Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

"By the way, if you help me go against Grandma Tang, won't your family face retaliation?"

Liu Zheng remembered and asked.

"Don't worry, sir. I've severed ties with my family. As long as they stop helping me, even Granny Tang can't harm my family."

Niu Daji said, moved.

These days, there are very few bosses who still think about their subordinates and family.

"Is this even possible? Just who is this important figure that your ancestor latched onto?"

he asked with some curiosity.

"I don't know, sir. It seems that starting from a certain ancestor, people stopped mentioning that person's name, and after that, I completely lost track of it."

“However, every few years our family receives a notification, and then someone comes to check on us.”

Niu Daji scratched his head and said.

"Check the situation."

Liu's expression was strange.

In real life, this sounds quite normal.

But in a metropolis, it sounds like a farmer counting his cattle.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

Niu Daji asked in confusion.

"It's nothing. Okay, I'm going now."

Liu Zheng shook his head and walked towards the Hundred Ghosts Bathhouse.

As he walked along, he attracted countless glances.

After all, the other guests either rode in sedan chairs or carriages, while he was the only one who walked.

Those sticky gazes came from behind the sedan curtain, like the tongues of predators licking at Liu Zheng's senses, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Intuition told him that he could sever these senses by using his murderous tentacles.

But such a commotion would be too great and would hinder Liu Zheng's subsequent actions.

So, he can only endure it for now.

"See? See? I'll deal with you all after I finish my business."

Liu Zheng thought viciously.

He arrived at the entrance of the Hyakki Gyo Bathhouse, but instead of going in, he went straight around to the back of the bathhouse.

Behind the bathhouse was a red wall. After searching carefully, he finally found a small door, no bigger than the palm of his hand, in a corner.

Liu Zheng squatted down and knocked on the door.

"Who? What do you do?"

A muffled voice came from inside.

"Hello, I am Old Qing's nephew. He asked me to come and find him."

Liu Zheng replied.

"Qing Laotou" is a hand type in Japanese Mahjong, referring to a hand containing only "Laotou" tiles such as 1 and 9 of Wan, 1 and 9 of Tong, and 1 and 9 of Suo.

Each employee at the Hyakki Gyo Bathhouse has a code name related to Japanese mahjong, which serves as their name within the bathhouse.

When they leave the company or die, their code names are taken back and passed on to the next person.

"Old Qing? Oh, he did tell me about this. But how can you prove you're Old Qing's nephew?"

The person inside asked in a drawn-out voice.

“My uncle said this can prove it.”

Liu Zheng took out a few banknotes and waved them in front of the doorway.

"Hmm, that's right, you are indeed Old Man Qing's nephew."

The person inside immediately spoke.

Then, the small door was opened, and a bird's claw reached out from inside, grabbed the top of the doorway and lifted it up. The doorway immediately expanded, turning from a mouse hole into a small doorway as tall as a person.

"Okay, come in."

The bird's claws waved at him.

"okay."

Liu Zheng, hunched over and with his back hunched, squeezed his way through the door with great effort.

Upon entering, one finds a long, narrow passageway with rooms separated by shoji (paper sliding wooden doors) on both sides.

"Don't look around, or your eyes will disappear."

A voice interrupted his spying.

"Sorry, I'm new here and don't know the rules."

Liu Zheng looked away, bowed his head in apology, and then handed over the banknotes.

"Hmm, their attitude is alright. I'll have your uncle teach them the rules properly later. Our bathhouse is a big business with many rules. If they break the rules, not only you, but your uncle will also be implicated."

The short man with bird claws and feet took the banknotes, glanced at the denominations, and then contentedly stuffed them into his pocket.

"Excuse me, is this the uniform for our bathhouse?"

Looking at his bare upper body and smooth thighs, Liu Zheng couldn't help but ask.

"How could that be? Our bathhouse has distinguished guests; how could we possibly dress like that to greet them?"

The bird-claw man said without hesitation.

"Then what are you doing?"

"Oh, it's just a personal hobby of mine. Anyway, no guests will come here, so it doesn't matter."

"The bird-claw man said nonchalantly."

"Okay, alright. By the way, I haven't asked what your code name is yet?"

"Oh, my name is Old Man Hun. Remember that, if anything happens at the bathhouse in the future, just say my name."

"The bird-claw man said."

"Hun Laotou" refers to a hand consisting only of Laotou tiles (one and nine of Wan, one and nine of Tong, one and nine of Suo) and honor tiles.

"And then the problem will be solved?"

"Then you'll die a little more happily."

The old man chuckled.

"hehe."

Liu Zheng's lips twitched slightly.

Sure enough, you shouldn't have any expectations of this guy just by looking at him.

"Come on, I'll take you to find your uncle."

The old man jumped up, grabbed the door frame, and pulled the small door back to the size of a palm.

"Is it permissible for you to leave your post while working?"

"If it were anyone else, I would definitely say no. But since you paid me, I'll definitely do it. Otherwise, how am I supposed to earn extra money in the future?"

The old man said casually.

"Uh"

Liu Zheng felt that the situation at the Hundred Ghosts Bathhouse was different from what he had imagined.

Judging from Seiko's experience, he thought that the Hyakki Gyoya Bathhouse must be a place with strict rules, where anyone who overstepped the rules would be punished.

But judging from this old rascal's perspective, the work discipline here seems quite lax.

"Stay close to me for a while, don't wander off or look around aimlessly. If anything goes wrong, don't expect me to protect you."

After giving his instructions, the old man walked ahead on his own.

"okay."

Liu Zheng responded and followed closely behind him.

Although he didn't peek intentionally, his heightened senses made him involuntarily see the rooms on both sides.

The paper pasted on those shoji screens wasn't thick; he could even see the shadowy figures inside through the paper.

Those figures, varying in shape and swaying, made it difficult to distinguish whether they were real or distorted illusions created by the lighting.

Suddenly, Liu Zheng saw a small, thin shadow in the room to his right suddenly swell up and become a huge, bloated shadow that enveloped the other small, thin shadow.

"Hahahahaha!"

The sound of lips opening and closing pierced through the shoji screen and drifted into his ears, followed by the sound of bones being chewed.

"Shh!"

The shoji screen was pulled open, and a maid wearing a coarse cloth yukata walked out carrying a wooden basin, her head bowed.

The wooden basin was filled with water, and floating in the water was a bloodstained kimono and a hair ornament covered in filth.

With his exceptional eyesight, Liu Zhengcai was able to discern a white base color within the filth.

"Please give way."

The waitress said in a low voice.

"Oh, sorry."

He made way for him.

At that moment, a sound like the churning of the stomach and intestines came from the room.

He listened carefully, and it sounded like the sound of air flowing in a cave.

A wisp of air brushed past Liu Zheng's ear, guiding him deeper into the cave.

"I told you to stay close to me, why are you wandering around?"

The stinging sensation jolted him awake from that hallucinatory feeling.

Liu Zheng looked down and saw a bird's claw gripping his wrist tightly, the claw tip digging deep into his flesh, and blood slowly flowing out.

"Shh!"

The maid pulled up the shoji screen, and the strange sound immediately disappeared.

"You are hurt."

She looked at Liu Zheng's wrist and said.

"Oh, it's just a minor injury, it's nothing."

He said.

Even if you scratch his entire arm off, it will grow back in a while, let alone just a scratch.

"No, we need to deal with it immediately."

The maid shook her head and bent down to bite his wrist.

"?"

Liu Zheng looked at her jet-black hair and a question mark slowly appeared on his head.

"Senior old man?"

He looked at the bird-claw man.

"Don't worry about her."

The old man shook his head.

"Ok."