Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 365 Weird things
"Haunted?"

Old Man Li immediately burst into laughter.

"I'm telling you, where are you going to find a ghost these days? If one really does appear, you're not looking for me, but for those guys who collect and play with antiques."

Seeing the puzzled look on Zhou You's face, he even gave a special explanation.

“Disciple, you've just entered the White Sect, so you probably don't know. Ghosts probably disappeared several decades ago—around the time of the Taiping Rebellion, the chaos caused by evil spirits became even more severe. Demons and the like can be dealt with by force using magic, and only when they can't withstand it will they transform into evil spirits. But ghosts are different. All ghosts are born with yin energy, so the moment they appear in the world, they immediately cause chaos.”

The shopkeeper couldn't help but clap softly.

"As expected of the head of the Bai family, he knows a lot—but this time it really does seem like a ghost story, and a gentleman from the capital, after hearing about it, offered a very high reward."

The shopkeeper gestured a number and then said.

"I know about your curse of five deficiencies and three lacks, but this time many of the bounties are paid in non-monetary ways, and I've heard that your Bai family's soul-summoning banner has been broken for many years, so why not..."

however.

Old Li slammed his fist on the table.

Honestly, this was the first time Zhou You had ever seen that expression on his face.

—That was unease, anger, hatred, and fear, which eventually turned into deep cowardice.

But this emotion only lingered on his face for a few seconds before he returned to his usual slick yet cautious demeanor.

"You don't need to worry about the state of my family's ritual implements. In short, I'll take the job now, but as for the payment..."

"Naturally, we will follow our established practice. Anything you don't want, we will donate on your behalf to accumulate merit for your deceased teacher."

Hearing this reply, Old Man Li nodded in satisfaction. He stood up, leaning on the table for support—his dirty robe was stained with patches of oil on the tabletop—then called out to Zhou You and left the tavern.

The shop owner looked at the grease on the table with disgust, sighed, and then poured himself another glass.

But as he reached for his cup, he was shocked to find that it was gone.

When he reached for the wine bottle again.

The wine bottle is gone too.

After a long, stunned silence, the boss finally roared in anger.

"Are you from the White Gate or the Thief Gate, you bastard? How come you're so dishonest?!"
-
Until they reached the street, seeing Zhou You hesitate and want to ask something, Old Man Li gulped down a mouthful of water before speaking.

"My dear disciple, let's not say anything, let's not ask anything, okay?"

"But."

Old Li sighed again.

“I know you have a lot of questions, but this is my personal privacy, so I can’t tell you too much.”

"Um, well, Master."

Old Li's expression unusually showed some displeasure.

"I'll tell you everything I need to, but for now, please let me have some peace and quiet."

At this moment, Zhou You finally had a chance to speak.

"Master, what I really wanted to tell you was that you held the bottle askew, and the wine all poured into your fur coat."

"what?"

Old Li was shocked. He hurriedly and reluctantly stuffed the bottle shut, then picked up the remaining liquid and carefully poured it into his mouth.

Zhou You just stared at him, and in the end, he simply shook his head.

"Master, what should we do next?"

Old Man Li finished sucking the last bit of his drink and then said.

"What else can we do? Let's go back, eat something, get some sleep, and then go see what's going on with this ghost."
-
Day two.

The so-called haunted place is in the north of the city.

Zhangping is divided into four parts from the east, west, south, and north. The south side is considered the best, and it is mainly inhabited by high-ranking officials, wealthy merchants, and landlords. The east and west sides are much worse, and they are mostly inhabited by ordinary people from the city. As for the north side...
In terms of what he said about traveling to later generations.

This is a slum, and a huge one at that.

There were an unusually large number of corpses lying on the road here, and even the carts used to collect the bodies were unwilling to come this way. Fortunately, it was still the dead of winter, so there was no need to worry about the risk of spreading the plague.

Old Man Li seemed to have long been used to it, and even had the leisure to talk about it.

