Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 416 Inner Area
Zhou You's face darkened.

"Have you met my master?"

Cang Le smiled but said nothing.

Zhou You could only sigh and look at the guy.

"Tell me your conditions first."

Cang Le wiped his greasy hands and sat there as if he were sitting calmly on a fishing platform. Only when the waiter brought the roast chicken again did he slowly and seriously utter a sentence.

"beg"

"Ok?"

"Please, Big Brother!"

Suddenly, the voice turned high-pitched, then plummeted.

"Please, brother, have some mercy and help me out!"

".What?"

Zhou You was a little stunned, but at this moment Cang Le had already rolled off the chair, grabbed his leg, and cried bitterly.

"Brother, big brother, dear brother! I know you mean well, but you can't just abandon your little brother like this! In this damn world, even if you help me pay back the money for my stall, I can't hold on for long—for the sake of our close relationship, you have to lend me a hand!"

Seeing that expression that seemed to change completely, Zhou You was speechless.

"what do you mean?"

The guy straightened up, his face covered in snot and tears, and said with great conviction.

"Besides warming the bed, I can do a little bit of everything. I'll even lead your horse and hold the reins, brother. I'll do whatever you tell me to do. I don't ask for much. Just provide me with food and lodging, and give me a couple of cents to buy donkey hides. Is that alright?"

Its pitiful appearance was just like that of an abandoned puppy.

No, judging from this guy's appearance, he should be considered an abandoned donkey.
Zhou You finally said helplessly.

"Alright, but I also have to tell you, I'm also carrying the White Gate's curse. My money might disappear at any time, so don't blame me then."

Cang Le let go of his hand and grinned shamelessly.

"No, no, big brother, you only need to worry about me for the next few days. Once I've made the new shadow puppets, I'll just leave on my own."

Zhou You sighed, then stood up.

"Then let's not waste any more time. Where is my master? Take me there."

Unexpectedly, the other party did not move.

Zhou You frowned.

"Why aren't you leaving? Are you still hungry? Don't worry about that, I'll have them pack everything up later."

However, Cang Le showed a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Well... I only met Mr. Li briefly in town from afar; we didn't actually get together."

"Are you kidding me?"

Seeing Zhou You's increasingly cold expression, Cang Le seemed to recall the sword that almost cost him his life on the train, and hurriedly said something.

"No, no, no, even if you gave me eight lives, I wouldn't dare to mess with you—although I haven't had any contact with your master, I know he must be somewhere."

"where?"

Cang Le forced a smile.

"This ghost market is divided into two levels. As you can see, the upper level is basically a place to rip people off. But the lower level is different; it sells rare and precious treasures, which we call the 'border market'."

"My master was a penniless wretch, how could he end up in a place like that?"

Cang Le was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Brother, don't you know? The news that your master is going to redo the White Gate Soul-Summoning Banner has spread throughout the Ghost Market, causing quite a stir. And some of the materials can only be obtained from the border market."
-
Zhou You kept his brows furrowed as he walked.

Old Li had only mentioned the soul-summoning banner to him a few times. He only knew that it was used for some grand ceremonies—such as the ritual of opening the gates of hell during the Ghost Festival. It was also a symbol of the White Gate's leader. However, many years ago, due to an accident, the banner broke for some unknown reason. Since Old Li neither performed any ceremonies nor cared about the title of the person who held the banner, he never bothered to repair it.

Why did you suddenly decide to repair the banner at this time, and make it known throughout the city?

Zhou You became more and more puzzled. Cang Le, who now completely regarded himself as a follower, did not dare to speak casually when he saw this expression. He just ate a chicken leg with his mouth full of oil while leading the way with a smile.

Time passed slowly, until the half-bag of food was almost finished, at which point he called out to Zhou You.

"Brother, we've arrived."

Only then did Zhou You snap out of his reverie.

Looking up, the first thing you see is a completely different view.

What I saw, whether houses or streets, was completely different from what I had just seen—the manager had mentioned before that this ghost market was jointly operated by several businesses, essentially a patchwork of three or five towns. It was normal for the scenery to be unfamiliar, or even distorted to some extent.

