Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 520 Bandits
Ma Long reached out and touched the leather pouch, but he immediately shuddered and hurriedly withdrew his hand.

Seeing him like this, Zhou You, who was behind him, wanted to speak up to save him.

"Brother Ma, are you sure you haven't mistaken someone else? It's just a leather pouch; it probably has nothing to do with your wife."

Otherwise.

Ma Long, however, seemed to have found a lifeline. He suddenly turned his head and said, weeping bitterly.

"Oh, my benefactor! This is my wife. Look, look, she has a birthmark here, but how did she, how did she become like this?"

Zhou You sighed, casually cast a mute note, and then stepped forward.

When you place your palm on the leather bag, the first thing you feel is a warm sensation, as if it were alive.

After the warmth, there was a heart-like thumping, and the sound of the bubbles from before.

This is a living thing.

wrong.

To be precise, the thing inside is a living being.

Zhou You frowned, thought for a moment, then suddenly closed his eyes and focused all his attention on the task at hand.

then.

He then saw something extremely disgusting, bizarre, and even beyond the limits of human imagination.

It was a bunch of bones, internal organs, muscles, and fat, soaking in fresh, viscous blood plasma—to be precise, it was as if a whole person had been dismembered, turned upside down, and sewn back into their own flesh.

—That's right, the outer leather bag is this person's skin, which is now serving as a container for her own body!

What's even more chilling is that, even so, the person was still panting.

In its own blood plasma, it gasped for breath, unable to live or die.

Even with Zhou You's extensive knowledge and experience, he couldn't help but take a step back and gasp in surprise.

From his extremely pale face, Ma Long seemed to realize something. He looked at the leather bag in disbelief, then suddenly collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.

After calming his breathing, Zhou You drew his sword again and slowly walked towards the bag.

Ma Long understood what he wanted to do.

But the man, who toiled in the fields, still stood up and stood trembling in front of the cloth bag.

Zhou You looked at the moon outside the window, his expression somewhat somber, and finally uttered only two words.

"Step aside."

Ma Long knew he couldn't stop Zhou You, but he suddenly knelt down with a thud and kowtowed with all his might.

"My benefactor, even in this state, she is still my wife! Please have mercy and spare her!"

The force was so great that even the ground was stained with blood.

Zhou You didn't continue forward, but took a deep breath and then spoke.

"Uncle Ma, you're wrong. I just wanted to help her."

"My benefactor, you're like this..."

Zhou You stretched out his hand and pointed to the leather bag.

"Her condition is beyond saving, and I may pretend I didn't see it, but after that, she will suffer months, years, or even decades of torment—I ask you, do you want your wife to suffer this torture that is more desperate than being torn to pieces?"

Ma Long was speechless for a moment.

He stood there, clearly at a loss, tears streaming down his face, looking at the leather bag and then at Zhou You, but he had no idea what to say.

Zhou You ignored it and continued walking forward.

Ma Long reached out his hand, but ultimately did not stop him.

And so, Wanren was drawn from its sheath, carrying a radiant light that vanquished evil, and in an instant, it swept across the pocket.

The next second, filthy blood, organs, chunks of flesh, and a bunch of other miscellaneous things gushed out from the crack and spilled all over the ground in the blink of an eye.

Ma Long knelt on the ground, staring blankly at his wife's remains. He slowly reached out his hand, ignoring the filth, as if trying to piece her body back together.

However, it was all in vain.

The organs slipped from his palms and fell into the dirty mud. They twitched slightly at first, but then stopped moving.

Ma Long paused for a few seconds, then finally broke down and cried out in despair.

"My dear wife, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't suggested running away, if we hadn't gotten separated along the way, you wouldn't be in this state."

Zhou You shook his head, then gently patted Ma Long's shoulder.

"It's not your fault, we just arrived too late."

He raised his head and looked at the moon again.

As the moonlight shifted, sounds echoed throughout the village once more.

It's all the same: the heartbeat, and the 'gurgling' sound of blood flowing through it.

In terms of quantity, how many are there?

Zhou You remained silent, but still slowly gripped the hilt of his sword.

