Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 556 Chance Encounter
The next day.

Business as usual.

The persistent scratching sound seemed to have vanished. There was no disturbance, no whispers, and the night was so peaceful, as if the great monster had long since disappeared.

After a quick wash, Lin Yunshao didn't come over in person—the young girl was busy with all the miscellaneous tasks of the entire sect and couldn't accompany Zhou You every day—but she still sent someone over to hand Zhou You a note.

There was only a few words written on it.

"Keep everything as usual, act according to your nature, and avoid trouble."

The writing is beautiful, but it clearly carries a serious warning between the lines.

Zhou You was left both amused and exasperated.

—What does this little girl take me for? A troublemaker who has to provoke me even for no reason?

Seeing that he hadn't replied for a long time, the Taoist priest who delivered the message was also a little apprehensive.

"Senior Brother, is there a problem with this?"

And what the hell am I, some kind of reincarnated demon? Why are you so afraid?

Seeing that the guy was trembling and almost wanted to leave, Zhou You waved his hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"It's alright. Go back and tell Junior Sister Lin that I, Zhou You, guarantee with my own character that I will absolutely not cause any trouble. Tell her not to worry."

The other party breathed a sigh of relief and then couldn't wait to run away.

Zhou You was left behind alone, resting his chin on his hand and pondering.

nature.
Hmm, isn't our nature to be idle and not do anything productive?

We're very familiar with this!
Zhou You rubbed his face, then walked out with his hands behind his back, looking nonchalant—showing no intention of putting on an act whatsoever.

The first place he went to was naturally the cafeteria.

What is the primary purpose of a person's life, if not to earn a living?

However, news of his return had already spread throughout the entire department, so he was warmly welcomed. After the death of the fat and thin duo, the position of manager of the canteen was taken over by two young men. The food was good, and they were quite gentle, but unfortunately, Zhou You always felt that something was missing.

Perhaps the atmosphere is gone.

Under the scrutiny of all sorts of gazes, after finishing the meal, Zhou You seriously pondered what he, as the senior disciple, should do.

After racking his brains for a long time, he could only come up with five words.

There's nothing to do.

The eldest brother's main task was to manage the trivial matters within the sect on behalf of his master, but Lin Yunshao had already taken over these tasks. His second task was to manage the newly joined members who were to be married off to bring good fortune—but unfortunately, the previous batch of those to be married off to bring good fortune had already completed their apprenticeship, and this batch had not yet arrived.
However, at least he had some other places to go.

Patting his bottom, with a chicken leg in his mouth, and asking someone to wrap some beef in oil paper for him, Zhou You went to find Uncle Chen, who had taken good care of him in the past.

The library remains as old as ever, or rather, the entire Five Aggregates Temple seems to have been frozen in time, unchanged no matter how many years have passed.

He knocked on the door, but no one answered. Zhou You didn't call out to him, but simply walked inside.

The room was dimly lit, but for some reason, no one borrowed books today, so it felt as if he was the only one left in the entire building.

When Zhou You reached the second floor, he was taken aback again.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dust—clearly, no one had been here for a long time. The chair where Uncle Chen often sat was also covered with cobwebs. Of course, most importantly...

That pile of books that seemed like it would never be finished was gone.

Zhou You walked over and stared blankly at the empty space—but he quickly bent down and picked up a book from it.

He recognized the book.

On his first day in the library, this book was the one that tried to trick him into opening it, and then used the power of the strange creature to possess his body.

Otherwise.

Now, nothing can be found in this book anymore.

Quiet. As if it were a truly inanimate object.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou You turned the book around and flipped through a few pages.

The paper was tattered and torn by insects, but just as he had expected, the voice that had once lured him had vanished without a trace.

Zhou You casually tossed the book aside, then quickly walked a few steps to another bookshelf.

He compiled all of these, so he clearly knows which books are dangerous and which are normal.

After a quick look, I pulled one out from the top and flipped through it just as quickly.

