# Chapter 19: Getting Closer Again
A losing bet was something Su Xiao naturally wouldn't participate in, and as for the Abyssal Jar, he didn't want to touch it at all, not wanting to have even the slightest karmic connection with that thing.
From Wood's performance just now, this thing was a huge pitfall. If it were a treasure obtained by the Devil Race from opening the Abyss Passage, would the Devil Race let Wood carry it around on his person? Absolutely impossible.
This thing was most likely something that had plagued the Devil Race for a long time. Wood brought it this time precisely to try if there was an opportunity to give it away or lose it, and now he had succeeded.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao became even more eager to avoid the Abyssal Jar. If the Devil Race had been tormented by this thing for centuries without finding a solution, how could he possibly have a way? Turn danger into opportunity? He must not be awake yet. In Su Xiao's view, if he obtained the Abyssal Jar, even if he didn't end up completely dead, he wouldn't fare much better.
The gambling continued. Although the Skeleton had lost the Abyssal Jar, it calmly put it away, accepting this fact very simply. It was a pure gambler, and for this it had lost too many things—its former loved ones, its clan that had shared hardships, its own body, two-thirds of its soul...
Therefore, the Skeleton had become numb, numb to losing.
The second round of gambling began. This round had three [Scroll Fragments] as stakes, and not only Wood participated, but Zuiyasi as well.
Su Xiao turned and walked out of the Bone House, planning to go to the other side to check on a certain little creature.
As soon as Su Xiao exited the Bone House and entered the arcade hall, he saw the Fat Clown talking to an old man, who kept nodding.
"Sack."
Sack was the Fat Clown's name. Hearing Su Xiao call him, the Fat Clown quickly walked over. He actually wanted to run away long ago, but unfortunately, running away required time to prepare.
"What is it?"
The Fat Clown's attitude was not servile.
"I want a wooden stick, a scholar's wooden stick."
"What?"
The Fat Clown was completely confused.
"Didn't you pick it up? Never mind then."
Su Xiao didn't use physical negotiation, because he had played the good cop earlier, and the Fat Clown might have some gratitude toward him? Probably, Su Xiao wasn't sure, so he decided to try.
He took one step, two steps, three steps, four steps, then stopped. The Fat Clown did not call out to him to tell him where the scholar's wooden stick was.
Su Xiao confirmed that the scholar's wooden stick was inside the amusement park. He had determined this when he saw that large stone house earlier.
"Sack, you should have said just now that you actually know where the scholar's wooden stick is. Now say it to me like that. Say that you know where the scholar's wooden stick is."
Su Xiao turned his head to look at the Fat Clown. He didn't believe he couldn't awaken the Fat Clown's "gratitude for kindness." Even if he had to chop the other party into a human stick today, Su Xiao would get this matter done.
"Huh?"
The Fat Clown was even more confused.
"..."
Su Xiao narrowed his eyes, a smile appearing on his face. He was ready to begin physical negotiation.
"Ah! I remember now. Right, a month ago, after that large stone house fell down, I did find a wooden stick in a hidden compartment on the back wall of the stone house. So this is what you were talking about. Hahahaha, I'll go get it right away, right away."
The Fat Clown trotted off to the storage room. The reason was that in that instant just now, he had sensed a terrifying aura that made his hair stand on end. That blood energy—how many tens of thousands of beings would one need to kill to have that much?
Before long, the Fat Clown brought back a wooden stick. This stick was about 1.3 meters long, thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, with spiral wood grain patterns on it.
Carrying the scholar's wooden stick, Su Xiao walked out. After walking for over ten minutes, passing through a path between lawns, under the night sky, he saw that large stone house from before. It had a thatched A-shaped roof, and the rocks on the outer walls showed signs of melting, looking like half-melted candles.
Su Xiao had been to many worlds and seen many styles of architecture. Unless they had some special significance, no matter how magnificent or luxurious they were, he wouldn't remember them.
But that somewhat ordinary large stone house ahead left a deep impression on Su Xiao, because that large stone house had sheltered him, allowing him to avoid the scorching rays of the sun.
That might not sound like much at first, but what if it was avoiding the sun of Holy Land·Chiliad? The sunlight there could melt a person into a large blob of candle-like substance.
Su Xiao stopped in front of the main door of the large stone house, raised his hand, and pressed it against the wall beside him. Even though this wasn't Holy Land·Chiliad, he could still feel the scorching heat of sunlight from the wall.
Su Xiao walked into the large stone house. The furnishings inside were all decayed, turned into ash piles in the corners. Only a metal strip table against one wall remained intact. On this metal strip table, Su Xiao had once concocted Sun Potion.
He came to the innermost wall. The wall surface was pitch black, and a black stone disk was embedded at about 1.2 meters above the ground, empty inside.
Su Xiao pressed his hand on this stone disk.
"Dudu, Gugu."
A very clear voice came from within the wall behind the stone disk. Hearing this voice, Su Xiao tapped the stone disk with the scholar's wooden stick in his hand.
Wave~
A ripple carrying white light spread out.
[Prompt: You have awakened "Dudu Gugu." You may conduct friendly trade with "Dudu Gugu." "Dudu Gugu" is a friendly unit of the World of Paintings.]
[Prompt: Due to the Hunter's Charm attribute being too low, at -9 points! "Dudu Gugu" refuses to trade with you.]
[Prompt: Due to the Hunter's Charm attribute being -9 points, "Dudu Gugu" finds you very frightening.]
...
Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao's expression didn't change much. He had suspected before that Dudu Gugu was only lodging in Holy Land·Chiliad. Now it seemed that was indeed the case. Dudu Gugu might even have signed a contract with the Void Tree, existing as a being similar to the Water-Selling Old Woman, the Blind Old Man, or the Mushroom Sage.
