Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 384 Chapter
Zhou You was taken aback.

"You recognize this?"

Feng Qianlin smiled and shook his head.

"I don't recognize it, but I am from a prominent family and have seen similar treasures before, such as the spiritual sword that the head of Songshan Sect possesses. However, it seems to be much inferior to yours."

"So what do you mean by all this?"

Feng Qianlin smiled kindly and politely.

"Actually, it's nothing. It's just that it's such a pity that your sword is broken like this. I happen to have some repair materials at home, and I don't know if I can help you with that."

Seeing Zhou You frown and remain silent, he added casually.

"For example, the Zhonglin Iron, and this Whirlwind Pearl."

The information this guy is referring to is the same as what Headmaster He mentioned back then?
Zhou You became increasingly conflicted, but just then, Feng Qianlin added the final sentence at the opportune moment.

"And sir, my purpose in going here is also to that ghost market. If you are willing to come with me, I will cover all your food and lodging along the way, and I will also find a way to help you get the last few materials after we finish. What do you think?"

This sentence finally became the last straw that broke him.

—Oh well, if we're in trouble, so be it. Compared to repairing the broken evil spirit, these risks are nothing to worry about.

Moreover, having someone to worship him can also avert the curse of the five deficiencies and three lacks. In conclusion—

Damn, let's do it!
Seeing Zhou You's conflicted expression as he agreed, Feng Qianlin smiled and extended his hand.

"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Feng Qianlin, courtesy name Shangjun. You can call me by my courtesy name. This gentleman next to me is Master Chen Xun, a lay disciple of Kuchan Temple. His martial arts skills are almost at the pinnacle. If you two are interested, you can exchange ideas in the future."

The burly man snorted coldly and didn't answer, but Zhou You didn't care. Instead, he sighed loudly and conspicuously and then grasped the man's hand.

As a result, Feng Qianlin's smile grew even brighter.

"--So.

"I entrust my life to you, sir."
-
Taiding City, Hualing Tower.

This is considered one of the most prestigious brothels in the entire north. It is said to have been opened by a descendant of the Li family, a lineage of brothels. Whether the rumor is true or not is unknown, but the girls inside are indeed of extremely high caliber. Not only are they beautiful and versatile, but there are even a few Western beauties among them. I wonder how they managed to get them.

The Hualing Tower has five floors. The first floor is used to receive guests and take a break. It is filled with the sounds of singing and laughter. The second floor is where guests eat. The chefs are all well-known chefs from the north and south, including some retired master chefs from the imperial kitchen. As for the third, fourth and fifth floors, they are purely for enjoyment.

But few people know that the Painting Spirit Pavilion also has two underground floors.

Madam Li stood in the front hall, a formulaic smile on her face. She had finally dealt with the group of lustful men. Seeing that there was no one else around, a tired expression finally appeared on her face, which looked like that of a young woman in her late teens.

It wasn't that she wanted to feign politeness with them, but rather that she simply couldn't afford to offend the powerful backers of these men—the governor's youngest son had gone missing a few days ago, and in the past few days, all the city's constables and soldiers had been mobilized, with an intensity bordering on the legendary "searching the mountains and seas"—

Her painting studio, Linglou, was naturally not spared either.

Fortunately, she had spent a lot of money on errands and, through the girls in the building, she had also made many connections with influential people. With her ability to navigate these situations, she was able to avoid being thoroughly harassed.

However, it wouldn't be fair to say she's completely innocent.

She knew exactly where the governor's son was.

—His vital essence had been completely drained, and he lay buried in the backyard like a dried-up corpse.

Thinking of the young man's ecstatic pleasure and his terrified face before his death, Madam Li felt much of her fatigue from the past few days subside. She gently closed her pear blossom fan, and with graceful steps, went to the back courtyard. Then she pushed open a hidden door and gradually walked down the deep tunnel.

Soon, the sounds of music and laughter inside the building gradually faded away, replaced by heart-wrenching screams.

