Chapter 350: What’s the Fun in Extorting Just One Person?

As Lu Yibei quietly followed the two men, one old and one young, Ah-Hua knew that she had already grasped evidence of their cheating and was about to start her so-called “extortion.”

Unable to discern the cheating methods of the men, Ah-Hua followed Lu Yibei for a short distance before she couldn’t help but whisper, “Hey, Wang Buliuxing, what exactly did they do?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yibei paused slightly, raised a hand to her mouth and whispered, “I only figured out a rough idea; they seem to have a kind of ‘luck usury’ ability.”

Lu Yibei was fairly certain of this. Earlier, when those pale golden threads wrapped around her fingers, even she could turn her luck around, transforming bad hands of five or six points into good hands of eleven or twelve points, not to mention other people or hauntings.

After the two dark lamps had their hands wrapped in golden threads, they consecutively received hands over eighteen points for nine rounds, which was the best proof.

“During the game, they lend luck to others, allowing them to get good hands and keep winning. However, the winnings for those receiving the good luck might only be a few hundred or a thousand per round.”

In fact, during the previous nine rounds, Lu Yibei consistently folded, losing less than a thousand chips each time, which was insignificant compared to the tens of thousands of chips lost or won in the tenth round.

She even suspected that if she hadn’t suddenly appeared and interrupted the increasingly intense betting, the final round’s winnings or losses might have reached tens of thousands or even more chips.

“Finally, when the target is on a winning streak, they reclaim the luck several times over and increase the betting chips, winning a large amount in one round. That’s basically their routine.”

Lu Yibei carefully analyzed the previous nine rounds of the game, noting that the middle-aged man had only eighteen pale golden threads wrapped around the hands of the two dark lamps.

When the middle-aged man manipulated the threads to peel away from the dark lamps and wrap around the young man’s hands, the number far exceeded eighteen.

If her guess about the function of those pale golden threads was correct, it should be that the middle-aged man, when reclaiming the lent luck, receives several times the return. This ability, if operated properly, allows him to suddenly strike after losing a few insignificant rounds, clearing out the opponent’s chips.

“That’s all I observed, but…” Lu Yibei frowned slightly, “I haven’t completely figured out their methods; I don’t have a foolproof grasp.”

Although she had basically understood how the middle-aged man won the rounds, she still had one unresolved doubt: how they made their opponents reckless.

For ordinary people, winning nine consecutive rounds might lead to emotional inflation, but the other two guests at the table were dark lamps from the Entertainment City, and even they became reckless, indicating there must be psychic ability involved.

However, this didn’t affect the upcoming actions. To extort them, knowing their main cheating methods was enough.

After listening to Lu Yibei’s analysis, Ah-Hua suddenly understood, “I get it. So, should we go and extort them now?”

Lu Yibei waved her hand, “No rush, let’s play with them first!”

“Play with them?” Ah-Hua tilted her head in confusion, wanting to ask more, but noticed Lu Yibei had already walked away, finding Liu Seer who was battling at a poker table.

She patted Liu Seer’s shoulder, raised a hand to her mouth, and with a stiff expression, said, “Friend, I have a project worth tens of thousands, interested?”

Meanwhile, as Lu Yibei secretly plotted to extort money from the two cheaters, the two dark lamps who had been at the same table with her, Le Er and Maping, returned to Nan Hao’s side.

Nan Hao looked at the dejected pair with a somber expression and said sternly, “What happened with you two? Lost so many chips to that guy, even more than the guests?”

“I think you’ve wasted the past year.”

“Boss, it’s not our fault. You know that guy’s ability is really strange,” Le Er said with a bitter face, looking at Nan Hao. “Moreover, the guest earlier wasn’t simple either.”

“Oh?” Nan Hao frowned slightly, asking, “How was she not simple?”

“She might have one of the most terrifying abilities,” Maping interjected.

The so-called most terrifying abilities usually refer to abilities like precognition, intuition, unusual luck, keen insight, and super calculation skills.

Guests with these abilities win as efficiently as the cheaters, and although there’s some cheating involved, the dark lamps have no legitimate reason to apprehend them.

