Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 430 Photos
This was the first time Zhou You had his picture taken in this era.

Those in ghost towns don't count; they're just imitations, all that's a shell, but inside they're still full of evil and torment.

Howard removed the black cloth, fiddled with it for a while, and then finally raised his head from behind.

"Immortal, please wait a moment. I'm not quite familiar with this either, so it will probably take a while."

Zhou You casually crossed his legs and then laughed.

"It's alright, it was just a spur-of-the-moment idea. By the way, judging from your thing, it should be a dry film camera?"

Howard was taken aback.

"You, a deity, even know this? I thought you Chinese were all ignorant and foolish bastards."

"What are they?"

Howard realized he had said the wrong thing and immediately shut his mouth.

Zhou You didn't argue with him. Along the way, from the countryside to the opium-smoked concessions, he knew how the people of the Qing Dynasty were perceived by others.

Unfortunately, Yuan Chengwen was no savior and eventually saw his own dawn.

However, after this incident, Zhou You lost his mood for joking around. He just sat there quietly, waiting for Howard to finish his preparations.

As for the Cold Dew beside it.
The girl made no preparations to appear from the start; in fact, she even gripped the fan handle with her hand, as if she would strike without mercy if the other party made any outrageous move.

After working for a long time, Howard finally looked up, covered in sweat, and said to Zhou You.

"Immortal, smile. No, no, no, don't smile with that murderous look on your face. Be more amiable. That's too awkward. Just be yourself. Yes, yes, that's it."

With a flash of light, what was ultimately captured in the camera was Zhou You's usual smiling face.

However, when he took out the film, Howard suddenly paused, and then scratched his head.

"what happened?"

"No, it's nothing, it's just that something seems off. It's not that I've slapped it, it's just that I'll just let it wash and see."

Howard muttered to himself as he took the photo to the darkroom to develop it—the photography process in this era was extremely complicated, and it should have taken two or three hours to produce a single photograph—but just as he was about to finish, Yuan Chengwen's men suddenly came over.

Moreover, he seemed to be in a great hurry.

It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea to kill time, so Zhou You didn't care too much. After waving goodbye from afar, he got up and left with the soldier.

When Howard emerged, he found only an empty living room and a half-empty cup of tea.

"No, why are you in such a hurry? I was just about to say that the photos are ready and you should come and take a look. These photos are really weird. And if you're going to leave, at least let Miss Hanlu stay."

Howard shook his head and went back into the room. He had just taken out that strange photograph, but when he got to the oven, he suddenly froze.

"Wait, where are my photos??"

Zhou You, who had already gone quite far away, naturally knew nothing of this.

He and Hanlu followed the soldiers all the way to the commander's mansion—this time, Yuan Da Nao didn't try to hide anything, but the situation...
It looks worse than before.

Even the guards at the gate had bloodshot eyes, their uniforms were covered in blood and dirt, and they looked like they were neurotic, watching everyone coming and going with a wary and horrified expression.

As for other places, let's not even mention them.

On his way in, Zhou You saw about a dozen stretchers rushing past.

What was being carried on top were not wounded, but the dead covered with white sheets.

Although the white sheet obscured the view underneath, judging from the amount of bleeding, the deaths of these people must have been extremely gruesome.

This suspicion was confirmed when he met Yuan Chengwen.

The once spirited middle-aged man now looked exhausted. He sat in the armchair, and although his clothes were still smart, he couldn't hide the weariness in his eyes.

However, upon seeing Zhou You enter, he forced himself to cheer up and smiled at Zhou You.

"Long time no see, Mr. Zhou. It's nice to see you again. I heard that you recently assumed the position of leader of the martial arts alliance. I was so slow to receive the news that I didn't have time to send a congratulatory gift. I hope you can forgive me."

Zhou You sized him up for a while, then laughed as well.

"Brother Yuan, let's not stand on ceremony. Where's your feng shui master? Was that neither-here-nor-there evil-average feng shui arrangement he set up? Where is he? Where did he go?"

Yuan Chengwen didn't expect him to be so direct, and he fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Let Cheng Lao forget about it. Sir, come with me and you'll see for yourself."

