**Chapter Twelve: The Betting Monster in Dream Come True Entertainment City**
In the early morning hours, as bright sunlight poured down, the small garden of the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau saw the forsythia flowers bloom much earlier than in previous years, with dewdrops glistening on the tender green branches.
Li Xuan sat at a stone table under a pavilion, a famous Fook Kee pan-fried bun from Mudan Street in his mouth, diligently studying the report on the urban legend incidents in Huacheng over the past half month. He sighed occasionally, furrowed his brows in contemplation, and at times revealed a comforting smile, making his expressions quite entertaining.
Before long, footsteps approached, and An Qing, dressed in a light gray professional suit and sporting a white lab coat, swayed in with a glass of strawberry juice made from bl**d packs. Passing by the pavilion, he caught sight of Li Xuan, whose expression was a display of exaggerated emotions, and slightly frowned.
“Old Li, what’s wrong with you? Planning to give up being an annoyingly handsome guy and turn to the comedic route?”
Upon hearing this, Li Xuan put down the documents in his hands and shot An Qing a glance, replying seriously, “I’m reviewing the documents you submitted recently; I’ve only gone through half of them.”
“Oh…” An Qing replied indifferently, prepared to continue towards the office, but Li Xuan called her back.
“Wait a moment!”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t you find it strange?” Li Xuan stated gravely, “Things have been too peaceful lately. Look at the descriptions of these urban legend incidents; aren’t they a bit too bizarre?”
“Like this one, Mr. Li who lives alone in the East City encountered his grandfather, who has been deceased for five years, when he returned home at night, and was beaten and ordered to go on a blind date… Would a normal urban legend do something like this?”
“Well…” An Qing pondered with her chin resting on one hand, shrugged, and said, “Isn’t it a good thing that no homicides or similar incidents have occurred? I don’t think you need to be concerned about it.”
“That won’t do!” Li Xuan insisted, “I feel like this is the calm before the storm; something terrible is about to happen.”
As soon as Li Xuan finished speaking, a clear youthful voice rang out from a distance.
“What terrible thing is about to happen?”
Following the sound, they saw Lu Yibei with a spicy strip in his mouth, carrying a pot of soy milk and a bag of deep-fried dough sticks, ambling over.
“We’re discussing the recent decline in homicide-related urban legend incidents,” An Qing replied with a grimace, “Li believes that the reports we submitted have hardly any major cases, which is a bit unusual.”
“Old Li, are you overthinking?” Lu Yibei glared at Li Xuan, slightly frowning. “You yourself said there are hardly any major cases! I heard that when you were on night duty, weren’t there urban legend incidents happening left and right? How do you even have the time to worry about others?”
“I… this…” Li Xuan was momentarily speechless, unable to refute.
After all, the last time he was on night duty, there were more than thirty urban legend attack incidents in one night.
However, those urban legend incidents were indeed quite strange. During the investigation, Li Xuan assisted local police in capturing twelve mentally unstable fugitives and attended to seventeen deceased escapees.
The next morning, he received a thank-you letter and a commemorative flag from the Huacheng Public Security.
This made Li Xuan, who had been running around all night and was nearly exhausted, doubt life for a moment.
“Wait a minute!” Li Xuan suddenly thought of something, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized Lu Yibei from head to toe, “How do you know about these things?”
Lu Yibei, “…”
Of course, I know. I’m the one who made them happen… Lu Yibei thought to himself.
After a week of trial operation, the *Huacheng Urban Legend Management Regulations Disaster Revision Final Version* revealed several loopholes, leading him to release the *Huacheng Urban Legend Management Regulations Disaster Revise Again Ultimate Version*.
New rules allowed for the hunting of specific targets on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
After all, if it were merely about fright without casualties, the humans in Huacheng would eventually grow immune to the fear caused by urban legends, much like bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics. Soon enough, Huacheng could transform into the world’s largest immersive haunted house.
As for the selection of hunting targets, credit went to the data provided by the friendly cooperative unit—the urban legend chat group’s reward website.
