Free Web NovelYears ago, around the stone bridge at the entrance of Peony Street, there were many fortune-telling stalls.
From the most common birth characters (Bazi), to character divination and bone touching, and then to Plum Blossom Divination and Qi Men Dun Jia, each'school' dressed like an Expert, gathered around the stone bridge, each displaying their unique abilities.
The signs hanging at the stalls were also varied; some read "Feng Shui and Destiny, Predicting Fortune," others read "Iron Mouth Divination, Immortal Guidance," and the most outrageous Lu Yibei had seen was someone who wrote "Insight into Life's Code, Knowing Life's Misfortunes and Fortunes, Quantum Divination, Worth Having."
Amidst this chaotic scene, only Liu Banxian seemed out of place compared to everyone else.
He didn't wear ceremonial robes or kasaya; he only wore a faded dark blue Zhongshan suit, a pair of black cloth shoes, no whisk or prayer beads, just a pair of round-framed sunglasses, holding a stainless steel thermos with a well-worn patina, sitting on a small stool, not shouting or soliciting customers, just quietly sitting there, watching people come and go.
Coupled with his face, with entirely white hair and beard and ordinary features, if not for a piece of cloth in front of him that read "Life and death are decreed, wealth and honor are in heaven," you wouldn't be able to tell he was there to set up a stall; he looked more like an Elder brother watching the excitement.
Furthermore, when he told fortunes for people, he never said good things, only picked out the bad, opening his mouth with phrases like "dark forehead," "unfavorable year," or "your mother is dead." Not only was it hard to make money, but sometimes he couldn't avoid a beating.
Therefore, you could often see his body wrapped in gauze, with some scars and bruises between his wrinkles.
If not for the neighbors on Peony Street helping him out, the little money he earned from fortune-telling, let alone for food, probably wouldn't even be enough for medical expenses.
And Lus Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant was one of the members of the relief force, with Liu Banxian owing them some meal money.
Later, when Lu Yibei was in junior high school, with the development of the Peony Street ancient town tourism project, the stone bridge was dismantled and replaced with a pedestrian overpass.
The fortune-telling stalls around the stone bridge also disappeared under strict regulation, leaving only Liu Banxian, who still came to the overpass every day, set up a small stool to sit on, and spread out that piece of yellowed white cloth.
There was no business; he just sat there quietly, like a lonely watcher.
Then suddenly one day, it's hard to say exactly when, this watcher also disappeared...
----
The strong men punched and kicked Liu Banxian, making him roll on the ground and scream repeatedly.
Lu Yibei stood by, clapping and cheering, "Yay, yay! Beat him to death!"
"Old people are the worst! Wouldn't it be better if they died earlier and left the world to young people?"
"Big brothers, you can't do it like this. Look, he can still move. It doesn't show your powerful demeanor or his weakness and pitifulness at all. You should go for the kill to get the property."
"..."
Amidst Lu Yibei's strangely worded cheers, more and more people gathered to watch the excitement. The strong men, being watched, felt a surge of awkwardness, and the force in their hands couldn't help but lessen a bit.
Before long, they stopped and walked away, cursing.
"Old swindler, you just wait!"
Only Liu Banxian remained, lying on the ground, covered in messy shoe prints and minor abrasions.
Just as Lu Yibei had expected, Liu Banxian, who had experienced brutal beatings in his early years, could completely handle these few strong men on his own.
After the strong men had gone far away, Lu Yibei stepped forward, helped Liu Banxian up, and led him to a nearby bench to sit and rest.
Before Lu Yibei could speak, she heard Liu Banxian thank her, "Thank you, Little Girl! If it weren't for you speaking up to help, I probably would have been beaten to death by them today."
"Your method of feigning retreat to lure them in was quite good. Otherwise, if I accidentally got you involved too, I wouldn't know where to put my old face."
Looking at the stance of those strong men just now, it seemed they originally planned to use his old bones to pay off the debt if they couldn't get it back from Liu Banxian.
Even if words about property were mentioned, they probably wouldn't have given up easily.
Although Lu Yibei's way of resolving the situation by feigning retreat had some risk, it was the safest for her.
What's more, it was impossible for those strong men to actually beat Liu Banxian to death. If he were really beaten to death, wouldn't they not be able to get the property?
Lu Yibei pursed her lips and said indifferently, "You're welcome, it's what I should do."
Liu Banxian supported his old waist with both hands, moved a little, straightened up, looked at Lu Yibei, and asked doubtfully, "You're from Hua City too, right? Otherwise, how would you know the housing prices on Peony Street?"