Ma Long didn't understand what he meant. The man just knelt and cried until his voice became hoarse and even cracked.

But just then, he suddenly noticed something.

As soon as he stopped crying, he frantically pulled at the things a few times, and a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face.

"Honey, you're still alive?"

How can it be?

Zhou You was taken aback, then quickly lowered his head.

But then his expression darkened again.

Indeed, one of the peeled-off skins was still moving, but like the other internal organs, although there was still some life in it, it would soon dissipate completely.

Such a pitiful person, completely corrupted, can only be saved by a Daoist deity descending to earth or the Three Pure Ones personally appearing.

However, Ma Long still held onto hope, gently cupped that face in his hands, and then whispered in the gentlest tone he had ever used.

"Honey, don't move. I have a deity here. Don't worry, he can definitely help you!"

but.

But his face remained unresponsive.

The village woman's face was as thin as a sheet of paper, seemingly about to crumble at any moment, yet she still strained to turn her eyes, as if trying to tell someone something.

Ma Long paused for a moment, then suddenly realized something. He carefully placed his face on the ground, then ran a few steps and came to a secluded corner.

He forcefully swept away the covering on top, and then pried open several pieces of wood.

And so, a hidden compartment for storing vegetables appeared before my eyes.

And nestled within it was a small, emaciated body.

"Tiger, Tiger! Wake up! It's your dad! Dad has brought people to rescue you!"

Ma Long swayed his small body, but the child remained expressionless, his brows furrowed.

Left with no other choice, Ma Long could only raise his head and ask Zhou You for help.

Zhou You didn't say a word. Instead, he went to the child, checked his pulse, and then looked him over.

Finally, in Ma Long's desperate and uneasy eyes, he delivered the verdict.

"I'm extremely weak. I've been surviving on coarse grains and my own urine for the past few days, but overall I'm okay. There's no danger to my life. I should recover after a period of rest."

Ma Long stood there for a few seconds, then burst into tears again.

But this time, it was a cry of relief. He held his child tightly, rushed to his face, and said...

"Honey, honey! Tiger's alive! Tiger's alive! Open your eyes and look, he's still alive!!"

but.

After exhausting her last bit of strength, the woman's movements stopped. She didn't even get a final look before she shattered like sand and mixed into the pile of flesh and blood.

Ma Long was left standing there, holding the wreckage, unsure of what to do next.

however.

At this point, Zhou You had no time to offer comfort.

As if sensing something, he gripped his sword and slowly walked out of the house.

—Before I knew it, dozens of people had gathered outside.

Although there were no lights, thanks to the bright moonlight tonight, Zhou You was able to make out the faces of these people.

—A fierce and menacing figure with a ferocious expression.

This is the first impression.

The true nature of a person is often revealed in their appearance, and this is certainly true of these people—they all look as if they have been living on the edge for years.
Not right either.

It's not 'as if,' it's a fact.

In Zhou You's perception, these people were covered in a malevolent aura—not the kind of malevolent aura he had accumulated from his battles to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path, but rather the kind of malevolent aura that came from harming the innocent and wantonly slaughtering.

But the heaviest one is the one standing in the very center.

The man had slanted eyebrows, protruding ears, and cheekbones that jutted out like a whetstone. A deep groove ran diagonally across his left cheek to his lips, and a crooked black blind snake was tattooed on his right arm—yet the ink was twisted and contorted with his bulging muscles, and at first glance, it looked like a centipede crawling under his skin.

But that's not what Zhou You was paying attention to.

Instead, on the back of this bandit leader's head, there was a huge abscess.

The abscess was so huge that it was almost as big as a head. Its outer skin was almost translucent, and as the moonlight shone on it, a bunch of thin, thread-like things could be seen constantly moving inside.

Under pressure, the bandit leader's head tilted to one side, but he seemed oblivious, still grinning and revealing his uneven, yellow teeth.

"The beggar is too special to spray ah hair care oh go legal hawa lawless no regulations is root four he comfort."

However, what came out was a series of inexplicable sounds.

After a while, he realized what he had done, cleared his throat, and spoke again.

