Chapter 26 She Said She Doesn’t Know You
Years ago, around the stone bridge at the entrance of Mudan Street, there were many fortune-telling stalls.
From the most common birth chart analysis to divination and bone reading, as well as Mei Hua Yi Shu and Qi Men Dun Jia, each “sect” dressed like a sage, gathering around the stone bridge, each showcasing their skills.
The signs hanging at the stalls were varied; some read “Feng Shui and Destiny, Predicting Good Fortune,” while others stated “Direct Predictions, A Sage Points the Way.” The most outrageous one Luxianbei had seen was someone claiming, “Insight into the Code of Life, Understanding One’s Fortune or Misfortune, Quantum Divination, Worthy of Possession.”
In this chaotic scene of fortune-telling, only Liu Banxian seemed out of place.
He didn’t wear a robe but donned a faded deep blue Zhongshan suit and a pair of black cloth shoes. He didn’t have a duster or a rosary; only a pair of round-frame sunglasses. Holding a well-used stainless steel thermos, he sat quietly on a small stool, simply watching the comings and goings of people.
With his white beard and hair, and his plain looks, one would hardly guess he was running a stall if not for the sign in front saying “Life and d*ath Are Predestined, Wealth and Honor Are Up to Heaven.” He looked more like a curious old man.
Moreover, the readings he offered were never good, always delivering bad news such as “The brow is dark,” “The year is unfavorable,” and “Your mother is dead.” It was hard to earn money, and he often faced beatings.
So, it was common to see him bandaged up, bruised, and marked by scars.
If it weren’t for the support from neighbors in Mudan Street, he probably couldn’t afford medical bills, let alone food from the little fortune-telling he made.
And Luxi Chuancaiguan was among those supporting him, for he owed them for meals.
Later, when Luxianbei started middle school, as tourism projects developed in the ancient town of Mudan Street, the stone bridge was demolished and replaced by an overpass.
Those fortune-telling stalls around the stone bridge also vanished under the renovation, leaving only Liu Banxian, who still came to the overpass each day, setting up a small stool and a yellowing white cloth.
There was hardly any business; he only sat quietly like a lonely watcher.
Then one day, it was hard to pin down exactly when, this watcher also disappeared…
————
The strong men punched and kicked Liu Banxian, making him roll on the ground, crying out in pain.
Luxianbei stood aside, clapping and cheering, “Yay, yay! k*ll him!”
“Old people are the worst! Isn’t it better to just d*e and leave the world to the young people?”
“Big brothers, what you’re doing is wrong! Look, he could still move; it doesn’t showcase your strength and how pitiful he is. You should go all out if you want to take the property.”
“…”
Amid Luxianbei’s oddly worded cheers, more and more people began to gather, watching the strong men feel awkward, their force naturally diminishing.
Before long, they stopped and, cursing, walked away.
“Old cheat, wait for me!”
Only Liu Banxian lay on the ground, covered in messy shoe prints and minor abrasions.
As Luxianbei had guessed, having endured fierce beatings in the past, Liu Banxian could easily handle these strong men alone.
Once those strong men were far away, Luxianbei went up to help Liu Banxian up and led him to a nearby bench to rest.
Before she could say anything, Liu Banxian thanked her, “Thank you, young lady! If it weren’t for your help, I might have been beaten to d*ath today.”
“Your way of tempting them to get away is quite good; otherwise, if you accidentally got caught up in it too, I wouldn’t know where to hide my old face.”
From looking at those strong men’s attitudes just now, it seemed they intended to take payment in the form of Liu Banxian’s old bones since they couldn’t get their debts back.
Even if he spoke of properties, they wouldn’t let it go easily.
Though Luxianbei’s method of diversion was risky, it was the safest for her.
Moreover, those strong men could never really k*ll Liu Banxian because if he were dead, they wouldn’t be able to claim the property.
Luxianbei shrugged, “No need to thank me; it’s what I should do.”
Liu Banxian braced himself, standing up a little, looking at Luxianbei in confusion and saying, “You also came from Huacheng, right? Otherwise, how would you know the housing prices on Mudan Street?”
“Yes, I’m indeed from Huacheng, and I live on Mudan Street,” Luxianbei replied. “I often saw you from the overpass when I was little!”