Turning my gaze to Cang Le, I realized that in such a short time, he had already started arguing with a gatekeeper.

"I'm not qualified to go in, but this person is. What? You're saying this place doesn't welcome beggars, and the Beggars' Sect should get out of here? Damn it, would you dare say that if Yu Sanzhi were still alive?"

After arguing for a long time, seeing that the other side was still adamant, Cang Le had no choice but to back down.

Then, she said to Zhou You, sounding aggrieved.

"Brother, these guys are so prejudiced. They insist that you need a certain status to get into the market. Do you have any identification from Old Master Li? Our Pi family has been begging for generations, and our reputation is already terrible. I'm simply not qualified to get in."

Zhou You sighed.

"First of all, the first point."

"You say."

"Please stop calling me 'Big Brother.' Judging by your age, you're almost a decade older than me. It feels really awkward for me to address you like that."

"Then I should."

“Those who are going to the funeral in the White Gate are all called ‘Sir,’ so you can also call me Mr. Zhou as usual.”

Before Cang Le could reply, Zhou You made another move.

He lifted his hood, revealing the two swords.

"Old Li did give me some tokens before he left, but those couldn't be shown to others easily, so..."

"—If it's just my face, would that be enough to qualify me for entry?"

This time, the other party didn't argue at all.

—And the door that was hastily opened as if to send away a plague god has already proven everything.
-
We continued downwards along the dark road.

The spiral staircase stretched endlessly, seemingly leading straight to the underworld, and the only light around it was from torches, but the flames were not normal firelight, but rather cold, bluish flames devoid of any warmth.

Upon closer inspection, one can vaguely make out a blurry human face amidst the swaying motion.

These are souls that have fallen into the underworld, unable to escape, and ultimately destined to become fuel.

—And so, who knows how much time passed.

The road continued, but Cang Le suddenly called a stop. He fumbled around in a corner of the wall for a while, finally finding a very well-hidden switch. Then he took out Zhou You's name tag, stuffed it in, and pulled down the handle next to it.

After he finished doing all that, he explained it to Zhou You.

"No, Mr. Zhou, to prevent uninvited guests, this ghost market only ever opens half the way. Don't be fooled by the stairs; if you go any further down, you'll reach a bottomless abyss, and once you go in, you'll never come back."

As they were talking, a hidden crack appeared in the wall, and Cang Le simply said, "Go in," before taking the lead and squeezing through.

Strangely enough, the crack in the wall was only two fingers wide, but it managed to completely swallow up that figure. After a few seconds of silence, Zhou You also followed Cang Le's example and turned to squeeze into the crack in the door.

How to put it? It felt like being kneaded into a dough ball and then stretched back into a thin, flat surface. While it wasn't as abstract as the toilet flushing experience when passing through the underworld, it was still disgusting enough.

But when I opened my eyes again, the scene had changed completely.

At this moment, they were in an enormous hall, which at first glance looked to be at least three or four football fields in size, and the decoration was quite luxurious. However, compared to the area occupied, there were far fewer stalls here, at first glance only about a hundred. Moreover, unlike the deafening noise outside, this place was surprisingly quiet – even during transactions, there was hardly any sound.

Cang Le was right next to him, and when he saw Zhou You, he shamelessly fawned over him.

"As expected of Mr. Zhou, a normal person would feel nauseous for half a day after entering this kind of teleportation for the first time, but you didn't even blush or pant."

However, Zhou You suddenly interrupted his flattery, looked up, and gestured to a place not far away.

What are those people doing?

He was describing a stall that seemed to have been sold, but the seller and buyer didn't discuss the price. Instead, they shook hands and then covered their hands with their robe sleeves, seemingly doing something else entirely.

Cang Le glanced in the direction of his gaze and immediately burst into laughter.

"So that Mr. Zhou may know, this is the rule here—after all, everyone who comes here is a person of status, and no one wants to reveal too much of their information. Therefore, they do not speak verbally during transactions, but only hold hands to negotiate the price. Once a deal is made, they go to the market to pay and take the goods. If a deal is not made, they part ways. Look, they did not reach an agreement."