According to his memory, the monster in this book was a gossipy woman who wasn't very dangerous, but she was somewhat neurotic and would go crazy and start screaming if touched.
But now, no sound can be heard from it.

He tossed the book aside and picked up another one.

It remains the same; nothing has changed.

After trying dozens of books, Zhou You finally admitted it.

—Leaving aside other places, at least in this familiar second floor, there is no trace of any strange creatures left.

He didn't go to the third floor, since there were restrictions above the third floor, and only those with the sect leader's token could enter. If the second floor was like that, he figured the third floor and above would be similar.

And most importantly.

Normally, Uncle Chen would have already dragged his crippled leg down to check on the situation.

But now, there is not a sound whatsoever.

Considering the voice he hadn't heard all night, Zhou You suddenly made a bold guess.

"Could it be that something is wrong with the guardian spirit beasts of this sect, causing them to lose control over most areas?"

However, this was just a guess. After thinking it over for a long time, Zhou You finally shook his head, put the book in his hand on the bookshelf, and prepared to leave first.

but.

Just as he stepped out the door, he suddenly heard a high-pitched laugh.

To be honest, the voice was truly awful, like the croaking of a castrated male duck, so much so that Zhou You couldn't help but frown and turn his gaze towards it.

—But all he saw was a group of people gathered in a corner, laughing and joking, seemingly teasing each other about something.

but.

He is not a follower of the Five Aggregates Theory.

All disciples within the sect, whether they are marrying for good luck or are direct disciples, whether they are senior brothers and sisters or masters and uncles, must wear Taoist robes when they go out—even if someone like Xuanji has modified a Taoist robe into sexy lingerie, it is still the same—this is the most fundamental rule of the sect, and since Zhou You entered the mountain, no one has ever dared to violate it.

But these people
Judging from their clothing and appearance, they are clearly from another sect.

I had heard Li Chengfei mention before that some people from other sects had come up the mountain recently, saying they wanted to celebrate the sect leader's birthday. Could it be these guys?

Zhou You watched for a while, then shook his head, originally not planning to get involved anymore.

He's got a lot of trouble on his hands these days, and he's too lazy to comment on this simple noise nuisance.

But just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a scruffy, unkempt figure through the gaps in the crowd.

Wait, no way. Zhou You scratched his head in disbelief, intending to look up a few more times, but the group of outsiders suddenly burst into laughter, obscuring the figure again.

With no other option, he could only carry the oil paper package and squeeze forward, managing to carve out a spot from the crowd.

And what was revealed before him
He was a complete drunkard.

The drunkard seemed to have been drinking for half the night, his whole body reeking of alcohol. His Taoist robe was covered in patches of white and gray, and there was even some vomit that smelled pungent and sour.

At that moment, several outsiders surrounded the drunkard, as if they had found some interesting toy, and made loud jokes.

"Come on, come on, didn't you want to drink? Grandpa has plenty of good wine around here, would you like some?"

The drunkard, who was half-dead from intoxication and had little reaction, suddenly raised his head upon hearing these words and then slurred them out.

"Are you serious?"

The man immediately burst into laughter.

"Of course it's true! I'm a man of my word. Once I've said something, it's as good as my bond!"

"Then, what about the wine?"

The man took a wine flask from his waist and smiled as he uncorked it.

Zhou You, who was standing next to him, immediately frowned.

The smell of the wine in the jug was extremely pungent; it couldn't even be considered a rough brew from the countryside, but rather the kind of wine that was as bad as it could possibly be.

In layman's terms...

That's for dogs, but even dogs don't really want to drink it.

However, faced with this jug of horse urine, the drunkard shakily raised himself up, shouting repeatedly.

"Give it to me, give it to me, let me have a couple of sips."

pity.

Just as he was about to reach it, the man suddenly pulled the wine jug away, causing the drunkard to fall flat on his face.

Then, the man laughed jokingly.

"Wait a minute, I haven't finished yet. I can't just give you this wine for free. If you want it, you'll have to do something for me."

"Do, what should I do?"