"Sorry, sorry, I've gotten so used to this language that I've almost forgotten how to speak properly. Oh, young brother, my name is Chu Cheng, also known in the martial arts world as the Cloud Dragon. May I ask your name?"

In stark contrast to his ferocious appearance, he was extremely polite and courteous in his speech.

Zhou You remained silent for a while before speaking.

"My name is Zhou You. I haven't been wandering the martial world for long and I don't have any reputation. I'm not worth mentioning, so you don't need to worry about me, Brother Chu."

Hearing these extremely cold words, the bandit leader named Chu Cheng chuckled, completely unconcerned.

"Then I'll call you Brother Zhou—by the way, Brother Zhou, what brings you to our village in the middle of the night?"

Zhou You stared at the other person's face for a while before speaking.

"Your village? That's not right. I remember this village was inhabited by genuine farmers. When did it become the home of you bunch of stray dogs?"

"you--"

Next to Chu Cheng, a raggedly dressed bandit stepped forward, pointed at Zhou You's nose, and immediately tried to hurl insults.

However, unexpectedly...

It was Chu Cheng who stopped him.

The ruthless bandit glared at the man, forcing him to turn back, before turning his head and revealing a friendly, smiling face.

"I'm so sorry, my men were ignorant. Please forgive them, young man. A few days ago, this place was indeed called Wanggangzi Village, but unfortunately, my brothers and I made a deal with the people here and bought it for 1,200 taels of silver. From then on, this place was renamed Qingniu Village."

This is clearly a load of rubbish made up on the spot.

But Zhou You didn't expose him; he just looked at Chu Cheng.

After explaining, the other party cupped their hands and smiled.

"Now that I've finished explaining where I came from, Brother Zhou, please answer my question—what brings you to our Green Ox Village?"

Zhou You remained silent for a few seconds.

Suddenly, he laughed too.

"Would you believe me if I said I got lost at night and accidentally wandered here?"

"I don't believe you for a second—"

This was another low-level henchman who had been holding back for a long time, but this time Chu Cheng was not so polite. He raised his hand and chopped off an arm!
but.

No blood flowed from the wound, and the henchman didn't even show much fear. Instead, he hurriedly picked up his arm and retreated to the side.

After this, no one dared to speak again, while Chu Cheng continued to laugh.

"You're lost? That's not good. Since it's still bright now, Brother Zhou, why don't you just head out the way? Otherwise, it'll be dark soon, and you might fall or bump into something."

Zhou You looked into Chu Cheng's eyes, and then said very seriously.

"Brother Chu, are you just going to let me out like this?"

Chu Cheng laughed.

“What do you mean by ‘let go’? Brother Zhou, you didn’t do it on purpose, and we’re not the kind of people who are unreasonable, so of course we can’t make things difficult for you.”

"What if I say I'm not lost?"

Chu Cheng's expression froze.

He raised his head and glanced into the house from a distance—although Ma Long and his child were still in the kitchen, he seemed to see the whole scene—and then he spoke.

"It's alright. Young man, you seem to be visiting relatives. Perfect timing, we haven't finished handing over the money for buying the village yet, and we still have some silver here. Please take it out with the two people inside."

Honestly, this is getting a bit outrageous.

At least to outsiders, Chu Cheng's repeated retreats made him look like a coward.

But they clearly have a numerical advantage, so why is that?

Zhou You thought about it and decided to explore the matter further.

"I'm not in a rush. I have something I'd like to ask you, brother."

"Brother Zhou, please speak."

"I'd like to ask you for directions—do any of you guys know how to get to Hanshan Temple?"

The bandits looked at each other in bewilderment.

But soon, someone raised their hand—only after getting permission from their boss did they speak.

"I have heard of it. The temple is known as Luohan Temple and is located not far from Erwang Mountain. After crossing that mountain, just walk east a little further and you will reach it."

Hearing this, Zhou You was somewhat taken aback.

He truly hadn't expected that the clues he'd been searching for would come so easily.

Of course, given the current situation, his best option is to use a donkey to get downhill and take the horse ridge and his child to evacuate the area first.

However, Zhou You still wore a bright smile.

"Thank you, brother. I have another question."

".What?"

"What exactly are you?"

(End of this chapter)