“Exactly!” Le Er echoed, “She said her intuition was strong, and each round seemed like she could predict the outcome.”

“She says her intuition is strong, so it’s really strong?” Nan Hao slapped the back of Le Er’s head, “How do I usually teach you?”

Le Er raised his hand to block Nan Hao’s palm, yelling, “Ouch, boss, it hurts!”

“You dare block? I…” Nan Hao was about to lash out when a red-clad bunny girl approached, whispered something in his ear, and his expression immediately turned serious.

After the bunny girl left, Maping observed Nan Hao’s expression and quietly asked, “Boss, what did that sister say to you? Why do you look a bit off?”

“Hmph!” Nan Hao sneered, “She told me your two poker buddies are now at odds.”

“Interesting, let’s go take a look!”

In the Entertainment City, on the middle three floors, at a certain poker table, sat four guests.

Liu Seer, the disguised Ah-Hua, and the two cheaters, playing poker.

Lu Yibei, now wearing a Face-Changing spell formation solidified mask, stood at a distance, watching the pale golden threads stealthily wrap around Liu Seer and Ah-Hua’s fingers, and gave them a distant signal.

After the waiter dealt two hole cards to each person, Liu Seer surprisingly didn’t look at his cards. Instead, he directly grabbed a few chips and chose to call, adopting a stance of following through without checking his cards.

Ah-Hua, who had long colluded with Liu Seer, unsurprisingly chose to call as well, raising the stakes by throwing a few chips into the center of the table.

The old man and the young man confirmed their hole cards and calmly expressed their intention to call.

In the second round of betting, Liu Seer didn’t bother counting precisely. He grabbed a handful of chips and tossed them out, saying boldly, “Playing cards is all about having fun! It’s all about luck, 1000!”

“2000!” Ah-Hua raised the stakes again, seemingly in a confrontational stance against Liu Seer.

The old man and the young man hesitated for a moment but still chose to call.

“Call!”

“Call!”

“5000!” Liu Seer bet again.

Seeing this, the two con artists exchanged glances and decided to fold.

Thus, in the following ten minutes, history repeated itself.

With the assistance of the pale golden threads, Liu Seer and Ah-Hua took turns winning, and due to their intentionally high bets, the total amount of chips in front of them gradually increased.

Finally, when the game reached the sixth round, the middle-aged man couldn’t suppress his inner anxiety any longer and decided to “close the net.”

However, just as he activated his psychic ability to strip the pale golden threads from Ah-Hua and Liu Seer and transfer them to the young man, Lu Yibei appeared.

She jogged over from afar and jumped up to punch the middle-aged man on the shoulder.

“Hey~ Godfather! Didn’t expect to run into you here!?”

“You actually lied to Godmother about going on a business trip? Now I’ve caught you! If you don’t give me a hefty hush money, be careful, I’ll report you when I get back!”

With someone disrupting the game, the black-clad men patrolling around the hall would usually intervene immediately.

However, seeing Lu Yibei’s innocent demeanor and hearing her earnest and determined tone, as if she truly stumbled upon her godfather, they hesitated momentarily.

Entertainment City rules prohibit disrupting the game, but there’s no rule against chatting with acquaintances during a game.

The middle-aged man felt the pain in his shoulder and turned abruptly, seeing the 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 snow-white rabbit fur coat, white over-the-knee socks, and dark red round-toed leather shoes, with a small leather backpack on her back, looking harmless.

Facing such a face, even though it’s clear that no guest who can enter the middle three floors is a pushover, it’s hard to confront her.

In this place, it’s not uncommon for high-profile troublemakers to accompany big shots.

Staring at the girl, the middle-aged man felt anger but couldn’t express it, only saying in a deep voice, “Who is your godfather? Look carefully!”

Lu Yibei grabbed one of the middle-aged man’s hands, pouting and blinking her innocent big eyes, “Aren’t you my godfather?”

Being entangled by an unknown person and disrupting the game, the middle-aged man was furious, shaking off Lu Yibei’s hand and growling, “Open your eyes wide and take a good look!”

Lu Yibei frowned, looked at the middle-aged man blankly, as if realizing she had made a mistake, and fell silent.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man took a deep breath, rolled his eyes, and decided not to argue with this mysterious girl.

