Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 485 Getting Started
Zhou You hesitated for a few seconds, then boldly took a bite.

First, we're at their mercy; there's no need to poison these kids. Second, everyone else is wolfing down their food; it would be too conspicuous for one person not to eat.

He was still completely clueless about this world, and since he was inhabiting the body of a child, it was best not to attract the attention of this 'ancestor' until he understood the specifics.

To be honest, the pickled chicken was only so-so. Probably because of the excessive salt added for preservation, it made my throat feel sore after just a few bites. The steamed buns were also dry and hard, and I could only barely swallow them with water.

However, it is still a rare find.

These children were taken from villages or by human traffickers. They've barely had enough to eat since they were little. They only get to eat two pieces of boiled pork during the Lunar New Year—and that's only in good years. Their diet consists mainly of tree roots, wild vegetables, and coarse grains. Now they can eat meat to their heart's content.
Honestly, many children who have lived to this day have never experienced this kind of enjoyment.

Just as Zhou You was sipping water and eating meat, the boy called Aqua quietly moved closer.

"Big brother, have you finished eating?"

Zhou You looked at the little face covered in oil and couldn't help but chuckle.

This kid supposedly suffered a serious illness when he was young, which damaged his brain and made him a bit impaired. So, among the group of kids, he was the one who was bullied the most, and his meals were stolen twice out of the three meals he ate each day.

Zhou You, the original owner of this body, was someone who couldn't stand bullying. He had stood up for them a few times and even fought with them a few times—which is why he was whipped by Xuan Cheng—and from then on, he was treated like an older brother by this kid.

"I'm eating. What's wrong? Are you running out of noodles? Can I share some with you?"

Unexpectedly, Aqua smiled foolishly and repeatedly declined.

"No, no, no, big brother, I heard from others that this chicken leg is the most delicious, so I specially saved it for you. You eat it, you eat it!"

Looking at the chicken leg eagerly handed over by the kid, and then at the drool all over it, Zhou You shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Alright, I have a small appetite, I can't even finish this much, you can keep it for yourself."

"Yes, but."

“Senior Brother Xuancheng has set a time limit for each meal. If you go over the time limit, be careful you will be whipped.”

Bringing up Genshin was indeed effective. Aqua quickly devoured the chicken leg, then crouched down and carefully began munching on the remaining white steamed bun.

Zhou You picked up the roast chicken again and slowly ate his portion.

Not long after.

The children had almost finished wolfing down their food when the 'Sect Leader' clapped his hands at the opportune moment.

"Now that everyone has eaten and drunk their fill, it's time for us to get down to business."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the candles in the room suddenly lit up.

Similarly, I was finally able to see my surroundings clearly.

—This house is bigger than I imagined.

Moreover, it's not just a little bigger, it's much bigger.

From the outside, this place looks like a small auditorium, the kind used by village committees. Normally, it's considered good if it can hold a few dozen people, but now...
Zhou You looked around and saw that the lights were bright, and it looked like a sports field at first glance. But for some reason, apart from their place, the rest of the place was empty. Apart from a candlestick every three steps, there was no furniture or decorations.

Some of the timid children were startled and instinctively tried to shrink to the side, but were immediately kicked back.

—It was a Taoist priest standing nearby who kicked it.

Looking at the toddler rolling around like a gourd, he simply said one sentence.

"If you don't want to die so quickly, you'd better behave yourself."

Under the intense dog training during this period, the toddler didn't dare to say a word and obediently shrank back.

As for Zhou You
Zhou You simply stared blankly at that space.

—It's a strange feeling. Even though there's nothing there and you can't see any eerie presence, it still gives you the illusion of being 'filled'.

just.

Even when he pushed the Heavenly Dragon Bloodline to its limit, he still couldn't see anything in that space—even the flickering candlelight remained unchanged.

It was just empty, there was nothing there.

Seeing that the sect leader had finished speaking and was now looking at the crowd, Zhou You could only turn his gaze away and stop paying attention to this matter.

