Free Web NovelThe moment Lu Yibei subtly followed the elderly man and the young man, A Hua knew that she had already obtained evidence of their cheating and was ready to begin her so-called “blackmail.”
A Hua, who hadn't figured out their cheating methods at all, followed Lu Yibei for a short distance before she couldn't help but ask softly, “Hey, Wang Bu Liu Xing, what kind of trick did they use?”
Hearing this, Lu Yibei paused slightly, put a small hand to her mouth, and whispered, “I only figured out the general idea. They probably have an ability similar to ‘luck usury.’ ”
Lu Yibei was quite certain about this. When those light golden threads wrapped around her fingers, even she could turn her luck around, changing bad cards of five or six points into good cards of eleven or twelve points, not to mention others or urban legend.
The fact that the two hidden lights received good cards exceeding eighteen points for nine consecutive rounds after their hands were wrapped in golden threads was the best proof.
“When the game is in progress, they lend luck to others, allowing them to get good cards and keep winning money, but those who receive good luck might only win a few hundred to a thousand per round.”
In fact, in the first nine rounds, Lu Yibei continuously folded, losing less than a thousand chips each time, which was negligible compared to the tens of thousands of chips won or lost in the tenth round with a single call.
She even suspected that if she hadn't suddenly appeared and interrupted the increasingly intense betting, the final win or loss in that last round would have amounted to hundreds of thousands or even more chips.
“Finally, when the target gets high on winning, they will reclaim their luck several times over, then raise the betting chips, winning a large amount of chips in one round. That’s roughly the whole scheme.”
Lu Yibei explained carefully that in the first nine rounds of the game, the middle-aged man had only eighteen light golden threads wrapped around the hands of the two hidden lights.
However, when he manipulated the threads to peel off the hands of the two hidden lights and wrap around the young man’s hand, the number far exceeded eighteen.
If her guess about the function of those light golden threads was correct, it should be that when the middle-aged man reclaims the luck he lent out, he receives several times the return. With proper operation of this ability, he could suddenly strike after losing a few insignificant rounds and instantly clear his opponent's chips.
“These are all the things I observed just now, but...” Lu Yibei frowned slightly, “I haven't fully seen through their methods yet, so I don't have a foolproof grasp.”
Although she had basically figured out how the middle-aged man won the game, she still had a little doubt unresolved: how did the two of them make their opponents get carried away?
For ordinary people, winning nine consecutive rounds might lead to inflated emotions, but the other two guests at the table were hidden lights of the Entertainment City, and even they got carried away, so there must have been the influence of spiritual abilities at play.
However, this did not affect the subsequent actions. To extort them, knowing their main cheating method was enough.
After listening to Lu Yibei’s analysis, A Hua suddenly understood, “I get it! So, should we go blackmail them now?”
Lu Yibei waved her hand, “No rush, let’s play around with them first!”
“Play around?” A Hua tilted her head, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) full of confusion, and was about to ask more, but found that Lu Yibei had already walked away and found Liu Banxian, who was fighting fiercely at a poker table.
She patted Liu Banxian’s shoulder, then put a small hand to her lips, winking but with a stiff face, and said, “Friend, I have a big project worth hundreds of thousands, want to know about it?”
— — — —
Just as Lu Yibei was secretly plotting to get money from the two cheaters, the two hidden lights who had been at the same gambling table with her, Le Er and Ma Bing, returned to Nan Hao’s side.
Nan Hao looked at the two dejected men with a gloomy expression and said in a deep voice, “What’s wrong with you two? You lost so many chips to that guy again, more than even the actual guests?
“I think you two have wasted more than a year of work.”
“Boss, you can’t blame us. You know that guy’s ability is truly too bizarre.” Le Er looked at Nan Hao with a bitter face and said, “What’s more, that guest just now was not simple either.”
“Oh?” Nan Hao frowned slightly and pressed, “How was she not simple?”
“She might have one of the most terrifying abilities,” Ma Bing interjected.
The so-called most terrifying abilities usually refer to precognition, intuition, unusual luck, keen insight, super computational ability, and so on.
Guests with these abilities do not win money less efficiently than those cheaters, and although there is an element of cheating involved, the hidden lights have no legitimate reason to arrest them.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Le Er echoed, “She said her intuition was very strong, and it was as if she could know the outcome of each round in advance.”
“She says her intuition is super strong, so her intuition is really super strong?” Nan Hao slapped Le Er’s back of the head, “What do I usually teach you?”