"Yes, I am indeed from Hua City, and I even live on Peony Street," Lu Yibei said. "I used to see you on the overpass all the time when I was a child!"
After a pause, Lu Yibei pressed on, "Speaking of which, how did you end up here? The Adults all said you were gone, I thought..."
"Heh..." Liu Banxian gave a bitter smile and sighed, "I ran into some trouble back then. I originally thought I could try my luck here with my meager skills, but I didn't expect to get deeper and deeper after coming. Now things have gone south, and I owe a huge debt. I'm afraid I can't go back."
Lu Yibei watched Liu Banxian, opened her mouth, just about to say something, when A Hua, who had gone to inquire at the announcement board, returned.
"Wang Bu Liu Xing, there's news about Miss. The staff at the announcement board said someone saw her in the Entertainment City. We..."
Halting mid-sentence, A Hua noticed Liu Banxian beside Lu Yibei and frowned, "Who is this?"
Liu Banxian cupped his hands towards A Hua and explained, "This old man's surname is Liu, a resident of Hua City. I encountered some trouble just now, and thanks to this Miss's help, I was able to get out of it."
Seeing that Liu Banxian claimed to be from Hua City, A Hua roughly understood why Lu Yibei had helped him. However, she still pulled Lu Yibei aside and reminded her, "Wang Bu Liu Xing, although he is also from Hua City, in the territory of Dream Come True Entertainment City, it's best not to trust anyone."
Lu Yibei pursed her lips, "Don't worry, I don't even trust you, how could I trust him?"
"..." A Hua was silent for a moment, then said seriously, "Alright then, shall we go to the Entertainment City together now, find my Miss first, and meet up with her?"
"That's what I was thinking too." Lu Yibei nodded.
Her main purpose for this trip was to find someone who could speak for Dream Come True Journey, and find a way to get rid of the station in Hua City, so that inexplicable urban legend wouldn't infiltrate Hua City and cause trouble again.
Although the two minor incidents of Jiang Li's disappearance and Jade Palace Immortal's assassination happened along the way, now Jiang Li's whereabouts are known, and Jade Palace Immortal's assassination was successfully evaded, it's time to get down to business.
Jiang Li seemed to have met with the Entertainment City's Big Boss many times. Lu Yibei wondered if she could contact that Big Boss through her.
While she was thinking, Liu Banxian came over and said with a smile, "Are the two Misses going to the Entertainment City? Coincidentally, this old man is also going. How about we go together?"
After speaking, seeing A Hua's eyes become wary, Liu Banxian quickly explained, "Please don't misunderstand, two Misses, I have no ill intentions."
"It's just that I've been away from Hua City for too long, and I'd like to hear from you what has happened in Hua City recently."
As he spoke, a hint of shyness and nostalgia appeared on his face, like an ordinary old man unable to return to his roots, inquiring about news of his hometown that he couldn't go back to.
Hearing this, a moment of sympathy also arose in A Hua's heart. She turned to look at Lu Yibei, giving her an inquiring look.
Lu Yibei shrugged, "If it's just traveling together, I don't mind."
"Alright then!" A Hua compromised, "Old gentleman, shall we go together?"
Having said that, she turned and walked towards the departure point marked with the tram symbol.
The tram, this is the cheapest and most convenient mode of transportation within the Dream Come True Entertainment City area. From the train station to the front of the Entertainment City building, it only costs 1 chip as fare.
----
The night in Dream Come True Entertainment City was as hard as iron.
Under the shroud of dim sky light, blue-gray stone bricks paved the road surface. The Gothic spires of the building clusters on both sides of the street were like giant long swords densely packed like a forest, and more gray brick houses, like towering walls, surrounded them.
On those seemingly dirty gray-white walls, dazzling neon lights, almost amounting to light pollution, were hanging. These were places like mahjong halls, card rooms, arcades, and bars, but most of them had some gambling nature mixed in.
It seemed nothing here could be separated from gambling.
Even in the street corner shrouded in rain, roadside stalls occasionally popped up, offering games like "Three Immortals Returning to the Cave," solving Dou Dizhu (Landlord) or Chinese chess endgames.
Lu Yibei had a feeling that in this godforsaken place, if you randomly stopped someone on the street and asked them, "Want to play a round of Gwent?" it might not work very well, but if you asked them, "Want to place a bet?" even if their wife was about to give birth, the passerby would stop and gamble with you.
The tram traveled through the city, and every now and then, the ground would vibrate. Immediately after, eight fiery horses pulling a black carriage would gallop past and disappear.