"Don't be fooled by how terrible it looks. It's actually much better than the great disaster many years ago. Your master experienced that time. Back then, even the bark of the trees was eaten away. As far as the eye could see, there were only bare tree trunks. Some people ate clay and died, and some even exchanged their own children to eat each other."

As they talked, the two arrived at the place where the accident had occurred.

It was a dilapidated dwelling. It was hard to imagine that such a house still existed in the 19th century. The outer walls were made of rammed earth. It occupied a considerable area, but it was basically the same size as a shack. The roof was made of a few logs piled up haphazardly, covered with some thatch that had been picked up from somewhere.

In summer, this place might be a passable place to live, but in winter...
Zhou You figured that with all the draft coming in, sleeping inside would probably just mean freezing to death.

I peeked into the room, but all I could see was complete darkness.

The house was occupied a few days ago, apparently by a family of three—but according to the shop owner, the male head of the household had suffocated his son, literally dismembered his wife, and then stabbed himself to death with a knife.

How can the scene be described? The officials who came vomited all over the place. So even though there were so many refugees outside and this house was empty, these people would rather freeze or starve to death than step into the house.

As soon as he got close, he felt a chill that went deep into his bones. But then Old Man Li stopped him. He took out a piece of paper from his satchel, folded it a few times, and a rough bird was formed. Then he bit his fingertip and dabbed the bird's head twice with his blood.

The next moment, the paper bird flew up out of thin air, circled in the shadows, and returned to Old Man Li's hand.

It was completely intact, without even a speck of dust on it.

Old Man Li finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, there's nothing strange inside. Disciple, let's go."

However, even though his master said that, Zhou You still felt that something was wrong.

But he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong. He just had a vague feeling that something was familiar, but that didn't give him any reason to stop it, so he could only go in with Old Man Li.

It was much colder inside than outside.

This is actually counterintuitive; after all, even the worst rammed earth and thatched roofs could at least block some cold winds, but in this situation…
If the outside is the refrigerator compartment, then this place is completely the freezer compartment!

Old Li shuddered and instinctively wrapped his clothes tighter around himself.

"Why is this place so eerie? Three deaths shouldn't cause this much unease. Could it really be haunted?"

Zhou You, on the other hand, lit the torch.

The scenery here is revealed in the firelight.

The body had long been taken away by the coroner, and now only bloodstains, frozen into ice crystals, remained in the room. However, even from the traces scattered everywhere, one could tell how horrific the events that had transpired were.

Zhou You casually touched it with his hand, then habitually put it under his nose and sniffed it—only to be immediately slapped away by his cheap master.

"Are you looking for death? You don't even know what's going on here, yet you just casually touch things. Aren't you afraid of getting poisoned and having your intestines rupture?" Old Man Li lit a torch, looked around, and smacked his lips.

It's such a mess.

This family used to be garbage collectors; apart from the bloodstains, there were all sorts of junk and scrap everywhere—it's only thanks to the low value of land in the northern part of the city that they were able to pile up so much stuff.

However, this also brings up a problem.

The master and his apprentice will probably have to expend a lot of extra effort.

Old Li didn't mind the dirt, but he found it tiring. After looking around and finding nothing unusual, he naturally turned his attention to Zhou You.

"My disciple," I said.

"Master, you go ahead with your work, I need to go to the restroom in a bit."

"Stop right there!"

Old Li said with a disgraceful expression.

"Why is it so hard to get you to do some work? Here's what we'll do: I'll search this house, and you go check the houses next door—it's still broad daylight and sunny, so neither ghosts nor spirits will come out randomly. Come and get me when you find any clues."

After saying that, the old man found a stool, sat down, and then took out the bottle of wine he had taken and took a small sip.

Zhou You didn't argue with him, but shook his head and walked towards the side room with the torch in his hand.

He was young and strong, so he didn't care about these things. Besides, he always had some techniques that he didn't want his master to see.