After a pause, Luxianbei asked, “By the way, how did you end up here? The adults say you’re gone, and I thought…”
“Hey…” Liu Banxian forced a bitter smile, sighing, “I encountered some trouble initially. I thought I could make a living with my meager skills, but I didn’t expect to get deeper and deeper. Now, the matter is not viable, and I owe a mountain of debt. I’m afraid I can’t go back.”
Luxianbei stared at Liu Banxian, opened her mouth, just about to say something, when Ahua, who had gone to the bulletin board to inquire, returned.
“Wang Buliu, Miss has news! The staff at the bulletin board said someone saw her at the entertainment city, we…”
Halfway through her sentence, Ahua noticed Liu Banxian next to Luxianbei and frowned, “Who is this?”
Liu Banxian cupped his hands towards Ahua and explained, “I am Liu, a Huacheng person. I just encountered some trouble, and this young lady helped me out, allowing me to escape.”
Seeing Liu Banxian claiming to come from Huacheng, Ahua roughly understood Luxianbei’s reason for helping him, but she still pulled Luxianbei aside and reminded her, “Wang Buliu, although he is also from Huacheng, it’s best not to trust anyone in the realm of Dream Come True Entertainment City.”
Luxianbei rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry, I don’t even trust you, so how could I trust him?”
“…” Ahua fell silent for a moment and said seriously, “That’s good. Then shall we go to the entertainment city together and find my miss first?”
“I think so too,” Luxianbei nodded.
Her main purpose for this trip was to find someone who could speak about the Dream Come True journey, to figure out a way to eliminate the Huacheng site, preventing inexplicable urban legends from intervening in Huacheng again.
Although there were minor incidents like Jiang Li’s disappearance and the assassination of Yugong Xian along the way, now that Jiang Li had been located and the assassination of Yuguang Xian had successfully evaded capture, it was time to get down to business.
Jiang Li seemed to have met the big boss of the entertainment city many times; she wondered if she could reach out to that big boss through her. Luxianbei thought.
While she was pondering, Liu Banxian leaned over with a smile and said, “Are the two young ladies heading to the entertainment city? Coincidentally, I am too; why don’t we go together?”
Seeing Ahua’s eyes becoming vigilant, Liu Banxian quickly explained, “Please don’t misunderstand, I mean no harm.”
“I just haven’t left Huacheng for too long; I wanted to hear from you what has happened there recently.”
As he spoke, a hint of shyness and nostalgia appeared on his face, like an ordinary old man who couldn’t return home, inquiring about news from his unreachable hometown.
Upon hearing this, Ahua felt a moment of sympathy, turned to Luxianbei, and cast an inquiring glance.
Luxianbei shrugged, “If it’s just traveling together, I have no objections.”
“Then it’s settled!” Ahua relented, “Old man, let’s go together?”
With that, she turned and walked toward the departure point marked with a tram logo.
The tram was the cheapest and most convenient mode of transport within the realm of Dream Come True Entertainment City. It only required 1 chip as fare to go from the train station to the front of the entertainment city building.
————
The night of Dream Come True Entertainment City was as hard as iron.
In the dim light, the gray-blue stone bricks covered the ground, and the Gothic spires of the buildings on both sides of the street were like dense swords of giants. More gray brick houses surrounded them like towering walls.
On those dirty white walls hung dazzling neon lights that could almost be considered light pollution; these illuminated some places like mahjong parlors, chess rooms, game halls, and bars, though most had the tinge of gambling about them.
It seemed that nothing here was free from gambling.
Even at the corner shrouded in drizzling rain, a few roadside stalls occasionally popped up, selling games like “Guess the Three Immortals” or divining dead chess matches.
Luxianbei had a feeling that in this ghostly place, if one were to randomly stop someone on the street and ask, “Want to play a game of Gwent?” it might not work, but if she asked, “Want to gamble a bit?” even if a passerby was about to have a baby, they would stop to gamble with her.
The tram traveled through the city, occasionally shaking the ground, followed by black carriages pulled by eight fierce horses, racing by and disappearing.
Those horses were solid black, wearing silver masks, their eyes sparkled with fiery light, like beasts formed from the night, galloping like the wind, as if they could take flight at any moment.
