IWOL Chapter 274: Starting a Game

That morning, Cui Zuojing, Dong Zheng, and Wang Que went to investigate the route. Lin Hangzhi slept fitfully at night, and he dreamed uneasily that someone was chasing him with a gun. No matter where he hid, the opponent would accurately find him every time.

In the intense anxiety, he woke up very early. Victor had turned into a cat and was still asleep curled up on the other pillow on the bed. Lin Hangzhi struggled against his sleepiness for a while, then he finally got up and touched a few dice to offset his bad luck.

After they learned of the casino in the box, they thought of this mitigation method. Lin Hangzhi’s ability had evolved to a certain extent in Snow Parasite Trail, and he only needed to deliberately do some unlucky things to store good luck in advance.

Therefore, Fu Zhe specifically asked Lin Hangzhi to use his ability to play dice and bet with another person. With his usual bad physique, it was generally difficult for him to win, so bad luck was consumed and good luck was accumulated.

Lin Hangzhi had been using this method ever since he discovered it. He had stored a lot of luck before entering the box; otherwise he would have died the night he became the Slot Machine Emperor. Therefore, after returning to the presidential suite, he played with Xia Qiongyun the whole night.

The use of his ability also required a certain amount of attention. When his brain was empty and he was deliberately not thinking, his ability wouldn’t work. He didn’t use his brain when gambling with Xia Qiongyun the whole night. Therefore, this dignified casino “Gambling Emperor” never won once.

But this wasn’t enough to fully repay the good luck he’d overdrafted last last night; otherwise his left foot wouldn’t have stepped on his right foot and sent him flying as he walked out the bedroom.

Victor was awakened by him. The cat pressed his two front paws on the bed, straightened his hind legs, and stretched out. His soft back bent into a graceful arc, and his hair slowly fluffed out. The two pupils in his amber eyes grew round. He jumped to Lin Hangzhi’s side and pressed his paw to the side of the doctor’s face. The power of purification was mixed with the power of the master of body,and he was instantly healed.

Unlike Cui Zuojing and Fu Zhe, Victor’s power of body and his purification ability had the same goal, they just worked in different ways. They had fused together and both were now enhanced as never before.

If one were to ask who had the best control over their power so far, the answer could only be Victor, who had already unlocked two seals. Not only had he eliminated the curse Midnight the Cat had placed on him, he could also skillfully transform between his human form and his cat form.

Xia Qiongyun was awake and was walking out of the room she shared with Wang Que. The sound of Lin Hangzhi’s fall also woke up Dong Linhai, who yawned all the way to the bathroom. When he returned, he bent over, picked up Victor, and held the cat to sleep.

His task today was still to protect Lin Hangzhi.

Lin Hangzhi sat on the high chair next to the gaming table and put the two dice that he carried with him on the table. Xia Qiongyun didn’t say a word and sat opposite him, just like last night. The game of chance was intended for Lin Hangzhi to get rid of his bad luck.

For a while, the only sounds in the room were two brief exchanges and the clash of the dice as they rolled on the table. Xia Qiongyun held her face with one hand, and after the result came out, she took a chip Lin Hangzhi passed over and placed it on her side.

When there was no relationship between winning or losing, this mechanical repetitive activity was very boring. About half an hour later, before the start of another round, Xia Qiongyun held the dice and asked, “Are you hungry?”

Lin Hangzhi stretched his waist and almost fell off his chair. He hurriedly grasped the edge of the table to stabilize his figure. “Let’s call for breakfast to be delivered.”

Xia Qiongyun got up and was about to make a phone call, when at this moment, she suddenly heard a knock at the door.

The knock was polite and powerful. It didn’t sound like Cui Zuojing and the others. Xia Qiongyun, who was in the middle of reaching out for the phone handle, slowly straightened up. She looked at the closed door and the knife hidden in her sleeve slid down into her palm.

The door grew silent after three knocks, and the pause was very patient. Before it sounded for the fourth time, Xia Qiongyun went over to the door, and keeping her body behind the door as much as possible, she opened it.

Cerberus stood on the other side of the door, his tall figure dressed neatly in a suit. When he saw that the door was opened, he smiled at Xia Qiongyun and stepped to the side, revealing the young man waiting behind him.

The moment Xia Qiongyun saw him, she thought that it was Fu Zhe in front of her.

The tear moles under each eye, the curvature of each strand of hair, the purity that was inadvertently revealed when he became expressionless and inattentive, and the calm, observant gaze assessing her. After she officially became a member of the Wonton Insurgency team and was taken into the castle to meet Fu Zhe for the first time, he also looked at her in this exact same way.

Fu Zhe’s key in her pocket suddenly became hot, and Xia Qiongyun held it tightly to prevent it from vibrating too much.

Cerberus didn’t miss the flash of gravity in Xia Qiongyun eyes. His eyebrows furrowed, but he pretended not to have discovered anything. “This is the boss, Mr. Mo. The boss heard about Mr. Lin and wanted to come and see our newly promoted casino emperor.”

“I’ve long heard of your name.” Although the fragment suddenly appeared, which wasn’t within the scope of the plan, Xia Qiongyun didn’t panic. Emergency events may occur at any time, and they’d all been trained to have a steady heart.

