Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 431 Discussion
Seeing that he was about to be caught by Zhou You, the man kept trying to hide outside.

"No, no, you've mistaken me for someone else."

"I've mistaken you for someone else!"

Zhou You's agility was ultimately superior; just as the opponent was about to slip out the door, Zhou You had already hooked his belt with the hilt of his sword.

The person now faces two choices.

One option is to avoid being held down by Zhou You, and the other is to take off your belt and run out naked.

If it were Old Man Li, he probably would have chosen option two without hesitation. But the man opposite him still had some pride and couldn't bear the humiliation of running naked in the snow. After hesitating for a long time, he raised his hands, grinned sheepishly, and turned around.

"Sir, it's been a long time! Have you eaten yet?"

Old Li also poked his head out at this moment, chewing on some snacks while speaking indistinctly.

"Isn't this the current head swordsman of the Hun Dao Sect? What are you doing in the North? Also, do you know my disciple?"

The man quickly waved his hand.

"I don't know you, I don't know you—no, no, I do know you, but we were just strangers who met by chance, wouldn't you agree, sir?"

The person kept giving Zhou You meaningful glances, but Zhou You didn't give him any face at all, and instead spoke slowly.

"Master, I do recognize him. When I was on the run with Shang Jun, we were ambushed by a group of powerful figures, and this fellow was one of them."

"Oh?"

Old Man Li drew out a meaningful sound, still smiling, but his eyes grew colder and colder. He slowly grasped the soul-summoning banner and then silently looked at the person.

At the same time, the noise in the whole room quieted down.

Although this group was disorganized and undisciplined, Zhou You was, after all, their nominal leader, and he also had close ties with the two wealthy tycoons.
Now that the leader's enemy is right here, who wouldn't want to be the first to win?
Needless to say, those who had a close relationship with Hanlu Flower Lady Xiao Dushui had already silently blocked the doorway, and Cang Le even began to shout loudly.

"You dare to lay a hand on Master Zhou? You're asking for trouble!"

Wait a minute, do you even have the nerve to say that?

Yuan Chengwen's reaction was relatively normal. He paused for a moment, then smiled.

"I never expected such an uninvited guest to grace us with my presence on such a joyous occasion, folks. How about we give me, Yuan, some face and not make a move here? Let my men throw him in jail first, and then we can interrogate him at our leisure?"

It was obvious that they wanted to intervene. Some of them looked indignant, but most of them were full of understanding, and some even nodded in agreement.

You have to understand that prisons now are nothing like they used to be. There are no human rights or anything like that. Usually, being imprisoned is not much different from waiting to die, and you might even suffer more torture in between.

The man from the Hun Dao Sect was almost in tears. He held the long sword in his hand, unsure whether to pull it out or not. His old face turned red with frustration, and it took him a long time to finally manage to squeeze out a few words.

"Sir, you can't do this! It's true that I participated in the ambush, but I knew nothing about it at the time, and I withdrew halfway through. I didn't even have a chance to fight you!"

Zhou You just stared at him, silently.

Only when the sweat poured down his face like rain did Zhou You finally laugh.

"That's true. If you hadn't left, we probably would have been in serious trouble that time. So, in that sense, I should thank you?"

"Don't dare, don't dare"

"Speaking of which, this is only the second time we've met. I still don't know your name, brother."

"My surname is Wei, and my given name is Wunian. If you don't mind, you can call me Xiao Wei."

Well, another one who values ​​seniority above all else.

Zhou You didn't say anything more, but loosened the man's belt and gave Old Man Li a wink.

Old Man Li understood immediately, dropped the soul-summoning banner, and then called to the crowd.

"Alright, alright, it's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Let's all disperse. And you there, put your weapons away. How can this be proper with Governor-General Yuan in front of us!"

With Old Man Li's smooth-talking reassurance, the commotion quickly subsided, and everyone else returned to their seats—those without seats found a place to crouch and wait for the continuation of this unexpected meeting.

Zhou You, Xiao Dushui, and Yuan Chengwen, as representatives of the three parties, sat together at the head of the table. Yuan Chengwen, who had been in officialdom for a long time and was very shrewd, smiled and was about to speak.

