Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 413 Arrival
Zhou You leaned back and smiled smugly.

"Now that you've seen it, how does it feel?"

Yuan Chengwen put down his wine glass, looked at Zhou You for a while, and then smiled.

"A heroic figure."

"anything else?"

This time, he hesitated for a moment before speaking.

I can't see through you.

The conversation was brief, and then there was silence.

Zhou You casually picked at the food until the dishes were almost empty and snowflakes began to fall outside the pavilion, then he spoke again.

"I suddenly remembered that I have another question I'd like to ask."

Yuan Chengwen raised his hand and gestured for him to proceed.

Zhou You took a cloth, casually wiped his mouth, and then spoke.

"What exactly was the purpose of Shang Jun's sacrifice?"

"That's naturally for the sake of these millions of ordinary people."

"I want to hear the truth."

"."

Yuan Chengwen fell into a brief silence. He winked at Old Cheng beside him, and then Old Cheng fiddled with a flower bed in the pavilion. In the blink of an eye, the water rippled, and the entire courtyard was enveloped in a transparent barrier.

Then, Yuan Chengwen's expression suddenly became extremely serious.

"Everything that Master Feng did was to give us an opportunity."

"How to say?"

"It's very simple. Although the Empress Dowager's previous policy of compromise brought peace to the Qing Dynasty for several decades, it also made the entire dynasty seem like a tower made of sand, as if it could collapse with a single push. But a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. In addition, the Empress Dowager seems to have some kind of precognitive ability, which has delayed the time of collapse and even made us unable to lift our heads for a while."

Zhou You didn't respond; he just listened quietly.

Yuan Chengwen continued to speak tenderly.

"But Master Feng is ultimately a hero of his time. He saw some flaws in the scheme and made a decision to use himself as bait to lure everyone into the game. Mr. Zhou already knows what happened afterward. With your help, Master Feng eventually drew out nearly half of the elite troops from these two continents—not all of them, but enough for us to find some opportunities and break the deadlock."

"What do you plan to do after that?"

Yuan Chengwen explained with a smile—at this moment, a light called 'ambition' had already emerged in his eyes.

"Our revolutionary party has decided to seize this opportunity to completely raise the banner of rebellion and to persuade those who have long been dissatisfied with the Qing government to join us."

“I’m not saying ‘you all,’ but ‘you.’”

His calm and indifferent words left Yuan Chengwen momentarily speechless.

Zhou You stared into those eyes and continued to press on.

“I originally thought that all revolutionaries were like Shang Jun and that old shopkeeper, but now it seems that not all of them were righteous, but there were also those with wolfish ambitions. You are certainly not Yuan Shikai, but I think you are extremely similar to him.”

At some point, Duanxie began to tremble, and Wanren was slightly drawn from its sheath.

Zhou You did not draw his sword, but slowly uttered a sentence.

"So, after using Shang Jun and luring him to his death, you plan to use his death to realize your own ambitions?"

In the blink of an eye, a blood-red aura of malevolence filled the entire pavilion!
The old man beside him suddenly changed his expression. He drew an array plate in the air, and the wind and snow outside stopped abruptly, as if it had condensed in mid-air. Then it transformed into countless sharp blades, pointing directly at Zhou You in the pavilion!
However, Yuan Chengwen gently raised his hand to stop Cheng Lao's action.

Then, he smiled and spoke slowly.

“I don’t deny that. I also admit that I did want to take advantage of Master Feng’s death to gain some benefits for myself—the so-called ‘when Qin lost its deer, the whole world chased after it’ is just like that.’ But I really did not participate in the inducement. Or rather, it was all Master Feng’s own choice. As long as he didn’t want to, none of us could force him.”

A tense, deadlocked atmosphere descended upon the pavilion.

After a long pause, Zhou You spoke.

Give me back that glass of wine.

"Sir, please take it."

Zhou You took the cup of wine, then unhesitatingly poured it into the snow. He then withdrew Wan Ren and turned to leave.

Old Cheng was somewhat unsure of his thoughts, but he still opened a gap in the formation—but at that moment, Yuan Chengwen suddenly stood up and shouted at Zhou You.

"Please wait, sir. This is a crucial time for us to accomplish something great. I know you have some prejudice against me, but I will prove myself right in my own way. If you are willing to help me, sir, I, Yuan, will do my utmost to fulfill whatever you ask."