While Lu Yibei was unsure how those guys in the urban legends chat group obtained their urban legend or criminal information about humans, he personally verified that most of it was real and reliable.
Additionally, he could take advantage of some resources from the urban legends chat group.
Miao Xiaoqi, who failed to collect debts, became even less inclined to leave after seeing Lu Yibei’s true colors.
However, Lu Yibei believed that the real reason Miao Xiaoqi stayed was Grandma Zhang’s handcrafted dried fish from Happy Neighborhood.
It was genuinely aromatic!
Taking advantage of Miao Xiaoqi’s inattention, he snuck some from where she hid the dried fish and shared it with the various urban legends, receiving widespread praise.
Thus…
Every evening near the luxurious cat palace, one could see an elderly lady dressed simply and kind-hearted, surrounded by about ten urban legends disguised as stray cats, their obedient demeanor resembling children in a kindergarten waiting for fruit to be distributed.
Sometimes, Lu Yibei felt that Grandma Zhang, calmly distributing dried fish amidst the chaos, was more like the king of urban legends than he was.
Fortunately, her eyesight wasn’t great, and she lacked spiritual energy potential; otherwise, if she saw those rather peculiar “little fellows,” she would likely be sufficiently frightened…
———
Back in that shabby office, Lu Yibei quickly finished his breakfast, performed a set of health exercises for seniors, and returned to his chair, instantly entering a state of intense concentration.
Although Biesuzhen had expressed her willingness to guide Lu Yibei on the so-called Dream Come True journey, he wanted to eliminate this unstable factor.
However, Biesuzhen was ultimately an unidentified urban legend, and the information she provided about the Dream Come True journey could only be taken as a reference; Lu Yibei didn’t trust her.
Thus, before departing, Lu Yibei used the proxy operative’s authority and some connections from Xing Yuan to obtain internal files and records regarding the Dream Come True journey from the Siye Society.
**[Urban Legend Incident Serial No. 0315]**
Urban Legend Alias: Giant Train (Mythological Species, Hybrid Aberration)
Case Summary:
1. In July 2018, an employee of a supermarket in Yang City, Liu, after drinking at a party, mistakenly boarded the disused terminus of Yang City’s Line 3 (Chai Village Station) and witnessed three strange individuals dressed in Ming and Qing clothing boarding a train pulled by a giant urban legend (influence eliminated). Subsequent investigations by the Yang City Siye Society yielded no results, leading to the application for the demolition of Chai Village Station on Line 3 (approved).
2. In January 2019, a cemetery guard in Peng City heard eerie roars from deep within the cemetery at night and witnessed a train pulled by a giant urban legend stop, taking photographs [image][image] (influence eliminated).
3. In December 2019, a Siye Society Agent from Yun City (Ji Ling) conducted an in-depth investigation into the Giant Train urban legend incident and has yet to return; Yuncheng Siye Society Agent No. 1 has submitted a d*ath application (approved).
4. In April 2020, Hai City…
…
Not realizing the gravity of the situation, Lu Yibei felt overwhelmed as he read through the entries in the documents handed to him by Xing Yuan last night.
“This seems a bit exaggerated?” Lu Yibei mused with a serious expression, “And how can a mythological-hybrid urban legend only be used to pull trains?”
There were over a hundred sighting incidents related to the Dream Come True journey dispersed across more than thirty cities, existing over a time span of more than a decade, yet the Siye Society still could not eliminate them.
Lu Yibei found it hard to imagine what kind of casino existed in Biesuzhen’s description that exists yet doesn’t exist in this world.
His original plan of using a staged train accident to extort compensation and disrupt the operation of the Giant Train in Huacheng was instantly declared void after reading the document.
Lu Yibei believed that with his current urban legend-turned body strength, he should be able to withstand a high-speed train collision, but now…
There weren’t unheard-of unfortunate souls getting killed by trains during staged antics.
Putting down the file on the *Giant Train*, Lu Yibei picked up the document on *Lanzhe Inn and Cultural Shop*.
