Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 495 Targeting
Upon seeing this scene, a series of screams erupted from the crowd, but before they could move, Master Chongxu glanced at them sideways.

As before, without even a word, everyone seemed to be frozen in place.

Thus, only the words of Master Chongxu remained.

"They certainly chose a good time. After all, not many people dare to go out at night, and it's only just dawn, so there's not enough time for patrols. What a pity."

Master Chongxu shook his head.

"You probably don't know, but our Five Aggregates Temple has always had a rule: once you've entered, you can forget about leaving. By the way, do you still remember the method of raising Gu that I told you about before?"

Naturally, no one answered.

In fact, these children in the audience didn't even have the ability to cry out.

However, Master Chongxu continued to speak eloquently, as if giving a lecture.

"That's how our sect works: the winners take all the spoils, and the losers take all the spoils. These few are undoubtedly losers. They eat the sect's food, yet they still think about escaping the sect. No punishment is too much."

And in the words, the children also saw an even more horrifying scene.

—Those faces are moving.

Whether it was the wind blowing the branches or their own movement, as Master Chongxu spoke, those faces all revealed expressions of terror and despair—

Otherwise.

Master Chongxu didn't even glance at them; he simply waved his hand, and the evergreen trees turned back around.

Then, he called out.

“Xuancheng”.

One of the senior disciples immediately rushed over, beaming with a fawning smile.

"Disciple is here. May I ask what instructions Master has for me?"

"It seems I've been too lenient with these people who came to marry for good luck, to the point that hardly anyone listens to what I say. As the senior brother, you should take some responsibility."

Despite the words being reprimanded, Xuan Cheng was suddenly taken aback, and then couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Master, what do you mean?"

"Forget about those bans, just discipline them strictly from now on."

Having said that, Xuan Cheng was clearly delighted, and even glanced at Zhou You casually before speaking in a pretentious manner.

"But perhaps it's the ancestor's place."

"The other rooms should be arriving around this time as well. Don't worry, we'll take responsibility if the sect leader blames us."

After saying this, Master Chongxu waved his hand again.

In the blink of an eye, the restrictions on all the children were lifted, and just as quickly, cries rang out.

After all, they were all young children who had never experienced the world, and there were several girls among them. Faced with such a horrifying and terrifying event, they naturally couldn't hold back their tears.

Just the next moment.

A long-unseen leather whip came hurtling through the air.

This time, the blows were even heavier than before.

A chunk of a child's skin was instantly torn away, revealing the bright red flesh beneath—under unimaginable pain, he only had time to let out a heart-wrenching scream before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

The crying stopped instantly.

The others forced themselves to swallow their words and looked at Xuan Cheng with utter terror.

Xuan Cheng simply revealed an extremely cruel smile, then stared intently at everyone.

On the contrary, Master Chongxu seemed not to have seen any of this, and took out another book and casually opened it.

"Today we will discuss the theory of Qi cultivation, which is the foundational doctrine for all methods and techniques. You must remember it well."

Ever since.

This small lecture hall was filled with all sorts of bizarre and outlandish scenes.

An old Taoist priest, resembling a schoolteacher, held a book and recited its contents methodically, while below him sat a group of students with terrified expressions, yet as silent as a dead pool.

It was extremely strange.
-
Only after this day did the real hardship begin for this group of people who had been "married for good luck".

Perhaps it's like we've returned to the state of the prison van.

— Porridge and pancakes provided in the morning?

Sorry, that's something only the senior brothers are entitled to enjoy. These ungrateful, treacherous guys are already lucky to get a share of last night's kitchen scraps.

—Meat that can be seen occasionally at night?
Sorry, I wouldn't give it to you even if you fed it to the wild dogs down the mountain. The so-called method of cultivation is nothing more than to toughen one's mind and strengthen one's body. How can you train if you enjoy yourself every day?

Of course, if that were all, the children could bear it, after all, they were from poor families, and they could just pretend that the good treatment they received for those few days was just a dream.