"It's not easy for everyone to gather here today, and I feel truly honored. Most of the people here were gathered by Mr. Zhou, so please welcome Mr. Zhou."

However, this polite conversation was interrupted by Zhou You.

"Governor Yuan."

"Mr. Zhou, what advice do you have for me?"

"The situation is critical now, let's skip the formalities and get straight to the point."

Yuan Chengwen showed no anger at these words. He hesitated for a few seconds before slowly speaking.

"Since you put it that way, sir, then I won't stand on ceremony. But where should I begin?"

He glanced around at the motley crew of people, frowned, but didn't mention his guest's miserable state. Instead, he started talking about something else.

"Actually, as you can see, our revolutionary army is in a very bad situation. Not long ago, our offensive was thwarted, and now we have retreated nearly a hundred miles. The whole army is in a state of panic and morale is extremely low."

This couldn't be kept secret from others, so he simply confessed.

But then, he changed the subject again.

"As you all know, we have suffered from evil spirits and countless other unspeakable monsters. I believe my troops are all elite and capable, but mortals are still mortals, and they are simply no match for these things."

"But you are different. You are all seasoned veterans when it comes to these things, and you must have ways to deal with them—I, Yuan, would like to first thank you all for your timely help, and then..."

It must be said that Yuan Chengwen truly lived up to his name; with just a few words, he effortlessly elevated the others to the highest esteem, as if they were the key saviors of this battle.

Those present were, after all, from the lowest rungs of society, men who had spent years mingling at the bottom of society. Even the clerks and yamen runners had no real status. Now, the governor-general had lowered himself to offer them such polite and flattering compliments.
Anyone would feel a sense of elation.

Only now did Zhou You take Yuan Chengwen seriously.

Regardless of his character or methods, the fact that he has survived to this day and even holds a high position under the Empress Dowager's decades-long targeted killings is indeed quite remarkable.

Hmm, the more I look at this guy, the more he seems like Yuan Shikai. Should I wait until everything is settled and then find an opportunity to take him out?

Yuan Chengwen didn't notice Zhou You's gaze. After giving a brief speech and provoking the group to swear an oath, he sent most of them away under the guise of a welcome banquet.

In the blink of an eye, only Zhou You and his party, along with some key leaders, remained in the room.

A brief silence fell over the scene.

After a short while, Old Man Li suddenly clapped his hands and laughed.

"As expected of a descendant of the Yuan family, you've inherited seven-tenths of your great-uncle's eloquence—hey Yuan boy, after you lose power, are you interested in joining my ranks of the nine classes? Putting aside everything else, you'll definitely have a place in the fortune-telling profession."

Yuan Chengwen seemed oblivious to the veiled sarcasm, and instead sat back down in his seat, then laughed.

"Who knows, that day might really come? When that time comes, I'll ask Manager Li to take good care of us."

However, at that moment, Zhou You suddenly tapped on the table.

"Brother Yuan, it was fine if you just lied to us to avoid damaging morale, but now that we're all gone, just tell us the truth."

Yuan Chengwen lowered his head, and then let out a soft sigh.

"Then let's do as you say, sir." Soon, Yuan Chengwen recounted the previous situation of Elder Cheng in detail.

As a result, everyone's face darkened, including Old Man Li's.

After a while, Lady Hua spoke.

"I had heard of Elder Cheng of the Feng Shui school before. He was a well-established figure among the nine schools of thought. Although he wasn't particularly strong in direct combat, his Feng Shui formations were so intricate that few in the world could easily break through them. No one expected him to die like this."

Xiao Dushui, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

"And most importantly, it only took two hours from the time they entered until they were turned into monsters. Doesn't this confirm that the great monsters of the world were created by the Manchu Qing dynasty?"

In the blink of an eye.

There was a loud 'crack!' sound.

Everyone looked up and realized that Old Man Li had unknowingly crushed the cup, but he quickly waved his hand to wipe away the blood, and then said nonchalantly.

"Sorry, I didn't use enough strength just now. Please continue."

Zhou You glanced at her with some concern, and saw that Hua Niangzi was already rushing to bandage her wounds before he spoke.