Those horses were pure black, wearing silver-white masks, their eyes flickering with fire, like beasts formed from the condensed night. They galloped like the wind, as if they could take flight at any moment.
And the carriages they pulled, like the wicked queen's ride in a fairy tale, seemed filled with an ominous aura, yet were exceptionally exquisite and luxurious.
Those carriages sped past, making Lu Yibei, sitting on the slowly moving tram, appear particularly shabby by contrast.
"Wonder when I'll be able to ride in a carriage like that!"
"Stop dreaming," Liu Banxian said with a smile to Lu Yibei, "That's a carriage only for distinguished guests of the Entertainment City. You need to have at least tens of millions of chips to be qualified to ride it."
Hua City's changes in recent years have been uninspiring, with only the construction of a few tourism projects and the relocation of several large factories. Besides these well-known changes, there's not much else to talk about.
Surely, I can't tell Liu Banxian about the Night Watch setting up shop on Peony Street, right?
As for the surge in urban legend, the arrival of the Plague Tai Sui, and the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, those are even less suitable to tell Liu Banxian.
Thus, very quickly, Lu Yibei went from being the narrator to the listener, hearing Liu Banxian's endless tales of anecdotes around the Dream Come True Entertainment City, and his glorious past where he rose and fell three times within the Entertainment City, once reaching the top ten in chips.
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It must be said, Liu Banxian had been hanging around the Entertainment City for over a decade, and he was quite familiar with the local customs and practices. He knew exactly what kind of gambling games were available in each place.
What interested Lu Yibei the most was a gambling game within the Arcade Plus arcade, where players bet on whether the total number of successful draws from a hundred mobile game card pulls would be odd or even.
She always felt that if she participated, she would have at least a ninety percent chance of making a fortune.
After all, she never got anything good from card pulls, hitting the guaranteed minimum every time.
A hundred pulls only resulted in one guaranteed minimum, so she just had to keep guessing odd.
But since she only had a ninety percent certainty, she still suppressed the urge to "take a gamble and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle," and obediently sat on the tram, heading towards the Entertainment City building.
Just like that, twenty minutes later, that snow-white building, seemingly embedded in this gray soil, appeared at the end of the tram tracks. Golden lights illuminated it into a dazzling golden yellow...
----
Lu Yibei and her two companions got off the tram, walked through a dirty street, and arrived at the plaza in front of the building, where a giant fountain was built. Immediately, three beautiful girls wearing Rabbit Girl outfits came forward, each one pretty enough to participate in a girl group audition.
However, no matter how pretty they were, as long as they were wearing Rabbit Girl outfits, Lu Yibei couldn't feel the slightest interest in them.
What's more, those fluffy ears and tails seemed real.
If they weren't real, how could they move?
Anyway, Lu Yibei just felt like they might pull out a rusty crowbar from somewhere at any moment and give her a good beating on the back of her head.
Perhaps this was a sequela of the Mr. Rabbit urban legend attack incident?
The three Rabbit Girls came forward, naturally linked arms with the three of them, and smiled as they led them towards the Entertainment City.
"Guests, welcome! We believe /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ tonight is the perfect time for your wishes to come true. It seems this is your first visit to our establishment, right? Would you like me to give you a brief introduction?"
Hearing the Rabbit Girl beside her say this, Lu Yibei was taken aback and frowned slightly.
How did she know this was my first time here?
Seeing this, Liu Banxian leaned in towards Lu Yibei, held up a hand, and whispered, "The girls here are amazing! As long as you've been here once, they'll remember your face."
"One reason is to keep out malicious cheaters, and the other is to make it easier to take care of regular customers."
Quite professional? Lu Yibei muttered inwardly and nodded, indicating she understood.
Meanwhile, the burly men in black waiting in front of the heavy, carved copper door pushed it open for the three of them, and their view instantly widened.
Then, Lu Yibei was shocked.
Not because of the crystal-clear giant glass wall, nor the seemingly free gold used for decoration, nor the fair-skinned, beautiful girls.
It was because, as A Hua had said, the wide corridors on both sides, where every inch of space was extremely luxurious, were filled with promotional slogans.
Lu Yibei, "..."
Good heavens, it's like walking into a gambling addiction recovery forum!
Should an Elder brother come up to me and ask for some money later?
Just as Lu Yibei was thinking, Liu Banxian suddenly cleared his throat and said, "Ahem! Miss Wang, I think we should part ways here, shall we?"
"You and this Miss Hua clearly belong on the upper floors, so I won't accompany you. Before I leave, I want to say..."
"Could you lend me some chips? Just a hundred will do!"