However, he silently noted this anomaly in his mind.

After lighting the candles, the person behind the curtain seemed to have exhausted a lot of energy, and after breathing heavily for a while, she finally spoke.

"Originally, the initiation ceremony should be a grand affair, at least not as shabby as this. However, these are turbulent times, and the sect itself has some troubles, so we can only simplify it for now. But we will make up for it again when we have the opportunity."

His kind and polite words were still the same—hearing this rare kindness during this period, coupled with the full meal after enduring hunger, even made many children cry out loud.

However, whether it was fear, panic, or the emotion he felt, the sect leader did not react in any way and simply continued speaking calmly.

"Huazheng".

Another person stepped forward from the queue next to them.

"The disciple is here."

"This is the last batch. Try to speed things up and go get the Heart-Knocking Mirror."

"Yes."

Without hesitation, the man turned and walked out.

However, Zhou You still keenly noticed one thing.

—When this person went out, he avoided that empty place from beginning to end, and only walked out along the narrow road next to it, not daring to cross the line.

Then, the sect leader spoke again.

"Let me take this opportunity to explain the details to you."

"First of all, our sect is called the Five Aggregates Temple—I don't need to say much about that. Although we can't be considered one of the most famous sects in the world, we're not small either. We can even receive an invitation to the Tianyuan Conference every ten years."

Tianyuan Conference?

Although he had never heard of it before, Zhou You felt it was a pretty important term, so he quietly made a note of it.

But just as they finished speaking, the figure behind the curtain suddenly bent over and coughed laboriously.

The sound was heart-wrenching, as if it were coughing up all the internal organs—soon, two more people stepped forward, untied water bags from their waists, and then slipped into the curtain to respectfully feed the contents of the bags to the sect leader.

After a long while, the coughing finally subsided.

The two men retreated respectfully, their faces showing no extra emotion.

Then, the much weaker voice rang out again.

"Sorry, sorry, my body is getting old, and I always have some symptoms. Right, where was I?"

No one answered.

After a while, perhaps captivated by this benevolent attitude, a child whispered, "Grandmaster, have we received the invitation?"

The gaze behind the curtain instantly shifted.

The child realized he had said something wrong, and quickly lowered his head, trembling.

Fortunately, that person didn't pursue the matter, but continued to laugh.

"That's right. You should know that invitations are not something that just anyone can get. Back in the day, our sect achieved a top-three ranking at the event. It's a pity that times have changed. Now we can hardly even gather enough people to attend. As junior disciples, you should take this as a warning."

Although no one knew exactly what this person meant, everyone agreed.

Then, the sect leader continued.

"Alright, alright, don't be so tense. I just hope that one of you will be capable, so that our Five Aggregates Temple won't always be laughed at as a third-rate sect."

At the very moment these words were spoken, the two Taoist priests who had been sent out earlier returned.

—And between these two, there was something that looked like a millstone.

Despite carrying such heavy loads, the two of them made no sound when their feet touched the ground. They walked to the curtain, gently placed the millstone down, bowed to the sect leader, and then retreated.

Zhou You glanced at it discreetly by the candlelight around him and found that it was just a Bagua-like object with an iron ball in the center. Overall, it didn't seem particularly special.

The sect leader continued speaking.

"Then let me first explain the rules for joining the sect—our sect has stipulated since the time of our founder that all newcomers must start by doing miscellaneous tasks to cultivate their character and prevent any trouble later."

"Of course, so it is the same for you—and our sect is divided into eight rooms based on miscellaneous tasks: medicine room, material room, miscellaneous tasks room, waiting room, equipment room, alchemy room, workshop, and kitchen—among which the kitchen and waiting room are handled by your senior brothers, so you don't need to."

"And this Heart-Piercing Mirror is one of our sect's treasures. It can test your character and then assign you to the most suitable training grounds. That Wang Qing!"

