Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 460 Nightmare
With the sharpness of Zhou You's sword, it was as easy as slicing butter, cutting through it effortlessly.

Time seemed to stand still.

Wen Tianyi's horror, the astonishment of the Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain, and the uproar in the Zhongshan suit—all of these were frozen on their faces.

Finally, the monk's head fell to the ground.

"kill--"

Wen Tianyi ultimately didn't utter the final "了".

That's normal, since there's no blood flowing out from the cut at the neck.

Or rather, there wasn't even a trace of meat inside.

Beneath the empty shell, only a pale spine stands upright.

However, the head still wore a kind smile and spoke to Zhou You.

"What are you doing, benefactor?"

Zhou You smiled and squatted down, poking the wound with the tip of his sword.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask you what exactly you are?"

The head laughed.

“Aren’t you asking a question you already know the answer to? This old monk is Zhiguang from Putuo Temple. Mr. Lin just introduced me to you not long ago.”

However, before he could finish speaking, Zhou You interrupted him.

"Don't joke around. The outer skin has obviously been manipulated, and there isn't a trace of Buddhism inside. You're telling me this came from Putuo Temple? Are you kidding me?"

His head still had a compassionate appearance, but his eyes gradually turned cold.

"Before asking others, shouldn't you answer first? Lin Chen wouldn't have the face to hire an expert like you, so who are you?"

Zhou You smiled but did not answer.

Of course, the other party never expected to get an answer.

Suddenly, Wen Tianyi seemed to notice something unusual and shouted.

"Master, be careful, he looks like he's going to..."

Before he could finish speaking, the head suddenly swelled up, its skin turning a deep red, and even the surrounding temperature rose rapidly—

But the moment it exploded, the deep red malevolent energy enveloped it like mist, then casually tightened.

There was a muffled sound.

However, even under the sword's strangulation, not a single brick or stone broke.

Finally, only a faint, indistinct voice came through.

"You will regret this."

Zhou You simply rolled his eyes at him.

"Regret? I've gone through so many scripts, and I've never regretted it once."

"Moreover, you need to understand one thing: in reality, you are the challenger."

The night passed in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps feeling utterly ashamed, just as dawn was breaking, the previously boasted "successor of Longhu Mountain" and "leading figure of the divination school" each found an excuse and ran away with their heads bowed in shame.

Originally, Wen Tianyi also wanted to run away together, but someone let go of his two bodyguards and insisted on holding him back.

It looked like no force was used, but it felt like an iron clamp, impossible to break free from.

Wen Tianyi, being quite straightforward, immediately abandoned his previous attitude and began to beg for mercy.

"Sir, sir! I was blind, my eyes really were blind, but you've already reprimanded me, can you please forgive me this time? If you really can't, I'll give you some compensation for your emotional distress, please let me go."

Well, they've even come up with compensation for emotional distress?
However, Zhou You still didn't let go, but instead pressed Wen Tianyi down onto the sofa and then laughed.

"I don't need any money, I just want to ask you something."

"What's up?"

"When that guy self-destructed just now, did you recognize what he was? Could you tell me too?"

The face changed harmoniously, but for some reason, Wen Tianyi suddenly felt a tightness in his anus and his gaze began to wander.

"Uncle Zhou, I'm just an ordinary person. How could I possibly recognize you lot? I just noticed something was off, so I offered a heads-up."

This guy is obviously lying.

However, Zhou You did not expose him, but instead pinched Wen Tianyi's stomach with a smile on his face.

"Brother Wen seems to be living a good life; he's gained quite a bit of weight."

"Well, it's just that I personally have a particular fondness for good wine. Oh, by the way, Uncle Zhou, you seem to be a wine connoisseur as well. I have quite a few bottles of fine wine in my collection. If you don't mind, I'll send them all over to you later."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou You suddenly pressed a finger down on his fair and tender waist.

Wen Tianyi jumped up on the spot and screamed.

"—It hurts like hell! What the hell did you do?!"

In his intense pain, he lost even the honorifics, and Zhou You simply chuckled as he spoke.