However…

Just as the middle-aged man turned away, Lu Yibei’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she heavily slapped his shoulder again.

“Oh, I get it! Old man, you’re pretending not to know me because you’re afraid I’ll tell Godmother, right?”

“Tsk! This trick, you already used it once when I caught you cheating last time! It won’t work this time, hurry up with the hush money, or I’ll report you!”

While speaking, Lu Yibei deliberately emphasized the words “hush money” and “report.”

“Bang-!”

The middle-aged man, filled with anger, didn’t catch the implication in Lu Yibei’s words, slammed the table, and was about to act when two black-clad men maintaining order in the Entertainment City approached.

“What’s going on here? Sir, is there anything we can help you with?”

“Hmph!” The middle-aged man snorted coldly, not speaking.

The two black-clad men turned to Lu Yibei, their expressions serious, “Miss, it seems you’ve disturbed this gentleman’s game.”

Lu Yibei pouted, seriously scrutinized the middle-aged man for a moment, and shook her head.

“I didn’t do it on purpose! I thought he was my godfather!”

“Tsk tsk, really looks too similar, but after a closer look, I think he’s not as handsome as my godfather, and his aura is lacking…”

While speaking, she respectfully bowed to the middle-aged man, “Well, sorry, mister, I mistook you for someone else, disturbed you, I’ll buy you a drink later to apologize!”

After speaking, she hopped away like a little rabbit towards the bar in the corner of the hall.

Watching Lu Yibei leave, the middle-aged man sat back down, ready to focus on the game, only to find Liu Seer and Ah-Hua had disappeared.

He glanced at the young man beside him and saw the young man shaking his head, whispering, “Waited too long, got impatient, folded and left.”

Middle-aged man, “…”

Strange, did his ability to affect opponents’ emotions not work?

Why did they leave?

The middle-aged man felt puzzled, but with the dealer right beside him, he couldn’t speak too openly, so he temporarily suppressed his doubts.

Looking at the empty table, he suddenly felt as if he had painstakingly fattened a pig, planning to slaughter it for the New Year, only to have the pig pen dismantled by a mischievous child, letting the pig escape before the New Year.

“How much did we lose?”

“Over twenty thousand…” the young man replied, pausing to add, “They bet generously, and folded too early in the last round, only won back twenty thousand.”

“…”

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, squinting as he searched around the Entertainment City hall. He quickly locked onto Liu Seer and Ah-Hua, who were already seated at another card table, and with a slight tilt of his chin, said, “Let’s go over there.”

The young man nodded, stood up, and followed the middle-aged man towards that card table.

In the shadows.

Having watched the entire process, Nan Hao crossed his arms over his chest, a meaningful smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

At this moment, Le Er leaned in and whispered, “Boss, what should we do now? Should we go and have a talk with that girl?”

Nan Hao shot a glance 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, “Did she cheat? No, right? Did anyone report her for engaging in activities against the Entertainment City’s rules? Also no, right?”

“If she hasn’t done anything, and you call her over for a talk, be careful she doesn’t accuse you of harassment.”

Nan Hao might have said it casually, but if Lu Yibei caught wind of it, she would definitely file a complaint!

“So, we’re just going to ignore her?” Le Er asked, puzzled.

“Of course, we have to keep an eye on her!” Nan Hao chuckled, “Later, let the security guys downstairs know that if that girl causes trouble again, they should take their time getting there.”

Pausing, seeing Le Er about to speak, Nan Hao squeezed his shoulder firmly and said earnestly, “Le Er, we’re dark lamps, not police. We don’t always have to drag the cheaters out to uphold justice.”

“Whatever means we use, as long as we can make those damned guys stop, that’s enough, understand?”

“Villains have their own way of dealing with villains. Sometimes using guests to balance out the cheaters is a good strategy. Remember how the brothers on the upper three floors dealt with Miss Ah-Li?”

Hearing Nan Hao mention Miss Ah-Li, who had become a legend in the Entertainment City recently, Le Er’s eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously, suddenly enlightened.

