Chapter 630: Gathering
Xiao Cheng pondered for a moment, then couldn't help but frown.
The duo that had entered the casino early in the morning before him was undoubtedly quite different from his own group. Just by their appearances, they already looked like complete villains. Although it didn't affect him much, Tiantian and Zheng Yingxiong were still in this venue, and getting involved with these kinds of bad guys too early was not good news.
"Handsome..." the man with tattooed arms behind him called out, "Didn't you say you were going to borrow some 'Dao' from someone? Why did you just come in?"
"Oh, I remembered that this old guy's game venue allows us to come in and take a look without paying first. I thought maybe I could come in and borrow some from someone. After all, we won't run away after borrowing; easy come, easy go."
Hearing that the two wanted to "borrow Dao," Xiao Cheng's face showed unease. He pocketed his two Dao and turned to leave.
"Hey... wait up, wait up..." The man with a roguish face reached out to block Xiao Cheng and said, "Brother, why are you in such a hurry to leave? We two aren't bad guys."
Xiao Cheng had heard too many lines like this; it was the classic opener for villains.
"Ah, I..." Xiao Cheng thought for a few seconds, intending to change the subject, so he asked, "How should I address you?"
"Me?" The man blinked. "Huluwa, what can I do for you?"
Xiao Cheng was taken aback. He then looked at the tattooed-armed man and asked, "Then you...?"
"Uh..." The tattooed-armed man also hesitated. "If he's 'Huluwa,' then I guess I'll have to be 'The Terminator'..."
"Alright." Xiao Cheng nodded, unfazed by the strangeness, and then said to the two, "I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave."
With that, he turned and left, and the two didn't stop him.
He knew he had to find Tiantian and Zheng Yingxiong immediately and discuss a plan with them.
Xiao Cheng soon found Tiantian in a dark little corner. At that moment, Tiantian was carefully reading the instructions for a "Dao-catching machine." Since not much time had passed, she hadn't put in any Dao yet.
"Sister Tiantian!" Xiao Cheng walked over to her with a grave expression and said in a low voice, "It seems there's some tricky trouble."
"What's wrong?" Tiantian turned her head and asked.
"Two uninvited guests have arrived. They don't look like good people at all. We need to avoid contacting them," Xiao Cheng said seriously. "They seem to want to borrow some 'Dao' from people. We'd better find a small room or a restroom to hide."
"That serious?" Tiantian frowned.
"Yeah, where is Brother Yingxiong?"
"I don't know. Let's go find him."
The two of them put away all the Dao in their hands and found Zheng Yingxiong behind another tall facility. Just as the three were discussing where to hide, they saw the two men already weaving around various tables and approaching.
"Oh no, oh no! Sister Tiantian, take Brother Yingxiong and run!" Xiao Cheng whispered. "Take my Dao too! We'd rather lose all our Dao than have them stolen!"
But at this moment, Tiantian was staring blankly at the two figures. Zheng Yingxiong sniffed the air, as if he had sensed something.
"You guys..." Tiantian spoke up first.
"Yo! Tiantian!" Qiao Jiajin smiled and walked straight over.
"Wow! Little Zhang San!" Chen Junnan also looked delighted.
The two came forward warmly, leaving Xiao Cheng a bit confused.
After walking over, Qiao Jiajin reached out and patted Zheng Yingxiong's head. "Yingxiong? How come you two are both here? Did you avoid the black lines yesterday?"
"Mm." Zheng Yingxiong smiled slightly and nodded. "Fortunately, I met Sister Tiantian. Do you know each other too?"
"Tell me about it." Tiantian shook her head with a wry smile. "This kid rode a bicycle. Thanks to him, he saved me."
The four chatted happily, and Xiao Cheng realized that he was the one left out.
"Sister Tiantian... you know them?"
"Ah, yes," Tiantian nodded reassuringly. "They're not bad people."
"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin stepped forward and put an arm around Xiao Cheng's shoulder. "Good-looking boy, you thought we were bad guys?"
"Ah...?" Xiao Cheng waved his hand with a bitter smile. "Well, it's not that..."
Under Tiantian's introduction, the five introduced themselves to each other, finally convincing Xiao Cheng that the roguish man and the tattooed-armed man were indeed not going to rob them of their Dao here.
But even so, the situation was still no different.
These two actually didn't have a single Dao on them as they swaggered into Di Hou's game venue.
Their intention to participate in the game was very clear, and they wanted to borrow four Dao from Xiao Cheng to pay the admission fee. This was essentially no different from having four Dao stolen.
From Xiao Cheng's perspective, he didn't know these two. He only had fifteen Dao in total. He had paid six for the admission earlier, lost one in the game, and had eight left. If he gave four more to these two strangers for their admission, the five would be left with only four Dao as capital.
At this point, not to mention the final “redemption,” even the chips for betting against other participants would be insufficient.
Moreover, for the five of them to walk out that door, they would need at least fifty Dao. Wasn't this destined that someone would die here?
"Relax..." Qiao Jiajin walked over and patted Xiao Cheng on the back. "Good-looking boy, do you know what's the most important thing in a gambling den?"
"What...?"
"The wingman," Qiao Jiajin said. "Although I don't entirely approve of this kind of behavior... but if we're playing mahjong and three people are on the same side, guess if the fourth person will lose?"
"This..."
Chen Junnan also nodded. "Kid, this is way better than you playing marbles alone. Don't forget, this place is a 'casino,' not a 'game arcade.' Are you planning to sit in front of a machine and get rich alone?"
Xiao Cheng looked at Chen Junnan and knew that this man's mind was much sharper than his own. He could spot the flaw in the "Eight Times General" with just one glance. With their help, perhaps their chances of winning could be greater.
Besides, he wasn't a good gambler. Relying purely on luck or intelligence, it was more practical to team up and cheat with them.
He looked up and found that Tiantian had already taken out her two Dao. Xiao Cheng decided not to hesitate any longer and took out his remaining two to make up the total, then handed them all to Di Hou.
"Handsome... you're going to be the 'brain' of this game..." Qiao Jiajin said a little nervously. "But you only learned the rules of gambling last night. Are you sure that's okay?"
"Should be... fine, right?" Chen Junnan replied. "Don't worry too much. Little Zhang San isn't stupid either."
Xiao Cheng looked at the others and said solemnly, "Let's get this straight... the remaining 'chips' are very few now, so we absolutely cannot have any more..."
Before he could finish, Chen Junnan heard a sound. He turned his head toward the entrance, where a figure was slowly approaching with their head down.
He raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Well, this is good. Saves us the brain too."