"Don't be so angry. I just wanted to help you lose some weight, Brother Wen. By the way, have you ever seen a Stephen Chow movie?"

The abrupt change in his words even startled Wen Tianyi.

"what?"

"—It doesn't matter if you haven't seen it, but there's one form of torture in it. It involves burying a person in the ground, leaving only their head exposed. Then, a small slit is cut open, and mercury is poured in. The person will become increasingly itchy until they can't stand it anymore and suddenly jump out of the ground with a whoosh—and a complete human skin is peeled off."

Wen Tianyi suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"That's what you said."

Zhou You said with a smile.

"Although it's just something fictional in a movie, I think it's quite innovative, so I created my own technique. It involves injecting evil energy into the body. You won't see any problems for a while, but as time goes on, the areas affected by the evil energy will become increasingly itchy, and you'll scratch them more and more until you've picked out all the itchy spots—you see, pulling out all the fat from your body is the same as losing weight, isn't it?"

Looking at that seemingly harmless yet increasingly eerie smile, Wen Tian felt a cold sweat soak his back. He quickly pulled open his clothes to take a look.

Sure enough, a huge finger mark was imprinted on his stomach, with deep red lines spreading outwards. Although he didn't know what it was, it certainly didn't feel like anything good.

Wen Tianyi slumped down immediately, his face contorted with grief.

"Hey Uncle Zhou, I didn't do anything to you, did I? Why did you have to be so vicious?"

Zhou You, still smiling, patted Wen Tianyi's belly.

"I don't have that many demands. I just want you to tell me this guy's real identity. Besides, you've already gotten involved in this. If I get rid of the mastermind sooner, you'll be safer, right?"

Wen Tianyi hesitated for a long time before finally sighing.

"Uncle Zhou, have you ever heard of something called 'Southeast Asian black magic'?"

The luggage was heavy in the trunk, and Tong Fan had to use a lot of effort to squeeze it all in.

She closed the car hood, glanced longingly at her rented room one last time, then turned her head and whispered.

"Xiaochuan, are we really leaving?"

The person she called out to was her boyfriend, surnamed Xu, named Xiaochuan. He was a year older than her and also in the same club.

The figure in front had just opened the car door when he heard this, so he turned around and asked impatiently.

"What, you don't want to leave?"

Tong Fan paused for a few seconds, then continued, "I've only lived in this place for less than three months. If I leave, I won't get my remaining rent and deposit back. Besides, although I've applied for a leave of absence from university, if it's for too long..."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the man suddenly slammed the hood of the car hard.

"You're about to lose your life, what's the point of thinking about all that now! You know that perfectly well—"

Xu Xiaochuan's eyes were bloodshot as he shouted as if he wanted to devour someone.

"Bu Zhixin, Wei Yuan, Xiang Xiaoyu... how tragically they died! Even An Ming died a few days ago, and it looks like it's our turn soon. If we don't run now, it will be too late later!"

Tong Fan pursed her lips, but still obediently got into the car.

Although it was already past midnight, she still dared not fall asleep. She was afraid that when she closed her eyes, she would see those familiar yet tragically dead figures.

There was something she didn't tell Xu Xiaochuan.

Not long ago, she herself was able to see those things.

The rented van drove into the darkness.

Xu Xiaochuan's destination was his hometown—according to him, there was a very popular temple there, and his elders were familiar with the abbot, so if he simply wanted to avoid it, there shouldn't be any problem.

Tong Fan neither confirmed nor denied this.

The previous victims had also considered this method, but no matter where they hid, whether in famous mountains and temples or Taoist monasteries and churches, they all ended up with the same fate.

However, Tong Fan didn't dare to say this.

After all, she didn't know how to solve the problem, so she could only let it go and try to grasp at this last straw.

Traffic wasn't heavy at midnight, but Xu Xiaochuan's temper grew increasingly agitated. He even started smashing things randomly at every traffic light.

He wasn't always like this.

Just three months ago, Xu Xiaochuan was a well-known talent at school, having participated in many competitions and won numerous awards. He was also known for his excellent manners and refined demeanor.

But now.
He was nearly driven mad by fear.

—Of course, so am I.