Compared to the Giant Train, the sighting records of the Lanzhe Inn were frightfully sparse, with only testimonies from survivors documented. Without exception, all survivors were contained in the local Siye Society’s collaborative psychiatric hospital, and those testimonies…
Lu Yibei skimmed through the ten or so testimonies and frowned, his expression turning subtle.
“So, those who visited the Lanzhe Inn all turned into naysayers, uh, crazies with nothing but naysayers in their heads? That’s a bit…”
He initially wanted to criticize the Lanzhe Inn, but then he remembered that the village chief of Baiyanzi Village hired a performer from the inn, and the level of performance already matched Meng Meng’s. He suddenly felt that the place shouldn’t be underestimated.
Regaining his composure, Lu Yibei silently decided that when he went to investigate, he would definitely put up “Minors Not Allowed” signs on the Giant Train.
That train was too fast; it was absolutely not suitable for minors!
However…
I’m already an adult now, hey~!
Lu Yibei thought mischievously, skipping the section on the **Red Sand Gu Affair Pharmacy** and picking up the document on the **Dream Come True Entertainment City**.
After reading this document, he felt puzzled.
Similar to the Lanzhe Inn, the file on the Dream Come True Entertainment City only contained survivor testimonies; however, the difference was that these survivors hadn’t gone mad.
At least, from a pathological perspective, they were not insane; instead, they seemed particularly healthy and had achieved considerable success in their respective fields.
Each one lived like a character walked out of a feel-good inspirational story.
But…
All these survivors, without exception, chose to commit s*icide within three to five years after leaving the Dream Come True Entertainment City, without any warning.
“…”
Perhaps they had already gone mad; only conventional medical methods couldn’t detect it.
Mad enough to appear normal; this condition was likely already quite severe.
As Lu Yibei contemplated, the office door was suddenly pushed open, and Du Sixian peeked her head in with a mischievous look.
Upon seeing Lu Yibei, she playfully stuck out her tongue, swiftly entering while carrying a folding stool.
Seeing Du Sixian, Lu Yibei recalled that An Qing had mentioned once that he should help check the report on the Baiyanzi Village urban legend incident written by Du Sixian, worrying about her making mistakes on her first report.
As for why she brought a folding stool…
It was probably because the last time An Qing came, she had to stand for nearly half an hour.
Lu Yibei’s office didn’t have any extra chairs; without extra chairs, no one would bother him for too long…
———
In Dream Come True Entertainment City, there was a special place called Nowhere Land, signifying loss of investment.
Upon entering the grand entrance of the entertainment city, one could immediately see a pitch-black vortex below a ceiling more than thirty meters high. Only a narrow white spiral staircase, just wide enough for one person, led directly into the black vortex, making it quite eye-catching.
The boss of the entertainment city lived up there, and one could only meet him once they accumulated a certain amount of chips that ranked in the city’s top three.
It was said that after meeting him, one could request to gamble with him, and as long as they won, any wish could be granted.
With such rumors circulating, the gamblers who frequented the entertainment city must have many speculations about what the Nowhere Land was truly like.
Some said the Nowhere Land was paradise, with swimming pools made of gold filled with the finest wines, and various scantily clad beauties frolicking around the pool, along with both urban legends and humans.
Others said that if you entered the Nowhere Land, you could see the thing you desired most in your heart, right next to the big boss of Dream Come True Entertainment City, and as long as you beat him, you could take it away.
There were even some who got knocked out as soon as they entered, waking up to find their chips gone; only a fool would go there.
…
Various gamblers have their differing speculations about what lies behind the dark vortex, but those were merely their speculations, and very few had truly entered.
Inside the Dream Come True Entertainment City.
*Dong—dong—dong—!* The deafening sound of a bell resembling a dragon’s roar suddenly rang out.
An urban legend with the power of a succubus, dressed in a black cheongsam with red patterns and high slits, stood before an antique bronze dragon-patterned bell, signaling three times. Following that, all gambling tables halted their games the moment the bell ceased ringing.
