Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 68 Lady Bone

When I was a child, my Chinese teacher solemnly taught me a proverb.

It's called: all that's gold and jade on the outside, but rotten cotton inside.

Zhou You was lazy at the time, and basically let the sentence go in one ear and out the other, not paying any attention to it except for the exam.

However, now he understands the meaning of those words with profound clarity.

He looked at that face, so beautiful and alluring, seemingly otherworldly.

Then look inside, the internal organs are rotting, and a foul stench fills the air.

Following Zhou You's gaze, the woman also lowered her eyes and saw the situation inside her own body.

But she didn't show any unusual expression; she simply tightened her clothes, concealing all the tattered clothes under the fabric and silk.

Then, suddenly, a smile appeared on his face.

"Young man, you really are something. It's true that all men are lustful, but you're being too impatient. We haven't even known each other for half an incense stick's time, and you're already so eager to see inside me?"

Before Zhou You could respond, the woman laughed again.

"Well, never mind, such a handsome face is meant for men to see. Let's get back to the main topic—who exactly are you, young man? A commoner, a refugee, or have you heard some rumors and want to come here for some fun?"

Those soft hands brazenly caressed Zhou You's body. If one hadn't just seen the beauty's underwear, it could have been described as an unexpected and delightful embrace.

The problem is, Zhou You didn't even glance at her.

He looked up and gazed behind the counter.

A gentle breeze blew by, lifting the red cloth covering the area.

And on the rough wooden wall behind them, dozens of horrifying and bizarre things were neatly pasted on.

That's a human face.

The human face was carefully skinned, tanned into leather, and ultimately used as an ornament.

The woman noticed Zhou You's gaze, and her beautiful smile became even brighter.

"Young man, you noticed too? These are things I've carefully collected. They're all ordinary people who stumbled into my inn recently, men and women alike. I spent a wonderful 'spring night' with them, and they lingered there ever since. So I could only make them into these things, to keep them company year after year."

Although the voice was laughing, it exuded a chilling aura from the inside out, and Zhou You also clearly understood that this woman—no, the female ghost—had only one meaning.

That is—don't rush, it'll be your turn soon.

However, Zhou You grinned and suddenly revealed a smiling face.

"Miss, you probably only use people to do your job of making faces, right?"

The female ghost looked at him with amusement, her expression as if she were enjoying a cat playing with a mouse.

"That's right, the Grand Duke Jupiter has issued a strict order that demons and ghosts are not allowed to fight each other before his birthday. But the problem is, with your appearance, you can't exactly say you're some kind of ghost."

Well, it's good to hear you say that.

next second.

Right before its eyes, Zhou You's entire body was instantly filled with yin energy, his skin turned bluish-purple, and his face lost all color. In the blink of an eye, he became a monster that looked like a dead man.

—Without a sound, a small portion of the heart had already been removed from the bone jade chime.

Zhou You had conducted several experiments before. This level of skill wouldn't immediately attract the White Dew to bloom, but it was more than enough for him to disguise himself as a ghost.

The female ghost took a step back, and the feigned smile on her face vanished instantly like the tide.

It frowned and hissed softly.

"Who exactly are you? What are you?"

Only then did Zhou You speak with a smile.

"I am but a lowly zombie."

—This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was something he'd suddenly thought of while rescuing people earlier. The world is upside down; humans are either treated as food or livestock, and even staying quietly at home carries the risk of being captured and eaten. So, if he changed his perspective, why not simply not be human while gathering information?
Seeing his appearance, the female ghost asked in surprise.

"...Zombies?"

"Yes."

"The kind that crawls out of a graveyard?"

"Yes."

Are you sure you're not human?

Still suspicious upon seeing the female ghost, Zhou You smiled broadly and made a cut on his arm.

—The wound was pale white, just like before, with not a drop of blood flowing out.

Seeing this, the female ghost finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Really, bro, you should have said so earlier. I thought some Taoist priest was coming to kill us."

After saying this, her charming smile returned, and then the female ghost pressed herself against her as if trying to engulf her. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been with a zombie before. I wonder what it's like."

It smiled and reached its hand down below Zhou You's body, but soon its expression turned very ugly.

"Why didn't you get an erection?"

"No, sister, have you ever seen a corpse that can still stand erect after death?"

The female ghost's expression turned extremely awkward. She smacked her lips, rolled her eyes, and retreated.

"You're wasting my feelings—by the way, what exactly did you come here for?"

Seeing that the conversation had finally returned to the main topic, the person laughed again.

“I’ve said from the beginning that I’m here to do business,” Zhou You said, observing the female ghost’s expression. “I heard you have quite a bit of grain stored up, so I’d like to see if I can buy some.”

Zhou You walked to the counter, picked up a pen, and wrote a number on it.

The female ghost only glanced at it, but her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"There's a lot of stuff. Zombies don't need to eat, so why buy so much food?"

Zhou You didn't answer, but just kept that smile, his expression becoming increasingly mysterious.

Thanks to her basic acting skills, the female ghost didn't notice anything amiss. After staring at it for a while, she suddenly pushed the ledger back.

"Never mind, I guess it's another one that needs someone to support. But I'm really sorry, I can't sell these things."

Zhou You paused for a moment, then continued.

"I have money."

"Even if you have money, you can't sell it." The female ghost became somewhat impatient. "In about ten days it will be the birthday of the Tai Sui Star Lord. To celebrate his birthday, many human transport teams have been passing through recently. You should know that these beasts are not like us; eating only Tai Sui meat can easily cause them to mutate. So, we've sold almost all of our food to them. The rest..."

The female ghost counted on her fingers.

"About 20% of what you asked for, but there's still a lot of human flesh and animal meat, especially animal meat—I'm not bragging, but when it comes to creating animals, I, Lady Gu, am second to none in the entire Cangzhou—so if you can relax your requirements, I can make up the rest for you with these."

Zhou You shook his head.

—If I were willing to eat human flesh, I would have done it long ago. Why have I persisted until now?

However, just as he was frowning, the inn's door was suddenly pushed open again.

Then, accompanied by a strong smell of blood, a glib voice rang out.

"Lady Bone, I've brought over some good stuff. Could you please help me process it? — Oh, there's even something fresh here?"

　Thank you to Phantom Wind Demon for the 500-point donation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)