Le Er raised his hand to block Nan Hao’s palm and shrieked, “Ouch, Boss, it hurts!”
“You dare to block? I...” Nan Hao was about to get angry when a red Rabbit Girl walked over and whispered something in his ear. His expression immediately became serious.
After the Rabbit Girl left, Ma Bing observed Nan Hao’s expression and asked softly, “Boss, what did that sister just tell you? Why do you look a bit off?”
“Hmph!” Nan Hao sneered, “She told me that your two card buddies from just now are now at odds.”
“Interesting, come on, let’s go take a look!”
— — — —
Entertainment City, middle third floor, at a certain card table, sat four guests.
Liu Banxian, the disguised A Hua, and the old and young cheaters were playing Texas Hold’em.
Lu Yibei, who had already put on her Rouge Transformation · Incantation-Stabilized Mask, stood in the distance, watching the light golden threads subtly wrap around Liu Banxian and A Hua's fingers, and gave them a look from afar.
After the waiter delivered two hole cards to everyone, Liu Banxian didn't even look at his cards, but directly grabbed a few chips and chose to call, putting on a show of calling to the end without looking at his cards.
A Hua, who had already conspired with Liu Banxian, chose to call without surprise, inflating the chip amount and throwing a few chips into the center of the table.
The old and young men confirmed their hole cards and calmly indicated they would call.
In the second round of betting, Liu Banxian didn't count specifically, grabbed a handful of chips, threw them out, and said carelessly, “Playing cards, the most important thing is to be happy! It’s all about luck, 1000!”
“2000!” A Hua raised the bet again, subtly showing a confrontational stance against Liu Banxian.
The old and young men hesitated for a moment at this sight, but still chose to call.
“Call!”
“Call!”
“5000!” Liu Banxian bet again.
Seeing this, the two cheaters exchanged glances with their peripheral vision and chose to fold.
Thus, over the next ten minutes or so, history repeated itself.
With the aid of the light golden threads, Liu Banxian and A Hua took turns winning money, and because they deliberately placed higher bets, the total amount of chips in front of them gradually increased.
Finally, when the game reached its sixth round, the middle-aged man could no longer suppress his impatience and chose to “reel in the net.”
However, just as he activated his spiritual ability, peeling the light golden threads from A Hua and Liu Banxian and transferring them to the young man, Lu Yibei appeared.
She jogged over from a distance, jumped up, and punched the middle-aged man on the shoulder.
“Hey ~ Godfather! I didn’t expect to run into you here!?
“You actually lied to Godmother that you were on a business trip? Now I’ve caught you, haven’t I? If you don’t give me ten or eight thousand as hush money, be careful or I’ll tell on you when I get back!”
Those Black-Clothed Men patrolling around the hall would normally appear immediately to stop anyone disrupting the game.
However, seeing Lu Yibei's innocent appearance and serious, confident tone, as if she had truly run into her godfather, they fell into a momentary hesitation.
The Entertainment City rules prohibited disrupting card games, but did not prohibit striking up a conversation with acquaintances during a game.
The middle-aged man’s shoulder hurt, and he turned sharply to see the young girl behind him, slightly stunned.
She was a beautiful girl with big eyes and a doll-like face, about fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a snowy white rabbit fur coat, white over-the-knee socks, and dark red round-toed leather shoes, carrying a small leather backpack on her back, looking completely harmless.
Facing such a face, even if he knew very well that none of the guests who could enter the middle third floor were good people, it was still difficult to pick a fight with her.
There were indeed super-VIP bratty kids who accompanied big bosses here.
Staring at the young girl, the middle-aged man felt angry but couldn't vent it. He just said in a deep voice, “Who’s your godfather? Look closely!”
Lu Yibei took one of the middle-aged man’s hands, pouted her small mouth, and blinked her innocent big eyes, “Aren’t you my godfather?”
Being entangled by an unknown person and having his game disrupted, the middle-aged man was furious. He violently shook off Lu Yibei’s hand and growled, “You open your dog eyes wider and look again?”
Lu Yibei frowned, looking at the middle-aged man blankly, as if realizing she had done something wrong, and fell silent.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man took a deep breath, rolled his eyes, and decided not to bother with this eccentric girl.
However...
As soon as the middle-aged man turned around, Lu Yibei’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she heavily patted his shoulder again.
