Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 351 War begins

Professor Zhang stared blankly as the sword came hurtling towards him, his eyes filled with confusion, bewilderment, and fear.

At first glance, it seems like a perfectly normal reaction.

However, Zhou You did not stop. The longsword he had taken from the blacksmith's shop sliced ​​through the red light and cut through the fluttering silk, approaching the vulnerable neck with lightning speed.

The sword's edge sliced ​​through the skin and sank into the flesh.

then--

All the fear on the old man's face vanished instantly.

Professor Zhang stared at the long sword that was about to sever his head, his gaze gradually calming down—until finally settling into the same indifference as the villagers.

In the blink of an eye, the figure vanished like smoke.

After a while, accompanied by heavy footsteps, another brand-new 'Professor Zhang' walked out from the small door at the back of the shrine.

He still had those dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well for days, and that unshaven, unkempt face.

She looked no different from before, and even her voice carried the same ingratiating tone as always.

"When did you discover me?"

Zhou You didn't chase after them, but instead flicked his sword and looked at the swarm of writhing tentacles.

The mountain god has not yet revealed its true form. The tentacles gathered on the stands, layer upon layer, but for some reason, they remained motionless.

Just like in my dream, this thing does indeed possess divinity, although after so many years of sealing, that divinity has long since weakened to the point of being like a candle flickering in the wind.

However, even so, it is indeed not easy for him to deal with now that he has lost Duanxie.

Then, looking at the innocent crowd lying on the ground and the look in the eyes of the black cat, Zhou You suddenly laughed.

Now he doesn't mind wasting time talking nonsense with this guy.

"Let's rephrase this question—Professor Zhang, why do you think I haven't noticed you?"

Before he could reply, Zhou You sighed again.

"Let's not even talk about how you, a university professor, bring two idiots along when you go out to do research, or how you make the whole process look like a game—let's just talk about what you've done these past few days."

"—Indeed, the initial impression-building technique is quite effective. First, deliberately create a terrifying atmosphere, and then gradually guide people's attention to the townspeople's strange behavior."

At this point, Professor Zhang suddenly interjected.

"I think I did a pretty good job in this regard. After all, these guys are xenophobic to a certain extent, and they usually have very heavy accents. The couple, and even my two students, all thought that they were the ones who did all this. So how did you recognize them?"

But Zhou You just smiled in response to his question.

“Normally speaking, it is easy for ordinary people to be led astray, but as you know, I have never been a normal person, and I also have some skill in talismans. The lines they drew do look strange, but a little magical power can reveal that there is no evil spirit in them at all. Instead, they seem to be another kind of suppressing incantation.”

"The taboo against cats doesn't mean they're considered unclean gods; it's simply to avoid involvement in the seal. As for the rejection and indifference towards outsiders, I've heard people mention it before."

"That is the keeper of secrets."

Professor Zhang fell silent.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"I have hated this place since I was born."

The voice was flat and indifferent, but deep within it lay a hatred as dark as ink.

"An unchanging sky, deserted streets, an extremely closed environment, and a duty that weighs heavily on you, seemingly inescapable."

Professor Zhang shook his head and sighed.

"Can you imagine? Time seems to stand still here. A day, a week, a month, a year. Apart from the gradually collapsing ruins and the annual ceremony to solidify the seal, nothing has changed."

"I put in ten or even a hundred times more effort than the average person to escape this place, and finally got into university and saw the outside world for the first time. But I soon discovered that fate is not something that can be escaped so easily."

"After wandering around for so long, I still cannot escape the duty of the keeper of secrets. No matter how far I run, no matter how long I run, I will eventually return here."

Professor Zhang sighed and patted the sticky tentacles beneath him.

"So, my thinking is very simple—let's destroy everything."

Zhou You remained silent for a moment, but then spoke earnestly.

"This will kill a lot of people."

Professor Zhang grinned, revealing two rows of yellowed teeth.

