Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 538 Temple

Just like her adoptive parents, the woman was also clearly confused by Zhou You's expression.

She looked at Zhou You cautiously, then took two more steps even more carefully.

"I've heard about it. Did you bump your head, my husband? Well, I learned a few tricks from my father before. Perhaps I can take a look at them for you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You suddenly frowned.

Um... isn't this a bit too formal?
However, he soon remembered what he had heard before.

—Newlyweds.

That's true. This isn't modern times. In ancient times, marriages were usually arranged by matchmakers, and couples might not have even met a few times before the wedding ceremony. Since these two have only been married for a short time, it's quite normal for them to treat each other with respect.

However, Zhou You, being a staunch single man, was not good at dealing with this situation, so he went along with it and laughed.

"It's nothing serious, just a bump. I'm a little dazed, but there's not even a scratch. There's nothing to worry about."

The girl seemed to want to say something more, but looking at Zhou You's calm smile, she sighed and didn't pursue the matter further.

But even if she didn't pursue the matter, as a wife, she still came over, skillfully took off Zhou You's coat, hung it on the wall, and then took out a feather duster from somewhere, gently dusting off the dust between the linings before taking it off.
Wait, wait, wait!

Zhou You retreated several steps, almost stepping out of the door.

The girl seemed completely bewildered.

"Husband, what are you doing?"

—No, I just
Zhou You held his breath, racking his brains for several reasons—to be honest, he hadn't thought this urgently in a long time—before finally coming up with a reasonably plausible excuse.

"Well, I've been lost for ages and I'm a little hungry. Could you... wait, my wife, get me something to eat? Quickly, and preferably in large portions."

The girl looked at Zhou You somewhat blankly, but nodded, put on a coat, and hurriedly went out.

After the room was empty, Zhou You finally breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on a stool.

Although he had been single for a long time, he wasn't the kind of novice who had never seen a woman before. The reason he was so nervous just now was entirely due to a sense of crisis.

This seemingly peaceful body actually gave him a greater sense of crisis than when facing those gods and Buddhas—he even had a vague premonition that the more he came into contact with these people, the easier it would be for him to assimilate into this scene and become one of them.

What's even more chilling is that he didn't sense the slightest bit of malice during the whole process.

Calm, as if the other person was truly thinking of him.

"A kind and fulfilling family, caring parents, a peaceful and affluent life, and even a beautiful, gentle, and virtuous wife. These are things I've longed for since I was a child. Could this guy be trying to use these to seduce and brainwash me?"

But he immediately rejected the guess.

"But that doesn't make sense. If the goal was brainwashing, the methods wouldn't be so gentle. What is this guy trying to do by merely using self-deception a few times?"

Zhou You pondered for a long time but still couldn't find a solution, so he could only sigh and then organize his equipment—if all else failed, he would have to find a way to break the spell with brute force.

"The Ten Thousand Blades, the Moon-Severing Bow, the talismans—everything is still there, including the Wine Immortal Gourd. This guy doesn't seem to have imposed any restrictions on me, or rather..."

But just then, a knocking sound rang out on the door.

Zhou You quickly retrieved the hilt of the sword he had just taken out, then coughed twice and said.

"come in."

The girl I just saw pushed open the door and entered.

The other person was carrying some food and even a pot of warmed wine.

"Brother, I was worried you were very hungry, so I cooked some easy side dishes. As for the wine, there was some that the kitchen had warmed up for the master, so I brought you a pot as well."

She speaks softly and hesitantly, like a small animal.

Honestly, compared to those flamboyant women, this girl is actually in the right place at the right time.

Unfortunately.

Ultimately, it's all an illusion.

Zhou You stood up and took it, then glanced at it casually under the girl's unsuspecting gaze.

Although it was prepared in a hurry, it was still quite good: a plate of fried eggs, two servings of stir-fried vegetables, and a plate of sliced ​​pork head meat.
It's not luxurious, but as I said before.

