Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 498 Abnormality
The silence lasted for a long time before someone spoke.

"Has Senior Brother Wen been inside for too long?"

There was silence on both sides, and the anxiety that had been eased by the ordinary moment suddenly rose again.

half an hour.

Another person spoke.

"Before the next patrol starts, how about we go in and take a look?"

No one objected, and the group gathered together before entering the rear hall one by one.

As before, the dozen or so lamps flickered slightly, and the surroundings remained dimly lit, just as they had been during patrols.

Otherwise.

There is absolutely no one here.

The main hall was extremely empty, with only the statues of gods standing solemnly around it, silently watching these people.

After a while, someone spoke up.

"Did Senior Brother Wen escape?"

However, the others looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"Putting aside the fact that all the doors and windows around here are locked, you've seen what happened to those who tried to escape. Do you really want to end up like that, neither human nor ghost?"

The person who was about to speak immediately shut up.

—What kind of inhuman, ghost-like appearance is that?

Zhou You was curious, but he knew it wasn't the time to ask, so he kept quiet and split up with the others to look around.

There is no problem.

There were no signs of fighting, no trace of escape, and not even the slightest remnant of struggle.

Such a large person seemed to have vanished into thin air within this hall.

After searching for a long time, they still couldn't find their senior brother, so they had to give up temporarily and return to the safer front hall.

And so, it was time for the next person to enter.

Although the man looked very uneasy, he carefully stood up, lit a candle, and walked forward.

At this moment, Zhou You finally couldn't help but ask.

"I'm talking to you, fellow students."

Several people turned to look at him at the same time.

Zhou You wasn't nervous; instead, he looked up and asked seriously.

"Since one person has gone missing, it proves that there must be something strange going on here—so why is it necessary to patrol alone? In this situation, sticking together is the right thing to do, so wouldn't it be better to go in groups?"

After a few breaths.

Although it was an inopportune time, the snickers still rang out.

The night patrolman stopped speaking and continued the same procedure with a cold expression. Only one of the senior brothers sneered—but for some reason, the smile looked like a cry—and answered the question.

“Kid, you’ve only been here a short time, so there are probably many things you don’t know. I’m just trying to give you a friendly reminder.”

"This sect is vast, but its rules are the most important. Actually, they are not rules, but lessons learned by countless ancestors with their blood. Listen to this: it is a matter of life and death, but at least there is still hope of survival. If you do not listen, death is the best relief."

At this point, he pointed to himself and then to the statue of the Three Pure Ones.

"The most crucial aspects of this patrolling of the incense hall are only three: First, offering incense in the correct order at the appointed time; second, patrolling alone without direct assistance from others; and third, completing the patrol. If any one of these points is violated, then everything is over."

The words were quite straightforward. After listening, Zhou You thought for a few seconds, then lowered his head, whispered a thank you, and sat back down in his seat.

Time passed like this bit by bit.

But just as everyone was feeling uneasy, a trembling figure suddenly poked half of its body out from the side door.

—It's the one who just walked in.

Immediately, the group breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Faming, what are you doing over there? You almost scared us to death!"

The man seemed a bit startled and could barely move, taking a while to slowly move back—and the moment he stepped into the light, someone couldn't wait to ask.

"Where's Senior Brother Wen? Have you seen him? And is there anything wrong inside?"

The man shrank back, and after a long pause, he stammered his reply.

"I didn't see anything, and there's nothing wrong with it. Who knows what happened in the last round?"

Seeing that mournful face, the group exchanged glances, none of them knowing what to say next.

So, all we could do was wait quietly.

Before long, it was time to travel again.

Although we can't see the sky, judging from the time, we should be able to walk for about two more rounds before dawn.

It sounds simple, but in reality...
Nobody knows what will happen next.

Following his senior brother's actions, Zhou You raised a candle, walked to the statue of the Three Pure Ones again, bowed, and then lit incense.

Then, I looked up.

The Three Pure Ones looked at him silently.

