Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 342 The Town
The bus, covered in mud, drove along the road, making a creaking sound.

The road conditions on this country road were never great to begin with. Although it was paved with cement a few years ago, the lack of timely repairs, coupled with the fact that a lot of large trucks frequently detour through here to avoid tolls, has resulted in the entire road being full of potholes.

Moreover, the bus was old and in disrepair. Judging from its appearance, Zhou You felt that this thing had been in service since his grandfather's generation. The combined effect of the two was that Zhou You felt like he was not riding a means of transportation, but a bumper car in an amusement park—his soul was practically being shaken out of his body.

In contrast, the elderly people around them sat very steadily, as steady as old dogs, and even had the leisure to eat sunflower seeds.

No, this car is shaking so much, aren't you afraid of choking?

Look back to one side.

The little ghost girl was peering out the window, her eyes fixed on the outside.

I wonder how long it's been since this girl left that city. Her gaze was so greedy and focused, as if she wanted to etch everything into her eyes.

Zhou You hadn't originally intended to take her on this trip, but he couldn't resist her hesitant, melancholic, and pitiful look before leaving—she looked like a puppy about to be abandoned—so he ended up having no choice but to bring her along.

Fortunately, the height of summer has passed and the weather is gradually turning cold, so the little ghost's inherent cold constitution will not be noticed by others.

Seeing how focused she was, Zhou You didn't disturb her. Instead, he took out his phone and opened a document.

The first thing that catches the eye is a beautiful face.

The girl was probably in her early twenties, dressed in a practical hiking outfit, with her hair in a long ponytail. She wore no makeup and looked like she was often outdoors, as she was slightly tanned. But with her bright and sunny smile, she was still a beauty of above-average quality.

This is the goal of this trip.

According to the client, the girl's father, his daughter was majoring in folklore at X University. Her biggest hobby was traveling around researching various myths and supernatural tales. Everything had been fine until recently when she went to a nearby town to prepare her graduation thesis—

Then, suddenly, something bad happened.

For some reason, ever since his daughter returned from that town, she has seemed somewhat absent-minded. Sometimes she would stare blankly out the window for hours, and other times she would mutter incoherently to herself.

Her parents initially thought she had some kind of illness or had suffered some kind of trauma, and they went to many doctors everywhere. But strangely, no matter which hospital they went to for examination, the result was always the same—that their daughter was perfectly healthy and had no problems at all.

Left with no other choice, her parents turned to superstitious beliefs, which they didn't really believe in before. After being scammed by a bunch of swindlers, they finally found a somewhat knowledgeable old monk in a temple.

After examining the girl, the old monk came to a simple conclusion: she had lost most of her three souls and seven spirits, and it seemed that she had offended something. Unfortunately, his magical power was too weak to solve the problem, and he would rather seek help from a more capable person.

After going around in circles, they somehow ended up with Zhou You's second uncle.

The old bus swayed and rattled for several hours, and the seats gradually emptied until only Zhou You remained.

It was already night.

The dim yellow light reflected off the shadowy mountains and forests outside, making the bus look like the infamous ghost bus, incredibly eerie and terrifying.

But traveling around...
He stared intently at the little female ghost.

The little ghost girl seemed to have grown tired of the mountain scenery and was idly tugging at his hair.

"."

In the silence, someone started a conversation, perhaps by offering a cigarette or something else—and Zhou You began chatting with the bus driver.

"Hey bro, I'm not trying to be mean, but you're a college graduate, you're supposed to be educated, so why did you leave the city and come to this poor mountain village?"

The driver was a typical rough-around-the-edges man from Southwest China, speaking in a coarse, unreserved manner.

After being shaken around for so long, Zhou You finally got used to it a little. He slapped down the little ghost girl's increasingly outrageous hand and said.

"Well, mainly... well, the school required us to do a survey, and I was looking for something less popular, so I ended up here."

The explanation didn't stand up to much scrutiny, but the driver didn't suspect anything and just said it casually.