—It gives people a feeling of home.

Zhou You subtly traced a few lines with his finger, and a few points of silver light fell into the dish, but there was no reaction—then he picked up the plate and began to wolf down the food.

The girl was sitting next to him. She was a little surprised at first, but soon she propped her head up and looked at him with a smile.

Zhou You felt a little uneasy under their gaze, pointed to the plate, and said...

"I said, the dish is cooked well, won't you have a bite?"

The girl said with a smile.

"I'm glad you're happy, Dalang. I just ate something, so I'm not hungry yet."

What else could Zhou You say? He could only awkwardly finish the meal, and then he didn't know what to do—he wanted to go out and explore the city, but his adoptive parents and adoptive wife were keeping a close eye on him.

Let's just do nothing.
Under that tender gaze, I felt really uncomfortable.

Fortunately, it's already autumn, and it gets dark relatively early, so we just let it drag on until the sun sets and the bright moon rises.

During this time, the parents of this person sent people to investigate several more times. They found that there was nothing wrong with Zhou You, so they stopped.

Finally, in this remote courtyard, only Zhou You and the girl remained.

Looking at the sky outside the window, the girl, who was also a little uneasy, stood up, first made the bed, then took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind, and slowly took off her clothes.

—Damn, I almost forgot about that!

"Wait a minute!"

A sharp shout.

The girl indeed stopped what she was doing and looked at Zhou You.

"Husband, it's time to rest. What are you doing now?"

Zhou You spoke seriously with a solemn expression.

"I just remembered that my kung fu has reached a critical stage, and I need to bathe in the moonlight to find a breakthrough. So, I'll sleep outside for a few days first, and you don't need to worry about me, hahaha."

After saying this, without waiting for the girl's reply, Zhou You turned around and fled in panic.

Once outside, he gazed at the bright moonlight and sighed after a long while.

"Damn it, I'm not some gentle protagonist from a Japanese anime. This is torture! You son of a bitch, what are you trying to achieve?" Time flies like an arrow, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

To be fair, although he was inside the enemy's body, Zhou You had actually had a very comfortable time these past few days.

Although they were somewhat puzzled by his insistence on sleeping outdoors, the family didn't pursue the matter too much—firstly, they thought he had hit his head and would need a few days to recover; secondly, they knew he was an eccentric individual, so it wasn't surprising that he would do something.

And so his daily life became like this.

In the morning, wrapped in blankets, he was woken up by the girl—Zhou You now knew her surname was Jiang—and yawned as he went to greet his adoptive parents. After eating the breakfast that Miss Jiang had made, he leisurely strolled around the streets and walked his birds until noon. He then found a restaurant to have lunch, pretended to inspect his own shop, and finally went home.

Let alone a script about living a life of constant hardship, even in reality, Zhou You has never lived such a simple yet decadent life.

Of course, despite his moral decline, he still managed to find time to explore the city over the past few days.

And the biggest problem he found
Okay, there's no problem at all.

The entire city seemed to truly exist in this world, from the inside out, from a dog on the street to an old sow in the pigsty, everything was real.

During this time, Zhou You also witnessed a street fight where both sides were bleeding profusely, and one person even had a stab wound to the stomach.

However, both the blood flowing from the body and the internal organs after the abdomen was opened were normal.

No problem at all—but clearly, that's the biggest problem.

It's another day, and the whole family is sitting together having breakfast as usual.

Although there were many servants in the household, at Miss Jiang's insistence, she still personally took charge of cooking—in her words, since she had married into the family, she had to at least fulfill her responsibilities as a wife.

This is a standard old-fashioned way of thinking, but the two elders of the Zhou family are extremely satisfied with it. They have praised it to others more than once, always saying how virtuous their daughter-in-law is.

But when he turned around and saw Zhou You silently eating his rice, Old Master Zhou sighed silently.