This dragon-patterned bell was not easily struck; whenever it was rung, it meant someone had accumulated enough chips to rank in the top three, gaining the qualification to compete with the big boss in the Nowhere Land, referred to as “the head prize.”
Typically, this was a celebratory event for the entertainment city, as it indirectly proves their gambling games don’t involve usual fraud, and indeed, someone could win massive amounts of chips through their skill or luck.
At this moment, the entertainment city would cover the costs of all the food and drink consumed in celebration for all customers present, allowing everyone to share in this joy.
However, when someone attained the head prize, the atmosphere was usually much livelier than it was now.
The most exaggerated instance was when a human boy from the slums, thanks to luck comparable to that of an urban legend’s powers, won 120 million chips. The story played out like a thrilling rags-to-riches tale, igniting excitement among the gamblers and leading to a full day and night of celebration.
Now, the reason these gamblers were not lively was that they didn’t even need to look to know who the head prize winner was; there was no surprise at all.
Sure enough, after the bell ceased, a girl dressed in a simple black evening gown, her silver hair neatly styled, leaned on a cane adorned with a unicorn decoration and gracefully walked to the center of the hall stage, elegant like a black swan.
Seeing the girl on stage, a gambler at one of the tables, wearing an oversized trench coat with seventeen or eighteen baby-like arms and a grayish complexion, slapped the shell of a kappa sitting beside him.
“Hurry, pay up! I told you long ago, barring any surprises, this time the head prize winner would be this woman again. You wouldn’t listen and even bet against me!”
The kappa adjusted its head with both hands to keep the water on top of its head from spilling, then reluctantly pulled out a few chips with a value of “10” and handed them over.
“How many times has this been now? Count for yourself, it’s already the eleventh time, right? How come it’s always her? She must be a plant for the entertainment city, helping them regain chips!” the kappa murmured in frustration.
The multi-armed urban legend lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, then casually shook off the ashes onto the kappa’s head, sneering, “A plant? I don’t think so. You haven’t sat at a table with her; if you had played even one round, you’d know just how terrifying she is!”
The kappa shot a fierce glare at the multi-armed urban legend, covering its head with an empty fruit plate from the left upper side, irritated it remarked, “Have you seen her?”
The multi-armed urban legend squinted, seemingly in reflection. After pondering for a few seconds, it sighed, “Seen her, very terrifying. Her skills are almost godly; I’d call her the…”
“God of gambling?”
“Gambling monster!”
The kappa twitched its mouth, “What kind of logic is that? It doesn’t even compare!”
The multi-armed urban legend shrugged, coaxing the kappa, “Want to turn the tables? Shall we bet again?”
“What to bet on?” The kappa’s eyes lit up.
“Let’s bet…” The multi-armed urban legend looked at the stunning girl on stage, narrowing its eyes, “Let’s bet whether she will go to the Nowhere Land to gamble against the big boss this time!”
“Hmph!” The kappa rolled its eyes, “You think I’m an idiot? She goes every time, alright? If it were me, I absolutely wouldn’t miss the chance to turn the tables after losing eleven times.”
“…” The multi-armed urban legend fell silent for a moment. Out of the corner of its eye, it caught sight of the girl walking towards the black vortex of the Nowhere Land via the pure white spiral staircase. Its eyes darted as it changed its tune, “Then let’s bet whether she’ll win after going up there!”
“This…” The kappa hesitated at the words.
It was said that since the establishment of the Dream Come True Entertainment City, the big boss had been challenged seven thousand six hundred and twenty-five times, yet had only lost three times. It seemed that the girl was more likely to lose.
Furthermore, she had already lost eleven times prior.
“Then I bet she loses.” The kappa declared.
“Alright, I bet she wins.” The multi-armed urban legend asked softly, “1 to 1000 seems fair, right?”
The kappa nodded, “Fair!”
Thus, three days later, the multi-armed urban legend and the kappa engaged in a life-and-d*ath duel at the casino, a bet for their lives!
Because once that girl went up to the Nowhere Land, she never returned, and her outcome remained unknown…