Unfortunately, Xuan Cheng had no intention of letting them go.

Leaving aside the frequent beatings and scoldings, which could be tolerated, the allocation of chores became increasingly bizarre and insidious. In just over ten days, several more children mysteriously disappeared.

It wasn't that no one wanted to run away, but unfortunately, everyone who did was hung on those evergreen trees the next day without exception.

In the form of living, shameless shame.

No one wanted to add any more decorative items to Master Chongxu, so they could only silently endure it.

After all, what's that saying again?

You can endure it if you want, but you can't.
Just die.
-
As a troublemaker who had once provoked Xuan Cheng, Zhou You should have been the first one to be killed, no matter how you look at it.

But to everyone's surprise, after more than ten days, apart from being whipped a few times for stepping out with his left foot first, he was still able to stand completely intact in the temple.

As for the reason
It wasn't that Xuan Cheng suddenly became magnanimous and was prepared to let him go this time, but rather because of Uncle Chen.

Although this old man had no magical power whatsoever, for some reason, his status in the sect seemed to be exceptionally high. Zhou You was the only one who was willing to stay and work in the library as a bride to bring good luck. Even Xuan Cheng could not kill him without any evidence.

just
"If this continues, I'm starting to feel like I can't keep going."

On the second floor of the library, Zhou You sighed silently, then carefully flipped through the book in his hand, glanced at the number on it, and made sure there were no alterations, abnormalities, or relatively new ink before tiptoeing and placing the book on the shelf.

—Honestly, it's no wonder that not many people are willing to work in a library.

The previous attempts to entice people with their voices were the least sophisticated. After this period of wits and courage, Zhou You discovered that these books were going to extreme lengths—some changed their own titles, some altered the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches on the books, and some even used covers from other books.

Working here is like playing a game of spot the difference; if you're not careful, you might put the book in the wrong place.

However, what are the consequences of putting it in the wrong place?
Zhou You, in any case, didn't want to know at all, let alone experience it for himself.

Picking up another book from the ground, completely ignoring the pleading and threatening face, Zhou You put it back in its place before sighing again. "Not eating or sleeping well, and occasionally getting a beating—even if his spirit can withstand it, his body absolutely cannot. If this continues, he'll eventually be worn down to death, or perhaps he'll make a mistake and die in this library due to his mental exhaustion. So what should we do?"

How can we break out in one liberation?

The thought had barely crossed Zhou You's mind when he shook his head.

As mentioned before, he does have this trick up his sleeve—but that's something he only uses when his two friends are in danger or when he's forced to. As long as he can hold on, he really doesn't want to waste such a precious opportunity.

How to escape?
That's not a good idea either.

Although I am much better at running away than those children, and I can control the pill in my body, there are just too many strange things about this sect. Who knows if there are other supervisors? If I am discovered, it would be better to use the Liberation skill sooner and catch them off guard.

So, how do we get out of this predicament?

However, just as Zhou You was frowning and pondering a solution, slow footsteps sounded again from upstairs.

Upon hearing this commotion, he immediately put down his work and bowed to the old man.

"Uncle Chen."

But the other party just nodded casually, and then dragged his rotten body around the house.

"You seem to have gotten quite familiar with it, and you're moving faster too—so, are you sure you can finish this job today?"

Finished?

Will there ever be a day when all these books can be moved?

Zhou You rolled his eyes inwardly, but continued speaking.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Chen, I'm too slow to finish today."

Uncle Chen gave an "Oh," his voice containing neither disappointment nor criticism, as if he had simply asked a question casually, but the answer was completely irrelevant to him.

He walked slowly to a bookshelf, squinted at it for a while, then pulled out a yellowed booklet and tossed it to Zhou You.

"Uncle Chen, what's this?"

The old man took a few breaths and then continued.

"It's just an ordinary Qi Refining Technique. You're a member of the sect, so you're qualified to borrow some books. Study and practice more, and you'll be able to do more work. But remember not to break it, because you'll have to return it eventually."