"Brother Yuan, you told me before that Elder Cheng discovered something before he was completely corrupted. Could you tell me more about it now?"

Yuan Chengwen nodded, then clapped his hands.

Soon, two soldiers filed in, laid out a secondary map, saluted, and then went out again.

Yuan Chengwen stood up, took out a long pole, and tapped on the map.

"Elder Cheng."

However, when he uttered the word, his expression darkened, and he took a deep breath before continuing.

"Old Cheng risked his life and finally found out some problems. Starting from the lost city of Beijing, the remaining Qing troops and most of the rebels now occupy these positions."

Everyone looked down, and after a while, Xiao Dushui suddenly frowned.

"Is this a feng shui formation?"

"I don't know that much, but that's what Mr. Cheng said."

Yuan Chengwen drew several lines on the map.

"There are a total of these key nodes, but after eliminating most of the irrelevant ones, we can find three nodes: Changshui Temple, Nanjiazhuang, and Zhengqiandao."

"According to Cheng Lao's estimate, as long as one can be opened up, Beijing can be revealed; if two can be opened up, small troops can break in; and if three can be opened up, our army can move freely."

Cang Le suddenly spoke.

"So what's the current situation? How many connections have you managed to get through?"

Yuan Chengwen smiled wryly, realizing how rash his words were.

"Zero."

"What?"

"So that you all know, the current situation of our army is actually more dire than I just described—ever since I learned of Elder Cheng's assessment, I have been sending my men to repeatedly attack these places, and without exception, they have all been driven back."

Zhou You spoke calmly.

"Spiritual disturbance?"

Yuan Chengwen shook his head.

"I knew I didn't have many capable men, so I always tried to avoid the chaos. It was actually the Qing army that drove us back."

Xiao Dushui interrupted at this moment.

"Now that the Qing Dynasty is in decline, everyone knows it cannot last long. How could those Qing troops be so high-spirited that they could even fight your elite troops back?"

"Because those Qing soldiers were no longer human, or rather, they were just wearing a layer of human skin on the outside, but were no longer human beings inside."

Silence fell once again.

However, this time it lasted a long time, and soon Zhou You spoke again.

"Then may I ask, Brother Yuan, what countermeasures do you have? Or what do you intend for us to do to break through these key points?"

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Yuan Chengwen suddenly laughed.

Unlike before, this smile was almost cold, even somewhat cruel.

"Before I came here, the eight major families had already spoken to me. They said that after spending so much money, we should see some results. You know, businessmen are always profit-driven, and if the Empress Dowager really turns things around this time, they will be the first to die."

"So, it all boils down to using human lives to fill the gaps."

"We're risking lives to give you all a chance to break through the bottleneck."

After the discussion ended, Zhou You ran into Xiao Dushui again as he walked out the door.

This person, as if having waited for a long time, first smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

"I am very grateful to Mr. Zhou for his presence."

Zhou You didn't know what to say to this guy who had been inexplicably well-intentioned, so he simply cupped his hands in return and asked.

"May I ask what brings you here, Daoist Master?"

However, the other party did not give any answer. Instead, after looking Zhou You up and down a few times, he suddenly said.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask, Mr. Zhou, where do you plan to go after you've finished your business here?"

Empress Dowager Cixi hasn't even died yet, how come we're suddenly talking about something so far off?

Zhou You was a little confused, and it took him a while to speak.

"I guess he'll continue traveling the world with his master. What's wrong?"

Of course, this is a complete lie—then Empress Dowager Cixi was probably the culprit behind this script. After killing her, the Black Book might have directly sent him back.

However, Xiao Dushui seemed to see through him, gave him another deep look, and then said.

"Actually, it doesn't mean anything else. It's just that if you have some free time in the future, I hope you can come to our Shangqing Sect once."

"Another attempt to switch sects? Didn't I already say that Old Man Li has treated me well, and I won't do it for now?"

However, Xiao Dushui interrupted him earnestly.

"No, sir, you may have misunderstood something. I never wanted you to switch sects. It was just that Master Li interfered and took you away from us."

"All I want is one thing."

"That is recognizing one's ancestors and returning to one's roots."

(End of this chapter)