The carriages they pulled looked like the vehicles of the wicked queens in fairy tales, radiating an ominous aura yet elaborately built.
As those carriages dashed by, it made Luxianbei, who was sitting on the slowly moving tram, feel particularly shabby.
“Who knows when I can ride that kind of carriage!”
“Don’t think about it; only the distinguished guests of the entertainment city can ride those carriages.” Liu Banxian smiled at Luxianbei, “You need to have at least ten million chips to be eligible.”
In recent years, changes in Huacheng had been unimpressive, with the construction of a few tourism projects and the relocation of several large factories; aside from these well-known changes, there wasn’t much to talk about.
She certainly couldn’t tell Liu Banxian about the Siye Society settling on Mudan Street, could she?
As for the surge of urban legends, the arrival of Pestilence Taijie, and the Hundred Demons Walk, those were even less suitable to discuss with Liu Banxian.
Thus, Luxianbei soon transformed from a narrator into a listener, hearing Liu Banxian enthusiastically recount stories about Dream Come True Entertainment City and his past glories, where he once ranked in the top ten of the entertainment city with his chips.
It had to be said that after mingling around Dream Come True Entertainment City for more than a decade, Liu Banxian was quite familiar with the local customs, knowing exactly what kind of bets were present in each area.
Among those, what intrigued Luxianbei the most was a gamble set in the game hall that involved guessing whether a hundred card draws would result in odd or even numbers.
She felt that if she participated, she would have at least a nine-tenths chance of coming out with a fortune.
After all, she never got anything from draws, always sticking to the guaranteed returns.
A hundred draws would just yield a guarantee; she simply needed to guess even numbers.
But since it was only a nine-tenths chance, she still suppressed the impulse to “bet it all for a motorcycle” and obediently sat on the tram heading toward the entertainment city building.
Thus, after twenty minutes, a white building that seemed embedded in the gray soil appeared at the end of the tram track, illuminated by golden lights to shine brightly…
————
Luxianbei and her two companions exited the tram station, walking through a dirty street and arriving at the front of the building, where a plaza with a giant fountain had been constructed. Immediately, three pretty girls dressed as bunny girls approached them, each beautiful enough to audition for a girl group.
However, no matter how pretty they were, as long as they wore bunny costumes, Luxianbei couldn’t feel the slightest interest in them.
Moreover, those fluffy ears and tails seemed genuine.
If they weren’t, how could they move?
Anyway, Luxianbei felt they might pull out a rusty crowbar and strike her on the back of her head at any moment.
Perhaps this was the aftereffect of the Mr. Rabbit urban legend attack?
The three bunny girls naturally linked their arms with the trio, smilingly guiding them toward the interior of the entertainment city.
“Welcome, dear guests! We believe tonight is a wonderful moment for you to fulfill your wishes. It seems this is your first time visiting us? Would you like me to give you an introduction?”
Upon hearing the nearby bunny girl say this, Luxianbei paused, slightly furrowing her brow.
How did she know it was my first time here?
Seeing this, Liu Banxian leaned closer to Luxianbei and held up a hand, quietly explaining, “The girls here are impressive! As long as you’ve been here once, they’ll remember your face.”
“This is to keep malicious cheating out and to facilitate taking care of regular customers.”
Professional ethics seem quite high? Luxianbei thought sarcastically and nodded to indicate she understood.
Just then, the strong man in black waiting at the heavy, ornately carved bronze door pushed it open for the trio, and their view instantly expanded.
Then, Luxianbei was shocked.
Not because of the crystalline giant glass walls, not because of the seemingly free gold used for decoration, and not because of the fair-skinned, beautiful girls.
But because every inch of the luxuriously wide corridor was indeed filled with promotional slogans, just as Ahua said.
Luxianbei, “…”
Awesome, it was like walking into a gambling ban!
Shouldn’t some old dudes come up and ask for tips soon?
While Luxianbei was lost in thought, Liu Banxian suddenly cleared his throat and said, “Ahem! Miss Wang, I think we should part ways here?”
“You and this young lady clearly look like you’re heading to the upper floors, so I won’t accompany you. Before I leave, I’d like to ask…”
“Could I borrow some chips? Just a hundred would be fine!”
Luxianbei, “???”
Half-sage, what are you doing?