At this point, Cang Le suddenly seemed to remember something, slapped his forehead, and rummaged in his pocket for a while before pulling out two dirty masks.

"Mr. Zhou, you don't need to wear a hood here; it's useless. I have two masks here to conceal your identity, passed down from my ancestor. Now, seeing as we have a connection, I'll sell them to you cheaply for fifty taels."

Zhou You stared at him without saying a word.

Soon, Cang Le's words grew weaker and weaker. He coughed awkwardly twice, then handed over the items with a mournful face.

"But since we're so close, I'll just give them to you for free. Which one do you like?"

Zhou You had nothing to say about such a talent, so he simply tossed over a small ingot of silver, then picked out a Guan Gong image from the two masks and put it on his face.

Unlike its filthy appearance, the mask was surprisingly soft, fitting snugly against the skin without causing the slightest discomfort.

At this point, the system also provided a prompt.

"Congratulations, player! You have obtained the special item 'Shadow Puppet Mask'."

"Special; unusual."

"Effect: When you wear this mask, all your information will be kept secret from the outside world, and most divination spells cast on you will fail by default."

"In the beginning, the performer needed to get into character along with the shadow puppets."

It's a rare find, and buying it for less than ten taels is a great deal.

Zhou You glanced at Cang Le, carefully considering how many more gold coins this guy could generate—but after seeing his pitiful appearance, he finally gave up on the idea.

"So my master is here too?"

To everyone's surprise, Cang Le shook his head again.

"No, but Mr. Zhou, you can come with me."

After saying that, Cang Le put another mask on his face, then called out to Zhou You and walked towards the vendor he had been watching.

Upon seeing the guest arrive, he merely raised his head indifferently, glanced at him, and then spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Look around, choose for yourself, and give me a price if you like something, but don't ask where it came from."

Zhou You also lowered his head.

Just as Cang Le said, unlike on the ground, most of the items here are genuine.

Moreover, they are all genuine artifacts that exude an eerie and sinister aura.

He frowned slightly.

—The fake ones above are one thing, even though they're scammers, at least they didn't kill anyone. But this guy managed to get so many real ones.
Duanxie trembled slightly, but Zhou You simply patted the sword body gently, temporarily calming its impulse.

Cang Le didn't care at all, just smiled, and then picked up a pair of embroidered shoes stained with blood.

"Boss, how much is this thing worth?"

The stall owner gave him a cold look.

"Don't you know the rules? How can you ask for a price so casually? I'll give you a price, and you can decide whether it's acceptable."

After saying that, the stall owner raised his arm, just like before, and Cang Le grasped the bony hand without any hesitation.

However, just a few seconds later, the stall owner suddenly stopped.

Then, the face, blurred as if by some unknown spell, suddenly drooped down, and then whispered.

"Who are you? How do you know about this?"

Can Le smiled.

"I just noticed that some of the items on your stall looked familiar, and I happen to know where they came from. Don't be so nervous. I have no ill intentions, and I'm not here to settle scores with you over these things."

"So what do you want to do?"

"It's simple, where is the inner field today? Please tell me the location."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

The stall owner took a deep breath, then stretched out his hand and pointed to the side.

"On the left, the forty-second one, the password is 'Heaven tilts and earth collapses'."

A bright smile suddenly appeared on Cang Le's face beneath the mask.

"Thank you very much, brother. I won't bother you any longer."

Cang Le smiled and stepped back, but at that moment, the stall owner gently raised his hand and flicked something out of the blue without anyone noticing.

But while it was still in mid-air, a flash of sword light had already passed by, and the blood-red aura vanished in an instant, swallowing the thing up without leaving a trace.

The stall owner instantly vomited a mouthful of blood—but he dared not scream. Instead, he suppressed the metallic taste in his throat and asked in a muffled voice.

"What a vicious sword, what thick bloodlust! Who are you?"

Zhou You casually turned around, raised his hand, made an internationally recognized gesture, and then said the pseudonym he was used to.

"My surname is Shi."

“Mingnidie”.

(End of this chapter)