As soon as the words were spoken, one of the children immediately stood up instinctively.

—It was the one who spoke up to remind me just now.

He seemed a little confused, wondering how the other person knew his name—but the person behind the curtain simply smiled and waved.

"Don't be nervous, come here for a moment and put your hands on this stone plate."

The child thought he was being punished for his earlier offense, and his legs went weak as he was about to kneel down and kowtow to apologize—but then a Taoist priest walked out from behind him, looking extremely impatient, grabbed his hand, and pressed it onto the stone slab—

The child's face suddenly contorted with terror, as if he had seen something incredibly horrifying. He struggled with all his might, but the Taoist priest held him down firmly, preventing him from moving an inch.

After a few breaths.

The iron ball in the center suddenly moved.

At first, it was just a slight tremor, but the amplitude quickly increased, and finally it suddenly jumped up, spun around a few times, and landed in a divination slot.

The Taoist priest holding him down behind him glanced at him and then shouted loudly.

"The trigram Dui (兑) represents a pharmacy!"

A man dressed in a Taoist robe immediately stepped out from the side.

—It's strange, because I couldn't see their faces clearly before, but as soon as they announced their names, their faces were immediately revealed.

—It was a gaunt face, and one eye was clearly blind, with only a chilling whiteness remaining in its socket.

He grabbed the exhausted child as if he were lifting a piece of trash, tossed him back to where he had been standing, and returned to his spot.

Zhou You had also roughly figured out the principle behind this thing.

"Damn, the Sorting Hat, do you guys have any students here who are orphans with the surname Ha?"

"Big brother, what are you saying?"

Zhou You's sigh was so soft that only Aqua, who was standing next to him, could hear it.

"No, it's nothing. Just think of me as a show-off."

He gave a vague answer, and then heard the sect leader call out a name.

"Ma Er".

She was still being pulled down onto the stone platform, still struggling in fear—and after the iron ball rolled around once, it fell back into a slot.

"Xun Gua, Gongfang!"

Another Taoist priest stepped forward, this time a muscular man with an angry expression.

As the sect leader accurately registered, the number of people dwindled. Even the little girl and Aqua, whom Zhou You knew well, were pulled onto the stage, and one was assigned to the servants' quarters and the other to the alchemy room.

Surprisingly, the very mature young girl was assigned to menial tasks that required hard labor, while the mentally challenged Aqua was assigned to the alchemy room that required precise operations—it's unclear how this place selects people.

Finally, it was someone's turn to register.

"Travel around!"

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Zhou You rolled to the front, then relaxed his body as the crowd did, letting the Taoist priest behind him hold his palms and press them onto the stone platform.

A few seconds later.

A distorted, ugly face with a maniacal grin appeared before my eyes.

It's hard to describe this face; it's like the embodiment of all malice in the world. Just being looked at by it can send chills down your spine.

Now, Zhou You understands why so many children were frightened and cried before.

Recalling the pitiful children's tearful appearance, Zhou You also started to wail—unfortunately, the preparations were too hasty, and he couldn't squeeze out many tears.

However, the Taoist priest behind him didn't notice, but held his hand tightly, not letting him leave even an inch.

As with all previous cases, the iron ball bounced out again and rolled.

Then, scroll.

scroll.

滚.
A few minutes later, the rest of the people realized something was wrong.

This has rolled a little too far, hasn't it?
The iron ball spun back and forth, refusing to fall into any of the slots, and the smile on the face on the stone slab stopped, replaced by a look of confusion.

Damn, could something have happened to this thing?

Noticing that everyone around him was looking at him, Zhou You, who had decided to keep a low profile, also sensed something was wrong—but just then, for some unknown reason, the man's face suddenly froze, and then he suddenly revealed that malicious smile.

The iron ball started rolling again and, without any surprise, fell into the slot.

The Taoist priest behind him was stunned for a moment, then shouted.

"The Gen trigram indicates the servants' quarters!"

(End of this chapter)