However, Zhou You seemed not to hear him and did not turn around. He simply put on his big coat and walked alone into the wind and snow.

They disappeared without a trace.

After a long while, Yuan Chengwen slowly sat back down in his chair.

At this moment, Elder Cheng, who was standing next to him, bent down and asked respectfully.

"Minister Yuan, this man is ultimately an unpredictable figure. He's still in the city, and we have enough troops. What do you think?"

Yuan Chengwen snorted coldly.

"You mean kill him? Am I crazy to risk provoking such a powerful figure?"

"No, no, no, he is, after all, a disciple of the White Gate. Even if we don't care about the monk, we should at least consider the Buddha. What I mean is to ask him to stay for a few days. After our plan is implemented, we can offer him gold and silver and respectfully ask him to leave. This way, we won't offend anyone and we can avoid any accidents."

Yuan Chengwen pondered for a while, but still shook his head.

"Forget it, even though he doesn't like me, at least he didn't really want to cause me any trouble. Let him go, and we'll proceed as planned from now on."

After saying that, he turned his head to look at the spilled wine on the ground and suddenly revealed a smug smile.

"The world is about to descend into chaos, and everyone will be using their own abilities to seek their own interests. But the most important thing now is to completely bury the Qing court and that Empress Dowager."
-
Just as Yuan Chengwen had said, it was as if a butterfly had flapped its wings, and in a very short time, the world suddenly fell into chaos.

On the seventh day, Li Qian, the military minister who had been idle for a long time, suddenly gathered tens of thousands of his former troops, reverted to his old name Yuan Chengwen, and openly raised the banner of rebellion, claiming to "drive out the Tartars and restore China." In an instant, he occupied half of the continent.

On the 16th, the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou declared independence on the grounds that "the Qing court is immoral and has angered both Heaven and the people." Within a few days, he disarmed most of the Eight Banners troops stationed within the territory. Those who refused to submit were strangled in the streets, and the rest were all imprisoned. He declared: "If the Qing court is not destroyed, the two prefectures will not be returned."

On the 28th, uprisings were also declared in many places in Huguang. The governor-general dispatched troops to try to suppress them, but to no avail. Instead, the rebels launched a counterattack, resulting in a major defeat for the governor-general.

On the 29th, Chahara, the last Baturu of the Qing Dynasty, led Qing troops from the north into the country, attempting to kill Yuan Chengwen by beheading him. However, due to the low morale of his troops, they fell into an ambush and the entire army collapsed, leaving Chahara to escape alone.

The following month, on the 3rd, Governor Chen Huatian responded to Yuan Chengwen's call and announced an uprising.

The following month, on the 4th, at Ms. Qiu's urging, General Wen Kaishu, Deputy Commander Ming Zaidao, and others responded to Yuan Chengwen's call and announced an uprising.

The following month, on the 12th, Admiral Li En announced an uprising, and Xuzhou Prefecture declared that it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Qing government and thus temporarily became independent.

The following month, on the 25th, with Yuan Chengwen's support, the revolutionaries publicly read out their declaration of rebellion against the Qing dynasty at his residence. With this, the entire revolutionary party completely declared their rebellion and turned against the Qing. It seemed like only a blink of an eye, and the flames of war engulfed the entire Chinese mainland. The already fragile Qing dynasty appeared poised for collapse.

However, amidst this flurry of good news, one report was quietly overlooked.

—Due to dissatisfaction with the Qing government's policy of restricting trade, and taking advantage of the uprisings in many places, many countries signed treaties and formed the Eight-Nation Alliance, attempting to profit from the chaos and use the railway advantage to directly attack Beijing.

However, just a few days later, this vast army...
But suddenly, it vanished without a trace.

Amidst this widespread turmoil, Jingping remained remarkably quiet.

Although it wasn't far from the capital, it wasn't a strategic location, so no one paid attention to this small village. As a result, while a fierce battle raged hundreds of miles away, this place remained as peaceful as ever.

When Zhou You arrived, this was the first scene he saw.

After jumping off the carriage, settling the fare, and thanking the driver, Zhou You looked up and glanced around.

The town is small, with only a few hundred households. There are quite a few shops along the street—after all, the pottery here used to be extremely famous—although most of them have closed due to the economic downturn, you can still glimpse some of the former prosperity from them.

