Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 402 In the City
Yu Sanzhi felt as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss.

Those he had killed, those he had harmed, and even many more he knew or didn't know—countless evil spirits clung to his body, countless mouths opening to greedily devour his flesh until only bare bones remained.
But soon, under the influence of cause and effect, the limbs regenerated, only to be bitten off by many mouths again—and so it went on and on, never ceasing.

This is my own curse, something I must bear. I will be forever trapped here, never to be freed.
"Boss, Boss!"

Yu Sanzhi suddenly opened his eyes.

The first thing you see is a beautiful and eager face.

Still in a daze, Yu Sanzhi pondered for a long time before finally remembering who this was.

His right and left hands, Li Huanzhu and Madam Li.

At this moment, his face was filled with worry, seemingly extremely concerned about his health, but what was the true emotion behind it?
—Ha, it's just a charade.

Yu Sanzhi shook his head, but then he immediately thought of his situation—he frowned, covered his head, and slowly sat up from the ground.

Surrounded by red bricks and green tiles, and white stone walls, it was a fairly clean city in terms of appearance alone—a rare sight in the entire Han region, especially considering the numerous Western-style buildings, which Yu Sanzhi had only seen a few of in the few trading ports.

The blend of China's ancient charm and Western Gothic architecture creates a uniquely strange aesthetic.

Strangely, unlike the view from outside the door, there wasn't a single pedestrian in sight on the clean street.

The entire city was deserted, as if it were a ghost town.

His expression suddenly changed.

It was obvious that he had entered that damned city!

But what exactly do they want to do? Are they going to surround and kill them, annihilate them, or simply trap them to buy time for their own escape?
Yu Sanzhi grew increasingly uneasy. He suddenly raised his head and said to Madam Li.

"Where are the others now?"

Madam Li quickly replied.

"Reporting to the leader, the others woke up a bit faster than you, and they're quite uneasy now; otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to wake you."

Madam Li's voice was also very flustered, but Yu Sanzhi ignored it and, after pondering for a while, suddenly spoke.

“Gather the rest of you; I have something to say to them.”
-
Those demons and monsters arrived very quickly.

Or rather, since they entered the city, these guys have never dispersed, all eagerly hoping that Yu Sanzhi will wake up and lead them out of this dangerous situation.

Yu Sanzhi glanced at it briefly, then spoke calmly.

"First of all, I want to apologize to everyone. I really didn't expect that what was originally a simple disturbance would end up like this."

Upon hearing this, a commotion erupted below, and several hot-tempered individuals nearly uttered curses—fortunately, they immediately remembered their leader's character and shut their mouths again.

Yu Sanzhi didn't seem to care at all and continued calmly.

"In this situation, complaining won't help. First, we need to figure out where we are—I ask you, during the time I was unconscious, did you find a way out?"

Upon hearing this, a man immediately stood up and answered.

"Chief, where is the way out? We've circled around several times, and we can't even find the city gate. In addition, several brothers have inexplicably gotten lost, and we dare not wander around anymore."

Yu Sanzhi nodded, and then said.

"Old Ma."

The old man holding the divination tube stepped forward, trembling.

"Chief Yu, what are your orders?"

"Where are those people now? Are they in this city?"

Old Ma's face was as pale as paper, but he still shook the tube and threw out a divination stick.

Such a simple movement seemed to have exhausted his immense strength, and he even shrank a bit.

But he still bent down with difficulty, picked up the stick, glanced at it, and said in a low voice.

"Reporting to the chief, those three thieves are indeed in this city, and they seem to be not far from us."

"Since that's the case, then..."

But before Yu Sanzhi could finish speaking, one of the impetuous ones finally couldn't hold back and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Chief Yu, what time is it? Why are you still worrying about those bastards? Shouldn't you be thinking about how to escape from this godforsaken place right now?!"

Yu Sanzhi glanced at the guy sideways.

He wasn't one of his men, nor even from the North; he was likely a hired hand. Judging from his skin, he seemed to be a long-time seafarer. I vaguely remembered him as a rather famous pirate from the South Seas, but what was his name again?
Forget it, it doesn't matter.

Yu Sanzhi raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a kind smile.

He didn't seem to be angered by those words, and didn't even have the slightest objection.

But those who knew him well couldn't help but take a step back.

Everyone knows that the more amiable their gang leader's smile, the more ruthless he will be when he takes action.

These people didn't pity the unfortunate guy; they were just afraid of getting involved and having blood splattered on them.

Yu Sanzhi spoke with a smile, as if chatting with a friend.

"So you mean you have some issues with my behavior?"

The pirate felt a chill run down his spine when he thought of the unfortunate fellows from before, but considering the current situation, he still spoke with his neck stiff.

"Boss, I, Old Sun, don't have any problem with you, but as you can see, the situation is clearly not good. Those people can chase us anytime, but shouldn't we be thinking about how to escape first?"

These words were already quite a concession, and Yu Sanzhi nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"What you said is true, but I only have one question for you."

"Speak, Boss."

Did I fucking give you permission to speak?

"Varied--"

Before the pirate could react, Yu Sanzhi casually snapped his fingers.

A very ordinary snap of the fingers.

But the man was stunned for less than two seconds before he suddenly felt a dense rash appear, and the rash was incredibly itchy—and it wasn't just a superficial itch, but an itch that spread from the inside out, from the skin to the internal organs!
He frantically ripped off his clothes and began scratching his body violently—until it was covered in blood and his white bones were exposed.

However, this still did not alleviate the situation.

Moreover, the rash was rapidly worsening, multiplying, and turning into one lump after another, quickly covering the body—

Upon closer inspection, all that remained of the person was a lump of flesh.

