Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 344 Missing
After this incident, Professor Zhang lost interest in talking, led his students out, and went back to his own academic research.

The couple continued arguing—the wife felt the place was too dangerous and they should leave as soon as possible, while the husband earnestly advised them that the bus only came once a week, and now that they were deep in the mountains, it was a pipe dream for them to walk out on their own.

Both sides had their own version of events, and Zhou You, too lazy to listen, paid the bill and then left.

The morning sun shone brightly over the deserted town, offering little warmth but enough to dispel the eerie gloom.

however.

Just as he stepped out the door, he suddenly felt a gaze upon him.

A concealed and indifferent gaze.

Are they being watched?

As if casually adjusting her clothes, she caught a fleeting glimpse of a blurry profile in the corner of her eye.

He didn't know this person.

But judging from his cold and stiff face, his identity is pretty much self-evident.

Interesting, are they not even going to act anymore?

Zhou You tilted his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly turned around and headed straight for the alley not far away.

A moment later, a man in his fifties emerged from the shadows.

The man crouched low, his footsteps silent, and followed Zhou You's figure.

But he soon realized something was wrong.

—This person walked as if taking a leisurely stroll, yet their speed was exceptionally fast, so much so that he almost lost track of them several times.

Finally, when we reached a corner...

The figure suddenly quickened its pace.

And when he finally rushed over there as fast as he could.

There was no one in the alley.
Only fallen leaves drifted by, and no trace of people could be seen.

the other side.

Zhou You easily shook off his pursuer and continued strolling along the bluestone path.

The further you go into the town, the more intricate the roads become; it feels like a spider web, dense and boundless.

He stopped when the surroundings were completely deserted and there was no trace of anyone else.

After all, even though this town was full of fun, he hadn't forgotten why he had come here in the first place.

The previous soul-summoning spell did indeed fail, but that doesn't mean there aren't other options.

After looking around and finding no movement, he took out yellow paper and cinnabar from his ring, found a flat, low wall, and began to draw talismans stroke by stroke under the curious gaze of the little ghost girl.

He had only studied the book "Shang Jiu Xiao Xuan Guang Lu Fa" a few times in a superficial way, but he had at least learned some basic magic talismans. What he was drawing now was a relatively introductory tracking talisman.

The cinnabar was gradually applied to the yellow paper. As the strokes deepened, the spiritual light gradually condensed, but it still did not transform into a whole.

According to the talisman manual, this last point requires the blood of a demon beast—which is indeed very difficult to obtain in reality—but...
Zhou You casually scratched his wrist with his fingernail.

The blood, glowing with golden light, flowed down from it, and the moment it dripped onto the yellow paper, it produced an effect as if it were exploding.

At this moment, Fu Cheng...

A glimmer of light appeared, and after a quick assessment of its direction, it drifted towards the depths of the town.

Seeing that the thing was floating very fast and seemed about to disappear in the blink of an eye, Zhou You immediately grabbed the little ghost girl and quickly followed after it.

The further in you go, the more neglected the buildings become – stalls, shops, and even the alleyways along the street are overgrown with weeds and have scattered bricks and stones, yet you can still glimpse a few traces of the prosperity of yesteryear from those remaining traces.

The glimmer of light, like a firefly, darted into the streets and alleys, and after about ten minutes, it finally stopped in front of a half-collapsed house.

The surroundings remained silent, appearing no different from any other place.

Zhou You leaned forward and peered inside.

Almost everything in sight had collapsed, but judging from the exterior, it should have been a shrine or something similar. There was no longer any incense or offerings inside, only two headless statues at the very back.
Ok?
—Wait, two?

No, who has two gods enshrined in their ancestral hall?
Zhou You scratched his head and walked in—only then did he realize how extremely cold and damp the place was, as if it hadn't seen the sun in a long time. The damp air mixed with the chill of autumn made him shiver involuntarily.

Zhou You frowned, looked around, then glanced at the little ghost girl who still seemed unaffected, before bending down and tapping the two things on either side.

One of them has completely lost its divinity, while the other is in slightly better condition, but only retains a little bit.