—A woman's scream.

The spiral staircase finally came to an end. Before Madam Li could even stand still, a servant eagerly opened the door for her and came to greet her.

"Madam, what brings you here today? Please wait a moment, I'll make arrangements for you right away."

However, Madam Li simply waved her hand.

"No need, I just came down to take a look—by the way, how's the new shipment going?"

The servant immediately nodded and bowed in response.

"Madam, you can rest assured. Don't you trust our skills? The most beautiful ones have already been processed and will be sent up to entertain guests in a few days. And..."

Madam Li interrupted impatiently.

"Did I ask you those questions? I'm asking if you've dealt with those troublemakers!"

Upon hearing this question, the servant awkwardly scratched his head.

"Well... most of them have behaved themselves. But as you know, Madam, most of these guys are kidnapped, and there are always some who won't listen to reason, so..."

"So what?"

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, the servant could only helplessly shrug.

"So we had to make an example of them, pick a few to scare those people. As a result, we went too far and lost a few items, but don't worry, the rest are all intact!"

Madam Li snorted. But just as the servant was shivering with cold, she spoke.

"This is a one-time exception; there will be no next time."

The servant bowed repeatedly, pointing to the sky and swearing an oath. Then Madam Li asked him a question.

But unlike her previous haughty and imperious demeanor, her voice this time was very calm, even...
A little cautious?

"How is that person doing down there?"

The servant's face immediately became very conflicted.

"Madam, that gentleman has been fine, but none of the girls he sent out have returned. We've lost about ten of them in the past few days, and they were all top courtesans. What do you think?"

However, Madam Li stated it firmly.

"Keep sending them downstairs. If the building doesn't have enough, buy more from elsewhere. We have to make sure he's satisfied no matter what."

Seeing the servant retreat meekly, Madam Li took a deep breath and went down to the next floor again.

Compared to the upper level, this second level is much more spacious, with only a few pieces of living furniture and a huge hot spring.

Amidst the swirling steam, only one man could be seen leaning against the edge of the hot spring, seemingly taking a short rest with his eyes closed.

Madam Li bowed down and said respectfully.

"Chief, Li Huanzhu has come to pay his respects—may I ask what brings you here?" The man in the hot spring did not answer, appearing as if he were truly asleep—but Madam Li dared not move either. Only after a long while did a deep voice finally sound.

"Come here and help me rub my body."

Madam Li hurried over, not caring that her priceless dress was getting wet, and took a towel from the soup bowl next to her. She then gently rubbed the back with the most moderate pressure possible.

After a long while, the man finally sighed.

"Of all the girls I've ever met, only those from the brothel have the most superb skills in serving men—ha, even the Li family, considered a second-rate brothel, is this good; I wonder what it's like for the girls from the Peach family."

Madam Li blushed and quickly replied.

"Chief, in terms of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, we may not be as good as them, but in terms of the art of giving alms with one's own body, they are far inferior to us—please wait a moment, I'll be right there."

"I was just mentioning it casually, why are you taking it so seriously?" The man waved his hand, stopping Madam Li from undressing. "I summoned you here mainly to ask about something important—not long ago, I discovered that my wife's life lamp had gone out; he should be gone too, right?"

Madam Li, with half of her body naked, replied in a low voice.

"Yes, he died on the way to capture the chosen one. However, others say that it was probably because he was greedy for merit and recklessly advanced into enemy territory, which led to his death."

The man let out a sneer.

"That old ghost was an idiot, a complete idiot. And after his legs were cut off by the White Gate Master, his idiocy seems to have gotten even worse. Oh well, let him die. At least he helped me figure out that there are indeed some troublesome people around Master Feng."

"So, boss, what should we do next?"

The man squinted as he answered.

"Let's stall them for now. As the saying goes, even lions and elephants use their full strength to hunt rabbits. Right now, our forces haven't been mobilized yet, and my body isn't fully recovered. Let's have people hold them off for a while, and once our main force is assembled, we'll take them down in one fell swoop."