After saying this, Yuan Chengwen shook his head, dismissed his men, and led Zhou You into the inner room.

Unlike the hall outside where guests were received, all the windows in this room were sealed off, and not a single candle was lit. The entire room was pitch black, without a trace of light.

"Governor Yuan, what do you mean by this?"

These words were not spoken by Zhou You, but by Han Lu.

Yuan Chengwen sighed and then slowly explained.

“Girl, this isn’t me setting up an ambush—at this point, if I were to scheme against you, wouldn’t I be asking for trouble? It’s just that we’re old and we can’t be brought into the light.”

As he spoke, he took out a bead from his sleeve, wiped it a few times, and placed it on the table.

Soon, a dim light shone through, slightly illuminating the surroundings.

—This was a luminous pearl worth a thousand gold pieces, but Yuan Chengwen was using it as a candle wick!

But neither Zhou You nor Hanlu paid any attention to these things.

The two men stared intently at something in the room. Then, Zhou You finally spoke.

"Old Cheng?"

It's not an affirmative sentence, but a question.

No wonder he is.

Because at this very moment, right at the innermost part of this room, there was only a strange thing slowly wriggling.

At first glance, it looks like a skinless lump of meat, with white fat and blood vessels exposed to the air. But its nature is like an amorphous gel. Whenever it wriggles, its entire body is constantly changing, as if trying to conjure up some kind of substance—but in the end, it always collapses back to its original form.

But only an old face floated on it, its eyes filled with terror, yet also with utter emptiness.

Judging from this face alone, this is undoubtedly a master of feng shui.

After a long silence, Zhou You suddenly spoke up and asked.

"Was this caused by evil spirits?"

However, Yuan Chengwen shook his head with a wry smile.

"A few minor disturbances, and none of them are the kind of great evil spirits that can alter the laws of heaven and earth. With the level of an elder, it would be impossible for them to have caused such a mess."

"That is how the matter?"

This time, Yuan Chengwen remained silent for even longer before finally speaking slowly.

"Old Cheng... he eventually made it into Beijing." Zhou You didn't interrupt, so Yuan Chengwen continued speaking.

“BJ did disappear, but Master Cheng is a master of feng shui after all. So after a long period of deduction, he finally found a flaw. I disagreed at first, but Master Cheng is skilled and daring, so he took a few personal guards and forced his way in.”

However—

"He was forced to vomit again in the same place."

Yuan Chengwen gritted his teeth, and for the first time, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes.

"Along with those personal guards, the group of people were forcibly merged together, as if in a provocation, and then spat out."

"What do you mean?"

"Literally, they were missing their hands and feet, their bodies seemingly joined together as if by nature. Of course, they didn't look like that back then. Elder Cheng was still conscious and instructed me to set up a feng shui arrangement outside, then told me to create a secret room and put them inside. And then..."

Yuan Chengwen sighed.

"In less than half a month, I watched them melt away little by little, then gather together again, eventually turning into this gelatinous form. At first, Old Cheng could still say a few words to me, but now..."

Yuan Chengwen sighed repeatedly, while Zhou You frowned and probed the target with his sword.

The scabbard of the Demon-Slaying Sword was made of ebony, which itself had a certain power to ward off evil. Just as the sword was about to approach, the writhing creature hurriedly dodged away as if oil had come into contact with fire.

This alone might not prove anything, but the next second, Duan Xie suddenly unleashed a burst of murderous aura, instantly burning that large part of his body to ashes.

Such a violent reaction goes beyond the level of evil people or demons; it is...
"Has he become possessed?"

Yuan Chengwen nodded silently, tacitly agreeing.

"How long did it take for Elder Cheng to come to Beijing?"

"In less than two hours."

At this moment, Hanlu suddenly spoke.

"It hasn't been long, and I've heard about Master Cheng's skill level. He's definitely not as good as Li Zhangfan in his prime, but he's not far from my master's level."

Zhou You glanced at the girl with some surprise, but still said it with certainty.

"Indeed, for such a small skill to transform a lowly expert into a demon, the old lady's methods are indeed very strange. Has this person said anything else before?"