If I had to describe it, it would be like the residue left after squeezing out all the oil, lacking even much intelligence.

But somehow, this thing still gave Zhou You a sense of familiarity.

There is no other reason.

He had encountered this thing in that dream.

With a gentle touch of the finger, a faint, indistinct sound could be heard in the ear.

"Try to salvage the relationship. Don't."

The sound was ethereal and vanished without a trace, disappearing in the blink of an eye with the wind.

Then, the last vestige of consciousness within the statue dissipated.

Has the trail gone cold again?
However, at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed something sitting next to the little ghost girl.

He waved his hand, signaling the little ghost girl to move her bottom first, and then swept away the weeds and dust.

Then, a broken stone head came into view.

It has a cat's face.

A face that is a mixture of two parts human, three parts cat, and five parts monster, ugly to the extreme.

There are words engraved on the back—although they are in characters from hundreds of years ago, I was able to recognize them after visiting many libraries during my travels.

Those were two words deeply etched, as if they were a curse.

秽神
"—No, I mean, where did you hear that word from?"

It was still the only restaurant in town at midnight.

Professor Zhang had just finished a long day of work and was covered in dust, clearly exhausted. However, upon seeing this, he still found it quite interesting.

The restaurant owner had just left, so there was no need to worry about him causing trouble. Professor Zhang gave his two students a look, telling them to sit at the door and keep watch, before speaking to Zhou You.

"Forget it, I don't care where you heard it from. I told you before, didn't I? There was a demon that took the form of a cat and slaughtered almost the entire town—and that thing was the Filthy God."

“In China, there has been a legend since ancient times that the birth of gods and immortals is either pure or impure, good or evil, but they are extremely pure and do not contain anything else. But this filthy god is different. He is a collection of all kinds of evil thoughts in this world. He is a huge garbage dump and cannot even be called a god.”

"But there are always some people in this world who are out of their minds. Instead of worshipping the right gods, they insist on worshipping some strange things. This garbage dump has received a lot of incense offerings and sacrifices, so it has become a god-like place—and has the ability to grant wishes."

As Professor Zhang spoke, he subconsciously picked up the steamed bun beside him and took a bite.

Who would have thought that one bite would almost knock out his tooth? Out of scholarly habit, he considered complaining to the owner, but considering the current situation, he sighed and tossed the thing back onto the plate. "Damn, the food in this godforsaken place is worse than our university cafeteria! Where was I? Right, granting wishes, right? Unlike ordinary righteous gods, this filthy god always demands a huge price for granting wishes—I forgot to tell you this last time, there's actually a second version of the local myth: when the mines in Shengyuan Town gradually dried up, the people in charge refused to give up this treasure trove, so they risked everything to invoke the filthy god."

just.

Just as he was about to continue, the restaurant door was suddenly pushed open.

At first, both of them thought the restaurant owner had returned. Zhou You was alright, but Professor Zhang immediately shut his mouth, trying to change the subject.

However, a familiar face barged in.

A panicked, even terrified face.

It was the man in that husband-and-wife duo.

His face was already flushed red, and he shouted loudly as soon as he saw him.

"Does anyone have a cell phone signal? Could you please call the police? I can't find my wife!!!"

Everyone was stunned.

Judging from this person's tone, it seems like they're saying you can lose a perfectly healthy person like this?
Zhou You and Professor Zhang looked at each other, and finally Professor Zhang stood up, first pressing his hand down, and then speaking first in a reassuring tone.

"Don't panic, let's talk things out first—how did your wife die? Did you have a fight or did you get separated?"

However, the man became increasingly agitated as he listened to Professor Zhang's gentle tone.

"How would I know! I know this place is easy to get lost in, so even though she complained a lot, I kept pulling her along. Who would have thought that just a moment after we turned around, this perfectly healthy person would just vanish into thin air?"

Judging from his expression, it didn't seem like he was faking it at all.

Professor Zhang's brows were also furrowed. He took out his phone, just about to dial the police, when suddenly...

But he was stunned.

My phone has no signal.

The pleading gaze turned to him, and Zhou You also took out his phone—unsurprisingly, it had no signal at all.

