Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 546 Conference
Upon hearing this answer, even someone as learned as Master Hongyi was genuinely taken aback.

"Faxian, you should know that, including myself, all the monks in this temple, except for those in the kitchen and those who are not important, will go to the Pure Land together, right?"

Faxian clasped his hands together and said.

"Disciple knows."

"Then you should also know that after we leave, everything in this temple, whether it's the Arhats, the merits, or even the temple's pawnshop and all its wealth, will be yours alone, right?"

“I know that too.”

Upon hearing this flat and monotonous reply, the old monk Hongyi finally flew into a rage.

"I've given you everything I could, why did you betray me?!"

However, Faxian smiled.

A very ordinary smile, but upon closer inspection, it appears incredibly alluring.

"Because Master, what I ask for is never these things, but my own life."

The old monk Hongyi looked at Faxian, at the face he had raised since childhood, and finally understood.

"I see. Rashomon truly lives up to its reputation as one of the Thirty-Six Great Sects. These are indeed impressive methods. If our temple can overcome this calamity, I would like to learn them as well."

At this point, he suddenly looked at Zhou You.

"Young friend Zhou."

Someone nodded in agreement.

"I'm here."

"Your master did stay at our temple for a few years. Business may be done, but personal relationships matter. Could you please withdraw from this fight for his sake?"

Zhou You suddenly burst out laughing.

"Excuse me, Abbot, given your attitude, it's only right that I give way. But firstly, because of certain experiences, I can't stand seeing innocent people killed more than anything in my life. Secondly, you probably don't know, but I desperately want to kill my master."

But just as the words fell,

Suddenly, a needle as thin as a hair emerged from the blubber covering the ground and aimed straight for his head!
But the next second.

With a slight turn of his blade, Wan Ren easily deflected the hidden weapon.

Zhou You looked at the old monk Hongyi.

The Venerable Master Hongyi had a dignified appearance and gently chanted the Buddha's name.

Neither of them said anything, but in the blink of an eye, Zhou You had already raised the Broken Moon Bow, drawing the vast moonlight in the sky as an arrow, and shot it towards the head of the old monk Hongyi in an instant!
At the same time, loud laughter rang out.

"The Rashomon-like incident I mentioned is different from the last one. This time, you were the one who lured me into making a move. As the head of the household, shouldn't you at least take the lead?"

Faxian remained silent, but his figure retreated backward.

Meanwhile, using the skull of that Tantric monk as a base—which was clearly the head of that unfortunate Ada master—it absorbed a lot of the fat and flesh from all over the place, regardless of whether it was human or not, and simply accumulated it continuously through siphoning.

In the end, they actually managed to pile it up into a deformed and obese body that was three or four meters high.

Ada struggled to open his swollen eyes, seemingly confused about the situation. He stared blankly around, his mouth open as if trying to mutter something.

But 'Faxian' wouldn't give him that opportunity.

Those hands, roughened by years of begging, suddenly twitched, their skin cracked open, and two slender, smooth palms emerged.

Then, the finger trembled slightly.

Dozens of transparent silk threads were attached to Ada's body, just like a puppet in a puppet show, forcibly manipulating his movements as he walked towards the Arhat statue.

At this point, the old monk Hongyi understood what the other party wanted to do.

Since ancient times, Tibetan Buddhism has been extremely incompatible with the eight major sects of Han Buddhism. Except for a few exceptionally talented individuals, the two are like fire and oil – they are basically like oil that will ignite if they don't touch each other!
However, if the body of this Tantric master were to collide with an unformed Arhat statue...
It is conceivable that the century-long plan of their own Hanshan Temple will be completely destroyed!

The old monk Hongyi took a deep breath, and when he exhaled again, it was like thunder and lightning, resounding through the sky!

"Om!"

—Like the Sanskrit mantra of death, this is one of the six-syllable mantras, but its essence is completely different.

On the ground, white things tumbled and rolled, sometimes transforming into deformed beasts, sometimes into wailing pious men and women, and finally lifting a human skin robe from among them, forcefully covering the advancing Master Ada.

"No, Master, you have clearly given everything away, how could it be... No, now is not the time to worry about these things."

Faxian was clearly caught off guard by the old monk Hongyi's desperate counterattack, but he remained calm and shouted in a high-pitched voice.