“Oh, I get it! You old stinker, you’re afraid I’ll tell Godmother, so you’re pretending not to know me, right?”
“Tsk! You already used this trick last time when I caught you cheating! It won’t work this time, hurry up and give me hush money, or I’m going to tell on you!”
As she spoke, Lu Yibei deliberately emphasized the words “hush money” and “tell on.”
“Bang—!”
The middle-aged man, with anger simmering inside, didn't catch the hidden meaning in Lu Yibei's words. He slammed the table fiercely, about to unleash his fury, when he saw two Black-Clothed Men maintaining order in the Entertainment City walk forward.
“What’s going on here? Sir, can we help you with anything?”
“Hmph!” The middle-aged man snorted coldly, saying nothing.
The two Black-Clothed Men turned to Lu Yibei, their expressions serious, “Miss, you seem to be disturbing this gentleman’s game.”
Lu Yibei pouted, seriously and intently observed the middle-aged man for a moment, then shook her head.
“I didn’t mean to! I thought he was my godfather!”
“Tsk tsk, he really looks so much like him, but after a closer look, I also feel he’s not as handsome as my godfather, and his demeanor is a bit off...”
As she spoke, she respectfully bowed to the middle-aged man, “Uh, I’m sorry, Uncle, I mistook you for someone else and disturbed you. How about I buy you a drink later to apologize?!”
After speaking, she hopped like a little rabbit towards the bar counter in a corner of the hall.
Watching Lu Yibei leave, the middle-aged man sat back down, ready to focus on the game, only to find that Liu Banxian and A Hua had vanished at some point.
He glanced at the young man beside him with his peripheral vision, and saw the young man shake his head and say in a low voice, “They waited too long, got impatient, and folded and left.”
Middle-aged man, “...”
Strange, did his ability to influence opponents' emotions not work?
Why did they leave?
The middle-aged man had doubts in his heart, but with the dealer right beside him, some things were not good to say too explicitly, so he could only temporarily suppress his doubts.
Looking at the empty card table, he suddenly had that exasperating feeling of having finally fattened up a pig, ready to slaughter it for the New Year, but before the New Year arrived, a bratty kid tore down the pigsty and let the pig run away.
“How much did you lose?”
“Over twenty thousand...” the young man replied, then paused and added, “They bet quite generously, and then folded too early in the last round, only winning back twenty thousand.”
“...”
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The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then squinted his eyes and searched the Entertainment City hall for a while, quickly spotting Liu Banxian and A Hua, who had already sat down at another card table. He then raised his chin slightly and said, “Let’s go over.”
The young man nodded, stood up, and followed the middle-aged man towards that card table.
——
In the shadows.
Nan Hao, who had watched the entire process, crossed his arms over his chest, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
Just then, Le Er came forward and whispered, “Boss, what should we do now? Should we go find that girl and talk to her?”
Nan Hao glared at Le Er, “Talk about what? What’s there to talk about?”
Le Er scratched the back of his head, “Isn’t she...”
“What about her?” Nan Hao spread his hands and said, “Did she cheat? No, right? Did anyone report her for engaging in activities that violate Entertainment City regulations? No, right?”
“She didn’t do anything, and you want to bring her over for a talk? Be careful, she might complain about you for sexual harassment.”
Nan Hao might have just said it casually, but if Lu Yibei seized the opportunity, she would really complain!
“So we’re just not going to deal with her?” Le Er asked, puzzled.
“Of course we will!” Nan Hao laughed, “Later, go tell the security brothers downstairs that if that girl causes trouble again, they should go over a little later.”
He paused, and seeing Le Er about to speak, Nan Hao squeezed his shoulder hard and said earnestly, “Le Er, we are Dark Lamps, not police. We don’t have to directly expose every cheater to uphold justice every time.”
“No matter what methods we use, we just need to make those damned guys stop, understand?”
“Evil has its own retribution. Sometimes, using guests to counterbalance cheaters is also a good choice. Do you remember how the brothers on the third floor handled A Li?”
Hearing Nan Hao mention A Li, who had recently become a legend in the Entertainment City, Le Er’s eyes lit up, and his mind suddenly cleared. He nodded vigorously.
When Jiang Li, under the alias A Li, first appeared in Dream Come True Entertainment City, she won a lot of chips with her keen insight and extraordinary calculation ability, which once gave the Dark Lamps a huge headache.