After all, although a signal base station was built in this area due to infrastructure development, it is normal for the signal to be intermittent because it is located deep in the mountains and forests.

Seeing that the man was almost frantic, Professor Zhang tried to persuade him again.

"Well, I remember the mayor's house has a cable phone; maybe we can get through to the outside world. Can you come with me and let me take a look?"

The man, already panicked, had no choice but to agree.

—And the place Professor Zhang mentioned isn't far from here.

Although it was the mayor's house, it was no different from the rest of the place—old and desolate.

After knocking a few times, an elderly man in his seventies opened the door. He seemed to be in relatively good health, but like the rest of the villagers, he was stern and unfriendly, and also seemed to dislike the outsiders. However, after listening to the man's anxious plea, he finally nodded reluctantly and agreed to use his phone.

pity.

The call still cannot be connected.

Whether it was due to years of disrepair or some other reason, the phone kept ringing with a busy signal after trying for a long time.

The man was on the verge of collapse. He slumped to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and began slapping himself repeatedly.

"It's all my fault! Why did I have to run here? I'm an idiot, a moron! Waaaaah, honey, I'm so sorry!"

Seeing the man wailing, Professor Zhang sighed deeply, then approached the town mayor and pleaded with him in a low voice.

But soon, the plea turned into a rebuttal, and the rebuttal turned into an argument. The old man's anger grew stronger and stronger, and he kept shouting in the local dialect—though I couldn't understand it very well, I guessed it was very offensive.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade him, Professor Zhang could only sheepishly walk back.

"I'm really sorry, I originally wanted them to send some people to help search, but the mayor said that the local mountain god festival is coming soon, and there are only a few households left in the town, so it's impossible for them to send anyone to search the mountain."

Although his student was not very familiar with the couple, he was at the age of youthful passion and immediately retorted angrily.

"This is a living, breathing person! No matter how important their sacrifices are, can a human life be more valuable? Waaaaah!"

Before he could finish speaking, his companion had already covered his mouth tightly.

Zhou You, however, heard another key point.

"Professor Zhang, the village's sacrificial ceremony has been going on for so many years, yet it's still being held?"

pity.

His question went unanswered.

The crowd was in complete chaos, and the mayor's face grew increasingly grim. He shouted a few words, then waved his hand forcefully as if shooing away flies.

The man still refused to give up. He crawled over on his hands and feet, and was about to continue pleading when some townspeople heard the commotion. So Professor Zhang had no choice but to carry the fat man away by force.

As for traveling around?

He simply looked at a familiar face among the townspeople, shook his head, walked to a secluded corner, and lit a cigarette.

—Yellow smoke, hand-rolled from talismanic paper, with a long hair pulled from a man's body added to it.

Along with the sparks, a few flashes of inspiration appeared, as if he had seen something within them. In the end, he simply sighed and casually stubbed out his cigarette.
-
Even after being carried back to the hotel, the chubby man remained distraught.

Although the town is not small and the roads are intricate, there is only one main street. If you were simply lost, you should be able to find your way back now.

Since there's still no news, there can only be two possibilities.

Perhaps his wife encountered some trouble in town, or perhaps he simply walked into the mountains in a fit of anger.

But regardless of the method, the probability of survival is equally low.

The man sat there listlessly, his eyes vacant. After a while, he suddenly stood up and rushed outside without a care in the world.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing!"

"What can you do? Go find my wife!"

"It's pitch black here, and you're not familiar with this area, where are you going to look?"

"I don't care, I'll find her even if it kills me!"

Seeing that the man was about to rush into the night, Zhou You stood up and gently tapped him on the neck.

In the blink of an eye, the man collapsed limply to the ground.

"Professor, could you please carry him back inside? Going out to look for help now could easily get us into trouble. Let's see if we can get a signal tomorrow. If not, I'm still quite mobile; I might be able to go to some villages or towns outside the city to ask for help."

There was nothing wrong with what they said, and the others nodded in agreement.

After finishing everything, Zhou You returned to the house, gave the little ghost a few instructions, hung up the antidote, and closed his eyes again.

In the blink of an eye.

It's still the same world.

(End of this chapter)