So you still intend to use me like a beast of burden?

Zhou You pursed his lips and flipped through the booklet again—it was indeed just an ordinary Qi cultivation manual, without any divine skills or techniques. He hadn't paid much attention to it at first, but then he seemed to suddenly remember something and solemnly put the booklet away.

Then, he bowed to the old man again.

"Thank you for your gift, Uncle Chen. I will study it carefully."

However, no matter what he did, the old man still looked like he was about to die but wasn't, and in the end he just waved his hand casually.

"You don't need to thank me. Looking at you kids, I always think of the sect's heyday. Back then, there were over a thousand disciples in the temple. The energy they drew from their daily cultivation and talisman-making even flowed into the sky, turning into patches of clouds—it was even considered a local spectacle back then."

As if reminiscing, Uncle Chen rambled on and on—at first Zhou You didn't notice anything unusual, but soon he realized something was wrong.

"Wait a minute, Uncle Chen, do you mean that the sect wasn't like this at the very beginning?"

However, the old man did not answer. Instead, he sighed deeply, shook his head, put his hands behind his back, and returned to his third-floor residence.

However, before leaving, he suddenly turned his head slightly and uttered a very ordinary yet seemingly profound remark.

“Chongxuzi should have already taught you about raising Gu. Remember, he’s a liar and likes to flatter his superiors and bully his inferiors, but this is the only thing he’s truly sincere about.”

On his way back from the library, Zhou You ran into Xuan Cheng again.

Unlike ten days ago, with an outlet for his venting and a class he can rule, he has finally regained his confidence—radiant is perhaps an understatement; a petty person who has achieved his goal is more like it.

Zhou You's assessment of this guy can be summed up in just four words.

A monkey wearing a crown.

It's not a particularly big problem in itself, but like chewing gum stuck to the sole of a shoe that you just can't get off, it's just extremely annoying.

Upon seeing Zhou You approach, he chuckled and then swaggered over.

"Look who I've run into. Isn't this Junior Brother Zhou? What's up? Finished your work and planning to go have some fun with your little sweetheart?"

Zhou You ignored the sarcastic tone in his words and greeted him politely with his hands hanging down.

"Senior Brother Xuancheng."

However, these words only earned him a whip lashing down from mid-air.

"Did I even let you speak? You have no respect for your elders! Tell me, shouldn't I slap you?"

The whip lashed off course and didn't hit Zhou You, but the force of the lash still grazed his forehead, drawing blood that blurred his vision in an instant.

But Zhou You still had that same ordinary smile.

"If Senior Brother says it's right, then it's right. After all, the whip is in your hand, not mine, so whatever you say goes."

"You fucking-"

Xuan Cheng raised his hand, intending to deliver a hard blow to Zhou You, but he suddenly met those eyes.

His eyes were very ordinary, neither beautiful nor ugly, and there was nothing sinister or vicious about them. However, for some reason, Xuan Cheng suddenly felt a chill down his spine and even lowered his raised hand.

However, he quickly made up for it elsewhere.

"Alright, I'll give Uncle Chen some face and let you off this time—but kid, on another note, I remember you've been in the sect for almost a month now, haven't you?"

Why ask this?
Zhou You thought for a moment and then answered truthfully.

"Replying to Senior Brother, it has indeed been almost a month."

"How's the work going?"

"Thanks to my senior brother's good fortune, I'm still alive."

Xuan Cheng ignored the veiled barbs in his words and continued speaking in a cold voice.

"Since you've been working for almost a month and are quite proficient at the job..."

"—Then don't go to Uncle Chen's place tomorrow. Take a day off, tidy yourself up, and then go to the cafeteria and get a good meal from those senior students. Then..."

He stared at Zhou You with a sinister and vicious look in his eyes—after a long while, he suddenly laughed.

The way it looked was as if it were looking at a dead person.

"Go report to your sect and prepare for the night watch."

(End of this chapter)