the men in black finally couldn't help but speak.

"I say, Master Cao, this girl truly lives up to her reputation as the most beautiful woman in the city—look at her eyebrows and eyes, look at her face, wow, I've never seen anyone so beautiful in my life."

As they were talking, the man tried to touch the face, but before he could even reach the side, his hand was slapped away.

"Don't move. This is someone specially designated by Master Song. If something happens, can you afford to take the blame?"

The man in black who was slapped away wasn't annoyed; he just casually pinched the other man's cheek and then laughed.

"What's the big deal? Anyway, we got to enjoy the Celestial Master's food first. I just need to be careful not to get any scrapes."

"That's just ordinary stuff. When it comes to top-quality items like this, isn't the Celestial Master always the first to enjoy it? Go away, go away. It's fine if you're looking for death, but don't drag me down with you."

After chasing away the lustful man, the leader took off the sack from his back and was about to put the woman in front of him into it with his accomplices.

Who would have guessed.

Just as the mission was about to be completed, an unexpected change occurred.

Whether it was due to the sudden movement or something else, the woman suddenly woke up from her slumber, looked at the group of people with confused eyes for a few seconds, and finally realized what had happened.

The next moment, she opened her mouth wide, about to scream—

Fortunately, the leader reacted quickly and covered the girl's mouth.

Seeing that she couldn't make a sound, the girl began to struggle again, but she was immediately held down by several hands around her—how could a frail woman resist these strong men? Soon, the leader lit the incense again and brought it to the girl's nose.

A dozen or so breaths later, the little head tilted to the side, and it fell asleep again.

At this moment, the leader finally caught his breath, and then he raised his hand and slapped the one who had spoken earlier, cursing under his breath.

"What's wrong with you! Didn't you swear this sleeping incense would definitely work? How come it couldn't even seduce a young girl!"

The person who got slapped also felt very wronged.

"No, Master Cao, this is something left behind by the bandits of Beiluo. I've seen them use it countless times without ever failing. Who would have thought it would malfunction today? You should blame them for this."

"Blam them? Damn it, their entire stronghold was wiped out on the orders of the Celestial Master. Why would I blame them when I go to the underworld?"

Despite this, the leader withdrew his hand, hastily lifted the girl, and then stuffed her into a sack.

"Alright, alright, now that the matter is settled, let's go back and report. The Celestial Master only caught a glimpse of this woman from afar last time, and has been waiting anxiously ever since. If we delay, who knows what kind of punishment we might face?"

However, at that moment, a 'creak' sound was suddenly heard.

Everyone instinctively drew their weapons—only to breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that it was just a window blown open by the wind.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. The longer we drag this out, the more likely something will go wrong. It's best to leave now."

After saying that, the leader picked up the sack, but he frowned as it landed on his shoulder.

This woman looks quite thin, but she actually feels so heavy.

　Thank you, Lilizai, for the 1000-point reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)