"Hey, find a way to hold Master off, otherwise if an Arhat is to descend to earth, we'll both die here!"

Zhou You did not respond.

But the moment he heard that sound, his body suddenly accelerated!
In the blink of an eye, the distance of several dozen meters was covered.

The fat monster stretched out its greasy hand, seemingly trying to grab his ankle, but before he even realized what was happening, his arm was cleaved in two and fell to the ground.

If one move fails, another one will do.

The white things floated up and down, and when they reappeared, they had transformed into several familiar faces.

—That was a family I had seen in a dream before.

The old patriarch of the Zhou family stretched out his hand tremblingly, as if to plead.

"My son, it's us."

The arrow whistled like thunder and pierced his chest in an instant.

Old Madam Zhou wept bitterly, her voice sounding as if she were weeping blood.

"Child, don't go crazy, come home, no matter what happens."

Lightning struck, turning it into a pile of charred remains.

Finally, there was that Miss Jiang.

He stretched out his hand and uttered only two words in a sorrowful tone.

"—My lord."

However, Zhou You simply brushed past him expressionlessly, and behind him, that beautiful head fell to the ground.

—The real illusion had not yet clouded his mind, but these few clumsy imitations.
What's the difference between cutting them down and cutting down some dolls?
Upon seeing this, the old monk Hongyi opened his mouth with all his might, using the last bit of strength to utter the next mantra.

"Hum!"

The sound wave swept in like a tidal wave, its power so great that it even ripped off the roof!

The moonlight shone down from the sky, finally illuminating this ruin.

Meanwhile, the second eye of the Arhat statue was finally formed!
This time, hunger was no longer an illusion, but a real and tangible reality.

In just a few breaths, Zhou You's figure had become noticeably thinner—even his face had become somewhat unrecognizable. This was even with the Heavenly Dragon Bloodline protecting him; without this skill, he would probably have turned into a dried-up corpse in an instant!

But he was still not very afraid.

One reason is that he has never used his chance to liberate himself, so he can throw it away now.

Reason Two
This Rashomon project has been planned for so long, it can't be so useless that it would all fall apart at the slightest accident, right?

as predicted.

The moment he saw the Arhat open his eyes, Faxian clenched his teeth and then forcefully crushed the jade ornament on his body. — In an instant.

As the jade ornament shattered and half of his body exploded, something else indescribable descended upon the scene.

The old monk Hongyi was stunned for several seconds before he murmured in disbelief.

"This is your Rashomon's guardian spirit beast? No. It should just be a lingering memory. But you're insane! Do you know what this means? For our mere Hanshan Temple, you actually..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old monk Hongyi immediately realized that now was not the time to calculate these things—he followed the example of Master Ada, using fat to create a bloated body, supporting his own head, and with his last bit of consciousness, prepared to recite the next mantra.

But the target was still not Faxian, but Zhou You.

—As long as we can stop this guy and hold him off until the Arhat truly arrives, then there is still hope!

However, he miscalculated one thing.

Zhou You traveled much faster than he had imagined.

No, it's not even as fast as the word "fast" can describe it. To be more precise, traveling around is like the bright moonlight.

What you see must be where it is!
Before he could utter that sound, the figure had already arrived in front of the wrapped-up Master Ada, and then the short knife flipped and instantly cut through the thick human skin!

And with a pained howl that seemed to come from the depths of his soul, the obese body finally emerged from within. With no obstruction, it staggered a few steps forward under the despairing gaze of the old monk Hongyi, and finally...

It crashed into the Arhat statue without any obstruction!
at the same time.

There was also the mournful, shrill cry of the old monk Hongyi, which was almost inhuman.

"Do not!!!!"

But ultimately, he couldn't salvage anything.

The moment Ada Rinpoche came into contact with the image, it was as if a rejection reaction had occurred. The human skin covering the Arhat statue quickly spread out in patches of red spots—which then rapidly festered and turned into a spurting, foul-smelling pus.

Just seconds later, that terrifying body completely disintegrated, and finally, as the head of the Wood Star Lord fell into the pus, all his ambitions vanished.
Ultimately, it was a complete and utter destruction.