"Your school is really making things difficult. A while ago, there was a girl who was just like you, insisting on coming here to do something. A graduation thesis or something? Sigh, she's just a little kid, aren't she afraid of running into bad people?"

Hmm? A clue?
Just as Zhou You was about to ask her more questions, the incredibly bored little ghost girl started pestering him again. Helpless, he had no choice but to take out his phone and hand it to her, sending her off to play somewhere else.

But in just a short while, the driver had already moved on to the next topic.

"I've been driving here for half my life, and I really don't know what's so interesting about Shengyuan Town. Ten years ago, it was a typical poor, remote place with hardly any households, and everyone there acted like a lunatic. It's only in recent years, with all the infrastructure projects, that they finally built the roads."

The driver held the steering wheel with one hand and smoked a cigarette with the other, muttering complaints under his breath.

Judging from the side details, he also had many grievances about the so-called Shengyuan Town, as if he had been harboring resentment for a long time, and once he opened his mouth, he couldn't stop.

But just then, a piercing scream came from behind the seats.

What happened?
Having gained experience from multiple dungeons, Zhou You instantly entered a state of combat readiness, but as soon as he looked up, his body suddenly relaxed.

The little ghost girl was holding her phone, looking at him helplessly.

It seemed that the little girl originally wanted to watch cartoons, but accidentally switched to a horror movie. The scream was also made by the female lead on the screen. He waved his hand, just about to ask the little ghost to hand him the phone, when he suddenly realized...

At some point, the driver stopped talking.

And then, the face reflected in the glass suddenly turned deathly pale.

It looked as if they had seen a ghost.

Zhou You initially thought this person had been possessed by something unclean, but he soon discovered...
This person is looking at themselves.

After a few seconds of silence, he seemed to have thought of something.

— I turned my head and glanced at her. The little ghost girl was handing over her phone with a pitiful look on her face, her eyes brimming with tears.

—Looking at the glass again, there was something emitting a sinister light floating in front of me, emitting that death scream.

At this point, he roughly understood what the driver was afraid of.

The temperature inside the carriage was getting colder and colder. Zhou You took a deep breath and then spoke.

"Um, you."

The driver didn't answer, but instead stepped on the gas and sped off like a madman.

An ordinary mountain road was transformed into a driving experience that resembled an off-road race.

With this completely illegal speeding, the journey that should have taken more than two hours was compressed into less than an hour. Zhou You had just gotten off the bus with his luggage when he looked up again and could only see a trail of exhaust fumes rushing away as if fleeing for his life.

He looked up and glanced at the little ghost girl.

The little ghost girl looked at him with an innocent expression. "...Okay, let's just pretend this never happened."

Zhou You scratched his chin and looked around.

At first glance, it's just an ordinary little village, nothing special, nothing worth mentioning, just green hills and clear waters, surrounded by shady trees, full of the beauty of being undeveloped and impoverished.

The only slight difference is that there's an extra-large thing standing at the entrance.

A shrine that is now rarely seen in this day and age.

Zhou You curiously bent down to look, only to find it completely empty—there wasn't a trace of incense ash from the ritual was to be seen.
That's weird. You don't worship any gods, so why are you putting this thing at the door?

The little ghost girl glanced inside, but immediately frowned and floated away with extreme disgust.

However, Zhou You didn't notice her and continued walking towards the town with his brows furrowed.

however.

The further you go in, the more you realize something is wrong.

The reason is also very simple.

There are far too few residents here.

The town wasn't small, but there were very few lights on. Even though it wasn't late at night, the village was extremely quiet, with only a few faint barks of dogs—which were immediately suppressed as if they were being stopped.

In this situation, there's naturally no way to find out from anyone.

Zhou You wandered around the narrow, cramped alley for half a day, wasting more than an hour, before finally finding the only hotel in the town in some hidden corner.

Although it's called a hotel, it's really just a house converted from a private residence. To put it simply, it's a courtyard divided into several rooms. It can only guarantee electricity and water; as for anything else...
Bless yourself.