When Jiang Li, under the alias Ah-Li, first appeared in Dream Come True Entertainment City, her keen insight and exceptional calculation ability allowed her to win quite a few chips, causing the dark lamps a headache.

However, these dark lamps later discovered that every time she won enough chips, she would “gift” them back to the Big Boss of the Entertainment City, which relieved them. The dark lamps on the upper three floors even deliberately arranged for those troublesome cheaters to appear at the same card table as her.

Although Jiang Li noticed that the dark lamps on the upper three floors were using her to do their dirty work, the cheaters often had many chips, which helped her win enough chips faster, so she didn’t mind the mutual exploitation.

Meanwhile, in the middle three floors hall.

When the old and young cheaters appeared at the card table once again, Liu Seer and Ah-Hua exchanged a subtle glance, and as previously discussed with Lu Yibei, they calmly continued winning money and even engaged in brief banter with the two.

“Oh? Aren’t you the two guys from earlier? You got away?” Liu Seer said, half-seriously, half-teasingly, “When gambling, the worst thing is to encounter a woman. Women are disaster water; nothing good ever comes from meeting them!”

“Honestly, if it weren’t for that girl earlier, you probably would have won big with that hand!”

“…” The young man opened his mouth, about to say something to Liu Seer, but before the middle-aged man could stop him, Ah-Hua chimed in with a sarcastic tone.

“Why do you speak so unpleasantly, old man?” Ah-Hua glared at Liu Seer, her voice cold.

“What do you mean by nothing good comes from meeting women? If that’s the case, your mother giving birth to you must be the biggest disaster in the world.”

After speaking, Ah-Hua frowned slightly.

Where on earth did Lu Yibei learn to speak so sarcastically?

“You little girl, you just want to argue with me, huh? You’ve been like this since earlier, and now you’ve followed me to argue!” Liu Seer frowned, “Do you know what it means to respect the elderly and care for the young?”

As Ah-Hua and Liu Seer exchanged sharp words, the middle-aged man’s mouth twitched, and he intervened to smooth things over, “Come on, we’re all here to have fun, let’s not get caught up in the details. Playing cards is what’s important.”

Earlier at the card table, the two took turns winning, and after that mysterious girl disrupted the game at a critical moment, they both surprisingly chose to fold, and now they were gathered at the same table again.

This somewhat unusual behavior made the middle-aged man suspect they were in cahoots, but seeing their current verbal sparring, he temporarily dismissed his doubts.

Thus, the game continued, and after a few rounds, Ah-Hua and Liu Seer had won quite a few chips, with their hands also wrapped in numerous strands of pale gold thread.

Seeing the opportunity, the middle-aged man used his psychic ability to strip the pale gold threads from their hands and transferred them to the young man.

Simultaneously, the young man secretly used his psychic ability to interfere with Ah-Hua and Liu Seer’s emotions.

Just then, a series of light footsteps approached from behind the middle-aged man, and the next moment, someone gave his shoulder a firm pat.

The soft and sweet “godfather” that sounded in his ear made the middle-aged man’s heart tighten, his face twitching uncontrollably.

“Godfather, godfather, I have to tell you, I just met someone over there who looks just like you! People even mistook him for you!”

Lu Yibei said sweetly, her hands shaking the middle-aged man’s shoulders back and forth as she spoke.

The middle-aged man, “…”

“Godfather, what’s wrong, godfather? Why do you look so pale? Oh~! You must be afraid I’ll tell Godmother, right?”

“Don’t worry, I’m very loyal. If the hush money is enough, I won’t report you.”

Once again, Lu Yibei emphasized the words “hush money” and “report.”

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man furrowed his brow slightly, his gaze filled with suspicion as he scrutinized Lu Yibei up and down.

“…”

So I didn’t mishear earlier; she really emphasized the words ‘hush money’ and ‘report’…

Could it be that she’s already seen through our methods?

It’s very possible; otherwise, she wouldn’t appear at every critical moment.

While the middle-aged man was silently cursing, the young man, seeing Liu Seer and Ah-Hua once again taking the opportunity to fold and flee, was filled with anger. He suddenly stood up, pointed at Lu Yibei’s nose, and shouted, “You damn bitch, open your eyes wide and take a good look; this is the person you mistook earlier!”