However, these Dark Lamps later discovered that after she won enough chips each time, she would “give” them back to the Big Boss of the Entertainment City without touching them, so they breathed a sigh of relief. The Dark Lamps on the third floor even secretly arranged for those troublesome cheaters to appear at the same card table as her.
Although Jiang Li also realized that the Dark Lamps on the third floor were using her to kill with a borrowed knife, cheaters often had a lot of chips, which could help her win enough chips faster. She didn’t mind this mutual exploitation too much.
——
Meanwhile, in the middle-third floor hall.
When the old and young cheaters reappeared at the card table, Liu Banxian and A Hua exchanged glances without a trace of emotion. As they had discussed with Lu Yibei earlier, they would confidently win money before she appeared, and even engaged in a brief exchange of pleasantries with the two.
“Oh? Aren’t these the two guys from earlier? You got away?” Liu Banxian said, half-seriously and half-teasingly, “When gambling, the biggest taboo is running into women. Women are calamity water; nothing good ever comes from meeting them!”
“Honestly, if you hadn’t run into that little girl just now, you probably would have won a huge wave with that hand!”
“...” The young man opened his mouth, just about to say something to Liu Banxian, but before the middle-aged man could stop him, A Hua started speaking in a sarcastic tone.
“Why are you speaking so harshly, old man?” A Hua looked at Liu Banxian out of the corner of her eye and said coldly.
“What do you mean, nothing good ever comes from meeting women? If that counts as a bad thing, then your mother giving birth to you must be the biggest bad thing in the world.”
After speaking, A Hua frowned almost imperceptibly.
Where on earth did Lu Yibei learn all these sarcastic remarks?
“You little girl, you just have to argue with me, don’t you? You’ve been like this since just now, and you even followed me to argue!” Liu Banxian frowned and said, “Do you know what it means to respect the old and cherish the young?”
As A Hua and Liu Banxian were at loggerheads, the middle-aged man’s mouth twitched. He tried to smooth things over, saying, “Gentlemen, we’re all here to have fun. Let’s not dwell on the trivial details. Playing cards is what matters.”
Just now at the card table, the two took turns winning money, and after the unknown girl disrupted the game at a critical moment, they surprisingly chose to fold in unison, and then they all gathered at the same table.
Such slightly abnormal behavior once made the middle-aged man suspect that they were in cahoahoots, but seeing the current situation where both sides were verbally unforgiving, he temporarily dispelled his doubts.
So, the card game continued, and after a few rounds, A Hua and Liu Banxian won a lot of chips again, and at the same time, a large amount of light golden threads wrapped around their hands.
Seeing that the time was ripe, the middle-aged man activated his spiritual ability to strip the light golden threads wrapped around their hands and transfer them to the young man.
At the same time, the young man also secretly activated his spiritual ability to interfere with A Hua and Liu Banxian’s emotions.
Just then, a series of light footsteps came from behind the middle-aged man, and the next moment, his shoulder was heavily patted.
The moment that soft, sweet “Godfather” sounded in his ear, the middle-aged man’s heart tightened, and his face twitched uncontrollably.
“Godfather, Godfather, let me tell you, I just met someone over there who looks super like you! They even mistook him for you!”
Lu Yibei said sweetly, shaking the middle-aged man’s shoulders back and forth as she spoke.
Middle-aged man, “...”
“Godfather, what’s wrong, Godfather? Why do you look unwell? Oh~! You must be afraid of me telling Godmother, right?”
“Don’t worry, I’m very loyal. If the hush money is enough, I won’t expose you.”
Once again, Lu Yibei emphasized the words “hush money” and “expose.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man frowned slightly, his gaze uncertain as he scrutinized Lu Yibei up and down.
“...”
So, I didn’t mishear just now. She really did emphasize the words “hush money” and “expose”...
Could it be that she has already seen through our methods?
This is very possible, otherwise, she wouldn’t appear at critical moments every time.
While the middle-aged man was muttering to himself, the young man saw Liu Banxian and A Hua once again take the opportunity to fold and slip away, and he was so furious that he stood up abruptly, pointing at Lu Yibei’s nose and saying, “You bitch, you better open your eyes and take a good look, this is the person you mistook just now!”
“Uh... huh?” Lu Yibei was stunned for a moment. She grabbed the middle-aged man’s shoulder and turned him to face herself, then widened her eyes and looked him over repeatedly.
Seeing the middle-aged man nod with a look of utter despair, she immediately raised her small fist and tapped her own head, annoyed, “What’s wrong today? Why did I mistake him again?”