Like the town itself, which seemed to have died, the innkeeper wasn't particularly welcoming—in fact, he could be described as somewhat indifferent. After learning that Zhou You was a tourist, he simply took the money, casually handed over a key, and then slumped back onto the table, ignoring him completely.

With service this good, the room's ambiance is naturally excellent.

Furniture and decorations are secondary; just look at the bedding in this room—it's been ages since it was changed, it's covered in mud and stains, and with the mountain air, it's incredibly damp.

Of course, Zhou You himself had spent quite a long time in the script, and living a life of hardship was common for him, so he didn't care much about the environment. But the problem was...
"There are way too many rats in this godforsaken place!"

I had barely lifted the covers when I almost came into close contact with a triangular head, and then when I opened the drawer, two fat oil thieves jumped out.

Zhou You himself wasn't afraid of mice, but the little ghost girl seemed to be greatly frightened. She climbed onto his head and refused to get off. After trying to pry her off a few times without success, Zhou You had no choice but to get back to work with this extra thing on his head.

Yellow paper, cinnabar, and other items for drawing talismans are arranged on the table in order, and then three incense sticks are lit and inserted into the incense burner.

This time, the task is to guide the soul.

They wrote the girl's birth date and time on a yellow paper, drew a talisman to summon her soul, lit candles, and threw all of these into the furnace.

"Wandering souls, where do they linger? The three souls have long since descended, and the seven spirits have arrived."

however.

As the spell was cast, Zhou You did feel as if something had been touched—but it was as if something was hidden behind a veil; not only was it not attracted, but its very existence was vague and indistinct.

Strange, there are only two possibilities for summoning souls: either you can summon them or there is no reaction at all. What's going on now?
Zhou You tried a few more times, refusing to believe it, but the result was still the same. As darkness fell, to avoid suspicion, he could only put away the items, turn off the lamp, hang up the antidote, and go to rest for the time being.

And so, an unknown amount of time passed.

Consciousness sank little by little, as if falling into the ocean, plummeting towards the dark bottom.

I could vaguely hear someone saying something.

The voice was so sad yet so familiar.

"Cangchuan. Cangchuan, Cangchuan!"

At the repeated calls, Zhou You suddenly opened his eyes.

Since getting into the script, he has developed the good habit of only sleeping halfway through his sleep, so he can wake up immediately at the slightest noise around him.

however.

At this moment, what comes into view is not the damp ceiling of the hotel.

He was in what appeared to be a stable, surrounded by piles of hay. The smell of horse manure filled the air, and there seemed to be a large hole in the ceiling through which the midday sun shone, bringing a warm feeling.

In front of him, a teenager stood with his hands on his hips, his little face full of anger.

"I'm not trying to be mean, but why are you slacking off again? The ceremony to worship the mountain god is starting in a few days. It's the most important event of the year, and everyone's working themselves to the bone. But you keep finding excuses to slip away. If the master finds out, he'll beat you to death!"

However, Zhou You just looked at him without answering.

The boy, having lectured for a long time, was tired of talking and shoved the broom into Zhou You's hand.

"I've already told you this, whether you listen or not is up to you—but you still have to clean out the stables, right? Otherwise, I'll get scolded along with you."

Watching the other person's departing figure, Zhou You lowered his head.

He was no longer wearing the tracksuit, but a rough linen shorts.

He opened his palm and looked at it.

It wasn't a palm print I was familiar with, and it was much smaller than mine, so it looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.

Finally, I looked at my reflection in the bucket next to me.

Then, a completely unfamiliar face appeared before my eyes.

Was it a hallucination, or did it happen like in the script, and I dreamt about it again?

Zhou You reached up to his arm and pinched it hard.

It hurts a lot, and the sensation is extremely realistic.

Looking further out, the area was bustling with activity, a stark contrast to the quiet towns in reality. The air was filled with the cries of vendors, making it a truly lively place. The people's clothing was also clearly in an ancient style.

No, where did this come from?
(End of this chapter)