“Uh… ah?” Lu Yibei was taken aback, grabbing the middle-aged man’s shoulders to turn him towards her, and stared at him intently.

Seeing the middle-aged man nodding with a look of resignation, she immediately tapped her forehead with her small fist in frustration, saying, “What’s wrong with me today? Why did I mistake him again?”

“I’m really sorry, how about… I buy you a 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 and then whispered to the young man, “I’ll go talk to her.”

“Talk about what?” The young man was puzzled.

“Spend money, avert disaster,” the middle-aged man said through gritted teeth, clenching his fist tightly as he spoke.

Although he really wanted to kill that girl immediately, he didn’t dare to make a move inside the Entertainment City.

When the middle-aged man arrived at the bar in the hall, he searched around but couldn’t find the annoying girl.

He watched as the girl walked this way, almost following right behind him, yet couldn’t find her, and couldn’t help but look puzzled.

Just as he was puzzled, the bunny girl behind the bar placed a glass of wine worth a hundred chips in front of him, and as she watched him, he pondered for a moment, as if recalling something, and his eyes lit up. He hurriedly called the bunny girl who delivered the wine.

“Wait a moment, may I ask who sent this drink?”

The bunny girl smiled at the middle-aged man, “Hello, sir, it was sent by that girl.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand and pointed towards the center of the hall.

Following her direction, he saw the most conspicuous and eye-catching spot in the entire hall, where a magnificent crystal fountain shaped like the Ace of Hearts playing card stood.

At this moment, beside the fountain stood a girl wearing a red and white tactical jacket, expressionlessly waving in this direction.

The girl was none other than Lu Yibei, who had shed her disguise.

It’s her? The middle-aged man frowned, recognizing Lu Yibei as the person who had appeared at the same gambling table with him earlier and ruined his plans, confirming his suspicion.

He believed that Lu Yibei had a high probability of knowing his cheating methods and planned to use them to extort him.

“Hu-!”

He took a deep breath, raised his glass with a grim face, and drank it all in one go, then quickly walked towards the center of the hall, stopping beside Lu Yibei.

“Tell me, how much do you want?”

“Uncle, you’re really straightforward! This is much more likable 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’s brows furrowed, his expression wary.

Everyone knows that free things are often the most expensive, especially in situations like this.

“Don’t be nervous, uncle!” Lu Yibei said, raising a finger, “I just need you to do me a small favor.”

“Hmph, this small favor is probably not easy, right?” The middle-aged man said coldly, “Tell me first, if it’s too much, I’ll refuse even if the Entertainment City confiscates my chips and kicks me out.”

“Don’t worry, it’s very simple. Hearing you say that gives me even more confidence to get it done.” Lu Yibei said expressionlessly, “I just need…”

“If someone comes to you later asking what I said to you, just tell them I’m a dark lamp, but not a qualified one. You were caught cheating by me and only spent a few chips to buy me off. How’s that, simple enough?”

“Oh, and make sure to say ‘a few,’ but don’t tell them the exact number of chips,” Lu Yibei added.

The middle-aged man was stunned; he thought he was the fish Lu Yibei was reeling in, but unexpectedly, he became the bait.

After a few seconds of silence, he lowered his voice and said, “I can help you, but I can’t guarantee someone will come asking about this.”

Lu Yibei patted the middle-aged man’s shoulder, saying meaningfully, “Don’t worry, they’ll come looking for you. Otherwise, why do you think I met you here?”

As she spoke, Lu Yibei’s eyes discreetly scanned the opulent hall, her gaze sweeping over where shadowy figures hurriedly avoided her.

Because they had seen and heard, they would be afraid… Lu Yibei thought to herself, turning to walk towards Ah-Hua and Liu Seer, who had completed the task of spreading rumors.

Although they only revealed bits of information at the card table, rumors would fill in and grow in the listeners’ minds.

And to make rumors grow faster, as long as someone saw Lu Yibei whispering with the middle-aged man in the center of the hall and spread it, it would be enough.

“…”

So, extorting just one person is boring; adults want it all, right?

After all, they can’t possibly kill me here, can they? Lu Yibei thought.