Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

"wrong."

Thirteen Orphans shook his head.

"The Hyakki Yagyō (Hyakki Yagyō) didn't start from the existence of the bathhouse district; rather, the bathhouse district only came into existence from the very beginning of the Hyakki Yagyō."

"The Hall of a Hundred Ghosts isn't a lifeless building; it has its own rules. As long as you follow its rules, you can receive its protection. The rule of bowing is one of them. However..."

A strange look flashed across Thirteen Yao's face, but he didn't say anything more.

"But what? Minister."

"It's nothing, it's not time for you to know yet. Shut up and keep moving forward."

Thirteen Yao scolded.

"Oh well."

Liu Zheng feigned disappointment, but inwardly he saw right through him.

It was just a ploy to lure him in; if I really didn't want to tell him, I wouldn't have said so much earlier.

It was simply a matter of planting a seed in Liu Zheng's heart, waiting for his curiosity to sprout on its own.

As for why he didn't reveal everything directly, besides not trusting his stance and abilities, it's probably because the information he obtained through his own investigation was more credible.

The two walked along the right fork for a while and then came to the three elevators.

The elevator doors were also made of wood, with three different masks carved on them: a weeping woman, an angry man, and a laughing old man.

Whether they were men, women, or the elderly, their faces were covered with thick white paint, and their teeth were painted black. They all had sharp, pointed teeth, and there were many more of them than normal people.

It looks more like a ghost than a human.

"As mentioned before, there are many rules in the bathhouse. Now, can you guess what the rules are for taking the elevator?"

Thirteen pointed to the three elevators in front of him and said.

"Is there a reward for guessing correctly, Minister?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"No. But there will be a punishment if you guess wrong."

Thirteen Orphans shook his head.

".Fine."

After a brief pause, he shrugged.

He had already fully realized the power of rank when he was at the Bloody Restaurant.

Speaking of which, Liu Zheng was really curious about who was stronger, the head of the massage department, Shisanyao, or the head of the takeout department, Niuma?

Considering the reputation of Bloody Restaurant, Niu Ma should be the stronger one.

He shook his head and focused his attention on the elevator in front of him.

Two very obvious points are the gender and expressions of the three masks.

Men, women, and the elderly.

Anger, sadness, and joy.

It is possible for two points to combine to form a rule, but it is unlikely that a rule can be formed by combining two points.

Does the mask represent biological sex or psychological sex?

Liu Zheng asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Thirteen Orphans was a little confused by his question.

"For example, a person whose physical structure is undoubtedly male and who possesses all the physiological abilities of a male, but who feels that he is female. So, will the mask determine him as male or female?"

He gave an example.

"Of course it's male."

Thirteen Orphans said without hesitation.

“You city folks may have all sorts of fancy ideas, but we country folks only care about physical structure. You, a purely male, claiming to be female and wanting to enter a female bathhouse, isn’t that just plain indecent?”

"What if he feels he'll be taken advantage of if he goes to the male bathhouse?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"If you have money, you can book a private room; if you don't, you can just relax at home. You can be whatever gender you want; nobody will care."

"You're dreaming if you can't even get special treatment without talking about it."

Thirteen said irritably.

"Minister, have you encountered this before?"

he asked curiously.

“I have indeed encountered this. Not long after I started working at the massage parlor, I met a customer who was being unreasonable. He was clearly a male kappa, but he insisted that he was a female and asked me to find him a female masseuse.”

“That won’t work, so I found it another female technician.”

"Then it claimed to be an extreme purist, refusing to accept any other species touching its body, and asked me to find it a female kappa technician. Where am I supposed to find that?"

Thirteen still seems somewhat indignant when she talks about it now.

"So how was it finally resolved?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Of course, I reported it to my minister at the time, and then threw that guy out. By the way, I also peed into the dish on its head. Hehe."

Thirteen Orphans smiled smugly.

"Uh, won't this affect the bathhouse's reputation?"