Lu Yibei, "???"
Banxian, what are you doing, Banxian?
Seeing Lu Yibei's lack of reaction, Liu Banxian hurriedly said, "Believe me, with a hundred chips I can turn things around. I can win enough chips in just one night to find you on the upper floors. How about I return you ten times the amount of chips then?"
Lu Yibei, "..." Damn, what a typical gambler's speech! frёeωebɳovel.com
Seeing this, A Hua whispered to Lu Yibei, "How about you just give it to him? You have so many chips anyway, don't you? We still need to find my Miss! Let's not delay here."
Lu Yibei rolled her eyes at A Hua, "I only have two hundred and twelve chips in total, and you want me to give him a hundred? You say it so easily!"
"Ah? You only have that many chips?" Liu Banxian's expression froze, "I thought you were someone who was going to the upper floors!"
Lu Yibei paused, then came back to her senses, "What do you mean? If I don't have enough chips, can't I move freely in this building?"
Seeing this, the Rabbit Girl beside Lu Yibei smiled and politely explained to her, "Sorry, this guest, it's like this. For fairness and to ensure all guests have a good time, our Entertainment City has betting limits on different floors."
"The betting limit for the lower three floors is 1 to 1000, the middle three floors is 1000 to 100,000, and the upper three floors have a lower limit of 100,000 with no upper limit. So if you want to go to a certain floor, you need to have at least the minimum betting chips!"
"If you need to exchange chips now, I can do it for you. Our Entertainment City supports payment methods such as money, lifespan, Spiritual Energy, and the core of urban legend entities."
After speaking, the Rabbit Girl playfully winked at Lu Yibei and showed a sweet smile.
"No need!" A Hua interrupted, "We have a friend who is already upstairs, and she is waiting for us now."
Hearing this, Liu Banxian's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself, My calculations were correct, I really met a benefactor today, and it wasn't in vain that I spent so much time talking.
With this, I will definitely turn things around!
"Is that so?" The Rabbit Girl beside A Hua bowed to her, "Sorry, if it's convenient, could you tell me the names of you and your friend upstairs?"
"Later, I will first go and confirm the information with your friend upstairs. After confirming, I will take you and this Miss up together, is that okay?"
"Of course, no problem." A Hua nodded and said, "My name is A Hua, and my friend upstairs is A Li."
"Okay, okay, we will contact your friend as soon as possible. Please wait a moment."
The Rabbit Girl beside A Hua said this, respectfully bowed to A Hua, and then walked towards the depths of the Entertainment City with the clicking sound of her slender heels.
After the Rabbit Girl walked away, Liu Banxian couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap! Are you friends with that A Li?"
"Precisely!" A Hua tilted her chin slightly, her eyebrows filled with a hint of pride.
"Then can you lend me some more chips? A thousand, no, no, five hundred, five hundred is enough!"
"Honestly, I was just unlucky before. At my peak, my chip count was ranked ninth in the entire casino. This time, I can definitely turn things around."
"..." Facing the intense gaze of Liu Banxian, A Hua was speechless for a moment.
Noticing A Hua's embarrassment, Lu Yibei stepped forward, stood on her tiptoes, put an arm around Liu Banxian's neck, pulled him down, and said in a deep voice, "No, Old Liu, why are you raising the price? That's not fair, is it? Didn't you say a hundred just now?"
"This..." Liu Banxian hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said fiercely, "A hundred it is!"
"No! A hundred was the price just now, it's not anymore. Now I can only give you eighty." Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.
Although she would have plenty of chips once she found Jiang Li upstairs and it wouldn't matter to help Liu Banxian now, it's always better to save a little, isn't it? Lu Yibei thought.
"Ah?" Liu Banxian was taken aback, frowned, and said, "Isn't eighty a bit too little? How about ninety?"
"Seventy." Lu Yibei said faintly.
Liu Banxian's eyes widened, and he hurriedly said, "Eighty, just eighty!"
"Sixty."
Liu Banxian, "..."
He stopped talking. He felt that if he said anything more, his high blood pressure would act up.
In the end, Lu Yibei successfully sent Liu Banxian away with fifty-eight chips.
Hmm, she collected a 4% transaction fee.
After sending Liu Banxian away, the two waited in the lounge near the main entrance under the guidance of the Rabbit Girl.
Twenty minutes later.
The Rabbit Girl who went to find Jiang Li for confirmation returned, bringing a piece of news that made A Hua's face turn pale.
"Sorry, Miss A Hua, Miss ALi said she doesn't know you..."
A Hua's eyes widened, "?!"