After turning a corner, the light became even dimmer. There couldn't possibly be any windows in such a place; the only light came through the drafty roof. Zhou You took a deep breath by the light of the fire.

The Jing Shen's feeding chant started running on its own, and it began to distinguish the smells in the air.

Although I'm not using my own body now, I still remember the mental cultivation method passed down by Master Xuanyuan, so it's not difficult to pick it up again now.

Even if the quality is a bit lacking, it's at least sufficient in certain situations.

"Dust, bricks, lingering blood, and some junk that seemed to have come from nowhere. Luckily, it's still winter, so there's no smell of decay yet. Besides the garbage, there's nothing else, not even a single mouse."

But when he got to this point, Zhou You suddenly paused.

Speaking of which, where are the mice?
It is indeed the dead of winter now, but these furry little creatures do not hibernate. This kind of garbage dump is the best shelter for them. Normally, it should be full of rats.

However, at this moment, Zhou You could not sense any living creatures within it.

And, right at this moment.

It was accompanied by a 'squeak' sound.

The door that had been open behind him
Suddenly, it just shut off.

Zhou You's face darkened.

But unlike ordinary people who would at least be startled, he did not show any fear. Instead, he slid a short knife out of his sleeve, gripped it in his backhand, and then called out softly.

"Master, did you close the door?"

And there was no response.

Zhou You hadn't gone very far, and if Old Man Li were still sitting there, he would have heard his calls, but now, on the other side of the door, all that could be heard was deathly silence.

He gripped the doorknob and tried it.

There is no doubt that it was bolted from the other side.

Then, he applied a little more force.

The door didn't move.

Then, Zhou You took a deep breath, suddenly raised his leg, and kicked the wall next to him.

Just like with the door, the wall didn't even tremble slightly.

Zhou You now roughly understood that he was...
Have we fallen into a trap?

Well, I was originally planning to catch mice, but I never expected to become the mouse myself.

Zhou You gave an awkward smile—but just then, a noisy commotion suddenly came from not far away.

The voices were faint and indistinct, but one could vaguely discern that they belonged to a middle-aged man and woman.

I already said that.

You should listen to this too.

Think about your own child.

Only by cautiously approaching can one discover that, sometime during the night, a dim candle has been lit in another room, where two hunched figures are crouching, whispering to each other.

One of the male voices said.

"I've already said it, the taxes I have to pay this year are higher again. The men said they're following those foreign devils and have implemented some kind of 'cleanliness allowance,' which will amount to a lot over the years. I have no choice but to accept it."

However, no sooner had the man finished speaking than the woman's shrill voice rang out again.

"But you can't just sell the child. He's our only heir. What will we do if you sell him?"

The male voice said angrily.

"Do you think I wanted this? Isn't he my child too? But we had no choice. If we didn't sell him, the three of us would starve to death. If we sold him, at least you and I could survive—and who knows, he might find a good family in the future."

"You're dreaming! You know what kind of people those human traffickers are. They basically break the limbs and gouge out the eyes of any child they get their hands on, crippling them and throwing them away to beggars. How could that be possible?"

"What do you know, you're just a woman?"

Whispers gradually turned into arguments, and arguments gradually turned into roars.

Soon, something the woman said angered the man—he grabbed a nearby wood-chopping knife and made a few forceful strokes.

Of course, he didn't intend to take action.

As an honest, ordinary citizen, and a middle-aged man whose edges have been worn down, no matter how angry he was, he wouldn't actually kill his wife.

But at that moment, an unexpected event occurred.

In the candlelight, the man suddenly stopped moving—his wife initially thought he had calmed down and was about to say a few kind words.

But when she looked up, she saw a distorted face.

The expression seemed to be a smile, but the mouth was twisted into a strange arc, and saliva dripped from the corner of the mouth. The man seemed to want to say something, but in the end, his arm fell before he could speak.

Then, the machete struck.

Blood splattered.

(End of this chapter)