Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 548 Conflict
As soon as the words were spoken, all the sounds fell silent.

Sitting around the table, some were surprised, some were astonished, some were cautious yet obsequious, and there was another person—oh, this one had some friction with the Xu family, and was already trembling with fear, almost ready to leave first.

It's not their fault.

In the past, even if two brothers from the Xu family had joined the family, it wouldn't have scared these old hands. But the fact that they could ask for leave of absence makes all the difference.

That means they have been freed from menial tasks or marriages for good luck, and have become formal disciples—formal disciples of the Five Aggregates Temple!

As long as neither of them gets into trouble, then in this area...
To put it simply...

That means that from now on, only the Xu family will dominate Pingyang City!
So how are we supposed to live our lives after this?
The people were increasingly distressed.

Originally, they only had to suffer from the exploitation of the Wuyun Temple, but now with the addition of the Xu family, even with all their assets, they couldn't withstand the layers of exploitation!
In this atmosphere of loss of appetite and widespread anxiety, after some time, the waiter came up again.

Unlike his previous seemingly polite but actually arrogant demeanor, this time he was extremely respectful.

"Master Xu, there are two people from the temple down there who claim to be your nephews or nieces. Do you think they are?"

Grandpa Xu waved his hand casually, but he was actually barely able to suppress the smile on his face.

"It was me who invited them. Please have them come up."

Not long after.

Two spirited young men arrived on the third floor.

Judging from their appearance, they are clearly twin brothers, around twenty years old, wearing identical indigo-blue Taoist robes—similar to those worn by the Five Elements Temple. However, upon closer inspection, one can see that they are lined with silver thread, trimmed with gold thread, and worn under a cloud-patterned inner garment, with a jade belt around their waist and a jade pendant.
Although they may seem ordinary at first glance, any one of them could be worth as much as a fine shop in the city.

Unlike the decorations, what's more striking are the expressions on the two people's faces.

It's not so much arrogance or rudeness, and there's even a hint of humility in it—like those ignorant fools who, except for a few lucky ones, have long been eliminated—but if you look closely, you can see an extraordinary pride in their demeanor.

It's a kind of arrogance that looks down on people even more than arrogance, and it's on a completely different level.

Of course, they have the right to be proud.

At this age, becoming a disciple of a sect is an achievement, not to mention in this remote town, even in the core areas.

Upon seeing the two young men, Old Master Xu could no longer maintain his pretense, and he even forgot about seniority and hierarchy. He quickly stood up, bent his old back slightly, and smiled apologetically.

"Chengwen and Chengwu, come here—come here, you must be tired from working so hard these past few days, come and sit down and take a break."

Judging from his appearance, it was as if he wasn't the old man, but rather one of these two young men who had just come of age.

But the two men didn't come over; instead, they casually glanced at the only outsider.

Then, the man who appeared to be the younger brother cupped his hands and said.

"No need for you to go to all this trouble, sir. But wasn't today supposed to be a private get-together? If it's inconvenient, perhaps we brothers could leave for a bit and come back the next day!"

—That damned bastard!
Old Master Xu glared at that person with all his might, wishing he could tear them to pieces—but the guy seemed to be out of his mind, still eating and drinking as if it were none of his business.

So, Old Master Xu could only sigh.

"These are casual guests brought up from upstairs. You know, the host here is one of the inner disciples of a sect, so we can't say anything. But rest assured, with everyone here as a guarantor, we guarantee that this guy won't say anything he shouldn't—not even a single word."

His words were filled with murderous intent, clearly indicating that he had no intention of letting this uninvited guest leave alive.

The younger brother immediately gave a knowing smile—however, before he could say anything, the older brother shook his head.

"Since they are guests invited by the building, let's not cause any trouble. Besides, what we are talking about today is not anything confidential. It's not worth offending Senior Brother Li and making him think that we are deliberately provoking him."

Old Master Xu quickly smiled apologetically.