For some unknown reason, there were hardly any pedestrians in the entire town. Occasionally, a few could be spotted, but upon seeing Zhou You, they all seemed to have seen a ghost and hurriedly made way for him.

Zhou You didn't pay much attention. He carefully thought about the information he had learned from Tonggang, and after wandering around the town a few times, he found a shop with the sign "Tonglai Chamber of Commerce" on it. He slipped inside without warning.

There was no one inside.

Perhaps it's more accurate to say that the entire shop has been abandoned for a long time, with nearly half of the counter collapsed and the surrounding area in a mess—it seems that some townspeople have used it as a free firewood station and public toilet, as you can smell the stench of urine from afar.

Zhou You gently covered his nose and looked him over.

Then, a knowing smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

Although no one came to help, these guys did write down the answer clearly.

There's too little on the ground.

Normally, a house that has been abandoned for so many years would have accumulated a thick layer of dust on the floor. However, while other places are messy, this particular floor is spotless, as if it is regularly swept.

And another very clean place.
That's the side of that counter.

Zhou You strolled over and, after a few moments of exploration, found the mechanism.

On the innermost side, there is a hidden groove.

It wasn't very big, only about two inches square—Zhou You then took out the sign the shopkeeper had given him and flipped it over.

Not a fraction off, just right.

Immediately afterwards, a cloud of smoke appeared and engulfed Zhou You's body in the blink of an eye.

When I opened my eyes again, the scenery had changed completely.

The shop became clean and spacious, with a wide variety of goods neatly arranged around it. When Zhou You suddenly burst in, the servants around him did not show any surprise. They just glanced at him and then continued with their work.

Only one person, who seemed to be in charge, came up from behind the counter and greeted us with a smile.

"This guest looks unfamiliar. May I ask who referred you?"

Zhou You didn't answer, but instead carefully observed his surroundings.

After a long pause, he finally uttered a single sentence.

"Is this the path to the underworld?"

The manager immediately burst out laughing.

"It seems this is your first time here. That's right, this is the Yin Road—but rest assured, it has been thoroughly cleaned and is free from any evil spirits or malevolent entities. It is absolutely safe."

Zhou You nodded, then sighed.

"That's certainly clever. Creating a hidden path as a market town not only avoids harassment but also facilitates the sale of goods—by the way, you just asked me who the introducer was, right?"

The manager smiled amiably.

"That's right, according to regulations, we need to register here to avoid any misunderstandings."

"Alright, remember that. I was introduced by the Tonggang Chamber of Commerce, and the head of the Qu family."

Hearing this, the manager was somewhat taken aback.

"The head of the Eight Great Families? I remember the Qu family's representative in Tonggang is Master Zheng, right? Impressive, impressive. To be able to get an invitation from him, my friend, you must be quite a figure. May I ask your name?"

His surname is Zhou and his given name is You.

"What family do you come from?"

"Bai Men, a disciple of Li Xiangming."

The next moment, there was the sound of a calligraphy brush falling to the ground.

Looking up, he saw the manager staring at him with the look of someone who was looking at a ghost.

"A disciple of the White Gate, a student of Master Li. You're the guy who killed Yu Sanzhi??????"

Zhou You glanced at it out of the corner of his eye, then casually remarked as if he didn't care at all.

"What, has my reputation spread this far? Or do you have some connection with Yu Sanzhi and are planning to stand up for him?"

Unexpectedly, the seemingly casual remark startled the manager, who immediately turned pale and waved his hands repeatedly in explanation.

"No, no, no, sir, you've misunderstood. How could we possibly be related to Chief Yu? We were just startled, just startled."

He picked up the pen from the ground with trembling hands, quickly scribbled a few lines on the document, and then said with a forced smile.

"Sir, you've completed the registration. What are your plans afterward? If you don't mind, our host family has some guest rooms available. We would be delighted to welcome you there."

Zhou You shook his head, and then said.

"I won't trouble you, but I have a question I'd like to ask."

"You say."

"Master, has old man Li Xiangming arrived yet? Do you have him registered here?"

Upon hearing this, the manager scratched his head.

"Well, there's more than one entrance, and the registrations at each place are different, so I really don't know if Manager Li has come or not. How about I ask him for you?"

"Never mind, I'll just find it myself."

After saying that, Zhou You ignored the steward and walked out on his own.

—The town before me is still the same town, but it has changed its appearance.

(End of this chapter)