But the itching didn't stop; in fact, it became even more intense. Unfortunately, the person no longer had hands or feet to scratch, and couldn't even end their own life. They could only wail incoherently, making sounds that were not human.

Yu Sanzhi then withdrew his hand and smiled.

"The more dangerous the situation, the more we should unite. Any dissent can easily lead to collapse—I don't want to see such fools appear again, understand?" Everyone fell silent.

—A brief deterrent can suppress the enemy for a time, but it cannot last. However, for now, a temporary deterrent is enough.

Then Yu Sanzhi continued.

"There's a reason I'm chasing those guys. We're in an unfamiliar place, the enemy is in the shadows while we're in the open. If we really try to escape, we'll easily fall into their trap. It's better to do the opposite and find them first. Most spells in this world can be dispelled when the caster dies. That's better than us wandering around like headless flies. Do you understand?"

The carrot and stick approach is effective in any era, and everyone agreed upon this, nodding in agreement.
-
After the integration was completed, the group followed the direction of Master Ma's divination.

In that short period of time, they quickly discovered two problems.

First, the county town is still not very big, but the space seems to be folded. No matter which way you go, you can't leave this area. Even though the town gate is just a stone's throw away, you just can't get out.

Second, something in the city seemed to be interfering with their judgment. Even though Old Ma was exhausted to the point of collapse, the figures of those people were still indistinct and unclear.

As time ticked by, everyone grew impatient.

As the sun began to set, the lanterns along the street continued to light up one by one, even though no one lit them. The bright red color, though familiar, somehow made people feel uneasy.

Just as the unease was growing stronger, and he was even trying to suppress his fear of Yu Sanzhi.

Suddenly, someone spoke in a low voice.

"Just now, I think I saw a figure in that shop."

Everyone suddenly turned their heads.

"What did you say?"

That person's cultivation level wasn't high, and his status was pitifully low. Under the gaze of these people, he could only stammer as he spoke.

"I think I saw a figure turn past that shop on the street just now, but of course, I might have been mistaken."

Yu Sanzhi did not respond, but instead fell into thought.

Now that they were unfamiliar with the area, they were afraid of encountering an ambush, so they didn't rush into the house. But judging from what this guy said, perhaps those three were hiding in these houses? No, even if it wasn't them, as long as they were residents, they would at least know what the situation was.
But after a while, his innate caution prevailed, and he tilted his head to signal to the man next to him.

"Go and take a look first."

The man immediately became unhappy.

"—Why me?"

".Um?"

A single word is worth more than a thousand troops.

The man could only grit his teeth, take out his personal magical artifact, and slowly walk towards the shop—not forgetting to glare fiercely at the person who had spoken as he passed by.

Everyone watched as he smoothly pushed open the shop door, walked in smoothly, and steadily disappeared into the darkness.

then.

There was no sound anymore.

The crowd waited for a long time, but neither the man returned nor gave any instructions, and there was no sign of a fight.

A living person, so large, seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Yu Sanzhi frowned, then gave a wink, signaling the other two to go around—and to indicate their location by lighting torches.

However, both of them also disappeared without a trace.

The torch flickered twice in the darkness before vanishing without a trace.

This time, Yu Sanzhi finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Yu Sanzhi knew the background of the men he sent out; they were all well-known experts in the North. Even if the other party took advantage of the terrain to launch a sneak attack, they could never die so silently!

He looked around, finally sighed, waved his hand, and took the stick that Madam Li hurriedly handed him.

"We can't go on like this. The rest of you, keep cover while we go find out what's going on."

Having said that, he ignored everyone else's reactions and turned to leave!
The street wasn't very long, and in no time, Yu Sanzhi could see the shop signs.

Baoji Photo Studio

It's quite a rare find.

He knew about photography studios and what they were used for, but due to the Qing government's trade policies and the high cost of production, there were very few of them in the entire Han Chinese region—not even in ports—only two or three in the southern concessions.

However, a question arises: how could such a rare thing be driven to this desolate wilderness?
Yu Sanzhi looked around for a few moments and, sure enough, found a flaw.

—It's too rough.

Although it doesn't look like anything wrong from a distance, a closer look reveals that it's just a shell. Even the glass that lets in light is foggy, giving the impression of a poorly made tiger that looks like a cat.

But apart from that, Yu Sanzhi still didn't find any other problems.

—This is just a poor imitation.

He gave a signal, and everyone got ready to act, then rushed in.

Unlike the bizarre scene just now, the room was quite ordinary. There was no ambush or enemy in sight, only a camera covered with a black cloth in the middle and black and white photos covering the walls.

Seeing this scene, his men couldn't help but move closer to Yu Sanzhi.

"Chief Yu, this is..."

—A bunch of country bumpkins.

However, these idiots are still needed, so Yu Sanzhi patiently gave a simple explanation—but judging from their half-understanding faces, it's hard to say how much they actually understood.

After that, it was just a simple search.

Although it's a photo studio, the room isn't very big; you can basically see the whole thing at a glance, and there's no back door or second floor.

and so.

Where did those people go?

Just as Yu Sanzhi was deep in thought, a surprised exclamation suddenly rang out.

"Mom, this can't be—"

what happened?
Yu Sanzhi immediately picked up the long stick and walked up to the man.

—However, all I saw was this guy pointing in horror at a wall of photos.

It seems I overestimated them; this thing actually scared them?
Yu Sanzhi looked at the man with a cold gaze, but the man didn't even notice. Instead, he pointed to the wall full of photos and said in a trembling voice.

"The gang leader, Zhao Mo, Pang Qing, Li San, and the others."

"It seems so, they're all inside this piece of paper."

　I'm posting early today; there will be a lot more chapters coming in the next few days to make up for lost time.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)