However, compared to before, the corners of his solemn mouth seemed to have lifted slightly, as if he were smiling.

At the same time, Zhou You's heart began to beat faster for some reason.

—It's very simple, this is the Heavenly Dragon bloodline beginning to awaken.

Something has infiltrated this hall and is ready to devour anyone at any moment!
however.

After closing his eyes and pondering for a while, Zhou You turned around and walked into the dark rear hall.

—What my senior brother said is not wrong. There is something strange about this Taoist temple. If you follow the rules, you may have a chance of survival. But if you go against the rules, no one knows what will happen.

It's better to follow the rules for now, at least.

There was silence.

It seems that the birdsong and insect chirps have all disappeared, leaving only the echoes of Zhou You's footsteps.

The incense in the altar had all burned out. Zhou You picked up a stick of incense and was about to light it when he suddenly stopped.

A few seconds later, he put the incense back down, then dipped his finger into the altar and rubbed it.

Ice cold.

Although the incense in this hall burns very quickly, it hasn't been long since the person last visited, so it should still have some residual heat.

But now, it seems to have been sitting there for a long time, and there is no temperature in the incense ash room.

Did the previous person not order anything at all, or did that senior brother lie to me?

Zhou You frowned, but did not make a rash sound. Instead, he continued his previous actions, inserting incense sticks and lighting them.

However, he did not rush back, but took a few steps back and began to examine each of the gods again.

The Six Ding and Six Jia, the Thunder Gods, and the Five Planets Lords were all ordinary deities, just like before. At most, it was a bit of a hodgepodge, but there was nothing particularly wrong with it.

Finally, Zhou You stopped in front of a statue.

—That is the statue of the Kitchen God.

He wore a scholar's cap and a crimson round-necked robe. He held a white jade tablet in his right hand and a jadeite sugar melon in his right. He had a large belly, a long beard, and kind eyes.

That's perfectly normal.

Zhou You's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he even took a few steps back, squinting his eyes as he carefully examined the statue.

"No, that's not right. It looks fine, but the problem is..." — Whose Kitchen God is so fat?

Although he only circled the statue a few times, Zhou You clearly remembered that the statue's figure was far from being this plump!

He raised his head again and looked at that face.

Indeed, he had a kind face and a gentle smile.

A touch of vermilion on her lips, so red it looked like blood.
No, that's blood!

Zhou You suddenly became alert.

Although he had lost the ability to enhance his five senses, he had still seen many unusual things, such as the blood that had clearly been applied recently and was extremely gruesome!

Look around again.

In a daze, all the statues wore the same smiling face. A chillingly eerie smile!
However, at this moment, Zhou You was able to remain calm and even begin to deduce the situation in his mind.

First of all, there is definitely something wrong with the statues here.

Secondly, the blood was very fresh, obviously just squeezed out recently, and the only one that could be used as material was probably that senior brother from before.

so
Where is the body?

Zhou You lowered his gaze to the Kitchen God's unnaturally large belly.

Then, he did something beyond imagination.

He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, picked up the altar in front of him, and smashed it down without hesitation!

next second.

With the sound of clay breaking, the belly, as if an empty shell, was easily pried open, and what was inside was naturally revealed to Zhou You.

Dead body.

A blood-soaked corpse.

The corpse was twisted into a strange shape, its limbs twisted into pretzel shapes, resembling a religious symbol.

Zhou You was taken aback.

Seeing the corpse didn't surprise him; what stunned him was something else entirely.

There was more than one corpse inside the Kitchen God's belly.

One was the missing senior brother, and the other was the one who had just walked out not long ago, trembling as if he had been scared out of his wits!

The two are now entangled together, and four silent eyes are watching Zhou You. Blood flows from them, dripping onto the ground with a 'drip' sound.

This person is here now.
So, what exactly is that thing outside?
But just a second after Zhou You fell into deep thought...