“I’m really sorry, how about... I treat you to another drink, Uncle?”
After speaking, she stuck out her tongue and quickly ran towards the bar in the hall.
Watching Lu Yibei leave, the middle-aged man waited for a moment, then quietly said to the young man, “I’ll go talk to her.”
“Talk about what?” The young man was stunned.
“Pay for peace.” The middle-aged man said through gritted teeth, clenching his fists tightly as he spoke.
Although he really wanted to kill that girl immediately, he didn’t dare to act in the Entertainment City.
——
When the middle-aged man arrived at the hall bar, he searched around for a while but couldn’t find any trace of that annoying girl.
He watched with his own eyes as the girl walked this way, almost following right behind her, yet he couldn’t find her, and he couldn’t help but look puzzled.
As he was pondering, the Rabbit Girl behind the bar brought a glass of fine wine worth a hundred chips to him. He gazed at the glass, pondered for a moment, as if he remembered something, his eyes lit up, and he quickly called out to the Rabbit Girl who was serving the wine.
“Wait a moment, please, who sent this wine?”
The Rabbit Girl smiled at the middle-aged man, “Hello sir, that young lady sent it.”
As she spoke, she raised her hand and pointed towards the center of the hall.
Following the direction she pointed, in the most conspicuous and eye-catching place in the entire hall, there was a magnificent crystal fountain shaped like a Heart A playing card.
At this moment, a girl dressed in a red and white jacket stood by the fountain, waving at this side with an expressionless face.
The girl was Lu Yibei, who had already removed her disguise.
Is it her? The middle-aged man frowned. He recognized Lu Yibei at a glance as the person who had appeared at the same gambling table as him before and ruined his good fortune, and at the same time, he confirmed his conjecture.
He felt that there was a very high probability that Lu Yibei already knew about his cheating methods and intended to use this as a threat for blackmail.
“Hoo—!”
He took a deep breath, his face grim as he raised the wine glass, drank it in one gulp, then strode quickly towards the center of the hall and stopped beside Lu Yibei.
“Speak. How much do you want?”
“Uncle is really straightforward! I like that about you, even more than my real godfather.” Lu Yibei shrugged.
“However, I don’t intend to take your chips, meaning it’s free.”
“What do you mean?” The middle-aged man frowned tightly, his expression wary.
Everyone in this world knows that what’s free is often the most expensive, especially in this kind of situation. frёeωebɳovel.com
“Uncle, don’t be nervous!” Lu Yibei said, holding up a finger, “I just need you to help me with a small matter.”
“Hmph, that ‘small matter’ of yours probably won’t be easy to handle, right?” The middle-aged man said coldly, “Tell me first. If it’s too much, even if the Entertainment City confiscates my chips and kicks me out, I’ll refuse.”
“Don’t worry, it’s very simple. Hearing you say that, I’m even more confident I can handle this well.” Lu Yibei said expressionlessly, “I just need...”
“Later, if someone comes to find you and asks what I said to you, just tell them that I’m a Dark Lamp, but not a qualified Dark Lamp, and that you were caught cheating by me and bought me off with not many chips. How about that, isn’t it simple?”
“Oh, and be sure to say ‘not many,’ don’t tell them the exact amount of chips.” Lu Yibei added.
The middle-aged man was astonished. He had thought he was the fish Lu Yibei was casting a long line for, but he suddenly realized he had become the bait.
After a few seconds of silence, he lowered his voice and said, “I can help you, but I can’t guarantee that someone will come to me asking about such things.”
Lu Yibei patted the middle-aged man’s shoulder and said meaningfully, “Don’t worry, they will come looking for you. Otherwise, why do you think I’m meeting you here?”
As she spoke, Lu Yibei’s eyes subtly scanned the opulent hall. Wherever her gaze fell, furtive figures hurriedly dodged her eyes.
Because they all saw it and heard it, they will be afraid... Lu Yibei thought to herself, then turned and walked towards A Hua and Liu Banxian, who had already completed their rumor-spreading mission.
Although they only revealed scattered information at the card table, rumors would complete and grow in the listeners’ minds.
And for a rumor to grow faster, it would be enough if someone saw Lu Yibei whispering with the middle-aged man in the center of the hall and spread it.
“...”
So, how boring it would be to extort just one person? Of course, adults want it all!
Anyway, they can’t kill me here, right? Lu Yibei thought.