"Chengwu is right, he's right. Then let's let this guy off the hook for now. Shall we find a place to sit down?"

This time, neither of them objected.

So Old Master Xu respectfully invited the two younger men over—at the same time, all the wealthy gentlemen at the table stood up in unison.

Everywhere I looked, there were smiling faces.

This time, Old Master Xu finally straightened his back.

"As you can see, these are two children from our family who are not yet quite accomplished, and they are also my two grandsons, born to me, Xu. This is their first time coming down the mountain since they were sent to the temple, so it's a chance for them to broaden their horizons. I hope you elders will forgive their antics."

"Don't dare."

"Mr. Xu, you're really too kind to us."

"The two Xu brothers are truly talented young men; they will surely become local heroes in the future."

"Local talents? You're too unambitious! With the skills of these two, given the opportunity, they could easily become disciples, let alone inner disciples."

"From now on, we'll all be in your care."

In an instant, a cacophony of flattery and praise for his merits filled the air.

These guys are truly shrewd businessmen who have been in the business world for a long time; their flattery was so sincere that there wasn't a trace of pretense.

Even if the two brothers were very shrewd, they were still just young men who had recently come of age, and under the spotlight, they clearly showed some smugness.

Old Master Xu saw it all, but he didn't stop them. He simply politely invited the two younger generation members to sit down, then raised his wine glass and smiled.

"Then this cup is for Chengwen and Chengwu, to celebrate their successful passing of the examination and becoming official disciples of the temple!"

The others, quite tactfully, raised their glasses in a toast at the same time.

"Congratulations to both young masters on successfully entering the inner sect! You will surely rise to great heights in the future!"

The two brothers smiled and accepted the cup, then gestured for everyone to sit down.

The elder brother, Chengwu, glanced around and then spoke with a smile.

"Our brothers and I have limited time off. This time, Master only gave us three days off, and we also need to go home to visit our elders, so let's skip the formalities and get straight to the point. What do you all think?"

The same proud words, seemingly asking questions, actually did not solicit any opinions.

However, no one dared to object; there were only voices expressing their opinions.

"That's it, that's it."

"I will follow your orders, young masters."

So Chengwu continued with a smile.

"We brothers are basically aware of your intentions and concerns. Well, let me just say one thing to you."

Cheng Wu glanced around, then spoke slowly and deliberately.

“Pingyang City, and even the surrounding major cities, are all within the temple’s territory. As long as the temple exists, there is nothing to worry about. If the temple does not exist, well, my uncles and elders, you don’t need to worry about the temple not existing—have you seen the sun yet?”

"Yes, I saw it."

Before the man could finish speaking, Chengwu said with great conviction.

"The Five Aggregates Contemplation is like the blazing sun. Everything we see now is but a minor ailment. The Five Aggregates Contemplation existed in the past, exists now, and will surely exist forever in the eternal future." His words were resounding and powerful, instantly silencing these individuals with their own thoughts.

Old Master Xu, standing nearby, stroked his beard with satisfaction.

Although his words still show some immaturity, he already possesses the bearing of a ruthless leader. Even if he were to retire from the temple in the future, he would be able to take over his family's vast business.
No idea.

Just then, an untimely laugh suddenly rang out.

This time, without even thinking, everyone looked at the lonely table.

The simply dressed young man covered his mouth, as if he was trying to suppress a laugh, and even choked on a lot of his drink.

Chengwen, the younger brother, immediately wanted to take action, but was stopped by Chengwu.

Then, he cupped his hands in greeting and said to the young man.

"Friend, may I ask what's so funny about what I just said?"

The young man simply shook his head laboriously.

"No, brother, don't mind it. I just suddenly thought of something interesting."

Is this guy crazy?

At that moment, both brothers had the same thought.

As cultured and normal people, they were too lazy to argue with such a madman, so after turning their heads, they continued their previous topic.