Seeing that Luxianbei didn’t respond, Liu Banxian quickly said, “Trust me, with a hundred I can turn things around. In just one night, I can win enough chips to find you again upstairs, and I’ll return ten times the chips!”
Luxianbei, “…” What a standard gambling addict’s speech!
Seeing this, Ahua quietly said to Luxianbei, “Why don’t you just give him some? After all, you have so many chips, right? We still need to find my miss! Don’t delay here.”
Luxianbei shot Ahua a glance, “I only have two hundred twelve chips! How can I give him a hundred? It’s easy for you to say!”
“What? You only have that many chips?” Liu Banxian’s expression stiffened, “I thought you were heading for the upper floors!”
Luxianbei was taken aback for a moment and came back to her senses, “What do you mean? If I don’t have enough chips, I still can’t freely move around this building?”
Seeing this, the bunny girl next to Luxianbei smiled and politely explained, “Sorry, dear guest, but to ensure fairness and that all guests have an enjoyable experience, the betting limits on different floors of our entertainment city are restricted.”
“The bottom three floors allow betting from 1 to 1000, the middle three floors are from 1000 to 100,000, and the upper three floors start at 100,000 with no upper limit. So if you want to go to a certain floor, you must have at least the chips matching the lower limit to do so!”
“If you need to exchange chips now, I can assist with that. Our entertainment city supports payments in money, life, spirit energy, core entities of urban legends, and more.”
With that, the bunny girl playfully winked at Luxianbei, flashing a sweet smile.
“No need!” Ahua interrupted, “We have friends already upstairs; she’s waiting for us.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Banxian’s eyes brightened, thinking, my calculations were right; today I met a benefactor, and it wasn’t a waste of my breath.
With this, I surely can turn things around!
“Is that so?” The bunny girl beside Ahua bowed respectfully, “Sorry, if it’s convenient, could you tell me your name and the name of your friend upstairs?”
“I’ll go confirm the information with your friend upstairs first, and once verified, I’ll take you and this young lady up together, okay?”
“Sure, no problem.” Ahua nodded, “My name is Ahua, and my friend upstairs is called Jiang Li.”
“Okay, great, we’ll contact your friend promptly. Please wait a moment.”
The bunny girl said a few words and respectfully bowed to Ahua before stepping away, her heels clicking as she walked deeper into the entertainment city.
Once the bunny girl was out of sight, Liu Banxian couldn’t help but exclaim, “What the heck! Are you friends with that Jiang Li girl?”
“Exactly!” Ahua raised her chin slightly, a hint of pride in her demeanor.
“Then could you lend me some more chips? One thousand, no no, five hundred, five hundred is enough!”
“Honestly, I was just having bad luck before. I once had enough chips to rank ninth in the whole casino, and this time I’ll definitely turn things around.”
“…” Faced with Liu Banxian’s eager gaze, Ahua found herself at a loss for words.
Noticing Ahua’s discomfort, Luxianbei stepped forward, stood on her tiptoes, and wrapped her arm around Liu Banxian’s neck, pressing down and saying sternly, “No, old Liu, how come you’re raising the price? That’s not fair! Didn’t you say a hundred before?”
“This…” Liu Banxian hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said emphatically, “A hundred it is!”
“No! A hundred was the previous price; now it isn’t. It’s only eighty now.” Luxianbei stated expressionlessly.
Although if she found Jiang Li upstairs, there would be plenty of chips, helping Liu Banxian wouldn’t matter, but saving a little was still better, wasn’t it? Luxianbei thought.
“Ah?” Liu Banxian was taken aback, frowning, “Isn’t eighty a bit low? How about ninety?”
“Seventy.” Luxianbei said lightly.
Liu Banxian, “…”
He fell silent, feeling that if he continued, his bl**d pressure would rise.
In the end, Luxianbei successfully sent Liu Banxian away with fifty-eight chips.
Well, she charged a 4% transaction fee.
After getting rid of Liu Banxian, the two followed the bunny girl to the waiting area near the main entrance.
Twenty minutes later.
The bunny girl who went to find Jiang Li returned with news that left Ahua pale.
“Sorry, Miss Ahua, Miss Jiang Li said she doesn’t know you…”
Ahua’s eyes widened, “?!”