Tong Fan shook his head and turned his gaze to the window.

We had already left the city and were driving on a road leading to the highway—this area seemed undeveloped, surrounded by vast stretches of wasteland, with only the stark white streetlights providing some illumination.

With the absence of traffic lights and other vehicles, Xu Xiaochuan became much quieter. However, he started smoking one cigarette after another until the small space was filled with pungent smoke.

Tong Fan wanted to open the window to let in some fresh air, but after trying several times, he realized that the crank handle seemed to be broken, so he could only sit back down in his chair and look out the window again, feeling bored.

however.

She quickly noticed something was amiss.

At first, she thought it was her imagination, but after rubbing her eyes, she immediately showed an extremely frightened expression and pulled hard on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Xiaochuan, Xiaochuan!"

"I'm driving, what are you doing!"

Xu Xiaochuan glared with bloodshot eyes, forcibly suppressing his urge to take action, but he still turned his head and scolded him with spittle flying everywhere.

However, Tong Fan didn't pay attention. Instead, he shakily raised his hand and pointed to a road sign ahead.

"Xiaochuan, we just passed this sign, and it says the exact same thing."

"You must be mistaken. Isn't this just an ordinary sign?"

Xu Xiaochuan shuddered slightly, but after looking at the ordinary sign with nothing unusual about it, he calmed down a little.

However, this sense of relief lasted for less than five minutes.

When the sign reappeared in front of the car, the lettering remained unchanged.

Similarly, it is 30 kilometers away from Shahu Village.

Xu Xiaochuan felt he was losing his grip on the steering wheel, but he still forced himself to stay focused, speaking as if to comfort Tong Fan, or perhaps to comfort himself.

"No, it's alright, but... it might be a mislabeling. This kind of thing happens often in places like this."

However, when the sign appeared for the third time, all self-hypnosis failed.

The same green color, the same lettering, even the surrounding lights and the rust on the iron pillars are exactly the same.

Xu Xiaochuan finally panicked and instinctively tried to step on the brakes—but the car seemed to malfunction, and no matter how hard he tried, the speed did not decrease at all.

Meanwhile, after trying several times, Tong Fan also cried out.

"Xiaochuan, the door seems to be locked too, we can't open it at all! And the glass can't be broken either, we're trapped!"

Now that things have come to this, everyone will understand.

—It's finally come to me.

Slumped helplessly in his seat, Xu Xiaochuan stared blankly ahead.

Until, the road sign came into view again.

But this time, the font finally changed.

It's no longer: "30 kilometers away from Shahu Village," but a deep red sentence, as if it were painted with blood.

"Only one of the two can remain."

What do you mean?
Xu Xiaochuan was stunned for several seconds before his slow-witted brain finally caught up.

He turned his neck with a creaking sound, looking at his girlfriend, who also understood and whose face was filled with terror.

—Is this meant to make us kill each other?

—Tong Fan is thin and skinny; if I wanted to, I could easily kill her, but…
However, before he could figure it out, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest and abdomen.

Lower your head.

He then discovered that a dagger was stuck in his stomach, and blood was gushing out uncontrollably.

He raised his eyes in disbelief.

His own girlfriend, that gentle and frail girl, was now twisting the dagger with a ferocious expression, tearing apart her own internal organs.

"Xiaochuan, I have something to tell you."

It was still that warm tone, but now it was as vicious as a snake.

“It should have been my turn earlier, but I pushed Anming down, which is how I survived.”

"So, for my sake, you will die too."

"Okay?"

I do not know how long it has been.

The violently shaking car finally came to a stop.

Compared to before, there was no sound inside at all; not even the slightest exhalation could be seen.

A figure dressed in a black robe staggered over, scraped the blood that kept seeping out from the crack in the window, then looked at the two dead faces pressed against the glass door, shook his head, and softly uttered a sentence.

"After all these years, the world is still the same."

"But don't worry, I will find you eventually."

　I haven't been feeling well lately, and I'm planning to go to the hospital tomorrow. If it's nothing serious, I might post a couple more chapters in the next day or two to make up for what I've been missing.

　　Jiuyue expresses her gratitude here.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)