Looking at the temple's century-long accumulated wishes and the fruits of his life's work, the old monk Hongyi's face suddenly turned ashen. He opened his lips, but in the end, he could only utter three words.

".Why?"

"There's no reason why. It can only be said that your size is too small and your ambitions are too big, so in the end you will only suffer this retribution."

A bone knife slashed down from above, silencing all the sounds.

Zhou You looked up.

After what just happened, Faxian's condition was clearly not good either. Now, half of his body was melting like wax, and only the faint shadow from before could be seen.

Neither side spoke.

However, after a few seconds of silence, Zhou You suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hey bro, we've collaborated twice already, and you still haven't told me your name? That's a bit too formal. So, what should I call you?"

The man from Rashomon looked at Zhou You for a long while before finally managing to utter a single sentence.

"Have a grudge."

".What?"

"I mean, this is my name."

"What a strange name, never mind." Zhou You shrugged, not dwelling on it, and continued to ask, "Then let's move on to the next question. Now that things have come to this, you should tell me your purpose, right?"

"Didn't I tell you this before back in the mountain stronghold?"

"Who do you think would believe that nonsense?"

"What if I say I don't want to tell you?"

Zhou You was just smiling, but the Broken Moon Bow in his hand was already glowing.

Its meaning is self-evident.

Looking at his own tattered body, and then at the still perfectly intact person, the Rashomon member named 'Sheng Yuan' could only sigh.

"I'm telling you, you should know that the next Tianyuan Tournament isn't that many years away, right?"

This is the Nth time Zhou You has heard this name.

"I know, but may I ask you a question?"

"what?"

"What exactly is this Tianyuan Tournament?"

This time, the other party looked at Zhou You as if he were crazy.

"Although the Five Aggregates Temple has declined, it was still considered one of the Thirty-Six Sects back then. As the eldest disciple among them, how could you not know what the Heavenly Origin Dharma Assembly is?"

Zhou You spread his hands, looking completely innocent.

"Please excuse my ignorance, brother. I really don't know."

Seeing that the look in his eyes didn't seem fake, he could only sigh again and explain.

"The so-called Tianyuan Assembly, also known as the Tianji Dharma Assembly, is a grand event for the entire Han region and even foreign lands. Its essence is to determine everyone's territory through competition. Winners can enter the Thirty-Six Sects, while losers will be relegated to uncivilized sects. Moreover, it is said that every few sessions, immortals will come down to watch the competition. If one can gain the favor of an immortal, one may even be able to become an immortal and attain eternal life."

Wait a minute, why does this sound so familiar?
Sheng Yuan also noticed Zhou You's expression and asked somewhat strangely.

"what happened to you?"

"No, it's nothing, don't worry about it. So, your goal is..."

Sheng Yuan said decisively and cleanly.

"That's right. The next one will be the one when the immortals descend to earth. The sect doesn't want any mistakes, so they made preparations more than ten years, or even decades, in advance to eliminate all unstable factors, especially those sects with ulterior motives or those who want to squeeze in and cause trouble again."

"I see." Zhou You nodded, but then suddenly seemed to remember something and pointed to himself. "Wait, according to your logic, our Five Aggregates Temple is also..."

Sheng Yuan suddenly burst into laughter.

"That's right, logically you should be among them. However, your Five Elements Temple has a good sect leader; many people owed him favors back then, and..."

The androgynous creature waved its hand, and its figure and voice faded away in the wind.

"Given your current troubles, it's uncertain whether you can even survive this year. We can talk about it again when you actually manage to survive."

Seeing that the other party was escaping in the same way, Zhou You did not stop them, but instead strode towards the distant firelight.

The prajna syrup in the kitchen was an excellent accelerant, and now the raging fire had taken over nearly half of the temple—but because it was quite far from the banquet area, it hadn't affected the refugees.

But among the crowds running in all directions to put out the fire, Zhou You still saw many faces filled with despair.

That was despair for having lost a place to live once again, and for the future.

But to be honest, Zhou You was powerless to do anything about it.

He could kill one or two culprits, but that wouldn't solve the fundamental problem in the face of the overall global climate.

In the end, he could only shake his head and utter a sentence almost imperceptibly.

"Damn it, out of all these scripts, this is truly the worst."
"This is the worst one I've ever seen."

(End of this chapter)