"Yes, sir. Shall I go and issue the order now?"

"No rush, rub the front side for me again."

After saying that, the man stood up from the hot spring without waiting for Madam Li's consent, and then turned around.

Faced with this scene, Madam Li's expression instantly turned somewhat panicked.

Of course, this doesn't mean she saw anything lewd or obscene—in fact, based on her extensive experience, even if a hundred naked men stood around her, she would only comment on their size—the reason for her sudden change in expression was simply this.

The man's face was truly terrifying.

His upper body was relatively normal, but from his abdomen to his feet, there were countless knotted scars—

However, upon closer inspection, one can see that they are actually pained human faces. And in each of these faces, mouths are agape, emitting a silent scream.

Seeing Madam Li's expression, the man laughed.

"You've seen this more than once, is it really necessary to react so strongly?"

Madam Li then realized her mistake, quickly composed herself, and returned to her charming and alluring demeanor.

"I just feel like things have gotten a little worse than before. Of course, it could just be my imagination."

His speech was very halting, but the man just smiled nonchalantly.

"This is not your imagination, but it has indeed worsened. This is how the Beggar Clan's martial arts are corrupted. The more evil deeds you commit, the more evil things will reside in your body. It has been particularly serious these past few days, and I can only barely suppress it by relying on hot springs."

"So that's why you agreed to those two's proposal, Boss?"

"Yes, although I'm also annoyed at being threatened, that fragment really might be able to remove my curse—or at least prevent it from getting worse."

The man looked at his legs, shook his head, suddenly yawned, and sat back down in the hot spring.

"Alright, stop rubbing. Send a few more girls down later for me to have some fun. Also, tell those bastards to hurry up. I can tolerate them being two-faced at other times, but this time..."

The man, also known as Yu Sanzhi, the gang leader, revealed a ferocious smile.

"For my own life, I can use the ruthlessest methods to kill everyone who stands in my way."

"And this chosen one, is me."

"We must win."

the other side.

Horn was sitting in a government hall, flipping through thick files while smoking one cigarette after another.

After working continuously for many days, he had long forgotten his rule of only smoking a few cigarettes a day and forced himself to use tobacco to invigorate himself.

Meng Hao carried in a stack of documents nearly as tall as a person, swaying as he walked in. He first put them on the table, then began to pant heavily.

"Boss Huo, this is the last pile, would you like to take a look?"

Horn answered without looking up.

"You've worked hard. Go and rest for a while. After we finish sorting this batch, we'll probably have to go to the next place."

However, Meng Hao did not obey and go back. He just looked at Huo En for a while before whispering something.

"Hey Huo, you should go and rest for a while. You've only slept for less than six hours in the past five days. You won't be able to keep going like this."

Faced with such a kind offer, Horn didn't stop for a second, but simply replied casually.

"I can rest, but our Great Qing cannot. Only after taking control did I realize that it's no longer just a matter of the chosen one; the entire court is now on the verge of collapse. I must take this opportunity to thoroughly investigate those forces and officials who might be plotting rebellion or harboring ulterior motives, and then submit them to the Empress Dowager."

Meng Hao looked at that tired face and finally sighed silently.

Regardless of what others say or how much criticism they have of him, he was indeed a loyal subject through and through.

To devote oneself to the cause until death. Perhaps, that's all there is to it.

However, at that moment, there was a knock on the door.

Meng Hao was taken aback.

They had already instructed the officials not to come and disturb them—and it was already past midnight, the night watchmen had already walked around several times, so who would be knocking on the door now?
However, the knocking continued unabated, as if urging something on. Hearing the increasingly eerie and unsettling sounds, Meng Hao was about to pick up his weapon and prepare to fight—but just then, Horn suddenly looked up from his desk and, in a hoarse voice, gently stopped him.

"Meng Hao, don't do it, let's see."

"It must be someone from the imperial court."

(End of this chapter)