"That wasn't a problem I needed to consider at the time."

"What if it were you now?"

he asked again.

"If it were me now, I'd probably give her a small gift and then use a combination of persuasion and pressure to get her to leave. Sigh, I'm getting old. If it were back then, would I have needed to use an excuse like asking for incense to create more opportunities to meet with Old Lady Qing? I would have just brought her flowers, had a candlelight dinner delivered, and then had a long talk with her by candlelight."

Thirteen sighed.

The once spirited and unruly young man who flirted from the massage parlor to the boiler room has finally become a mature, steady, but boring old boss.

"Fine, I'll just tell you directly. When taking an elevator, first look at the mood; if there's no corresponding mood, then look at the gender."

He said listlessly.

"What gender does the old man's mask correspond to?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"That doesn't correspond to gender, but to seniority. Employees with more than 30 years of service or managers at the department head level or above can directly take this elevator without having to consider other rules."

Thirteen said.

"I see."

So, which elevator do you think you should take?

Thirteen Orphans has posed the test question.

Should I sit in the middle seat?

He pointed to the angry man's mask as he spoke.

He doesn't have any of the three emotions—sadness, anger, or joy—so we can only look at his gender.

"If you've decided, then go sit down. Go inside and press the button for the 7th floor. Once you get there, wait for me at the elevator entrance and don't wander around."

Thirteen said.

"Minister, won't you sit with me?"

"If it were just now, I could have ridden the elevator with you. But now, you're on your own."

Thirteen Yao shook his head and walked toward the mask of the sorrowful woman.

Chapter 379 Hell Game: What level is it at now?

Liu Zheng walked to the middle elevator and carefully examined the mask on the elevator door.

The mask did not react to his unbridled gaze, looking as if it were a truly inanimate object.

"The 7th floor, right?"

So he pressed the up button.

As Liu Zheng observed with certainty, the angry man's mask opened its mouth.

It grew larger and larger until it swallowed up the wall near the elevator door, revealing a huge, dark hole.

If you didn't know it was an elevator, you might mistake it for some kind of hidden passage.

Liu Zheng turned his head and saw that Shisanyao had already left in the elevator.

He certainly knew he had left earlier than Liu Zheng, but he directly told Liu Zheng to wait for him at the elevator.

Either Thirteen Orphans can control the speed of the elevator, or the two elevators are inherently at different speeds.

Putting aside his guesses, he stepped into the mouth of the man's mask.

The hard texture beneath his feet was somewhat unexpected for Liu Zheng.

He had thought it should feel like flesh and blood, similar to the texture of a food delivery lane.

He walked forward, reaching out his hands to grope around, but he didn't touch anything.

This was exactly what Liu Zheng expected; it seems that most of the buildings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art have the function of folding space.

I don't know if this technology is widespread in the metropolis, or if it's an inherent characteristic of metropolitan architecture.

"Since you've let me in, why bother with all this? Just say what's on your mind."

Liu Zheng suddenly spoke up.

He treated all these strange and unusual auxiliary buildings as if they were being deliberately constructed.

Since it's conscious, let's try communicating first.

If communication fails, try cracking the rules or the physics.

Moreover, Liu Zheng had another trump card in his hand, which was the delivery slip for the deadly mail delivery.

With this mailing slip, things like secret rooms and cages are insignificant.

In reality, mail delivery can reach even small villages with only a few dozen people; in metropolitan areas, mail delivery is even more efficient.

Is there anything to regret in life?

After a moment of silence, a deafening roar echoed through the dark space.

"Have."

He said it without hesitation.

Everyone experiences regret.

Even those born with a silver spoon in their mouths still feel regretful that they have everything.

Is there anything to complain about in life?

The roar rang out again.

"Have."

Liu Zheng replied immediately.

He's no saint, and his life hasn't been smooth sailing, so naturally he has grievances.

Especially when he was first diagnosed with ALS, he was almost filled with resentment.

Is there anything to hate in life?