All turned their heads away, devoid of any compassion or kindness; all the clay faces were distorted, now only a twisted madness and hatred remained!
At the same time, instincts also began to sound alarm bells!
Without any hesitation, Zhou You placed the last few incense sticks on the altar on the ground, then turned and ran!

The statues seemed to be trying to block them, but the swirling incense smoke slowed their movements considerably. In addition, someone's speed was unexpectedly fast, and they managed to break through before being blocked.

Outside, the light was still bright, as bright as day.

Several fellow disciples were gathered around the long bench, trying to replenish their vital fluids before the next patrol—they were all stunned when they saw Zhou You rush out.

Then, one of them spoke up and asked.

"What's wrong? Did something happen inside?"

Zhou You only gave two sentences in response.

Two very simple and clear sentences.

The first sentence is...

"Stay away from that thing that just came out."

The second sentence is.

"That thing isn't human!"

Hearing this, the senior brothers were really startled and subconsciously turned their heads—but the guy just looked at them with a blank expression—clearly he didn't understand what it meant either.

Seeing that their expressions didn't seem fake, the group relaxed a little, and some of the quick-thinking ones even started to think.

Wait a minute, something's not right. We've been together for over two years, we should be able to tell if there's a problem first. Why would we believe this talk of a "lucky marriage"?

Or perhaps this guy is truly under a spell and is trying to trick us.
If Zhou You knew what these people were thinking, he would definitely yell "Idiot!" the moment he saw it.

But he didn't have time to speak. He quickly took two steps, kicked one of the people, and sent him flying to the side.

The man stood there stunned for two or three seconds before covering the shoe print on his buttocks and angrily said.

"What are you doing!"

"Stop talking nonsense, I'm the one who's saving you!"

Zhou You rolled his eyes forcefully, and then, with lightning speed, raised his leg and kicked the other two away.

The fourth instinctively wanted to make a move, but the moment he raised his arm, his expression suddenly froze.

—Right beside him, the bewildered Taoist tilted his head.

Then, he revealed a rather benevolent smile, like that of those deities.

The next moment, its head swelled up like a balloon and suddenly split into four parts—dozens of blood-red tentacles emerged from it, about to grab the fourth person's arm in the blink of an eye.

Otherwise.

At this critical moment, a yellow talisman suddenly burst into flames and then exploded!

The tentacles that the orange-red flames spread across instantly retracted with a series of screams, and Zhou You finally managed to pull his senior brother out of the area.

The two stumbled and tumbled onto the floor. Only then did the senior brother react and mutter to himself.

What just happened?

Zhou You rolled his eyes again.

"Who knows what it is? Anyway, that person's body is inside the Kitchen God's belly, so what's outside is definitely not human."

Seeing that the other person was still somewhat dazed and confused, the person did not hesitate and slapped him twice.

It wasn't that he was suddenly struck by kindness and wanted to risk his life to save these guys; rather, this godforsaken place was clearly counting people, and if they were all wiped out, he probably wouldn't be able to hold out for long either.

The physical method of waking the person up was indeed effective; the person, with their face flushed red, finally came to their senses.

Seeing that Zhou You was determined to continue escaping, he paused for a moment, as if he had suddenly remembered something, and then quickly said something.

"Wait, we can't run now. If we run, we won't be able to complete the night patrol. Besides, it's just a mutant; a few of us can handle it."

Zhou You looked at him, his face full of helplessness.

Then, he stretched out his hand and pointed to the statue of the Three Pure Ones next to him.

"It's not that I don't trust your abilities, but rather..."

"There is clearly more than one of these things."

This time, it wasn't just Master Na; several people looked up at the same time, following the direction Zhou You was pointing.

The Three Pure Ones looked at them with smiles on their faces.

The clay sculpture on its body crumbled into pieces, and beneath it...
It was countless lines that spread like nerves—and not just in the statue, but throughout the entire hall, those eerie red lines crawled all over it.

In a blink of an eye.

At the same time, all the ever-burning lamps went out.

In this darkness, only someone's resolute voice remained.

"run!"

(End of this chapter)