Xia Qiongyun stepped to the side and let them inside. Mr. Mo walked slowly and gracefully to the center of the living room. He looked around and the black walking stick inlaid with gold softly tapped on the floor.

Taking advantage of this, Xia Qiongyun quickly sent a message to Cui Zuojing and Dong Linhai that the situation had changed. Then she put the phone back in her pocket just as Lin Hangzhi came out of the game room.

“Did someone come—“ Lin Hangzhi’s voice stopped abruptly when he saw Mr. Mo. He looked at the fragment and then at Cerberus. Finally, he turned his eyes to Xia Qiongyun, his expression doubtful. “This is…?”

“I am the boss of this place,” Mr. Mo said, returning Lin Hangzhi’s gaze. “Are you Mr. Lin?”

“I am.”

“I heard from Cerberus that you were very lucky yesterday and the night before yesterday. The casino hasn’t had such a guest for a long time. I was curious and wanted to come over and see you. I hope you don’t mind my rash interruption.”

“You’re too kind.” Ling Hangzhi smiled, but he was already getting worried. He hadn’t completely used up his bad luck. If this fragment wanted to do something…

“Since I’m free today, I decided to meet Mr. Lin and offer you my friendship.” Mr. Mo lowered his eyes and smiled. He could clearly sense a fluctuation in Xia Qiongyun and Lin Hangzhi’s pocket, and also coming from the next bedroom. The energy was something he couldn’t be more familiar with, and although it was very weak, he still caught it.

“Since Mr. Lin is a professional gambler, I don’t know if I’ll have the opportunity to play with him today?”

Lin Hangzhi’s heart sank. The thing he didn’t want to happen finally happened—this fragment wanted to play on the gambling table with him. With an ability that alternated between good luck and misfortune, Lin Hangzhi still wasn’t sure how things would turn out.

But he still smiled and agreed, saying, “It would be my honor to play with the boss.”

Xia Qiongyun must have notified the others, and he just needed to wait for Cui Zuojing to return. They wouldn’t need to find the fragment, after all. When everyone arrived, they might be able to retrieve him directly.

They went back to the card room. Mr. Mo placed his walking stick on the empty chair next to him. He gently grasped the dice that Lin Hangzhi and Xia Qiongyun had left on the table. He squeezed them once, and then put them back in place, his face very pale.

Cerberus put on his gloves and acted as the croupier. He hadn’t done this job in a long time. In the entire casino, he was the only one who could act as the croupier for the boss’ game.

Xia Qiongyun opened Dong Linhai’s door with shaky hands. She thought that Dong Linhai might still be asleep and wouldn’t see her text message.

As a safety measure, they wouldn’t lock the door of their rooms, and so that door opened quite easily. But what Xia Qiongyun saw was not the view of the bedroom as she’d expect–She saw a pure white chaotic space.

This wasn’t the first time she’d seen this. The people in the team had seen this countless times already. After all, it was the chaotic void that imprisoned Fu Zhe and that they would see everytime they looked out the window of the castle.

She didn’t when the fragment had used the power of space to isolate them with him.

Before Lin Hangzhi took his seat, he poured himself a glass of water.

He cleared his throat and drank half of the water. Then he said, “Oh no, I need to use the restroom.”

“Okay.” Mr. Mo and Cerberus both had no opinions.

The moment Lin Hangzhi turned, still holding the cup of water, the smile on his face disappeared completely.

He entered the restroom, and after a while, Xia Qiongyun also came in. She closed the door behind her and whispered, “We’re isolated in space. I can’t find Linhai and Victor.”

“Does that mean Xiao Cui and Dong Zheng also won’t be able to come?” Lin Hangzhi was nervous, and sweat began to dot on his forehead. “Then what should we do? Should I just go out and bet against the fragment?”

“There’s no other choice. He probably just wanted to test how much your good luck can take.”

“But my bad luck hasn’t been exhausted yet. If he and I played and there’s trouble, wouldn’t I just explode?”

“Luckily, with my ability, as long as you believe me, nothing will happen.” Xia Qiongyun paused and then added softly, “But I prefer another method…”

Lin Hangzhi and Xia Qiongyun went back and forth. After washing his face and leaving his temples wet, he took a deep breath and tried to normalize his expression so that the fragment and Cerberus wouldn’t see that anything was wrong.

He returned to the card room, settled in place, and said with a smile, “I’ve kept you waiting.”

Mr. Mo didn’t care. He raised his eyes to look at Lin Hangzhi and smiled lightly. “Mr. Lin, if you’re ready, we can start.”

The opposite youth from Lin Hangzhi looked exactly like Fu Zhe. This would made Lin Hangzhi subconsciously relax, but this relaxation may be fatal. But he was just one of Fu Zhe’s soul fragment; he definitely wasn’t Fu Zhe. What kind of thoughts he had, there was no way to tell.

They opted to play Texas Hold’em, and each person had two cards in hand. In the first round, the croupier will issue three cards in total. In the second round, the croupier will send out the fourth card, followed by another round of betting. This would carry on to the fifth card with a third round of betting. Finally, the players show their hands. The two open cards and other three cards would be combined, and whoever had the largest five cards would win.

With reliance on Truth Speak, Lin Hangzhi put all of his energy on the card table. He stared at the cards in Cerberus’ hand and silently called for the arrival of good luck.

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Xixi: This chapter is unedited. Too tired.