The man laughed.

"Judging from your appearance, you must be a disciple of this temple, right? Getting drunk in broad daylight, you've got some nerve. If it were my sect, we'd probably skin you alive and hang you. But since I'm in a good mood today, I won't drag you to the disciplinary hall. In fact, if you just bark like a dog twice, I'll pour you a bowl of wine, okay?"

Upon hearing this, the drunkard didn't hesitate at all; he immediately knelt on the ground and barked twice.

A burst of laughter immediately erupted.

These people were clearly of low status, and they found it particularly amusing—especially since the person they were bullying seemed to be of higher status than themselves. Driven by their despicable insubordination, they laughed uncontrollably.

—Although I don’t know who this guy is, judging from his slovenly appearance, he’s probably not a powerful person. Besides, the Five Elements Temple has declined to this extent, and we are guests. As long as we don’t cause too much trouble, no one will come looking for trouble.

However, after laughing enough, the man at least kept his promise and pulled out a broken bowl, pouring the drunkard a bowl of strong liquor.

The drunkard ignored the obvious mockery, eagerly picked up the bowl, and drank the wine in it in one gulp.

However, just as he eagerly raised his head to pick up the wine jug from the ground, he was stopped again by the leader.

"Wait a minute, I just said I'd give you one bowl, why do you want more?"

The drunkard, unable to obtain it, grew somewhat anxious.

"Then, what do you think we need to do?"

The leader immediately revealed an extremely malicious smile.

"What to do? No problem, I just need to add a little something extra."

The man in the lead stood up casually and loosened his belt.

Those around him knew what he was up to, and the jeers grew louder and louder.

However, just as he took out his weapon, intending to unleash the floodwaters and drench the beggar, he...

Suddenly, a sigh was heard.

Immediately afterwards, the leader suddenly felt his vision rise sharply, as if he were flying through the clouds. A few seconds later, he crashed heavily to the ground.

At that moment, the excruciating pain finally came from his chest. Looking at the huge footprint in front of him, the leader couldn't catch his breath and fainted with a thud.

Only then did the surrounding group realize what was happening.

Many angry or astonished gazes turned to look, only to see a foot that had just landed leisurely.

"You fucking."

Before he could finish cursing, he got slapped again.

The man who spoke first had his cheek swell up rapidly. Like the leader from before, he was in so much pain that he didn't even utter a sound before fainting.

Two people were knocked down with lightning speed, and the others nearby were obviously a little frightened—but they were all formal disciples of their respective sects, so they quickly reacted, drawing their weapons and casting spells, and wanted to fight the guy who had suddenly appeared.

But the person who made the move only glanced up, without even drawing his sword, and simply said one sentence.

Are you sure you want to fight me?

Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, someone immediately began to mock them with a sinister grin.

"Although we don't know who you are, you dare to offend our Zhengfa Sect. You're really tired of living, aren't you? Let me tell you, this time you provoked us first, and even your Wuyun Temple can't stand up for you."

But before he could finish speaking, someone repeated the sentence.

Are you sure you want to fight me?

The sentence was exactly the same as the previous one, not even a single word had changed, but for some reason, everyone's movements slowed down.

An inexplicable sense of fear quietly crept into their hearts, causing them to begin to observe this unassuming man dressed in a simple Taoist robe.

half an hour.

Eventually, someone recognized him.

However, the fear did not subside; instead, it intensified. The man trembled and gestured with his fingers for a long time before finally managing to utter a single sentence.

"This guy is the Heavenly Sword, that infamous killer!"

Upon hearing this shout, the scene immediately fell silent.

Those people looked at each other, and then immediately made their decision.

In the blink of an eye, they scattered in all directions, running so fast and in such a hurry that they didn't even bother to help the two injured people, simply leaving them there.

Zhou You didn't chase after him. He just shook his head, walked up to the drunkard, looked at the disheveled figure that had fallen down again, shook his head, and then uttered a few words.

"Uncle-Master, what are you doing here?"

(End of this chapter)