"What does that have to do with me? I spent over a decade painstakingly opening the closed gates of this village, and I went to great lengths to alter the rituals, all for this one moment of freedom. What else does it have to do with me? This duty has bound our town for centuries; it's time to let it go."

Professor Zhang paused again at this point.

"Besides, you should also know that the more sacrifices you make to this unclean god, the greater the reward. If so many people really die, how much wealth and glory can I enjoy in the future?"

Zhou You stared at Professor Zhang for a long time before letting out a sneer.

"Hey you, did you hear me?"

"heard it."

"You're the lead in this drama, what do you think you should do?"

The black cat fell silent.

Then, the entire shrine began to erupt in excitement.

—Literally, boiling over.

The crimson light flowed down like lava, and the rooftops, silks, and even the countless flowers all began to burn fiercely the moment they touched it.

The ground seemed to melt, creating a huge crater, and the mutated monsters ignited at the same time—Professor Zhang frowned, about to take action, but the innocent people were quickly swallowed up as if sinking into quicksand.

Literally speaking, the ones that were holding us back are gone.

Even after losing the hostage, Professor Zhang showed no panic. He stroked the slimy tentacles, letting his hand corrode into bare bones as if he felt no pain, and said coldly.

"You're nothing but something that was posthumously granted a divine position and transformed into the lowest-ranking cat statue. Now that the incense has been cut off for many years, I've still cast so many fake statues to pollute the source—now you're not far from being completely destroyed, so what right do you have to oppose me?"

However, Zhou You laughed instead.

"Professor Zhang, it seems you really dislike your own town. You haven't even bothered to verify the local legends after all these years."

".What do you mean?"

Zhou You said with a smile.

"Actually, it's nothing. I just came across a booklet that looked like a temple record or something. The contents were quite ordinary, but it did record an interesting story."

"That was when the couple adopted the child. They thought it was just an abandoned baby that had been thrown into the deep mountains and forests, but who would have thought that it wasn't even human?"

As the sound faded, the black cat leaped down from the void. At first, it was just a thin figure—but while in mid-air, it rapidly expanded, and then, amidst the engulfing flames, by the time it landed, it had transformed into its other half.

Slanted eyes, golden pupils, white forehead.

That wasn't a cat at all.

It was a tiger.

A tiger wreathed in flames, roaring loudly!

Zhou You shook his head and sighed softly.

"—Unfortunately, during the more than ten years of raising him, he himself forgot that he was a demon, otherwise that tragedy wouldn't have happened."

At this moment, Professor Zhang was no longer paying attention to what Zhou You was saying.

His face was unusually grim, but he remained relatively calm. As the flames swept through, his exposed skin was gradually burned to charcoal—but the tentacles were already emerging layer by layer, and the back chamber, which should not have been very large, began to tremble continuously, as if some enormous creature was about to break out of the ground!
"Alright, I admit I miscalculated, but it's just a giant insect that won't live long, and a Taoist priest from the Dharma-ending Age. What can you do against this broken-sealed deity?"

However, all he received in response was a smile from someone.

Seeing that the ordinary people had completely fallen into the pit, Zhou You, without any more scruples, called out to the little female ghost, retrieved the roe deer, and then...

Then take a step.

Professor Zhang's eyes widened instantly.

The figure vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye, and when he looked again, the long sword was already close to his body!
"Lord!"

With a scream, the tentacles that were fighting the tiger instantly curled back, managing to stop the cold sword at the last moment.

But the price was that the corrupted god's body was severed in several places!
Amidst the flying blood, Zhou You looked at the slightly bent sword in his hand and sighed softly.

Ultimately, the weapon was still too inferior. If it were the weapon of Duanxie, Professor Zhang would probably be decapitated by now.

Oh right, what did that guy just say?

The Dharma-ending Age?

It's a pity we're not from this era!

He turned around, shook off the blood with his longsword, and swept it away again—but at that moment, the ancestral hall suddenly shook.