Su Xiao had traded with Dudu Gugu once before. Trading with Dudu Gugu was very interesting—it wanted everything and would give back Soul Crystals or other rare items in return.
Last time, Su Xiao made a profit trading with Dudu Gugu. More importantly, Dudu Gugu could provide buff states.
Logically, since Su Xiao had already traded with Dudu Gugu once, Dudu Gugu wouldn't refuse a second trade. But that was under the condition that Su Xiao's Charm attribute hadn't dropped.
When he last traded with Dudu Gugu, Su Xiao's Charm attribute was -1 point, which already made Dudu Gugu very afraid. This was a timid and adorable little creature.
Now, Su Xiao's Charm attribute was -9 points, and coupled with his recently enhanced blood energy, just standing there made ordinary evil spirits tremble when passing by. Note, not ghosts, but mentally chaotic evil spirits.
Su Xiao took out [Burning Heart (Epic Rank Item)] and placed it on the stone disk fixed to the wall, then tapped the stone disk again with the scholar's wooden stick.
"You bad, bad bad bad."
A clear voice came from within the wall, and then several fluorescent white little bone hands reached out from inside the wall. These bone hands were very small, about the size of a baby's hand.
Dudu Gugu's little bone hands lifted the [Burning Heart (Epic Rank Item)], wanting to throw it~, but didn't dare. It only placed it at the edge of the stone disk, clearly indicating it didn't want to trade with Su Xiao.
Seeing this, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. Dudu Gugu's little bone hands whooshed back inside, extremely frightened.
Su Xiao's hand pressed onto his sword hilt, assuming a drawing stance.
"Kiss kiss kiss, kiss kiss kiss."
The clear voice came from within the wall again.
[Prompt: Due to irresistible reasons, "Dudu Gugu" has agreed to trade with you.]
Well, this was very Dudu Gugu—surrendering at the first sign of trouble.
"Black black, dark dark."
This was "Dudu Gugu" reminding him what it wanted. It seemed to want black things, but in reality, it wanted items with dark attributes.
Su Xiao took out a small bottle of [Dark Substance] and placed it on the stone disk. Several little bone hands immediately reached out, grabbed the small bottle containing [Dark Substance], and threw it into a corner of the wall. One little bone hand submerged to the very edge of the stone disk, reached out, and lightly grabbed Su Xiao's clothing.
"Bad bad bad, don't touch touch."
Dudu Gugu meant that it thought [Dark Substance] was a bad thing. Not only did it not want it itself, but it was also telling Su Xiao not to touch it.
Su Xiao thought for a moment, then took out [Twisted Abyss Energy Condensate·Fragment] from his storage space and placed it on the stone disk. This was what he had obtained after dealing with the dangerous object S-173 (Calamity Bell) in the previous world.
Whoosh—Dudu Gugu's several fluorescent white little bone hands grabbed the [Twisted Abyss Energy Condensate·Fragment] and pulled it in, as if afraid that if they were even a moment slower, Su Xiao wouldn't give it to them.
"Kiss kiss kiss, kiss kiss kiss."
Dudu Gugu's clear voice came from within the wall again. It seemed to really like the item it had just obtained. Immediately, Dudu Gugu's return gift came.
Ding, ding, ding...
A full five [Soul Crystal Cores] fell into the stone disk. After two seconds, Dudu Gugu seemed to feel it wasn't enough, and another [Soul Crystal Core] emerged from within the wall, falling into the stone disk. A total of six [Soul Crystal Cores]! This was a huge profit.
Based on previous experience, Dudu Gugu would continue to make requests until it reached some kind of upper limit.
Trading with Dudu Gugu had an upper limit. When approaching that limit, Dudu Gugu, this kind little creature, would keep using special gestures to remind. If one forcibly demanded it to continue trading, Dudu Gugu would be very sad. Since once a trade started, it couldn't unilaterally terminate it, it would have no choice but to continue.
Exceeding a certain upper limit in trading with Dudu Gugu would bring bad luck, permanently reducing the Luck attribute. This time, Su Xiao's trade with Dudu Gugu was still some distance from reaching that upper limit.
Su Xiao discovered that this upper limit seemed to refresh after a certain period, or perhaps it refreshed in different worlds. Otherwise, since he had already reached the upper limit trading with Dudu Gugu last time, he shouldn't be able to trade this time.
He hadn't reached the trading upper limit yet, but before continuing to trade, Su Xiao first wanted to confirm whether Dudu Gugu still had a certain ability. He tapped the stone disk twice with the scholar's wooden stick.
"Hand hand hand, grab hand hand."
Dudu Gugu's little bone hand pointed at Su Xiao's hand. Su Xiao pressed his hand onto the stone disk. Dudu Gugu's several little bone hands grabbed onto his hand. The little bone hands were a bit cold.
[Prompt: You have received Dudu Gugu's blessing buff. Your Luck attribute is temporarily increased by 6 points, lasting 12 hours.]
[Prompt: You have received Dudu Gugu's secondary blessing buff. Your True Strength, Agility, and Stamina attributes are temporarily increased by 5 points, maximum health +15%, effect lasting 12 hours.]
[Prompt: Because you have completed a trade with Dudu Gugu, and the items you offered made Dudu Gugu feel your generosity, when both blessing buffs end, you may return here, or encounter Dudu Gugu by chance in other areas, to receive Dudu Gugu's blessing buff again.]
PS: (Two chapters today, one chapter of 5000 words and one chapter of 3000 words. Actually, they could be divided into four chapters. Waste Mosquito usually writes 2000 words per chapter, a bit short. But if these two chapters were divided today, it would feel less compact, so they're posted as two chapters.)