"There is indeed some trouble in the sect right now, but it's just a battle of wits between two elders. A decision will be made in a few days. Besides, the sect leader is only slightly unwell; he's far from being on his deathbed as some outsiders claim."

There was another loud clanging sound.

Even Chengwu frowned this time.

"My friend, why are you still laughing?"

"No, it's nothing, I just remembered something interesting."

"The interesting things you mentioned, were they all happening together?"

"No, it's just... um... don't worry about it, please continue, don't mind me."

Chengwu gave him a cold look, but still held back.

Soon, someone asked cautiously.

"From Young Master Chengwu's perspective, which of these two elders—no, Daoist Master—has a better chance?"

Cheng Wu didn't speak, but Cheng Wen immediately glanced at him.

The questioner was so frightened he almost peed his pants, and could only stammer and try to find an excuse for himself.

"No, uh, that's not what I meant, it's just..."

Fortunately, neither of the two brothers held it against him.

Chengwu took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Master Chongxu and Master Qingxia are both elders, and it's not our place to gossip. However, Master Qingxia has more supporters, while Master Chongxu... he's fine in every other way, but his eldest disciple is said to be a notorious killer. It's said that if you look at him even once, you'll get your head chopped off."

"—Pfft."

This time, the two brothers finally lost their temper.

Chengwu stood up abruptly and pointed at the young man, cursing him.

"You were clearly laughing the whole time, you never stopped—you bastard, you're asking for it, aren't you? My brother's being nice to you, and you actually think you're something special?"

But suddenly a hand grabbed him.

"Brother, when did you become so good-natured that you even have to put up with this?"

However, Chengwu did not answer him.

The proud man simply walked up to the young man, picked up the wine glass on the table, and said while playing with it.

"My friend, this is the third and the last time I'm asking you, why are you laughing?"

The young man was very polite and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Brother, please don't mind me. I really didn't mean it to you. I just thought of something interesting and couldn't help but laugh. If I offended you, I apologize here."

Chengwu nodded, seemingly accepting the offer, but still didn't put down his wine glass.

"That's fine then. Everyone's eating. Normally I can't control people's laughter, but my friend, have you ever heard the saying?"

"What?"

"People are divided into different classes. Some people can live like humans, while others can only live like dogs. I, Xu Chengwu, may not be a particularly powerful figure, but at least in this small corner of Pingyang City, I can make whoever I want a human be a human, and I can make whoever I want a dog. Most of those guys are only fit to be dogs."

"And something like you only deserves to be a dog—"

After saying that, Chengwu casually threw away his wine glass and then kicked over the entire table!

Its momentum is so fierce that it is a complete reversal of its previous gentleness!

however.

The young man, however, was not affected in the slightest.

He simply stepped aside lightly, without getting a single drop of soup on him, and then looked at the soup spilled all over the ground, shaking his head and sighing with great regret.

"What a pity, this dish cost me a full fifteen taels of silver. This is the last bit of my travel money. I originally wanted to see what this restaurant, which claims to be the best in the prefecture, tasted like, but I wasted it all before I even had a few bites."

Seeing the other party dodge, Chengwu was clearly stunned, but he quickly called to his younger brother and then smiled coldly.

"Looks like you're quite capable. Maybe you were originally here for me? That makes sense. I've heard that these guys down here have been up to no good lately. But I'll stick to what I said earlier."

He made a hand seal, his target aimed directly at the young man.

"This place ultimately belongs to the Five Aggregates Temple. As long as the temple exists, let's see who dares to cause trouble!!!"

However, just as they were about to take action...

Suddenly, a leisurely voice came from downstairs.

"The shopkeeper came looking for me in a panic, and I thought something had happened. But then I heard your voices from afar. Aren't these the two Xu family lads who just joined the sect? What, you've only just become formal disciples and you want to establish your authority? You've come here specifically to cause trouble?"

The two Xu brothers stopped what they were doing, and then both showed signs of fear.

"Senior Brother Li, what are you doing here???"

(End of this chapter)