Yuan Chengwen paused for a moment, then continued.

"Old Cheng did say that Beijing has now become a feng shui formation, and if you want to break it..."

However, before he could finish speaking, a soldier rushed in and whispered a few words in his ear.

Yuan Chengwen first frowned, then relaxed, and then his face showed surprise.

"—Mr. Zhou, my subordinate just reported that there's a man claiming to be your master at the door, with a group of men, who wants to come in and ask questions."

"Old Li? You've arrived just in time. Well then, we can talk about it when we get there."

Zhou You, carrying the Broken Blade, was about to leave the house—but before he left, he suddenly remembered something and said something else.

“I’m talking about Governor Yuan.”

"what happened?"

"Do you need my help?"

This time, Yuan Chengwen remained silent for a very long time.

After a long pause, he spoke with difficulty but with unwavering resolve.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, sir."

So Duan Xie swung his sword, instantly igniting the mass of flesh with his malevolent energy. In the deep red mist, Elder Cheng gradually turned into ashes.
-
When they returned to the hall, sure enough, they immediately saw Old Man Li's unserious old face.

Even though he has put aside his resentment now, he can't change his lewd habits anytime soon—or rather, he never intended to change them at all—at this moment, he is sitting in that armchair, munching on the pastries on the table like a starving ghost reincarnated.

If it were just eating, that would be one thing, but this man was also casually hiding food in his crotch. The two guards next to him were watching with bated breath, but knowing that this was the governor's guest, neither of them dared to say anything.

Upon seeing Zhou You come out, Old Man Li immediately took a few pastries and stuffed them into Zhou You's hands with a cheerful smile.

"Apprentice, try this. You can't usually find this taste in restaurants. And there's more."

As he spoke, he caught a glimpse of Hanlu beside him, and his old face became even more agitated.

"Hey apprentice, you're something else. A man and a woman spending so much time together alone, if this had happened earlier, do you think you wouldn't have chosen her?"

"I said, Master."

"What's wrong?"

"You and Lady Hua have been spending time together alone for several months. By all accounts, you should have already slept together, right? Should I pay for a newspaper ad to publicize this to everyone across the country?"

Old Li immediately shut up, but fortunately, Yuan Chengwen suddenly interrupted.

"But is it Li Zhangfan in person? I have met him."

Upon hearing this, Old Man Li turned his head, examined the object closely for a few moments, and then scratched his greasy hair.

"I have heard of you, after all, you're the only one in the Yuan family to have changed your surname and lineage. I also know that you rose to the position of governor-general and became the leader of the revolutionary army. But I don't think I've ever seen you before. How do you recognize me?"

Yuan Chengwen said respectfully.

"When I was in charge of the banner-raising ceremony to exorcise demons and evil spirits, I was very young. However, thanks to Banner Master Li's righteous intervention, I was spared. I still remember it vividly and have always wanted to find an opportunity to repay him."

"Really? I don't recall it."

However, before the two could finish their polite exchanges, Zhou You interrupted them.

"Master, I have another question."

"What?"

Zhou You pointed to the rest of the people in the room.

It was densely packed with heads.

"Xiao Dushui, Cang Le, Hua Niangzi, the Tie family, the fortune teller, the musician. I know them all, but where are the others? How come you've brought so many people from just a few days ago?"

Upon hearing this, Old Man Li immediately beamed with joy.

"This is all thanks to you, my disciple—the eight great Shanxi merchants plus the Feng family, their wealth is enough to shake half of the Qing Dynasty. With the bounty being offered recently, all sorts of money-grubbing scoundrels... oh no, I mean all sorts of heroes have rushed over. Sure enough, we encountered a group of them on the way, and they were all renowned masters."

Zhou You didn't respond, but instead carefully examined the group of guys before suddenly taking a few quick steps.

One of them, sensing something was wrong, immediately tried to hide in the crowd—but he was spotted by the sharp eyes of the other.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing here, kid?"

　The content about ⑧ (that part) was unacceptable, so I had to delete and completely rewrite it. Then I added the next chapter's content to reach 4000 words.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)