Professor Zhang had already given up hope, but the moment he heard this noise, his face suddenly lit up with ecstatic joy.

Zhou You frowned and looked in that direction as well.

Amidst the layers of tentacles, a pale-faced figure appeared and disappeared, only to be instantly ground into a pulp by countless sharp teeth.

He is Professor Zhang's student.

—I was wondering why I didn't see this guy among the actors; turns out he was used as a sacrifice!

With the blessing of this flesh and blood, the narrow back chamber could no longer contain the mountain god's true form. Countless tentacles rushed out from within, eventually pulling out an enormous, soft body.

"As expected, it's an octopus, but that doesn't make sense. How did an octopus become a mountain god?"

However, no one could answer.

The moment the mountain god manifested, the entire dream began to collapse, and endless darkness spread like ink—but just as the world was about to crumble, a flame suddenly ignited.

Cangchuan stood high in the sky, sighing as he looked down at the octopus below.

"I've always been soft-hearted since I was a child. My first thought when something happens is to run away. Even when I saw Ah Qing's mutilated body and was furious and wanted to avenge her, it was because of this that I couldn't complete the task and could only change from killing her to sealing her away."

"I've been on the run long enough. I was even prepared to die as my final escape, at least to seal you back underground—but, after this brat's antics just now, I suddenly feel..."

Cangchuan's voice suddenly became comical.

"Since I'm going to die anyway, and now that someone's helping me, why don't I risk my last bit of strength and take you with me before I die?"

As he spoke, the tiger's figure suddenly blurred.

Like a flame ignited in the darkness, the raging flames instantly drove back the inky colors. The enormous octopus let out a silent scream, and countless tentacles tried to wrap around it, but they were all torn to shreds by the tiger's sharp teeth and claws.

Taking advantage of this moment, Zhou You launched another operation.

Its toes trotted upwards along its supple wrists, its sharp teeth curling in layer upon layer, yet unable to touch Zhou You even slightly—

Although the evil spirit was not cut off, the speed brought by the Sumeru Sword Technique did not diminish. Seeing that this move was not working, the mountain god turned around and tried another method.

On the tentacles' suckers, hundreds of eggshells were expelled simultaneously, and the twisted monsters crawled out from them, covered in slime—these were all those who had participated in the sacrifice—among them, the original Old Master Jiang trembled as he reached out his hand, his wailing no longer sounding human.

"Save me, save me, kill me, kill me!!!"

The cries of anguish were like weeping blood.

However, Zhou You ignored him completely.

Those who conspire with the devil will ultimately be devoured by him.

The sword flashed, and the man's head flew high into the air before landing on the ground in the blink of an eye.

—Above the sky, flames and ink intertwine.

The ground below serves as a stage for Zhou You to perform a solo dance.

The sword had long since become a phantom, and with each slash it took, it inevitably claimed several lives.

Of course, looking at this scene, Professor Zhang racked his brains but still couldn't understand how anyone could possess such swordsmanship in this ghostly world—

Damn it, nowadays even catching demons and slaying ghosts uses modern equipment, what's the use of your excellent swordsmanship!
But no matter what, he had to find a way to stop that figure.

As the figure drew closer, Professor Zhang gritted his teeth, took out a dagger, and slashed his hand.

This is a secret ritual passed down among their group of keepers, and it's the only ritual he's ever carefully studied over the years.

Originally, this power was intended as a last-ditch effort when the corrupted god broke free of his seal, but now...
Let's figure out how to stop this guy first!
The drops of blood fell onto the tentacles, causing waves of excited trembling.

—This unclean god is not like a normal god. It was born from that unclean air and has no intelligence. It simply eats and reproduces out of the instinct for life.

Therefore, given his abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for him to manipulate things in a short period of time.

"You unclean god, I command you!"

However, the thing did not move.

Instead, a murmur arose amidst the wriggling sounds.

"High Priest."

"I'm really hungry."

what?
(End of this chapter)