—Since that incident, it's been a blessing in disguise. The kid has become much more restrained, no longer hanging out with those shady friends, and he's started taking care of his family's business.
but
Why is it that he's suddenly becoming less and less interested in women, and even sleeping outside? He doesn't seem to have injured his manhood.

When will I ever be able to hold my grandson?
Seeing that the blockhead was stubborn and wouldn't understand, Old Master Zhou tapped his bowl.

Under the stern presence of the head of the household, everyone stopped eating, except for one person who seemed completely oblivious and continued to bury his head in his rice bowl.

—What an idiot!
Old Master Zhou glared at the other person fiercely a few times, and when he saw that the other person still didn't see him, he coughed a few times forcefully.

This time, Zhou You finally raised his head and looked at him with an innocent expression.

He sighed again, sounding disappointed, before speaking.

"Today is the Immortal Lord's birthday. Get ready, come with me to get the necessary items, and go offer him some incense. We'll also pray for a child for our Zhou family."

This time, Zhou You finally managed to concentrate.

He looked up at the old man, then frowned and said.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't hear you clearly. Which immortal lord were you talking about?"

Old Master Zhou looked at the person as if they were a lunatic.

"My Immortal Lord, don't tell me you hit your head and forgot even this!"

This time, Zhou You can also be sure.

It wasn't that I misheard, but when that name was mentioned, Old Master Zhou's words seemed to turn into a series of noises, providing no useful information at all.

So he turned his head again and looked at his adoptive mother.

The woman, who doted on her son, patted the old man on the back and then whispered words of comfort.

"Old man, don't be angry. After all, You'er has been out of his mind these past few days. How about we offer more things this time? The Immortal Lord won't mind these things."

Like Old Master Zhou, she also glossed over this crucial point as if it were background noise.

Zhou You looked at the harmonious atmosphere, at his wife who kept putting food into his bowl, at his old man who seemed angry but was just pretending, and at his loving mother.

After a long silence, he suddenly smiled.

"No, I'll go, after all..."

"We've been fooling around for so many days, we finally have to go and see what this guy is planning to do."

The temple that Old Master Zhou mentioned is located in the east of the city.

Or rather, during his explorations in the past few days, Zhou You hadn't seen any temple in the east of the city at all—yet today, the streets were bustling with activity, and everyone was decorating with lanterns and colorful decorations, heading towards the so-called temple.

Amidst the bustling traffic, several servants carried tributes, followed by Old Master Zhou and his stepmother in a sedan chair, while Zhou You and Miss Jiang brought up the rear.

Perhaps afraid of being separated by the crowd, or perhaps it was the first time she had seen such a lively scene, before she knew it, her soft hand had grasped Zhou You's palm.

This time, the person did not refuse.

He simply raised his head, looking at the bright, clear sky, his face expressionless, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

As mentioned before, the city wasn't very big. Although it was crowded, Zhou You and his group finally arrived at their destination when the sun was high in the sky.

—It was just an ordinary temple.

It occupies a small area and is not particularly magnificent; it is simply red brick and green tile. The temple gate is open as is, and there are no people to greet guests.

But problems still exist.

It's even visible at a glance.

—The temple is not big, but crowds of people are pouring in.

But no one came out.

This small temple resembled the gaping maw of a monster, silently swallowing everything.

The old patriarch of the Zhou family still wore a joyful expression. He instructed the servants to arrange the incense and offerings, then turned around. Although he tried his best to keep a straight face, he couldn't help but smile and call out to Zhou You and his companion with a cheerful laugh.

"What are you waiting for? The appointed time has already passed. If you go any later, you won't be able to offer incense!"

Zhou You smiled and then said.

"Okay, okay, I'll be right there."

After saying this, he took Miss Jiang's hand and followed closely behind the crowd, calmly stepping into the temple gate.

There were no unexpected events.

There were no axes, swords, or halberds, nor any unusual scenery; only the swirling incense smoke could be seen—but unknowingly…
The world seemed to become a little more real again.

(End of this chapter)